Guest Post by Michael H
I am a fortunate man. Through hard work and some lucky breaks, I have arrived at the tail end of a long career in relatively good health, with a loving family and reliable friends. We put two kids through college, and live comfortably.
I also see myself as an optimist, or at least a person who tries to find silver linings. Over the span of a lifetime, we all experience hardships, whether in the form of financial loss, family tragedy or the day-to-day difficulty of living in times of uncertainty or chaos. In the face of such challenges, my personal approach has always been to man up and find solutions. I believe that with drive, ingenuity and common sense, most of us can be problem solvers if we put our minds to it. We can be curious. We can be resourceful. We can learn new skills and tackle obstacles head on.
At the same time, I can be a skeptical and stubborn person when it comes to new ideas. Skeptical because I prefer to rely on my own analytical ability and my own judgment rather than listen to the media (social or otherwise) telling me what is true and what is real. Stubborn because I often think that I have all the answers in my head or on my smartphone.
What does all this personal philosophy have to do with prepping? Why is this random post appearing on Hidden Cache Prepper?
Well, as a relative newcomer to the world of preparedness, I wanted to contribute a blog post from the perspective of a skeptical but pragmatic prepper. A few years ago, when I first started having conversations and reading about preparedness, I was quick to dismiss the prepping community as a fringe element. Living in a big city, where the power grid rarely fails and where resources are plentiful, I was complacent. Tapping into my natural tendency to look on the bright side, I convinced myself that my community was insulated from disaster and that I was well equipped to handle any type of emergency and protect my family when necessary. After all, I was a Boy Scout and was once an avid camper, and I’ve always devoured survival shows and movies and books about post-apocalyptic life. I knew what to do when things went south, right?
Wrong.
The first clues that I was poorly prepared came at the onset of the covid pandemic. Like everyone I knew, we ran out of certain basic needs pretty quickly. Thanks to online delivery services, however, we managed to replenish our supply of groceries and toilet paper and hand sanitizer without any serious inconvenience. But during all that downtime, it was only natural to start thinking about what we could do differently (optimism, on the one hand), and what might happen if the supply chain was disrupted to a point where critical goods didn’t just appear at our door with the press of a button on the computer (pessimism, on the other hand). I didn’t act on those questions right away, although the wheels were turning.
Then I met my friend Michael, who was in the initial stages of starting this website. We had many conversations about his teaching background in emergency management and preparedness, his field experiences as an EMT working on an ambulance and a Red Cross volunteer, and his efforts to create a community of like-minded individuals. The light bulb went off that I could use both hands, that I could better plan for the future without abandoning my positive attitude.
I realized pretty quickly that most people already plan for both expected and unexpected events in many ways, each and every day. We buy insurance, we have fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in the house, we keep water or wiper fluid or jumper cables in the back of the car. And so much more.
Upon further reflection, however, it was also clear that my reluctance to accept that the world is very different now than it was even ten years ago was holding me back from being adequately prepared for some very real possibilities. So, I started the process of identifying the risks that my family was facing and deciding how we could shore up our resources to address those risks, in a careful and deliberate manner.
Here are some examples of steps I’ve taken and lessons I’ve learned:
· My first task was to start a notebook to get organized. I wrote down a list of supplies and equipment in my closets and basement and attic, and another wish list of things to add. That exercise prompted me to create some physical spaces to store more items.
· I learned from my expert guru that it is nearly impossible to adequately plan for a catastrophic event, so I made notes on the types of risks that may arise where I live and what I needed to keep on hand for a family of four to make it through an after-event – food, water, household supplies, cooking equipment, etc. Another page in my notebook is dedicated to a flight plan, evacuation routes and communication strategies.
· Next was putting together a number of backpacks full of essential items, one for the car, one for home and a third for our cottage. Each is personalized and slightly different. I’ll defer to the excellent checklists on Hidden Cache Prepper for suggestions on what to include.
· Near the top of my priority list were well-stocked first aid kits. Mine were outdated and somewhat useless, so I purchased a few extra kits online and donated one to each of my kids.
· As a person from humble beginnings who hates to throw away food, I was concerned about overbuying canned goods and other food items that would expire and need to be tossed. To allay my fear, I created a spreadsheet inventory of my emergency food supplies, listing dates of purchase, expiration dates and likely shelf lives past the suggested “use by” date. By consulting this spreadsheet once a month, I can move items out of storage and into the main cupboards when needed. It’s a nerdy and sometimes tedious exercise, but the end result is that as a family we are now wasting less food!
These are just a few of my efforts, which helped me overcome my initial skepticism about prepping. I have learned to focus my lists on my own situation and the needs of my family, and at the end of the day, I am already a better provider than I was a few years ago. Needless to say, I have a long way to go before I will consider myself well prepared. For me, the journey of figuring out how much is enough has been fun.
I have never been quick to take the plunge into a new endeavor without careful planning. In my experience, when it comes to new purchases and new technology, research and investigation is the first step. I was always taught to think critically and have usually benefited from my analytical skills. So, I encourage everyone to think for themselves and evaluate their own circumstances before spending time and money on being more prepared. But make those first steps happen, and plan for the future. Peace of mind is worth the effort.
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