Why are You Preparing, and What are You Preparing For?

Welcome to my blog. I am starting this blog at the suggestion of a friend who tells me that recent events in our society have created an increased public interest in survival and self sufficiency. Since I have been pursuing and living this life-style for the last 25 years he felt that I might have a few ideas to offer those who are just starting down the road to independent living. The reason that I have named my blog SENSIBLE SURVIVAL is because I feel that that's what I do. I don't have a pile of assault rifles and cases of ammo, I don't have a hoard of silver and gold coins, and I don't secretly hope that society collapses so that only the prepared will survive. I like air-conditioning. I like watching T.V. But I also like the security of knowing that if all of the modern conveniences are suddenly unavailable, I and my family can survive and still live a fairly safe, comfortable, and fulfilling life. In other words, I don't mind all of the things that modern society offers; I just don't want to have to depend on them. If that makes me a survivalist in your book, then so be it. I just call it sensible living.

Let me start off by saying that not everything that I talk about on my blog can be implemented by everyone who reads it. I live on a small farm about ten miles from a small town, so I have the space, isolation, and freedom from local ordinances to do more than the average suburban dweller. For example, few people in the city have (or would want to have) a water well. On the other hand, many of the things that I do can be done by anyone, even people who live in apartments. So I'll just lay it out there for you, and you take what you can use and adapt it to your own situation.

You'll hear me talk about different levels of preparedness in the blog. By that I mean that not all potential crises are the same. Some problems could last for only a few days, like widespread power outage caused by a storm. Some could last for weeks or months, like a general social breakdown caused by natural or man-made disaster (think hurricane Katrina). And in the worst case, things could change forever; what some refer to as "the end of the world as we know it." Each of these situations would require a different level of preparedness. I will try to address all of these levels of preparedness, but I will be the first to admit that how to deal with a level three crisis is pure conjecture and I personally hope I never have to find out if my conjectures are correct.

Some of the topics that I hope to address in this blog are:

Water storage and water purification

Alternative power sources

Heating and lighting

Fuels and fuel storage

Gardening

Raising fruit

Small animal husbandry

Home defense

Food storage

Wilderness Survival

Recipes

Kitchen utensils and cooking

Tools

Medical supplies

Communications

Survival communities

Hunting, fishing, and foraging

And anything else that comes to mind

I'm going to try and update a couple of times a week, and of course your comments, advice, and additional information are always welcome.

Why Are You Preparing and What Are You Preparing For?

How many times have you been asked these two questions? It never fails to amaze me that otherwise intelligent individuals, who insure their homes, their cars, their businesses and their lives, think that that it is somehow crazy that there are those of us in this world who want to insure ourselves against the breakdown of our social order. Our government, our society, and our economic system are all complicated and delicate machines that are subject to malfunctioning at any time. The catalyst for disruption could be a natural disaster, an industrial accident, a terrorist attack, war, riot, or insurrection, to name a few. The duration could be days, weeks, months, or years. We have seen proof positive that our government cannot deal with even a localized disaster like Hurricane Katrina. How do you think they would perform if a terrorist state set off an Electromagnetic Pulse devise that fried all of the computers, communications equipment, and automobile ignition systems on the North American continent? Thanks, but I'd just as soon make plans to take care of myself. Sure it takes a little time and money to prepare now, but the cost of preparing now is only a tiny fraction of what it will cost you to survive a catastrophe if you aren't prepared. Just ask a Hurricane Katrina survivor what they would have paid for a gallon of water four days after the storm hit.

So the next time somebody asks you what you're preparing for, hand this article to them. It probably will go right past them, but at least you gave them a chance to wake up.