National Preparedness Month- September

[ClangClang]

Apartment living has its drawbacks. It's just me and the wife. We have ~30 lbs of dried rice and beans specifically set aside for "preps" in addition to everything else in the pantry. I keep 10 gallons of freshwater and ~5 gallons of grey water and rotate through it every 3-4 months. Wish I could keep triple that, but there's really nowhere to store it. Luckily we have a nice creek ~100 yards away from our door, so I think I'm ok for now.

My main to do item is to update the bugout bag. It's got some hardware, but I really need to get copies of all our important documents (on an encrypted USB drive) with paper copies of some of the more common ones, some cash, more food items, dedicated Nalgene bottles, etc. in to it. It's woefully underpacked right now. In the same vein, I need to get a better kit in my trunk. Right now I have a milk crate with workboots and socks, leather gloves, a reflective vest, headlamp, and jumper cables. I really need to prepare a proper "get home bag" for the car. More water, food, tools, insulation, small tube of sunblock, etc.

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I think the odds of society devolving to the point that we have gun battles in the street is approximately a big fat zero. My weapon "loadout" is my CCW and a spare mag. I could see grabbing an AR and throwing it in the trunk if it was a leisurely evacuation with 2+ hours notice, but in a real emergency (house on fire) I wouldn't even look at my guns. They can all stay locked up in the safe and insured. If they survive, great. If not, I've got a nice check coming to me from USAA.

[Wulf202]

Clang. I think you can find a surprising amount of space if you put your mind to it. Simple storage ideas are readily available at pinterest like the Grey suggested.

As far as gun battles. They happen around here without a crisis.

As far as my preps I'm working on several lists. Hopefully I can get 10% or more done this month.

[ClangClang]

Clang. I think you can find a surprising amount of space if you put your mind to it. Simple storage ideas are readily available at pinterest like the Grey suggested.

As far as gun battles. They happen around here without a crisis.

As far as my preps I'm working on several lists. Hopefully I can get 10% or more done this month.

You may be right, but guns n ammo are heavy. I prefer to be light and mobile. I've spent enough of my life humping around heavy shit.

And as far as space goes, it's a trade off. Do I want to have a large water stash? Or a peaceful marriage

[Wulf202]

Fair enough. Hard to prep if the other half isn't on board.

If you have a standard water heater you've got an extra 40-75 gallons on hand with a few tools

[Irving]

I never rotate my water. Too much of a pain, is it even necessary?

[Wulf202]

Nope unless you store it near something like gas that will permiate thru the container walls. Water only goes flat if done correctly

[cmailliard]

Let's talk information, specifically Social Media.

I know many here have radios and such, but I also know many here shun social media. To embrace one but neglect the other is not having a well rounded communications plan. Social media is an intel tool. Just because you have an account does not make you starbuck sippin, stocking hat wearing hipster. Use the tools that are available, whatever they are. Cities, Counties, and even the State use social media very effectively to pass information. Why would you not want information in a disaster? Use it, don't use, but at least you have it to make a better decision.

It all comes down to who you follow. I use Twitter almost exclusively for following Police, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, CDC, FEMA, DHS, etc. You must follow the right people to get the right information. Use the search tool in SM to help determine if something is accurate. A perfect example was something in New York. Some guy heard a plane landed on the BQE, he went to Twitter and searched and started finding posts about it. Now here is where some basic knowledge is important in SM. If all you are seeing are "Re-Tweets" someone just reposting the exact same thing as someone else, that is not a verified source of info. If you are seeing a bunch of different people posting the same thing, worded differently and not re-Tweeting that is more verified information. Then start looking for media, pictures and video, that is now pretty real. This is how in less than 8 minutes he was able to confirm a plane did land on the BQE, Police, Fire/EMS were not even on scene yet and he had the info he needed. This is all real time intel that is at your fingertips.

When it comes the public officials using SM it is even more important. They now live by the rule that gunfighters do - Fast is Good, but Accuracy is Final. They have to be fast, if not whistledicks start using the incident hashtag to spread bad information. During Sandy, FEMA had to create a webpage just to disprove bad info on social media. They did not have an adequate SM plan and it hurt them in their response. But they need to be accurate as well. No more are we waiting for press conferences, they are pushing accurate info out pretty quickly, they have to. So again why would you not want an Intel tool at your fingertips?

Will there be misinformation? Of course, but this is were practice (just like everything) is important. You can start to see the stupidity in some posts and filter those out. You can start to recognize someone who is just spouting bullshit and not actually there. It just takes some practice to learn how to sort out the BS.

Knowledge is power, use the tools that are available to give you every bit of intel you can get.

[TheGrey]

You may be right, but guns n ammo are heavy. I prefer to be light and mobile. I've spent enough of my life humping around heavy shit.

And as far as space goes, it's a trade off. Do I want to have a large water stash? Or a peaceful marriage

Understood! There are a lot of sneaky places to stash water- under the bed, in the very corners of closets, beneath towels in the bathroom vanity, etc. With the amount of dried rice and beans that you have on hand, you'll need a great deal of water and time to reconstitute the food.

Do you both eat a lot of rice and beans? The rule of thumb is to store only the foods you eat. Food fatigue is a genuine problem, and if you are snowed in without electricity or gas for your oven, how many meals of rice and beans will you be able to bear before either of you lose interest in food?

It is difficult and frustrating to be the only one of a duo when attempting preps. Usually it's because the partner doesn't believe in the necessity, or finds it distasteful due to a "zombie apocalypse" or something that has no place in one's idea of society. Coupled with living in an apartment with limited space, you've an uphill battle.

It may be that you'll have to approach this from a different angle- be it using a sale price on canned peaches as an excuse to pick up one or two extra, for instance. Or maybe talking with her about your concern with how things are going in Venezuela. Is your wife the one that takes care of the grocery shopping for the household? Any idea why she is reluctant to prep? Is she concerned that you will turn your home into a hoarder's bunker?

As far as traveling light, I fully understand that! Do you have a bug out location selected? Do you have people that you can stay with? I remember how quickly things went on their ear with the massive rains up in Boulder county. I was at a conference and the roads and escape routes were being washed away.

[TheGrey]

Let's talk information, specifically Social Media.

I know many here have radios and such, but I also know many here shun social media. To embrace one but neglect the other is not having a well rounded communications plan. Social media is an intel tool. Just because you have an account does not make you starbuck sippin, stocking hat wearing hipster. Use the tools that are available, whatever they are. Cities, Counties, and even the State use social media very effectively to pass information. Why would you not want information in a disaster? Use it, don't use, but at least you have it to make a better decision.

It all comes down to who you follow. I use Twitter almost exclusively for following Police, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, CDC, FEMA, DHS, etc. You must follow the right people to get the right information. Use the search tool in SM to help determine if something is accurate. A perfect example was something in New York. Some guy heard a plane landed on the BQE, he went to Twitter and searched and started finding posts about it. Now here is where some basic knowledge is important in SM. If all you are seeing are "Re-Tweets" someone just reposting the exact same thing as someone else, that is not a verified source of info. If you are seeing a bunch of different people posting the same thing, worded differently and not re-Tweeting that is more verified information. Then start looking for media, pictures and video, that is now pretty real. This is how in less than 8 minutes he was able to confirm a plane did land on the BQE, Police, Fire/EMS were not even on scene yet and he had the info he needed. This is all real time intel that is at your fingertips.

When it comes the public officials using SM it is even more important. They now live by the rule that gunfighters do - Fast is Good, but Accuracy is Final. They have to be fast, if not whistledicks start using the incident hashtag to spread bad information. During Sandy, FEMA had to create a webpage just to disprove bad info on social media. They did not have an adequate SM plan and it hurt them in their response. But they need to be accurate as well. No more are we waiting for press conferences, they are pushing accurate info out pretty quickly, they have to. So again why would you not want an Intel tool at your fingertips?

Will there be misinformation? Of course, but this is were practice (just like everything) is important. You can start to see the stupidity in some posts and filter those out. You can start to recognize someone who is just spouting bullshit and not actually there. It just takes some practice to learn how to sort out the BS.

Knowledge is power, use the tools that are available to give you every bit of intel you can get.

This is fantastic info. I would like to also add the alert system for your cell phones- there are weather alerts, Amber alerts, and I believe there are other local, community-based alerts and warnings that are set in place.

[TheGrey]

Apartment living has its drawbacks. It's just me and the wife. We have ~30 lbs of dried rice and beans specifically set aside for "preps" in addition to everything else in the pantry. I keep 10 gallons of freshwater and ~5 gallons of grey water and rotate through it every 3-4 months. Wish I could keep triple that, but there's really nowhere to store it. Luckily we have a nice creek ~100 yards away from our door, so I think I'm ok for now.

My main to do item is to update the bugout bag. It's got some hardware, but I really need to get copies of all our important documents (on an encrypted USB drive) with paper copies of some of the more common ones, some cash, more food items, dedicated Nalgene bottles, etc. in to it. It's woefully underpacked right now. In the same vein, I need to get a better kit in my trunk. Right now I have a milk crate with workboots and socks, leather gloves, a reflective vest, headlamp, and jumper cables. I really need to prepare a proper "get home bag" for the car. More water, food, tools, insulation, small tube of sunblock, etc.

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I think the odds of society devolving to the point that we have gun battles in the street is approximately a big fat zero. My weapon "loadout" is my CCW and a spare mag. I could see grabbing an AR and throwing it in the trunk if it was a leisurely evacuation with 2+ hours notice, but in a real emergency (house on fire) I wouldn't even look at my guns. They can all stay locked up in the safe and insured. If they survive, great. If not, I've got a nice check coming to me from USAA.

We're working on our car kit and bug out bags as well. Don't forget TP!

We live in an area that makes street gun battles seem remote...both because the 'gangs' around here are bored teens thinking that breaking into cars makes them bad-ass, and because we have a great deal of like-minded conservative military/LEO types living in our neighborhood.

That being said, there are far more likely scenarios to want to enforce a little prepping awareness, caused by Mother Nature: drought. Wildfires. Torrential rains. Floods. The weather liars are making noise about this upcoming winter, saying it's supposed to be "bad." So you can add ice storms, blizzards, incredibly drying freezing winds, massive snows, etc to the list. I always count on the fact that nobody knows what the hell the weather's going to do, and try to pack according to Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter for our get-home bags. It's a constant thing!