Prepping for the nice comfortable disaster

One of the prepper mistakes is to prep for a specific event. It happens all the time. Y2k, 2012 Mayan calendar end of the world -nuclear was very popular in the 60s and 70s. Whatever is in the news is what people prep for.

Of course, there are those folks who prep for things specific to their area. Coastal area residents are only being prudent when they prep for hurricanes. Northerners who live in snow country prep for being snowed in.

We can laugh at the the “End of the World” preppers. Someone's always predicting the end of the world. However, those prudent preppers who prepare for known problems are not off the hook. They are ready but only for a certain type of disaster. The hurricane prepper may have a good strategy that's always worked for him. He may have even used it successfully for a couple hurricanes. That may breed a false sense of security.

I had a long talk with a guy down to the Florida Keys. He had a house up on stilts and emergency supplies. He'd successfully rode out hurricanes in the past. Then he got hit with a hurricanes that was a bit stronger than the others and it happened to hit during a high tide. He felt lucky to escape with his life and plans to evacuate next time.

A lot of my neighbors thought they were well prepared for winter storms. When the utility power went out they'd go out to their shed and fire up the generator. Then they'd go back in their house, put a movie in the DVD player and congratulate themselves on how clever they were.

One year we had an ice storm that knocked out power for weeks. In a couple days those nice generators ran out of gas. The roads were covered in downed trees and it was dangerous to travel the roads. They traveled them anyway, searching for a gas station that still had power.

Sometimes the disaster is lot worse than what you are comfortable planning for.

What about those who've planned for the wrong disaster? Plans are made to deal with hurricanes but what you get is a wild fire. Don't focus on one thing. Focus on what you need to stay well: food, water, shelter and security.

The first three are pretty self explanatory. No matter what happens you need the basics. Americans often don't think much past guns when it comes to security, but that's actually only one part of it. Security concerns things like living in a place where you know and like your neighbors. Security means having a “tribe” a group of people, friends and relatives, that you can count on in a pinch.

Under security I'm including bug out plans. Somethings you can't fight or hunker down for. All you can do is get out of the way. Could be hurricanes, floods, wild fires or enemy tanks. Mobility is security.

We hate to think that we could be surprised by something we didn't plan for. Once in a while something comes from way outside our comfort zone. Being mentally flexible is as important as good prepping supplies. Don't get that deer in the headlights look and freeze up. It's not survival of the fittest. It's survival of the most adaptable.

-Sixbears