Flexible Plans

It's good to have a plan for dealing with catastrophe. Any prepper worth their salt will have a plan. If you plan on bugging in, you'll have food, shelter, water, and security squared away. If bugging out, you'll have a vehicle, a place to go, supplies and all that.

That's great and all, but while man plans, the gods laugh.

You may have a secure homestead in a rural area and be ready for a whole host of disasters. When something happens, you could be across the country at your Aunt Millie's funeral with no way to get back.

Someone may have a good solid plan on how to escape their area on foot, but end up with a broken leg. Stuff happens.

Not only that, disasters can go on for a lot longer than you may expect. If a disaster is widespread, it is going to take a lot longer to get assistance.

There's no rule that just one thing will happen at a time. Look back to what happened in Japan a few years back. First there was an earthquake. That was followed by a huge tsunami. The water from that caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant to spew radiation. Some people had to deal with all three disasters.

There are preppers who think that it's possible to buy their way out of trouble. While it's nice to have all the latest gadgets and supplies, that's not enough. You could get separated from your preps, or you could lose them in something as simple and common as a fire.

That's where having skills and being flexible will come in handy. It's not necessarily the strongest or the ones with the most gear who survive. It's the ones who can adapt that have the real advantage.

-Sixbears