How to Survive World War 3: Prepping for an Off-Shore Conflict

If an all-out war erupts, it will be like nothing the Earth has seen before. All of our “progress” means that each side now has the weapons at their disposal to destroy their enemy many times over. Because of this, we can’t as readily look back in history to learn how to survive World War 3.

Most of the time, when I write an article, it’s based on research or personal experience. I can find times when the incident has occurred in the past and study them. I can learn what catastrophes came hand-in-hand, and analyze what we need to know ahead of time to survive. The potential of a conflict like WWIII is quite different because, during the last World War, our technology was a drop in the bucket compared to what is now available. The situation we have now is called MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction – and the acronym couldn’t be any more accurate because it’s utter madness to destroy our world.

I have to be honest. This is based on speculation because we just don’t know how it would play out. It’s based on the most likely consequences, on what I know of our economy, on how wars have played out for ordinary citizens in the past, and on what I know of general preparedness. Earlier this week, I posted a compilation of reader’s comments about what we could face if we went to war. You can read that article here.

If there are developments, I’ll send out alerts via email, so make sure  you’re signed up to the newsletter.)

What this article is not about

There are some topics I won’t be covering in this article.

Current events: This won’t cover the current bombings, sabre-rattling, and incidents. I recommend the following sources for that coverage:

• SHTFplan
• Activist Post
• Zero Hedge
• The Daily Sheeple
• The Anti-Media
• Drudge Report
• SGT Report
• From the Trenches World Report
• What Really Happened

The dubious morality of war: A lot of folks seem to be thrilled at the concept of war. They don’t seem to comprehend that whatever our military does to another country, someone else could come along and do to us. The stuff I saw on social media reminded me of that naive scene in Gone with the Wind, when Civil War was declared and all the young men at the barbecue were whooping with excitement, having no idea of the horrors and brutality that would soon occur.

The United States is not untouchable, and I won’t even discuss the dubious morality of war. All I’ll say to those folks who are cheering from the sidelines and treating it like a football game, “You have no idea what you’re asking for.”

Nuclear war: Although a nuclear strike is a possibility, that isn’t a topic that will be covered in this article. That horrible prospect requires far more than I can provide in the scope of a single article. (Here’s some basic information on surviving a nuclear strike and you can look for a very thorough upcoming crash course on the topic at Preppers University – sign up here to get on the email list so you’ll be alerted when it is available.)

FOR FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEOS GO TO:
preppedforshtf.com/2017/04/29/survive-world-war-3/

Attacks on American soil: This article is pretty long already and that topic deserves its own article – look for it next week.

Rainbows and Unicorns: And finally, before we get started, a quick note to all of the people who scorn articles like this as “fear-mongering:

Is it less frightening to face a situation with no knowledge of how it might play out? Is it preferable to be blithely unaware of what might befall us? Would you rather it all be a horrible shock for which you are completely unprepared? If that’s your philosophy, stop reading now. I’d hate to ruin the surprise for you. Go ahead and believe in unicorns and rainbows.

For the rest of us, who want to give our families the best possible odds, read on.

Prepping to Survive World War 3

In a non-nuclear conflict, there are two possible scenarios: fighting in distant lands and conflict on our soil. Many of the preparations are the same, so we’ll start with involvement from a distance.

Economic Ramifications

While some people will become mind-blowingly wealthy due to war, it won’t be ordinary folks like us. If previous World Wars are a good indicator, we’ll be asked to make sacrifices to “support” our soldiers.Think about all of the WW2 propaganda posters that encourage people to raise their own food, to go without certain items, and to whole-heartedly embrace rations. I can assure you that people who own stock in defense companies won’t be dining on pigeon and squirrel, but I can’t say the same for the rest of us.

Whether you wish to live frugally or not, it will be forced upon all but the most well-to-do.  This is in part due to shortages (which we’ll discuss below) that will drive up the cost of consumer products. The price of transportation will also increase due to inflated gasoline prices, and this will affect the cost of every single good that has to be transported across any distance.

It’s likely that jobs will be available, due to increased enlistment in the military. (This could be due to a draft or simply voluntary sign-ups.) However, the money you make will have to go much further to combat the price increases.

Here are some immediate steps you can take to help counteract these potential economic ramifications. And if nothing bad happens, this won’t go the way of the Y2K preps. All of these are logical and reasonable steps for anyone to take to protect themselves from a financial downturn.

Stock up NOW. There’s no time to waste, given current global tensions. You need to have as much food quietly stashed away as possible. Remember that hungry friends and neighbors can be a threat later if you have food and they don’t, so keep your preps on the down-low.

• I’m a big fan of food buckets when you need to stock up fast. You can order a large supply here
• Learn more about building a stockpile with food buckets here.
• My book, The Pantry Primer, goes into detail about building a pantry even if you’re on a tight budget.
• Here’s a quick article about building your pantry
• Here are 50 non-food stockpile items you should stash away.

Enact your self-reliance strategies NOW.  If you’ve been idly pondering the idea of a garden or a few chickens, put those plans into action. Raising food isn’t as easy as throwing some seeds in the dirt or erecting a chicken coop and tossing the birds a handful of grain now and then. Thinking that a survival homestead is something you can do later, on the spur of the moment is a terrible – and potentially deadly – mistake.

• Here’s an article about my first year attempting to raise food and why you need to expect some initial failure.
• Even if you live in the city, there are things that you can do in order to be more self-reliant. This article has more than 300 links to give you some ideas.
• This book is a reference for all things homesteading, no matter where you live.
• Learn to preserve what you raise or acquire with home canning or dehydrating.

Keep cash on hand. In a crisis, banks often close and if this happens you won’t be able to access your money. Another possibility is that a cyber attack could cripple the financial system. Keep at least enough cash for a month’s worth of expenses. Have the cash in small denominations so that you won’t have to try and get change during an emergency.

• Here’s an article on building an emergency fund
• Here’s one on breaking up with the banking system.
• Bank holidays are no holiday for ordinary people, as folks learned a few years back in Greece.
• Check out this excellent book on financial preparedness.

Folks needed other ways of getting from harvest to harvest once they stopped foraging as nomads, and for a long stretch of time, people were preserving meats, veggies, fruits and even eggs without electricity or refrigeration. 

Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were the last generation to practice the basic things that we call survival skills now. ….Watch this video and you will find many interesting things!

FOR FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEOS GO TO:
preppedforshtf.com/2017/04/29/survive-world-war-3/

Invest in precious metals. For many of us, the best investment is tangible goods like food, tools, and homesteading supplies. However, if you are in a situation in which you have wealth to guard, the best way to do this is with precious metals. Gold and silver will hold their value even if the dollar goes under.

Learn to live frugally. Living beneath your means will help you survive potential economic woes.

• Here’s a link to the frugality archives on this site.
• I also strongly recommend The Complete Tightwad Gazette (my very favorite book in the world) as a fantastic reference to help you get into a frugal state of mind.
• Learn to mend and repair instead of throw out and replace. This is a great book from WW2 Britain on the topic.

Focus on general preparedness. Aside from the specifics mentioned above, do everything you can to become more prepared in a general way. This will help you take any difficulties in stride.

What if the conflict hits American soil?

The last time there was war on the American mainland was during the American Civil War. The next article in this series will discuss ways to prepare for the potential of conflict if it comes to us.

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