Guest Post: What Level of Prep is Right For You?

What Level of Prep is Right For You?

by MsKYprepper

I don’t like bees or chickens.  I puke at the mere thought of learning to suture a bullet wound.  I don’t expect to ever become completely proficient with a firearm.  I don’t want my home looking like a security fortress.  I don’t have room to store 100’s of #10 food cans and I don’t have the time to accomplish half of the projects that other preppers appear to be excelling at when I read blogs such as this.  Those are the realities of my life. 

But neither am I clueless. I don’t have my head stuck in the sand; I will not pillage or plunder and I won’t sit passively, waiting for the government to rescue me. 

I was late in joining the preparedness movement, chiefly because of panic.  I felt overwhelmed.  I had too much to do and fretted about having to get it done… where, oh where, to begin.  

This begs the question, is there a middle ground?  Knowing that I can’t be prepared for everything, at what level do I want to be prepared?  Or, to think about it in a different way,  “How well do I want to live during and immediately following the event?”   Do I want to eat beans and rice everyday or do I want something more?  Do I need an AK-47 with night sights to feel secure or can I be comfortable with less? 

It was only when I finally realized that I didn’t have to keep up with the Prepared-Jones, that I could choose a level of self-reliance that was appropriate for me, I was able to get moving.  I’ve been using the tool below for a few years now.  It has helped me to define how well I want to live during an event.   It allows me to feel accomplished, not in just accumulating a quantity of stuff but in having a certain quality of life.   

As I meet other people who are just waking up to the importance of regaining self-reliance, I recognize that glaze over their eyes.  I sense their panic.   I usually share 2 thoughts: 

#1 – Be honest with yourself:  How prepared do you want to be?  On a scale from 1 to 10, how well do you want to live during and immediately following the event.  What is realistic for you, considering time, effort, resources and a comfortable level of self-reliance? 

#2 – This is not an all-or-nothing game.  There is no one at a finish line awarding a badge that says, “You are done!  You are now prepared!”  Accept that it will never be done.  Do a little at a time.    Do only what you are comfortable doing.  But do something.  Then do a little something more.   The goal is to keep moving forward.  Keep learning.  But also, to keep your perspective about what’s important.

Preparing should make you feel more comfortable and less panicked.  Preparing should assure a certain quality of life.  But never let preparing for tomorrow’s possible disaster over-shadow living in the moment today.  Only then will you be living as well as you want to live.

 ———————————————————————————————————————————————–

From Rourke……

The above post was an entry for the current ModernSurvivalOnline Guest Post Writing Contest.

Grand Prize includes:

Dr Bones and Nurse Amy: Medium Trauma Bag (value $219 plus $15 shipping) and a Doom and Bloom(tm) Survival Medicine Handbook (value $35 plus $3 shipping) for a total of  $272.00!!

plus………….

Grizzly Fire Starters:  Grizzly Survival Fire and  Stove ($37.95), along with a Grizzly Mini Survival Heater ($27.95) and to round this package out a  100 pack of fire starters ($119.00). Grand total is $184.90!!

 and also………..

Ready Made Resources: Case of Mountain House Freeze Dried Food. Value approx $124.00!!

and concluding the Grand Prize package……

Prepper Press -Prepper Press is providing ANY 5 books that they publish. Your choice!!

2nd PLACE -

Deadwood Stove Company is awarding the 2nd Place Winner with a…yup, you guessed it….A Deadwood Stove!!!!

Emergency Essentials: New! Mountain House Just In Case……. Classic Assortment Bucket ($70 value)

3rd PLACE - 

Directive21.com - Mountain House Freeze Dried Food Bucket ($80 value)

SurvivalGearBags.com - CardSharp knife and a FrogLube Kit (FrogLube Kit – 4 oz Paste, 4 oz Liquid, Microfiber Cloth, Application Brush)

4th PLACE - Author Max Velocity is providing a copy of each of his books:

Contact!: A Tactical Manual for Post Collapse Survival

Rapid Fire!: Tactics for High Threat, Protection and Combat Operations

5th Place - Emergency Essentials: New! Kitchen Fire Extinguisher.  3” x 10”, fights flammable liquid and electrical fires, $20.00 value

© 2012, Rourke. All rights reserved.