Survival supplies – Proper planning will save you $

Survival knowledge and  proper survival gear are great tools to have when something unexpected happens in the wilderness, your off road vehicle gets stuck, or a natural disaster strikes. These skill sets and gear are primarily designed for short term. A couple of days or weeks until you are rescued or find your own way out. Most survival books are written from military manuals, which covers short term survival and most kits are designed for a day to a week.

So what about the long term preppers that are prepping for TEOTWAWKI? Well here is where “in my opinion” some preppers make a mistake and try to expand on short term survival tactics by mass storing years and years’ worth of supplies. I think this is a huge mistake and with some common sense and proper planning can save you a lot of money.

So let’s think about that. If you mass store your supplies then you have to protect them until they are gone. You are pretty much stuck where ever your supplies are until they are exhausted because they are too large and heavy to move. Even if they are spread out through multiple locations, you are still limited to those locations and as the Waldo canyon fire recently taught me. You can still lose some of your supplies to things other than man. I did not actually lose any supplies to the fire but it came close to one of our bug out locations and made me rethink what supplies you can have at a bug out location. Do not store flammable materials or ammo where there may be fire. Last but not least, you end up spending tens of thousands of dollars on supplies that you may or may not ever need. If you really feel the need to stockpile, then stock up on barter items.

I feel it is much wiser to stock up on 8 months to a years’ worth of supplies spread out over multiple locations, small enough to be moved for such a scenario. Learn as much about self-sufficiency as possible and to join with other like-minded people. Think Farmer John and MacGyver over short term survival and mass storage. A year’s supply will be plenty to get you through to hunting and harvesting season. The right farming and livestock knowledge and a little MacGyver technology should get you through the rest. Even most people living in the city can manage with the right knowledge.

This is not to say you should overlook short term survival skills and survival gear because in reality you are more likely to experience a need for them than a TEOTWAWKI scenario. I recommend having both a wilderness survival kit and a disaster survival kit. If you are concerned about the SHTF then build upon them and learn as much as you can about self-sufficiency.

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