Newbie Prepper? Avoid These Common Prepping Mistakes

There are a lot of mistakes committed by newbie preppers. They start preparing but they don’t know what they’re preparing for. Before you start preparing, you need to come up with a plan. Know the things that you need in an emergency situation and remember that not every situation requires the same skills or gear. Knowing the common mistakes preppers usually make should also be part of your planning. This is the best way to minimize errors which is very important because you cannot afford to make mistakes in your preps and only find out about it after the disaster hits.

Here are some of the mistakes that a newbie prepper is likely to commit.

Being close minded

Newbie preppers stick with their plans no matter what. If your plans work, it’s great. But if it does not, you have to find a solution to fix your problem, even if the solution can affect or completely change your original plan.

Buying books, but not reading them

Many newbie preppers do this, they buy survival books or order them online and when they arrive in the mail they will just look through them and after that, they’ll shove them on a shelf and they will never open it again. You need to read those books because you can learn a lot about prepping and survival from them. You need to stock up on knowledge too, not just on food, water, tools, and equipment.

Giving up too easily

A lot of newbie preppers start full of energy but they do give up easily, they give up before achieving their goals. Money is the main reason why newbie preppers give up too early; they assume that they have to spend a large amount of money for survival food, arsenal and others. There are ways you can prep without going beyond your budget: I’ve written about how to prep cheap here and here.

Not knowing how to store properly

Do not store your preps in one room or location, they might burn, flooded, or get stolen. So it is better to store your preps in different locations in your house. Also be mindful of where you are storing your food, it should be cool and dark and away from direct heat or sunlight. Even the containers you use should be considered. Opt for airtight containers to keep air and moisture out and assure longer shelf life for your food.

Not planning

Most newbie preppers don’t make their own plan; some even follow the plans of other preppers. They thought that most survival plans are just the same. It is important that you make your own plan, like what are the things that you need to store, where to go when you need to evacuate, etc. Think about what possible crisis or disaster might strike your area or region and plan accordingly.

Not planning where to bug-out

During an emergency situation there is always a chance that you have to leave your home, if this happens where will you go? You need to have a place to go or a bug out location in case you need to evacuate.

If you’re going to choose a bug out location make sure that it has alternative routes so that you can go there even when main roads become unpassable.

Also read: The Prepper’s Dilemma: Bug In or Bug Out?

Relying on gadgets more than skills

You can store a lot of tools, but the question is, do you know how to use them? There are a lot of useful tools out there, but only if you know how, when and where to use them.

You can make some research about the different tools that you can use in an emergency situation and learn how to use them. Practice your skills and learn new skills that you can use in an emergency situation. Some essential skills that you need to learn are different methods of building fire and purifying water.

Storing too many guns

Weapons are important in an emergency situation, but that does not mean that you have to store too many of it. Some newbie preppers store more firearms than food. Even though guns are important, there are still some things that are much more important than guns. Focus first on food, water, and medical items before stockpiling firearms.