Pretty broad question, eh? Maybe I should clarify the question a little bit…

When will you be ready for a “grid-down” event?

I hope all of you can answer “I am ready now” but realistically that probably isn’t true for any of us. Why is that? Basically I don’t think any of us will ever be ready for something along the lines of an actual grid-down.

Yeah, I am talking about a TEOTWAWKI scale event for the most part. And why don’t I think any of us are ready now or will ever be ready?

Let’s look at what readiness might look like –

1. We have all the means necessary to protect our family from any form of violence that might present itself. Breaking down “means” equates to, enough guns, ammo, magazines, optics, tactical gear, and training. Do any of us have all of that in-place right now? Do we have enough “area deniers” to protect those areas of our home or property that we might not be able to handle with guns alone? Bars, nets, and boards for the windows? How about some kind of perimeter protection? Do we have an agreement with our neighbors to mutually support each other?
2. We have all the means to provide our family with medical care and prevent sickness. Again, enough medical supplies and training to meet all of that requirement? What about medicines? When it comes to more advanced medical care, are we well enough trained for things like bullet wounds, delivering a baby, and maybe taking out a ruptured spleen.
3. We have enough communications capability to keep our family members in communication with each other and our family in touch with the outside world? Do we have multiple redundant communications systems like emergency radios, handheld and mobile Ham radios, or even FRS/GMRS radios? Do we have ways to charge batteries for all of those radios? Do we have any of those radios hardened against an EMP?
4. We can form an organization within our family, neighborhood, community, or church congregation to meet the needs of a grid-down. We can expand or merge that organization with other families, our neighborhood, our church congregation, or even wider. Do you know the basics of organizing effectively?
5. We can provide safe drinking and cooking water for at least a year. Do you have at least three ways to provide filtered and purified water for your entire family for at least a year? Do you have 1 – 2 months of water stored right now? Can you transport it if needed?
6. We can provide sufficient shelter against the elements (hot and cold) for multiple years. Do you have an initial shelter to protect your family? If that shelter becomes unusable do you have the tools, training, and materials to make another shelter capable of withstanding the elements (hot & cold)?
7. We can provide enough food for our family for a year and we have enough heirloom seeds to garden for two years. Do you have enough pantry food, including spices for 90 days? Do you have enough salt, wheat, oats, sugar, and other basics of life to last your family until other sources of food can be located or grown? Do you know how to garden? Can you transport those food items?

Wow! That was a reality check for me. I have been prepping a very long time. And I’ve been blessed with sufficient financial resources to acquire a long list of prepper items. And, on top of everything else, I have been in a career where I have better exposure and training to these kinds of issues than most. All of that and…I am still lacking.

Of the seven areas I mentioned above we are solid in 4 areas. In the medical area we are good on supplies, decent on training, and lacking on the more advanced stuff. In the water area we are fine on the filtration and purification side, but lacking on the supply side. Well, unless we count our neighbors large pool. And while we are good on food, we are lacking in available garden space. So overall I would say we are kind of not ready…kind of ready.

Then on top of that I do have to look at our “location” situation. It sucks! Our town would rip itself apart if we had a grid-down. We already have a large gang population. And I am not talking about some amateur gangs, I am talking about the big guys like Aztecas, MS-13, etc. They all use this city as a transportation hub. The only reason it isn’t crazy right now…they have to keep a fairly low profile to keep the drugs and illegals moving through to other parts of the country while keeping law enforcement off their backs.

Our location also affects our water supply issue as well as our gardening capability. That means we would probably have to bugout if times got really bad. Fortunately we have a place we can go to, but we would also have to leave a fair amount of our preps behind if we only took one vehicle. That sucks, but we have everything organized to do that. Given enough warning we could cache a lot with no problem.

So, I pose the question again, but I will make it personal…

“When will we be ready?”

We can’t personally resolve the garden and water issue. I am not sure that we can really resolve the medical issue unless we move close enough to some kind of medical facility or closer to more highly trained folks.

Then again, will we be able to handle all of the potential violence that may come our way? Probably not on our own. Probably “yes” with some help.

How long will our rechargeable batteries last? Can we put together a large enough group of people to handle grid-down? Can we be organized well enough? What about a drought year for gardening, or two years, can we store enough water?

Well, as I combine honesty and a solid reevaluation together…the answer would probably be…never.

What?????   Yeah, we will probably never be fully prepared. And, I would go out on a limb and say the same for you and your family.

So why are we are preparing at all?

Because we know we have to. Yup, it is that simple. There is just a bit more to it, but I am going to hold that for the end of the article.

What about the “gaps” in our preps?

It is easy to find the more glaring gaps if you go about it systematically. And the best way to do that is prioritizing. And the best way to prioritize is to use the “layering” method. To learn about layering read the multi-part series “Layers” < click here to read >

As you read through each of the layers articles you can acquire those items that meet the most immediate need. That means meet the most immediate need in each of the basic areas. Then meet the medium-terms needs in each area and then finally the long-term needs.

That gives you a very systematic way to go about it and how to spend your money wisely at the same time. But, I would suggest you avoid the frustration of never having enough.

So, will you and I ever be ready for grid-down, SHTF, or TEOTWAWKI?

Yes, we will.

Why?

Because we are working on it and we have the mindset to accept that events like that could happen. And since we can visualize it our minds, we can be more flexible, adaptable, and less prone to Normalcy Bias. And if you have read through my Situational Awareness articles then you probably have many, if not all, of the tools you will truly need. I say that because I’ve seen people in high-stress, life and death situations, enough to know that surviving is almost all mental.

Avoid complacency!

What I mean by that is don’t just count on your “mental” when it hits the fan. Your “material” preps will be needed as well. So stay the course, be organized in how you go about acquiring your preps, look for gaps, and keep going forward. It will pay off!

 

 

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