• I found your site and love it. I am brand new to prepping and have basically nothing ready for anything. Where do I start? (Tim)
  

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First off…Welcome! Glad to have you aboard even if you are a little late to the party 😉

OK, now…”Where to start?”

I will believe you when you say you are “brand new”…so let me start you at the very beginning.

Full disclosure: some folks have different opinions than I do…but most of them don’t have the training, skills, or experience that I do and they don’t have an organized approach to learning the necessary and required prepping knowledge. So, I am methodical, organized, and deliberate in my approach learned over the better part of 4 decades of professional emergency management experience and nearly 50 years of prepping.

First four steps are learning steps, learning the principles of preparedness. This prevents a haphazard, disorganized approach to prepping. It also ensures you more fully avoid HUGE mistakes that many folks make as they prepare. Each step, except the first, will have articles…read them all before moving on. Watch for the “next” button at the bottom of articles. Also, it might be a good idea with you read the “Related Articles” in each posting as well before coming back to the next step.

#1 – Who are you? That is a purely rhetorical question. Do you know yourself, do you have principles, ethics, morals, and do you have foundational beliefs? Why and how do you want to survive emergencies, disasters, and grid-down events? If not, solidify those first. I suggest you write them down.

#2 – Learn Risk Identification and Mitigation.

• Threats, Risk, and Mitigation: Introduction

# 3 – Learn the 7 Common Risks/Threats to all emergencies, disasters, and grid-down. Then learn how to “layer” to mitigate those threats.

• 7 Common Risks/Threats

#4 – Make a plan to start prepping.

This is your plan! It needs to be singular to you and your family. Lay it out any way you want…but I suggest you write it down. And I insist that it be based on “layering”…or you won’t be a successful as you could have been. You will have wasted your time, money, and resources if you don’t layer.

Next comes the actual prepping Step #5…

Now start accomplishing your plan. You can multi-task as you go. Meaning, you can buy a pistol at the same time you are buying food, OTC medicines, and ammo…while you identify a potential bugout location and start storing water correctly.

Layering is vitally important. Example: You start storing water before you have a way to filter/purify it. A problem develops and water shuts off. You may have 100’s of gallons of water stored but not be 100% sure if it is safe to drink and no way to filter/purify it. But, if you have correctly layered then you have a filter/purifier and can make virtually any water safe to drink.

Let me be more clear…each of the 7 Common Risks/Threats have specific layers to them. Each layer is unambiguous in what needs to be done. Work from the inside out using each layer as a “step to take”.

IMPORTANT – while carrying out the practical aspects of prepping (i.e. acquisition of resources) you also need to learn how to set priorities and also learn what Situational Awareness is. You do that by reading and studying SA & LIPS while carrying out your new plan.

• Situational Awareness: Introduction
• L.I.P.S.
• Objectives and Priorities (Part #1)

Once you have read those articles and you are working your plan of acquiring and organizing your 7 Common Risks/Threats mitigation resources you could start testing yourself…and learning more along the way by reading through the series “Days of September – 9/1/2019 Opening” <click here>

To help you out…while you get started on learning the “principles” why don’t you go to your pantry, find the 10 foods that you use the most, then go buy 2 cans of each, continue to do so for the next 3 weeks. That will be some immediate gratification and get/keep you motivated to keep going.

So why do I have you learn the “principles” first? Why do all that reading? Why not just get started and do stuff?

Well, that would make you like many, maybe most, other preppers that are inexperienced, unorganized, untrained, unskilled, and chaotically going about preparing…or rather, thinking they are preparing. To be truly successful at prepping it is vitally important that you understand the big picture, then important bit and pieces of that big picture before you start spending your hard earned money and time.

I will send you my personal email, let me know how you are doing…or if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you and lend a hand if I can.

Now, a serious message from me to you…You are late to the party, meaning you are behind the curve on preparing. But, you are not too late…not too late at all. But you have to get moving and get stuff done…don’t delay or procrastinate. As I said in my article “Intensify” we have fallen as a country…it’s over. I lay out the case clearly in my article “The Fall of the U.S. Empire“. Don’t get me wrong…our country has not ceased to exist…and our people won’t…and the Constitution will continue to be a guiding document for those dedicated to the principle of a Constitutional Republic.

The Roman Empire didn’t simply vanish after its fall…it degraded and then over the course of some 1600 years it morphed into present day Italy, the socialist democracy it is today. Same with the British Empire…it too didn’t simply vanish…it shrank to a fraction of the size it once was and then became the socialist democracy it is today (i.e. Britain, England).

The USA will follow, is following, the same path as all empires…unless the globalists make their final move. So you have time to do a lot of prepping…probably more time than you think…so no need to panic. But time is of the essence. There are two major resources at your disposal; 1) time, 2) money. If you have enough money you can go do everything you need to do in a short period of time. If you are not wealthy then you will have to use your time wisely in acquiring that which you decide you need…and it will take longer to adequately prepare.

A final thought for now…Do you plan to shelter in-place or bug-out? The answer to that question will really make a difference on how you prepare and for what. Answer that question soon, very soon. Here are some articles that might help you decide that answer:

• Bug-Out or Bug-In ?
• The Best Bugout Location – How to Pick One
• Which is better, bug-out or shelter in place? FAQ – 3/17/2016
• Does a bugout location make any sense at all?
• Prepper Myth #5: You Have to Bug Out
• Prepper Myth #7: You Don’t Need an Actual Bug Out Plan

Try to avoid stupid mistakes…

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For anyone that can’t or doesn’t want to make a “comment”…use the form below to send me questions, thoughts, concerns, issues, or ask for help. If you would like me to respond to you directly and confidentially just tell me when you send the form.

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Related Articles –

• Too many to list…see the Table of Contents

 

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