Things I Wish I’d Known Before Prepping

I’m sharing some things I wish I’d known before prepping many years ago. Everyone makes mistakes. Just ask Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein. These exemplary individuals were the brightest minds of their day because they learned through the mistakes they made.

When it comes to prepping, even the most experienced preppers don’t have everything just right. That’s why I’m writing this post. We can all do better.

Some Things I Wish I’d Known Before Prepping

That’s because you can’t determine exactly what awful scenario your family might be dealing with down the road. So let’s take a look from other preppers on what they wish they had known before they began prepping. Here are some things I wish I had known before prepping.

Learn How to Stay Way Below Budget

We’re not necessarily talking about prepping, but about everyday life. It’s wise to live below your means, by staying below budget.

That way you are able to set more money aside for when you begin preparing for a crisis. Don’t turn to a credit card, and if you happen to be in debt, get out from under it as quickly as you can.  

Prepping Is Slow and Steady

Prepping is a lot like collecting basketball cards. You don’t just magically have all the Michael Jordan’s you’ve ever wanted in one day. Prepping is not to be done in an entire afternoon by forking over a small fortune on Amazon.

When you come up with a sum of money, go ahead and buy an item or two that is crucial for prepping. Take slow steps and do research on an item before you buy it.  

Don’t Be Waiting for the Sky to Fall

For the love of Pete, don’t live your life as if the apocalyptic “doomsday” is coming on September 23rd. While your wife or husband might find your theories no more than crazy or annoying, you’ll be adding fear and stress to your children that they don’t know how to cope with.

There’s nothing wrong with preparing for a disaster, but living as if the sky will fall at any moment, is no way to live at all. 

Everyone Needs to Be On Board

While your spouse and children might not be as sold on the idea of prepping as much as you are, they do need to have knowledge of your plan.

This goes for where the bug-out bags might be, where your hidden stash of food is, and learning about survival skills that will be crucial. 

Have a Place For Your Family to Meet 

No one knows when disaster will strike. It could happen in the middle of the night or while you’re at work and your children are at school. Make a plan with your children on where you will meet up if things do turn ugly.

Cell service might not even be an option if the power grid goes down. It might even be wise for your children to stay where they are and for you to come to find them at school so you don’t miss each other.  

Test Your Gear Ahead of Time

Don’t just take the advertising’s word for a product. Actually test it out beforehand to determine if it’s a good product. Plus, you want to make sure that you know how to use it when you need it. 

Have Several Bug-out Bags

Again, if SHTF while your family is a thousand miles away on vacation, that prepping gear back at home won’t be doing you a whole lot of good. Prepare several bug-out bags ahead of time and put them in each of your vehicles, not only in one spot at home.  

You Can Never Have Too Much Water

They say that one person should drink around one gallon of water per day. If there are only 4 people in your family, that’s 28 gallons for only one week.

I prefer 4 gallons of water per day person. You will need it for cooking, washing dishes, drinking, and personal hygiene. So, for 4 people that would be 16 gallons per day or 112 gallons for the week.

Storing gallons of water takes up a lot of space too. Consider getting several 55-gallon tanks for storing your water. 

Yes, that’s a lot of water, so we need to start storing it now.

Don’t Rely On Simply Canned Food

Think about this. If your family has to be on the move and staying at home is no longer an option, how far do you think you can carry all your canned food supply before your shoulders are screaming at you? You’ll have to come up with food that’s a lot lighter to haul such as freeze-dried food.

Rotating Your Food Supply

Constantly stocking up a food supply for a disaster is a good idea, but only if you’re constantly rotating your product and using the older inventory before it expires. 

Be Careful Who You Talk To

Sometimes it’s better to just keep your mouth shut. You don’t want half the town knowing that you have a prepping bunker and then invite them to your address for a party. Be careful with who you trust.

They might stop by and pay you a visit when SHTF, and it won’t be a friendly one, we can assure you. 

Don’t Just Have a Plan A or B

What will you do if someone breaks in and steals all your prepping gear or rations of food? You don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket. Come up with not just a plan A or B, but also a few other options. For example, the people in Paradise, CA had no choice but to leave their homes when the fires came streaming through their community. They didn’t have time to bug out to a remote location. Most ended up in a temporary shelter. Hopefully, they did have time to grab their bug-out bags for all family members and pets.

Hygiene and Sanitation Are Critical

Not many preppers fully understand how crucial hygiene and sanitation really are. Not staying healthy and clean can lead to diseases that can actually kill you without the medical treatment you need that won’t be available. 

Bugging Out Should Not Be a First Resort

Be SHTF prepared if you ever have to bug out with your family, but don’t make it your first option. Bugging out should only be a go-to when your home is no longer deemed safe.  

Best Chances of Survival are in a Community

Many preppers will tell you it’s important to stay away from people and to bug-out and go solo. They are right when they say people will be dangerous, but it’s not a bad idea to have family and close friends to have with you that can better your family’s chances of survival. 

Learn Skills and Gather Items You Can Barter

It’s very important to learn skills now and gather items that will become priceless when money no longer holds any value. You’ll have the tools you need to barter with that way. This is definitely something you need to think about.

It’s Important to Get Fit 

Skills are important to learn, but you also need to keep your body fit to be able to handle the strenuous tasks that might lay ahead. Get in shape now so you’ll be ready to run a marathon if you have to, or at least walk a fair distance. These are some things I wish I’d known before prepping, what about you?

Matt’s Thoughts:

• Skills are more important than stuff but you must have a certain amount of stuff
• Failures before an event are learning experiences and not to be thought of as a negative experience
• Don’t let your ego stop you from trying things and learning

Final Thoughts

These are several things many preppers wish they had known beforehand when they began prepping for when SHTF. If you’ve been prepping for years or just are beginning the journey, what do you wish you had known beforehand? May God bless this world, Linda