Were are you at "TODAY" in your Prepping Plans?

[PA PATRIOT]

Had a few days home a lone and decided to reassess the prep's in terms of completeness and functionality. I looked at how we had things stored, labeled, redundancy and portability.

I looked at both home stores and portable bug-out inventory.

First I looked at load numbers and weight of the containers to keep the bug-out load even and to have the priority gear closest to the rear seat or the back gate to have quick access when needed.

I also checked that all needs were met with portable shelter, food & water, first aid, comm's, lighting, clothes and of course defensive items.

Next the Bug-In stores were inspected which are separate from the everyday living and the bug-out kit so we have redundancy if need be but each system is independent and stored for speed of access and prevent the need for searching for or trying to assemble kits when time is of the essence from a multi purpose source/store.

Lastly I looked at food/water and fuel rotation and inspected the cut and stacked cords of wood for rot and bug infestation (Termites)

I have to say I think we finally have are crap wired and with the recent maintenance to the AR's and pistols we are good to go.

I did notice one minor issue that we have failed to replace the desiccant packs in the stored bug-out ammo but since each box/magazine is individually vacuum packed I don't think it had any negative affect and is only a redundant safe guard.

So today if the SHFT were would you be in your prep's and how would any incompleteness affect your families chances to survive?

This thread is not meant to be a bragging or condemnation discussion but a true assessment of were you are at today.

I think more so then any other past year that there is a fair chance that civil unrest could rear its ugly head and cause problems in the next 12 months so lets be honest and really look at your prepping situation.

[alienb1212]

Nowhere near where I want/need to be.

I've got my firearms and most of my communications gear covered, my foodstuffs would last only about a month or less.

Portable/Bugout stuff is pretty much set, but due to my current situation stocking up isnt really that practical for a bug-in situation. I wouldn't stay here anyway.

Most of my preps are focused around getting from upstate NY home to Maine where the entirety of my family is, be it vehicle, foot, or otherwise.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Until I win the lottery and am able to buy several hundred hectares of land in the middle of BFE I will always feel that I am not prepared "enough".

As for everything else, there are some loose ends here and there that I need to get in order. In fact the wife and I used our holiday off to clean out and organize our storage unit. Checked container contents and matched with labels. I miss label things on purpose, I had a break in about two years ago and lost some tools that I kept locked in our storage unit. Now all my "gear" containers gets spray painted black and labeled with duct tape "Halloween Decorations". I figure if I get a break in again the thieves will forgo any useless Halloween crap.

[Brimstone]

I am doing better than 98% of the people out there, but still a long way from where I need to be. I have a lot of food storage, but I am getting low on a few items from daily usage like flour and sugar. I am about two months behind on my semi-annual restocking. I need to get that taken care of and then add to it. We are probably down to around a four month supply for a family of five and I like to stay at a 9-12 month supply of food. Water is a bigger problem for me as I don't have easy access to a fresh water supply and only have around 300 gallons stored.

In the back of my mind I always think that I would like to move to an area further out with more acreage and room for more preps like garden and livestock, but in reality I am in a pretty good spot for a bug-in scenario. I live in a neighborhood on the side of a mountain. It is a very defensible location with limited access points. I am close friends with most of my neighbors and being a high percentage Mormon area, most of my neighbors are as well stocked or better prepared than my family. In a real SHTF scenario we would have each other's backs (well at least until the food started running out).

My immediate plans are to restock the food storage and continue working with the kids. My ten year old is an amazing shot with a rifle and is working on his bow skills. My seven year old still has a way to go, but he is getting there. Other than that, I try and take the neighbors out shooting from time to time to make sure that they are proficient if the need ever arises.

I try not to come across as a doomsday nut-job. Luckily, food storage and guns are just a way of life around here.

[Kfgk14]

I'm pretty satisfied. My alternate gate is finished (rear exit of my property, onto an old logging route which attaches to a system of fire roads/back roads leading all the way to the Canadian border) and my front gate has been reinforced. I'm still trying to promote more dense growth along the front of my property (I have about 1/2 mile of my perimeter abutting a state route, major security concern for me).

Energy wise, my town offered a big alternative energy credit, so I have completely off-grid solar and battery bank/inverter for my fridge, freezer, water pump, shop, etc. and my water is solar-heated now. I want to add wind eventually, though my wallet is still recovering from the solar investment. I want a wood gasifier eventually, as I still have my generator and there is a firewood depot near me with nearly 500 cords of dry wood on hand. I also just got geothermal, so my heat is free from now on and I still have a wood stove and eight cords on hand, enough for nearly two winters if the geothermal dies. I intend to add a cord a year until I have 15 cords, that would be more than three years of wood. I intend to get a wood cook stove in the near future, as I'll eventually run out of gas for the cook top, and I grew up cooking on wood, it is fun and challenging.

If I get the gasifier, I may look into buying an old 4x4 truck and converting it to run on wood gas, I figure with all that wood nearby at the depot I could still be driving around (if we don't get an EMP, of course) and that'd make harvesting wood easier (as opposed to carrying 4 cords of wood across 200 yards of field, or 15 miles from the depot, every year). Related to that, are there any small dual-sport or dirt-bikes that could be converted to wood gas? I know little about vehicles and wood-gas operation, so any help is greatly appreciated.

I need more ammo, I felt set for a long time with about 5k for my rifle (5.56). I've since realized that my home, being the most secure and defensible, would likely be the fall-back if me and my (few) neighbors had to double up/pool resources, and they don't have huge stocks of ammo themselves, perhaps 1500 each, though that's changing as they see things getting worse. So I feel I ought to have more ammo, eventually I'd like to have 10-15k in 5.56 under the roof. I also need more 9mm, I have 1.5k right now and I'm really not feeling confident with that amount (I know, the hand gun will likely see no use in combat when SHTF, but you never know, if I ended up with a 9mm SMG on hand somehow I'd want that stacked deep).

If things (hypothetically) went so south that we had some kind of NATO or UN coalition, foreign invasion, etc. post-collapse (i.e. there's no US Military to defend us) I want to have enough ammo to be able to resist, if not indefinitely then for a good long time. Yep, I know, adjust my tin foil hat

Medically, I have my first-aid certs, and TLSU is a former EMT, now a nurse. The boys are CPR/first aid certified. TLSU has taken responsibility for the larger-scale medical department, got us lots of equipment on the cheap, and has really educated me and the boys. I'd like to get more training regarding dealing with gun shot wounds, massive bleeding, helping people in shock, triage, etc.

Food storage...I have enough in the house to see me and mine (and two others who will be joining us) through 9-12 months depending on activity level. I have enough seeds, however, to sustain us indefinitely. I have enough hunting ammo (.308, 12 gauge bird shot, .22 LR) to augment that even further. My neighbor (property adjacent to me, we have a gates between our respective pieces of land, we watch each others' backs, mine is his and his is mine, etc.) raises goats for milk, cheese, etc. and also slaughters them for meat. His herd (is that the term?) is about 60 goats, and he has nearly 100 acres to graze them on. They take care of themselves, he has enough that he could allow them to procreate unrestricted and all of us (the families in the vicinity, tight-knit micro-community, have thought a lot about how to deal with SHTF, very well prepared) would be fed well on goat meat, at least part of the year. My neighbor with the goats is a vet, and takes very good care of his herd. Another nearby neighbor has horses, rides them and shows them, etc. as well as using them for traditional agricultural techniques (obviously has work horses and riding/show horses, doesn't make show horses pull a plow).

So me myself and my immediate community is very well prepared. We're armed, dug in, low-key, self-reliant, and overall pretty well-set. There's always more to be improved on. Community is huge, allies will make everything easier. Having someone to watch your home , even when the $h!7 hasn't hit the fan, is a great advantage/comfort.

[DIRTMAN556]

As good as its ever gonna get.

[SMETNA]

Mostly lacking in food. I want to pick up quite a bit more MH veg. A Katadyn Pocket. A GoalZero solar kit. And another case of PPU M855 ( or IMI)

After that, some clothing/waterproof/ cold weather gear, and a big Multicam Tarp for my BoB

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have a address book from the Mormon church

[VooDoo6Actual]

I have a address book from the Mormon church

Funny as heck.

[alienb1212]

I have a address book from the Mormon church

While almost funny, depending on the situation some may be willing to part with some of their stores for some provided security. That seems to be one thing a lot of the mormons forget/deny they'll need is firearms, training, and the willingness to use them. Those that I have spoke with are beyond pacifists.