10 Questions- Are you Prepared

Our fellow monkey @Falcon15 has a radio show called, In Case Of Emergency. Last week on his show, Falcon asked 10 questions. These are a good gauge as to how prepared are you. If you can answer yes to all 10 then you are ready. If you answer no to any of these questions then you may have some work to do. I answered no to a few of these questions.

10 Questions- Are You Prepared?

1. Do you have enough food and water to care for your family for a month with no trips to the store?
2. Do you have a back-up sanitation plan in the event that you don’t have running water in your home for an extended period of time?
3. Do you have a route if your area were to face a mandatory evacuation? Do you have a back-up route? Do you have a route that you could take if all of the main thoroughfares were gridlocked?
4. Do you have a plan for grabbing what you need if you had to leave your home in 15 minutes from this very second?
5. Do you have an emergency water filtration system? A secondary source of water?
6. Are you prepared for a power outage lasting up to a month? Could you cook? Stay warm or cool?
7. Do you have a plan for meeting up with family if a disaster strikes when you are separated? What if communication is down? What if you are away from home and need to get home?
8. Are you fit enough to leave home on foot, carrying what you need to survive?
9. Do you have family members with special needs or health concerns? If so, have you prepped to take care of these needs if you have no power and can’t get to the store or pharmacy?
10. In a situation of civil unrest due to a lack of supplies, could you keep your home and family safe? Could you take care of medical emergencies on your own if no one was answering the phone when you dialed 911?

 

^It's easy. I'ma launch it with my trebuchet.

 

It is a good temporary fix for the sanitation issue


but eventually one would have to build something permanent. That would take supplies, plus you would need to find a spot that is close but now too close.

 

Yeah wife laughs at me when I say pick up another terrycloth pack from Costco, trust me they will be used, and used and used...

Rancher

 

This is a pretty good list as far as lists go, but the problem I have with lists is that they tend to be overly generic, or make assumptions that may not apply in the real world.

For example:
#3: If you are under a "mandatory evacuation" you're probably going to be limited to only certain roads & routes. The path out may be decided for you.

#7: If you have family members who are not preppers and do not buy into the cause, then they are not going to agree ahead of time to any particular plan. If this question is on the list, then there should also be a question, "What do you do about unprepared family & loved ones?"

#10: "Civil unrest" could mean a lot of things. Most of us could manage a few random scumbags. Likely none of us could fend off a large mob, in spite of what all the badass Chuck Norris wannabes who hang out on prepper forums think of themselves. And by the way, having served in the military does not qualify one as an expert on everything nor will it give you any special advantage when two dozen thugs surround your car. And by the way, part 2: Some of the thugs out there will be former military guys, too. So if your argument is "I was in the military and I know what I'm doing," then don't forget that the enemy may know what they are doing as well.

 

#3: route? Route to where? Not everyone has a BOL and in many cases your destination and/or route choices are going to be dictated by the authorities.

 

#2 sanitation...

Pretty easy really if you live outside the city. Dig an outhouse. Many people throughout the world still use this type of disposal.

 

Number 8 and 9 are problematic. My wife has COPD and cannot stand any exertion. I have emergency generators and enough fuel to last maybe a month but I do not believe she would last that long without AC to reduce the humidity and the use of her oxygen concentrater. I could probably bug out but I will not abandon her, so it would be Seacowboys Last Stand..

 

10 Questions- Are You Prepared?

1. Do you have enough food and water to care for your family for a month with no trips to the store? approximately 2 years worth.
2. Do you have a back-up sanitation plan in the event that you don’t have running water in your home for an extended period of time? Out house out front, (disguised as a garden shed) and water tanks in the system with pressurized water for emergencies like fire.
3. Do you have a route if your area were to face a mandatory evacuation? Do you have a back-up route? Do you have a route that you could take if all of the main thoroughfares were gridlocked? There are 4 different routes I can use to leave the place.
4. Do you have a plan for grabbing what you need if you had to leave your home in 15 minutes from this very second? not home at the moment, but while home the truck can be packed in about 30 minuets.
5. Do you have an emergency water filtration system? A secondary source of water? I have both commercial water filters and the 5 gallon bucket system gravel sand and charcoal . I have roughly 2K gallons in various containers.
6. Are you prepared for a power outage lasting up to a month? Could you cook? Stay warm or cool? I am on a battery system with solar and wind mill and several generators. I am also on propane and wood
7. Do you have a plan for meeting up with family if a disaster strikes when you are separated? What if communication is down? What if you are away from home and need to get home? no one in proximity.
8. Are you fit enough to leave home on foot, carrying what you need to survive? I usually do walking every day, but this week with the severe heat I'm inside the mall/store. I have a bug out cart I can configure to any style I need . One for the bike, and one for leaving the house.
9. Do you have family members with special needs or health concerns? If so, have you prepped to take care of these needs if you have no power and can’t get to the store or pharmacy? A friend that stays with me has their meds and spare meds in the fridge. I have gas fridge and 3 DC 12 volt fridge .
10. In a situation of civil unrest due to a lack of supplies, could you keep your home and family safe? Could you take care of medical emergencies on your own if no one was answering the phone when you dialed 911? I have usually always dealt with home emergencies even a broken arm. I have a few fire arms and ammo for those aggressive situations but I hope not to have to use them for that. Hunting is fun, but only for food. i use air guns for fun and plinking.

 

The process to dump is easy, the wipe it the problem, I guess the Arabs wipe with their left hand... yuck!

 

We have geared this place as our retreat. That is a never ending project and continues on. To be honest bugging out is the last resort for us due to a number of reasons. We could, and have the equipment, but on foot it would be slow going simply because of physical limitations. Years of active lifestyle choices have left us both with wore out knees, ankles, bulging discs ect. We could do it, but certainly not with any type of speed. So, most likely we will make our stand here, ideally in a support role for the younger bucks that can carry a 80 pound ruck and do the hi speed low drag kind of stuff..

 

It has work centuries for them. It does make sense when you consider how valuable water is in those areas prior to technology and even now. On a side note, it is funny to watch those that still follow the old ways eat - that left hand stays a loooong way from the table.

Reference 'the wipe'...newspapers, magazines, old rags (that can be washed and reused)...I was told as a child that even corn cobs were used in the old days but I think that was a story for children.

 

Never used a cob, or a sears catalog, but what was used before the catalog...

 

You know, I wish I had the funds to purchase a truck load of Hesco Barriers, the Back Hoe to fill them and of course the dirt to do so... So, when things go South I would erect my Wall because I ain't leaving.

 

I will pray for you. I believe the crazy isn't far away now. I'm glad you have a bug in plan.

 

They make a small portable oxygen concentrator now, not just a tank like they used to be. You might be able to power that off of one of those solar generators like I have.

 

Corn cobs.
Always have 2 baskets
1 with brown corn cobs
1 with white corn cobs to see if you have to use another brown corn cob!

 

Same issues here.