Where to begin preparing?

Well, after our first post yesterday it probably got some people thinking which is good.  I hope it did get some of you to start thinking, specifically about what to do for your family. Here is a little about me and my preparing.  I think it has always been with me.  Beit going hiking in the mountains as a young Boy Scout up until now and I’m almost 40.  I have a military and Law Enforcement back ground but my big eye opener was when I was working security in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina came through. 

When I first arrived, I remember being driven from the airport into down town New Orleans and just looking around.  Garbage and debris everywhere and you could see water lines on buildings and vehicles from where the flood waters were.  Then you look in the lower 9^th ward and it looked like a war zone.  Myself and a couple guys from my team went for a drive in the lower 9^th and just driving through there was an eye opener.  You look at all the homes, one that was in the middle of the road and you had to drive onto someone’s front lawn to go around it and realize how things can go to shit in a very short time.  That’s when I had a switch click inside of me.  I was down there for 7 months.  It was a 7 month education. 

When I returned home I started to look at things different.  When I would go to the grocery store, I would buy a bit more than I normally would.  This allowed me to begin keeping more food and water stored in my small apartment for me and my two children.  I increased my attendance in training courses and equipment.  Time went on and finances increased a little bit at a time and this allowed me to improve and increase what I had.  I have always been into camping and the outdoors so I was fortunate that I had camping gear already.

Then 4 years ago I met a wonderful woman who stalked me, we will call her “The Supreme Allied Commander” or TSAC for short.  Since I figured I wouldn’t be able to hide from her I better just give in and let life take its course.  We have been together almost every day since.  We have a little girl now who will turn 3 this year and I remember in 2012 looking at this new little girl and another switch just flipped inside of me.  I remember holding this new little life and looking down at her and thinking “How hard would it be for her to look at me and cry because she was hungry”.  For whatever reason this lit a fire under me and I began a journey that hasn’t stopped yet.

I began researching a lot of things; long term food, water filtration etc.  Then I stepped back to pull on my military background.  I sat down with a notepad and a pen and thought “when the military shows up in the middle of nowhere to create a functioning base, what they HAVE to have?” THIS is how I started my preparing.  First thing that I looked at were the basics.  Military has to have the following:  Troops, self-defense, food, water, communication, power and shelter.  Then I started writing. 

Food: 

This is simple but people think that they will start to death very fast.  Honestly, how many Americans can afford to miss a meal or three?  I know I can.  But TSAC and I began to buy a little bit more when we went to the store and filled up the pantry pretty fast.  It doesn’t take a huge investment at first.  When you go to the store, and you usually buy 3 cans of soup, you add two more and come home with 5.  Poof, you have 2 spare cans in case things go bad.  We just kept doing this for the first several weeks and before we knew it the pantry was full.  Then I began looking at longer term food storage that we wouldn’t use unless the SHTF (Shit hit the fan).  We looked and sampled several different brands and decided to go with Wise Foods brands.  A couple reasons, they are a Utah company.  Buy local and keep Americans in jobs. Second, I liked that they came in buckets that were stackable.  Once the food is gone, you have something useful to carry supplies, water, use as a toilet etc. STG became a dealer of Wise Foods so if any of our fans, friends or readers want some, just let us know and we can get it ordered for you!  Then we looked at how long a disaster would last.  Looking back on New Orleans and the American Red Cross said 72 hours.  New Orleans was almost a week and in some places longer, before help arrived.  You need to have a way to resupply your food.  What did we do?  Simple, we have a small green house, garden and fruit trees and strawberry plants.  We dehydrate a lot of the fruit because our three year old loves it! 

This is the beginning of a several part series on how to begin being prepared.   Keep checking back for the next issue that should happen in 3 days or so.  Maybe sooner if I get time.