Prepping

Do we really need to prep?

Quite often our detractors will counter our preparedness plans with the age old argument, you
are wasting your time if it happens we will all be dead, well I say what if?
 

What if you did not die what would you do then, how could you survive?

VIOLENT solar super storms could destroy life as we know it at ANY MOMENT, shocked scientists have warned today.

It is “only a matter of time” before a catastrophic eruption on the surface of the sun hurtles
towards the planet with devastating consequences.

The Earth could be the target of an explosion equivalent to “10 billion Hiroshima bombs exploding at the same time”.

It has emerged crisis meetings have been held to discuss how to limit the damage of solar
super storms which present a “long-lasting” threat to all forms of life.

 

Scientists warn communication systems will be crippled, vital services such as transport,
sanitation and medicine will close, and loss of power will plunge the planet into darkness.

 

Without power, people would struggle to fuel their cars at petrol stations, get money from
cash dispensers or pay online.

 

Water and sewage systems would be affected too, meaning that health epidemics in urbanised areas
would quickly take a grip, with diseases we thought we had left behind centuries ago soon returning.

 

The warning comes as Britain is experiencing one of the hottest summers on record. Scientists have
warned of "highly unusual activity" on the surface of the sun which has already sent smaller solar flares spiralling towards earth.

 

Solar storms are triggered when coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun tear into the earth’s
magnetic field ripping it apart.

 

This triggers huge surges of electrical currents which lead to widespread power outages and
destroy machinery which use electricity.

 

So judging by the law of averages I would say it is only a “matter of time” before a violent
solar storm smashes into Earth.

 

Our planet is in fact facing a repeat of the devastating solar super storm of 1859 - dubbed the
Carrington Event after English astronomer Richard Carrington.

 

Carrington spotted a solar flare before terrifying fireballs hurtled across the atmosphere making
people think it was the end of the world.

 

Its impact on civilised life was relatively small as there was less reliance on electronics,
a similar event now would be nothing short of catastrophic.

 

We must realise these super storms are large enough to cause serious damage and they happen
quite often relatively speaking.

 

It is only now, when we are so dependent on technology that we are so vulnerable, and one is overdue
by about five years.

 

NASA scientists say a Carrington-level event happens every 150 years with the next one currently
five years overdue.

 

The likelihood of one occurring in the next decade is as high as 12 per cent, they added.

 

DOOMSDAY WARNING the World will end in the next SEVEN YEARS, warns terrifying
prophecy

Floods, earthquakes and deadly plagues will finish all humanity and the civilised world as we know
it.

 

The horrifying forecast is being made by some Christian groups who predict the “Rapture”
phenomenon will bring about a global Apocalypse before 2021.

 

Traced back to ancient Biblical texts, believers claim warnings of the impending Armageddon
also signal the second coming of Jesus.

 

They say similar events have been charted in ancient history including the Biblical Flood of
2,348 BC, told in Genesis, and the Three Plagues of Egypt.

 

Though dismissed by some, others insist such calamitous theories are true and warn the impending
catastrophe will destroy the planet.

 

Dr F. Kenton Beshore, President of the World Bible Society, says the "Rapture" is
likely to occur between now and 2021 before the Second Coming between 2018 and
2028.

So there you have it two reasons why you must prep.

How to get started?

Lately I’ve been considering the plight of people who are new to preparedness. How overwhelming
this all must be for them.

 

Even for those of us who have been prepping for years it can still be overwhelming and intimidating.

I imagine that for people that are new the task ahead must look like Mount Everest.

 

Most people begin to plan for specific problems or vulnerabilities and go from there. There’s
nothing inherently wrong with this approach, and I believe that looking at specific scenarios is a key part of being prepared for whatever may come this way.

 

It’s perfectly normal and common to start this way. Most of the time you start thinking about
the scenario that first got you started on the preparedness path. It’s ok, and normal, and not wrong. Trust me!

 

But today I want to advocate an approach that is a bit different than that.  This approach is a bit less overwhelming and it is more practical than war-gaming individual disaster scenarios.

 

Ignore Specific Scenarios

 

For Beginners the first thing you need to do is ignore specific scenarios. Yes, this means that I
don’t want you thinking about EMP, tornadoes, pandemics, or even the zombie apocalypse.

 

The reason why I want you to do this is because any time you look at a specific scenario in
depth, you end up focusing on specific details and you end up rat-holing and losing sight of the big picture.

 

You end up spending a ton of time with no concrete results that you can actually do something
about.

 

In case the term isn’t something you’ve heard before, “rat-holing” is a term used to describe a
conversation or process that has deviated from its original productive purpose into a generally unproductive but long and winding detour that eventually comes to a dead end.

 

The original discussion purpose may be to agree on a course of action. However, if one or
more people rat-hole into a specific point of the discussion then the discussion stalls with no actionable outcome.

 

Figure out What’s Important

 

The first thing I want you to do is to figure out what is important to your life. Most of the
time the basics are clear: food, water, your health, shelter, and power.

 

Grab a sheet of paper and write it down. Think about what else is important to your life, and
go into a bit more detail than I went into here.

 

Find Your Dependencies

 

Now for each of these things you’ve written down, figure out what you’re dependent upon for
those needs. For example you’re probably dependent upon the power company for
electricity, and you most likely get most of your food from the supermarket.

 

Do this for each item you’ve written down, and now you should have a list of needs and what you
are dependent upon for those needs.

 

Contingency Planning

 

For Beginners Now it’s time to do the fun stuff. You need to put contingency plans in place for
each of these dependencies. But not just anything. I want you to start small, and work your way up.

 

What you’re planning for is for the disruption in the normal availability of those dependencies. To
use the electricity example again, this is you planning for a power cut.

 

Like I said, you want to start small here, and expand your contingency plans. Start planning for a three day disruption, then a week. Then two weeks, a month, three months, and six months. Go all the way out to a year if you want.

 

Once you hit two weeks, if you feel more comfortable with different time frames after that, go for it. I’m giving you a guideline, but it’s definitely not some sort of hard and fast rule.

 

Take as much time as you want. This doesn’t have to happen tonight, or tomorrow. Go at your own pace, and don’t feel like it’s a race. But don’t stall out. Make progress on a consistent basis.

 

Why This Works

 

This works because all any disaster is, when you get down to it, is a removal of your support
structure and dependencies for a certain amount of time.   

 

Whether it’s a power cut for a few hours or a job loss that lasts a few months.

 

By preparing for those dependencies to be unavailable, you’re actually preparing for just about
any disaster scenario. 

 

You can dig into specific scenarios once you’ve got the basics accounted for, but by and large
just having your main dependencies covered will get you through just about anything.

 

As with anything in life, though, action is what gets things done. You have to actually work on
your preparedness plans, not just put them together.  You have to take action to put those
contingencies in place. 

 

They won’t show up on their own.

 

Wrapping Up

 

Prepping for Beginners remember…preparedness planning is very personal, and it’s not about
planning for the latest and greatest disaster.

 

It’s about structuring your life in a way that you are not completely up a creek without a paddle if the power goes out or you can’t get to the supermarket.

 

This will give you a sense of peace and confidence that you are able to take care of yourself and
your family.

 

When your dependencies give out for whatever reason, you’ll have a sense of security that comes from knowing that you’ll be ok, and you have time to figure out what comes next.