Daily Preparedness Tip: After a Disaster Seek Out Resources

If you find yourself in the middle of a disaster (such as the recent Nebraska floods), immediately seek out information on resources and services you may be entitled to.  Some places to check:

• State disaster websites.
• Local news.
• Regional news.
• FEMA.
• Red Cross.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Buy a Weather Radio

There are a few things that EVERY house should have.  Aside from a sanitary water and sewer system which is a legal requirement in order to have a habitable house, everyone should have smoke detectors and a CO detector.  Most places mandate smoke detectors these days and legal mandates for CO detectors in homes are happening in more and more places, but there are no requirements that people in places prone to weather disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes have a weather radio.  So while having a weather radio is not a requirement anywhere that I know of, if you live in places prone to weather disasters where a notice via such a radio could save lives, you absolutely should have one in your house.  So put a weather radio at the top of your shopping list if you don't have one and if you know of someone who lives in a weather disaster-prone area and can't afford such a radio, consider giving them one as a gift.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Keep These 5 Gift Cards on Hand

As I've posted before, you should always keep some cash in your vehicle, but along with cash, consider keeping these five kinds of pre-paid gift cards in the glovebox as well...

1. A gift card for a common gas station in your area.
2. A gift card for Walmart.
3. A gift card for a common fast food place like Subway.
4. A gift card for a common coffee place like Starbucks.
5. A gift card for a prepaid Visa or Mastercard.

By having these pre-paid gift cards on hand/in your vehicle, you are always prepared for an emergency.  You can give them to the homeless if that is your thing, you can give them as last minute emergency gifts, and you can use them if you are caught out/evacuating/otherwise find yourself in an emergency situation.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Spend $5 or $10 a Week on Preps

When people think of "getting prepared" they are often overwhelmed, first because they don't know where to start and second, they make up a huge shop list and then think they can't afford it.  Prepping can easily be done incrementally by spending only $5 or $10 a week to add to your preps.  $5 can buy you a case of water and a mylar blanket.  $10 at the dollar store can buy you a flashlight, batteries, a box of matches, two cans of soup, two tarps, some paracord, a glowstick, and a box of bandaids.  It's slow going but eventually you will have a significant stockpile of basic supplies to help you through a disaster.  And if there is a bigger purchase you want to make--like a sleeping bag or weather radio--save up your weekly $10 until you can buy the item (on sale, of course).

Daily Preparedness Tip: Always Carry $200 Cash With You

As part of your preparedness habit--and as part of your EDC--get in the habit of always carrying cash with you.  $200 should suffice.  Why?  In case the ATMs in the city are down, you will still have cash.  In case the gas stations aren't accepting credit cards during a disaster, you will still have enough cash to buy a few tanks of gas to evacuate.  In case your kid or buddy is having an emergency and needs cash, you can just pull some cash out of your pocket and give it to them.  In case you get stuck with an unexpected restaurant bill, you will have cash to cover it.  In case a guy at the gun show has an unbelievably low price on bucket of ammo and he doesn't take credit cards, you will have cash to buy it.  You get the idea...

Daliy Preparedness Tip: Stickers Are Dumb, Keep a Low Profile

I have a neighbor with an HK sticker on his truck, another with a Glock sticker on his SUV, and a couple on cars in the neighborhood have "Baby on Board" signs.  I am firmly in the no-sticker camp because it tells people stuff about you that they don't need to know.  When a criminal drives by your home and sees stickers on your car like these, do you want them to know you probably have guns in your house, that you have kids, and that they "are an honor student at _____ school"?  The short answer is no, the long answer is hell no because this can make you a target for burglars, home invaders, pedophiles, and others with bad intentions.  The more low profile you are, the better.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Don't Drink and Drive

It's kind of a no-brainer that people shouldn't drink and drive or drive under the influence of any other mind-altering substances, but judging by the several hundred DUI arrests in my city each month, the message hasn't reached everyone.  A DUI will run a person $10,000 to $15,000 and untold misery for years to come so if you do decide to drink during the holidays--or any other time--leave your car at home and take an Uber or Lyft to your destination and back.  Take a taxi, a Tipsy Tow, the city bus (many of which may be free during the holidays), call a friend for a ride, stay at a local hotel if you've had too much to drink, etc.  Note that pre-planning your evening is the way to prevent drinking and driving since once a person starts drinking, their judgement as to whether they are sober enough to drive goes out the window.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Your Health and Fitness is Most Important

Of the top 10 leading causes of death, nine are health and fitness related!  So while most preppers are focused on food and water and guns, 99.8% of the time, how healthy and fit they are will be the determining factor in their survival.  Keeping a stockpile of food and water and cash are important, but exercising for at least an hour everyday and choosing the healthiest food to eat (you have to eat anyway so why not make it healthy stuff) are way more important than how much ammo you have.  Just randomly looking at people out in public tells me the vast majority of them couldn't walk a few miles to an emergency shelter to save their lives!  So work on health and fitness every single day then work on preps, a little at a time, as you have the money and ability to do so.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Be Ready to Eat Anywhere

If you are always on the go, you owe it to yourself to have all of the things you need to be ready to eat anywhere, anytime.  All you need to be able to do this is have the following items in your EDC bag: your choice of food (packets of oatmeal, instant soup, instant coffee, etc), a long handled spork, your EDC pocket knife, and a leak-proof, insulated travel mug.  Hot water is either something you bring with you if you will be out in the wilderness or you can usually fill up your mug with hot water at any gas station/corner store.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Get Your Finances In Order By the End of the Year

The end of the year will be here soon.  Now is a good time to get your finances in order prior to the end of the year.  Find a list of end-of-the-year financial activities here, here, and here.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Learn from Other's Experiences

Any time there is a disaster, there is an opportunity to learn things important to your own preparedness efforts.  In the case of Hurricane Michael, just perusing the news is enough to figure out areas that you should also work on, even if you aren't necessarily preparing for a hurricane.  Examples here, here, here, and here.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Make Sure Your Gear Works

There is a park behind my house.  It's a good sized place which is usually pretty quite.  While having coffee on our upstairs deck yesterday I noticed a bicycle parked next to a tree and some feet sticking out from the side of the tree.  Probably a homeless guy taking a nap.  So we left for the day and came back in the evening when it was already dark.  I wanted to make sure the guy had either left or at least changed positions so I would know he wasn't dead so I picked up a flashlight...and found that the range of the flashlight was significantly shorter than the distance to the tree.  So I got a better flashlight out of my vehicle and had the same problem.  Apparently I have only needed flashlights to see things close up in the dark and not things at a distance.  Needless to say, a very bright light is now on my shopping list.  FWIW the guy was gone this morning.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Working Smoke Detectors Are a Must

There is simply no excuse for people to die in fires because they don't have working smoke detectors in their home.  Smoke detectors cost around $10 with batteries only $1 at Dollar Tree.  Stories like this should never happen. 

tldr; make sure the smoke detectors in your home have fresh batteries each spring and fall and test them monthly.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Know The Universal Edibility Test

If you come upon a plant (or berry or tree fruit or underground vegetable, etc) and do not recognize it, how do you know if it is edible?  In most cases you would take a photo or ask someone or otherwise confirm that it isn't poisonous before eating it.  In an emergency you may have no one to confirm whether it is edible or poisonous and be just hungry enough to eat it.  First, however, perform the universal edibility test which will give you a better idea if the plant is safe to eat.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Use One-Way Screws on Your Exterior Surveillance Cameras

A little while back a local apartment building was featured on the news because their surveillance cameras showed someone...stealing their surveillance cameras.  The guy walked up with a short ladder and an electric screwdriver and walked away with a handful of cameras.  I believe he then went on to burglarize some of the apartments as well.  If you are installing exterior surveillance cameras, use one-way screws to ensure that this sort of thing won't happen to you.  These sorts of screws are also used on security doors and any other place you wouldn't want people to be able to easily remove the screws and access the secured area.  Note that these screws are't infallible as there are kits that allow people to remove one-way screws but for crimes of opportunity these can act as a deterrent.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Check The Situation in Your Vacation Destination Before You Go

For example, many people head to California during the summer for vacation which is usually fine but right now many parts of the state are on fire which would be a good thing to know before you actually arrive there.  Any of the websites in the 'disaster alert' section of the CNI site should be helpful for this as well as perusing the news in the particular area.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Go Matching When You Have a Big Group

You've seen those groups of people who look dorkily (is that a word?) the same with their matching shirts?  Turns out this is a great way to keep track of a large group of people (and should you lose one or two you can just ask around to see if anyone has seen someone who is dressed like you!).  If you have a big family, consider getting everyone a matching (and memorable) shirts/jackets which they can wear when going to a theme park, during a mass evacuation, when on a cruise, etc.  This way you can easily identify everyone in your group at a glance.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Keep Track of ID Expiration Dates

Do you know when your passport expires?  Your driver's license?  For things that expire but that you don't look at very often, set a reminder on your calendar app or on your calendar to remind yourself to get them renewed.  Things like your passport, driver's license, military ID, professional licenses and certifications, credit cards, etc., can result in big problems if you let them lapse so make yourself a reminder to renew them ahead of time to avoid these issues.

Daily Preparedness Tip: Keep Up With Your Medical and Dental Care

A common question on many prepper boards is "what do I do for medical or dental care after a SHTF event?"  Obviously if you are injured in said event, you will need to seek medical care however possible that may be.  But for run of the mill medical or dental issues, consider that many problems after a SHTF event can be averted simply by taking care of your medical and dental health before said event.  By getting your teeth cleaned every six months and problems fixed when they are small (ie: getting a filling instead of waiting until you need a root canal and crown), the probability of needing major dental work right after a SHTF event will be very low.  Ditto medical issues that you can fix but tend to put off (ie: lose weight, stay fit, eat healthy, lower your blood pressure and blood glucose levels naturally, etc).

Daily Preparedness Tip: Carry a Map In Your Vehicle

I can't remember the last time I pulled out an actual map to figure out how to get somewhere but it is a good idea to carry good (paper) maps in your vehicle.  For times when your cell phone doesn't get a signal, your GPS device doesn't get a signal, or there is some issue with what your GPS is telling you to do (like take a sharp turn off a bridge...they've been known to do that occasionally) having a map on hand will help you figure out where you are going sans technology.