When I first felt a Preparation Call, I had no idea what to expect or even how to begin. I knew there was a lot of information available but much of it seemed geared toward fear-mongering and wilderness survival. As I began to make plans one of the first things I considered was to ask the question: What Supplies And Tools Do I Need For Emergency Preparedness?
Every household should prepare in advance for emergencies. Recent surveys show that fewer than twenty percent (20%) of Americans feel they are “very prepared” should a natural disaster or emergency happen. In that same survey, sixty-seven percent (67%) of Americans acknowledge the importance of being prepared.
An emergency can be as simple as the electricity going out or something so catastrophic that you need to board-up your home and evacuate until the emergency is over. Most experts really express the need to have an family emergency plan and a disaster preparedness kit. Fortunately, sample plans are easy to find on the Internet. You also need to have the right supplies and tools on hand at all times.
You’ll need food and water to last your family at least three days as well as medications and a first-aid kit. Other emergency supplies include a battery-operated radio, blankets and extra clothes. Everyone in the family should have a flashlight with extra batteries.
There is a wide variety of flashlights available. The experts at manufacturers such as Vector and Husky say flashlight-radio combinations can be a good choice, as are flashlights with clips or cords so they can hang from a belt or loop.
Hand tools and fasteners are also important. Quality hand tools such as those made by Stanley and Husky should be part of your kit, as should a box of nails and screws. You should have wrenches and pliers to shut off utilities, hammers and saws to board up windows and a crowbar to take down the boards. Many manufacturers make all-in-one tool sets that are easy to carry and include most of the tools you’ll need.
Another good set of tools to have on hand is a cordless combo kit. Typical kits can include a drill, a circular saw, a reciprocating saw and a flashlight. Because these tools are cordless, they’ll keep running even if your power goes out. Also consider a portable AC/DC power system, which can run corded tools and battery chargers; jump-start a car; inflate a tire; power a TV or radio; and recharge your cell phone. Plus, the kids can plug their games into it for hours of entertainment while you wait for the lights to come back on. It is strongly advised that everyone in your household should have a flashlight and extra batteries.
Before an emergency strikes, it pays to make a plan, practice that plan and stock up on the right supplies. Don’t wait til the last minute where panic might create a bigger issue. Be mindful that the majority of families will be in a panic state because of their lack of preparedness, so you will want to be ready to help.
This is about a Preparation Call. I certainly don’t like the gloom and doom messages or fearmongering that was rampant during the “prepper era”. The reality is, times are difficult and likely going to get more difficult as we move forward. I must admit I’ve been hesitant to really share what was on my heart over the years because I didn’t want people to misinterpret the message.
Obviously, in my mind I’m not a pessimist. I have a faith that is optimistic about the future, and confident in the outcome. That doesn’t change the realities and difficulties that we most certainly will face. That also does not alter the concerns I have for individuals and families that will refuse to see what we are facing.
I agree with the power of positive thinking to alter an individual’s course in life, but I’m not sure positive thinking can alter a war or divert a natural disaster. Certainly, individuals can have an impact on the course of history – and if enough individuals will embrace they can be a major catalyst for change.
Today, unfortunately, I’m not feeling overly positive about the choices that many individuals have been making collectively – and the world is certainly impacted. I’d like to believe we have an opportunity to fix things for the better. Is it possible to alter the outcomes when the prophets of old have foreseen the difficulties that we are about to endure? No one knows the timeline for future events and no one can predict how things will unfold. We can pray for wisdom, and can prepare ourselves and our families for whatever difficulties may come.
Being prepared does not mean living without hope and excitement for the future. It does not mean giving up enjoyment of life and crawling into a cave. It certainly does not mean loading up on ammo and booby trapping your home waiting for the zombies to come.
A preparation call is being aware that there are storm clouds on the horizon and you should probably bring in the laundry. Take some extra efforts to get things organized and in better order. Be sure to think of your family and make some extra plans for them – because they may not be looking ahead and preparing.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some additional insights on preparedness. We’ll discuss the looming inflationary crisis, and multiple wars that we will likely be experiencing and how it will impact our lives. Above all, keep your hearts open to faith, hope and love.
Unless you have been living on a different planet, you are well-aware of the concerns with our food supply. The war in Europe has impacted our wheat and grain supplies – and many experts fear the worst is yet to come.
Some people prefer to not be informed of the challenges we face. After all, we’ve been through a tough few years with the Covid outbreak, terrible political mess, and recession that is making it difficult to get by. I don’t blame folks for wanting to avoid reading or watching the news because it’s exhausting to see what is going on in the world. But avoidance can’t stop what’s coming because you can’t control the things that affect the world’s food supply.
With the difficulties, this writing is about doing something to better prepare your family for the challenges. We are going to discuss the Importance of Having a Survival Seed Bank.
There’s an impending sense that a major food crisis is on the way and the government is trying to prepare right now for that crisis. But if you know anything about how the world is run, then you know that if you’re not the one in charge of your family’s food supply, you and your loved ones could very well end up standing in a ration line or worse – going hungry.
Far too many people have the mistaken belief that if something bad does happen that interrupts their access to food supplies, the government will have a backup plan to save their family.
When millions upon millions of people rely on the same belief that there will be enough to go around, they’re going to end up disillusioned. There won’t be. The government isn’t going to be prepared for any major food crisis.
Why? Because they simply can’t stockpile enough food to feed millions of people for a long term situation. You might think that the hope for relief from a food crisis lies at the base of Mount Plateau in the depths of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which houses the world’s biggest seed storage.
But the seeds in this vault aren’t coming to your rescue and you won’t be able to get to those seeds. Take a look in the mirror. You’re looking at the person who’s your best chance of survival.
It’s up to you to know what to do and to be prepared for any food emergency situation. That means that you’re going to need to know how you can live off the grid. When every method of getting food is suddenly stripped away from you, it can’t be the catalyst that rocks your world.
You have to have a way to replenish your food supply long term. Even if you have some canned goods socked away in the event of a food catastrophe, having goods that will last you a few years isn’t enough.
You have to be able to bring food back in. And if there’s no way to get food from a grocery store and the government’s hands are tied, then what are you going to do? You need to be able to have a survival garden that will take care of you and your family’s nutritional needs for many years to come.
You start this by having the seeds that you need to raise a survival garden – and you need to have enough of them to plant a few acres’ worth of food. This means that you need to have the kinds of seeds that have the ability to reproduce themselves.
They’ll keep on producing for you. And you also want to look for seeds that haven’t been modified. When you plant seeds from a seed bank, you can guarantee that you’ll have food year after year – regardless of what’s going on in the rest of the world.
By using seeds from the foods you grow (and replanting those once your crops come in), you’ll ensure that your food supply will continually produce. You want to make sure that you look for seeds that offer a lot of produce return as well as ones that are high in nutrition and are long lasting.
There are a lot of world challenges we are seeing every day in the media. Whether you believe what you hear on news reports or not, the reality is we are in difficult times. In fact, it’s likely to get more perilous before it improves.
With that, it is important to consider ways to get better prepared in the event things become more difficult. Even if you don’t think things will get worse, you would be wise to at least prepare for potential natural disasters that could be a short-term disruption to your normal life pattern. We will start by considering some food storage. So, let’s take a look at exactly how to begin your emergency food storage.
Are you looking to begin developing an emergency food storage? This is a great means to plan for emergency situations like natural catastrophes or any type of reason you need to be home for extended periods of time as well as may not have the capacity to buy more food.
Below are some very easy pointers for progressively developing your emergency food storage:
Build Your Emergency Food Storage Slowly
It can be alluring to go out and invest thousands of dollars on food for emergencies, however this isn’t handy or functional. You intend to begin slow-moving, and build it up simply a little at a time. One of the most convenient means to begin working with your emergency situation food storage is simply to acquire a little extra of specific sorts of food or mineral water.
If you buy one package of ground beef for tacos one week, you may want to go ahead and get 2 packages instead. Grab an gallon or two of bottled water when it gets on sale, or slowly add more things to your kitchen that you understand will certainly last for a long period of time.
Make Water Your Top Priority
Having clean drinking water and distilled water that can be utilized for various other things ought to be your top concern when it concerns emergency situation food storage. Water is the best item you can have in your home, given that it can be found in useful in numerous various emergency situation circumstances. You can use it as clean drinking water, for cooking, brushing your teeth, bathing, cleaning, and so much more.
Try stockpiling bottled water either in the pantry or in other areas of your residence, like saving it in your garage or cellar. Just realize even bottled water has an expiration date, so you will need to develop a rotation system to use it when there is no emergency.
More Emergency Food Storage Tips
Here are a few more tips to follow when you are putting your emergency food storage together.
Stock up on more non-perishable food items.
Yes, even the processed ones! These are going to come in handy in an emergency. This should include canned and jarred foods, freeze-dried and dehydrated snacks, and anything that is pantry safe, like nut butters, granola bars, and other processed snacks.
Get vegetables in cans, not frozen.
While frozen vegetables are great for normal daily cooking, in emergencies, the power often goes out. Stocking up on frozen vegetables isn’t going to help you much in those situations. Get plenty of veggies and tuna in cans for emergencies.
Be smart about where food is stored.
For example, if there is a flood in your area, keeping all that food on the ground level of your home is only going to get it ruined. Make sure you choose an area higher up above the ground, and store it in containers that will protect it.
With the war raging in Europe, and since Ukraine and Russia produce a quarter of the world grain supply, it seems highly likely the world is going to experience a grain shortage at some point. It will be important that we take the time to evaluate our family food needs and storage.
I have read many articles on survival and preparedness. Most of them are very informative and cover all the bases when it comes to survival planning and preparation. Some of them even go into detail about how to build a shelter or find water if you live in a desert area. The one thing that is missing from most of these articles is how to survive in a situation where there is no food.
As you may know, the United States government has recently announced that they will be rationing food during times of crisis. This means that there will be less food available to purchase. This will also mean that there will be less food to distribute to the general public. This is something that everyone should be concerned about because there is not enough food to go around right now. The government is trying to help us out but we cannot rely on them to feed us. They are only going to make things worse.
When you think about it, there are two ways to survive without any food. You can either hunt or gather food. Both of these methods take time and work. If you want to survive, you must learn how to hunt or gather food. There are several different types of survival food that you can use. You can use dried fruit, canned food, and even wheat. All of these items are great for emergency preparedness.
If you are looking for more information on how to prepare your family for a crisis, then you should check out some of the survivalist websites. There are several sites online that provide survival information. If your are looking for a preparedness site, go to preparemag.com for additional resources.
