*THE Message*
By: Warlord
11 February 2007

I get a Lot of e-mail daily.. telling me all that people have learned by reading our site, and all they Think they know about Preparedness from reading other survival sites (and many have gotten the wrong basic ideas)... I think many people are missing The Main Message that we are trying to convey.. Information we have learned after Many people have spent a Lot of time and money actually trying, and doing, this stuff...

so I thought I'd spell it out....

No Matter what else you learn here, Start with this:

  • "Store What You Normally Eat"... Not "Storage food you haven't even tried" (It will probably tear up your stomach - Do you know for sure that your storage food won't?)... in an emergency you Do Not want to make radical changes to your Diet (or lifestyle)...There are Many articles here on how to store everyday foods, and the shelf life of canned foods, and information on cans and other packaging, etc, etc. You know what your family normally uses around your house in a month, simply buy more of it, not expensive (and useless) "Pre-packaged/boxed Storage foods". Put the new stuff in the back of the pantry, and eat from the front of the pantry.. then you always have a reserve of "Normal ol Food".. doesn't matter if it's a hurricane or a lay off, you'll eat the same as you do right now.

  • "If You Leave Home Without A Place To Go, You Are a Refugee. Bug Out Bags And 'Heading For The Hills To Live Off The Land' Doesn't Work"... We have Many articles about Why it doesn't work, but forget "Hunting and trapping and 'living in Remote Areas'". There is no such thing as "Remote areas" in the Lower 48 states... Africa, Asia, the Steps of Russia, etc, are Truly remote areas, and they were Always hit by waves of smallpox and other plagues carried by humans And/Or Animals! Nothing in the Lower 48 is "really remote", it's a false sense of security if that's what you are depending on (Again, details in Many articles here).. "Living in the Country in a small self-sustaining community is better".. but it's not the "End all Answer". It's better than living in the city.. but it's not a protection by itself, it simply gives you an edge If You Prepare Further (And yet again, more detailed articles explain this).. Remember, when city people get scared, they blindly "Head for the country".. right to where You are living (if you go the "Remote country living" route). Is the cost of living in the country worth the little added extra protection? Only you can decide that.. personally I simply prefer Not living in crowded places, but at the same time, I know my little country town may Fill Up with people fleeing the cities, and I have prepared for that.

  • If You Think You May Be Forced Out Of Your Home, Have A Pre-prepared Back-up Retreat Area To Go To... and I don't mean some vague plan to "Do something on some empty land you know about"... Some sites would prepare you (and millions of others) to be headed toward state parks and other wooded areas with a bag of junk on your back... the roads will be jammed with people trying this.. within a few days, the land will be stripped bare, and the whole area will be a stinking mess (Not to mention the thieving and such that will be going on).
    If you aren't Living a Preparedness lifestyle right now (even if you live in the suburbs or city right now you can still live a "Preparedness Lifestyle") then you Need to have a well stocked retreat of some sort and Solid plans to get there in an emergency... leave Nothing to chance.. always be able to say, "If this fails, then I will _____ as a back-up"

  • Almost Every Prep Item You Have Should Be Used In Your Everyday Life. Then during a disaster, you are already used to using the item, and you don't have to change your routine, or learn new things while in a stressful situation... this frees up Time, this allows you to Think. Never buy a prep item and simply pack it away un-tried and un-tested... Use It.

  • We've been through Many disasters as a Group... one thing struck me as "Common to all disasters".. It's not so much the disaster itself that causes us the most problems, as it is the disruption to our normal way of life caused by cutting power, cutting access to food and water, etc.

    If We can supply those things ourselves, the impact of the disaster, and problems dealing with the Aftermath of the disaster, is Greatly reduced..

    There.. Short, and to the point... Your Home should be stocked as your retreat, You should also have a back-up retreat if at ALL possible, and a Sure Fired, Tested way to get there Fast... everything else on this site is details and additions... these Basic facts, and much more to flesh out the above facts, can be found in the Thousands of articles on our site... but the above should be your bedrock... not "Bags of Survival Crap, and MREs, and heading for the wilderness with a refugee bag strapped to your back". It's not as cool as assault rifles and a million rounds of ammo and cammo paint and crates of MREs, but it's Much more realistic and workable, not to mention Tested and Proven to work through Many disasters... rather than just "Something everyone knows because they saw it on TV movies" (it HAS to be real, it was on a TV show! ;).
    Warlord


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