When the “stuff” hits the fan, you’ll need to have a plan if you want any hope of navigating it in one piece. It could be anything from an economic collapse, widespread civil unrest, or even something as “simple” as a natural disaster—and with climate change a reality, we’re seeing more (and more powerful) examples of just what Mother Nature can throw at us when she’s angry.
Planning for how to survive worst case scenarios isn’t just a personal, solitary endeavor—you have to think about anyone else in your immediate circle of friends and family who you’ll want to provide care and protection for, as well. Setting aside ample supplies of food and water can be tricky, but if you’ve been following some of the other information we’ve presented in our blog posts, you should already have some idea of what you’re up against there.
Your basic needs are water, food, shelter, and the ability to protect all of the above. The amount of time you’ll want to prepare for depends on what you think the likely worst-case scenario might really be—will you need to survive on your own, without assistance, for a week? Several months? A year—or longer? If you’re planning on sheltering four people for about month, you would need a minimum of about 120 gallons of water—more is better—and enough food with sufficient caloric content to feed that many people at a minimum level for the same amount of time.
You’ll also have to think about how to store it all, and where, and bear in mind you won’t be able to rely on refrigeration or running water in most “realistic” scenarios of this nature. Depending on your local climate, the lack of electricity could itself present a challenge to survival—if you’re in a cold climate, you’ll need to stockpile enough fuel and have a safe way to burn it just to stay warm.
Then there’s security. Depending on where you live, this can be an extremely complicated subject. Someone planning on hunkering down in a large to mid-sized city has some challenges ahead in this category, as you’ll be surrounded by hungry, desperate people before you know it. If you’re at a farther remove, you might have it a little easier—but you will still need to be able to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your supplies.
It’s a lot to consider, and a lot to plan for. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure—and thinking (and planning) ahead could make all the difference. Our best advice is to educate yourself further, think long and hard about what you think you’d need to be prepared for, and then get to work building a solid plan, if (or when) everything goes off the rails.
To your survival,
Joseph Wilkinson
