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I had originally planned to do Chapter 1 a bit differently, but am opting for now to try smaller chapters, possibly focused on a single concept, to make it easier for those new to preparedness. We will see how it goes, meantime, onwards!
NOTE: This is a (very) rough draft
Building With Our Blocks
Now that we have our basic building and planning blocks, let’s take a look at how to use them to create the preparedness plan that works for you. To do so, why don’t we take a look at what most of it boils down to: ensuring people have the resources they need.
As noted previously, resources include (but are not limited to) things like food, water, power, fuel, and other resources necessary for life, much less modern life. So, let’s start with the most critical items for life: food and water.
Most people in first world countries (and even many second) take clean, safe, and abundant water for granted. We cut the tap on, and sweet, sweet, water flows out into our glasses, sinks, or tubs. While there are exceptions everywhere, overall we have gotten rather spoiled about water. Even the most minor of disaster or emergency becomes a real issue when it effects our water.
Most of the time, that impact is an annoyance. The water goes off while you are in the shower and you need to rinse. You can’t do the laundry or dishes because the water went off. It’s not the end of the world, but it impacts your day. Thing is, the longer it is off the greater the impact. Given that you can live for days to weeks on little to no food, and only a very few days without water, water really needs to be your top priority for preparedness. So, let’s look at it in terms of our planning blocks on the three lengths of disaster.
For minor disasters, those lasting minutes to a week, stored water comes in very handy. Caught bathing and need to rinse off? A bottle of water or maybe part of a gallon jug of water takes care of that. I keep both bottles of water and gallon jugs of distilled water around personally, as I use the latter for making coffee (the water around where I currently live being a fluid phase of limestone) and the former for general use. During any emergency, don’t throw out the empties: they have important uses we will get into later. For planning, while you have to have two liters of water a day from drinking and food to survive, you are going to find life a lot better if you have three to four liters per person per day.
For moderate to major disasters, storage really isn’t practical. Though, one should plan for ways to increase your storage if there is warning. Collapsable containers, tub bladders, even your cookware can and should be used to store water if there is warning of a coming moderate to major disaster. If you have freezer or other containers, fill them up too. If it will safely hold water, fill it up!
So, what can you do to prepare for water during a moderate to major disaster? You are going to need one or more water purification systems. No, I’m not talking systems for cities or such, but the small, mostly portable systems used by campers and backpackers. Those systems are designed to take water from lakes, streams, or other sources and turn it into pure, clean, safe water for drinking. Some of them can even handle various types of grey water. Wait, what? Grey water?
You are going to deal with three types of water in life, much less during a disaster. Clean water is what you are used to drinking. Grey water is water that has been used for things like showering, cleaning, technically even cooking water like pasta water is grey water. Dark/black/other-term-here water contains sewage or other organic or chemical contaminants. There are ways for you to deal with filtering and purifying grey and black water, but we will get into that more later.
For now, you’ve got enough information to begin planning for your water needs. Given that things never go to plan, I recommend being a pessimist and planning on storing enough drinking water to get through a minor disaster if at all possible.
That may not be possible. Each of us has a different situation in terms of space, storage space, and other delights. I’ve heard of some apartments or rentals that have it in the lease that you are not to store water or other fluids in the structure. In your planning, get creative. There are a lot of odd spaces and places you might not think about, but will work great for storage.
For any and all disasters, look at water storage options. There are a variety of collapsible containers out there for camping and emergencies. Some hold just a gallon or three, and others can hold a hundred or more gallons. The tub bladders are a great idea since that part of the house/apartment is build to hold that weight, and you will be amazed at how much water you can store in one.
For longer term preparedness, research water purification systems and find what works for you. If you have the budget, or can budget for it over time, I highly recommend a portable system for each person, and a larger camping system for the home. It gives you maximum flexibility and capability at need. Also, get replacement elements for each system, at least a year’s worth if possible. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
Also, when researching those systems, keep in mind they are not all the same. Some basically just filter, so you don’t get mud and any large parasites or other delights. Others will filter out even smaller things. Yet others will purify the water as well as filtering it. You can even look at getting water purification tablets and using those on the water before putting it through a filter. Not a bad idea to plan on having some of those around anyway, just in case. Also, for a major disaster, you also want to research sand filters and how to make them, for possible inclusion in your planning.
Now that you’ve got the basics so that you can plan for water, let’s take a look at food. As with water, there are some basic minimums to consider. While you can technically survive on as little as 800 calories a day, you really need around 1200 calories a day, and about 1400 a day if you are going to be active.
Those calories need to be balanced, in that you need about 72 trace elements, 20 essential amino acids, and some essential fats to live. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, as well as a good bit of the human body. Our body can actually produce 11 of the essential amino acids we need to survive and thrive, but we need to get the remaining nine through our diet.
Now, there are foods that contain complete proteins, that is they have all 9 of the essential amino acids needed by the body. When you eat fish, poultry, dairy, eggs, and meat you are getting complete proteins. In grains, quinoa is a complete protein.
You can also “mix and match” to get complete protein. For example, legumes with rice can do the job, but if you mix legumes, a veggie, and a grain, you can as well.
You also want to research essential fats. Yes, you need a certain amount of fat each day to survive, and there are some fats you really need. It is much tastier and easier to include such in your supplements and food than to catch and eat six to eight medium to large moths each day.
Just as there is no one magic list for preparedness, there is no one perfect recipe for nutrition. You have to find what works for you and yours, and any known dietary problems or needs. Now, when I say dietary problem I mean a diagnosed medical condition, not that you hate X, Y, or Z or avoid them because of virtue signaling. While I find low-carb works well for me right now, in an emergency I’m an omnivore and will eat whatever I have to ensure proper nutrition.
For moderate to major disasters, you also need to consider supplements to ensure proper nutrition and health. There are a lot of supplements sold that claim many things, but those things may or may not be verified. My favorite is still the calcium supplement that did indeed have several hundred times the amount of calcium of any other supplement. Only thing was that it was a form of calcium that could not be absorbed by the body…
For long-term nutrition and survival, you really need to be focused on those things that provide you trace elements and other compounds you might not get from tight rations. Things I will recommend: a good multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D.
A good multi-vitamin gives you most of those trace elements in the recommended daily amount. Go generic and you can get a multi-year supply for a reasonable amount. No, it’s not perfect but it gets you most of the way there. Yes, right now you are urinating most of it away. In a survival situation you likely won’t be. You will be glad to have it.
Why Vitamin C? Scurvy for one thing. In a true disaster, Vitamin C can end up in short supply in your food (or lack thereof), which can and will result in scurvy and other delights. Just ask the British Navy, who finally figured out that a lime a day kept the doctor away. Again, inexpensive and can prevent a number of health issues.
Why Vitamin D? You may or may not be getting much sun for a while in a nuclear war or similar disaster. Low D-levels have been found to be linked with a host of medical issues, and no one wants to see rickets and other delights return. Again, D3 is inexpensive and can prevent a number of other health issues.
What else do you need? You really need to sit down with your doctor to work that out. If you trust your doctor, get with them and ask what you should look at getting and taking.
For a minor disaster, it’s not that hard to stock up enough food to make it through the week. It’s the moderate to major length disasters that you need to consider all the above discussion. One more small bit of food for thought in your planning: be sure to include a lot of soups and stews. They are a great way to get some of that water you need to survive, a great from a nutrition perspective, and can allow you to make the fullest use of ingredients. Especially if the power has gone out, and will be out for more than a few days, and you have things in the refrigerator and freezer. Yes, you do need to think about things like that in your planning.
Now that you have the basic blocks to begin planning for the most essential part of preparedness, we can turn to the next two most essential things: light and cooking.
The book as it goes:
Water: Coffee filters and a large funnel for initial processing of less-than-perfect water. Filtering out as mush as possible reduces the burden on whatever water purification system you use. Walmart sells 5 gallon cooler-type water jugs with a screw cap. $12.Amazon sells a wire frame gizmo to hold one at a 35 degree angle and a squeeze-handle valve to control flow. Gravity always works, batteries and rubber pump bladders not always. Sceptre cans are great but $$$ and the $$$ Sceptre factory spouts are almost mandatory. Keep plain-jane bleach on hand, a half gallon goes a long way, replace it every 4 months (yes, it will last 6-8 months but you do not want to enter a crisis with 7-month old bleach. FYI, one pound of calcium hypochlorite crystals – aka, “pool shock” – can make thousands of gallons of bleach but you MUST know how to store and use it).
Plastic 1/2 liter or quart “yuppie” water bottles are NOT the answer, no matter how good they look in the refrigerator or while “walking the 5K.” They work for “on the go” but for longer term you need QUANTITY. And a way to manage that quantity. 5 gallon jugs are the best but if you cannot pick one up to pour from it – or even bring it home – you’re dead. FYI, a full 5 gallon jug weighs about 46 pounds.
You will need water to maintain digestive processes. How ever much water you THINK you need, you need at least 2X of it. When you limit food (and fluid) intake, or go heavy on protein, you will get constipated. Severely. Have a plan to deal with that, which probably means adding a lot of supplemental powdered fiber to your diet.
Freeze-dried food is great, stores long time, but is much $$$$ and requires a LOT of water to reconstitute. Canned food is good for 2X-3X the “best if used by” dates on the can IF THE CAN IS UNDAMAGED AND STORED IN A COOL, DARK PLACE. Acidic foods – fruits, especially anything citrus, some veggies like tomatoes (yes, I know tomato is actually a fruit) – should not be trusted much beyond “sell by date +3-4 months” because the acid attacks the can lining and they start leaking. Learn what “bad canned food” looks like (bulged can, among other signs) and smells like.
If you store canned foods – and you should – do you have can openers? MANUAL can openers? That you know how to operate? Several, as in “more than 2 or 3”? Is at least 1 or 2 included in your “prep stash”? Do you know where your “prep stash” is? Can you get to it quickly?
A box 12″L X 9″H X 9″W will hold 24 standard size (15.5 oz) cans perfectly. 12 cans of protein (chili, beans, fish, hash, etc.) and 12 cans of veggies (corn, peas, green beans, etc.) is 12 days of 2X/day meals for 2 people at minimum (survival) levels. In the spaces between the cans drop in plastic forks, knives and spoons. Tape a couple P-38s or P-51s under the box lid. A couple to several of these boxes make a “closet floor food stash” or a “grab ‘n’ go” supply. Date the boxes. In fact, date EVERYTHING you bring into the house so you can FIFO (First In, First Out) and eat the older stuff first. FYI, that 24-can box will weigh 27 lbs.
Don’t buy food you would not normally eat. If you dislike asparagus or brussel sprouts don’t buy a case of it no matter how “good it is for you.”
Heed LW’s mention of nutritional additives closely, stay well stocked on vitamin and mineral supplements. When your diet turns “survival” after a couple weeks you’ll be quite short on those necessary vitamins etc.
Thank you for this! Plan to get more into this in a future chapter.