Category Archives: Preparedness

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

Backpacks are an essential resource in the prepping community, they are designed to carry your gear and take the weight of them off your back. There are multiple types of prepping backpacks each with a unique purpose, and even though you don’t need them all, they have their place in your life. Generally they are designed to hike out into the mountains with and be fairly lightweight however every person is different and so should their bag. Having a lightweight pack means you can travel further and faster allowing you to GOOD faster if SHTF.

For the recommended contents of this kits, see the GEAR section in TPE.

Pocket Survival Kit (PSK)
The Pocket Survival Kit is a small tin which can fit into any pocket with the basics for survival.

● Size: The pocket survival kit should be small enough to fit into a pocket. A recommended size would be the size of an ‘Altoids’ tin or approximately 2.36″ (6cm) x 3.75″(9.5cm) x 0.7″ (2cm) High.
● Weight: Your PSK kit should be extremely lightweight and inconspicuous, typically below 150 grams.

Every Day Carry (EDC)
Stands for Every Day Carry – The kit you take with you everywhere you go and generally stays on your body or sometimes in the car.

● Size: Your EDC kit should all fit inside a moderate sized organising cell approximately 12cm (4.7″) x 12cm (4.7″) x 4cm (1.5″). But keep in mind that not all of it will be stored in this case, but instead on your body.
● Weight: Your EDC kit should be very lightweight and inconspicuous, typically below 500 grams (1.1 lbs).
This pack isn’t limited to a bag but also includes clothes, wearables such as watches and a gun. The 5 C’s of survival which the EDC kit generally should cover is: Cutting, Cordage, Combustion, Cover and Container.

Get Home Bag (GHB)
The Get Home Bag is only used for returning home to your preps and bug-out bag in a disaster such as EMP and there’s no transport.

● Size: A GHB should be the size of a small backpack. This can be between a 10L and 20L backpack. (2.1 – 4.2 gal). Size and fit should be based off the person’s size.
● Weight: The GH bag should be a lightweight pack under 3kgs (6.6 lbs) which doesn’t draw attention to yourself.
The bag is designed to get you home within 24 hours and can only sustain you for this period – including overnight once. It is assumed that you won’t have access to any reasonable food or clean water along the way home thus bringing your own is essential.

Bug Out Bag (BOB)
Stands for Bug-Out-Bag – The bag you take when SHTF and it’s purpose is to only assist you to reach a BOL within 3 days.

● Size: Your Bug Out Bag’s size should be between 30L and 80L. (6.5 – 17.5 gal) Size and fit should be based off the person’s size.
● Weight: Your BOB should weigh at most 1/5th of your weight. For ultralight the weight should be below 5kgs (11 lbs) or 1/15th of your weight.
These bags are typically designed to be carried on foot however – hiking frames, bikes and cars are also useful ways to transport your gear.

I’m Never Coming Home Bag (INCH)
Stands for I’m Never Coming Home – The bag you take when you aren’t “ever” returning home. Of course one day you might return, but the point is that when you return you expect your house to be destroyed and the contents gone. Therefore it should also contain everything you don’t wish to lose.

● Size: Your INCH bag should be between 50L and 120L. (11 – 26.3 gal) Size and fit should be based off the person’s size.
● Weight: Your INCH bag should weigh at most 1/4th of your weight, assuming you’re carrying it yourself.
Typically INCH bags are accompanied with a transport mode such as a car or a bicycle as they can weigh up to 100kg’s. The bag includes more tools then all other bags which are single function to increase their longevity and efficiency. The bag only has 7 days worth of food and water for one person – therefore acquiring an income of food and water is vital early on.

Survival Comfort And Redundancies (SCAR)
The Survival Comfort And Redundancy (SCAR) bag is a term I coined in response to all the spare prepper gear I accumulated that wouldn’t make it into any of my other bags. Its primary purpose is to store your spare and redundant supplies to increase your comfort and give you more redundancies during bugging out. It should be grabbed in addition to your other bags if you have the space available in your car. However if it’s not required later on, or you can’t carry it any more you can safely ditch it knowing that you already have the basic gear in your BOB/INCH bags.

● Size: Your SCAR bag could be between 10L and 150L. (2.1 – 33 gal) Any bigger than 150L (33 gal) then this bag may be a struggle to carry depending on what’s inside. This bag doesn’t have to be a backpack, but could also be a duffel bag or other type of bag.
● Weight: Weight shouldn’t matter in a SCAR bag as it will only be used if you are using vehicle transport and have free space. However an average estimate would be 5-30kgs (11 – 66 lbs).
This bag could contain things like extra warm clothing and blankets, tool redundancies like hatchets, knives and shovels, extra camping gas, fishing snares and larger traps, long rolls of paracord or advanced medical equipment. Most preppers have spare items that didn’t make it into their BOB’s so why not have them in a bag themselves to grab if the need arises and you have the space available.

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

Zero Hour signifies an unknown date and time that a disaster worthy of preparedness action occurs. You could be anywhere when ‘zero hour’ occurs and your primary objective from then on is to reach your preps and then decide how you should proceed. An example of zero hour is the second you hear about a nuclear exchange in your country.

● Bug In or Out
When an incident occurs weigh the benefits of bugging in and out and whether it will get harder to travel as time progresses or not.

● Be Ready
When the situation arises to bug out, you should be ready to grab the bags and go with enough food you will need to survive the disaster.

● Be Aware
You want to be one of the first people to realize the gravity of the disaster and leave long before anyone else considers it or the roads will be parking lots.

Contact
When you first hear about a disaster that is or will affect you, the immediate action taken would be to contact your family and others whom you will meet up with. Whoever hears about the disaster first and contacts the others in the party, will give the others more time to prepare to leave work or meet up at the rendezvous point earlier. Confirm the plans you have with everyone on the phone and where they are currently as they may need assistance getting to the rendezvous point. If your family is at home already get them to start packing the car and be ready when the last person shows up. If no communications is available such as during an EMP you should follow through with the plan you set up prior to the event.

Returning Home
If you’re away from your preps the first thing you’ll want to do is return to a rendezvous point where your companions or family will meet up. You may not have an available mode of transport for returning home therefore you may have to walk home.

Step 1 Communicate
Communicate with your family or bug out partners if possible and tell them what’s happening and to set in motion one of the plans based on the scenario. Try to use code such as: Location X or Location Delta as there’s always the chance that people are listening in or some who will ambush you there. Include what to do if communications are down such as returning home and packing the car ready.

Possibilities
● Communication Works
● Communications Down
● Everyone Together

Communication Points
● Communication Works
● Communications Down
● Everyone Together

Step 2 Rendezvous Point
The location you will meet if a disaster occurs. It should include an estimated timeframe of when you should expect to meet after a disaster occurs if communications are down.

Step 3 Gear Grab
Your gear is basically essential to grab before you bug out. The only reason you wouldn’t is if it’s already packed, you can’t safely reach it or you are more likely to die trying to retrieve it. You should have your gear pre-packed in a secure, easily accessible location so you can grab it as quickly as possible.

Step 4 Depart
Set out on your selected bug-out route with your party members. If you forget anything after you leave you shouldn’t return for it unless it’s essential to your survival.

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

Without monitoring media and news outlets you won’t know what’s happening in the world. It’s vital to keep up to date with the news and be able to separate the facts from fiction.

● Internet: Social media can spread the message pretty fast about impending disasters without any bias that the media has today. You can set keywords on news websites to notify you when certain events happen near you or when a global event takes off.
● Friends & Family: The more people in your prepping party that are watching for disasters and keeping an eye on the situation can provide multiple failsafe’s if one person doesn’t check the news for a few hours. Everyone can ring each other and keep them all informed about a worsening situation and keep in close contact when the time to come has to bug in or bug out.
● The Media: In 1983 90% of the media was owned by 50 companies. Today in 2018 90% of the media is controlled by just 6 companies. For more information on media corruption see the MEDIA section.
● Government Organizations: You can sometimes opt into getting text updates to natural disasters or other events that happen in cities. These can be very helpful as you get the information straight from the source such as the weather bureau.
● Government Institutes: Governments will attempt to control all sensitive news released with an impact to the public and will threaten heavy fines or jail time for any media outlet that doesn’t comply with these demands. Generally their main aim is to avoid a mass panic and exodus of people which will make it nearly impossible for them and other government agencies such as the police to do their jobs. They typically only look at the big picture and take action to avoid the most causalities from an event by downplaying the news even if that means a small group of people dying,

Monitoring Websites
These are useful websites to help you track and monitor the disasters around the world, whether it’s volcanoes, the stock market, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and more. To have the best chance to reach your bug-out destination before the rest of the population finds out you should be constantly monitoring most of these websites.

Global Monitoring & News Sites

● Emergency and Disaster Information Service
A worldwide map displaying notable disasters and emergencies around the world.
URL: hisz.rsoe.hu

● AccuWeather Severe Weather
Shows the different types of severe weather such as flooding, avalanches and fires currently occurring around the world.
URL: accuweather.com/en/au/severe-weather

● Prepper News
A prepper news website with topics sorted into different categories to make it easier to find what you need.
URL: prepperwebsite.com/page-2

Weather

● Windy
An invaluable website which displays: Worldwide Weather Radar, Worldwide Satellite Weather View, Worldwide Wind Map, Worldwide Rain and Thunder Map, Worldwide Temperature Map, Worldwide Cloud Cover Map, Worldwide Wave Map, Worldwide Air Quality Map
URL: windy.com

● Nullschool
A website very similar to windy.com with a few less features. It shows information on wind, water and ocean conditions.
URL: earth.nullschool.net

Earthquakes

● Earthquake 3D
A 3D live feed of the earthquakes occurring around the planet. You can also buy and download a much higher quality version with more features from their website.
URL: www.earthquake3d.com

● Earthquakes USGS
A 2D live world map showing the current earthquakes. USA website.
URL: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map

● USGS Significant Earthquakes
A list of the most recent significant earthquakes.
URL: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/browse/significant.php

● EMSC Latest Earthquakes Worldwide
A list of the latest earthquakes worldwide.
URL: www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/world/

● EMSC Significant Earthquakes
A list of the latest significant earthquakes.
URL: www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/significant_earthquakes.php

● Earthquakes@GA
A 2D live world map showing the current earthquakes. Australian website.
URL: earthquakes.ga.gov.au

Active Volcanos

● Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre
Daily updated map of currently erupting and restless volcanoes.
URL: volcanodiscovery.com/daily-map-of-active-volcanoes

● Volcano Discovery
Shows the active volcanoes around the world with last eruption dates.
URL: volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-map

Buoys & Tsunamis

● National Data Buoy Centre
Shows the buoys around the oceans on an interactive map. They flash when they go into “Event Mode” when a change in the median wave height is detected. It is useful to track tsunamis, storm surges and other water based events.
URL: ndbc.noaa.gov

Hurricanes & Cyclones

● National Hurricane Centre
Shows any current hurricanes around the United States only.
URL: nhc.noaa.gov

● AccuWeather Hurricanes
Shows any current hurricanes & cyclones around the world.
URL: accuweather.com/en/hurricane

Pandemic & Viral Outbreaks

● Healthmap
Real-time surveillance map of emerging public health threats and disease outbreaks.
URL: healthmap.org/en

● Outbreaks Map
Displays outbreaks, cases and deaths from viral and bacterial diseases which have the potential to indicate biological terrorism.
URL: outbreaks.globalincidentmap.com

● COVID-19 Hub
This is a COVID-19 hub with a lot of links to various virus tracking websites.
URL: coronavirus-resources.esri.com/

● GIS COVID-19 Tracker
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) COVID-19 live viewer.
URL: gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Economy

● World Stock Markets
An overview of all the stock markets of the world.
URL: markets.businessinsider.com/indices/world-stock-markets

● Dow Jones Index
The Dow Jones index.
URL: marketwatch.com/investing/index/djia

● S&P 500 Index
The S&P 500 index.
URL: www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/spx

● ASX 200
The ASX 200 index.
URL: www.asx.com.au/products/index-charts.htm

● NASDAQ Index
The NASDAQ index.
URL: www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/comp

● U.S. Debt Clock
The total U.S. debt.
URL: https://www.usdebtclock.org/

Commodities

● Gold Price
The gold spot price.
URL: goldprice.org/
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/techcharts_gold.html

● Silver Price
The silver spot price.
URL: silverprice.org/
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/techcharts_silver.html

● Platinum Price
The platinum spot price.
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/liveplatinum.html
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/techcharts_platinum.html

● Palladium Price
The palladium spot price.
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/livepalladium.html
URL: www.kitco.com/charts/techcharts_palladium.html

● Oil Price
The Oil (WTI) Price.
URL: markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti

External Threats

● Sunspots / Solar Flares
Tracking of the sun for solar minimums, maximums, coronal holes, coronal mass ejections, sunspots and solar flares.
URL: www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity

● Earth Impact Monitoring
Tracking of any space objects or debris which could impact earth.
URL: cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/

● NEO Earth Close Approaches
Tracking of any space objects or debris which could impact earth.
URL: cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/

● UFO Sightings (America)
A map of all UFO sightings in America.
URL: metrocosm.com/ufo-sightings-map.html

● UFO Sighting Map
A map of all UFO sightings over the world.
URL: www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ddda71d5211f47e782b12f3f8d06246e

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

The sections below will help you identify, categorise and mitigate any risks that you may have relating to disasters or bugging in/out.

Managing Risks
The following is a guide on how you can gauge the approximate impact of any risks you may encounter.

1. Make a list of every risk that you can think of relating to your bug out plan. Use a list instead of a table, but if you want draw up a table to help visualise their severity.
2. Try to gauge the chance and the impact they will each have on your bug out plan.
3. Calculate the severity of each risk by adding the probability chance with the impact chance.
Probability No. + Impact No. = Severity
4. Order them by the calculated severity.
5. Work on a risk mitigation plan (explained further below) which will either reduce the severity or the chance of the risk. Work on the highest severity first.

Risk Impact
The below chart is a risk impact analysis of any risks you deem probable of occurring during a bug in/out.

● Risk Probability: The risk probability is the chance the risk has of occurring.
● Risk Impact: The risk impact is how much damage the risk will inflict if it occurs.

You first assign a probability of occurrence of the risk between 1-10 then determine the impact of the risk between 1-10 then find the risk impact from the chart. When you have the risk impact level you should take the necessary actions to mitigate or reduce the chance that rick occurs. It is not considered a risk if an event has a 0% or 100% chance of occurring. But the number range is there to cover all numbers such as 0.01% and 99.99% chances. If you create a table similar to the one below you can add as many vertical or horizontal cells as you like such as going up in 10%’s instead of 20%’s.

Risk Impact Table

Risk Mitigation
Ways to reduce the effects or the chance of the risk occurring. To mitigate risks you can either reduce the probability or impact of the risk or eliminate the risk completely.

● Risk Acceptance: Risk acceptance does not reduce any effects however it is still considered a strategy. This strategy is a common option when the cost of other risk management options such as avoidance or limitation may outweigh the cost of the risk itself.
● Risk Avoidance: Risk avoidance is the opposite of risk acceptance. It is the action that avoids any exposure to the risk whatsoever. It’s important to note that risk avoidance is usually the most expensive of all risk mitigation options.
● Risk Limitation: This strategy limits a company’s exposure by taking some action. It is a strategy employing a bit of risk acceptance along with a bit of risk avoidance or an average of both.
● Risk Transference: Risk transference is the involvement of handing risk off to a willing third party.
● Watch/Monitor: Monitor the environment for changes that affect the nature and/or the impact of the risk.
● Reduce Probability: Try to reduce the probability of a risk occurring. A simple example is tying your shoelaces if they are loose to help prevent you tripping. Another example is moving away from a fault line if you live near one.
● Reduce Impact: Reduce the impact of a risk by taking steps to prepare for more eventualities. For example you can install roller-shutters on every window of your house to help prevent damage from attacks, hurricanes and hail. You may get some dents, but it’s better than shattered windows.
● Eliminate Risk: If you have the ability to – you should eliminate risks entirely. For example if there’s a risk of not being able to reach your bug-out shelter due to flooding, perhaps you should live in your bug-out location permanently. If you’re concerned about tsunamis you should move at least 32km (20 mi) inland where it’s almost impossible for a regular sized tsunami to reach you.

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

You’re bound to have at least one weakness in your preparedness plan or preps. This section will shore up those weaknesses so one small mistake won’t leave you stranded. Risk management involves taking into consideration the likelihood of any risks coupled with the damage the risk will deal if it occurs.

Gear Vulnerability
Your gear or types of gear that might have adverse affects.

● Consumable Gear: You have a limited supply of consumable gear such as one use glowsticks. You should have calculated how many consumables are required to reach your destination plus 15% as a general rule.
● Broken Gear: Gear may break with use or on the way to your destination. Check the state of your BOB gear every month in case an item has accidentally been broken or crushed during storage. You should have a redundancy or partial redundancy for all gear in your bag, so if something breaks on the way there’s another item that can take its place even temporarily.
● Spoilable Gear: Some gear may be already spoiled by the time you open it such as canned food or freeze dried food. Take into account items that go off and have an extra 30% spare for edibles such as food and water.
● Electricity: You can’t depend on electricity in a disaster as it would likely to be the first amenity to be taken out. Therefore you shouldn’t entirely depend on your electronics such as your mobile, GPS or torch, particularly if you have no way of generating your own electricity. Not to mention that in an extended disaster, rechargeable batteries could reach their end of life before civilization returns to normal and you can’t exactly replace the battery in a phone yourself even if you had a spare.
● EMPs: Electronics have the potential to be rendered useless by an EMP, therefore you should always have a way to perform the same function which isn’t reliant on that device. An example is having physical maps and a compass instead of using a mobile device and if possible – having a way of communicating distances without electricity such as semaphore.

Environmental Vulnerability
Your location could be your biggest vulnerability, such as having an active volcano nearby or you might be living on a tectonic plate.

● Location: Living in a precarious location such as on a fault line only increases the likelihood of a disaster. As preppers it’s recommended to live in a stable environment where the fewest disasters are likely to happen.
● Climate: A harsh climate will make it much more difficult to reach an end destination. However the flip side is that few people will want to actively live in a harsh climate such as the arctic or a desert so you’ll have less threat of people.
● Creatures: Some locations have a higher than normal percentage of dangerous creatures such as Australia. It may be best to avoid these places as it falls under the same considerations as avoiding potential natural disasters.

Medical Vulnerability
Any known medically related issues that might affect your disaster plans.

● Health Conditions: Some people in your party could have a health condition ranging from minor such as hay fever to diabetes which requires constant medication. Your bug out plans should take all conditions into account no matter how minor as even something as hay fever could be dangerous if your route goes past huge fields of flowers.
● Accessibility: If one of your party is confined to a wheelchair or temporary crutches you may need special equipment or alternative plans to bug out safely. Be sure to account for any situations that may arise when they happen such as the broken leg of your primary bug out driver.

Team Vulnerability
Any problems that may arise with your family or bug out party.

● Age: Very young or old party members won’t have as much stamina or flexibility as the others in the party and may need special requirements. You’re only as strong as your weakest member so make sure they are able to keep up with everyone else.
● Complaints: Any complaints from other people in the party, but particularly children who aren’t used to a sudden change in lifestyle. Have a method to deal with restless kids whether it’s music, activities or games. Complaints by adults are harder to address as you may have justified reasons why you can’t solve it straight away, this causes them to grow more discontent over time which may spread to other party members.
● Betrayal: Some members of your party may choose to desert you due to poor leadership or just a change in heart. It’s important to keep the loyalty of your party members or a mutiny could happen which may leave you without anything. Be sure to address concerns from party members before they become a big issue. You should know each party member intimately and have a unique relationship with each one. If possible – have an insider mole who you trust completely and will tell you any news that people are gossiping about behind your back.

Unexpected Vulnerabilities
These are vulnerabilities to your party which you cannot realistically foresee or predict. They can range from minor to catastrophic. You may be preparing for an asteroid to hit within 1,000 kms (621 mi) of your area, but you would never expect it to actually hit your house directly. This is an extreme example of the unexpected. Another example would be a 20-something party member with no history of medical problems suddenly have a major heart attack.

● Management: You can’t risk manage what you don’t expect to happen, therefore as preppers it’s best to prepare both for bugging in and out for as wide a range of scenarios as possible.

This is an excerpt from my PDF ‘The Preparedness Encyclopedia (TPE)’.
Download the PDF Version Here

In general your BOB should be packed and ready to grab and go at a moments notice, however there’s a few reasons why some items won’t always be stored in the bag. Some of the below items are stored in containers and therefore require a key.

You do NOT want to waste time searching for a key to your safe or weapons locker in an emergency because it could cost you your life. Ensure you either have your keys on you at all times or you know exactly where they are and can easily get to them without going through multiple security barriers.

Essential Gear
● Borrowed Items: If you’re the type to borrow items from your pack when you go camping or hiking you should be sure to return them immediately afterwards.
● On Display: Some items such as family pictures will be displayed on mantles and desks, so be sure you know where they are and grab them before you go if you want them. An alternative is to have digital versions or duplicates in your pack.
● Refrigerated Items: Medicines and drugs should be stored at a cooler ambient temperature, therefore you should only grab these at the last minute to maximise their life.
● Valuables: You may have a separate location for your valuables such as a safe or they could be diversified around your home or work office, or even perhaps a safety deposit box.
● SCAR Bags: You may have specific bags for this type of emergency stored around the house, in addition to your primary BOB like pandemic medical gear.
● Weapons: Weapons are generally stored in special containers to ensure their compliance with the law, therefore you have to remember to grab them before you leave.
● Volatiles: Volatiles are items which have to be stored separately from general living quarters due to the hazard they pose to general safety. These kinds of items can include: Gas Canisters, Fuel (Petrol, Diesel, LPG) and dangerous chemicals such as kerosene, calcium hypochlorite (used in water purification) and shellite.

Unessential Gear
Before you need to bug-out there may be a bit of spare time to grab a few extra items around your home, particularly if you’re never coming back. The following list provides ideas on the most important non-essential items.

● Digital Records: Computer hard drives and other storage media could prove useful if you aren’t ever coming home and you rely on your files. There may also be personal files on them which shouldn’t get into the hands of anyone else.
● Memories: Photographs, memorabilia, personal items etc can provide a vital function in keeping up morale.
● Important Documents: Leaving any important documents (such as your birth certificate) in your home could end in a stolen identity. You should either bring these documents with you, including copies or burn them – in the case of copies.
● Spares: Grab any spare pantry snacks, food, water, gas canisters, batteries and candles you have around your home if you’re bugging out via car and have some spare time.