What have done towards your prep?

[Mortblanc]

I believe the term is called "risk analysis" and it actually involves considering whether the value and probability of the prep is worth the trouble one would go to in order to have it covered.

Theoretically it starts at "what were you thinking?" and reaches a point where the answer is "bend over and kiss your a$$ goodbye, you can't do anything about this!"

Or you can go with the philosophy that enough is never enough and constant re-evaluation, reorganization and resupply is a perpetual necessity if you want to be able to survive "everything".

As a long term "prepper", starting back in the 1960s, living through a stressful but uneventful "cold war", fighting through a real war, living through "social unrest" that burned cities, going through three or four separate collapses of the economy, living through the exploding of a family, loss of loved ones and surviving "life in general", I must say that the best of the survival preps have been the ones that would be called mental and spiritual.

You can run like the wind and escape danger. You can pile goods on top of goods and never be hungry. You can exercise and medicate until you body is perfect. You can build the perfect "bug out vehicle" and drive it to the perfect bug out location".

But you can never escape the endless thoughts and doubts that made you a prepper to start with.

Or you can just confess, and admit that you love to play with all these neat toys we have and "survival" is justification for buying them.

BTW, Today I used the 4WD on the BOV for the first time this year. Some moron ran me off the road into a guy's garden and I had to use compound low to get back onto the pavement!

[Skean Dhude]

I have done an article on this on the main site. Looking at risks and evaluation them for your situation.

Preparing for the worst scenario will cover all the lesser issues but covering the lesser issues does not cover some of the major ones. It also may only take a little bit more effort to cover some more severe risks.

Plus there are risks that you just can't prep for in your situation. Accept it. Little point in wasting money that could be better spent on a risk that you could survive.

[Pete Grey]

We all know that some events are so devestating that they are unsurvivable even for those with the best of preps. Other events are an inconvenience lasting a few days, power outages, water stoppages, extreme weather, disease outbreak etc. we can cope with minor difficulties even for a few weeks.

What is a problem is knowing when a minor difficulty is going to become such a problem that we need to evacuate our home where we have taken care to prepare probably for years.

We all have ideas of what these events may be, but will we see the signs as they appear, will we be in time to bug out ?.

[Skean Dhude]

The age old question of salami slicing. Where do you draw the line? Only you can make that call as it depends on location of where you are and your bug out location, the route you will have to use and how you will get there. You want to be moving before everyone panics and you want to be carrying everything you need.

My suggestion is to make a list of the events that will trigger you bugging out and when the boxes are ticked, you go. If you get it wrong then treat it as a test.

Many will wait until it is obvious to all and therefore too late and will get caught up in the panic.

[Pete Grey]

Sound advice SD, we try to keep ahead of local and world news for signs, if we see the s**t just approaching the fan we’ll be off.

In the meantime I am checking first aid and medical preps. Have just bought a spare Tens machine to go in my faraday cage, drug free pain relief for the old creaky joints.

[Skean Dhude]

Ah, Medical Kit. Something that you just can't have too much of and one area that I think I may have gone overboard in. Make sure everyone has first aid training and hopefully you have a couple of medically qualified people in your group.

[Pete Grey]

Is it possible to go overboard with medical kit ? I don’t think so meds are a fineite resource. If TSHTF there will be no more, older stuff can always used for barter.

[MaryN]

And don't forget to keep your glasses prescription up to date and make sure you have several pairs available - just in case! Nothing worse than not being able to read the small print!

[Pete Grey]

Good point Mary, we must also keep our dental treatment up as well, and if anyone intends to bugg out on foot keep your toe nails nice and short, put nail clippers in the BOB.

[Midnitemo]

Cheap generic glasses can be bought for a few quid from many places , I have a number of varying strengths in my preps