The Bare Fundamentals for a new prepper

[NorthernRaider]

The Bare Fundamentals for a new prepper
NR © 2013

OK you have decided you wish to become a prepper for whatever reason that motivates you, before you get to getting the family involved, before you get to caches and stockpiles, before you buy a place on top of a mountain, before you go galloping off buying all the latest Gucci kit first of all you need to sort yourself out.

All you are actually attempting to do is to equip yourself with sufficient skills to help you get through a period of time in which you may no longer have access to food shops, petrol, electricity, pumped water, medical care or law enforcement, health and emergency services or transport systems for a prolonged period, to what level you want to develop your skills and for how long you plan on living as a prepper is entirely down to you.

Firstly I believe you need to try and become as HEALTHY as possible , note I say HEALTHY and not as FIT as possible we are not trying to create super soldiers or John Rambo we are trying to help an ordinary everyday people improve their chances of surviving a catastrophe. You need to be as healthy as you can be given your own current circumstances, age etc so you are in the best possible condition to give you the best chance of getting through the tribulations ahead and be able to take care of your loved ones and fellow survivors.

So gerroff the fags and cut back on the booze, if you cannot see your toes it’s time to start doing just a bit of gentle exercise to gradually improve your health especially your cardiovascular system etc. If you cannot comfortably squat or kneel down for a few minutes, or lay down in the prone position to handle a rifle you need to get yourself toned up a bit. Gentle walking, a bit of swimming and the odd bimble about on a bicycle will quickly improve your health thus improving your overall chances of survival. Whilst you are at it start eating a bit more healthily because regardless of your age or condition you are what you eat so a healthy diet will help you develop a healthy body and mind.

Next you need to start gaining various life-saving skills as a foundation to build the rest of your preps upon.

In no particular order you really need to get a decent introduction to

First Aid Training and skills
Navigation, Map and Compass reading skills (vehicle and pedestrian)
CB/PMR/Ham Radio operation skills
Car and Motorcycle operator skills (extra points for a 4x4 driver’s course)
Basic vehicle maintenance and breakdown skills
Horse, Bicycle, Boat and Canoe operation skills
Wilderness Survival skills (inc shelter building, fire lighting, hunting etc)
Camp craft and Fieldcraft skills
Hiking skills (river, obstacle, gulley crossing, fell crossing)
Improvised cooking skills (Camp cooking)
Domestic hygiene skills without access to power, shops or running water
Edible food and plant identification skills
Safe handling and use of knife skills (basic butchery and rope work etc)
Basic self defence skills
Recce and recording skills
Threat and Risk assessment skills
Skill at arms training with shotgun / fire arms
Skill at arms with archery equipment
Skill at arms baton / staff
Food cooking, prepping and preserving skills (salting, canning, smoking etc)
Basic home DIY skills (carpentry, basic electrics, basic plumbing etc)
Basic Veg gardening skills (extra points if basic animal husbandry course)


From that basic foundation of skills you can begin to develop a survival plan to meet your own needs and that of your family, once you have started learning new skills you can use those new skills and experiences in conjunction with using good prepper forums to seek out information and advice on what equipment tools, clothing and supplies that will also best suit your own individual needs.

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Excellent pointers NR. When I first discovered prepping (not so very long ago at all!) the first thing I did was start creating lists - of water requirements, of food, of equipment - then I had list of my lists...

It was only then that I realised that it really was ability that mattered, as much if not more so, than anything I could store. I also realised that fortunately, my life experience has already given me many of the abilities you have noted, rusty perhaps with the passage of time but still there in my mind nevertheless.

While the importance of the stores is not forgotten, my focus in now much more on refreshing those abilities and in learning new and necessary ones. My thanks are due to you, to the many contributors to this Forum (capitalised deliberately,) and to SD, for creating this vital tool in the first place.

(Happy head on... )

[MikeA]

Fantastic post NR, even for a seasoned prepper, there's a lot on your list that I haven't considered or was unaware that I haven't touched on in a while. Have you considered doing a 'preppers directory' for groups or courses involving these subjects listed ?. I may do one myself for those of us in the SW when I find the time. Also just a thought to add to the list, enrolling in self defence classes, doesn't matter if its jap slapping or traditional boxing, anything is better than nothing.

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Sorry just re-read you had it covered, obviously..

[Highlander]

Not just good for old preppers, but also for the more experienced preppers too, this is a subject that can easily get out of control, or side tracked, so it is often well worth looking back at the basics

[NorthernRaider]

I just worry that sometimes we get to focused on trying to simply buy or shop our way to readiness and forget the basics skills we will need more than expensive Gucci kit, EG one of my Merkin associates spent in excess of $2000 buying a type of AR15 and having it modified, tuned, upgraded etc with chrome barrel, sliding shoulder stock, improved recoil buffer, heavier chrome barrel, imported radway green magazines, picatinny rails, optics etc. He is no mans fools and he researched his gun choice and investigated each piece of customisation or accessory for his carbine but after nearly 2 years he realised he just was not " comfortable" with his assault rifle clone so he sold it and bought a Stainless Ruger Mini 14 with wood furnature and he absolutely loves it and its his first choice for most tasks. He is happy to go the the County range almost weekly now for far more enjoyable range practice where as he felt staying on the ball with his AR15 copy was more of a chore. Plus he reckons his accuracy has improved because he is more comfy with the Mini 14.

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In a similar vein I have been whinging constantly about the quality of servicing I have had done on both the Wagon R and the Shogun, and over the nicer weather this week I redid much of the work or went over what the garage had done and did it myself. This refreshed my vehicle MTCE skills, made me happier about the condition of the vehicles and saved me money as well. So those basic vehicle care skills I picked up over the years are serving me well now. And again from doing a basic DIY plumbing course a few years ago I managed to diagnose and replace a buggered thermocouple on our boiler the other week, and I fitted a new gas regulator to our camp cooker after realising the old one was becoming defective, this is thanks to a course I did when I was a member of the Caravan Club some years ago. Learning basic skills as listed above can only make the chances of our survival and continuity that bit better.

[Debbie_F]

(27 July 2013, 22:14)NorthernRaider Wrote: I just worry that sometimes we get to focused on trying to simply buy or shop our way to readiness and forget the basics skills we will need more than expensive Gucci kit, EG one of my Merkin associates spent in excess of $2000 buying a type of AR15 and having it modified, tuned, upgraded etc with chrome barrel, sliding shoulder stock, improved recoil buffer, heavier chrome barrel, imported radway green magazines, picatinny rails, optics etc. He is no mans fools and he researched his gun choice and investigated each piece of customisation or accessory for his carbine but after nearly 2 years he realised he just was not " comfortable" with his assault rifle clone so he sold it and bought a Stainless Ruger Mini 14 with wood furnature and he absolutely loves it and its his first choice for most tasks. He is happy to go the the County range almost weekly now for far more enjoyable range practice where as he felt staying on the ball with his AR15 copy was more of a chore. Plus he reckons his accuracy has improved because he is more comfy with the Mini 14.

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In a similar vein I have been whinging constantly about the quality of servicing I have had done on both the Wagon R and the Shogun, and over the nicer weather this week I redid much of the work or went over what the garage had done and did it myself. This refreshed my vehicle MTCE skills, made me happier about the condition of the vehicles and saved me money as well. So those basic vehicle care skills I picked up over the years are serving me well now. And again from doing a basic DIY plumbing course a few years ago I managed to diagnose and replace a buggered thermocouple on our boiler the other week, and I fitted a new gas regulator to our camp cooker after realising the old one was becoming defective, this is thanks to a course I did when I was a member of the Caravan Club some years ago. Learning basic skills as listed above can only make the chances of our survival and continuity that bit better.

Also the learning new skills saves money now. can just imagine the cost of having someone come out to fix the boiler instead of doing it yourself. i find youtube very helpful in learning new skills.

[Mortblanc]

Apologies in advance, I am going to brag a bit.

I got quotes for two repairs on my Jeep that totaled $2000. I knew what the problems were and being a stingy old f@%t a couple of weeks back I tore into the beast myself.

I made the repairs for $10, about three hours work, and a pitcher of ice tea. (Yes I put fruit {peach and lemon} in the tea!)

With much help from U-tube.

Now it starts without fail and the heater/AC selector operates like new.

After going over the "list" my only comment is that one should actually put their hands to the skills advised. Having a book and reading about it or doing a google search is not skill development!