We have just a little over a month left in our Countdown to Preparedness. Have you been keeping up? This week, we’re going to find out.
The absolute basics for survival consist of shelter, water, and food. Everything else is secondary to those needs.
**Note, I’m not including air in that list for the very simple reason that if you’re in a situation where air is an issue, there isn’t going to be a whole lot you can do about it other than get out of that area immediately.
If you don’t have adequate shelter, you can die very quickly from exposure to the elements. While the typical concern is being able to keep warm and dry, overheating can be a serious issue as well. In the shelter category fall things like fire starting supplies, emergency blankets, tents, season appropriate clothing, basically anything and everything that keeps you out of the weather.
The rule of thumb when it comes to water is that the body can survive about three days without hydration. While that may be technically true, the latter part of that time frame will be spent in agony. Never severely ration water. Drink what you can today and work on getting more before you need it. In the water column of our inventory we include not only stored water but the means to purify more.
While I’m sure most of us could stand to lose a few pounds, food is still a concern and one of our basic needs. Our bodies need calories to burn for fuel. Without fuel, our bodies and minds slow down and become sluggish. Plus, decent food is always a morale boost.
This week, I want you to take a good, hard look at what you have prepped so far for shelter, water, and food.
If you lost power for a considerable length of time, how will you keep your family warm?
If you turned on your faucets and nothing came out, how long can you last on just the water you have stored?
If running to the grocery store is suddenly not an option, how long could you feed your family with just what you have available in the house?
Now, if you’ve been faithfully completing the homework assignments each week, you should have at an absolute minimum one month’s worth of food and water available to you right now. That should be enough to get you through just about any common disaster scenario. Obviously, more is better.
If you don’t, then you need to ramp up your prepping to get to that goal as soon as possible.
Going back to shelter needs, it is hoped that whatever disaster may strike, you’ll be able to shelter in place at home. You want to keep a roof over your head and some sort of walls around you. A fire will keep you warm as well as cook your food and provide light.
All in all, if you have adequate shelter, water, and food, you’ll be ahead of the game, come what may.
Your assignments this week:
1) Do a complete inventory of your food and water, as well as what you have in place for emergency shelter gear. If you fall short of a full month’s worth of supplies, work hard and quick to get to that goal.
2) If you’ve not done so recently, inspect and resupply your portable survival kits. Remember to add any necessary cold weather gear.
