A key element to personal safety is to always give yourself an out, right? If you go to a movie theater, for example, always make note of the location of the emergency exits. In the event of an emergency, you want to know where to go to get away from danger. At home, you should have plans for how every family member can get out of the house in case of a fire. While the front door might be the customary exit, you have to give yourself an out, an option, in case that’s not a viable route. Ducking out a window to the garage roof and then to the ground or going through the patio doors to the deck.

Ever been stuck in traffic? What seems like miles of stationary cars in front of you, with nowhere to go. If only you’d gotten off at the last exit, right?

Prepping is what gives you those exits, those options, in a crisis. If you’ve taken the time to assemble some basic preps, you have the option of sheltering in place and providing for your needs, rather than just standing in line at some community shelter, hoping that colicky baby near you finally falls asleep.

If you’ve put an emergency kit in your vehicle, you have the option of staying put if you get stranded, where you’re probably pretty safe, instead of trying to hoof it to the nearest town on dark, probably treacherous, roads.

This is also where that ever popular Rule of Threes comes into play. Always have at least three ways to accomplish basic goals. For example, you should have at least three different tools or methods for lighting a fire. Again, this gives you options and you aren’t beholden to any individual item. That item could break, get lost, or just fail to operate as expected. Backups give you the options you’ll need to survive.

Few people like being forced to do something. Prepping allows you to make a conscious choice for a course of action. By giving yourself options, you have the freedom to make those choices.