The Insight to Prepare for the Collapse

We received this letter from Phil the other day: "A friend of mine recently started prepping after a number of telephone chats with me examining the economic climate here in Canada and in the US. We talked about bug outs vs bug ins, food storage water storage/filtration, the whole 9yds. Up to this point he hadn't really been more than mildly concerned about things, he is retired and on a tight budget. After I directed him to your site and the Survival Blog site he started doing his own research on the possibility of a collapse or just really hard times. He now has acquired firearms, ammo, reloading equipment and is getting long term foods, medicine and first aid gear and all this on a tight budget!

While I must admit that I have created "a Monster" it is good to see that a rational and logical man reading on his own can come to the same conclusions about possible future outcomes. Sometimes one can get wrapped up in the doom and gloom side of prepping and loose sight of the reality, that is, be prepared to the best of your ability to get through any hard times that may be coming down the pike. It's not about being ready for TEOTWAWKI, it about being ready for all of the lesser evils that may occur as well. The other lesson I take from this is that it's never too late to start your preps and spend within your means. I hope this finds you well. "

Hey Phil, I would be interested in knowing what prompted your friend to start prepping. Was it all the signs of an economic collapse? Was it the possibility of EMP type or other terrorist attack and the resulting chaos or at least governmental martial law? Maybe just a slow slide into devastating inflation? I think many people start prepping just to be more self sufficient - they don't want to rely on other people or institutions such as the government for their safety and indeed, their very lives. Anyway, no matter. If any country is going to come out of a collapse, it'll need self responsible, capable people to survive.

There are MANY "survive the collapse" sites on the internet that provide much more and more complete information than I do. Among these sites are the following (please pass them to your friend):

http://urbansurvivalsite.com

http://www.secretsofsurvvial.com

http://survivethecomingcollapse.com

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

http://www.shtfplan.com

http://www.survival-homestead.com

http://survivalblog.com

Additionally, there are several books he probably should read to get an idea on how a devastating collapse may ocur and the problems in the aftermath:

The Going Home, Surviving Home, Escaping Home, and soon to be released Forsaking Home series by A. American.

One Second After by William Forstchen

Lights Out, by David Crawford

and of course, Patriots by James Wesley Rawles

You mentioned creating a monster. I did too with Jim who's survival preps I have reported on. Jim is now slowed down on prepping but that's okay as he rapidly set himself with stored food, silver and to a lesser extent gold bullion, and firearms/stored ammunition. He has also procured necessary survival gear as well. But I think where Jim has backslide is that his Survival Plan has been overcome by the events of his employment. He travels extensively which places him at risk of being way too far away from his assets and being able to implement a Bug In then Bug Out plan. I have talked to him about curtailing his traveling when the conditions make a collapse imminent, however some conditions we just won't see - like a nuclear attack or terrorist conducted EMP type attack. An attack on the banking system, cutting off money and therefore food to the population masses would be another catalyst we just probably won't see coming.

Another point of yours, and one I have made often, is that prepping is possible on a budget. It starts with buying extra food for your pantry to extend what people call the three day pantry. If you look close enough you'll find those deals.

Procuring suitable firearms and stocking ammunition, maybe some silver bullion, long range food supplies and some gear is obviously more costly. I've always been a proponent of the first rule of a gun fight and that is having a gun. While some people think that if you don't have a high end M4 or clone and can't dress to look like a Navy SEAL then you are basically dicked when it comes to survival. I think you can adequately cover security and protection otherwise. In fact, you may have to when you just don't have the funds for high end weaponry. If I only had a 12 gauge shotgun and a handgun (with suitable ammunition stocks), then I would most likely be filling other holes like food, water storage, precious metals, seed bank, etc., before I went back to modernize firearms.

Anyway Phil, thanks for writing. Thanks for helping others to prep.