The 7 Essential Items In Your Emergency Survival Kit
For this Infographic Monday, I have The 7 Essential Items In Your Emergency Survival Kit from the great folks at More Prepared. So what are the 7 items? Well, it’s more the 7 categories of items you need. They are:
Food
Water
Lighting And Communication
First Aid
Survival Gear
Shelter And Warmth
Sanitation and Hygiene
Food
I’ll add a few thoughts to some of the items. Food is a no brainer for us preppers. We know that we need food. But you would be surprised by the number of preppers that don’t have food stored for their pets. They are your family too and you need to have food stored for them too. Do not be like that idiot on Doomsday Preppers that said they were going to eat their cat in SHTF. I can’t imagine eating Bjorn the cat.
Survival Gear
In The 7 Essential Items In Your Emergency Survival Kit infographic, they mention having plastic sheeting. I like to prep with trash bags as well. I like to get clear garbage bags to collect water through transpiration. A few of them take up almost no space and are the easiest way to collect safe water to drink. Way better than digging a solar still in my opinion.
I also like to carry drum liners. They are huge thick trash bags. They have many uses. You can use them like a bivy sack or tube tent. You can fill one with leaves to make a mat for sleep on. If you split it you could make a tarp. The ideas are endless.
Check out the infographic for the whole list of The 7 Essential Items In Your Emergency Survival Kit.
I realized I haven’t written about situational awareness in depth since back in 2012. I know from my day to day activities that surprisingly everyone in the world has not read that article and mastered it. In fact, a shit ton of people is still completely oblivious to their surroundings. They have no clue what’s going on around them.
I have a hard time even imaging how people are so out of touch. I was born with a well-developed situational awareness. Guess it makes up for my complete lack of mathematical skills.
So before we dig into it I guess I need to define it for those of you that don’t know what situational awareness is.
Situational awareness is the perception of environmental elements with respect to time and/or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time.
It’s knowing where you are and what’s going on around you.
4 Ways You Can Prepare For A World Without The Internet
Can you imagine a world without the internet? Consumer Affairs posed the question What goes up when the Internet goes down? In the infographic below they have some answer’s. I don’t think that the world will ever go without the internet for long. Humans like to be conceted. Many young adults have never known a time without the internet.
The internet we know today is based on APRAPNET and has been around since 1969. It was built to be resilient with redundancy. The info sent over the internet is broken into tiny pieces called packets that do not have to travel on the same route. At the end, they are reassembled. Not to geek out on my networking background. Not to even mention alternative networks like ServalMesh.
But it could be down in areas for periods of time. There are some takeaways you can learn from a world without the internet.
There are a few common misconceptions associated with precious metals and how they may not be helpful to a preparedness plan for either a SHTF scenario or potential economic collapse.
1. If I can’t eat it, drink it, or use it to defend myself, I don’t need it.
2. I’ll just get stuck buying some worthless coins and never get anything out of them.
Although these are some generally popular perspectives, they are completely misguided and incorrect.
So how can precious metals be useful for survivalists when the economy collapses?
The truth is, precious metals are essential for survivalists to help you stay prepared for all sorts of upcoming turmoil.
Below, you’ll find rebuttals to the common misconceptions about gold and silver and how they can literally save your life when the SHTF…
1. “If I can’t eat it, drink it, or use it to defend myself, I don’t need it.”
Precious metals have been used as a stable store of value and a medium of exchange for thousands of years. Although you cannot actually eat, drink or use it to defend yourself you can use it in barter or trade to get any potential needed items.
For example, if you are trying to trade with a neighbor for ammunition and you only have water, food, ammunition and first aid, chances are, he/she has those exact items also. You need to pay with something that can be used as a medium of exchange so that your neighbor can buy whatever he/she may need from someone else.
You won’t always know what people may need in a barter or trade situation. That’s why having a form of currency is essential!
2. “I’ll just get stuck buying some worthless coins and never get anything out of them.”
I say this to prospective precious metals buyers, it seems like, a thousand times a day:
“Stay away from collectible coins! Don’t do it!”
Collectible coins, or “numismatic coins,” are like art. Their value is largely subjective. Therefore some people might pay millions of dollars for the Mona Lisa. Personally, I wouldn’t pay 20 bucks for it!
Don’t put yourself in a hard spot to try to get a buyer who will pay as much as you did to get some mint special coin. The liquidity just isn’t there when compared to gold and silver coins, bars, and rounds that are traded at their melt value.
So Buy BULLION!
Bullion is the term that is used when trying to buy precious metals closest to the spot (sometimes called stock market) price. Ask your buyer, if they don’t have it listed, how much over spot you are paying per ounce. The price of gold and silver is fully transparent and can be determined by the clock around the world. Getting the lowest price per ounce is generally the smartest choice.
After the 2008 real-estate fiasco, the economy was trash! In 2011, however, silver jumped up to $40 an ounce even though the rest of the country and economy were still trying to pull themselves out of the grave. Precious metals are not only a good option for a survivalist perspective but they also help to hedge against inflation and perform well in periods of economic turmoil.
What You Need to Know for a Survivalist/SHTF Scenario
In a barter/trade situation, it’s important to remember that having different sizes and metals is always smart. Having Pre-65 junk silver is a great option, it is in smaller fractional sizes, and, because it is 90% silver (containing 10% copper), it will wear well being handled more frequently.
Silver rounds, especially in the smaller fractional sizes, is also an attractive option. For larger barter situations consider getting some gold. Compared to silver coins fractional gold coins carry a larger amount of value in smaller sizes.
As a result of government racking up a national debt of over 19 TRILLION dollars and climbing, it’s time to start preparing for our currency to be obsolete in SHTF scenarios…
Finally remember: “You won’t always know what people may need in a barter or trade situation. That’s why having a form of currency is essential!”
Dan Novak is an avid survivalist and precious metals specialist at Money Metals Exchange. Staying educated on economic turmoil and maintaining a survivalist mentality are incredibly important in the world we live in today.
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Weeding your garden may seem like a chore, but did you know that those weeds can offer a Backyard Bounty. Weeds are a fantastic addition to your diet. Those pesky dandelions can add some delicious notes to a salad! Plants like Miner’s lettuce, Purslane, and plantain are all just a few of the edible greens you may find springing up among your regularly-planted veggies, herbs, and fruits. The infographic below covers the basics of identifying, preparing, and consuming wild greens, along with which ones are safe to eat, and which ones to watch out for.
