During times of crisis, it’s inevitable to see crimes increase. These could range from thefts to assaults to looting and much worse. History will show us that whenever there are riots or other dire situations, criminals will grab the chance to create chaos and grab whatever they can.
It’s just common sense to assume that when there’s a natural disaster or other emergency, the criminal elements in society will rear their ugly heads because law enforcement can’t be everywhere.

It’s during times like these that you must be on high alert and ready for anything. In this article, you’ll learn why the first thirty seconds are the most important when it comes to self-defense.

• Awareness
  There are usually only two ways most attacks occur. Either your assailant takes you completely by surprise and tries to knock you out or they approach you threateningly and demand that you hand them your belongings. The same applies to situations such as housebreaking and rapes. It’s always either by surprise or intimidation.
  Awareness is extremely important even when you’re not in a crisis situation. If it’s late at night and you’re walking to your car from the mall, you want to be aware of your surroundings.

If you’re a woman, you might even want to have a taser in your jacket pocket with one hand gripping it. This is your 30-second window. It’s not paranoia, but preparation. There’s a saying that when you’re in the woods, it’s better to treat a stick as a snake instead of assuming a snake is a stick.
Being unaware of your surroundings is the biggest mistake you can make.

These days, just about everyone’s faces are buried in their smart phones as they walk around oblivious to their environment. You do not have the luxury to do that during tough times.
People who have less than you will want what you’ve got and many of them will have no qualms hurting you to get what they want. Being alert to any possible attack will give you that extra edge.

• Readiness
  This is the second step. When you’re aware, you must also be mentally ready to react. If you’re a female, you must be instinctively aware of any stranger’s intentions. Trust your gut instinct. The moment you feel uncomfortable, ask them to back off.

If they don’t listen and slowly try to get closer, you MUST hit them with a preemptive strike. This could either be a knee to the groin or using a taser on them. Run off the moment they’re down.

This is your first thirty seconds. Do not try to plead with them or act like a victim. The same applies to men. In the event of an impending assault, you always want to be the first one to strike and run off the first chance you get.

Most people wait too long before taking action. They shout, scream and try talking their way out of the problem failing to realize that they’re giving their attacker time to plan his moves. You want to be fast, determined and unrelenting till you can escape.

• Mentality
  Developing a survival mentality is crucial to surviving. If someone breaks into your house and you have a firearm, you must be ready to use it… and you must use it fast. Violent situations are highly unpredictable.
  During the first thirty seconds, most criminals are disorganized. Even if two people try breaking into your house, they’ll be in a panicky state. If you hesitate to use your firearm, you’ll be giving them time to assess the situation and react.

However, if you immediately fire at one of them, you’ll either take him down and send the other one fleeing or the explosive sound of the gun shot will scare the daylights out of both of them and send them running for the hills.

There is no time to talk during the first thirty seconds. You only have time to react after quickly assessing the threat. If you have children, you must first protect yourself first so that you can protect them better.

Many parents have this false belief that they should sacrifice themselves to protect their kids. This is wrong. Even on an airline, you’re always given instructions to wear the oxygen mask first in an emergency. Now you are in a position to help your children.

Your goal is to ALWAYS survive at all costs. If all you have is a knife, you must be ready to use it. Hesitation can lead to your own death… and this too can happen within the first thirty seconds.
So, be aware of your surroundings, be ready to react instantaneously and have a mindset to survive at all costs. Never give up and never give in.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones can be terrifying. If you’re wondering what the difference is between the three, there really isn’t any difference. They’re just called different names depending on where these storms originate.

Those that form in the Northwest Pacific are called typhoons while those that form in the in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific are called hurricanes. Cyclones are the storms in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

While this bit of trivia is interesting, as a prepper there’s only one thing you need to know – these storms wreak havoc! They can be so damaging and dangerous that people may need to evacuate the areas affected.

Very often, this can lead to massive traffic jams and even a shortage of fuel. The recent Hurricane Irma is a good example of this. People were stuck for hours in traffic and some had to wait a long time to get gas for their vehicles… and they are considered the lucky ones.

There were thousands of other people who could not evacuate. Either they didn’t have the means to leave or they had nowhere to go. It is an unfortunate predicament but a very possible one.

In this article, you’ll learn how to minimize wind damage to your home.
While the tips below will not tell you how to cope with flooding that may occur, they’ll help keep you safe in your house during the strong winds. The damage from these winds can be massive and when objects everywhere are becoming flying projectiles, you absolutely must know what to do to protect your home and yourself.

• Duct tape all glass windows, doors, etc.
  Ideally you should have storm shutters that you can use those to cover your glass windows and doors. But if you don’t, you can use duct tape as an alternative.
  Stick long strips of heavy duty duct tape across your windows and glass doors in the shape of an asterisk. In the event the glass shatters, shards will not be sent flying around because the duct tape will be binding the bits of glass to each other.
• Roofing and shingles secured
  Make sure that your roof sheathing is securely nailed to the house so that the entire roof is not ripped off during a strong storm. The shingles on your roof need to be well-fitted and securely attached or they’ll all be dislodged and turned into flying projectiles.
• Close your garage doors
  The garage doors should be closed and strongly secured.
• Remove unsecured objects
  If you have lawn furniture, garden decorations, trash bins, toys, etc. outside your home, you need to remove all of them and store them indoors. A strong storm may pick up all these loose objects and send them flying right through your windows. The goal here is to reduce the possibility of projectiles striking your home.
• Your pool
  If you have a swimming pool, do NOT drain it or cover it. If you use a pool cover, a projectile that’s flung on it will totally rip the cover. The water in the swimming pool gives the whole pool weight and this will keep it in place.
  During a storm that lasts for days, the ground will become saturated and when pressure builds up, it can dislodge the foundations of an empty pool or even pop it out of the ground. So, keeping your pool filled will prevent this from happening. There’s no need to worry about an overflowing pool if you have good drainage.
• Trees
  Prune all trees close to your home or chop them down till they’re just a stump. Trees cause a lot of damage during storms because the huge branches fly off and crash into anything and everything.
• Cracks
  Seal cracks in your walls so that heat doesn’t escape from your house and the strong winds will not cause interior damage.
  Just by following the tips above, your home will be much less likely to get damaged during a hurricane or any storm for that matter. It goes without saying that thorough and early preparation makes its own luck.
  You do not want to be in a position where you can’t leave but you’re also not sure about the structural integrity of your home. Ensure that your home is in good order before a storm looms over the horizon.

During a crisis, the importance of drinking water cannot be overestimated. While the average human being can go without food for 3 weeks or so, most people will not last more than a week without water. Depending on the climate, you may experience severe dehydration in just 3 days if you have no water. It’s horrible and you do NOT want to be in this situation.
Whenever there’s some sort of natural disaster or emergency, the first item that’s quickly bought up is water. During the recent Hurricane Irma, many stores were completely sold out of bottled water.
To make matters worse, there were reports of price gouging where water was being sold at $99 a bottle.

To avoid all these issues, you should be storing water in your house in preparation for such emergencies. That’s the first step to not being a victim of circumstances.
However, even with the best preparation, in some cases, you may not have access to drinking water. Your stored water may be wiped out. The stores may be sold out and you’re stuck. So, what do you do?

In this article, you’ll learn about water purification and how you can find water and make it potable. During tough times, you can find water from lakes, swimming pools, water heaters, residual water in garden hoses, parks, golf courses, rooftops, etc. Wherever water collects are good spots for you to get water.

• Filtering
  Now that you’ve found the water, you can’t just gulp it down like a champ. You’ll end up seriously ill if there are protozoa and viruses in the water. What you’ll need to do is filter and purify the water. It’s important that you know the difference between the two.

Depending on the turbidity of the water, you may or may not need to filter it. If the water is murky and unclear, filtering it is a must. You can use coffee filters to filter the water. You need to find a way to support the coffee filter in order to use it effectively. Once you run the water through the first step of filtering, you’d have removed the larger particles.

Do note that even if the water is clear, it’s not ready to drink. One of the best ways to kill all bacteria and harmful organisms in the water is to boil it. However, if you do not have access to a gas stove or a fire, you will have to use other methods.

• Purification
  Water purification will remove most bacteria, pathogens and viruses in the water and make them safe to drink. One way of doing this is with chemical treatment.

You can easily purchase water purification tablets from sites like Amazon. There are iodine tablets that will do the job but it’s best to purchase chlorine dioxide water purification tablets. The chlorine dioxide tablets will eliminate the more resistant parasites like Cryptosporidium which cause gastrointestinal issues.

Another alternative are pump-style water purifiers like MyBottle Purifier that’s manufactured by Katadyn. These convenient devices will allow you to prepare clean drinking water on the go. They’re extremely convenient and very portable.

Another brand that you can look at is Fixt Water that allows you to drink clean water anywhere in the world. This amazing product doesn’t require you to prefilter the water or use any tablets. Just add the water you find in the Fixt water bottle and when you drink through the straw, the water will be filtered and purified.

While storing water for emergencies should be your focus, it definitely helps if you purchase a few handheld water purifiers for you and your family. In the event, you need to abandon your home and the only water you can find is from rivers, lakes or other places that worry you, these water purification devices will ease your worries and ensure you stay hydrated.

During a time of crisis, more often than not, law enforcement will be extremely busy and unable to uphold the law efficiently. There’s just too much happening and not enough officers to handle the chaos.
When the cat is away, the mice will play. Crime will start to skyrocket with more looting, vandalism, thefts, assaults, rapes and worse. This is not a possibility. It’s the norm and you must be ready for it.
During an emergency, such as a hurricane alert where you absolutely must evacuate, chances are you’ll leave your home earlier to go somewhere safe.

During this time, most other people will be fleeing too and this is an opportunity for criminals to do some brazen last-minute housebreaking and flee with some loot.
In order to prevent your valuables from being stolen, you need to adopt a few measures to safeguard them. It would be a good idea to be prepared well ahead of time instead of scrambling to think of hiding spots at the last minute.

• Safes
  If you thought of safes, you’d be absolutely right. These are without a doubt one of the best ways to protect your valuables. During an emergency, fleeing with all your jewelry, cash and other expensive belongings is not a good idea.
  You may lose them or they may get stolen.
  It’s best to leave them in your safe at home. It’s important to note that not all safes are made equal. Do NOT get a small safe that can be easily carried away by 2 or more people.
  Ideally, your safe should be large, extremely heavy and too cumbersome to move. It would be better if you could anchor it to the ground.

The best kind of safes are expensive, large and placed in a discreet place where the ground can support their weight. Do not use wall safes because the walls can be broken and the safes carted away by thieves.

It’s also a good idea to make sure that your safe is fire resistant. There’s no point in having a safe that keeps everything intact as it burns to the ground. Pick a safe that has a thick layer of steel.

• Hiding spots
  While safes are excellent, the hard truth is that they can be costly. The good safes cost thousands of dollars and if you just don’t have the budget to purchase a safe, don’t panic. There are several ingenious ways to hide your valuables.

The first thing you should avoid doing is hiding your valuables in the master bedroom. People are creatures of habit and thieves know exactly where to look. Sealing your valuables in an airtight plastic bag and hiding them in the toilet tank is not as uncommon as you think. Thieves know where to look.

Cereal boxes, under the bed, between mattresses, laundry baskets, etc. are all NOT good hiding places. Generally, when someone breaks into your home to rob it, they want to be in and out of there as fast as they can. They’ll toss just about everything upside down as they quickly grab whatever they think is of value.

To hide your valuables, you need to be creative. If you have an attic or store room where you store all your old stuff, those are some of the best places to hide your valuables. Since there is already so much junk there from old shoes to old clothes, most thieves will assume that there’s nothing of value going to be hidden there.

Another good place to hide your valuables are in PVC pipes. You could place all your valuables inside an empty PVC pipe and run it in a place that looks suitable. To the casual observer, it’ll look like just another water pipe and they’ll not even notice it.

Another way to hide your valuables is to add them in an empty flower pot and cover it halfway with soil and add a plant in it. Make it all look normal and place it somewhere inside the house that’s relatively discreet.

Follow the tips in this article and your belongings will probably be safe even if there’s a break-in. Plan in advance and be ready to hide your valuables at a moment’s notice. Do remember where you hide your precious belongings so that you know where to look when you return.

One of the first thoughts that crosses most people’s minds during times of crisis is food. They wonder if they have enough food at home to last through the crisis and in most cases they don’t, because prepping for emergencies is not the norm.

So, they start rushing to the grocery store to grab whatever food that they think they’ll need.

3 problems can arise here. In one situation, you just may not have access to the mall. Roads may be closed down or inaccessible due to inclement weather. Another more common problem is that the mall itself may be closed since most employees are huddled at home.

Then of course, if the mall is open, you may discover that the shelves are empty and most of the items you need are gone.

All scenarios are common and should highlight the importance of storing your own food just to weather any emergency for a few days.

In this article, you’ll be given 8 useful tips to storing food for most emergencies. As long as you stick to them, you should be fine.

1. 30 Days
   Ideally, you want to store enough food that will last you for 30 days. While this may seem extreme, it is a good measure to aim for. You can last through most crises and emergencies with 30 days of food supplies. Only the worst disasters will require more food and if that’s the case, by then there will be some sort of food aid provided by the authorities.
   Do note that when storing the food, you should take into account the needs of all family members and make sure you have sufficient supplies to cover the entire family. If you have pets, you need to store food for them too.
2. Rotate your food
   When storing your food, place the newest stores at the back and the older stores in front. If there’s a crisis, ensure that you consume the older food stores first. It’s a good idea to have a record book to monitor when you purchased the food and the expiry dates. This will make it much easier to track your stores.
3. Store food properly
   Your food stores should be tightly sealed and not exposed to heat and rodents. Ensure that your stores are in a cool and dry environment,
4. Store foods you like
   Ideally, the food you store should be what your family and you enjoy eating and are also nutritious. It’s a good idea to also stock some comfort foods like chocolate, canned fruit, etc. During emergencies, these foods will lift your spirits and give you an emotional ‘break’ from the stress of the situation.
5. Rotate your food stocks
   Monitor your food stocks and consume them when they’re close to expiry. Replenish the food as soon as possible. In this way, not only will you prevent wastage but your food supplies will not have expired without your knowledge.
6. Know what foods to store
   Some foods like milk, bread and eggs do not have a long shelf life. Storing them will be a hassle. You should focus on freeze dried foods, canned food, uncooked rice, flour, meals ready to eat (MREs) and other foods that have a longer shelf life and contain the nutrients you need.
   You may consider getting food that can be chilled or frozen but there is always the possibility that your home may experience a power outage during a crisis and you’ll need to quickly consume the food in the refrigerator before they start rotting.
7. Utensils and paper plates
   During crises, you’ll want to conserve water. Use disposable plastic utensils and paper plates instead. Do remember to have trash bags stored too.
8. Spices and other condiments
   Do remember to store ingredients and sauces used to flavor your food. In the event that you want to cook, having spices, sauces and salt can make a world of difference in how your food tastes. There’s no need to suffer bland meals during a crisis.
   The 8 tips above are just scraping the tip of the iceberg, but they’re a good starting point if adhered to. Just the fact that you’re getting ready for any possible emergency makes you that much more prepared to handle whatever may come your way. Learn as much as you can about prepping and apply what you learn.

In today’s uncertain world, being prepared for any situation is more crucial than ever. Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast, an urban dweller, or simply someone who wants to be ready for the unexpected, having a survival checklist can make all the difference. Let’s delve into the essential items you need to include in your survival kit to ensure your preparedness in any scenario.

1. Shelter and Warmth

First up on our survival checklist is shelter and warmth.

In any emergency situation, having adequate shelter and warmth is paramount to your survival. Be sure to include items such as a tent, tarp, or emergency blanket to protect yourself from the elements. Additionally, pack a reliable sleeping bag and extra clothing layers to keep warm, even in the coldest of conditions.

2. Water and Hydration

Dehydration can quickly become a serious threat in survival situations. Include a sufficient supply of water in your survival kit, as well as water purification tablets or a portable water filter to ensure access to clean drinking water. Don’t forget to replenish your water stash regularly and stay hydrated at all times.

3. Food and Nutrition

Maintaining energy levels is essential for survival, so be sure to pack non-perishable food items such as energy bars, canned goods, and dehydrated meals. Consider dietary restrictions and preferences when selecting food items for your survival kit, and don’t forget to include a manual can opener for canned goods.

4. First Aid Supplies

Injuries and medical emergencies can occur unexpectedly, so it’s crucial to have a well-stocked first aid kit on hand. Include essential items such as bandages, antiseptic wipes, pain relievers, and any necessary prescription medications. Familiarize yourself with basic first aid procedures to effectively respond to injuries in emergency situations.

5. Tools and Navigation

Having the right tools can significantly enhance your ability to survive in challenging circumstances. Pack items such as a multi-tool, flashlight, fire starter, and a compass or GPS device for navigation. Additionally, consider including a map of the area and learning basic navigation skills to help you find your way in unfamiliar terrain.

6. Communication and Signaling

In the event of an emergency, communication with rescuers or other individuals is essential. Include items such as a whistle, signal mirror, or flare gun in your survival kit to attract attention and signal for help. Consider also packing a portable radio or satellite phone for communication in areas with limited cell reception.

7. Personal Protection

Protecting yourself from potential threats is crucial for survival in any situation. Pack items such as pepper spray, a whistle for personal defense, and a sturdy knife or multi-tool for various tasks. Additionally, consider including items for protection against environmental hazards, such as sunscreen, insect repellent, and a hat for sun protection.

Conclusion

Being prepared for the unexpected can mean the difference between life and death in emergency situations. By creating and regularly updating a comprehensive survival checklist, you can ensure your readiness to face any challenge that comes your way. Remember to customize your survival kit based on your specific needs and circumstances, and don’t forget to regularly review and replenish your supplies to maintain your preparedness over time. Stay safe, stay prepared, and be ready for whatever the future may hold.

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