Do not wait until disaster strikes to try and find the emergency shut-off valves in your house. Part of your emergency preparedness plan should be to familiarize yourself with the set-up of your home. There are several different setups for home utilities. If you have trouble finding your shut-off valves, contact your local plumber or electrician for help. Getting a bit of help now could prevent a major bill in the future.
Emergency shut-off valves are usually located in the dark, forgotten corners of the home. Be sure you can find them in a hurry, keep a flashlight around just in case. Emergencies don’t send a warning. Keep in mind many home repairs also require gas, water, and/or electricity to shut-off first. Knowing where the valves are in your home will help you complete all of those DIY weekend warrior projects you have planned.
Gas – Gas leaks could cause a deadly explosion. It is vital you know how to shut off the gas in an emergency. Most homes have a ball valve somewhere on the gas line, typically near where the gas line enters the house. If the handle is parallel to the pipe the gas is flowing. Turn the handle to close the valve and shut-off the flow of gas. New homes have high-pressure lines. Look for a flexible copper pipe usually near the furnace, the shut-off valve should be there. Older homes might not have a gas shut-off valve inside of the house. There should be a street-side shut-off near the meter. If the rectangular nub is parallel gas is flowing, use a wrench to turn the nub a 90 degrees to shut the valve. Most gas companies don’t want you to operate the street-side valve so only use it during an emergency, if you’ve been given permission. Using it without instruction from your gas company can cause extreme damage. Contact your gas company for assistance.
Water – Leaking water pipes can cause a lot of damage to a home. Make sure you know where your main water supply shut-off valve is. If you live in a house with a basement or crawl space the valve is typically on a wall near the front of the house. If your home is on a cement slab look for the valve near the water heater or in the garage. Turn the valve clockwise to turn off the water flow. If you can’t find a shut-off valve inside the house, check for a buried box near the curb. This is the water meter box, the residential water supply for your house. You’ll need a meter key, a long T shaped rod, to turn it off. A crescent wrench and screwdriver can be used in place of a meter key if you don’t have one. Turn the valve clockwise to shut off water to the house. It is important to release the pressure from the pipes, run both the hot and cold water until the water flow stops.
Electricity – An electric shock can be deadly. Make sure the power is off before starting home improvements that involve wiring. Locate the main breaker panel, typically a grey rectangular box. Look in the garage, laundry, or next to the furnace. In older homes, the circuit breaker or fuse box might be on the exterior of the home. Larger homes may have multiple boxes, make sure you can locate all of them. If you are having trouble finding it contact an electrician for help. To shut off power to the whole house locate the main power switch at the top of the box, and pull them to the off position. Fuses are round and screw into sockets. Circuit breakers will have rows of switches for individual areas of the house. You can shut the power off in one area of the house for repairs and still have power in the house.
Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing/valves/how-to-locate-your-gas-shutoff-valve-and-water-shutoff-valve/view-all/
Photo Credit: https://www.hometips.com/diy-how-to/electricity-power-turn-off.html
I took my daughter to physical therapy today – she’s recovering from ankle surgery. As I sat in the waiting room, it was interesting to watch all the people checking in with a wide variety of injuries. Many of the patients were wearing special cast boots or hi-tech splints on their legs. Some were wearing slings for their arms or shoulders. There were crutches, knee scooters, wheelchairs and lots of limping and slow, careful walking.
It reminded me of when I fractured my wrist playing baseball. I slid into home base and collided with the catcher. I ended up with a fractured wrist but at least I was safe and had scored a run. Even though it was just my wrist, I had a cast that extended halfway up my bicep. I don’t think they use those old plaster casts much anymore. I hated that cast, especially when my arm would start to itch. I would use a straitened wire coat hanger to reach down inside my cast to get relief from those annoying itches.
I remember what it was like when the cast was finally cut off. The muscles in my arm had atrophied and my arm seemed much smaller that my other arm. My arm was very weak and moving it was painful and awkward. In addition, I had to be careful what I lifted. I remember how frustrating it was not to have full functionality of my arm. It took several more weeks before my arm started to feel somewhat normal again and a couple of months before my strength returned. Physical therapy back then didn’t seem to be offered – at least it was never suggested to me.
As I watched these patients enter and leave the physical therapy gym, I thought about the wonderful benefits of such therapy. This process truly helps people recover from their injuries far more quickly and eliminates much of the pain and discomfort of recovery by appropriately exercising the effected muscles and joints.
I thought about how a similar “therapy” for emergency preparedness would be so very helpful. Far too many go through the process of purchasing and storing their food storage and emergency preps and then just forget about them – kind of like putting on a preparedness plaster cast. As a result, nothing is ever done to exercise those preparedness muscles and when the time comes to use those stored preps, those muscles will have atrophied and will not function as anticipated.
Prior to an emergency, physical therapy would apply by our actually using and becoming familiar with the functionality of our preps. Here are a few examples of what I mean:
Make a meal with your food storage. Prepare for your family several entrees of your food storage to see what your family thinks. Become familiar with how to prepare the food and how the serving sizes work with your family’s needs. If you’ve stored whole grains like wheat, try grinding and cooking with it. Do you have the ability to actually bake bread or will it be too harsh on your family’s digestive tracts?
Experiment with the equipment in your bug-out-bags. Go for a hike with your backpacks to see how they fit and how to best adjust the straps. Cook a meal with the small portable stove. How long does it take to boil water? Take the radio/flashlight camping to see how it works in the woods. Inventory the items in the first aid kit and check any expiration dates.
Use your water storage. Rotate your water storage and try using it rather than your tap water for a day. Experiment with how to flush your toilets by pouring water in the bowl. Use your water filters. Go to a lake, stream or irrigation ditch and go through the process of filtering at least a gallon of water and then be brave and drink it.
Cook a meal with your camp stove or try and cook a meal over an open fire. I promise you, there will be much learned through this exercise. Cooking without the convenience of a stove and microwave requires so much more time, especially if you’re cooking with charcoal briquettes. Practice how to use just the right amount of briquettes to thoroughly cook your food in your dutch oven and not burn it – or worse, burn the outside with the center still raw.
Practice off-grid scenarios. Pretend the power is off in your home and go an evening with nothing but your flashlights and lanterns. Will they give off the light you need? How long will the batteries or charge last? How long does it take for your solar flashlights and lanterns to recharge the next day?
Go camping. Even if you’re not a camping family, you should have sleeping bags and a tent in your preps. Try spending the night outside in the backyard in your tent and experience your first sleepless night in your sleeping bags. Are they warm enough? Do you have comfortable ground sleeping pads? If you had to sleep outside for a few days or longer due to a natural disaster, would your preps be sufficient to protect your family from the elements?
There are many other things you can do to practice and exercise your prep muscles. Now is the time to take advantage of your self-imposed physical therapy so when the time comes for you to use your preps in a real emergency, you will have the strength, experience and knowledge to make a very difficult situation far less traumatic.
So you have a savings account, now what? How much money do you need to put in there? Financial experts talk about having an emergency fund, but what does that really mean?
An emergency fund is not your savings for a car, house, or other large purchases. Savings for a downpayment on a home should be in addition to your emergency fund. The emergency fund is there for a rainy day (car breaking down, expected medical expenses, etc.) and not for a weekend trip to Las Vegas.
During a disaster or a job loss, your emergency fund will allow you to keep living your life and more importantly paying your bills. So how much do you really need? The bare minimum should be six months of expenses. In other words, what does it take to keep a roof over your head for six months? Say your mortgage is $1,500 a month, plus $300 for utilities, $400 for groceries, $100 for the phone, $89 for life insurance, $400 for health insurance. You’ll need $16,734 in your emergency fund to live off of for six months. This does not include going out to dinner or to the movies or on that family cruise to Mexico.
Though in reality, most people don’t cut their expenses back when faces with finical disaster. Err on the side of caution and save more than you think you’ll need. It is better to be safe than sorry. What are your household expenses? Not just the mortgage and groceries. How much do you eat out? How many movies do you see a month? A weekly date night of dinner and a movie would be around $50, that is $200 a month.
Take an honest look at your spending. It is easy to say I’ll cut out this or that, but it is harder than you think. How much are your really spending each month, add that up and times it by six to eight months. $2,789 for the mortgage, etc., plus $200 for weekly dates, $100 for ballet lessons, $100 for soccer practice. $25,512 will allow you to live with your current lifestyle for eight months. This is how much money you really need in your emergency fund.
On average it takes one to two years to find a new job after a job loss. The bare minimum of six months of essentials won’t last long. Plan to save eight months of your real expenses you will be much better prepared. Then if you cut back to the essentials your emergency fund will last much longer.
Are you spending more than you are making? If you have massive amounts of debt your emergency fund will quickly be eaten up. Look at your real expenses and compare them to your monthly income. Does it add up? Ideally, you should have some money left over to put into an emergency fund, if not it’s time to cut back. Saving six to eight months of income should allow you to meet your needs and have some left over. This will cushion your funds and make them last longer if necessary.
Photo Credit: http://www.fiscallysound.com/your-emergency-fund-why-you-need-one-and-how-to-start-one/
Before the advent of paper money bartering or trading was the way people got what they needed. Farmers often specialized in certain crops or livestock. The chicken farmer might trade 3 chickens with the wheat farmer to get 10 lbs of wheat to make some bread to feed his family. Similarly, if you have 100 cans of beans but no can opener you are going to need to trade a few of those cans with someone that has a can opener. You might trade a few more cans to someone with a lighter or stove so that you can cook those beans. The value of the item will depend on the needs others and how easy said item is to come by. In other words supply and demand. If you are the only one on the block with sugar and everyone wants some you can set the price as you see fit.
During a crisis, anxiety will increase. This will be especially challenging for individuals with addictions. Alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, and tea will be in high demand. Stockpile these items or learn how to make moonshine at home. Alcohol also has medical uses.
Soap will be necessary to stave off infections. Shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss will keep you clean and help you feel more human again. You would be surprised what people are willing to pay for a hot shower. Lotion and chapstick won’t just make you feel better but they can help your skin from cracking and getting irritated.
Many people stockpile food but not everyone thinks about how they are going to cook it during a power outage. Firewood and lighters will provide a warm meal. Propane and a camp stove will make cooking even easier. MRE’s and dried beans aren’t too exciting after a while. Salt, sugar, and other spices can make all the difference. Salt a critical part of our diet. Hard candies are a luxury which are easy to store and trade. Without clean drinking water, you will die. Water filters and water purification tablets will be in high demand.
Everyone is going to need a warm and dry place to sleep. Sleeping bags and camping tents will be essential. Even just a tarp and a bungee cord will go a long way. Candles and flashlights will be used to light homes and tents during power outages. Keep a variety of battery sizes for trading.
Gardening tool and seeds will provide food for the long-term. Google and the internet will be long gone so books will be the only source of knowledge. Books on different subjects will be great for bartering. People will have to learn new skills. Maybe you already have some skills you could barter with such as fishing, nursing, or engineering.
Essential Items for Bartering
Source: https://uspreppers.com/the-top-50-items-to-barter-with-in-case-of-disaster/
Contagious diseases spread like wildfire and can kill millions of people. The most well-known pandemic was probably Bubonic Plague or Black Death. The Black Plague ravaged Europe, Africa, and Asia from 1346-1353. It is estimated to have killed anywhere from 75 to 200 million people. Infected fleas traveled on the backs of rats stowed away on merchant ships. Port towns were the perfect breeding ground for disease as densely populated urban areas.
Influenza or the flu is most common killer as far as contagious diseases are concerned. According to the Center for Disease Control, the flu kills around 36 thousand people in the United States each year. Most deaths are caused by complications from the flu. Children under 2 years old and adults over 65 years old are the most vulnerable to the virus.
Thousands die every year from the flu, however, it is only considered a pandemic if the disease spreads across a wide geographical location, such as a continent. The disease must also affect an especially high proportion of the population to be considered a pandemic.
Sixth Cholera Pandemic (1910-1911)
Cholera Pandemic has occurred several times, hence the name Sixth Cholera Pandemic. Cholera is caused by drinking contaminated water. It causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if left untreated.
This pandemic started in India and spread to the Middle East, Northern Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia. The disease spread to the United States. Thanks to quarantines and fast-acting medical professionals only 11 people died in the USA. This was the last Cholera outbreak in the United States. Cholera outbreaks still occur in India.
Spanish Flu (1918)
The 1918 Pandemic or Spanish Flu killed 50 to 100 million people. It is unclear where this disease originated, possibly China, but maybe the United States. Thanks to World War I and global trade it quickly spread around the world infecting one-third of the world’s population. The mortality rate was 10 to 20 percent, with 25 million people dead in the first 25 weeks. Unlike other stains the flu, this variant took the lives of young and healthy individuals instead of young children or elderly adults.
Doctors recommend getting a flu shot every year because influenza mutates and changes each year. Your body builds up and immunity to the flu when exposed to illness or the flu vaccine. Your body is able to recognize small changes to the influenza virus and fight the disease off. Major changes to the disease won’t be recognized and could be fatal. This was the problem with the 1918 outbreak. The population had not been exposed to this new variant (H1N1) and were vulnerable.
Asian Flu (1956-1958)
The Asian Flu was a shift in the influenza virus (H2N2). Major shifts in the influenza virus leave the population vulnerable because they do not have natural antibodies for this new stain. It started in China and spread to Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. It is estimated the Asian Flu killed 2 million people, 69 thousand in the USA alone.
Flu Pandemic (1968)
The Hong Kong Flu or Flu Pandemic of 1968 was yet another shift in the influenza virus (H3N2). Again the major shift in the virus left people vulnerable, with no natural antibodies to fight off the disease. It spread from Hong Kong to Singapore, Vietnam, The Philippines, India, Austraila, Europe, and the United States of America. The Flu Pandemic claimed the lives of more than 1 million people, including 500 thousand individuals from Hong Kong, 15 percent of the population at the time.
HIV/AIDS Pandemic (2005-2012)
HIV and AIDS were first discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976. Since then it has spread worldwide killing 36 million people. There are currently 31 to 35 million people living with HIV. Most live in Sub-Sharan Africa where 5 percent of the population is infected. Awareness and new treatments have greatly reduced the spread and increased life expectancies.
Source: http://theconversation.com/the-greatest-pandemic-in-history-was-100-years-ago-but-many-of-us-still-get-the-basic-facts-wrong-89841
https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/health/top-flu-questions-answered/index.html
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic
A natural disaster has just occurred and the sewer line is broken. What do you do? Are you prepared? The kids really need to use the potty. Where are they going to do go? You can make a simple emergency bucket with a 5-gallon bucket and some trash bags. Ideally, you should have two separate buckets one for urine and one for feces. Keeping them separate will cut down on the smell.
Emergency Toilet Bucket
Materials
Steps
The world we live in can be a dangerous place. You never know when you are going to be the target of a kidnapping or a violent crime. Here are a few simple steps you can take to better prepare and protect yourself.
Tips for Escaping
On February 2, 2018, Punxsutawney Phil looked out of his hole and saw his shadow, six more weeks of winter. Depending on where you live it might feel like Spring is just around the corner, but the winter storms aren’t over just yet. Getting stranded in your car can quickly become your worst nightmare. Plan ahead and be prepared, it just might save your life.
Pack a 72-hour kit for your car and leave it in there at all times. The kit doesn’t have to be large or take up much room. Think about the essentials, food, water, and staying warm. How many times do you or the kids say I don’t need a cost there is a heater in the car and in the building you are heading to. What happens if the car breaks down along the way? You’re stuck in the freezing cold without anything to stay warm. Keep coats and warm blankets in the car for emergencies. Depending on the weather help might not arrive for a while. Keep 1 gallon of water per family member in the car. High-calorie snacks like trail mix will ward off hunger. Digestion will actually help keep you warm.
It is a good idea to keep the gas tank full at all times. If you get stranded you can keep the engine running and the heater on for a long period of time. Keep cell phones charge and have a backup charger just in case. Make sure someone knows where you are going. If the search party knows where to looks odds are they will find you a lot sooner. Road flares will make your location easier to spot. Flashlights can be used to single for help. A lighter can be used to build a fire to stay warm. Hand warmers are small and easy to keep in the car. Just shake them when need and they will stay warm for a couple of hours.
Keep a paper map of the area in the car. Don’t depend on your smart phone’s GPS. Don’t leave the car unless absolutely necessary. The car will stay about 20*F warmer as long as the doors are closed.
Deep snow can be difficult to escape. Traction mats and a small shovel can help you rescue yourself or another stranded motorist on the side of the road. Place the traction mats under the drive wheels so they won’t just spin and get stuck. Shovels come in all shapes and sizes. Keep a small collapsible shovel in the car just in case you need to dig the car out of a snowbank.
Car Emergency Kit
Keep your emergency kit stocked and ready. Remember to rotate the water at least once a year and replace the food as it expires.
Source: http://www.good4utah.com/news/what-you-need-in-your-72-hour-car-emergency-kit/906889602
Photo Credit: http://www.redplum.com/blog/post/120522/7-tips-to-get-your-car-out-when-stuck-in-the-snow
According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, we just got closer to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. In fact very close – It’s now just two minutes to midnight – the closest the Clock has ever been to Doomsday, and as close as it was in 1953, at the height of the Cold War. This may be a wakeup call for many of us who may have slipped into the comfort of complacency. Therefore, it behooves all of us to look a little closer at why these world experts feel we are ever closer to a major meltdown of some type that would affect all our lives in a very real way. Hopefully, this will provide the catalyst for us to take an even closer look at how well we are prepared to provide for our loved ones in such a scenario.
As stated on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website, this organization was “first established by Albert Einstein, with Robert Oppenheimer as the first chair, the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors are recruited by their peers from among the world’s most accomplished science and security leaders to reinforce the importance of the Bulletin’s activities and publications. Members of the Board of Sponsors are consulted on key issues, including the setting of the Bulletin’s Doomsday Clock.”
Although the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists focuses on nuclear risk, climate change, and emerging technologies, the threat of nuclear acceleration took center stage in this year’s Clock statement. The greatest risks recently arose in the threat of nuclear war. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program made remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks to other countries in the region, and the United States.
So what does all this really mean? How are we to interpret “two minutes before midnight”? With the assumption that “doomsday” is an all-encompassing, devastating event where it all hits the fan, I don’t know about you but I’d really like to know when it going to happen. I don’t necessarily need to know all the details of how and where, but “when” would be at the top of my list of knowledge I’d love to have.
So does two minutes translate to two months? Two years? Twenty years? Without more specifics, it’s easy to ignore such warnings simply because we don’t know what it means. It sound close and ominous, but things have appeared close and ominous in the past with nothing “doomsdayish” ever transpiring. Many have the attitude that things may get tough someday, but as for today, it’s not an issue. When they open their refrigerator, there’s food there. When they go to the grocery store, there’s food there as well. So what’s the urgency?
The urgency lies in the fact that once the need arises, it’s too late to prepare. Better 10 years early than 1 day too late. I wish I had a crystal ball that told me when things would hit the fan, but since I don’t, I’m not willing to risk the wellbeing and safety of my family by putting my preparedness needs off till a later date using the excuse, “I know nothing’s going to happen this week, or this month, or this year. And as soon as I get the car fixed and finish the basement and get some of my medical bills paid off, then I’ll get serious about preparing for the future.” Unfortunately, those with such an attitude will most likely not be prepared for a major event; they also will be unprepared for smaller, personal doomsday events in their own lives.
Even though the risk of a catastrophic worldwide event is indeed increasing as every day passes, there may be an even a greater likelihood of personal doomsday events unfolding in our day to day lives that we can certainly prepare for to help offset the often traumatic natural series of events that follow. Here are just a few possible, or should I say probable scenarios that could create your own doomsday event.
Natural Disasters: I consider natural disasters personal doomsdays because of how localized they are. Properly preparing for such will depend largely on the likelihood of a specific event in your geographic area, i.e., earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, etc.
Job Loss: Losing expected monthly income can put a real strain on you and your family. When times are tight, having a little food stored away ease the burden.
Family Structure: Your family structure changing can be caused by a number of different things. The loss (or addition) to the family, divorce, a contributor moving out, or an accident can all change your priorities.
Severe Sickness: At one point or another in life all of us will have to handle situations like these. Injury, disease, or disability could affect us or our family members and loved ones.
Issues at Home: There are many issues around the house that could cause unwanted stress. There are constant repairs that need to be done around the home, and some are bigger than others. Unless you own your home outright, eviction and foreclosure might need to be considered as well.
Unexpected Expenses: This could fall into all the personal doomsday categories. Injuries at home, job loss, car accidents, and changes in the family could change our ability to pay the bills.
Personal Trauma: Situations like robbery, assault or mental trauma may or may not change our physical ability to get things done, but they could affect us mentally.
In order to be completely prepared, we need to pay attention to the small stuff. These “small” disaster scenarios will become big disaster scenarios if we are not properly prepared for such events. While these personal doomsdays may not be life threatening, they can dramatically affect the future of our families and loved ones. Let’s face it, life happens, and it happens more often than we would like. Personal doomsday scenarios like these shouldn’t define us. What should define us is how we react and recover from them.
As we are exposed more and more to such possible doomsday scenarios, we can become desensitized and begin to lose interest in preparedness, or lose our motivation. This is completely natural, and we all go through it at one point or another. The goal should be to avoid extended periods of stagnation. While we might have a little time to prepare for some disaster scenarios, some can spring on us at a moment’s notice.
It may be easier said than done depending on the situation, but there are ways to get back into prepping. If it’s the lack of money that is causing you to lose interest in preparedness, there are quite a few things you can do that don’t cost a dime. Prepping is not all about what supplies you have, prepping is also about learning new skills and learning to survive when those supplies aren’t available.
When it comes to the loss of a family member, or personal trauma, prepping can (for good reason) fall down on your list of priorities. While it’s important to take the time to grieve, or work through these issues, we can’t afford to let prepping sit on the back burner for too long. The fact of the matter is – we really are running out of time.
Source: https://thebulletin.org/
Emergency preparedness sometimes takes a backseat to immediate needs and wants. Since preparedness items aren’t used regularly (or sometimes at all), they can be pushed to the back of the budget. Unfortunately, like many things, if you aren’t prepared before a disaster’s forecast, it’s going to be too late. Just like you don’t put your seatbelt on as a car is smashing into your car, you can’t stock up on necessities as the rain starts to fall.
Insurance and Preparedness
Insurance is a necessary part of life. Health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, etc. are expenses that we incur because we know they are important. The same can be said about preparedness items. They are essential when the need arises, you just hope you never have to use them.
Like most insurance policies, you don’t have to pay a huge lump sum to purchase preparedness items. If you plan correctly, you can spread out the purchase of the essentials you will need over months and years.
Supply and Demand
The hurricanes, mudslides, floods, fires, and earthquakes of 2017devastated populations close to home. During that time there was a huge spike in sales on emergency preparedness sites. Unfortunately, for so many people, those items were not readily available. Water containers were sold out in minutes, as were several food items. Items to fill 72-hour kits were stocked out for months. Shipping times were increased because of washed out roads and backlogged needs. Even preparedness distributors had to wait extended times for inventory orders because suppliers couldn’t keep up with the new demand. It took months before the suppliers were able to send complete inventory. Had there been one more disaster, some food items would have been back ordered for 6+ additional months.
Wisdom and Foolishness
During the spike of natural disasters, we received lots of phone calls. Those phone calls varied greatly. Some wise, experienced people called to place their monthly orders. When those orders took an extended time, they calmly accepted the situation and were grateful they had what they had. Some of them even offered to send excess supplies to those who needed them. They were okay because they had the basics. They were prepared.
Unfortunately, there were many panicked callers needing water containers, 72-hour kits, and other food storage items immediately. When their orders were not fulfilled in time for the disasters, they canceled them. Their mindset was not focused on the long-term, but rather the here-and-now. Not only were they not prepared for the current disaster, they didn’t consider the fact that natural disasters were not once in a lifetime events instead of yearly threats. How much better off would they be today had they kept those orders and waited for fulfillment?
Confidence in Your Preparedness
If you’re reading this, you’re probably pretty prepared. You know that the time to prepare was yesterday. You know that preparedness isn’t a single event, but a mindset of evaluating and reevaluating your needs constantly. You’re pretty wise in your planning. We’re happy to help you stay up-to-date on the things you need.
If you aren’t prepared, that’s okay. Today is a great day to get started. May we suggest you begin with a 72-Hour Kit? You can also start your food storage as you go along.
If you want to know more about specific preparedness topics, items, trends, etc., let us know. We’re here to help you be as prepared as possible.
