1. Hide valuables
You may wish to bury valuables somewhere on your property. Obviously, you want to remember exactly where the spot is but you don’t want to write it down or leave any marks or clues, of course. You can create a reminder so you and your companions are the only ones who know the exact location. Take a photo of your companions standing at the place where you were to dig. Create copies of the photo and keep it in everybody’s wallets and bug out bags. No one will ever know the true purpose of those photos, or be able to guess. Unless they’re actually reading this article.
2. Get Fit
Poor circumstances often put the worst out of people. Eventually, you’ll probably need to fight one or two attackers one on one. You’ve got to be able to outperform others to save your life. You never know if you need to take a wounded loved one to safety. All these tasks will take strength, flexibility, speed and endurance. They’re all really quick to develop. The toughest part is to just get going. Jogging, biking and going to the gym all will improve your health. I suggest you focus on body weight exercises like sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups, if you start.
3. Move Out Of The City
What often happens during protests is that the downtown area of a city becomes a war zone. That’s why the last place you want to live is this. You are not going to be able to get in and you are not going to be able to get out of it, meaning you might get trapped inside for days, maybe even weeks. Worse still, you could get assaulted and hurt trying to get home.
Cheaper housing can be found in the suburbs. You definitely need to be careful about the location, so you can avoid neighborhoods of high crime. Before and after a riot, you want to be safe, not just during, when rioters who also live in the suburbs decide to take justice into their own hands. When you need to go, you’ll want to schedule a fast way out of the city too.
Related: Bugout Bag for your Bug In Plans
4. Smart Way To Rotate Your Food Stockpile
If you store some of your food under your bed, there’s an easy little trick to keep it rotating. Just put cans on one side of the bed and remove from the other. This process pushes through older cans and will cause you to take the oldest possible when you want to use one. This way your meal will most likely never go bad and end up sitting for years in the same spot. You can also have your shelves rearranged for this operation. Here are the 12 Long Shelf Life Foods You Should Know About.
5. Clean Your Teeth With Baking Soda
After a disaster, it will be tough to maintain good personal hygiene. This tip is the most basic of all: dental hygiene. Fortunately keeping your teeth healthy will be easy. The simple solution would be to bake soda and water. Just mix half a teaspoon of baking soda and half a teaspoon of water until a paste begins to form. That is all you have to do, literally. Now dip the toothbrush in and get to work!
6. Trees/Plants
Whether it’s edible or you can make something from it, most vegetation can be useful in some way. Just be careful and begin learning about your local plant life so you can know what is healthy and poisonous.
White birch is one example of a useful tree:
- Drinkable sap that does not require purification
- Bark is great at starting fires
- Tar can be extracted from the bark which makes an excellent adhesive
American Basswood:
- Fibers can be used to make very strong rope
- Edible leaves and inner bark
Related: 20 Edible Plants That Could Save Your Life
7. Escaping
You never know what can happen so you should learn and teach some basic military SERE skills to those around you. SERE stands for survival, escape, evasion, resistance. Remember, if you escape or evade, that it is best to rest and hide during the day to avoid detection and stay out of the heat. You have to save energy! So watch, eat, hydrate and plan your next move in the daytime and start moving at sunset.
8. Security
Following a collapse, Western nations will look at a life much like third world countries of the present day. Several of those countries are crawling with armed gangs, militants and criminally-fed citizens. Some are starting to form community watch groups and security forces fighting back and protect their communities and their children. Buy safety items that will help protect yourself and your companions. Currently, bulletproof vests are legal to buy and will boost your ability to survive if there is a gun fight. Razor wire can be of great help to protect your bunker or compound from attacks. You can’t set it up now, because you are going to be responsible if someone gets hurt. Just have it ready for whenever SHTF.
Buy the supplies that you need to be able to refill your ammo. Work and explain how to be knowledgeable at this to everyone around you. Eventually you’ll always have the upper hand when everybody runs out of ammunition. Or you might exchange for other supplies that you may need. So make sure that you store weapons, ammo, and the bullets that need to be reloaded. It will presumably save your life.
9. Opsec
Opsec is one topic in the military which stands for operations security. You can look up the long description but here is the fundamental context. Don’t tell us where, who, when, or why. Don’t say anything to anyone what they don’t need to know including friends or family members. You never know who is going to let something slip that might compromise your plans and your security.
10. Plan/Backup Plan
This maybe last on my list but perhaps it’s just the most important advice I can give you. Do all of you reading this has a plan to reach your family or partners in the event of a disaster strike? What if you are at work? It won’t wait for you when SHTF; make sure everyone knows where to meet, how to get in touch, and the approximate time it will take. Don’t store all your supplies in one place, even if your bunker is super secure. What if somebody finds it, and you have to escape? All the prepping years fall into the hands of someone else and you are left with nothing. You never know what might happen to your plan so come up with a backup plan. So then to the contingency plan to another backup plan.
Related: How to Acquire Intelligence Post-SHTF
