The term “preppers” may conjure up images of families secluded far from civilization, out in the desert or up in the mountains, stocked with everything needed for a self-sufficient life. The reality doesn’t have to be quite so complex. Prepping is really just about being prepared to survive if a storm or other emergency were to cut off the flow of electricity, water, and other basic necessities. It’s a very practical way to live up to the Boy Scout motto of “be prepared,” and can be done by anyone in a city, the suburbs, or a rural setting.
“People should wrap their heads around needing to take care of themselves for longer than they think,” Jonathan said. “As good of a job as emergency professionals do, they just can’t get everything done fast enough.”
Storing Water
Since about 60 percent of a human body is water, it’s critical to stay hydrated. Guaranteeing an emergency water supply is a top priority.“A lot of the recommendations that you see out there are for one gallon per person per day,“ Kylene said. She and Jonathan don’t think that’s practical for covering drinking, cooking, and hygiene. Instead, ”to be prepared for a disaster scenario, people should store a minimum of two gallons of water per person, per day, for two weeks, and more in high-heat environments or when people are exerting significant physical effort,” Kylene said.
Apartment dwellers can prep, too.
“If you live in an apartment, get cases of water bottles, stash them under your bed, and rotate through them,” she advised. “Or, you could wash out used soda bottles and fill them with water. If you have a basement or a garage, a 55-gallon barrel of water is almost a month’s supply for one person. If you’re filling them from a chlorinated municipal supply, you don’t need to treat that water.”
Filtering Water
When municipal water sources are compromised, alternative sources include rainfall, springs, wells, and freshwater streams. Water can also be collected in rain barrels, buckets, and other large containers.“When shopping for a filter, make sure that it is going to remove both the biological and chemical contaminants,” Kylene said. Check how many gallons it will disinfect to make sure it fits your needs.
“We start by treating the water for biological contaminants. You need to kill the critters that are in the water. Boiling is by far the best way to do that,” Kylene said.
“You fill a clear container with water—a quart-sized canning jar, clear soda bottle, or a water bottle as long as its no larger than four inches in diameter,” Kylene said. Place it on its side in the direct sun for four to six hours. She advised accelerating the heating process by placing it on a black surface or shaking the bottle while filling it to add oxygenation. “It should kill the critters,” she said, “which is a beautiful thing if you have no other resources.”
There are also iodine tablets and chlorine tablets to disinfect water.
“The problem with those is that they have a very short shelf life,” Kylene said. “If you buy them for emergency preparedness, and 10 years later you need to use them, they’re not going to still be effective. We shy away from anything with a short shelf life.”
She explained, “Chlorine for bleaching clothes can be used as long as it doesn’t have any thickeners or fragrances. The problem is that it contains sodium hypochlorite, so after about six months, it gets weaker and eventually stops being effective.”
Regardless of the method of sterilization used, the Joneses advised replacing stored water within a year.
Storing Food
After water, food is the next necessity. But while many people simply buy a case of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) from an online vendor, the Joneses suggest a a more practical approach.
“Many preppers have supplies of rice, beans, and long-term foods that last like 30 years,” she said. “But before anybody ever goes to that point, I think that you should build a three-month supply of the foods that you eat every day, so that if you couldn’t go to the store for three months, you could eat whatever you eat in your normal diet.”
She recommends making a list of your family’s favorite recipes: “Take the seven dinners, the seven lunches, the seven breakfasts that your family normally eats; list all of those ingredients; and then multiply it out so that you can have a three-month supply.” Shop sales, and rotate your stash, meaning use and replenish your supply as you go.
For dry foods like rice and beans or similar foods, store them in airtight containers. Canned goods remain viable long after their “best by” dates—many food banks accept canned goods that are up to five years past. But if the can is bulging, it smells off, or “you’re in any way thinking, ‘Hmm,’ I would throw it away,” Kylene said. She uses a Sharpie to label the tops of the cans with their “best by” years, so she can tell how old they are at a glance. New purchases always go in the back or on the top shelf, so older supplies are used first.
Kylene also recommends one key addition to any food storage plan.
Alternative Cooking
With the food supply taken care of, now it’s time to be ready to cook it. For Kylene, that means getting out Instafire’s Vesta Indoor Space Heater and Stove. Fueled by the company’s proprietary chafing fuel canisters, the compact contraption can be used to boil water, cook, and provide a source of heat. It can be used indoors with adequate ventilation. Kylene explained that even in an area where a campfire could be built, the Vesta is more practical and provides consistent temperatures needed for cooking.“It’s probably the best thing I have ever seen for anybody who lives in an apartment and doesn’t have much room, because you’ve got to store fuel safely. You can store this fuel indoors,” she said. She often scours the catering department of Sam’s Club for deals on chafing fuel.
Meanwhile, Jonathan recommends using a solar oven.
They can even be used to dry clothes, disinfect water, dry waterlogged electronics, dry herbs, and whatever else requires a compact source of heat.
“They are just phenomenal,” he said. “We’ve cooked bread and even brownies in them. The only thing to be careful of is to anchor them, because in high winds they can topple over.”
Practice cooking with your equipment, so you know how to use it in the case of a real emergency. Get the kids involved, too.
Keeping the Lights on
If the power goes out, having a source of illumination is crucial for more than being able to pierce the darkness. Ways to light up the night include candles, oil lamps, flashlights, lanterns, and for the kids, glow sticks.
“Children don’t do well in the dark, and it can make them very fearful. So, we store some glow sticks, because that little bit of light helps them in a stressful situation,” Kylene said.
Oil lamps are popular with some preppers, but Kylene warned, “I would not burn a kerosene lantern in my home ever, because kerosene puts off toxins.” She and Jonathan also advise against candles as a main light source, since they pose a fire hazard, it takes too many to produce sufficient light, and they may produce an overwhelming fragrance.
Instead, the Joneses prefer rechargeable lights with integral solar panels that instantly provide reliable, bright light.
Staying Connected
A portable radio provides a way to contact the outside world and to stay abreast of news, weather, and entertainment. To avoid issues with dead batteries, consider a radio powered by a crank, such as the Etón FRX2. The FRX2 features an integral flashlight and phone charger and receives AM, FM, and NOAA weather bands.
The amateur radio world is a great community to be a part of, Kylene added. “They’re really into helping community; they usually work closely with search and rescue. If you’re looking for a way to meet some good people to help you in an emergency, start rubbing shoulders with these guys and get your license.”
The Joneses emphasized that community is crucial. Get to know your neighbors now.
“We strongly believe in building relationships,” said Kylene. “If we know each other’s faces, we’re better connected, and we will help take care of each other. You have to build those relationships today—if somebody is sick, we take them dinner.”
The bottom line is that prepping is not just for rugged survivalists living off-grid. It’s a practical way for anyone to be prepared for emergencies.
