I Need to be a Prepper!

I recently finished a book called One Second After by author William R. Forstchen. Holy crap!! I will honestly never look at our world the same. Sure, I know that we are way too dependent on technology. But I really had no idea how quickly society would break down after the electricity goes out. Now, I know that the book is fiction. I know this is one man’s point of view (with substantial research). But if even half of what he described happens, my family and I are SCREWED! I’m not a prepper. But we need to make some major changes. We need to prep.

Honestly, I don’t know where to start. I’ve watched shows like Doomsday Preppers and a bunch of my old Army buddies prep to some degree. All of this I just thought was entertaining. I never really took it seriously. Until I read One Second After. Now I need to learn as much as I can. Leverage the resources available on the Internet. Make friends with other preppers. Train myself and my family on skills that will be useful. Buy items that will help us survive. Here is a small list of things I think we should buy just from reading that one book.

1. People killing guns – I don’t care what your stance is on guns. If you’re on this site you’re not likely to be one of those pansy-ass people who thinks that calling 911 and waiting for the police to get there is enough. I respect and support law enforcement. But with no 911 system, no electricity, and no squad cars there will be no police showing up to assist you. You have to defend your family and yourself. I have hunting firearms. Nice deer rifles, some .22s, a few shotguns and pistols. I need to think about some firearms that were specifically made to take out people. Sad. But true.
2. Ammo – All of the guns in the world are useless without an ample amount of ammo.
3. Vehicle that will not be affected by an EMP – Our current dependable Japanese vehicles will be useless. My wife and I both owned VW Bugs in our youth and have talked about finding another. But a Bug won’t help us much with three teenage kids. We need to find an old truck or van.
4. Supplies for a Bug Out – We live in big city Houston. Not where I would want to be after an EMP or other similar event. We would have to get out and head north. Possibly to my father’s place up in the mountains. We would need food, water, fuel and other essentials to get there.
5. Books – We need information on how to stay alive. Skills that can be learned for other people’s experience. How-to instructions on foraging, how to dress animals that we’ve hunted, how to preserve meat, how to grow more than a backyard garden, how to raise chickens and so much more.
6. Small Electronics – Like a radio or short wave radio. A GPS. I guess we need to have some sort of Faraday cage or container for important electronics. Screw the smart phones and such. We need communication equipment that can be run off of batteries. Maybe charged from a small portable solar panels. Hell would a GPS work after an EMP attack? Would satellites be dead? I need to research this stuff.
7. Maps – My mother-in-law had a huge collection of State maps. I need to find those and be sure to have them available. I’m happy in my little Google Map world now. But will need paper versions if the SHTF.

Long-term we need to start thinking of how to change our big city lifestyle and become more small town and self-reliant. Luckily My wife and kids are amazing. We can do this together!