The Most Practical Ways to Prepare for Doomsday Now
Doomsday prepping—preparing yourself and your home for some amorphous event that will “wow the fans”—has become mainstream. About 20 million Americans are, in one sense or another, actively “preparing” for the apocalypse , which can manifest itself in a variety of forms . Regardless of how the world as we know it ends, it is believed that people with enough food and water, gold (or cryptocurrency) and ammunition will survive to help rebuild society. Or fight zombies.
Preparing for doomsday is, of course, stupid. You probably won’t have to fight these zombies (or hordes of Mad Max -style warriors), and having a thousand cans of beans probably won’t be the difference between life and death. But preparing for long-term emergencies isn’t a bad idea: you just need to do it in a practical and thoughtful way. Here’s what you should consider if you want to feel at least somewhat prepared for your SHTF event.
Test material
Preparing for Doomsday is big business, and there are plenty of gadgets out there designed to help you survive the End Times in (relative) comfort and safety. Most of them are super practical and maybe necessary, like generators or Lifestraw , but just buying these things doesn’t mean you’re truly ready. If you first unpack your backpack and try to use it on the day the bombs fall or civilization collapses, you’ll be extremely stressed trying to decipher the instruction manual and may find yourself buying a lemon from the store. first place.
Buy everything you think might be useful in an emergency, but it’s best to unpack it, set it up, and run it at least once. This way you are familiar with how it works and are confident that you have a working device. It’s also a good idea to check everything again once a year to refresh your memory and make sure nothing got damaged while in storage.
Hard copy and hand tools
Sometimes we forget how dependent we have become on having all the world’s information (and misinformation) in our pockets at all times. But in the event of the end of the world, you should probably assume that both the Internet and the electrical grid will fail, meaning that it would be a huge mistake to rely on anything digital or power-based. A few things to consider:
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Paper copies. You should have a hard copy of any important information – instructions, directions, repair manuals, etc. Even if you have a plan for getting power during the apocalypse, relying on files stored on your hard drive is a bad idea.
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Hand tools. Power tools are one of civilization’s greatest blessings, but when civilization itself is gone, you won’t be able to use them effectively. Hand tools and hand-powered implements (like a can opener!) will always be usable, so have at least a few basic items on hand in case the power goes out.
Renewable everything
The classic image of a prepper is a man with a stockpile of canned and dried foods and a humming generator (a zombie-shooting shotgun is optional). This is a great plan for a short-term emergency like a natural disaster or an extended power outage, but if you really want to be prepared for doomsday, you need to think in more renewable terms. Canned goods rust and spoil, bottled water can go bad , and gasoline runs low (and spoils too), so having renewable energy and food available is key:
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Power. Solar or wind installations (ideally with a whole-house battery) will help increase fuel supplies and can provide electricity long after all the power plants have blown up.
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Water. A box of plastic water bottles will get you through a short-term emergency, but rebuilding civilization after Armageddon is thirsty work. Ideally, you want a continuous supply of filtered fresh water. If you have a well on your property, this is ideal, but you can also install a rainwater collection and filtration system (rainwater must be thoroughly filtered to be drinkable) that will guarantee a water supply unless the apocalypse comes very soon . dry option.
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Food. You don’t want to rely entirely on ultra-processed canned foods if you’re facing a long survival period. Sure, those packs of instant ramen can save your life, but ideally you’d have a garden to feed you . A self-sustaining garden for one person can be set up in about 200 square feet and will at least stretch your dry goods and canned goods until local grocery stores are back up and running.
Medicines
Apocalyptic fantasies on television tend to focus on weapons and video game-like action, and medical treatment usually involves a quick run to an abandoned CVS and some instinctive knowledge of antiseptics and bandages. In real life, you probably won’t need a whole box of automatic weapons, but you will need some medical supplies. A few things to consider:
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First aid. Yes, you need a first aid kit . But you also need to know how to use it, so learn first aid. Amazon’s kit won’t do you much good if you don’t have basic training, including how to apply tourniquets or set broken bones.
There are several excellent online first aid courses ( Save a Life from NHCPS is free and accredited , and the American Red Cross offers online first aid classes as well as classroom courses). You might also consider taking a Wilderness First Aid course (like this one ) since they focus on first aid and emergency medical care when you’re far from a hospital or an easy call to 911. And don’t forget that we’re only what they said about printed copies: Add a few reference books to your survival library, such as Wilderness Medical Associates ‘ Field Guide to Wildlife and Rescue Medicine or the Survival Medicine Handbook: The Essential Guide for When Help is NOT Needed. “On the Road” by Joseph Elton, M.D.
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Medical supplies. First aid kits are designed for quick response, short term solutions. If you plan to spend decades without a modern hospital system, you’ll need a lot more things like antibiotics, more gauze and wound dressings than you think, as well as other essentials. You’ll also want to stock up on essential prescriptions, because the abandoned CVS may not be opening again anytime soon.
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Medicinal herbs. No matter how well stocked your personal pharmacy and medical supply cabinet is, if it truly is the end of the world, you’ll likely run out of things much faster than expected (apocalyptic scenarios tend to be filled with sharp edges, collapsing buildings). and those annoying hungry zombies). If you’re starting a garden to feed yourself, consider dedicating space for medicinal herbs. The plants have been used for centuries as a pain reliever ( turmeric ), antibiotics ( garlic ), and to treat upset stomachs ( ginger ).
Some caveats: Herbal remedies are not a replacement for the medications in your medicine cabinet, and you need to know a lot about their preparation and dosage to use them safely. A good place to start is a book like Peterson’s Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America by Stephen Foster and James A. Duke. And not all herbs grow in all climates, so research into what can and cannot be grown is necessary.
Rotate stock
Speaking of dry goods and canned goods , these are not “set it and forget it” products. You can’t throw 500 cans of Spam into your basement and assume you’ll be fine because all that food, no matter how well preserved or stored, will eventually spoil (or be eaten by organisms). The key to a reliable apocalypse pantry is rotation : eat foods as part of your regular daily meal just before they expire, then replace them with fresh versions.
Likewise, consider the stock of medical supplies and prescriptions you’ve accumulated: these will also need to be checked for freshness and replaced regularly. While some medications and drugs do not necessarily deteriorate, they do become less effective over time.
Consider the community
Finally, view your community as a resource. In most apocalyptic fantasies, you (and your family) are against the world, but in real life, your friends and neighbors are likely to be close to you, which can mean shared resources and help. A practical approach to doomsday preparation would not rely on this – in case you find yourself alone or if your neighbors turn out to be selfish jerks – but completely ignoring this potentially rich source of aid and general supplies would be unfortunate. .