Survival Prepping Starter Tips
With the state of the world lately, it’s likely that current events have sparked some thoughts and concerns in your family about survival in the event of an emergency. You may be worried about your level of preparedness when it comes to having the proper materials to survive in unpredictable circumstances.
Maybe seeing the stores run out of food during the pandemic or the grid shutting down in some areas during Winter Storm Uri or Hurricane Helene made you think about the importance of making sure you’re stocked up with enough resources. My partner Ben was caught in North Carolina when Helene hit and was just lucky that they had rented a cabin at the very top of the mountain. That literally saved he and his mom as they learned driving down the mountain and seeing washed out bridges and the town of Ashville literally under water.
Taking the right steps to make sure you’re prepared in case of an emergency will ensure that you can feel confident in the safety of your family and yourself in times of need.
Make a Plan for the Supplies You Need for Everyone and Every Event
When beginning to form your plan, you need to consider how many people you will need supplies for. You will also need to consider their ages. A survival bag for a grown man will be different from one for a young child, so plan accordingly.
Take these differences into consideration and make sure that you’re planning for everyone’s needs individually. Some people you’re planning for may be on medication. Make sure you have every necessity included in your plan.
Also, consider your pets if you have any. Make plans and have supplies for them, too. One of the worst things that could happen during a hard time is to realize that you prepared for everyone else in your family, but not your animals.
Prepare your survival kit for multiple events. Don’t just plan for a tornado, for example. Plan for a multitude of events - anything you can think of, really. Take inspiration from things going on around the world and worst case scenarios.
Of course, when you’re first starting your survival kit, you should begin your plan with what will most likely happen in your area. For example, if you live in Florida, you probably shouldn’t start by planning for a snowstorm.
Don’t be afraid to prepare for things like financial crises and wars. In 2025, there is a higher probability of events breaking out in the United States so being prepared for this isn’t such an over-the-top thing. Don’t just plan for natural disasters like hurricanes. Even if some of your supply goes unused, it’s better to have it for backup just in case – because you never know what could happen. Many of us complain about waste, but we never complain when it comes in handy right when we need it.
For any occurrence you can think of that would require backup supplies, make a plan to get ready for it. If anything were to ever happen, you’ll be glad that you made the choice to be prepared.
Start with Your Basic Needs
When beginning to put together your survival supplies, start with the most basic things you can think of - the things you simply can’t live without. This would include food, water, shelter, warmth, and defense.
Start with water before food, because you generally can’t survive more than 3 days without it. Gradually stock up on this. When you go to the grocery store, maybe buy an extra case of water bottles or a few extra gallons to be prepared. We always get 2 cases of bottled water just in case.
Next, stock up on food. The body can usually go 8-21 days without food and up to two months with good hydration. Honey is one example of a good food to stock up on, as it can be consumed past its due date.
Uncooked rice is also good to have, because it can last around 30 years. Peanut butter is also a good resource because it doesn’t require refrigeration. Dried beans can also last a long time, much longer after their ‘best by date.’
Energy bars, dehydrated meats, and canned foods can be stored from 1-5 years, making them a really good food option for survival supplies.
One of the most important things you need to plan for is shelter. No matter where you live, there is usually one room or area of where you live that is the safest.
Designate a specific area of your home that you would seek shelter in for different events. Maybe your shelter area for a tornado is different from one for a flood. It all depends on your home and the event you’re planning for.
Make sure you have resources to stay warm or cool. You may be in a situation where you live in a place with extreme heat or cold. Make sure you have things like heaters or ice packs and coolers to be able to keep you and your family at a livable and comfortable temperature.
It’s good to plan for temperature changes in case a power grid goes out. Make sure you plan for both warmth and cold, just in case your area is ever hit with an unexpected temperature crisis. Many parts of the country that used to only get warm or cold weather are now experiencing both.
Lastly, plan for defense. Planning for defense is an important step. It shouldn’t be overlooked just because the chances of ever having to use defense mechanisms to take care of your loved ones are low.
It also may be helpful to take classes on defense. Having a professional be able to show you how to defend yourself will most likely make you feel a lot better about having to use defense in a real life situation. This is something that might make your family a little uncomfortable so you could take a class and share what you’ve learned with them.
Starting with your basic needs is crucial for planning your survival supplies. Make sure you plan for necessities first, because these are the things that actually help you survive. Comfort items can come later in the process; once you feel fully set with your supply of basic needs.
Plan for Three Survival Scenarios
When beginning to plan your course of action in survival situations, make sure you plan for multiple scenarios, starting with the most likely to happen ones first. Then, after you’re set on those scenarios, you can move onto more unlikely things.
You can also get some pretty basic survival supplies that could be useful in multiple situations, if that makes you feel better. First, you should map out your shelter and the supplies to be housed in it.
This will help you stay organized and make sure that you’re fully stocked with everything you would need. Try keeping your supplies written down in a notebook. You’ll be able to track exactly how much of everything you have.
It’s also good to be able to not rely on technology during a survival situation. If you start an Excel spreadsheet and the electricity goes down, you won’t be able to access your supply list. Not many homes have landlines anymore so when the electricity goes out, usually that means your home phone which usually comes with your cable tv package. Having lived through New York during 9/11, I quickly learned the value of always having a landline because all the cell phones went out, and with so much uncertainty going on today, you can expect cell phone outages within the next five years.
Next, plan for having to leave your home and bug out temporarily. For this, you should get a bug out bag. Bug out bags are portable backpack supplies that have necessities in them. It’s not much different than those you might put in your car during the winter months in case your battery dies or you are caught in a winter storm.
Bug out bags are typically meant to be used for up to 72 hours, but some are packed for longer periods. In your bug out bag, you should include things like air filtration masks, a tent, a water filtration system, food rations, clothing for harsh conditions, first aid, defense, and any other things you feel are necessary for what you would need on the go.
However, make sure you can carry everything you pack. Don’t go overboard on packing, because you want to make sure you keep your bag light in case you need to carry it for a while.
Last, you should plan for homesteading in an entirely new place. You should try to settle in an area that’s off the grid and away from urban areas so that you can avoid outsiders as much as possible. Sadly, cities and large towns are the worst areas to find yourself when things go awry. This has led me to have another home in Minnesota just in case plus it’s a great state to live in. I love living in New York City, but I know to play it smart.
Look for land that has a good water supply and other resources. If you can afford it, build a home that is hidden from the view of the street. You don’t want people driving on main roads to be able to easily spot your house.
Shipping container homes are a good option for homesteading, and they’re usually less expensive than the typical home. If you search for shipping container homes, you can find some very large and modern looking house plans.
However, if your home is being built for the purpose of surviving away from the general population, you might not want to make it look too extravagant. Some may even opt to build underground to be hidden even more. Plus, this has the great geothermal effect of keeping your heating and air conditioning costs way down.
Start Shopping for and Organizing Your Supplies
If you’re putting together a survival plan, you shouldn’t procrastinate with shopping for supplies. Gradually add things to your grocery list. You don’t have to buy everything at once.
Build your stock up over time. Make sure the things you’re buying don’t spoil or have pests. There are plenty of foods that have an extremely long shelf life. These things often don’t require any sort of refrigeration, which will be helpful in a survival situation.
You also need to make sure you’re storing your supplies correctly in order to prevent pests. This will help you avoid having your food get infested with bugs or anything else that could ruin your supplies.
Most foods should be stored in cool, dry places. This can be a storage closet, a dry basement, or anywhere else in your home that fits the criteria. Some foods may need to be stored differently, so make sure you’ve educated yourself on how to store supplies once you get them.
You should also rotate your food supplies. If you notice that a lot of your supply is going to waste after some time, swap it out with new stuff. In a survival situation, you wouldn't want to be left without any edible food because everything in your supply stash is all expired.
When buying supplies, prioritize your list. Be sure to grab the items you absolutely need first—water, long-lasting food, shelter, etc. Don’t start your shopping journey by buying comfort items. Trust me, I know having comfort in bad times is nice, but if you’re on a tight budget, those are the last things you want if something does happen.
If a disaster strikes before you’ve completed buying everything on your survival shopping list, you don’t want to be left without the basic survival needs. Buy things like hot chocolate and board games last.
Another good thing to do is to shop during sales. There will often be coupons and sales on things in the grocery store, so make sure you put it to good use. Shopping during sales will help you buy more supplies for less money.
You can also start a survival garden to cut down on food costs. Grow things like beans, corn, or anything that you know you and your family would like to eat. Make sure you grow calorie dense crops.
Potatoes and squash are both high in calories. Also invest in buying long-term food storage. There are packs of freeze dried food that you can buy that have a shelf life of around 25 years. These are a good investment for worst case scenario food crises. You don’t need a big plot of land for a garden, some people use smaller rectangle shaped containers to grow things if you live in an urban area.
Begin Teaching Your Loved Ones About Survival
One of the most crucial steps in preparing you and your loved ones to be able to survive a disaster is to teach them survival skills and plans. In a survival situation, it’s best if everyone around you knows what they’re doing. This is something you can do gradually so as not to overwhelm your family or make them feel paranoid. Turning it into a game can be a great way to educate without becoming obsessive with it.
Make sure you share information with your family so that everyone can be prepared. If an event leaves you unable to care for your family, they need to know how to survive without you.
You may be absent or injured when disaster strikes, and they need to know how to help you and themselves when necessary. Teach every family member how to implement the survival plan for all three scenarios – sheltering in place, bugging out, and moving to a new homestead.
Include where they should meet up if they have to bug out, how to defend themselves from danger, how to use first aid kits, and anything else included in your plan. If you’d like, you can look to professionals to help teach your family about survival.
For example, maybe you’d feel like you’ve prepared your family better if they got instructions from a professional on defending themselves. Doing this will also ensure that your family will do their best to stay safe if separated.
If your child or spouse, for example, happens to get lost or separated in the middle of chaos, you want to be able to assure yourself that you’ve done everything to make sure they know how to take care of themselves without assistance from anyone else.
Make sure you organize what you’ll teach to your loved ones and have them practice using these skills in a planned out scenario. You can even quiz them and ask them questions on what they would do in a specific situation.
You can also have them do research on their own, and tell the family about things that they learned from their research. There are plenty of resources for teaching kids about survival. You can find books to get for kids that they can learn about survival from.
Being prepared for emergencies has become a mainstream process for many families across the globe. With unpredictable weather, electric grids that are unreliable, and political chaos popping up much more than usual, you never know when you’ll have to put these supplies and skill to good use.
