Prep Status

Having finished our move, Heather and I started reassessing our emergency preparedness status. As usual, our goal is to be self-sufficient for about 72 hours on short notice.

I'm not getting ready for the apocalypse but we like being prepared for a reasonable regional type disaster that may lead to a disruption of services for a few weeks (for example, a severe storm, hurricane, earthquake type deal). Due to our jobs, we have pretty limited ability to be part of the horde picking the shelves at wal-mart clean or waiting in line at the gas station, so it is nice to have the essentials on hand.

Medical Kits: Trauma kits in each car. Good camping/backpacking kit with our camping gear. We have lots of first aid stuff around the house but could probably use to organize it better, as well as toss old meds that might be expired. We also both need more training. It's been years since I certified on first responder-level or wilderness first aid-style training. We could both rehack our basic CPR.

Water: I stocked up on quality 5 gallon jugs for water and we currently have about 50 gallons laid in, plus our water heater. Water is cheap and easy. No reason not to have it. We also have plenty of Polar Pure for purification and our camping hand pump for backpacking.

Fuel: I also stocked up on this and have about 30 gallons squirreled away, with a dollop of sta-bil in each container to preserve it. I figure that is enough to top off both cars, and then about one tank of refill for each. I'll rotate it through the cars in the fall and then get some more. We need to get some white gas for the camping stoves, though.

Personal Security: I feel pretty good here. We both have a decent level of training, high quality service-handguns, and armor. I am feeling comfortable with my AR platform. I do need to rig up my "oh no!" pants again (a set of pants with flashlight, cell phone, belt/holster, etc) again for beside the bed, but other than that we're good. We are still looking at getting a security system for the house and maybe some security lighting too.

Food: We currently have about 45 person-days of food on hand. This includes about 10 person-days of ready to go food like MREs, camping meals, etc. We are pretty good about using what we store as well. That sounds like a lot but even if it is just the two of us that's only a few weeks of stored food. If we have some relatives, neighbors, or friends joining us then 45 person-days of food is much more modest.

Identity and Documents: We have started storing some government issued ID in a seperate location so that if we lose our wallets we're not hosed. I really want to improve our preparation in this regard. For example, if the house burned down tomorrow, I'd want to have an encrypted thumb drive or disk with all of our key documents backed up on it stored at the bank, at work, in a car or with family or something. Having a check book, $300, and a credit/debit card off site would probably also be a good idea.

Finances: We have a solid emergency fund and are on good footing. Cash on hand in an emergency is really comforting. With cash you can get a hotel room or plane ticket.

Transport: Both cars have trailer hitches and we've got a cargo tray. I am thinking of getting a trailer. One of the lessons from "Listening to Katrina" is that you want to bring as much stuff as you can.

Shelter: Due to our camping hobby we have plenty of good tents, sleeping bags, and so on.

Training: Heather completed the CERT class and learned a lot of useful skills that can help the community. I've had similar disaster-response training.

Overall, I think for the next year, the primary focus is on getting our medical and identity preparations improved. I feel good about the basic logistics, which is nice.