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Lauren November 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

3 Reasons for An Off-Site Prepper’s Kit (+ What to Include)

Just as we back up our computers to prevent against loss, we also should back-up our physical supplies. I back up my computer to a separate hard drive plus there are numerous cloud storage options. When it comes to physical supplies, we also should have a off-site back-up plan in place. Storing vital survival and comfort supplies are someone's house or a separate location will give you greater protection against loss.

3 Reasons for An Off-Site Prepper's Kit

Reason #1: One is None. Two is One.

This old saying applies to the physical location of our supplies as well. Storing all your preps in your home creates a weak point if you home is destroyed or compromised. A second storage locations adds redundancy to your plans.

Reason #2: Builds community.

When you ask a friend or family member to host your off-site kit it opens the conversation for the need to prepare for small scale and large scale emergencies. In return you could offer to help them put together a kit to keep in your home. At Modern Self-Reliance we believe that every person who is more prepared makes the whole community stronger.

Reason #3: Piece of Mind.

Each component of your supplies should give you piece of mind that you have one more resource if needed. I feel that being prepared is not about being afraid of disaster but rather planning for, and knowing if something happens you have a plan and basic supplies.

Off-Site Kit Components

General Supplies

flashlight (I love this one)
notebook + pencils
extra batteries (for flashlight)
work gloves
duct tape
knife (I have this compact one)
cash
info card w. #s, copy license, passport, insurance (important information)
phone charger cables
spare clothes

- shirt
- jeans
- socks
- underwear
- bra
- sweater
- winter coat
- gloves
- scarf
- hat
- sneakers
- winter boots

compact sleeping bag
compact pillow
backpack
comfort items (cards, Bible, etc)

Hygiene Supplies

soap
hand lotion
toothpaste
toothbrushes
wash cloths
Basic First Aid Kit

Food/Water Supplies

Water Bottle (+ filter)
Chocolate/comfort food

Do you have a secondary storage place for some essentials? What do you keep in it? Let us know in the comments below.

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Lauren October 7, 2017 Leave a Comment

5 Options for Bugging-Out and Leaving Town for City Dwellers

Traditionally the concept of Bugging-out means one leaving their home for a safer, usually more rural location in order to escape a natural disaster or social unrest. People talk about their Bug-Out location, usually a rural cabin stocked with food and guns. They will bring their Bug-Out bag, usually similar to a 72-hr bag or a ultra-light backpacker's bag. They could plan to reach a cabin or just a secluded spot and pitch a tent.

The problem I see with Bugging-Out for city-dwellers, is that for most people, it's just not possible or feasible to own a bug-out location. For residents of major cities, millions of people can't leave their apartments and homes for the countryside. The countryside can't support that many people, the national forests can't support that many people and rural communities do not want nor can accommodate city folks sleeping on their lawns.

It doesn't seem feasible for millions of urban and suburban residents to leave town, even if a large scale disaster is on the way. People here will have to learn to Bug-In and hunker down or find an alternative location in another city.

I will not attempt to recommend a solution that will work for everyone. It is just too hard to find one perfect solution, and it must be tailored to your needs and your family.

Options for Bugging-Out (Leaving Home)

Option #1: Your car.

Your car, if large enough for your family, could provide mobile water-proof coverage from the elements. As you, and likely many others, plan to evacuate an area, highways may become clogged. Your vehicle will become your home base as you travel to a safer place. Even if you don't plan to stay in your car, pack it as if you won't reach your intended destination.

Before the disaster hits, prepared your car for a trip now. You may have advance warning for a hurricane or snow storm, but when it comes to actually leaving, your exit may be unexpected. Here are some generic car items that are good to have for day to day trips around town (35 Items You Need To Put in Your Car Right Now). This list recommends the basics: food, water, first aid, spare tire, jumper cables, blankets, change of clothes and flashlights, along with other items.

However, if you have to live out of your car, here are some extra items that may be helpful:

cook stove (my camp stove)
extra sleeping stuff
extra clothes
food (my favorite protein bars)
water (sawyer filter, water bottle)
first aid kit (pre-made kit)
weapons (knives, pepper spray, etc)
tools (cooking knife, hammer, scissors, etc)
duct tape
entertainment

Option 2: High-rise apartments.

Find a friend or relative with a high rise apartment. This may provide protection from flooding or civil unrest in the streets. While high rise apartments come with their own hazards like electrical fires, they also can raise you away from the street. There have been cases where flooding causes electrical shorts that can cause fires. Also, sewage backup is always a potential with flooding. But for cases of civil unrest, being on the fourth floor puts over forty feet between you and riots below.

But please don't show up un-annouced. Plan ahead with your high-rise living friend if they are willing to accommodate your family. Bring your own supplies with you like bedding, food, and water if you are able.

Make a plan. If the streets were to flood then make a plan with your high-living friend on how you would handle sanitation, cooking, and heating/cooling if the power were to go out and you were trapped in the apartment. Some articles that handle each of these cases:

- 8 Steps to Evaluating your Food Preparedness for Power Outages
- 5 Steps for Handling Water during a Power Outage
- 7 Actions for Heating Your Home During a Power Outage
- 7 Steps for Maintaining Proper Sanitation during Power Outage

Option 3: Suburban friends.

Talk to your friends and relatives about the advantages of their homes for various situations. While it may not be possible to get into a completely rural community, having the option to retreat to a more suburban house may have benefits. Perhaps even store survival items you would want at their house, so there is less to carry when you do need to evacuate.

Share your home's advantages with them. It may happen in other situations, your home may be better for your friends or family. Friendship is a two-way street. Store some survival supplies at their house but host their box at your home. This could double as a fire insurance box, if you house is destroyed you would have a change of clothes at your friends house. In return you could host a box of theirs at your apartment or home, and make a plan if your house is a better option for them.

What to keep in the off-site box:

change of clothes
pair of sneakers/boots
backpack
first aid kit (pre-made kit)
tools (cooking knife, hammer, scissors, etc)
water bottle
duct tape
winter geat (coat, hat, scarf, etc)
important information (phone #s, insurance, medical, photos)

Option 4: Hotels or Motels in Another City

Try finding a motel in a different city. While many don't take pets, and will become booked quickly. It may be worth it to find a room to live out of in another city. Motels could also provide a stop over point to a further destination. We still recommend bringing the same supplies as you would for any of the above options. The motel could also lose power or running water.

Try not to let others around you see the supplies in your car. You packed your car with supplies and evacuated like many others. Don't make your car a target by leaving food, water, or other supplies in view. Throw blankets over your supplies, much like you would hide your purse under the seat in the the sketchy city neighborhoods.

Option 5: Campgrounds

I only recommend this option for people who already go camping in tents or at campgrounds. While it may seem like a good idea to camp out for awhile in a rural place, they are often crowded with one site right next to another. Camping in this manner also requires gear and skills, like camp cooking and sanitation practices. If you have never camped out, during a crisis in not the time to learn. If you have an RV or camper, campgrounds may be the natural first option for escaping the situation.

To learn these skills, try taking the family on a trip for a weekend during the summer. This will give you an idea if this solution would work for your family. Those in wheelchairs or who have other dependents, may find this option unavailable to them. Of course, if it's your last option, make do with what you have.

Actions to Take Today

Evaluate your bugging out options: your home, friend's home, motels, nearby campsites, etc
Prepare your car and make a plan to build an off-site box: clothes, tools, backpack, vital supplies
Learn to cook, clean and stay happy without electricity (food, water, heating, lighting, sanitation)

Conclusion

We believe that if everyone was a bit more prepared, the community as a whole would be stronger. If you have relatives who live further away or in a remote cabin, bugging-out to that house may seem like the best option. Of course, ask your relatives if they are willing to host you if things get rough. Don't assume you can show up at Uncle Tony's cabin in the middle of a snow storm because your city apartment lost heat.

Have you ever had to evacuate? Share your story in the comments below.

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What you'll get:

Homesteading how-to's like canning and cooking
Disaster planning and preparedness advice
Honest reviews of hands-on learning classes

Lauren August 16, 2017 3 Comments

7 Tips on Bugging-In for Urban Preppers

We often hear about Bug-Out Bags or Bugging-Out when things get bad. (5 Options for Bugging-Out and Leaving Town for City Dwellers) This translates to leaving your home for safer ground, perhaps higher ground or a less-populated area. Bugging-In is staying put and going into lock-down mode in your home.

There are many situations such as snowstorms, hurricanes, political unrest or power outages that can dissuade you from wanting to go outside. Instead of leaving the area; you stay put, making the decision that staying is better than leaving. In some situations, you may also want to hide your supplies and your activities.

"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise, and pretending that I don't exist."

~Harry Potter Book 2

I see two major situations for staying in your home: natural weather events and human social conditions.

Tips for Urban Bugging-In

#1 Protect yourself first.

Just like on the airplane, you put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others. You have made the decision to ride out the storm in your home, and gathered everyone inside.

Take a moment (especially true for those with dependents) to assess your personal requirements. Address issues that could effect your ability to protect your family such as dehydration, hunger or minor medical issues likes cuts.

#2 Fortify your home.

If you have warning for the weather event such as a hurricane or snow-storm take measure to protect windows and doors. This may be hard for those who live in apartments but try to seal up the inside if you can't change the outside.

Move furniture in front of windows and doors if you expect they could be broken from the outside.
Add black plastic or cloth to the windows to prevent others from seeing inside.
Use winter window plastic (this is what I am taking about) or duct tape to seal cracks, windows, doors or outside vents if you suspect poison gases may be outside. (In cases of social unrest: tear gas, pepper spray, etc)
Gather basic supplies in the bathroom or other interior rooms in case you have to retreat further from windows.

#3 Last minute prepping.

Are there last minute things you can do to add to your supplies? I don't recommend going to the already mobbed grocery store but consider these actions you can do at home.

Fill empty containers with water before the storm hits.
Consider filled a WaterBOB plastic bathtub liner so you have a bathtub full of drinking water.
Look through your car for any items you make want inside: extra blankets, first aid kit, flashlights, ice melt, etc
Do the dishes. If the water supply cuts out, at least you won't have a sink full of dirty dishes.
Fill bags or containers with water and put in the freezer. This will provide extra ice if needed, delay the freezer from defrosting if the power goes out, and be extra drinking water when it thaws. It's hard to store lots of water in a small apartment but every bit helps.
Watch a survival movie, it's entertainment and learning rolled into one.
Go to the library and stock up on books to read, or download some free eBooks from the library. It's good for morale.

#4 Check your supplies.

A few months ago you stocked the survival pantry full of food, but over that time some of the supplies may have gone missing or were used and not replaced. Get a good idea of the supplies you have on hand. Hopefully your supplies looks something like this:

3 days worth of water per person (more if space allows)
water filters or way to purify more water (Sawyer Filter, Lifestraw Family Filter)
1 weeks worth of food per person (more if space allows)
multiple methods of cooking (gas stove, electric stove, fireplace, camp stove, cook fire, etc)
Basic medical kit including necessary medications (Handy First Aid Kit)
Methods for keeping warm or cool as the season depends

#5 Have a plan.

Do you have a plan for heating, cooling, cooking, food storage in your home should your primary systems fail? Or perhaps, they haven't failed but you would rather not run the air conditioner and draw attention to your home?

#6 Be prepared for the long haul.

Know your home's assets and be prepared to ration goods like batteries and cooking gas (like propane). You never know how long the weather event will last, or how long it will be until you can return to normal habits.

Any number of your home's primary systems for heating, cooling, cooking could be out of service during this time.

#7 Continue to watch the situation.

A crank radio or a view out the window will keep you informed of current events. This can help you decide if the situation ever turns, and you need to leave your home.

Follow the military OODA loop. Observe the events, Orient yourself to the situation, Decide on a plan, Act on that plan. Then observe and start again.

Conclusion

The decision to stay or go can be hard, and depends on the situation and your family. It could be hard to leave with elderly or small children but may be necessary. The decision could be made for you with an evacuation notice. Or it could just be, that you have no place else to go. Whatever your reason to stay, set yourself up for success today and rest easy tonight knowing you are a small bit more prepared.

Thanks for reading!

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