I just got off the phone with my friend Lynn, from Indialantic, FL, and what he had to tell me has changed my prepping ideas forever.
I’m convinced that almost everything I’ve done for the last 10 years has been a waste of time and money.
Let me explain why.
Lynn is a methodical planner and a relentless worker. Because he lives in a small community on the east coast of FL, accessible only by one bridge, prepping for off-grid situations is just common sense.
So when Irma was threatening to destroy his community, he double-checked all of his preparations; the diesel generators, the solar generators, the fuel, his food and water stocks, guns, ammo and silver coins. He was ready.
He defied the order to evacuate, which turns out to have been the right call. As you probably know, Irma turned west and worked up the other side of the state instead.
But the tornadoes that Irma spawned DID devastate the east coast of Florida.
They ripped down power lines for miles and the debris they picked up and flung through the air at 100 mph left the area looking like a war zone.
Lynn was shocked by the devastation. His diesel generator had a metal rod impaled through the side. The 50 gallon drum of diesel had been punctured, overturned, and leaked fuel all over the yard.
Although the solar power generator was safe inside, he found out that it didn’t perform nearly as well as he had been led to believe. The batteries gave out after just an hour of use, and each day thereafter they had only enough ‘juice’ to charge cell phones. They quickly ate what was in the refrigerator and by day three of the power outage they were eating MREs.
As Lynn walked me through his experiences, I began applying this real-world ‘test’ to my own preparations and realized how deficient they actually are. I’ve not been preparing for an emergency so much as I have been deluding myself into thinking that ‘something’ is better than ‘nothing.
So I’ve been scouting around looking for better checklists and aids to help and came across the Survival Master Plan. I think it brings a more realistic approach to prepping for real emergencies. I wanted to share it with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes I have.
Click here to access the Survival Master Plan.
Stay safe!