After learning a skill, a process, a task or anything else for that matter it’s a good idea to occasionally have a refresher course on the basics, and emergency preparedness planning is no different.

Because emergencies and disasters can happen any place and any time it’s important to be ready in a moments notice. As someone who thinks about emergency preparedness a lot I feel pretty confident suggesting that the last thing we want to happen when a difficult situation presents itself is to be standing there unprepared and not knowing what to do. With that said, here’s a quick breakdown of the fundamentals.

When looking at this list, just remember that every topic and every bullet point is a subject of its own. In other words, go through the information in this blog and those of our partner sites and you’ll find a lot of detailed tips and useful suggestions for every one of these areas.

Family Planning

• Develop evacuation plans

• Identify meeting areas (If separated getting our of the house or if you’re not together during an emergency)

• Have a friend or family member out of the area that can act as a point of contact for everyone

• Program emergency phone numbers into cell phones and keep a list at the house.

• Ensure proper working condition of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms.

• Have everyone in the family know how to turn off the mains for water, gas and power.

• Have copies of important documents ready to go with you (insurance papers, deeds, etc.)

Create, Stock (restock) and Store Emergency Preparedness Kits

• Assemble Grab and Go survival kits for your home and one for each car.

• Have the kit include water, freeze dried food, tools, flares, batteries and related supplies, a first aid kit and extra clothing and bedding. Three days worth of supplies minimum.

• Sanitation supplies, soap toilet paper, hygiene items, etc.

• If you have small children remember to include formula, bottles, medications, diapers, etc.

•Don’t forget about your pets. Food, toys, bones.

Eating food that was prepared over an outdoor BBQ is a favorite pastime of people all around the world. But there are some certain precautions that are necessary to take in order to make sure cooking outside with charcoal or propane remains a safe, reliable and enjoyable method for generating heat and preparing food as part of an emergency preparedness plan.

Two of the most used methods for outdoor cooking (not including a fire) are propane or charcoal briquettes. These are also two of the most common fuel sources that people store for emergency preparedness, and each requires a little understanding so that they are stored properly in order to ensure longevity and safety.

Propane

When it comes to storing any kind of gas a little common sense goes a long way. Here’s the gist. Whether large or small, most propane canisters have some kind of relief valve designed to bleed a small amount of gas if they become highly pressurized. This could potentially mean gas could leak from a container, and since propane is heavier than air it will usually head toward the ground if it is leaking, making things like a pilot light on a furnace or hot water heater potential hazards.

In other words, the general rule of thumb is to not store propane in your house or in your basement. I can’t think of ever hearing a news clip of a house exploding because a BBQ propane tank had exploded in someone’s basement, but then again, I don’t watch a lot of local news. Don’t take the risk. Store propane in a detached garage or shed if you have one available, and keep them away from anything that could potentially ignite a slow leak.

Charcoal

Like so many of the items we talk about when it comes to emergency preparedness and preservation, air and water can take its toll on the effectiveness of charcoal.  If charcoal becomes wet or even damp it may become either unusable or much more inefficient than briquettes that are stored properly. Because charcoal is a refined form or carbon, if it does get wet you may not ever get it lit and may just want to throw it out rather than waste your time trying.

Keeping charcoal in its prime burning condition is not difficult. In all honesty, you can leave charcoal in the bag as long as you keep it clipped shut while its being stored and kept in a place that is protected from moisture. For added protection, many people stockpile and store charcoal in plastic bins or containers that have a lid. Charcoal can be stored for an indefinite amount of time, and because it’s relatively inexpensive it’s not unrealistic to be able to build up a year’s worth of storage for less than $100.

If you have come this far in your emergency preparedness efforts in regards to your food storage, you are ready to move on to what James and others call “creature comforts.” After all, when we have fulfilled the bottom level of Maslow’s Pyramid (being able to survive with adequate amounts of food, water, and shelter), it’s human nature to want to move up his Pyramid, eventually leading to more fulfillment and self-actualization. The reason we speak of the “creature comforts” in a discussion related to food storage is because quite often those things that will offer you comfort in lean times are also stored in the same place or near to your food storage room. The best reason food storage and other creature comforts are stored together or in close proximity is because you will want to have these items together for easy access should you have to “bug out”, or even just for convenience sake. Of course, some people hesitate to “put all their eggs in one basket,” so it is fine to disburse you food storage about the house, but don’t be so scattered that you forget where the 72 hour kit is vs. the dehydrated food vs. the canned food, wheat, rice, etc., etc.

The creature comforts that go beyond food storage are first and foremost what you would use in a prolonged state of disarray or chaotic conditions following the original emergency state of conditions. Think hygiene. Things like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes should all be added to your food storage supply after you have the basics needed to live on for one year food wise. Other things like diapers and feminine napkins should not be overlooked. Deodorants and combs/brushes would also be useful. The types of things that you use every day and rarely need to think much about, but that you would really miss being a part of everyday life, are the things you need to make a list of and put in your food storage room. Warehouse membership clubs are perfect for buying in bulk like this to save money. Both men and women will probably want some disposable razors and shaving cream.

Some people even put games in with their food storage. Books could work, too. Got a Rubik’s Cube? People need an escape, especially during times of duress. So, add some cards or simple toys that don’t need batteries for the children. Hard candies that store well are an excellent addition to food storage.

It really boils down to what you use, both for food storage and for the “beyond” part (creature comforts). Of course, it would be nice for everybody to have some items used only in emergencies, much as rescue workers have on hand the “Jaws of Life.” But beyond those few things that are only for emergencies, have those things on hand that can as much as possible make it seem as though it is “life as usual.” Put them beside your food storage, and go to your food storage convenience store often to rotate the stock.

Related Posts:

The Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Survival Readiness Pyramid
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Which Vitamins Should I Put in My Food Storage?
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Might You Possibly Perish Without Enough of These in Your Emergency Survival Supplies?

Our civilization is quite advanced, making it even that much more important to prepare for any number of things that could go awry, and calling upon the use of something as simple as food storage. See, when any system gets so far advanced and inclined towards such high levels of technological specialization in so many varied facets, it becomes increasingly more susceptible to a breakdown or interruption, because when just one part of the whole becomes dysfunctional it creates a domino effect throughout. Just as happened with the housing market. And to make an analogy most can appreciate, how helpless do you feel when your car gadgetry malfunctions? When you car windows won’t roll up nor down with just the click of a button, do you sometimes long for the manual window-roller-uppers?

Although not caused by a defect in the normal “man”-aged workings of society, we can see how a “change” in the status quo will cause mass chaos, as witnessed by a series of big hurricanes a few years back. What happens? Many basic essentials are the first to fly off the store shelves, and this surely includes food. Food storage, water storage, 72 hour kits, and other emergency supplies collected far in advance could prevent this mad rush to a grocery store—only to find that crowds of people made it there before you did, leaving very little left of the significant items for you to purchase. Remember, this is not an apocalyptic event, just nature taking its course. Recall also the pictures on television those people who waited until the last minute before evacuating and being stranded on freeways for hours at a time because of overtaxed capacity. If you are going to get out of Dodge, do it before everyone else decides to!

In his book, “Making the Best of Basics,” author James Talmage Stevens speaks of an in-home food storage convenience store. Aside from disastrous situations, how nice would it be to never “run out” of an ingredient needed for a recipe, not having to run to the neighbors for an item to complete the mix? What if you should forget that you have no more diapers in the home and your baby has a bout of diarrhea? Even if the store is close, it’s nice to have a backup supply.

We have learned in recent years that the unexpected can and does happen. “Nobody saw it coming!” was the common refrain in response to the economic crisis. In times of volatility and uncertainty, could there be a trucker’s strike, or exceedingly high gas prices that cause a disruption in the supply chain delivering food to the marketplace? This and many other unforeseen scenarios could happen, thus bringing to the forefront the need for food storage and emergency supplies. With the advanced JIT (Just-In-Time) concept of inventories, it is said that grocery store shelves could be emptied in 3 days or less. But, if you have an in-home food storage convenience store as part of your wise and prudent emergency preparedness efforts, you’re not among those who panic. We’re not talking about Armageddon or the Apocalypse here. We’re just talking about good, old-fashioned common sense.

Food really can go missing from grocery storage shelves as attested to by even recent articles found here and here. Got food storage?

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Who doesn’t drive nowadays? Okay, I’m not talking about your infant or toddler. And I’m not talking about your aging parents or grandparents. But most people in our civilized society that have the means (and many can afford at least a beater car) use a car as a means of transportation. Think about how much time you actually spend in your car. It may not be 1/3 of your life like it is with sleeping, but especially if you have any significant commuting to and from work, you spend a lot of time in your car. Do you maintain your car perfectly with every scheduled routine maintenance? If you are like most people, you probably at least make sure the oil gets changed regularly, but what about everything else?

Using the words of a teenager: “So, like, you have this all nice stereo system in your car, and, like, you spent all that money for a cool thing, but, like, you don’t have nothing in case you got– like stuck somewhere?” So what if you are who the teenager is talking about? Oh, well, you have a cell phone, so you are taken care of! Maybe not… Why chance it? Isn’t it nice to know that should you be in a situation you had not expected, that you had the foresight to protect against these types of scenarios? And what about your driving children? Your teenage children drive you crazy, but they also drive a car and you love them. So if there was anything that you could do to ensure their safety you would probably do it, right?

An emergency car kit is a wonderful resource. You have smoke alarms in your home. You probably have a fire extinguisher, too, or should have. But what do you have in the trunk of your car, besides junk? You really should have a lifesaver back there. Come on now, get with the program– have an emergency car kit, at least for the peace of mind. What if you never use it? Well then, Hallelujah! But if you should need it, and you don’t have one, you’ll kick yourself and probably swear, and feel really rotten. But more importantly, you’ll be endangered! Emergency preparedness is not all about doom and gloom. In fact, it is just the opposite. In a sense it’s taking control now of what you can’t control later. Everyone would be on board with this idea if they could see that in their future it would be needed. But being as most of us cannot see the future, we have this thing we call emergency preparedness, and it sets us up for success for the obstacles that life puts in our way instead of failure.

Got Emergency Car Kit?

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For the trip I had plenty of water with me, food, emergency blankets, tools for the truck, extra gas, and a lighter in case I needed to make a fire. I dressed very warmly with a coat, hat, and gloves. My clothing was layered. It’s always easier to take off a layer than add one if you have nothing to add because you have not thought ahead.

I had a 4-wheel-drive pickup so I could drive up the mountainside high enough to get to where the pines were. My cutting tool was simply a small bow saw because I was intent on only securing a small tree, as that was all the tree I have room for and want to take care of.

The trip to where I was cutting the tree down was in a national forest, and it required a permit. Always find out and follow local laws so you can be a responsible world citizen.

The trip was delightful and this is a practice that I recommend and will continue with my family. One recommendation I have in regards to getting your Christmas tree permit is to find out when they go on sale and get one within the closest vicinity to where you live ASAP. I had to drive a couple of hours to get where I cut my tree down. Had I acted sooner (usually right after Thanksgiving) I would have beat some of my competition and gotten a permit in a range about half the distance I ended up traveling. Check with the forest service in your state to inquire as to where these permits are sold. Merry Christmas!!! Without any further ado, here is your Christmas tree emergency preparedness/safety video:

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Fold your arms and try to be ever so quiet that you can hear a pin drop, because I am about to introduce you to my down-to-earth friend, James Talmage Stevens, infamous author of Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook.  He has sold over 760,000 copies of this Bad Boy (you know how good means bad and bad means good sometimes?), and he is going to school us in food storage preparedness.  Why?  Because I asked him to, because he is the real deal, because he is cool!

So everybody please give it up for James (clapping and more clapping)!

JAMES:

I’m going to Keep It Super Simple!

Food is life––no food, eventually, no life! Perhaps that’s the main reason all disaster and emergency preparedness has at its core the emphasis on foodstuff: food, food storage, food preparation, and food processing and utilization equipment.

Though food is important, the need for shelter from the elements is primordial, and water is a close 2^nd priority, leaving food a distant 4th priority after fire. This prioritization is based on immediacy of action necessary to preserve life, since you could die quickly of exposure to extreme cold or hot weather without appropriate shelter. Once protected from the elements––which problem may be obviated by existing mild climatic conditions where the disaster/emergency occurs––clean water then becomes your next immediate need, because the body needs water for its processes to operate effectively.

Then you’ll need fire––to cook your food, boil your water, wash your body, and clean your clothing.

And fourth, food, on the other hand, though ultimately necessary, has a longer downward slope on its death causative curve. People have gone for extremely long periods of time without food, and can subsist for many weeks—if not months––with occasional snacks.

Let me correct a statement made in a previous blog post: “A lot of folks may end up storing food in their garage.” If you currently store any food or potable water in your garage––or even thinking about it–– save your time, take your money, flush it down  your toilet––it’s going to save you the time to shop, carry, stack, and worry––it’s the same result! Food is life––store it where you live. If you live in air-conditioned comfort, then so should your stored food! Make no compromises on the protection of your food reserves.

There is a cardinal rule (Trekkies would call it the Prime Directive) that states:

Store what you eat;

Eat what you store.

Use it or lose it!

Following that little bit of wisdom will make your food storage more valuable than money—or gold! Sit down with the family, work together to determine:

1. What foods are essential to the family’s diet and survival; and
2. What foods would be nice to have that you like–but can’t normally afford.

Then, budget for category 1 items. Determine what you need to eliminate in your current budget so you can acquire an amount of provisions for your immediate plan of safety and security. This is where you face the reality of wants over needs.

These are the marks of true family leadership: the end goal justifies the means required to achieve it.

It’s as simple as that!

James Talmage Stevens

Pat here again: James’s book is THE master plan when it comes to being prepared.  Prepared with everything and anything.  It will not dissapoint.  You can get your copy by going to the top of my blog and clicking on “Emergency Preparedness All-Time Bestseller”.   Best preparedness book ever!

 Thanks, James, for adding value and spreading good will wherever ye be.  Give it up one more time for James (Honor System because I can’t hear anything you do)!:

Author:  Making the Best of Basics–Family Preparedness Handbook

Blogger: FamilyPreparednessGuide.com

Internet Radio: blogtalkradio.com/James-Talmage-Steven  (Saturdays, 1:00 PM CDST)

Coaching website: beprepared101.com

Preparedness Provider listings: PreparednessYellowPages.com and

                                                            PreparednessMarketPlace.com

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Emergency blankets are what the following video is about.  You should have lots of quilts and other blankets as well as sleeping bags, coats, thermal underwear, gloves, warm boots, head gear, etc. stored at home, but you should also have this handy-dandy emergency blanket that is extremely mobile.  You can take it and put it in the trunk or glove box of your car in case your car ever broke down in the winter time and you were brain dead that day, not wearing a coat.  Geez, I paid $1.00 plus tax for this technological wonder!  You may wonder how a piece of plastic can do anything to keep you warm, but the objective of this Mylar material is to minimize jail breaks of body heat.  You need to keep all the emitted heat you can locked up with you in this contrivance.

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Might You Possibly Perish Without Enough of These in Your Emergency Survival Supplies?

Say you’ve spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars for food storage supplies and emergency preparedness essentials.  Excellent!  But, like so many things in life, if you don’t take care of them, they’re not going to take care of you in your time of need.  The best case scenario is that you have a basement in your home that stays in the cool range of between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Since that isn’t always the case for people, you may have to improvise, and find somewhere else to store food and other essentials.

A lot of folks may end up storing food in their garage.  You know, people come up with some pretty creative uses for their garage.  Did you ever hear about that guy who parked his car in his garage?  Anyway, if you must have food storage in the extra spaces in your garage, make sure it’s packaged correctly and preferably up off of the ground.  If you have field mice where you live, rats (heaven forbid!), or other pests that are a threat in the area, don’t store boxes of powdered milk or bags of wheat or oats and the like.  You’ll get critters chewing through the paper or cardboard, and worse, you’ll end up with poopage and contamination.  There’s also the risk of Hantavirus, and all because you’ve unwittingly attracted the rodents into quarters where these furry flippers don’t belong and are unwanted.

If you’ve got room in closets, cupboards, drawers, under beds, etc., why not crowd some well-packaged food storage inside the home where it is climate controlled?  This way you can stretch out the shelf life of the food because it won’t be subjected to such extreme temperatures (the highs and lows of summers and winters).

Generally, just use your noggin’ in protecting your food storage investment from pests and the elements.  Wheat and rice, and other dry foods of this nature should be stored in hard plastic buckets with the lid hammered on tightly by a rubber mallet.  The Gamma lids cost extra, but they are screw on lids that are more user friendly and give you ready access to the food product.  You should also add Ziploc Mylar bags as a liner and a couple of oxy packs to preserve the food quality and protect it from insect infestation.  If you find that the paper packaged product is cheaper than the already bucketed food item, if you can still get it cheaper when adding on the price of a bucket, go for it.  If not, try to buy it already bucketed to save yourself the labor (unless you like to do it on your own).

As much as possible, keep food products off the ground.  You should put something in between the ground and the container or wall and the container for ventilation and to keep moisture out.  And if you should find that you already have a rodent problem, I would advise mouse traps baited in a special way.  Use regular cheese, but put a small chunk in the microwave to loosen it up a bit (just for a few seconds until it is slightly moldable).  Form it around the metal part of the trap in a small ball, and then put it in the freezer for a spell (don’t freeze it, just harden it).  Then, before you set it, put a light film of Jif peanut butter over the cheese to tempt the varmit’s tummy even more.  He’ll lick the peanut butter clean, and then greedily chomp down on the cheese.  He’s history!

Remember, you didn’t buy food storage to go bad or to feed the other members of the animal kingdom besides your own offspring.  If it’s worth buying in the first place, it’s worth protecting your investment.

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Today I was treated to a wonderful demonstration of a Somoan islander tradition as my friend, Eni, who is native to this beautiful paradise revealed how they make fire. Fire to them represents life. Eni explained to me that where there is fire, life flourishes. He also quips that the men are the cooks in his part of Polynesia, and the women… well, you can watch and find out. Eni does a masterful job in the following video of making short work out of creating an ember and then transforming it into a flame. I am so excited– Eni has offered to teach me more important survival methods in the near future! I will trade acupuncture treatments in exchange for his tutorings of the valuable knowledge he has gleaned from his elders. Watch for great things to come from this honorable man. I can’t wait for his instruction on how to build traps to snare wild boars. He has done this and will show us how to as well. Hold on tight; to be continued…

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