Welcome to the Keep and Bear, LLC 30 Day Preparedness Challenge! We are on Day 4. If you are just joining us, please go to the intro post to learn more.
The purpose of this ‘challenge’ is to provide a paced and measured plan to fulfill some basic family preparedness needs. These needs are real-world, and applicable to the average family.
The below headings are the main survival priorities.
Positive Mental Attitude
In the Day 1 post, the task was to pick a book relating to positive mental attitude. To expand on that, it can be a book on success or mental improvement, such as the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (a great resource), but it can also be about developing mental tenacity. If you haven’t already, google “books on positive mental attitude” or “books on success” and pick one you are interested in.
TASK: Read at least one chapter in your PMA book.
Air
No tasks for Air today!
Shelter
Remember, we are most concerned with Shelter At Home. But in some conditions, we will need to fortify and repair the home so it can continue to shelter us.
The past couple days we assessed our tools and made a list of what we needed against a general list. We also assessed what actions we might need to take in an emergency and assessed ‘consumables’ like wood and hardware. We then ensured these items were in our tool list.
Today, we are going to hold off a bit on adding to our shopping list and do an honest assessment of ourselves and our skills to accomplish these things. Keyword: Honest.
TASK: Google the terms “simple woodworking project”, “simple home electrical repairs”, and “simple plumbing repairs”. Look at the terminology, the steps, and the tools needed. Honestly assess if you could do these or not.
For woodworking, here’s an interesting page:
https://cutthewood.com/inspiration/cool-woodworking-projects#woodworkers-workbench
For electrical repairs, here’s a good page:
https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/how-to-do-home-electrical-repairs.htm
And for plumbing:
https://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing/the-top-10-plumbing-fixes/
Take a look at the articles and do an honest assessment of your skills. Could you do some of these repairs? Could you do them without internet or youtube? If you find your skills lacking in some of these, it might not be a bad idea to watch a few videos on how to do things, and even start a small library of printouts for the more common ones.
Hydration
We are going for 1 gallon of potable water per person per day for up to 7 days. That means with a family of 4, we need 28 gallons. This is a bare-bones amount suitable for average exertion in temperate weather. If you’re dealing with high exertion and hot weather, double the requirement.
TASK: Clean and fill at least two 2-liter bottles.
As a heads up, we will be filling two 2-liter bottles each weeknight for the entire challenge. If you would rather knock this out in one fell swoop, go for it!
Nutrition
Assess your family’s eating habits. What has short shelf lives (like bread)? What has longer shelf lives (like boxed mac n cheese)? What has nearly indefinite shelf lives (like dehydrated foods, canned goods, or dry goods)?
TASK: Continue putting together a list of typical meals and their ingredients that consist of short, long, and indefinite shelf life items. Identify completed recipes that use at least long-life ingredients.
We’re going shopping on Saturday so ensure you’re keeping up with this!
Rescue/Mitigation/Repair
While we are sheltering at home, getting home can be very important. Furthermore, being able to find a family member who may be stranded is also important. Yesterday, we made maps to and from our workplaces and home’, and started really paying attention to our route. We’re going to keep that up.
TASK: On your normal way to work (Route 1), observe the route for natural hazards such as low areas, high traffic intersections, and other known issues. Also, observe for potential resources such as hardware stores, bike shops (if your vehicle becomes inoperative and it’s a long commute), water sources, and shelter areas. Note them on your maps.
Training
The rescue section and shelter section are also the training for today!