When the Lights Go Out: The 9 B's of Preparedness, 1-5: Christian Prepper #3
List of Lists
God has called men to protect their families. What would you do if the technology you spend hours holding up to your face crashed indefinitely? What if something happened that broke our supply chain and we had no way to access food, gas, or electricity?
How do you survive TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It)? Maybe I am crazy. Maybe our world is more stable than I think it is. Maybe I am wrong. But what if I am right? I wasn’t wrong in prepping in 2010 for the pandemic that hit in 2020.
On this week’s podcast, I walked us through the second most valuable asset you can possess as the protector of your family—a List of Lists. The most valuable, of course, is what’s between your ears.
The List of List is simply a categorized list of all the things you will need in a grid-down situation. My List has evolved in the last fifteen years from five to nine Bs. Here they are:
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Brain and Body: Your most asset.
The best thing you can do is to steward the mind and body God has given to manage. There is too much here to go into detail about. Please see last week’s blog if you did not get a chance to read it.
I remember watching National Geographics Doomsday Preppers and how morbidly obese many of the “preppers” were. They had neglected their most valuable asset in a TWOTWAWKI situation—their health. I read apocalyptic books and work out regularly to maintain a healthy mind, body, and outlook on the society we mistakenly depend on with our lives.
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Beans: Food, water, and stuff to grow and store it.
Most people have less than 15 days of food on hand. Even those who say they have a 3 month’s supply, from my experience usually have much less. Every time I shop, I purchased a few dollars extra for some kind of food storage.
Since water is a non-issue in Oregon, I focus on food. My go-to food sources are canned vegetables and add-only-water dry foods like beans, rice, pasta, wheat, corn, dehydrated potatoes, eggs, pancake mix, etc., which I store in food-grade 5-gallon buckets with gamma lids, oxygen absorbers, and mylar bags, which all are sold at our local co-op. The canned food will last a few years, and much of the stored dry food will last a lifetime.
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Bed: Where will you go?
There are many schools of thought on this one. We prefer a small community where people care for each other instead of a secluded retreat. If you live close to a city, you will need a place to go when people exodus the cities and migrate into smaller communities to hoard.
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Bullets: Personal security and hunting.
In my circle, people place way too much emphasis on guns. You can only carry or use so many weapons. It is all about ammunition that can be used for barter, hunting, or personal security. I am a fan of the five-gun philosophy—long rifle, black rifle, shotgun, pistol, and rimfire (I prefer the .17 HMR over .22 for effectiveness and availability)
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Band-Aids: What personal hygiene, sanitation, medical supplies, and medicines do you need to survive six months?
This can be an extensive list based on your health situation, but I recommend plenty of feminine products, razors, toilet paper, medical supplies, pain relievers, and antibiotics (purchased over the counter in Mexico).
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Batteries: Heat and light sources.
This includes heat and light sources too. We live in a battery-driven world and the longer we can hold onto power in a grid-down situation, the better. I have included rechargeable batteries, solar chargers, matches, candles, oil burning lanterns (found at Goodwill).
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Barter: What will replace money as a means of exchange?
I believe gold, silver, and cash will be replaced with utilitarian barter items like bullets, coffee, alcohol, lighters, salt, sugar, etc. I regularly buy cheap things like lighters, salt, bullets, and batteries for barter. I do not think gold or silver will be worth trading when lives are on the line.
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Business: What job can you do to benefit society if technology is obsolete?
This is extreme but must be part of our survival mindset. What skills will you bring to make yourself an asset to your community?
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BAD: B(etter) A(dd) or D(ie) if not acquired.
This is a recent addition to my List of Lists. These are miscellaneous “Must Haves” such as reading glasses, BP Meds, bolt cutters, three fuel generators, a wood stove, hand pumps for water, or anything else that may not fall under a category but will be needed.
What now?
People react to my List of Lists in several ways. I highly caution against extreme reactions to this blog or any of the podcasts in this series. (Make sure you subscribe to our podcast for weekly upload notifications.) Instead, start small and stay consistent. Consistency is the key.
Research prepping. Watch apocalyptic movies and tv series. Watch the human responses to catastrophic weather events. Every time you grocery shop, spend an extra $5-20 dollars on food storage items. It will add up over time. You are in this for the duration.
Trust God, and keep your powder dry!