By: Gerald Loeffers

Lets talk about ways to prep fast now that the election is over, for those of us that know our history and what this president is all about. If you’re not prepared now, it’s time for you to get prepared. I will give you some basic, cheap for the most part and easy to do prepping for you and your family. I will cover the four basic prep groups: food, first-aid, firearms and water.

FOOD

This is the most basic need, but it is not often talked about. Dictators in the past controlled the food to the point that starvation and cannibalism occurred. I say, let’s avoid that, shall we.

CANNED FOOD

This is a sure bet if you have space and a canned food outlet store in your town. You’re good to go with prices between 69¢ to 99¢. I myself purchased 50 cans of food for under $50! I will be doing this once a month until my pantry is full.

GARDENING

If you have the space and the know how, this is a good and cheap way to get and then can your food for survival and barter. Seeds are cheap and learning to garden is easy. Please check your seeds to see if they are GMO or not.

SMALL FARM ANIMALS

I know this is crazy, but animals like goats, chickens and rabbits are a great way to get meat, eggs and milk. They don’t need a lot of space and you can use rabbits and eggs for barter.

LONG TERM FOOD PRODUCTS

Companies like FOOD FOR HEALTH, MOUNTAIN HOUSE, FOOD INSURANCE and many others offer great long term food storage products. These are pricy and bulky to store, since most are packaged in 5 to 10 gal. sealed buckets and they claim a 25 year shelf life. But I say if you can afford it, buy it. Also each one cooks differently, so read the preparation labels.

FIRST AID

Do you know basic first aid? If you don’t, you should. Buy more then a basic cuts and scrapes first aid kit as well. You will need to learn trauma treatment if you can and buy a trauma first aid kit. You’ll also need a crude camp kit with things like aspirin, Aleve, Benadryl, antacids, cough drops, etc. Also get some super glue, yeah that’s right, super glue. It’s a great wound closer and ace bandages are good all around items as well.

FIREARMS

How else are you going to defend yourself and your family and gather meat for to eat? That’s right… guns. If you are a new guy to prepping, I suggest you get over the fear mongering of the media of guns and buy a few to learn to shoot with. Practice gun safety and hunting skills. You’re going to need them. Here is a basic gun list that a first timer can use.

BASIC GUN LIST

.22 LR RIFLE (RUGER 10/22, MARLIN MODEL 60, XT-22, 957 SAVAGE RIFLES, HENRY AR-7,
MARLIN PAPOOSE)

12 GA PUMP SHOTGUN – GOOD FOR BOTH GATHERING GAME AND SELF DEFENSE, AS WELL AS CLOSE RANGE (WINCHESTER XDS, MOSSBERG 500, 590, REMINGTON 870,)

DEFENSE CARBINE – GOOD FOR MEDIUM RANGE SELF DEFENSE (AR-15, AR-10, AK-47, RUGER MINI-14, MINI-30, KELTEC SU-16, SKS)

SEMI-AUTO PISTOL, 9MM – GOOD FOR CLOSE RANGE SELF DEFENSE. THIS CALIBER IS EASY TO FIND. IT’S WELL PRICED, EASY TO LEARN AND TO SHOOT (GLOCK 17, 19 RUGER SR9, XD 9, RUGER P-95, S&W M&P 9, CZ-75B, EAA WITNESS)

30 CALIBER BOLT ACTION RIFLE – GOOD FOR HUNTING LARGE GAME AND FOR LONG RANGE. THIS CALIBER COVERS THE 30-06, 308, 300 WIN MAG, 338 WIN MAG… THESE ARE THE MOST COMMON CALIBERS USED AND ARE EASY TO FIND, BUT ARE EXPENSIVE (REMINGTON 700, 770, RUGER HAWK EYE, M77 MII, SAVAGE 1200, MOSSBERG AXIS)

WATER

Well, who’s thirsty? Without water, you’re dead in under 72 hours! Where you live, is there a creek or a river? Do you run on a city well system or do you live near a lake? These are things to think about and the possibility of not being able to drink or use this water. What do you do?

WATER FILTERS AND BACK UP

There are so many products that offer this. Some are great, some are hokey… but find the system that will work for your needs. I have in my bug out bag, two filtered water bottles, an osmosis water filter, a bladder system, a water filter straw and water purification tablets. This gives me redundancy. One of the systems I like for home use is a simple system of two buckets on top of each other and a ceramic filter as the water drains from the top bucket. Also, for fast water back up, it wouldn’t hurt to buy and store water in 1 gal. jugs from your local store. I have done this. It’s surprisingly cheap. You should have at least 90 days of ready to drink back up water on hand.

There you go. This is a good start for you and you’ll be on your way to survive what’s coming. If it doesn’t happen, well you will be able to help others if the need arises. But please, don’t be a hunker down prepper and hide from the rest of the world. It’s going to take everyone to help each other to get through the tough times ahead folks.