Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter Preps

Since Winter has most of the US firmly in its grasp, I figured that I would write a bit about some winter preps.

Probably the most important winter prep is energy.  All kinds of it.  You will need energy in some form to keep warm.  You will need some form of energy to keep your water liquid for consumption.  Your body will need energy in the form of calories to allow you to stay warm and complete the necessary activities that will present themselves in a grid down scenario.

For most of us, the first winter after a grid down situation will probably be our easiest.  We will still have ample supply of food, more than likely we will have at least some amount of stored fuel for generators, propane heaters, wood stoves etc. to allow us a relatively easy first winter.

However after that, most of the rest of the year will be spent preparing for winter.  There will be food to store, water to collect, wood to cut, season and stack, livestock to butcher and process etc.

Now, imagine not only having to do all of that to prepare for winter, but at the same time keeping a watch out for intruders and marauders; keeping a low profile to not attract unwanted attention etc. 

No matter which way we stack the odds in our favor, in a true grid down scenario, things are not going to be easy at all even in the best of times.  Throw in a few roving thugs, hungry families that are on the edge of sanity, people "bugging out" without any plan whatsoever except to "get to the country where all the food is" which, incidentally, is exactly where you are.  Couple that with predators, natural disasters, crop failure, drought, flood etc.

I guess this post is really more about hoping and praying that things don't go "grid down", but knowing that if they do, most "survival fantasy" books and movies probably don't do justice to how things will really be in such an instance.

I would be happy to hear some of your thoughts.