Bloom Where You’re Planted: Prepping No Matter What the Setting
There really are very few “perfect” locations for a prepper. A very common excuse that some people give as to why they cannot prep is their current location. People say, “Well, once we are able to get moved to our farm in two years I’ll start prepping hardcore.” Another favorite is “I’m saving the money for moving instead of using it for preps.” Or even worse, ”Oh, there is no point in prepping here, because if the SHTF I’ll be dead.”
Stop this kind of thinking RIGHT NOW!!!!!!
Sometimes, to borrow an old saying, you just have to bloom where you’re planted.
There are many things you can do to increase your preparedness wherever you happen to live. Apartment dwellers at the top of a city high rise, folks in the middle of the desert, and people in HOA-ruled suburban lots all have to examine their situations, figure out their pros and cons, and work towards resolving what they can. With some pre-planning, there is a lot you can overcome if you have the right mindset. I suspect there are just as many (and probably far more) preppers living in the ‘burbs than there are living in perfect rural locations, with a lake, 10 acres of cultivated farmland in an off-grid house.
Money is tight all over. It’s very easy for people to say, off-the-cuff, “Oh, you should move.”
But just picking up and moving isn’t that easy. It took me nearly 4 years to be able to do that. People have obligations and ties that some Joe-Blow on the internet shouting out advice can’t even begin to understand. Some in the prepping community have a complete disconnect with the realities of everyday people. There are reasons like:
- Not enough money to leave
- A good job (very hard to come by these days)
- Family members in the area that you don’t want to abandon
- No work opportunities where you want to go
- Custody orders that require you to remain in a certain area
- A spouse who is not on board
- A house that won’t sell or with an upside-down mortgage
The list goes on and on. There are as many reasons to remain in one place as there are people living in cities. And yes, I could sit here and refute each and every reason a person has chosen to remain, but it wouldn’t do one bit of good. People are sometimes alienated by the prepping movement when it seems that everything is black and white or like their personal decisions are somehow less valid than the decisions of some random person on the internet.
That’s why it’s important to take your current situation, warts and all, and work with it. This doesn’t mean that you should abandon your plans for a better location some time in the future if such a move is warranted. But it means that you shouldn’t put off important preparedness steps until after that move is made.
Assess Your Situation
You don’t know where to go if you don’t know where you are. The first and most vital step is an honest assessment of your current situation. The situation that you have right now, this very minute, not the one you will have in a month or in a year. Assess your needs regarding the following in a SHTF scenario or disaster:
- Water
- Sanitation
- Food/Cooking
- Heating
- Security
- Light
Once you know exactly where you are with these things, you can begin to look for solutions that will work for you, today. Dig in and make a plan for the survival of your family.
And a little note to those who say, “It doesn’t matter, I’m in downtown Manhattan. I’ll die anyway.”
No, you won’t. You won’t be that lucky. You will be absolutely thoroughly miserable, breathing foul unhealthy air. You’ll be thirsty enough to drink unsanitary water, which will cause bowel issues to worsen problem #1. You’ll be hungry, but not hungry enough that you die of starvation. You will be at the mercy of thugs better armed than you. And you won’t die, not right away. You will live like I just described, and it will be horrible. Look at the residents of Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy. They didn’t die but they were absolutely miserable, they were terrified, they were eating from dumpsters, and much of it could have been avoided with some basic preparedness.
Survival in a Population Dense Area
Before I relocated to my little cabin in the woods I lived in a very metropolitan area. I was lucky in that I had 1/10th of an acre. I did everything I could come up with to make my little house as sustainable as possible should the poop hit the oscillating device before I could get out. A disaster in the city IS survivable.
I planted every inch of the back yard and grew enough food that the home-canned and frozen produce lasted until Christmas. I stockpiled groceries. I had plywood cut and pre-drilled to cover each window of the house. I had printed official looking quarantine signs to hang on the door of my house as a deterrent. I put together a little outdoor fireplace in the backyard behind my fence. I got a big dog. I collected rainwater from downspouts at each corner of the house. I purchased an antique oil heater in good working order, and stockpiled heating oil. I had enough seeds to plant for the next 4 years. I located nearby sources of water, wood, and nuts. I got a wagon for hauling stuff if the transportation system was down.
In short, I did everything possible to make the best of a potentially terrible location. It wasn’t perfect, but we would have outlasted most of the other people in our residential neighborhood and done so under the radar.
The Priorities
Let’s take a look at each of the major challenges that we face in a SHTF situation. Obviously different disasters offer different challenges. These lists aren’t meant to be comprehensive. They are meant to be a starting point to get your wheels turning on how you and your family can best survive, exactly where you’re planted right now.
Water
You can only survive for 3 days without water (and you’ll be weak and suffering way before that) so that should put water preparedness at the very top of your list. Some ideas: 1 month supply of drinking water stored (plan on a gallon per day, per person and pet), non-electric water filtration system (with spare filters), buckets along with a sled or wheel barrow depending on the season for transporting water, a water catchment system, water purification supplies (bleach, pool shock, tablets), system for catching gray water to be reused for flushing, washing, etc.
Sanitation
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York, it was reported that people were defecating and urinating in the hallways of apartment buildings once the sewer system stopped working. Lack of sanitation is not only unpleasant, but it spreads disease. Some ideas: portapotty, buckets lined with heavy duty trash bags, kitty litter, water for flushing if you have septic, learn how to shut off the main valve so that city sewage cannot back up into your house or apartment, supplies to build an outhouse, lime, baby wipes,antibacterial wipes, white vinegar, bleach, hand sanitizer, extra toilet paper.
Food/Cooking
Most preppers have a food supply, but have you considered how you’re going to prepare all those beans if your stove doesn’t work? Some ideas: Minimum of 1 month of food for each family member and pet; alternative cooking methods indoors like a fondue pot, a woodstove, propane stove, or fireplace; outdoor cooking methods like a barbecue (beware of tantalizing smells and hungry neighbors), outdoor fireplace or firepit, rocket stove, or sun oven; and foods that don’t require cooking or heating.
Heating
This depends upon your climate and the time of year that disaster strikes. Prioritize accordingly. Some ideas: wood stove, fireplace, oil heater, kerosene heater, propane heater, coal heater; non-tech ideas like arctic sleeping bags, winter clothes and accessories, covers for windows, segregating one room to heat.
Security
In a disaster situation, the risk of potentially violent civil unrest always goes up. We used a two-fold approach of trying to avoid conflict by keeping a low profile, but being ready to deal with it if it couldn’t be avoided. Some ideas: personal defense items (this will vary depending on your location, the laws there, and whether or not you intend to follow those laws), secure heavy doors with reinforced frames, plywood or gridwork to cover the windows, keeping lights off or low, thorny plants around the perimeter of your house and yard, hardening access points, a big dog, an alarm system, and visual deterrents such as warning signs and quarantine signs.
Light
Don’t underestimate the value of light in a dark world. Most city dwellers don’t consider exactly how dark the night can be without streetlights and lights from houses. Emotionally, having a bit of light can help soothe frazzled children (or adults) and help the night seem a little less scary. Use caution that your light cannot be seen from the outside – like moths to a flame, people will be drawn to the only brightly lit house on the street. Some ideas: Solar garden lights, candles, kerosene lights, oil lights, flashlights, headlamps, battery operated LED lights, solar camping lanterns.
Make a Plan
So, if you’re reading this and you’ve been putting off preparedness due to your location, what’s your plan?
If you’ve been feeling disheartened by all the folks grimly telling you that your home is a death trap, what can you do over the weekend to improve your chances, right where you are?
And if you are fortunate enough to be in an ideal location, please share your ideas about overcoming some of these difficulties in a less than perfect place on the map. As a community, we can all help one another solve problems that could otherwise seem insurmountable.
Please feel free to share any information from this site in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to this website and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
Remember the rule of 3 for prioritizing in a survival situation.
You can live:
3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
The rule of 3 is not correct its a guildline for training survival instructors not something you should bet your life on.
ie I can hold my breath for longer then 3 min… most free divers can.
It’s an approximation. I am not a free diver and neither are the majority of the population. I can only hold my breath for 54 seconds. If it were summer at my house and not raining I could live a lot longer than 3 hours but I would not have taken my chances the other night. It was snowing, with gusts of 35mph and a wind chill in the single digits. I don’t think I would have made it very long in shorts and a t-shirt in that weather. 3 days without water is another approximation. If you were in a hot, desert climate and were exerting yourself you would not last as long as if you were in an area that was cool, damp and overcast and you were sitting still. 3 weeks without food is another approximation. People do 40 day fasts, it is possible to go longer.
You have apparently missed the point of the rule of 3. It is to get people to prioritize their survival. Make air priority 1, if your house is on fire, get out! You only have 3 minutes give or take. Make shelter priority 2. Hypothermia can kill you in temperatures above 40*F. If you start to suffer from the effects of it and you make no remedy you have approximately 3 hours give or take. Make priority 3 getting water. Make priority 4 getting food. It shows people, who would most commonly forget about shelter and go straight to food that you can survive much longer without the latter.
Nice article, Daisy. And the site here is awesome!
Just one minor point- in the ‘Sanitation’ section you mentioned shutting off the valve so that city sewage doesn’t back up into the house or apartment. Not sure about big-city apartment buildings such as high rises, but most smaller apartment buildings, and most single-family homes have no shut off valve for outgoing sewage. This would, however, be an excellent idea!
If possible, people should think about installing such a valve. If the main drain line is accessable, it shouldn’t be too hard to do. Just basic plumbing skills. And perhaps the need to dig a hole near the house where the main drain goes out. Insulate and cover the access hole, and once a year or so, turn the valve a couple times to make sure it hasn’t rusted or seized up.
If your home is at a lower elevation than surrounding dwellings, then ‘back flushing’ is a real possibility during something like a shut-down of the community’s sewage treatment plant. A shut-off valve might prevent a big mess!
Thank you, Okie!
I didn’t realize this was not standard on most houses. I had one at my old place and actually used it once. If people don’t have this, you’re right, it sure would make sense to install it.
I would advise being circumspect about doing so. I imagine the municipalities would be pretty critical of making such a modification.
Daisy
just found your site through a link posted at planet.inforwars.com and am going through the archives. Yeah to Sandy. I was on the coast of brooklyn and didn’t evac….so yeah, in the larger apartment buildings, people who were too infirm (a lot of elderly in subsidy housing) to climb 4-5 (or more) stories of stairs, were using the hallways. I was luckily in a 2 up-2down duplex housing (think old row house into apartments) and our water is fed by gravity instead of by pump. Those in the high rise, high dollar apartments faired worse…no water.
A friend had a sewer back up via flooding and the tenants didn’t have access to the cut off valve but by manually stopping up all exit points, friend was able to keep most of it out in his apartment. The whole building was contaminated by gray water and the other three neighbors who did evac, came home to an awful mess.
Enjoying everything here! Cheers.
…something I have done in the past on lighting is used automotive bulbs, cut out of wrecks with the sockets and a bit of wiring left over to tie into at the home or wherever the lighting is to be installed. Regular automotive wiring can be distributed throughout the installation with bulbs in critical locations, and don’t forget the electrical tape as part of your prepper stash, and while you are at it, you can salvage out the fuse box from the wreck also, although I never bothered… …. Regular car batteries, or lawnmower “gel” types that can be easily re-charged with a solar panel or generator can keep this lighting going for a long time. LED lighting you mentioned I question because of its brightness. They are really bright and you mentioned the neighbors would be attracted to light…the brighter it is the harder to conceal from the outside its going to be…even with blackout curtains. Also, with a little effort, a used car algernator can be adapted to an engine powered lawn mower to charge batteries, and not eat up a lot of gasoline..and its a lot easier to rig stuff like this right now than later when its hit the fan and the two legged varmints are running around trying their best to survive, and live off you and yours if they can.. …just passing it to you….
For the residential/suburban situation, the Quarantine sign is an excellent deterrent to looters. The “zombies” are not likely to go after “contaminated” supplies. Here are a few thoughts to help pull-off this defense.
First, you must plan to use this tactic and have the signs made ahead of time. Making it look “real” will only take a little research into what your local authorities post & will let you make your own. Use the right color paper, etc…, but don’t make a “perfect” copy. “Health Hazards” and Quarantines will generally have a perimeter marked, so don’t forget some “CAUTION” tape. Lastly, the “authorities” wouldn’t leave “contaminated” items in the open, so clear all visible/accessible areas of the yard/porch.
Great suggestions, Homestead12!
In the US, FEMA quarantine signs are printed on red paper.
I suggest that if quarantine signs are a strategy you intend to employ, get the appropriate paper and print them out ahead of time. If the grid has gone down, you won’t be able to make a realistic sign unless you’ve printed them in advance. Search it up on the internet and copy the font and layout as closely as possible.
Daisy
Love your site daisy, always enjoy your post here and on other sites.
On the sanitation issue you and Okie are pondering with the backflow problem. But sue where i read it (with i could quote the source), but it was suggested if the problem should arise you could shove a trash bag into your toilet and then fill it with expanding foam. At least with the foam you could “break”it back out someday. Thanks for the questions sign idea.
Wow i cannot type on this thing, lol.
Daisy,
Thank you for this article, very informative.
– Davis
Some newer houses (usually built or designed by owner) have an one-way (Back-water) valve in their connection to the sewer main like my parents place. It might be worth trying to identify, and make plans to plug it solid. here’s a copy-paste link that may be useful, as it describes where to look inside a house.
http://homes.winnipegfreepress.com/winnipeg-real-estate-articles/renovation-design/ASK-THE-INSPECTOR-Outdoor-backwater-valves-a-bad-idea-here/id-2561/
There is one idea I thought of that I’m following, once you have a good store of balanced varied dry and canned supplies spend a small fraction on ultra cheep and most unattractive but nutritious food. Like a huge bag or two of chicken feed. Just wheat or corn or even sorgum even mixed grains, preferably not cracked so you can sprout them or later use them as seed as necessary.
A raider will load up on twinkies long before he’ll take difficult to cook food. And though you’d get bored you could live for a long time on a hundred pound bag of grain.