Prepping skills to try

prepping skills to try

How to Be a Prepper
List of skills on homesteading, prepping and survival

Prepping is the practice of making active emergency
preparations, and this survival strategy is becoming more
mainstream.

Prepper's today don't all have gas masks, (though many
preppers do).

Preppers today are not all crazy, though television portrays
us that way.

Prepping is not all about hoarding stuff either, though
stockpiling is a big part of prepping.

Preppers are an ingenious bunch who know how to make do (or
do without). Prepper's construct, build, fabricate, manufacture,
erect, fix, pack, track, assemble a multitude of things! Preppers
know how to cook from scratch. Preppers know how to survive in
the woods. Being a prepper is about having the skills and
knowledge in addition to the stockpiles. Here's how to be a
prepper...

How to Be a Prepper
If you're wondering how to be a prepper, then you've come to a
happy place! Prepping is all about preparing for your future.
Have fun! Learn some new skills and visit this site often. Get
started with 100 ways to start prepping now.

Keep quiet. The first thing a new prepper learns is to be quiet.
While prepping is becoming mainstream, it's still not accepted
by all.

Did unwanted commentary you'll receive from friends and family
by simply keeping your prepping secretive. Rest assured, you're
not a crazy Prepper! People of the past were always Preppers.
They stockpiled food and supplies for lean times and for Winter.
The way of our past has simply been forgotten by the
convenience of our current economy.

Fill your car with gas.
Another easy thing a new prepper can do is to keep vehicles
filled with gasoline. Your goal is to have a tank that's never
more than half empty.

Keeping vehicles prepared also means having regular
maintenance, and checking the oil and water levels. You'll be
your own mechanic in the event of a major catastrophe. While
you're at it, Learn how to save money on gas.

Create a food journal. Get a pad of paper and write down
exactly what your family eats for an entire week.
Pack a bugout bag.
Assemble a personal 72-hour kit.
Get together a car kit of essentials.
Build an Altoids tin survival kit.
Pack a get home bag. A get home bag fills a purpose
unlike the bugout bag: it's only goal is to get you home,
whereas a bugout bag may be the last man-made item you
will ever own.
Track the foods you eat for a week. Then move on
towards a whole month. You'll be surprised to find you can
stockpile many of your favorite non-perishable foods for the
long term and take advantage of sales. What's good food
for prepping? We've assembled a list of 37 foods to
stockpile.
Learn to cook beans and rice.
Store your gasoline and other fuels safely.
Know how to use a gas main tool. Shutting off the gas is
particularly important after an earthquake.
Teach children about prepping.
Have fun with paracord.
Fabricate a simple shelter.
Manufacture your own ammunition.
Fix something with duct tape. Seriously, duct tape is a
prepper essential, but if you want to go beyond duct tape,
consider FiberFix, pictured right.
Get a crowbar. A crowbar is a useful prepping tool for
urban environments. In uncertain times the day may come
when you need to pry open doors to get at survival goods.
Almost nothing is unethical when you're in survival mode.
Besides, you never know when you might need to improvise
a weapon and a crowbar is a multi-use urban survival tool
in that regard.
Make a temporary toilet. To make your own temporary
sanitation solution, you'll need a 5-gallon bucket and a
toilet seat, pictured left. Be sure to add some sanitation
bags. Double Doodie is a good brand.
Turn off the water. See what it's like to live without it.
Turn off the electricity. Turn off the grid! See what you
learn from turning off the electricity for an evening dinner.
You may be surprised how much fun it is to tell ghost
stories by candelight. Don't cheat: you'll need to make your
dinner without electricity; and use your cellphone only if
you have a way to recharge it using solar energy.
Self defense. Take defense training and practice! As Bruce
Lee was famous for saying: "I fear not the man who has
practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has
practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Get trippy! Know how to use snares and trip wires for
defense.
Weapon mastery. Know how to use your weapons. Clean
them regularly and practice using them.
Whittling wood and wood working.
Take a First-aid / CPR class. The American Red Cross is a
good place to start and learn about the correct medical
equipment.
Start collecting bottled water. Head to the dollar store or
the now for some cheap finds in bottled water. Take heed
of these bottled water warnings. Later you can get fancy
with water storage tanks and water filtration methods.
Take an inventory of your food: Reorganize: Empty open
packages, such as pastas, and store in airtight containers.
Look for cans swollen, dented, corroded or outdated and
toss them. Use a Sharpie to label foods with expiration
year. Reorder supplies (older foods in the front, new foods
in the back, ). Move food into dark, dry, cool areas. (The
garage is not a good place for your food as the
temperature fluctuates.)
Get some meals together: Assemble ten shelf-stable
lunches for your family or group. Then work towards ten
shelf-stable dinners.
Learn to make fire in more than one way. A magnifying
glass is a good option for starting a fire if you don't a have
a lighter. A good magnifying glass is around $4 and
available with free shipping. Other good firestarters
include a magnesium stick, fire ribbon or waterproof
matches. Learn to build a fire.
Do today's laundry (just get caught up). Get all your
laundry caught up. Yes, it's an everyday task, but today is
the day to air your dirty laundry! Suppose the power grid
goes down, and you're laundry is stacked to the hilt. You'd
be wasting precious water and time laundering by hand
tomorrow. Discover off the grid laundry techniques and
never wait until tomorrow what you can do today.
Do tomorrow's laundry (off-grid method). Get an
inexpensive washboard and do your laundry the old
fashioned way. The Maid-Rite washboard, pictured right,
will do the trick. Or try the green Laundry POD, which has
an easy to use spinning, washing and draining system,
clean clothes by hand in less than 10 minutes. While you're
at it, get some clothes pins, hangers and a wash line!
Do your dishes by hand. This exercise will make you
happy and grateful for the convenience of a dishwasher.
Know that the dishes you pile into the dishwasher today
could be your last. Get yourself some basins.
Check your supply of paper plates, napkins, and
disposable utensils. You won't want waste precious water
washing everyday utensils when the grid goes down.
Make doctor's or dentist appointments. Get a checkup
while you can (before you have to be your own doctor or
dentist). Never delay surgeries. Get that new prescription.
Talk with your doctor and stock your cabinets with extra
supplies. Smile knowing you have made preparations
when there is no dentist.
Hold a yard sale or garage sale. Create more space for
you to stock your preps, such as hunting equipment,
camping equipment, or food storage. Convert wasteful junk
into supplies and food.
Go to a garage sale. Seek and ye shall find emergency
preparedness supplies at garage sales. Look for used
camping equipment, survival books, inexpensive bicycles
and shelving, or hand-crank tools.
Get a grinder! Grind your own wheat and save money
baking your own breads. A Wondermill Grinder, pictured at
the top of the page works with wet/oily grains; legumes,
coffee, garbanzos, seeds, nuts, also!
Check your bicycle (and have repair tools on hand)! Your
bike might be the only mode of transportation in an
extreme power grid failure. If you don't have a bicycle head
to Amazon (we recommend getting an adult tricycle to load
your essentials). Of course you can always procure a used
bicycle at a garage sale. Extras would be great for
bartering or backup! Ensure you have a bike lock for every
bike and at one bicycle repair kit on hand. The bike tool kit
left is just about everything you need. Add patches, extra
tubes, chains, oil and a bike pump and you're just about
good to go. You'll need some expertise in repairing bikes.
Get bike tutoring help at bicyletutor.com where you'll
learn how to tune up your bike, how to straighten a bent
disc brake rotor and more.
Count how many cans you have that contain liquids. Your
food shelf space should contain 10 percent liquid foods.
Any liquid foods you have will help you conserve your water
supply. For example, you can make rice with chicken, beef
or vegetable stock or and as mentioned above, coconut
milk. Pineapple juice has an especially long shelf life (4-5
years). Other liquid cans include; vegetable juice (such as
V-8 Juice) or tomato juice; and evaporated milk.
Fill a pitcher of water for the refrigerator. Everyday,
stock your refrigerator with ordinary tap water (even if you
only drink filtered water). Filter it if you like, but fill a
pitcher or jug. This will be your first source of water in the
event of a disaster. Make the habit of putting water in your
coffee maker in the evening, so it's ready in the morning
and you'll have that much extra water in your supply.
Stay thirsty my friend. Enjoy a glass of water, right now.
Most of us just don't drink enough water. If a survival
scenario commences, most people will be operating at a
deficit. You can tip the odds in your favor by quenching
your thirst. Walk away from the computer and do it now,
then go on to read the rest of this survival checklist. The
Big Berkey Water filter, right is a prepper favorite for clean
drinking water. A w ater check is on the Prepper TO DO
list!
Rotate your canned goods. Prepare a meal from eligible
stock or donate items that haven't yet met their expiration
date to a food bank. Look for dented, rusted, or cans that
have bulged and throw them out. While you're at it, check
out the Food Rotation System: can food storage rack at the
top of the page. It will fit in just about any pantry.
Assemble something. Take something out of the box and
test it. Assemble the camp cooking stove or try out the
new solar oven. You may find it's missing or broken part or
it doesn't work as well as you thought. It's better to find
out sooner than later.
Clean a closet or drawer. There's a closet you've been
meaning to re-arrange, isn't there? You don't need to take
on the chore all at once. Take it one drawer, box, shelf or
compartment at a time.
Buy an extra bucket opener. You already stock extra can
openers, right? If you've got buckets of stored foods,
purchase some extra bucket openers and Gamma Lids. You
might not be able to open them otherwise!
Check for leaks on your water supplies. Perhaps you've
stacked water too high or a notice that a bottle has sprung
a leak. Monitoring could save the day! If you neglect water
supplies, the leakage could damage floors and possibly ruin
your food sources and other supplies, like toilet paper and
paper towels.
Learn a new skill. Preppers always have new skills to
master. Take up a new hobby today whether it's coin
collecting. What the heck is Charcuterie? Find out how this
skill could help you as a Prepper.
Get into Junk silver! The price for junk silver on
11/16/2014 was $16.35. Junk silver is the value of the
silver, not the rarity or numismatic value of the coins. If
you buy and sell silver coins, you should know where to
consult the "junk silver" value. Check out coinflation now
for junk silver prices.
Get into Junk Copper (wheat back pennies 1909-1958
and Lincoln pennies 1959-1982). Did you know it takes
just 154 wheat-back pennies (junk-copper pennies dated
from 1909-1958) and Lincoln pennies dated to 1958 to
have a full pound of fine copper? Start saving the copper
pennies in your loose change. It's worth about twice the
face value! Check out Coinflation for the junk copper prices.
Start chopping some firewood! You know you'll need
seasoned firewood, right? Your wood must be a half year
old to burn it. Get chopping, my friend! This will be the
most difficult part of an off-grid life: keeping firewood
stocked.
Build a fire. Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook has
an excellent 30 page guide in chapter four on how to build
a fire. In it he discusses the importance of lighters, goes
over the fire hierarchy and shows you how to produce a
spark and build a fire. Read 15+ Firestarter Methods.
Stock up on car maintenance items. You'll always need
oil changes, coolants, spark plugs, and air filters. While
you're at it, check your spare tires. Stock a fan belt and a
timing belt. If you can, put a car battery in your Faraday
cage! Be sure to stock survival car essentials.
Take a hike! Preppers and their families are in their best
possible physical condition because they walk, run and
excercise everyday. Hiking is a skill that may be required in
the event the unthinkable happens. Do something active
with your family to keep in peak shape!
Say Howdy to "Double Doodie": Poor hygiene in the
aftermath of a catastrophe could be one of the biggest
killers for mankind. Because of the risk of infections of poor
sanitation, it's important to get your portable toilet set up
and go "Double Doodie." Plan your sanitation today,
before the stuff hits the fan tomorrow.
Get to know your neighbors. Perhaps there's a medical
doctor, nurse or an EMT down the street. Ask him or her to
review your first aid kit. Dentists and hygienists could
provide some dental assistance. Just remember the first
rule of Prep Club: don't talk about Prep Club. Be a good
neighbor. If you are public about your prepping plans,
which we don't advise, then you must integrate neighbors
in your planning efforts. Help them develop their own
means of survival! An acceptable way to approach
neighbors is to set up or participate in a neighborhood
watch. This is equivalent to pioneers banding together and
"circling their wagons" to defend themselves on the prairies.
Read a Prepper's books and articles. Pick up a book on
prepping. Visit regularly for new articles. Surf Bing, Google
or Yahoo for Prepper blogs. Head to YouTube for Prepper
videos. There are always new ideas to consider to enhance
your Prepper lifestyle!
Try out a new Prepper recipe. Make dinner tonight with
ingredients from your Prepper's pantry and stored Water
you've never tried that sun oven? Now is the time to try a
recipe and to calculate how long it will take to get that
meal prepared from foods in your pantry. You may discover
that you need some new recipes or to expand the
ingredients of your everyday pantry. Here's our preppers
list of foods to stock.
Spend ten bucks. You can prep on any budget and the
dollar stores are a great place to start. Read 99 ways to
spend a buck at the dollar stores. Or shop online: we'll
help you with prepping on the cheap for $10 or less.
Head to the drug store to get some canned meat. You'll
find canned meat inexpensive at the local pharmacy. DAK
canned hams are sometimes two for $5. That's one pound
of excellent Danish ham for $2.50!
Consider adding a jar of Vaseline to your supplies list.
Petroleum jelly is an excellent fire-starter when paired with
cotton balls soaked in the stuff. Paired with gauze it's also
an effective ointment for scrapes, burns, and cuts for your
first aid kit. Additionally, it can soothe chapped lips, and
prevent chafing between legs minimizing friction between
skin and clothing for walking or running long distances.
Learn sign language. You may find yourself in a situation
where communicating with family members covertly will be
the best course of action. Practice a few essential signs
(made up or real ones) to help you communicate should
marauders threaten your family and supplies. Learn words
in American Sign Language at signingsavy.com
Clear the condiment shelf of your refrigerator! Use the
added shelf space for bottled drinks. You can never have
enough water stored and this is a way to squeeze in
some extra space. While canned foods can last well beyond
the use by date, condiments in open bottles can be
dangerous to your health. There's no need to store a salad
dressing from 2009 or a hot sauce that's too zippy for your
families tastes. Get rid of it.
Listen to your inner voice. Take a moment to pause and
reflect. Everyone was born with an inner voice that
commands right from wrong. You don't need any person or
agency telling you what to do. Listen only to the inner
voice that guides you to do the right thing, in the right
way. This is a universal command that transcends all.
You've known it all the time.
Test your Prepper knowledge. See if you know the
glossary of Prepper terms in our Prepper's Dictionary. It
means you're about halfway to becoming a Happy Prepper.
"Ghee" there are a lot of words defined there.
Talk with Great Grandma or Grandpa. Perhaps someone
you know survived the Great Depression. Lend an ear to an
elderly person to find out how they stocked their pantry in
the old days or how they survived hard times.
Shop a farmer's market. Supporting locals may not at
first seem like a Prepper thing to do, but when you shop a
farmer's market, you are supporting local families and you
may find the perfect ingredients for your home canning or
dehydrating projects. Most farmer's markets are organic:
that's a total bonus!
Add more iodized salt to your shopping list. Iodine is an
essential trace element; and salting is an important task in
preserving. Check the label as you'd be surprised that many
sea salts do not contain iodine. Learn about salt.
Boil rice. Seriously, you don't know how to boil rice? You
may rely on the directions for box of rice, microwave frozen
rice dishes, or plug in a rice cooker, but none of these
options will work if there's a power blackout. It's better to
work on this skill now before you need it. Now come up
with some recipes around this inexpensive staple.
Make some food with grains, beans and legumes. Sure,
you've stocked-piled long term survival foods, but do you
know how to cook something with them? Make some lentils
with rice, mill some flour and bake some bread, sprout
something. Practice making something edible from samples
of your food storage. Legumes (including beans, lentils,
peas, and peanuts), are rich in protein and also a good
source of fiber. Plus they're low in fat. But if you don't
know how to cook something, then they are worthless in
your pantry. Rice and beans will probably be your staple, so
you'll need to know how to make something tasty. Brown
some rice in butter, then add some diced tomatoes and
brown sugar and you'll have a wonderful Mexican style rice,
that will be very tasty with beans.
Stock up on board and card games and books. How will
you pass the time with your family when they watch T.V.?
Buy books and games early for the holidays and keep them
in reserve for the day the lights go out. Here is a list of our
favorite family board games for prepper families.
Splurge on a Prepper's Cookbook. There aren't many
around and the Prepper's Pantry, pictured left is a good
one. Where else are you going to learn how to cook those
dehydrated potatoes?
Learn how to read a map. Figure out how to navigate
without a compass. A compass might not work and GPS
might not be available. Your bug-out plan may require that
you check alternate routes.
Learn how to use a compass. The Silva lesson on how to
u se a compass is a great use of just six minutes of your
time. Bookmark this page and watch the video if you don't
know how to use the bezel ring on your compass. If you
don't already have a compass, know that the Silva
compass, left is highly rated. Keep your compass in the car
or on your person so that you always have one with you.
Be thankful if you love meat, consider eating bugs, and
say goodbye to vegetarianism. Americans could certainly
learn to live on less meat. Mykel Hawke, Captain, U.S.
Army Special Forces, and star of "Man, Woman, Wild" on
the Discovery Channel, says that "About 90% of bugs and
animals can be eaten by humans, but 90% of plants can
not." That's enough information to know that you simply
can't beat meat when it comes to your prepping plans. One
can only stay a vegetarian thanks to a stable agrarian
society. Once we've been knocked off the power grid,
survival kicks in an sustains itself through meat. Americans
could certainly learn to live on less meat.
Cut your old garments. If you're not going to donate or
sell them, then start snipping your old clothes into quilt
sized sheets to use when the toilet paper runs out! This
material will surely store better than toilet paper. You'll
need a plan B anyway. When water is sparse, you don't
want to use it for your "arse."
Check your tarps and supplies. Do you have enough
plywood to patch up a broken window or to batten down
the hatches in the event of a world in chaos? A tarp can
help you in a pinch. Tarps have many other uses! A tarp
can help you temporarily patch a roof. The thing is ordinary
blue tarps may attract too much attention. Prepper's often
want to stay under the radar. The camouflage tarp, right
can help you hide many things. Be sure to have enough
duct tape, bungee cord and stakes on hand. Yes, they
make camouflage duct tape. Get some camouflage nets,
too!
Buy some non-food supplies at the grocery store. Toilet
paper: check. Paper towels: check. Trash bags: check. Can-
opener: double check! Consider disposable vinyl gloves for
sanitation, and dish washing gloves to help protect your
hands. Then there's disinfectant wipes, and freezer bags.
There are so many non-food supplies to hoard while they
are still available.
Head to the pawn shop. Pawn some useless stuff and get
into junk silver coins or hard cold cash. Investing in
precious metals could pay off the day the dollar devalues
to next to nothing, just the way it did during the Great
Depression, (owning pre-1964 coins can be considered a
collectible, and likely won't be confiscated) but if you don't
have a year's supply of food or more, don't even bother
with trying to get some silver.
Hide and save your silver, start collecting nickel and
copper. Now that you've got some junk silver, find a good
spot for safekeeping. Next on the list is to go through your
coins and start sorting the old copper pennies and nickels
from the new ones. Nickel certainly has more value as
nickel than the 5 cents it's worth. Likewise, so does the
copper penny. These raw materials may prove to be a
barter item in the new world.
Explore some new canned meats. Put down that can of
SPAM and see what other varieties of meat you should
stock in your Prepper's pantry.
Start a Prepper's Binder (Survival Manual). Gather all
your favorite articles, recipes, instructions and checklists in
one place. This personal resource will be invaluable to your
family in the event you are not able to continue preparing
and protecting your family.
Review your homeowners insurance coverage. FEMA
says everyone lives in a flood zone. Ask your insurance
agent to advise you on proper coverage. Oh forget FEMA,
instead get your own food insurance!
Prep for your dog or cat. Buy Friskies & Pedigree
canned meat! Not to eat, silly! Although, we've heard of
some crazy Preppers who plan to eat this inexpensive meat
source (not us); however, surely, it's better than eating
crickets. Dried dog or cat food is your easiest prep
(provided you have a rodent proof container). Here's how to
prep for your dog.
Crank it up with a crank radio. Information could be the
difference between life and death. If you have a crank
radio, then you're able to stay on top of important news if
it should surface. Best of all, all the power you need is
available in your hand.
Join like minded friends on Twitter, Facebook and
Pinterest. Visit HappyPreppers on Twitter and hook up
with others who are preparing for the best case scenario.
Get a fire extinguisher and learn how to use it. Let
everyone in the family know where you've stashed the fire
extinguisher and give them a quick lesson how to use it.
You just may have to play firefighter someday.
Watch a Prepper video. See our list of Prepper television
shows and movies. "Take Shelter" DVD, right is on it.
Noah had his arc, Curtis had his bomb shelter. This Cannes
Film Festival movie is food for thought and will help you at
least feel camaraderie with your fellow Preppers. When all
the world thinks you're crazy, this movie certainly will at
least make you feel normal in the insane world where most
people don't prepare!
Know what you'll do to survive. Watch this short urban
survival video featuring survival expert Cody Lundin. You
may not take his advice, but at least you'll know what he's
doing. Get to know Cody, the shoeless survivalist from
Seattle. You may just want to purchase "When all Hell
Breaks Loose: stuff you need to survive when disaster
strikes," pictured right. In it you'll learn the various uses of
ordinary freezer bags and the realities of food plan.
Learn how to tie knots. Teach your kids how to tie knots,
too. With all the Velcro around, it's an art that has gone by
the wayside and yet tying knots is a very useful skill.
Go to target practice. Build your marksmanship. You're
only as skilled as your last shooting session. Don't like
guns? Learn archery or pick up a sling shot and practice.;
Get a HAM Radio license: Communications could be the
key to survival in knowing the status of water and food
supplies, the condition of neighboring cities and of the
entire country. Operating a HAM radio requires a license,
and the equipment can be expensive, but this essential
skill could mean survival for an entire community, making
the Happy Prepper an invaluable resource. Here's how to
get a Ham Radio License.

Read more about Ham radio licensing information.

So now you have our list of prepping skills for to try. Get started
prepping without having a bugout retreat or bunker! Yes, you
can do these things even if you're in an apartment. We have
two other lists:

Happy endings...
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