In the past few years, one thing has become crystal clear, we live in an unpredictable world. You can not predict when there will be the next pandemic, a home invasion, war, power outage, natural disaster, or even a mass layoff.
When you can’t predict the future societal or economic conditions, it’s only rational to stay prepared for adverse conditions. And if you wait until you need it, you’re already too late!
This is where the survival prepping for normal people comes in. You don’t need to be an ex-Army or Special Force Officer to be a prepper. A normal individual with a rational outlook toward life can prepare themselves and their families for unprecedented emergencies that are always one blink away.
There are millions of rational people across the globe who are taking preparedness seriously as they know it’s beyond anyone other than themselves to save them in our changing world.
Guide To Minimal Prepping For Normal People
Survival prepping is not a rich people phenomenon or an illogical situation. But thanks to the anti-preppers and extremists, it seems so.
Let us make this clear when you’re survival prepping you’re not essentially preparing yourself for a zombie apocalypse but any sudden emergency that disrupts your life.
Even something as simple and common as a fire extinguisher or an emergency first aid kit, and medical supplies count as survival prepping. It doesn’t have to be all about bunkers and bullets!
Yet people feel overwhelmed at the thought of survival planning. That’s why we have compiled a list of things necessary for survival prepping for normal people. So, check out our list of things you need to stay prepared for emergencies and live a long life.
Survival Prepping Checklist For Normal People
The best way to stay prepared for emergencies is by following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It states that human needs are divided into three tiers—basic needs, psychological needs, and self-fulfillment needs. As a prepper, you need everything to fulfill your basic needs first, which are physiological and safety aspects of human life.
Here’s what you need as a beginner for survival prepping.
Food
Food storage should be your priority when preparing a survival kit. It is the most important element you need to survive. Ideally, one must store about a month’s worth of food for the entire family.
You should also consider that there’s a bleak chance of having access to a power supply, so you need food with longer shelf life.
Following are some food storage options and their shelf life.
- Canned food (low acid): 2 to 5-year shelf life (per USDA)
- Canned food (high acid): 1.5 to 2-year shelf life (per USDA)
- Dehydrated food: Nearly 15-year shelf life
- Freeze-dried food: Approximately 30-year shelf life
Freeze-dried food is the winner among other options for long-term food storage.
Water
In an emergency, finding safe drinking water can be difficult as the water supply is depleted first. Your survival prepping is incomplete without water. Humans can not survive more than three days without water.
Though there are plenty of water sources available like lakes, streams, and streams. However, these are filled with bacteria and other harmful viruses that can make you sick.
Since you can not rely on naturally occurring water and electric purifying systems, you need to find alternative ways to turn dirty water into safe drinking water.
Note: Buying gallons of water is a waste of money and resources as it will either go bad or deplete soon.
Medical and Personal Hygiene
Once you have taken care of food and water needs, next is the medical and personal hygiene requirement of you and your family. Depending on how dire the situation is, adequate health care may not be fully available.
Therefore, it is recommended to have some kind of backup. In the case of medical and sanitary products, the minimum basics must be stored. These include:
- Band-Aids: Band-Aids are useful for minor cuts and injuries. They are an integral part of a prepper's medical care.
- Hydrogen Peroxide: You should also have some form of preservative, like hydrogen peroxide. This is a natural first aid cleaner, and can also be used as an antiseptic. It’s easy to find, and store and can be used to disinfect wounds & cuts.
- Bandages: Bandages are useful for cuts. If you want to be thorough (and you should), it's a good idea to keep bandages of varying sizes.
- Aloe vera: Aloe vera is probably one of the most beneficial plants. If you want to save aloe vera for your survival kit, you can grow it yourself. It is excellent for treating burns and cuts. Aloe vera is also very useful for sunburn.
- Sanitizer: Store some form of sanitizer for adequate hygiene. Since you don’t know what kind of emergency you may end up in, it’s good to assume that a sanitizer will come in handy. It is a quick way to clean your hands. It is also very effective in preventing the spread of infection and disease.
- Bug Repellent: Ensure to pack bug repellent with my other medical and hygiene products. It can keep the bad guys away. When everything is going wrong around you, you don't need insects as another problem to deal with.
Tools and Gears
With the right equipment, you can be prepared for any unexpected event. A survival kit is just as important as food, water, shelter, and medical supplies. There are some common pieces of gear that we recommend keeping with you at all times.
Here are a few must-have tools and gears for survival prepping for normal people.
- Ax
- Duct Tape
- Multitool
- Compass
- Flashlight
- Knife
- Flint
- Protective masks – preferably N95 masks
- Goggles
- Tarp or tent
- Hand saw
- Hatchet
- HAM Radios
- Some self-defense weapons
Power and Heat
Depending on the conditions, you will need different heating and electricity sources sorted out. This is another important point in your survival prepping checklist.
Power grids can go out, leaving no power, electricity, or heating. This can be devastating in winter. So how do you prepare for such a situation? By managing heat and power sources.
- Solar Power Kit: When the grid goes out, you can use the sun's solar energy to power your adobe. A solar panel kit can help with that. You can get free energy to power a car or shelter.
- Inverter: With an inverter, you can turn 12V DC into 120 AC. It can be used as a power source for refrigerators, etc.
- Fuel and Gasoline Cans: Fuel is essential to power your car and generator. Reserve fuel is something you should consider. Have some gas cans and a place to store your fuel ready.
- Solar Oven/Cooker: Just dig a little deeper, and you'll find some very high-quality solar cookers and ovens. When the grid goes out, it's wise to use as much renewable energy as possible. Thus, invest in a solar cooker and oven for cooking.
- Batteries: Batteries are great for all electronic devices. To keep communication options working, you need batteries. So, keep good quality batteries or rechargeable batteries in survival situations.
- Blankets and sleeping bags: Blankets and sleeping bags also connect to heating and power. Especially in winter, it can keep you warm at night. If you neglect to protect yourself from the cold on winter nights, you run the risk of hypothermia.
- Fire Extinguisher: This is not an absolute necessity, just for your safety. Having a fire extinguisher nearby will give you peace of mind and help you be prepared to fight a fire.
Survival Skills That You Should Acquire
Once you have some basic gear in your survival kit and food in your pantry, it's time to start learning important skills.
You can continue to do this as you build supplies beyond the basics and improve our emergency preparedness plans.
Improve your skills such as learning how to handle medical emergencies alone, find and clean water, use compasses and maps, clean wounds, sharpen blades with random things, and more.
You can also do annual or semi-annual readiness reviews. You can check your supplies, update outdated ones, swap winter and summer clothes in your travel bag, and verify your contact information.
Prepare Bug Out Bags
A Bug-Out Bag (BOB) is a portable emergency kit. It is curated with proper planning to contain everything you need to survive an emergency on the go.
The contents of your Bug Out Bag will vary according to your individual needs and should cover the base determined by your readiness goals and survival pyramid.
A BOB is designed to be portable, so it has to be lightweight and easy to carry. Many people keep a go bag in their car, near their front door, or at work, so they are always ready in case of an emergency.
Bonus Tips on Survival Preparation
Some bonus short tips that will come in handy in dire situations and throughout life.
- Be realistic. If you have a survival situation, chances are good that it won’t be a zombie apocalypse. So prepare realistically and use your resources wisely.
- Have people you can rely on so you won’t be paranoid or overwhelmed.
- Remember quality over quantity when buying items. Fewer high-quality items are better than many mediocre items.
- Say no to hoarding. Buy the gear you need. Don't hoard gear you don't need.
- Be adaptable. Don't plan to go outside or just stay in the shelter. Be prepared to do both if necessary.
- Make sure your bug-out bag is ready to go.
Bottom Line of Survival Prepping for Normal People
Survival prepping for normal people is necessary, but it’s different from survival for trained preppers. Pro preppers are trained on how to build such tools and make them work in their survivalist setup.
However, for normal people who are planning to be survival preppers, it is best to do some research about how to go about it. Learn as much as you can to be prepared for any disaster that may come.
In this survival prepping checklist, you’ll find the most important things you need to know about being prepared for emergencies. You can learn about being a survivalist and start the process by going step-by-step through the guide. Start with your basic needs and move upwards on the pyramid.
You can’t control world affairs and nature, but you can stay prepared for the worst situation.
Article Summary
Be it the unpredictability of the world or the hard-hitting realization that everyone is on their own in a time of crisis, normal people are taking an interest in becoming survivalists. Survival prepping for normal people is not rocket science. By storing the basic things and mastering some essential survival skills, you can create your survival plan for emergencies.