Arthur T. Bradley - Prepper’s Instruction Manual: 50 Steps to Prepare for any Disaster

Preppers Instruction Manual

50 Steps to Prepare for any Disaster

Author: Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D.

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Website: http://disasterpreparer.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author.

Photos and illustrations used throughout the book are privately owned, public domain, or licensed under the Creative Commons Attributions-Share Alike or GNU Free Documentation License, except where credits are otherwise noted.

Special thanks are extended to Marites Bautista for designing the layout, and Bryan Macabanti and Ronald Randy Bate for illustrations.

Copyright 2012 by Arthur T. Bradley

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012911656

ISBN 10: 1477663398
ISBN 13: 978-1477663394
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62112-937-0

Disclaimer: This book is intended to offer general guidance relating to disaster preparedness. It is sold with the understanding that every effort was made to provide the most current and accurate information. However, errors and omissions are still possible. Any use or misuse of the information contained herein are solely the responsibility of the user, and the author and publisher make no warrantees or claims as to the truth or validity of the information. The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this book. Furthermore, this book is not intended to give professional dietary, financial, legal, or medical advice.

To my wife, Lalia, for always
making me feel ten feet tall

The world is a dangerous place. Hardly a day passes that disasters dont top the news... earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, radiation leaks, pandemics, terrorism, and solar storms to name just a few. We have become dependent on imperfect life-supporting technologies, and live in societies frequented by violence on a planet that is determined to remind us of our fragility. Mankinds existence is tenuous indeed.

Our nation is well equipped to handle most emergencies, ensuring that society continues on, but this does not suggest that families wont be dislocated, injured, or killed by the events. It is the responsibility of the head of every household to take basic preparatory steps to safeguard their loved ones. The unfortunate reality is that most Americans are terribly underprepared, barely able to sustain themselves for more than a few days without the nations key infrastructures, such as food delivery, water service, electrical power, banking services, and government.

Aftermath in Japan of 2011 tsunami (US Navy photo)

Most people recognize the need for disaster preparedness but may not be entirely clear about how to put into place an effective plan. How much food should be stored? What can be done to keep the lights on when power fails? How can loved ones be protected from violent predators? What national resources are available during and after a disaster? These questions, and many others, are answered in this instruction manual. It is organized as a collection of fifty actionable steps that at first glance might seem a bit haphazard, but in reality have been carefully collected to form an effective disaster preparedness strategy that addresses all of an individuals or familys fundamental needs. The steps are not organized in any particular order of importance, with the exception of the first step, Assess the Threats , which is where disaster preparedness should begin.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A PREPPER?

With the recent airing of a popular show on National Geographic, the term prepper has become quite the craze. Unfortunately, for many, it has also become synonymous with people who dedicate much of their lives to doomsday preparedness. While it is true that some preppers focus their efforts on preparing for events that might result in the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI), many others simply adopt modest steps to reduce their dependency on our fragile national infrastructures.

Regardless of the extremes they might or might not go to, preppers are simply people who feel a responsibility to prepare for lifes unexpected challenges. To what extent these preparations are taken is open for every individual to decide. Perhaps for some, it means stocking an underground bunker with ammo and cases of SPAM in case Armageddon should fall upon us. For others, it means simply filling the cupboards with a few extra cans of soup to help ride out a particularly prolonged winter storm. It is up to every individual to find his or her own way.

Its easy to argue that everyone should maintain at least a basic level of readiness. Each year, the news is filled with reports of people who suffer and die as a result of being unpreparedwhether it is a family that becomes stranded on some frozen mountain pass for a month, or inhabitants of a city that find themselves inundated with flood waters. Our need for disaster preparedness is as real as our need for food and water. The world will challenge you. The only question is will you be ready.

Prepping is about being ready for what if scenarios

BECOME A STOCK-GYV-ALIST

In the wake of a major disaster, who would you rather be:

The Stockpiler someone with a wide assortment of supplies but very little knowledge of how to actually do anything,

The MacGyver someone who can jury rig anything with duct tape, a pencil, and a pack of chewing gum, or

The Survivalist someone who can find dinner in an old stump and make a heater using toilet paper and a rusty coffee can?

Become a Stock-Gyv-alist

Clearly there are advantages to each type of person. The Stockpiler would be the best prepared for situations in which goods were in short supply but might have difficulty adapting if things went wrong, such as if the generator stopped working or the roof started leaking. The MacGyver could use all kinds of things at his disposal to creatively solve problems, but he would still need to constantly forage for food and clean water. Finally, the Survivalist could perhaps eat from garbage cans and take shelter in abandoned cars for a period of time, but such an existence would prove difficult and dangerous.

The greatest benefit can be had by combining the traits of all three and becoming a true Stock-Gyv-alist. A Stock-Gyv-alist is someone who has carefully stockpiled critical supplies (e.g., food, water, batteries, medicine, fuel), taken the time to learn how things work, and more important how to make them work, and developed the mindset necessary to survive nearly any encounter. This is who you want to become.