David Nash - Prepper Collection: 4 Books in One to Help You Prepare for Disaster

Since you are reading a book on self-reliance, I am assuming you want to know more about how to take care of yourself in disaster situations

I would like to suggest you take a moment and visit my website and YouTube channel for thousands of hours of free content related to basic preparedness concepts

There are quite a few schools of thought when it comes to personal disaster preparedness. The largest seems to be concerned with Stuff. I call this the government model. In this model, practitioners buy gear to solve problems. They seem to feel that money equals solutions.

While you do need to have some level of resources, I feel this is a mistake, because stuff can get stolen, damaged, or lost. If you rely solely on gear, then no matter how redundant you think you are, you still have a single point of failure.

I believe in a balanced approach. In this document, I will illustrate basic concepts for disaster preparedness as well as give you some solid tips and steps to help you begin to prepare.

There is very little in the way of gear acquisition written in the following pages. You will need to acquire some measure of food, water, and equipment if you are to become more disaster resilient, however, there are multitudes of resources on and off line to help you do just that.

What is this book is designed to do is to guide you through the first steps of personal preparedness, i.e., getting your mind right. I find that without a solid set of guideposts, it is easy to fall down the rabbit hole and concentrate only on buying stuff, or gaining training. Both of which are necessary, but neither will allow you the flexibility to adapt, improvise, or overcome.

Venn diagram of the relationship between skills, stuff, and training

I want you to be balanced, to have the right mix of things and skills with a strong mindset to be able to thrive in any situation.

I do not have all the answers, but I have spent decades figuring out the best solutions for my family. Everything I wrote in this eBook are things I have done, and it has worked well for me. Take it as a guide and a starting point, question everything, and find your own solutions.

I have taken the liberty of writing this as if we were sitting in your living room talking; it is informal because preparedness does not have to be stressful.

Please do not mistake my familiar terms for ignorance of the subject. I have a degree in Emergency Management, hold certification as Emergency Management Professional, and have over a decade in planning and teaching Emergency Management in state service as well as a lifetime of doing this with my family.

I t is no secret that I believe a proper mindset is vital to thriving in times of difficulty. In movies, Hollywood depicts typical prepper scenarios where there is no doubt that the characters are in disaster situations. In the real world however, it probably wont be so clear-cut. The popular survival concept of WROL (Without Rule of Law) is, in my opinion, a fantasy. The government has plans and procedures in provide continuity of government. What this means to you is that there may not be a clear cut signal that,the balloon is up and its time to change into camouflage and start carrying your AR-15s and AK-47s.

This makes mindset extremely valuable. Prepping should be integrated into your lifestyle. Preparing to surmount obstacles allows you to have a longer and better life, it is not supposed to take over your life. If being involved in prepping doesnt make your life easier, then you are doing it wrong.

Prepping is insurance for things I am either not able to fix, or cannot afford to fix on my own.

I live in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Without a doubt, that is the largest natural threat I have. In the event we have a large-scale quake, and the infrastructure is disrupted long term, I may not be able to go to the store to buy food. That bothered me, so I took steps to learn how to grow my own food. Each new skill I learned, and each packet of seed I put back lessened my worry. I still have the Earthquake as my largest natural threat, but I am not scared of it, because I have done all I can do to be prepared for it.

Another key to the mindset of prepping is to look at your resources from an all hazards approach. I was a prepper long before Y2K, and will be one long after 2012. I dont prep for single emergencies. I know that the seeds and food I have stored in the event of a catastrophic earthquake would also work if I lost my job, or got hurt working on some crazy project. Try to build capability and skills, rather than just work on specific threats.

Be flexible, during the Great Irish Potato Famine, only the potatoes were affected by blight, field corn, barley and oats were not. However, people starved to death while having barns full of alternative foods because they could not bring themselves to eat horse food. I have made it a habit to look for alternative uses for products, not because it is efficient or cost effective to use things outside of their designed uses, but because it incubates mental flexibility. Historically, the ones that thrive in hard times are the quickest to adapt. - Which means - BE FLEXIBLE.

Lastly, cultivate a mindset that incorporates a tiered approach to skill and gear acquisition. All to often, I see people that have top of the line (and expensive) equipment in one area, but nothing in other essential areas. A $6000 dollar sniper rifle and 10,000 rounds wont do you any good if you freeze to death because your electric furnace doesnt work. Make sure to be balanced. Get some food, the ability to make shelter, purify water, and defend yourself. Then get more food, and better equipment. Keep this up, and soon you will have that fancy rifle, but you will be able to stay comfortable and well fed also...

The very first step is to take a moment and think about why you are interested in prepping and what you would do to protect what you love.

P repping is a lifestyle, and nothing changes lifestyle more than marriage. If you are married, or have people in your household that depend on you, then you must communicate with them.

If you do not, then you will regret it. I find that the more my wife understands about what I am doing and WHY I do it, the more she supports the direction I am leading the family in.