The Prepper Estate Plan: One of the awkward moments in every Prepper fiction book is the moment when the protagonist acquires the wherewithal to buy all the “stuff” he needs. In some cases, the book will simply start with all of the shopping done, or the hero is filthy rich. The hero owns everything from guns, to food, to solar panels or has plenty of money to acquire them. In one book I read the hero wins the lottery. I’m supposed to buy lottery tickets as preps? I don’t think so.
A novel experience
The only novels I have read that seem to be remotely realistic involve multiple generations, acquiring the necessary implements and skills needed to survive over generations, not in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, I am the first generation in my family to think about prepping in a modern sense, so my grandchildren will be the likely beneficiaries of my prepping.
This is one of the reasons I have limited my goals to something achievable, 20 people surviving one year. Another goal is to give each of my children a head start on the prepping challenge in hopes they will take it further. I am going to start the multi-generational process.
If you have been following my posts so far, you may have wondered “What happens to all the stuff if Grandpa Paranoid passes away before TEOTWAWKI?” That is a distinct possibility. In fact, I’d consider it a win! 😊 I’m a grandfather and not getting any younger. I have a Prepper Estate Plan.
A Prepper Estate Plan
The idea of passing away at a very old age, having never experienced TEOTWAWKI would mean all my prepping was for naught in my lifetime. However, it is my intention that my children and grandchildren survive whatever Murphy dishes up, and get to enjoy as long a life as I hope to have had. I’ve tried to teach them to be self-reliant, and they are aware that I believe prepping is a good idea.
As a result, I have prepared an estate plan. While each of us has our own family situations, one of my goals has been to make sure each of my children has certain key preps. Some preps are more expensive than others. Other preps take up more space. Each category of prep that gets covered, makes my children and their families safer.
Consumable Items:
Long term storage food takes up space (1200 cu. ft. including dog food) and also needs to be rotated, albeit the pace of turnover can be relatively slow if one also maintains a deep pantry. For food, my plan is that the existing stocks be divided. Each child can then rotate some, and start building a larger stock for themselves. I also intend for each of them to have a food plan.
The same sort of thinking will apply to all consumable items in my estate plan, e.g. hygiene, medical supplies, etc. Most of these do not present the storage problem of food, or dog food, or toilet paper. 😊 However, they are easy to just divvy up, giving the recipient a head start.
Durable Items:
When I started prepping, I did not own a single firearm. I have discovered they aren’t cheap, albeit they are durable. Ammo is also expensive, more expensive than the firearms, if you “stack it deep”. Both are hard to acquire here in the People’s Republic of New Jersey, and I am convinced that firearms and ammunition will become impossible to acquire at some point in the future, especially if you are thinking in terms of multiple generations.
Today I obviously have firearms. Almost none of them would be considered “collectible” or valuable. These firearms are tools for survival. Since I am trying to provide for each child or grandchild, I am generally not content with a single copy of anything. This isn’t a “one is none” thought. This is if I am leaving a used Glock to child A, then I want a used Glock for child B, and another for child C. Forget Wilson Combat. 😊 Back when Mosins were available, I seriously considered purchasing a crate for the simple reason they were cheap, and you could buy them by the crate. 😊 Unfortunately, the Mosins dried up before I could act on that idea. ☹
I hope to do better than this!
Firearms:
Also, in observing what has happened with firearms in earlier generations of my family, it has been first born son gets all the firearms, and the daughter gets an old sewing machine and marries a liberal. I have a female cousin who was spouting about banning semi-automatic firearms, so I told her I would be happy to take her deceased father’s service 1911 off her hands. (He only had daughters.) I want to make sure every child has some firearms, including younger siblings and daughters, and that their attitudes are screwed on straight. BTW: That offer achieved its intended goal, which was to shut her up. 😊
Now consider where each of my children would be without my estate plan. Imagine I pass away and then one decides they need an AR, a .22 rifle, a shot gun, and a handgun. They need ammo. They need firearms for their spouses. We are talking about thousands of dollars of expense, for each child, assuming these items are obtainable at all.
The Mutual Assistance Group
Instead, I plan firearms for a Mutal Assistance Group (MAG), and to ensure that my children can protect themselves, regardless of future firearms legislation. When my estate passes to them, they will have firearms, and can start their own MAGs with a head start on this expense. If they already have acquired some firearms, then any inheritance from me will put them even further along.
However, firearms are much less of a problem than vehicles. (See the BOV Saga in my earlier posts.) When do you think the car manufacturers are going to produce EMP resistant vehicles again? ☹ My guess is long after the EMP, if then. If you want one, consider acquiring the project soon. If you want your children to have one, I hope you already have one in the shop as I do. Also consider bicycles, suggested by Salty and Spice. When thinking of clearing all the unused bicycles out of the garage, don’t. They are preps.
Books, tools, and other useful items will all last longer than I will.
The Estate Plan will indicate who gets what, and what I want them to do with their heirlooms.
I may not be able to pass on a farm, like some of those novels suggest, but every prep related item I own will help my children and grandchildren long after I am gone, and if they continue the tradition, the next generation will be even better prepared. 😊
The power dynamics of modern society are such that female humans benefit even more from owning a firearm than male ones. Females are more likely to be targeted for unwanted attention, and less likely to be able to physically overpower an adversary with brute strength. I think that only a woman who knows she has the option of living safely on her own is truly free to choose her personal relationships — too many people stay in unhealthy circumstances out of fear that they would be even less safe if they left. Firearms and proper training are one easy route to being able to defend one’s own home and feel safe there.
Firearms and food are great in their place, but the most essential thing that you can pass on to your descendants is knowledge. Tell them stories, write the stories down for them to read to the generations born after you die, and take them outdoors to teach them the survival skills that they can then teach to their own children.
Fortunately my children seem to have entered positive relationships, but I agree with your points nonetheless. As for writing stories for my descendants, I’m doing that right here. 🙂 If you liked what I had to say here, you might want to go back and read some of my earlier posts if you haven’t already. I also have a few more things to post before I hit writer’s block. 🙂
Good article, PP
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback.