Considerations For Prep Planning
I prepare less by type of disaster than I do by basic human needs. The basic needs are pretty much the same, no matter what the disaster. As I meet my goals for the basics I do specific things for specific disasters. There really are not that many individual elements that are not appropriate for several sets of circumstances. My ultimate goal is to be as self-sufficient for as long of a period as it is practical to be in modern society.
This was one of the snowed-in trains during the great planes winter of 1880-1881 made famous in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical children’s book The Long Winter.
This is a list of the things I consider when I am making preps, in alphabetical order. The dangers in some of them relate directly to peoples’ belief in them, as much as the actual event. Some things do not have to happen to be a danger. The mere belief can be enough to set people on a destructive path.
(No. I am not ready for all of them yet. And yes, some of them simply call for
having your affairs in order.)
1) A New Evil charismatic leader (Hitler /Stalin /Mao style)
2) A New Messiah
3) A new Persian Empire
4) Abolishment /unconstitutional rewrite of the US constitution
5) Active shooter at public venue /business
6) Active shooter at school /college campus
7) Addictive Entertainment
8) Advanced Technology disaster
9) Agenda 21
10) Airplane crash
11) Anarchy
12) Antibiotic resistant bacteria
13) Armageddon
14) Atmospheric River storm /severe flooding
15) Automotive accident
16) Avalanche
17) Aztlan /Reconquista Uprising
18) Bank closure /failure /mandated bank holiday
19) Bath Salt drug zombies
20) Becoming a refugee
21) Becoming lost in the megalopolis
22) Becoming lost in the wilderness
23) Bee Colony Collapse Disorder (fungi /pesticide /parasites) crop pollination failures
24) Biblical flood
25) Biblical plagues
26) Biological war /attack
27) Black hole appearance
28) Blackout
29) Blizzard
30) Boat wreck /ship wreck
31) Brownout
32) Carrington Event /Massive solar flare
33) Celestial object impact /near miss
34) Central US major tectonic /volcanic activity
35) Chemical war /attack
36) Civil war
37) Civilian disarmament
38) Cloning of dangerous plants /animals
39) Cloning of humans
40) Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)
41) Communication restrictions
42) Corporate /industrial flight from the US
43) Crime wave
44) Criminal Coup of the government
45) Crop failures
46) Dam failure /collapse
47) Dangerous wildlife confrontation
48) Dark matter /anti-matter incident
49) Declining drinking water aquifer levels
50) Destruction /loss of the middle class
51) DHS take over
52) Draconian police powers /actions
53) Drinking water aquifer contamination /poisoning
54) Drought
55) Dust bowl
56) Earth Core Cooling
57) Earth orbit shift
58) Earthquake
59) Eco-system collapse
60) Electro Magnetic Pulse attack (EMP attack)
61) Electro Magnetic Pulse from coronal mass ejection or other solar activity
62) Encroachment of drinking water aquifers by seawater
63) Environmental disaster
64) Epidemic
65) Ethnic war
66) Evidence of extraterrestrials
67) Exodus of important skill holders from the US
68) Exodus of the wealthy /rich from the US
69) Extraterrestrial biological contamination
70) Federal police force w /broad powers circumventing civilian protections
71) Fire storm
72) Flash mob violence /criminal event
73) Flash flood
74) Food shortages /price increases
75) Forest fire /wild fire
76) Fuel shortages /price increases
77) Fungal infections of food staples crops
78) Gamma ray burst from neutron star collision
79) Global cooling /Ice Age
80) Global nuclear war
81) Global warming
82) Gold /PM recall
83) Gold /PM restrictions
84) Government Tyranny
85) Grand Alignment induced tectonic activity
86) Great Lakes drainage event (to the Ohio River due to tectonic activity)
87) Ground surface tilt /rise /subsidence from tectonics /magma movement
88) Gulf Stream shutdown /subsidence
89) Hail
90) Hazmat incident
91) Heat wave
92) Home gardening restrictions
93) Home invasion
94) Hostage situation
95) Hostile extraterrestrials
96) House /apartment /building fire
97) Hurricane
98) Hypercane
99) Ice Storm
100) Infrastructure collapse /failures
101) Invasion of the US
102) Invasive plant and animal species
103) Kidnapped
104) Lahar
105) Landslide /mudslide
106) Large scale JIT delivery failures
107) Limited nuclear war /attack
108) Limnic eruption
109) Local major accident (aircraft /auto /rail /building)
110) Local major crime
111) Local /regional gun grab
112) Lockdown at school /college campus
113) Lockdown at work /business
114) Loss of job
115) Magnetic pole shift
116) Major conventional war
117) Major economic depression
118) Major nuclear power plant incident
119) Major Tax Rate increases
120) Martial Law
121) Massive tectonic activity
122) Massive /rapid increase in the poverty level /numbers
123) Maunder Minimum low sunspot cycle triggered ice age
124) Medical emergency
125) Mega Quake (New Madrid seismic zone, Cascadia subduction zone)
126) Mega Tsunami (La Palma, West Antarctic Ice Sheet)
127) Mega Volcano (Yellowstone Caldera)
128) Methane Hydrate release
129) Mississippi River bed change
130) National bankruptcy /default
131) Nationwide /global economic breakdown
132) Nemesis induced Oort Cloud meteorite rain
133) New colonial activity (France /Spain /Portugal /Italy /Germany /Japan /China/Russia /Great Britain /Brazil /Venezuela)
134) New, more restrictive assault weapons ban
135) New World Order (NWO)
136) Out of control bio-genetics /bio-technology
137) Out of control Nano-technology /robotics
138) Overpopulation
139) Ozone layer depletion
140) Pandemic /Syndemic pandemic
141) Peaceful extraterrestrials
142) Peak oil
143) Personal financial breakdown
144) Personal /family catastrophic illness
145) Personal impact crimes
146) Pestilence
147) Political unrest /backlash
148) Pyroclastic flow
149) Racial war
150) Rainforest deforestation
151) Rampant inflation
152) Rapid Population Decline
153) Refugees
154) Regional climate change
155) Released /escaped dangerous zoo /circus animals
156) Religious war
157) Resource war
158) Rogue Military Activity
159) Rotational pole shift
160) Runaway GM food plant failure/cross contamination
161) Safe deposit box (non-bank) restrictions/closures
162) Sand/dust storms/Haboob
163) Sea level drop
164) Sea level rise
165) Second coming
166) Seceding of one or more states from the US
167) Sentient computer(s) take over
168) Severe Lightning
169) Sheriffs lose arrest rights/authority
170) Shipwrecked/marooned
171) Shortages of goods and services for a variety of reasons
172) Sinkholes
173) Slow rise flood
174) Social break down
175) Solar radiation increase/decrease
176) State bankruptcy/default
177) Strikes/boycotts/embargoes/price controls
178) Sub-atomic particle research accident
179) Sudden regional major population shift
180) Super-storm
181) Tailings pond dam failure/collapse
182) Terrorism of all types
183) The Anti-Christ
184) Tornado
185) Total gun ban/confiscation
186) Train wreck
187) Travel restrictions
188) Tsunami
189) UN Small Arms Treaty
190) UN/One World Government
191) US civilian coup
192) US military coup
193) US revolution
194) Utilities failures
195) Vehicle breakdown /stranded
196) Volcano
197) Water shortages
198) Water system contamination /poisoning
199) Wealth redistribution (by currency exchange /tax rates)
200) Weapons restrictions
201) Weather Modification attack
202) Widespread civil unrest /riots
203) Wild animal rampage
204) World Population dramatic increase
205) Zombies /vampires /werewolves /other supernatural dangers (Just kidding!
Sort of. The mere belief in can be/cause a disaster.)
Jerry D Young
About the author: Jerry D Young is an Author, Prepper, Consultant, Philosopher who resides in Nevada. He has written over 100 books, many of which are available at this link:
“I have been a prepper for more than 50 years. I believe that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have had it right for decades…”Be Prepared.” Unfortunately, we, as a country seem to have gotten away from that philosophy. There has been a disconnect from the “Old Ways so profound, some people don’t really understand where their food comes from.
That’s not a problem until the “System” fails. Be it from a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood or even a closed road or train route. The system is designed to get JUST what is needed to the stores JUST when it’s needed. So if the “System” fails, then the things we need…the things we believe will be there aren’t. That’s when being a prepper makes sense. Being able to be self-sufficient for the the time needed until the “System” recovers…regardless of how long that takes.
That’s why so many of my books incorporate the theme of “Being prepared.” Hope you enjoy them!”
3B, I normally like your articles and find them helpful. But I just wasted five minutes of my prepping time reading this article that I will never get back!!
Thank you for your reply, sorry you didn’t care for the article, it’s a bit different than our usual fare, but we shared it because we like to encourage “outside the box” thinking.
To me, this list is really a “what if” kind of a thing for my own mental exercises… Spice and I do a lot of visualization and thought excercises as a part of our prepping, as we talk about here (Sorry, not sure I can do a hyperlink in the comments, I’m going to try though).
I’ve already taken a few things off of the above list and run them through the mental mill to see what I would do, what preps would be needed, etc.
https://beansbulletsbandagesandyou.com/2017/12/15/planning-shtf-visualization-as-a-prepping-tool/
Hi Salty,
I can see a small amount of validity in the list and also know this isn’t your normal type post. Living in the same geographical area (i bet within 100miles) you are one of several Missouri prepper sites I follow.
God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Big Boy in MO
Good to know we are neighbors. I was in COMO today getting my cast off (Yes!), gotta love that weather forcast which was clear… by the time we hit Moberly on 63 there were cars sliding all over the place… enjoy this lovely Missouri fall weather, brudda!
We live in the State Fair City, My Sis lives in JCMO and Mom lives on our family property 40 miles east of JC, south of the river. Glad the ankle is cast free, take it easy on it for a few weeks, it will be sore and watch the ICE!!
Watching the ice like a hawk, sir! For us location wise, think Highway 36 and you won’t go too far wrong.
Interesting “list” for sure, rather lengthy, maybe could have said simply “Life” happens.
With that said, I like the word “Lifestyle”, for if one is living a lifestyle conducive to ‘preparing/surviving/so-on’ than everything in the ‘list’ is covered. Sure outlasting an EMP would involve a little more than a broken ankle (nice to have that cast off I bet).
Yet if one pushes their envelope to the point of living (if needed) to the 1700 than I’m betting ya got it covered. Admittedly 99.99% of people do NOT want to live like that constantly (nor do i), BUT, if one has that ability and knowledge, than yar set regardless how long and what’s on the “list”.
What’s interesting (and this is NOT an attack on Jerry) is he states he has been a “Prepper” for 50 years, considering the word Prepper is a terminology that has popped up recently, yet the mindset is as old as life itself.
One simply may think the ‘Article’ was contributed for selling books, Harsh I know, but I’m looking for the guidance/education normally in your published articles.
Thank you for your comments.
To your last point I can say it is ABSOLUTELY not that, I solicited this from Jerry and got his permission to use this and some other of his unpublished materials. Any support of his work comes from ME, not him. He’s a well known guy and has interesting things to say, so I asked him for permission to share some things in a way where people would see them.
The promotional stuff I took off of his website, but it was me who did it, not Jerry. I just wanted that to be clear.
SALTY
Thanks for the clarification.
Tis just an unusual article…. Talk about a list huh 🙂 🙂
PS; you do run an excellent Site, please keep up the good work.
I am rather surprised at some of the comments. Jerry is extremely well known in Prepper circles for his published stories, and most of us who appreciate him as an author are aware of his lists, which are thorough, in some cases overwhelming. The way I use his lists is to use them as a starting point and whittle them down, categorize them, do what you wish to make them useful for yourself, with Jerry having already done the hard part. Face it, if you start with his list you don’t have to worry about what he missed! 🙂