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Planning properly for disasters and making sure you have everything you need to get through them can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. So what are the most common mistakes preppers make and how to avoid them? This is something we’ll look inside in this post.
When you begin your prepping journey, you don’t know where to start, what to focus on, and the best way to gather everything you need. But, as a prepper, you have to ensure you are ready to face any crisis that comes so you can get through it without you or your loved ones getting hurt.
It is quite normal to make mistakes while preparing for catastrophic events but some of them can cost you dearly once disasters come.
So, let’s talk about common mistakes preppers make and the best ways to avoid them alltogether.
Here’s a short list of the most common mistakes preppers make, especially when they’re beginning to prepare.
Let’s just touch each of these points briefly. We will add more detailed descriptions and steps in separate posts.
In general, this means failing to have a plan at all or possibly not planning enough and is probably one of the most common mistakes preppers make. You might be focusing too much on stocking essential supplies, while neglecting the importance of having a plan you can act on.
It is very important to know what to do when a specific situation takes place, and it’s of course important for all members of your party to be aware of any needed steps.
For example, there are usually completely different steps needed for situations so different as a flood and a general medical crisis. If you’re not aware of the right steps, or if you’ve stockpiled the wrong supplies, you and your whole party (family or group) might be in danger of doing the wrong things. This may put you all in danger, in spite of taking action.
Focusing on one specific event and neglecting all the rest is also among common mistakes preppers make and that you need to avoid.
A lot of preppers concentrate on disasters that are highly likely to occur in their region and ignore the rest. This is somewhat understandable, because certain situations are just more likely to occur. However, that’s one thing that makes it difficult to get through uncertain times for a simple reason.
You simply don’t know the type of disasters that will hit your area and their overall effects on your livelihood. Preparing for one event only might just not be good enough when time comes. You simply have to create an emergency plan that helps you deal with every disaster that comes, even if some are much more likely than the others.
First thing you have to do is to identify the most common disasters that may happen in your area and learn more about the impact they might have on the economy, businesses, finances, health, and your relationships. Outline the best ways to get through them and build an emergency kit that will ensure survival. For example, a medical kit, food supplies, self-defense tools, alternative power sources, and clean water sources.
Then, pay attention to other possible events also that may be less likely in your area. Find the common factors that you can use, and add specific things you might need in those events to your bug-out bag.
This way, you’ll be much more prepared to all possible events. In the end, there’s always possibility that something happen that noone will anticipate, like a meteor hit or something similar. In such case, you’ll be much better prepared if you’re playing wide and not being prepared for just one possible event.
Most disasters lead to injuries and health complications. Even during normal times, these things can happen every day.
For instance, a loved one may panic and lose consciousness. Or they may fall and sustain a knee injury while trying to escape, or find it difficult to take care of someone with a chronic illness during a crisis situation.
The only way to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you is to learn first-aid. You have to master basic skills and know what to do in emergencies. Make sure members of your family or group learn them too, because it may save your life one day.
Having the wrong equipment in your emergency kit or bug-out bag can make it difficult or even impossible for you to survive disasters. It is sometimes hard to compose the list of everything needed, and this is one of the most common mistakes preppers make while preparing.
Apart from wasting money on things that you will not need or use, even more important is that you won’t be able to cope with the events because you don’t have the right tools to get through.
Make sure you buy the right equipment to avoid headaches later on. Here are some tips about the first step, choosing the right bug-out bag for your needs.
Your ability to survive uncertain times, especially when you have to run, strongly depends on your health and overall physical condition. If you don’t take care of yourself it might be very difficult to get through.
Think about the food you need, the nutrients your body will require, as well as physical condition. You may need to climb hills or trees to survive, or swim over longer distances, and without being properly prepared physically you might not be able to do it. And failing to be able to flee can mean the difference between surviving the event or loosing the battle.
This is probably by far the most of all the common mistakes preppers make, especially first-time preppers.
You are only concerned about stockpiling food and neglect water and alternative power sources.
Food is very important, of course. But it’s not the only thing you’ll need for sure.
Remember that you can never exactly predict the impact certain disasters will have on your life. You don’t know the effects on the environment, your work-life, businesses, and your health. And having only food available definitely only solves a part of your problem, while surviving the possible events requires additional resources. If you don’t have them, well…
Assuming you don’t need to defend yourself or your home during emergencies is a big mistake. This is because anything is possible during catastrophic events, and in most there will be those who lost everything – or at least too much – and turn to aggression instead.
You just have to protect your home from any possible attacks. You have to protect yourself from burglaries, thieves, and even animals.
Always remember to prioritise home security and make sure your house is safe from possible attacks. Buy a reliable home security system and use it to defend your home.
Being a prepper can be exciting, because there’s so much going on, you come to meet new people, you learn things and so on. This is especially true if you are a beginner. You can easily get excited about building your prepper pantry, creating a water storage supply, and ensuring you are ready for any kind of emergency. That is why you’ll feel like telling everyone you know that you are a prepper, it just feels well, doesn’t it?
That’s actually one mistake you don’t want to make, simply because you don’t know who will turn on you once a crisis comes. It’s much better to keep this to yourself and only let those who you’re planning to take with you know about it. Tell them not to brag as well, since the information can spread very fast.
In case of catastrophic events, it is likely all sorts of news will circle everywhere. They will be mixed, and there’s nothing worse for your self confidence than not knowing what to do and expect. Next thing you know, panic takes place.
Panicking is one thing that causes you to buy the wrong supplies and fail to act effectively during emergencies. We’re all prone to exaggerate, especially when something new or unexpected happens, like natural disasters, inflation, and even civil unrest.
Avoid listening to fake news and don’t let yourself panic. Only follow trusted news sources so you don’t get overwhelmed with fear and remain actionable.
Talking about the most common mistakes preppers make, do you remember we talked about the need for cash reserves in various catastrophic events?
It will very likely that in catastrophic events, such as natural disasters or even political crisis, your cash sources will be off. Banks will close, ATMs will be empty, and you will have absolutely no means of getting your saved cash out.
You may be certain that in such events the prices of everything needed (like food, water and medical supplies) will go through the roof. If you remain without a proper cash reserve, chances are you won’t be able to afford certain things, leading to additional crisis, possibly even death if you get sick.
So, plan a substantial cash reserve that is easily accessible in critical times and will enable you to survive at least the initial days of crisis.
When you decide you want to be a prepper, no matter the level, there’s a real danger you’ll fall for some common mistakes preppers make all the time. These include non-adequate planning, wrong stockpiling steps, even bragging about your activities.
In order to be as ready as possible, think about the necessary steps. They’re not always as straightforward as they might seem, and some additional thinking may get you out of trouble in case you’re forced to run for your life. This post is ment to be only a short information on possible common mistakes preppers make and ones I’m pretty sure you’re prone to make once in the process.
I will add more information about each and every of the most common mistakes preppers make in the following days and add links to this post. You’re welcome to check often so you don’t miss anything.
Good luck!