11 Ways to Prepare Your Family for Survival

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When I meet someone for the first time and am asked “What is your blog about”, I always answer “Family Preparedness”.  This does two things.  First, if they are already prepper-centric, they will get it and start asking questions.  Second, if they don’t have a clue, they will look at me glassy-eyed and again, will start asking questions.

Do you get the main theme here?  Getting someone to ask questions about preparedness is the first step in helping someone embrace the preparedness lifestyle.  The next step is coming up with the answers.

If you are long on questions but short on answers, help is on its way.

Prepare Your Family for Survival by Linda Loosli

For the past year, my friend, Linda Loosli at Food Storage Moms, has been working night and day on a major opus:  Prepare Your Family for Survival.  I have been following her progress in our weekly chats and was lucky enough to learn of the details early on.  I knew in my heart that this was going to be huge and it is.

Let me tell you why.

Linda, and her husband, Mark, live the preparedness lifestyle and have for years and years.  What she teaches in her community, writes about on her website, and describes in her book are facts and not supposition. She writes from first-hand experience and from knowing what works and what will fail.  When I say Prepare Your Family for Survival is an opus, it is because of that first hand knowledge.

Linda knows this material because she lives it, day in and day out, month after month, year after year.

Prepare Your Family for Survival is the consummate handbook of preparedness for folks like you and me who want to be ready.  Folks like you and me that want to be ready even if nothing happens.  For us, preparedness and prepping is our safety net that allows us to sleep at night knowing that we can take care of ourselves no matter what.

That is what this book is about.  Being ready.

11 Ways to Prepare Your Family for Survival

The best way to introduce you to Linda’s book is start out with a list of 11 ways to prepare your family for survival.

1.  Know how to purify, filter, and store water

2.  Keep your food storage simple, by storing simple foods, packaged for the long term

3.  Know how to cook food using alternative cooking devices and fuel

4.  Get a bead on emergency lighting and have lots of backups

5.  Be familiar with basic first aid procedures and stock a robust first aid kit with supplies that you know how to use

6.  Practice good hygiene both for yourself and your home

7.  Develop methods for doing laundry when water is scarce and the grid is down

8.  Be part of a larger, like-minded community

9.  Hope you will not need it but have a fully stocked Bug Out Bag

10.  Gather essential documents (and precious photos) then make copies for safekeeping

11.  Assess your risks then prepared an evacuation plan; know when it will be time to leave and be ready to go both physically and mentally

Although this list is in my words, it aptly describes each of the chapters in the book.  The book itself, of course, goes into a great amount of detail on each topic.  There are lots of useful checklists and call-outs highlighted in yellow so you can recognize the important stuff right off the bat.  In addition, for most topics there are multiple ways of doing something with pros, cons, and recommendations for helping you make the right choices given your circumstances.

Each chapter is organized logically and is easy to follow.  The style is friend to friend and you almost get a sense that Linda is talking to you directly.  Now that I think about it, perhaps she is.

Really Cool Stuff You Need to Know

Prepare Your Family for Survival is chock full of fantastic illustrations.  What no one knows is that the source of many of these drawings are photographs of Linda’s own prepping supplies and survival gear. I know, because I saw them during my recent visit to her lovely home in Utah.

Linda and Gaye – Two Common Sense Prepper Gals

I know something else.  Linda wrote this book to teach the world about preparedness.  She does not want anyone to suffer following a disaster or disruptive event and so, even after writing this book, she continues to go out into her community to teach preparedness to anyone that will listen.

The last thing I know is that like me, Linda’s goal is to help you prepare to meet your unique needs.  She is not going to tell you to purchase 1,000 pounds of wheat for each person in your household if you don’t have a clue regarding what to do with it (although her fantastic bread recipe is in the book).  Nor is she going to cite definitely what you need to fill your pantry so you have food for a year.

Instead, she takes a common sense approach giving you lists to use as a basic guideline so you can pick and choose what works for you. If this sounds familiar, it is.  I take the same approach.

The Final Word

Quite coincidentally, in the past few weeks, I have been asked numerous times for my recommendation of one or two must-have books for the preparedness library.  Today I will give you my answer.

One is Prepare Your Family for Survival by Linda Loosli and the other is The Survival Medicine Handbook by Joe and Amy Alton.  Linda’s book will help you get ready and the Alton’s book will give you tools and strategies for coping with medical emergencies. Although these two books serve very different purposes, they each with help you face a disruptive event head on.

In closing, let me remind you that when it comes to preparedness, one size does not fit all.  We all have unique needs and Prepare Your Family for Survival will guide you based upon those needs.  It is all up to you.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

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Spotlight:  Prepare Your Family for Survival: How to Be Ready for Any Emergency or Disaster Situation

In Prepare Your Family for Survival,  learn the basics of water and food storage – where to start and what to work toward for serious preparation – as well as 72-hour kits and evacuation plans. This book includes numerous helpful guides to follow not only before an emergency, but during an emergency as well.

Written by my friend, Linda Loosli, from Food Storage Moms,  I recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a well-written, common sense oriented approach to preparedness.

Below you will find some of my own, favorite preparedness items.

The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way: This book teaches how to deal with all the likely medical issues you will face in a disaster situation, including strategies to keep your family healthy even in the worse scenarios. It covers skills such as performing a physical exam, transporting the injured patient, and even how to suture a wound. This medical reference belongs in every survival library.

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter:  The LifeStraw is considered the most advanced, compact, ultra light personal water filter available. It contains no chemicals or iodinated resin, no batteries and no moving parts to break or wear out. It weighs only 2 oz.  making it perfect for the prepper. For more information, see my LifeStraw review.  Also available here.

RAVPower 15W Solar Charger with Dual USB Ports: This compact, three panel, solar charger will charge two devices at once, including tablets, smartphones, Kindles, and even AA/AAA battery chargers.  For more information, read: Gear Review: RAVPower 15W Solar Charger with Dual USB Ports.

Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets (Pack of 10): I do believe in helping my neighbors in the community so a supply of these will be handy to hand out to those in need. You will be surprised at how warm these will keep you. Be sure to test one out in advance so that you have the confidence to trust the blanket in an emergency.

No Rinse Cleansing & Deodorizing Bathing Wipes:  One wipe is more than enough for a complete “bath”.  These are a good backup when traditional showers are not available such as the week or weeks following a disaster.  Also good for the sick room as well as camping, boating, hiking and such.  Here is my review.

Sabre Compact Pepper Spray with Quick Release Key Ring: The portability of this pepper spray adds to its appeal since it can be easily carried on a key ring or in a handbag or backpack.

Cast Iron Skillet with Hot Handle Holder: Likewise, I feel that everyone should own a basic, 12” cast iron skillet.  In spite of the myth, they are easy to care for and over time, will become a family heirloom.  On grid or off grid, cooking with cast iron is the way to go.

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