Prepper Book Festival 9: Prepper's Water Survival Guide

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Last week I indicated that this was going to be “Water Month” on Backdoor Survival. What better way to kick the month off then with a book on water that was written specifically for preppers? So, with that in mind, this week’s featured book in the Backdoor Survival Prepper Book Festival 9 is The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource.

Written by my friend and colleague, Daisy Luther, I have to tell you that this little book is the definitive resource on all things water. It includes everything from the science behind water purification to the practical aspects of creating a water plan, storing water, acquiring water, and of course, making water safe to drink.

Naturally, I have a copy of Daisy’s book up for grabs in a giveaway but first, grab a tall glass of water, and enjoy the interview!

An Interview with Daisy Luther, Author of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide

What one single event or at what point in time did you decide to become a prepper?

Well, I didn’t know it was called prepping at the time, but it was after my husband lost his job. We had a newborn and absolutely zero income. We had very little food in the house and were too embarrassed to ask for help.

I was determined to never be in a situation like that again, where I couldn’t take care of my child. Full on, Scarlett O’Hara with the carrot in the field. “God as my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”

Okay, there wasn’t actually a carrot and I wasn’t wearing a hoop skirt. But the same idea.

Most preppers have some sort of EDC (Every Day Carry). What items do you carry with you at all times?

I always have my Sawyer Mini, a water pouch, a knife, pepper spray, and a lighter. Generally there is some food kicking around in my purse too, like a fruit and nut bar or something.

Have you ever lived through a real disaster and therefore had to live on your preps? If so, for how long? What were some of the mistakes you encountered along the way?

Yes, actually we did it on purpose. It wasn’t exactly a disaster though.

After the death of my girls’ father, my oldest went off to college and my youngest and I decided to get away from it all and we moved several hours north, in Canada. We lived in a little cabin in the boondocks that had a very shaky grasp on electricity.

The wind blew, the power went out. It rained, the power went out. A squirrel in a nearby tree sneezed, the power went out. We spent a year up there, and we dealt with wood heat (the only source in the cabin), getting trapped in our house by 5 feet of snow and having to climb out a window to dig out the door, temperatures as low as -46 degrees (at that rate it doesn’t even matter if it’s Fahrenheit or Celsius), frozen pipes, no running water in power outages – you get the idea.

It was a rugged year. We learned so incredibly much from that experience.

The biggest thing I learned is never to have a plan without practicing it. I thought wood heat would be quite simple and was appalled to discover that keeping a fire going to warm your home was not as easy as I expected. I also learned that when the power goes out, so does the well pump.

Finally, I learned that finding what you need for a power outage DURING the power outage is tricky, so we devised little kits for every room and put in them in easily accessible places. The kits had a flash light, candles, a lighter, and some things for entertainment, like books, handheld games, or art supplies.

Bugging out poses a major dilemma for many preppers. Family obligations, money, jobs, and health considerations all play a role in the bug-out, bug-in decision. What advice do you have for those that who will be required to bug-in?

Honestly I believe bugging in is preferable if you can do it at all. When you hunker down, you have the benefits of familiarity, not having to traverse treacherous circumstances to get to your retreat, and your supplies right there at hand.

Practice bugging in with a no-power drill one weekend. Take notes so that you can see what holes need to be filled. Much better to realize a shortcoming now than when you are dependent upon your supplies.

What specifically would you like Backdoor Survival readers to learn from your book?

Water is life. When they say you can live 3 days without it, keep in mind that into the second day, you’re going to start really suffering. That third day you are technically alive but you won’t be functional enough to help yourself.

If you only prep ONE thing, make it water.

The Giveaway

Daisy Luther has reserved a copy of The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide for this week’s Book Festival Giveaway. She has also provided this week’s giveaway question and has offered to respond to a Q&A later this month.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The deadline is 6:00 PM Pacific Tuesday with the winner notified by email and announced on the Rafflecopter in the article. Please note that the winner must claim their book within 48 hours or an alternate will be selected.

Note: If you are having difficulty with the Rafflecopter, attempt to clear your browser cache to see if that helps. Instructions are here: //www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browsers-Cache. If that does not work, contact support at [email protected].

[clickToTweet tweet=”Read the interview with author Daisy Luther and enter to win The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide.” quote=”Water is life. When they say you can live 3 days without it, keep in mind that into the second day, you’re going to start really suffering. That third day you are technically alive but you won’t be functional enough to help yourself.”]

The Final Word

As much as I have researched water, water storage, and water purification, there is always something new to learn. Whether it is shocking a well, building a latrine, or simply finding hidden sources of water, there is always something new to learn to stay one leg up on a potential water emergency.

The one chapter in Prepper’s Water Survival Guide that I found most useful had to so with acquiring water. Say you know of or found a fresh water spring near your home. Sounds good right? But do you know how to test the flow rate of the spring or the types of invisible contaminants that may lurk in those sparkling clear waters? The book goes into a lot of detail that will answer those questions and more.

Please do enter the giveaway; this is definitely one book you are going to want to keep with your preps and refer back to often.

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

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Spotlight: The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource

You can survive up to three weeks without food, but only three days without water! When catastrophe strikes, having enough water can spell the difference between life and death. The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide offers a step-by-step plan with straightforward information you can easily follow.

Thanks to this book’s laser-focus on water, you’ll quickly learn how to:

Store fresh water

Collect rainwater

Purify water from lakes and rivers

Dig a well for groundwater

In addition to harvesting water, you’ll gain the tools to keep large stores untainted for long periods of time, test the water you collect for dangerous toxins, and treat water-related illnesses that are commonly contracted during a disaster.

No source is left untapped in this all-encompassing guide to supplying life-saving water after a disaster

For your convenience, here is a list of all of the books in the current Backdoor Survival Prepper Book Festival.

Prepper Book Festival 9 – Non-Fiction

Chickens from Scratch: Raising Your Own Chickens from Hatch to Egg Laying and Beyond
Prepper’s Natural Medicine: Life-Saving Herbs, Essential Oils and Natural Remedies
Shotguns: A Comprehensive Guide (PrepSmart Volume 3)
The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource
The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget

Prepper Book Festival 9 – Fiction

Cascadia’s Curse
Apocalypse by Government
New Recruits (The Shadow Patriots Volume 2)
The Line of Departure: A Postapocalyptic Novel
Holding Their Own: The Toymaker