Being Prepared Series – Part 1

There is something we take seriously at the Ranch. That is being prepared. We don’t like using the term “pepper” because it seems to have the connotation of being paranoid. While we can be categorized as being “preppers” we ultimately just want to make sure that things are in place to survive independently of outside help for a while. For the most part, we want to be ready for long-term losses of electricity, water, grocery stores, gas stations, banks, etc. We all hear about “the big one,” the earthquake they keep saying is coming to the pacific northwest soon. We obviously can’t be prepared for everything, but we can be ready to hunker down and take care of our ourselves in the event of ‘normal’ disasters or even a collapsing economy.

If we talked about all the things we have in place in one blog, it would probably bore you to death, be fifty pages long, and have way too much detail. Therefore, we have decided to make this blog an introduction to a series of upcoming blogs on this subject.  We will discuss things like water collection systems, long-term food storage, emergency supplies, etc.

When you think of your traditional “go bag”, you probably think of having supplies such as water, first-aid kit, whistle, nonperishable food, emergency radio, knife, waterproof matches, flashlight & extra batteries, medications, extra cloths, blankets, tent, and sleeping bag. All of these things are great for most people because they are planning on leaving their location and going somewhere safer. At the Ranch, we strive to make it our destination. We want to have everything we need there so if something does happen, we can just hunker down and stay put. You can always say “what if this” or “what if that,”. We aren’t prepared for Doomsday, a chemical war, or a nuclear attack.  We just want to have peace of mind. And yes, we could have “the big one” while we are far from home and get stranded somewhere else, but we can’t spend our lives worrying about every ‘what if’ scenario.  We want to be generally prepared and then enjoy each moment and be thankful for today.

In future blogs about “being prepared”, I will drill down and write specifically write about things we have done to create our peace of mind. Hopefully, our readers can find tips they can use to be better prepared themselves.