One of the keys to thriving in a survival situation is definitely planning. Detailed planning prior to the need can mean the difference between life and death when the SHTF.
The U.S. Army Survival Manual defines survival planning as:
“Nothing more than realizing something could happen that would put you in a survival situation and, with that in mind, taking steps to increase your chances of survival.”
That’s the long way of saying that survival planning is basically prepping. Seeing a potential issue and making arrangements now to mitigate the impact of the issue later.
To put it even shorter, survival planning = preparation.
Less Stress
Everyone knows that stress isn’t good for you and while stress can indeed help you out at times, keeping stress to a minimum when in a survival situation is a very good idea.
Planning is important on the surface because it helps you not forget items you may find important, but above that having a plan for how you’ll find water and where you’ll go in case of an emergency are great, but you should have a plan written down for home defense, food storage, and possible escape routes.
The more you plan now the less stress you’ll experience when the plans are put into action.
Remember that this planning starts with basics like food but goes as far as keeping your car’s gas tank filled all the time and knowing where exits are in any public place in case of disaster.
Survival Kit vs. Bug Out Bag
A survival kit is very different from a bug out bag. A bug out bag is meant to sustain you for 72 hours in case of an emergency so large that the bag is all you can carry away. A survival kit however is meant to help you survive in specific situations. In other words, you should have a few survival kits for various situations that compliment your standard bug out bag.
For example, you should keep a survival kit at work that has items that can help you survive a disaster at work. Items like a prey bar, water, emergency food, a change of clothes, and a map/compass with a route to your home already planned out are a great start.
A car/truck survival kit should have emergency food and water, emergency blanket, and a map of whatever area you’re in, along with fire starting implements and a change of clothes.
Types of Planning
There are three major types of planning, each of which require their own solutions, emergency kits, and timelines.
1. Food and Water
2. Escape
3. Long Term Survival
First, you need to plan your emergency food storage. No matter the location or survival kit type, emergency food storage and water storage is one of your top priorities. Assume you won’t be able to find food or water and plan accordingly.
Next, you need to have an escape plan for each location you spend a large amount of time in. This means work, home, your local shopping center, and even the gym if you attend one. Each place will have it’s own obstacles and issues to deal with if disaster strikes while you’re there. The discussion of bugging in versus bugging out is a lengthy one, but the idea is that you need to have an escape plan just in case.
Finally, you need to have your long-term survival plan. Once things settle down and you have a better idea of what to expect from the world is when long-term survival begins. You need to be prepared for this, which means learning off-grid skills like canning, hunting, fishing, and anything else that can replace goods and services that will ultimately disappear.
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Putting Your Plan Into Action
Each of these smaller types of planning all come together into your very own prepping plan. When the SHTF and it’s time to start acting, take a moment and realize which plan you’re following. Knowing if you’re dealing with food and water, escape, or long-term survival will help you know how to act and what supplies to use.
The food and water plan starts immediately. If you understand that a disaster struck, your first course of action should be to secure as much food and water as possible. Fill your bath tub with tap water as well as your sinks and any clean bottles you have. That service will shut off soon, so any additional water will help. If you have a grocery store nearby, go clean them out of food and supplies. You should already have emergency food storage and water ready for this, but this is the last push and every bit helps.
By paying attention you know when to enact the escape plan, This means it’s time to use your survival kit and possibly your bug out bag to get home, bug out and escape home, or just to hunker down for the first 72 hours.
Finally, you need to know when escape turns into long-term survival. You don’t want to stay in escape mode any longer than you have to. Escape mode causes stress and usually comes with sleep deprivation as you’re always turned on while escaping. Moving into long-term survival mode should mean things area slightly calmer.
Wrap-Up
You can’t plan for everything, and trying to will drive you insane. Break your prepping down into the three major types of planning listed above and add your own specific planning items to their categories, making sure to pay attention when each one starts to come into play.
Remember, plan with the end game in mind, assessing where you want to be in the end, and work back to complete your planning, instead of the other way around and you’ll be far more prepared.
