How to Achieve a Preparedness Life The preparedness life entails more than just buying stuff. Must know how and why to use the things you buy. People need to use what they buy: Learn how to cook the food you want to eat. Know how to start a fire. Learn what works and doesn’t work.…

Chris Weatherman (aka Angery American) Takes the Fiction Out of Prepping 

Ask anyone who's into prepper fiction about their favorite author, and the chances are that Chris Weatherman (AKA Angery American) is high on their list. Chris Weatherman is not just a prolific author (check out his Angery American Amazon page here). He's also the real deal when it comes to preparedness.

In this interview, Chris Weatherman provides an eye-opening reality check that should leave us all thinking about fact versus fiction. Check out what Chris had to say in the following show notes, then tune in to the interview.

Romance vs. Reality

Chris notes that many people have a romantic, action-movie view of prepping. Romance sounds great. However, reality sucks.

Preparedness is fun to talk about and plan. Unfortunately, the reality of what we are planning for is anything but pleasant. If we have to put our worst-case scenario plans into action, we may be in for a tough time.

Going it Alone

Many preppers think they can and will face a worst-case scenario on their own and go it alone. You can’t go it alone. Everyone needs sleep.

If the world is in such bad shape that you’re bugging out when it’s hit the fan, you’ll need others. In Going Home, the book that put Chris Weatherman on the map, Morgan Carter, his main character, found himself miles from home when it hit the fan and has to attempt to make his way home to his family. While he starts his journey alone, it's not long before Morgan teams up with others for the sake of safety.

And the scenario he describes isn't really that fictional.

Prepping Groups

When asked about prepping groups, Chris Weatherman advises that the best group of people is people you’ve known for a very long time.

If you don’t have a group, start building one now. Websites such as MeetUp.com work great. You should consider building your group around a variety of skill sets. This will improve your overall resiliency and capability. Don’t forget communications. Groups need to be able to communicate internally to remain effective.

Remember, building teams take time, so get started!

Personalities

When building a preparedness group, you need to create relationships. As you do, you’ll learn about people’s personalities. When learning about personalities, you may want to consider the following:

What stresses people?

How do they react to stress?

Do they have the needed skills?

Are they safe and not reckless?

Do they act responsibly?

Are they just an eater? (An eater is someone who takes more than they contribute.)

The best way to draw out character flaws and see the real person is through mutual suffering. Training in difficult and less than ideal conditions is the best way to reach meaningful levels of mutual suffering.

Careful training and team-based pain also build camaraderie and cohesiveness.

Despite popular opinion, training does not need to focus on weapons! Learning new skills and gaining non-weapons-related knowledge is essential.

Remember, practicing and training with gear under challenging conditions not only stresses people but puts your equipment to the test, too.

Coping with Difficult Situations

Many non-preppers say they will give up and die in a dangerous situation. This is not usually the case because the human instinct is to survive. A drowning person will try to live.

One key is to prepare now so that you give yourself a better chance later.

Everyone can have a positive impact on their situation and chances for a successful outcome. It just requires forethought and effort.

Equipment

Gear and supplies don’t need to be expensive.

Many times, lower-cost items work just as well as more expensive brand names. Buy things that work now, then over a period of time,

The right kind of preparedness training can help you mentally prepare for dealing with stressful situations? Educate and train yourself ahead of time so you know what to do when an emergency strikes. By preparing in advance, you’ll be better able to physically and mentally deal with stressful situations.

What you need is a plan. Better yet, have a family plan. That's where preparedness training comes in.

(Note: This episode is the first half of a two-part episode featuring Sam Bradley. You can find the second half here in episode 17.)

Some Things Your Preparedness Training Should Cover

Your preparedness training should be designed to help your family create a workable plan in which everyone knows what to do in an emergency.

Here are some of the things your plan should include.

Where to Meet

You’ll want to know this because your family may not be together when a disaster strikes. Your home could be destroyed or unsafe to return to. It's a good idea to set up more than one meeting point.

Disaster Kit

Have an accessible disaster kit ready to go. (You might call this your bug-out bag.)

Keep in mind, if your store your emergency kit in your home, it could be useless if your home is destroyed. Having a get-home kit in your car is also a good idea.

Include extra medications. Plan for the needs of the young and elderly. Don’t forget to include the needs of your pets. Did you add extra glasses?

Shoes

A simple piece of preparedness training advice is related to your shoes. Many disasters, such as earthquakes, tornados, etc., strike with little to no warning. So, keep a pair of sturdy shoes near your bed. If you do, you’ll be ready to move should a disaster happen while you’re sleeping.

During non-disaster times, when you wake up, train yourself to get your shoes. You do this by touching them, or at least look at them. Over time, this will burn the locations of your shoes in your mind. That way, when an emergency happens, you’ll head straight for your shoes.

Lights

Not having light at night when you need it stinks. If you have little ones, it can make a bad situation even scarier.

Make sure you have flashlights and extra batteries for them. Consider rechargeable lights or batteries to ensure you’re ready for the long term. Solar-powered lights will work well too.

Water

Water is a critical need, especially for longer-term events.  Planning to have water accessible and stored where you can get to it is an essential part of your disaster mindset.

Don’t forget your bathtub can hold a lot of water. Keep it clean and fill it if you can before the disaster happens. Consider using a WaterBob.

Food

You never know how long you might be stuck at home. Be sure to have food. You will either want food and a way to cook it or food that doesn't require cooking at all.

Preparedness Training for Self-reliance

You have to be prepared to take care of yourself in the event of an emergency.

911 providers may not be there to support you. They may be victims of the disaster too. Learn basic first aid and similar skills so that you can take care of your family and friends.

Grocery stores, gas stations, emergency services, etc., may not be functioning. Help from anyone outside of yourself may be slow to come or non-existent.

During a disaster, when you and your family are hungry, who is really to blame? Take responsibility and begin preparing now.

Start with planning to be on your own for at least one week. Then, continually, within your budget, increase the amount of time you can be self-reliant.

Don't Forget Preparedness Training for Personal Security

How are you going to protect yourself? As recent disasters have shown,

Weather preparedness includes a whole lot more than just watching the forecasters on the evening news to figure out what you should wear the next day.

Weather preparedness is a broad subject that includes understanding different types of weather events, forecasting, and events such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) - and how all of these affect your preparations. Real prepping requires understanding any events that might impact your home, your loved ones, and your environment.

Listen to this weather preparedness podcast episode to increase your weather preparedness and be ready to overcome any challenges that may lie ahead.

What Is a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)?

Coronal mass ejections are explosions of plasma and particles from the sun's corona that move into outer space. The magnetosphere protects the earth from harmful CME particles. The CMEs happen as the sun goes through differing activity cycles.

It's important to note that solar flares are not the same thing as CMEs. Phys.org explains:

"CMEs and solar flares are both explosions that occur on the Sun," the folks at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center's Scientific Visualization Studio explain. "Sometimes they occur together, but they are not the same thing."

CMEs are giant clouds of particles from the Sun hurled out into space, while flares are flashes of light—occurring in various wavelengths—on the Sun.

The scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center, located in Boulder, Colorado monitor the sun and the likelihood of its effects on the earth. They monitor the sun through the use of ground-based sensors and equipment as well as satellites.

Scientists can provide between 14 and 36 hours of warning for earth-impacting sun events such as coronal mass ejections.

What Are the Effects of Coronal Mass Ejections?

CMEs impacting the earth can cause a range of effects. On the low-end, coronal mass ejections can cause little effect other than increased Northern and Southern Lights.

But on the high end, CMEs have the potential to cause significant disruptions to electronics and power grids. These effects happen when the CME overloads the power grid and electronic devices.

The most massive recorded solar storm, or CME, to hit the earth was in 1859. It is known as the Carrington Event. The Carrington Event coronal mass ejection was so colossal that people saw the Northern Lights as far south as Cuba.  Also, during the Carrington Event, telegraph lines gave off sparks large enough to cause fires. If a CME like the Carrington Event CME happened today with our grid-dependent lifestyles, life as we know it could be forever changed.

CMEs occur regularly. Fortunately, they do not usually impact the earth. We typically only hear about CMEs when they may cause problems with communications and navigation systems.

CMEs do not physically impact people. However, electronics and electrical infrastructure may be damaged.

The use of Faraday cages may help shield electronics from the effects of a CME. Unplugging electronics from your home’s power source may help as well.

The Importance of Forecasting in Weather Preparedness

The best way to accurately plan for weather-related impacts is to be informed. One way to be informed is through the use of weather.gov. Modern weather forecasting is based on numerical models. These mathematical models represent the atmosphere using physics and real observations. Forecasting accuracy is limited to between seven and ten days.

It's important to learn what you can about forecasting in ways that don't rely on the evening news. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is an excellent resource for people interested in trends related to weather preparedness. The Old Farmer’s Almanac focuses on long-term averages and trends and can help you predict a broad overview of future weather. It's important to note that any accurate daily predi...