The Essential Guide to Prepping

45 Survival Tips for Beginners

For those who have wondered about my bone fides asking “What gives you the right to write about civil defense anyway?” I will try to answer that below.

I have been a member of the board of directors and now vice president of The American Civil Defense Association for 18 years. Prior to that, I had years of experience in survival, beginning with surviving getting jumped for my paper route money in North Philadelphia and learning how to box and use martial arts to survive attacks by gangs, to helping the elderly transition out of hospitals at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida due to hurricanes in the 1980’s as an additional duty, to being vice president of an emergency management software firm teaching classes at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute and inspecting how fund were being spent by Emergency Operations Centers in counties all over the U.S. I presented a talk to the NCT CBRNe USA 2015 conference on Rolling Up ISIS Use of Social Media as a Force Multiplier.

Since 2007, I have been a member of the board of directors, now vice president, of The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA). Through 18 articles in the TACDA Civil Defense Journal and my analysis on my civil defense blog (poetslife.blogspot.com) for 22 years and now on this American Tactical Civil Defense Substack, I create, teach, share and implement civil defense strategies. The goal is to always save American lives and to protect American property.

In the early 1980’s, my first job post-Air Force, was to inspect numerous county U.S. Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) and to write articles for Hazard Monthly. Fascinated by the planning that went into these thousands of civil defense shelters then, I continued to explore their purpose and use.

I was a member of the Carroll County, MD, Community Emergency Response Team and am NIMS 101/102 certified. I wrote the Emergency Response Plan for my then hometown of Mt. Airy, MD. I was a member of the Safety and Security Committee at my church there where I helped write the Emergency Response Plan and taught staff how to deal with the threat matrix.

You can read any of my 18 articles in the TACDA Journal of Civil Defense here. My most recent article is Civil Defense Criteria when Moving your Family. A few others of my articles in the TACDA Journal of Civil Defense include:

Social Media for when Disaster Strikes, JCD, April 2021, Issue 1, pgs. 26-28.

WaterBricks for Safe Water Storage, JCD, Vol. 53, 2020, Issue 1

Useful Emergency Communication Tools, JCD, Vol. 52, Issue 1, 2019, p.23

Children and Civil Defense, JCD, Vol. 51, Issue 1, 2018, p. 18

When State Hackers Take Aim at the Power Grid, Vol. 50, Issue 2, 2017, p. 12

Data Situational Awareness: It's About the Data, NOT the Device, Vol. 50, 2017, p. 22

Rolling Up the ISIS Tactical Use of Social Media, Vol. 49, Issue 1, 2016, p. 17

How to Write a Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Plan, Vol. 49, Issue 2, 2016p. 32

ISIS Use of Social Media as a Force Multiplier, Vol. 48, Issue 2, 2015, p. 27

CBRNe: Low Probability, High Impact, Vol. 49, Issue 2, 2015, p. 30

Surviving a House Fire: Lessons Learned, Vol. 47, Issue 1, 2014, p. 27

Civil Defense Redux, Vol. 45, Issue 1, 2012, p. 13

The Importance of Private Sector and Local Government MOUs, p. 29; Creating a Church Emergency Plan, p. 38; Vol. 46, Issue 1, 2013, p. 13

Active Shooter, Bomb Threat, or Just Rumors, Vol 47, Issue 1, 2014, p.3

Web 2.0 Tools for First Responders, Spring Issue, Vol 41, Fall/Winter Issue, 2009, p. 24

I also created an American Civil Defense Subscribe Star website, mostly to analyze the Red Chinese bioweapon attack of 2019: https://www.subscribestar.com/poetslife

Some of my civil defense blog posts and articles from my poetslife.blogspot.com where I wrote about civil defense for 22 years prior to this American Tactical Civil Defense Substack follow.

EF-1 Tornado Lessons from Mt. Airy MD https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2018/11/ef-1-tornado-lessons-from-mt-airy-md.html

Children and Civil Defense (https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2018/10/why-civil-defense-matters-for-children.html)

Church Emergency Evacuation, Shelter-in-Place, and Lock-Down Plan https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2017/05/church-emergency-evacuation-shelter-in.html

Emergency Exercise – EPLEX (https://poetslife.blogspot.com/search/label/Emergency%20Exercise%20-%20EPLEX

CBRNe: Low Probability, High Impact https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2015/05/cbrne-low-probability-high-impact.html)

Active Shooter, Bomb Threat, or Just Rumors https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2014/03/active-shooter-bomb-threat-of-just.html

Hawaii Ballistic Missile Alert Fail and Fix https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2018/01/hawaii-eoc-mega-fail-and-simple-fix.html

The mission of The American Civil Defense association (TACDA) is to provide education, products, and resources that empower American citizens to protect themselves, their families, and their communities in emergencies and disasters of all kinds, including nuclear, biological, chemical, and natural disasters.  We believe a comprehensive understanding of preparedness strategies is essential to survival and peace of mind. TACDA as been educating American families about how to prepare for manmade and natural disasters since 1962.

One of the first principles of civil defense is prepping, and there are millions of Americans who, wisely, participate in prepping. There are many thousands of books available to teach you about prepping and many are actually worthwhile. My one caution to you is that many preppers concentrate much too much on material items and individual survival when it s strategy, family, friends, and communities of interest that ensure you survive, not the individual. There is a reason that lone wolves are not encouraged in combat.

The Essential Guide to Prepping: 45 Survival Tips for Beginners by David Pearson is a guidebook of critical survival basics that can help save your life and that of your family, even in a Biblical-level disaster such as what hit Appalachia due to hurricane Helene.

This comprehensive guide provides 45 practical and easy-to-implement tips for beginners in prepping and survival. With over 10 years of experience in emergency and survival training from the oil and gas industry, Pearson shares his expertise to help us prepare for a wide variety of disasters and emergencies. It is an excellent resource for survival and emergency management beginners. Its practical advice and straightforward style make it easy to understand and implement.

Why You Must Prepare

Nobody is coming to save you. Knowing that fact is essential to your survival. There was a catastrophic failure of federal response in both Florida and Appalachia after hurricane Helene, but worse, there was a deliberate decision made by careeracrats and politicians in Washington, DC to NOT help average Americans survive.

FEMA is NOT a first response organization to begin with, but they have even abandoned their secondary response role of handing out checks months after the disaster. For the past 4 years, they went woke with crazy DEI Marxist ideology, so who was given assistance to survive or die or neglect was being made at the top levels of FEMA and filtered down to the on the ground federal staff based on who they voted for. This is a mortal sin and a critical assault on American traditions, history, beliefs, and virtue, but it is a reality that you must incorporate in your survival planning.

Lt. Col. Scott Mann (Ret.) wrote a book called Nobody is Coming to Save You: A Green Beret’s Guide to Getting Big Sh*t Done. He clearly articulates and explains a civil defense first principal I have taught for years, i.e. in any disaster you are on your own. “The government” is not coming to rescue you. That does not mean you act alone because your survival is always integrally tied in with others. But you had better master the skills, knowledge, and experience to be able to survive at least the fist 72 hours or any manmade or natural disaster.

Survival Guidelines from the Essential Guide to Prepping

Here are guidelines abstracted from David Pearson’s The Essential Guide to Prepping: 45 Survival Tips for Beginners.

1. Redefine Your Mindset: Pearson emphasizes how essential a positive and proactive attitude in preparing for emergencies.

   

2. Repurpose What You Already Have: Make the most of your existing resources, such as containers, water bottles, and clothing, to create a makeshift survival kit.

   

3. Disaster Nutrition: Learn how to store and prepare sufficient nutritious food for emergency situations.

   

4. Water Purification and Storage: Discover methods for purifying and storing water, including boiling, filtration, and distillation.

   

5. Bug-Out Bag Essentials: Create a personalized bug-out bag with essential items like clothing, first aid supplies, and communication devices.

   

6. Bugging-In: Prepare your home for emergency situations by creating a safe room, storing food and water, and having a plan for communication and self-defense.

   

7. Weather Considerations: Understand how weather changes and natural disasters can impact your preparedness plans and adapt accordingly.

   

8. Affordable and Sustainable Food Storage: Learn how to create a food storage pantry using affordable and sustainable methods.

   

9. Review and update your emergency plans regularly.

   

10. Practice and train for emergency scenarios to build confidence and skills.

The greatest insight of David Pearson’s tome is that we must focus on basic, common-sense preparedness measures rather than expensive or complex solutions. In my view, that is why I prefer civil defense to prepping, but with its focus on practical, easy-to-implement tips and Pearson’s extensive experience in emergency and survival training, this guide provides a solid foundation for building a comprehensive family preparedness plan.

It is an excellent, practical, plain English book with useful strategies and well worth your time. Here is an abstract from his conclusion to give you a taste of his writing style.

Under the right conditions, it wouldn’t take much to bring civilization to its knees. All the things that we’ve depended on for our survival could be wiped out almost instantly. Being ready in advance, being PREPARED with the right supplies, tools, and skills is your best, and possibly only, hope for survival. Thanks again, dear reader, for your time. Take care, good luck, and God bless.

Further evidence that FEMA has gone DEI woke to the detriment of the safety, security, and health of the American people.

🔥🔥 In a story first broken by the Daily Wire, CNN followed behind in an article headlined, “FEMA employee removed from role after telling relief team to skip houses with Trump signs after Florida hurricane.” Talk about terrific political timing. Thanks, FEMA!

FEMA disaster relief manager Marn’i Washington (if that is her real name), actually put her disgusting “best practices” instructions in writing. It was in a chat message to her Hurricane Helene FEMA emergency relief team members. Marn’i instructed them to, and I quote, “avoid homes advertising Trump.”

At the time, Marn’i probably thought that was super clever. It wasn’t even a good joke.

Some FEMA staff weren’t as stoked as Marn’i. They followed orders, but slyly slid notes in their online reports about skipping storm-damaged houses with explanations like: “Trump sign no entry per leadership.”

Per leadership. In other words, “under duress.” She made us do it.

Proving FEMA can move fast, when its own butt needs rescue, within 24 hours a FEMA spokesman quickly told the Daily Wire that Marn’i had been “removed from their role,” whatever that means, and FEMA was investigating to cover up, I mean recover from, the ghastly breach of protocol:

“Reaching out to people who may not have been reached…?” What? Oh, nevermind. The point was: was it isolated? Where did Marn’i get the idea it was okay to boldly discriminate against people who supported the President-elect of the United States? Is this how FEMA managers talk to each other? Is this how FEMA is training its supervisors? Did Marni’s manager know? When did Marn’i’s manager find out?

And, what kind of psychedelic mushrooms was she taking on the job?

You all probably trust that FEMA can fairly investigate itself, but yesterday, Governor DeSantis said he directed Florida officials to independently investigate this horrific weaponization of government, preying on vulnerable disaster victims Keep the pressure on, Governor DeSantis, and protect Floridians.

Outrage on social media understandably focused on the whole weaponization of the federal government angle. But there are some brighter spots the current discussion might be missing.

First, Marn’i was fairly quickly outed by what appear to have been multiple whistleblowers. Not only did someone at FEMA leak that internal chat to the conservative Daily Wire, but several FEMA staff intentionally recorded the evidence of avoiding Trump supporters in their computer system — so that FEMA couldn’t later claim it was just a joke or something.

Second, President Trump has long said he plans to prune many partisan activists out of the federal government. This story provides clear evidence that pruning is urgently needed, and disproves the media’s argument that “federal employees are completely apolitical.”

Third, the Daily Wire broke the story. Corporate media is becoming increasingly redundant, like an infected vestigial organ, and with any luck can be surgically excised soon, and then we’ll start feeling better.

And Dr. Malone provides more evidence.

Who is Robert Malone

FEMA's Response and the Hurricanes of 2024

Updates, yet more federal corruption, and examples of effective volunteerism making a difference.

Robert W Malone MD, MS

Nov 09, 2024

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The news from Hurricane Helene and Milton just gets more bizarre and shows the truly punitive nature of the Biden/Harris administration.

True story:

The Daily Wire Reports:

A FEMA supervisor told workers in a message to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, internal messages viewed by The Daily Wire reveal. The supervisor, Marn’i Washington, relayed this message both verbally and in a group chat used by the relief team, multiple government employees told The Daily Wire. 

The government employees told The Daily Wire that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were skipped from the end of October and into November due to the guidance, meaning they were not given the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance. Images shared with The Daily Wire show that houses were skipped over by the workers, who wrote in the government system messages such as: “Trump sign no entry per leadership.”

It is unclear whether the same guidance was issued elsewhere in the country. The employees were part of a Department of Homeland Security surge capacity force team, meaning they volunteered from other DHS agencies to help an understaffed FEMA as it dealt with a second major hurricane in a span of just a few weeks.

The employee said it felt wrong to discriminate against Trump supporters when they were at their “most vulnerable.” 

“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” the employee said. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”

The guidance came as the Biden administration was criticized over its sluggish response to Hurricane Helene in rural areas across the country. In Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for example, locals told The Daily Wire it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to show up. The town is located in Carter County, which voted 81% for Trump on Tuesday. 

Supposedly, after this news story made the alternative media rounds, including the Daily Wire, - this “supervisor” was fired. About then, Fox and other conservative media ran with the story.

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In other FEMA related news, the New York Post reports that:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to answer nearly half of the calls for aid and assistance it recently received during Hurricanes Helene and Milton, a report released this week shows.

During a recent week, FEMA’s call centers were so overwhelmed, almost half of all callers never connected with a federal working, according to data released this week.

And it took federal agents on average more than an hour to actually pick up those calls that were answered.

The damning report comes as the Harris-Biden administration has been slammed by conservatives for its response to disaster relief after Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed into Florida, North Carolina and other southern states.

One man seeking help after his North Carolina home was flooded called FEMA and got a recording that said he was 675th in line.

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A Google news search shows that there has been almost no mention about Hurricane Helene since October 7th. It is as if it never happened on Google News and MSM. A search on Hurricane Helene documents that the top articles are about

1. NASA hurricane surveillance,

2. pecan farmers in Georgia, and

3. deforestation caused by Helene.

Note the lack of news about the destruction, FEMA’s response, or the communities affected.

Adding the words North Carolina to Hurricane Helene doesn’t pull up any articles on the plight of those suffering, the recovery, or information on FEMA’s response. Instead, there are news stories on deforestation (again), opoids, and a local NC article on bad drinking water (an article that does not even mention FEMA or the hurricane response).

By all appearances, there is a governmental blackout regarding their disastrous response and criticisms about that response. Of interest, previous news stories between Oct 1-7, almost all center around “fact-checks’ that try to blunt the criticisms about FEMA, including Trump’s.

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The vast media blackout on FEMA’s lack of an organized response in North Carolina is truly a blackeye on America and mainstream media.

By all appearances, the deep state is both protecting its own reputation and that of the Harris campaign. They wanted nothing out there that would reflect poorly on the Biden/Harris administration before the election. Mainstream media compliance and cooperation with the Federal government to hide their incompetence and corruption before this election and over the last decade may be the biggest story of this generation.

The video below is probably the most accurate synopsis of what the situation in NC looks like right now:

Of course, this video was found on X and TikTok- no such news stories on MSM!

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North Carolina Department of Transportation has been mentioned as doing amazing work.

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And course, Ron DeSantis has been amazing

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In combing through X, it is clear that there is a lot of false information out there about the hurricanes this year. Just as has always been the case - gossip and rumors abound during and after a crisis.

By using common sense, and due diligence, people figure it out. By getting all sides of a story, the good, the bad, the false, and the exaggerated - people figure it out and filter reality as it pertains to their view of the world. We don’t all have the same beliefs or worldview.

This is the nature of individuals, communities, and groups - just as it has always been. “Fake news” is nothing new.

Censoring anything not approved by the government is evil. Particularly when DHS (FEMA) has been corrupted, poorly managed, and involved in hate crimes - such as discriminating against Trump supporters. Their malfeasance is palpable. That is the road paved to a totalitarian society.

“The real story here is that the Biden-Harris administration has spurned the interests of the American people since day one, pushing for hundreds of millions of FEMA dollars every year, specifically for illegal immigrants,” Chairman Green said. “Last year, House Republicans eliminated this spending in the FY24 DHS appropriations bill, only for the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House to fight to add it back to the omnibus spending bill.
 
“This is an issue of priorities, and the Biden-Harris administration’s are completely backwards. It takes a lot of nerve for Secretary Mayorkas to ask for more money after he and his bosses in the White House fought for roughly $650 million just this year for the Shelter and Services Program. Under Biden and Harris’ leadership, our tax dollars are being used to help facilitate illegal immigration, while many American citizens are left to suffer following natural disasters.”

The news from the volunteers that have been going down to N Carolina from our area of Virginia all suggest that Samaritan’s Purse is doing the best work down there, and is the best place to donate to support the struggling residents of this area as they try to bootstrap themselves.

Samaritan’s Purse is responding to both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, with multiple disaster relief bases in North Carolina and Florida.

Latest Updates

• We are working from multiple relief bases in hard-hit western North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia after hurricanes Helene and Milton caused havoc this fall. Disaster relief volunteer teams are mudding out homes, tarping roofs, and cutting downed trees.

• We have also coordinated hundreds of relief flights by helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft to assist cut-off communities in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Now we are using ground transportation to deliver critically needed items, including generators.

• Please pray for all communities reeling after these two storms. We praise God that, so far, 306 people have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Samaritan’s Purse donation site for this tragedy can be found here, where you can also find videos and photos of the situation and their work to help those who are suffering.