Simply Preparing

Survival blog for disaster and emergency preparedness.

Contest: Win a Copy of Survival Mom

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Survival Mom Book by Lisa Bedford
Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios [Paperback]
I am a big believer in that the first investment a prepper should make is a survival library. I was lucky enough that one of the first survival books I picked up was Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford. Doomsday Preppers had just started airing and in my panic mode, Lisa seemed like a friendly face to turn to.I devoured her blog, The Survival Mom in just days and then quickly ordered her book onto my iPad. Her writing style in the book is simple, calming and its like she takes your hand and walks you through things step by step. By nature of blogging and having guest authors, her blog doesn’t give you that ‘hold my hand’ approach anymore and is more and more being geared to the audience who has been growing their prepping skills right along with her. I still feel right at home on her blog but I wish that everyone of her readers had the chance to get to know her and the basic survival skills from her book first. Which is why I was thrilled that she donated a book over to my little blog as my very first giveaway on SimplyPreparing.com!

 

Lisa’s book is fabulous but there are a few others I think you should take a look it as well.

                   

I will do in depth reviews on each of these three at some point but they are a great compliment after you get through Survivor Mom by Lisa Bedford.

I know building a library can be expensive and so Lisa and I teamed up to give one lucky person a chance to win a copy of her book. Here is how.

 


This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 and up and will be mailed by Lisa Bedford. Contest ends 11/12/2012 at 12PM GMT

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Question: If money were tight, and time short, what would be the must haves for being prepared?

    • Water is most important.

      Next step would be working towards building a 3 day bug out bag for each member of your family. Lisa has a great post on it here: http://thesurvivalmom.com/2012/03/02/march-skill-of-the-month-getting-your-72-hour-pack-together/ The reason I say to start with the bags is that so much of what you gather could be used for a stay in place (bug in) situation or an evacuation. Having the 72 hour kits prepared will get you thinking about what your family needs and will give you some peace of mind that at the very least you have that ready to go.

    • water and a way to stay warm. be it extra clothing, blankets, wood to burn, propane or what have you. a few forms of lighting if possible.

  2. I was wondering about heating and staying warm in your home when you don’t have any options other than your natural gas furnace? Any suggestions that wouldn’t be to costly? Thanks!

    • This is something I have given a lot of thought to since it can get pretty cold where I live and I don’t have any options other than natural gas or electric inside my home. I absolutely drool over these: http://www.vermontwoodstove.com/ Unfortunately way out of my budget! What my plan is to first minimize the amount of space that I need to keep warm. It is naturally warmer in my basement so I would limit the family to moving about down there. I also have window sealer (on clearance often at Walmart) that would go on any window. You can do the same thing with large blankets (would also help with security to black out your windows). We all have polar tech ski base layers and warm winter wear and sleeping bags to help insulate. And the pocket hand warmers work great inside sleeping bags. Basically, I plan to camp in the house! Warm soups and drinks (from a camp stove) will also help keep us more comfortable. Make sure to have ventilation if you use a camp stove inside and a carbon monoxide detector with batteries!

    • we shut doors to rooms so we heat a small space. we get added heat from the camp stove when cooking. we always layer clothing as we get colder. never go to sleep fully cloathed though. when you wake up you wont be able to get warm once out from under the covers.

  3. I would like to see you talk about prepping with kids and how to get them involved in prepping.

    • I actually have a great series that a friend who has young kids wrote for us to post this weekend.

    • my kids are older so i tell them to gather things that would keep them busy for a while until power comes back on.

    • Survivor Mom-THE best starter book in my opinion and then The Preppers Pocket Guide. After that I think it depends on what emergencies you are most likely to experience. I tend to prep a lot of medical supplies and information so I think The Pill Book is essential.

    • I personally don’t. BUT I don’t store tap water in used containers as potable water. I mostly store tap water in 2 liter soda bottles and I do wash, bleach, and dry the containers before storing water it scares me that I would still have some sugar or something in there that would taint the water. Many people do put 8 drops (medicine dropper) of un-fragranced bleach and let them sit open for 30 minutes or longer before storing.

  6. I’m always interested in tips for prepping when space is at a premium, such as in an apartment, condo, or small house.

  8. How can I explain further without being rude to my neighbor that he is going to have to prep for himself. We have tried to make him understand that he won’t be welcome to our food and water. Help!

    • This is REALLY hard and why so many preppers practice OPSEC (Operations Security). I can’t tell you how many people we know think they are just coming to my house. NOT!

      Lot’s of reports are coming in from prepper’s in the middle of Sandy’s mess that their neighbors are expecting to borrow generators, and all sorts of other help from their prepping neighbors. It is making me re-think where we would run our generator if need be.

      Besides just keeping the fact that you are prepping as quiet as possible I personally think the best thing we can do is encourage them and help them prep. If they don’t listen? The only thing we can do when the time is needed is be prepared to turn them away.

  10. What is the best way to begin accumulating the food and water we’ll need in an emergency situation? Especially being on a very tight budget where there is literally nothing left after paying essentials usually.

    • I would start with couponing. I have shown many people how to coupon and they without evening realizing it, are prepping. Some months I but 10 extra boxes of cereal because I get 10 boxes for $8.00.

  11. Are expiration dates really needing to be followed. Or will canned goods be ok longer than the date?

    • There is a lot of research that has been done that show that expiration dates are pretty subjective (read IE BOGUS). I think it depends on what the item is. Things with sugars and oils I would error on the side of adhering to them. Most non liquid medicines and supplements lose their potency but don’t go ‘bad’. Canned goods have been shown to be perfectly fine years after the expiration date if they aren’t dented.

  13. Can you actually be a prepper when you can hardly feed your family cause you disability check does not cover even half of what needs to be done each month all because you have MS. I so want to do all that needs to be done as a prepper but I also have to feed my family with three children under 10. Please give me a plan that is feasible cause I have not found one yet. Thanks and dont mean to sound like a whiner but I honestly don’t know how to do it. Shalom,
    Melissa

    • I have an auto immune disease and one of my kids is a wheelchair user so, first, I just wanted to say I understand that prepping is different for people with health challenges for so many reasons.

      One of the things that I really want to emphasize is that prepping is more a mindset than a basement full of bucketed rice that will last 35 years. It’s learning skills that have been lost in our generation and educating ourselves constantly. Thinking about the what if’s and making educated choices in the things we DO buy. It’s a silly example but how many people don’t even own a manual can opener which costs significantly less than an electric one or know how to drain their water heater or turn a trash can into a makeshift rain barrel? It’s easy to get caught up in the pretty pictures of 1000 can storage units (and I sure am not knocking the people that have them, I can only dream) but knowledge and skills go a long way and don’t cost a dime. It’s amazing too how once you get in the mindset you look at the world differently and start to see prepping solutions and possibilities everywhere.

  15. Thank you for talking about prepping. I have been involved with it for years. I would like to give a tip. If you are going to store cans, DO NOT buy the ones with pop top lids. They (the companies) are having major problems with them. I always look under the edge of the lid to make sure there is no rust. Those with high acid, like anything with pineapple or tomatoes are the worst.

  16. I’d like to see specific ideas of gear that’s useful for an urban/suburban dweller in the case of a long-term power outage.

  18. I have a family of 14, just started to learn to can and save food. I’m worried because there is so many of us I will never be prepared. Can you help us.

    • I am going to have a feature writer do a once a week post on how to do exactly that. She has a large family and has been preparing for years on very little money. Please subscribe to these comments so I can let you know when her first post goes live. Thanks!

  20. With the obvious failure in gasoline distribution during Sandy (great to have a generator, but not so great if you can’t get fuel for it) what other options are there for heat, light, and if possible, electricity?

  21. what sthe best way to heat your home when electric and gas are no longer on? and what is the best food for emergencies,,such as supply food?

  22. I would love to learn more about food sources like raising chickens and foods to grow in the garden that store well.

  26. oh I second the prepping for kids, would love to see more for the little ones, pre-scouting age and older too!

  27. I would love to see articles about canning, preserving and drying, as well as recipes for Meals-in-a-Mason-Jar.

  30. I’d like to know about the safest places to live as well as how people manage to successfully relocate.

  31. I would love to have real life solutions to limited budgets, small living spaces and the order in which to buy supplies.

  32. What are the best foods I should be buying and storing? What supplies should I be stocking up on?

  35. Can you recommend a good generator? I would like to get one for emergency power but am unsure as to what size, type, brand etc to buy.

  36. Last time we lost power we had food and dry ice to keep the food in the fridge but we didn’t have a way to cook anything (we don’t have an outdoor grill), what is the best type of item to have on hand to cook with that is safe and easy to use?