09:57 – Brittany emailed to thank me for the advice, but as it turned out it wasn’t necessary. When she showed my recommendations to her husband, he said he agreed with them completely. No surprise, considering he told Brittany that he already had a tactical barrel for the 870, a couple hundred rounds of buckshot for it, and spare magazines for their 10/22. I wasn’t particularly surprised. From what Brittany’s said about him, it sounds like her husband is on the ball. He also told her that as far as he was concerned they’d be better off spending $1,000 on more shelf-stable food than an AR-15.
Brittany also said she wasn’t sure exactly what they were preparing for. She’s worried mainly about civil unrest and a breakdown in supply chains, but reads about other potential emergencies like the power grid going down or a deadly pandemic. They already deal with the occasional severe winter storm and infrequent tornadoes in the area, but they don’t live in an area subject to hurricanes or earthquakes.
I suggested that the best strategy was to prepare for any eventuality rather than a specific threat or threats, focusing heavily on water, food, staying warm in winter, basic defense, basic medical, and meeting minimal power needs. All of those are necessary to prepare for any emergency, and sufficient for dealing with most. The Mormons have been doing this for more than a century, and they have it pretty much right.
One area where I do disagree with the LDS Church is their recommendation to accumulate a 3-month supply of ordinary canned foods first and only then focus on a year’s supply of bulk staples. If I wanted to be prepared for a year, I’d focus first on getting a year’s supply of bulk staples. That way, you know that you and your family can eat for a year. After that, you can start filling in gaps with canned/pouched goods, animal protein, and so on. You can live without the canned goods; you can’t live without the bulk carbohydrates, protein, oils/fats, and salt.
More work on science kits today.