#prepping lite

This is the first of a series of posts covering different scenarios you might want to be prepared for and what you can do now to increase your safety later. Not every scenario will apply to you - it’s up to you to determine what risks you face given your location, lifestyle, and needs. 

What is civil unrest?

Examples include the Rodney King riots of 1992, the Ferguson riot and related events in 2014, and more. Civil unrest usually begins with a protest that gets out of hand, often when people who were not initially involved in the protest see it as an opportunity to get away with stirring up chaos or who use existing chaos as cover for looting and other illegal activities.

Civil unrest can be isolated to a neighborhood or city center, or it can happen in multiple locations around the country or even around the world at the same time. The nature and intensity of the unrest will influence your response.

Note: The advice in this post also applies to a situation like the Boston Marathon bombing where the cities of Boston, Watertown, and Cambridge were under a “shelter-in-place” recommendation for several days after the initial terrorist attack while law enforcement searched for the suspects. 

Why prep for civil unrest?

- It can prevent you from going about your normal activities if it is occurring in your neighborhood or near your place of work. Streets may be blocked, stores may be closed, and in some cases it may not be safe to go outside.

- It can begin with very little warning. Protests and rallies happen all the time; it is difficult to predict which ones will turn violent or chaotic. In the case of the Rodney King riots, protests began within 30 minutes of the verdict and violence and looting began about an hour after the verdict. Someone who was at home and not paying attention to the news may not have known what was going on until after the full-scale riots and looting began within 3 hours of the verdict. 

- It’s difficult to predict how long civil unrest will last. Some riots can be de-escalated within hours. The Rodney King riots began on April 29, 1992 and lasted until May 2nd with some incidents occurring on May 3rd, but the last National Guardsmen didn’t leave until May 27th, almost a month later. 

Who should prep for civil unrest?

People who live or work in a major city (especially near the city center) or people who visit a major city center often (for instance, going out on the weekends). Since unrest can happen quickly, you don’t want to be caught off-guard while you’re enjoying dinner and drinks downtown. 

Also, if you see indications that suggest national-level civil unrest may happen soon (such as a certain upcoming election that may ignite protests should a certain candidate win again), you should prepare regardless of where you live. 

How to prep for civil unrest: 

Preps that apply to multiple scenarios:

- Store 2 weeks of food and water at all times. 

- If you are on medications, make sure you always have a couple of weeks’ worth. For most people, that simply means getting your refill when you still have 2-3 weeks left, but for some it may involve a conversation with your doctor if your medication is highly controlled (aka high risk for overdose or abuse). Explain that you are trying to follow guidelines for emergency preparedness. Caution: Do not change your medication routine (taking a smaller dose or taking medicine less often) in order to save up extra.

- Keep a first aid kit well-stocked, and consider getting a tourniquet kit in case the chaos spreads to your neighborhood.

- Keep your car’s gas tank at 1/2 full or more at all times. In a disaster, gas pumps may be broken, gas stations may be crowded, and shortages may occur. 

- Keep an inventory (with photos) of valuables in your home, as well as photos of your property. If damage occurs to your home or property from any disaster event, you will want these photos to make your insurance claim. Update the inventory often. Keep this inventory on paper and digitally.

- Keep the paper copy with your other important documents (Passport, birth certificate, social security card, marriage license, property deed or rental agreement, and so on). Have these documents in a folder or binder that you can quickly grab if you have to leave home in a hurry.

- Take self-defense classes and consider taking firearms classes and buying a firearm you can safely and reliably use. You should be prepared for both armed and unarmed combat.

- Plan a bug-out location (BOL) outside your city. This may be a friend or family member who lives in another town or in a rural area, it may be property you own (like a cabin), or it may be public land or a state/national park. The important thing is to know where the location is and how to get there if your gps or smartphone is not functioning. Consider having one location that is accessible within a day on foot, and one that is further away that can be accessed by car. Depending on  the disaster, roads may be impassable, you might run out of gas, or your car could be damaged or stolen. Note:  Make sure that if it is a family member or friend’s house that you discuss your plans with them in advance - you don’t want to show up unannounced during a disaster!

- Identify at least three routes out of your city by car (only one of those should use a major highway, the other two should use side streets) and two on foot or by bicycle. If unrest gets severe and seems like it will be prolonged, you may want to bug out. If everyone else has the same idea, major streets and highways will get congested, forcing you to seek alternate routes. You do NOT want to be stuck in traffic if riots are happening in the streets. 

Specific preps for civil unrest:

- Review the entry points to your home (doors and windows) and identify the best ways to secure them. If possible, keep plywood in your garage/shed that could be used to board windows and doors if severe unrest reaches your neighborhood. Alternatively, identify large, heavy pieces of furniture that could be moved to barricade entry points. If you choose this option, consider practicing how you would move furniture to ensure you can do so quickly and safely. 

- Consider closed-circuit security cameras (I do NOT recommend internet-enabled ones for privacy reasons). These can also be generally useful if you live in an area with a high crime rate. 

- Keep an eye on the news and identify events that could lead to civil unrest, such as controversial court cases, elections, and racial tensions. If you see signs that unrest may be coming, review your preps (or consider planning a vacation to the countryside). The unrest may not happen, but it is better to be prepared. 

- Avoid the city center on the day when you believe unrest may occur. If you work in the city, go directly home after work with no unnecessary stops. 

If unrest occurs in your city: 

- If you are outside the city, stay away. Avoid all trips into town. If you have prepared, you’ll be able to go at least two weeks without visiting the grocery store. If you work near the area where unrest is happening, contact your supervisor or office and ask if it is possible to work from home or if they are closing the office in response to the event. Indicate that you do not feel safe going into town given the ongoing events. Don’t go in if you don’t feel safe - it’s better to be fired for skipping work than to be killed or severely injured in a riot. 

- If you are in the city but not near the riots, stay home and keep an eye on the news. If you need to go to work, determine whether your commute will take you through the affected area and identify alternate routes. 

- If the unrest is happening in your neighborhood, shelter in place and barricade doors and windows. Make sure any firearms you own are accessible and loaded in case looters try to break into your home. 

- If the unrest lasts more than a few days or you believe it is moving toward your neighborhood, consider bugging out. Review the five routes you identified (three by car, two on foot or bike) and determine the one that gets you far away from the unrest as quickly as possible. Even if you have to go the opposite direction from your bug out location, it’s better to get out first and then go the long way around than to drive through or near the impacted area. 

- If unrest is widespread or happening on a national scale, and especially if the military/national guard is involved, consider getting away from town completely and seeking out either your BOL if you have one in a rural area or a campground or other public land where you can stay temporarily. 

When the unrest is over: 

- Use caution in determining when the event is truly over. Officials may prematurely call an end to the unrest in the hope of calming the public, but there may still be people on the streets looking to keep it going. Return to your normal routine, but avoid unnecessary time spent in the area where the unrest occurred.

- If you had to leave your home, use caution when returning. If you suspect your home was broken into, call the police and ask them to check it for you before you enter. Only clear you home yourself IF you have training to do so. Watching actors do it on TV does not count as training.

- Take pictures of any damage immediately to submit insurance claims if applicable.

Final Notes:

- No prep is 100%. Things may not go as you expect, so always have a Plan B and a Plan C. 

- Be vigilant. Your chances are best if you see disaster coming and act before it strikes, rather than reacting afterward along with everyone else. 

As Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida and threatens Georgia and the Carolinas, we see the same news coverage we see every year:

- People refusing to evacuate in mandatory evacuation zones, thinking it wont hit them that badly.

- Gas stations running out of gas

- Lines at grocery stores where people are clearing the shelves of water and non-perishable food.

What we see every time is a lack of foresight in areas that are hit by hurricanes every year.

Whether you live in a hurricane-prone area or not, you need to be prepared now for a potential disaster. Whether it’s a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flooding, blizzard, civil unrest, long-term power outages, or a Total Societal Collapse (TSC), you cannot wait until the disaster is imminent or happening to get the things you need to survive.

A few basic lifestyle changes that will keep you alive in a disaster:

- Fill up your car every time you get to half a tank. If you need to get out fast, you won’t have to stop at the gas station.

- Keep 2 weeks of food and water in your home. Cycle through it - first in, first out.

- Make sure you have at least two well-stocked first aid kits in your home and one in each car you own. 

- If you take medications on a regular basis, request refills as early as you can so you’re never running low. 

Ready to go a step further? 

To answer that question, we first need to define prepping. Prepping is simply preparing, specifically for a disaster (either natural or man-made) that would change life as we know it. Modern society is dependent on key infrastructure - running water, electricity, transportation, and law and order. Like Jenga blocks, removing any one of these can cause society to crumble. 

Preppers acknowledge the fragility of our infrastructure and understand that it is a matter of when, not if, these systems fail. 

Serious preppers may invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in being prepared for whichever disaster they believe is most likely. Some have stockpiled food to last years, others have multiple properties they can “bug out” to if needed, and still others live on off-the-grid compounds out in the middle of nowhere. 

While there are definite advantages to this method of prepping, the biggest disadvantage is the lack of diversification - all your eggs are in one basket. Most preppers have identified a particular disaster they think we will face, and put everything they have toward being ready to survive it. Not to mention that not everyone has the resources to pull off “serious prepping”. 

Prepping Lite is all about flexibility and diversification of your prepping investment. It’s about keeping your plan light, mobile, and adaptable. It’s also about not losing sight of the life you have now, with our society more or less intact. The scenario that most preppers don’t consider is the one that non-preppers take for granted - the scenario where nothing happens. 

Don’t get me wrong: no society lasts forever. Throughout human history, civilizations have risen and fallen, and the fall of a civilization is usually accompanied by unrest and disruption of normal, everyday life. A society can collapse quickly or fade gradually. Ours will be no different. However, we don’t know when or how this will happen. It is very possible that it won’t be within our lifetimes, but at the same time it could happen any day. 

As a prepper who practices “Prepping Lite,” I am prepared for the possibility of our current society collapsing tomorrow or lasting another hundred years. This means being able to fend for myself if modern conveniences fail, but also being able to participate in society as long as we have it.