Prep Monday – Family


If you’re a prepper, surely you’re ready for SHTF or at least  you’re working on it. But what about your family? I’m not talking about your immediate family, those who live with you, but about other family members who may live nearby or who may be scattered around the country. Or outside the country.

Chances are that they aren’t all preppers, by any definition, either die-hard or lackadaisical. You may have tried to convince them; they may disagree. They might even think you’re crazy – and believe me, there are a lot of crazy preppers. That, of course, depends on your definition of crazy.

So what happens when SHTF? Those who live at some distance are probably out of luck, but any family members that  you have in the same area as yourself are likely to remember that you mentioned the possibility.

Of course you want to help your loved ones – but can you? At least one friend has said she knows what to do: come to my house! She’d probably bring a couple other people. Would I turn them away? Of course not, but that means I need to step up my stocking and have a more detailed plan instead of a vague idea in my head.

And then there are the kids – three, plus two spouses, plus three children. And another who lives about six hours away. Fortunately, this last one also lives near a prepper friend of mine and she could go to her IF she could get out of the city.

So what do we do? We plan for not just the family living here at home, but for all of them. Yes, all of them. Now, it may turn out that it’s not needed; it may be we can convince them to do their own prepping, or at least to start. Some will, some won’t. But when SHTF, it’s gonna get real.

Prep Monday – Toilet Paper


Now, we all know about saving dryer lint for a firestarter, and even about saving used toilet paper rolls to fill with said lint. But something rarely discussed, after SHTF, is toilet paper itself – or the lack thereof.

I saw a post on FB about, um, what to do, and I can tell you from experience to be very, very careful which leaves you grab to er, take care of your business. All of this prompted me to look into – yep, the history of toilet paper.

Best I can tell, from my “in-depth” research, is that toilet paper wasn’t widely available in the US until the mid- to late-1800s. I’m sure we’ve all heard about using catalog pages for this chore, and all I can think when I remember reading this is OUCH. Talk about scratchy, but guess it’s better than nothing. Maybe.

My point is that toilet paper might be something you stock up on for SHTF. You know, for Number Two only – I mean, seriously, this is going to have to be rationed. It takes up a lot of space. Now, guys, obviously for Number One you don’t have this issue, but ladies, I have two words for you: drip dry.

Gross? A little. Deal with it.

How many of you, when camping, use those disgusting vault toilets? All of you? Really? I’ll take a tree or a shrub any day over those. Ick. Yes, I can be a little squeamish, but think about it – you’re sitting on a metal can-like object, hovering over a small lake of… Okay, let’s not go there. Sure, if you use the woods you do run the risk of, oh, small insects getting up in your business, but to me it’s more preferable than… Alright, I’m done!

So, to wrap this up: stock up on toilet paper, learn to drip dry, ration what you have, and hope for the best. I’d also suggest saving some of those catalogs, too. Fortunately, today, many are printed on recycled paper so they’re a bit… softer. Maybe. Or, there’s always a squirt bottle. Seriously.