1. MAGAZINE
12Fun Ways to
Teach Kids
Survival Skills
S P R I N G P R E P P I N G I S S U E
From Seedlings to Soil-
Start Your PERFECT Prepper Garden
Prepper Planting
Tactical Training
for Beginningers
Spring Cleaning,
Prepper Style
How to Collect
Rainwater
2. It’s getting to be spring time, a busy time for us preppers!
There’s a lot to do, from getting your garden ready to cleaning
up that stockpile that’s long overdue.
But it’s not all work, there’s a lot of fun to be had. As the
weather warms up and you and your family can get outside
and enjoy nature. Don’t miss this opportunity to turn your
spring time activities into survival skill lessons.
Now is also a great time to introduce your family to tactical
training and to teach them about other forms of self defense.
Everyday can be a learning experience and everyday you can
help your family become more prepared.
Have fun this Spring! And remember :
Be Prepared... Not Scared!
Amber Henning
Editor
2 US Preppers MAGAZINE
Happy Spring, Fellow Preppers!
3. Planting a Prepper’s Garden
Everything You Need to Get Ready for
the Spring Planting Season Pg 9
Rainwater Collection
Tips for Collecting This Valuable Resource
Pg 4
Tactical Training for Beginners
Getting Starting with Tactical Training
Defense for Your Whole FamilyPg 6
Teaching Kids Survival Skills
12 Fun Ways to Teach Survival Skills
to Your Kids In Everyday SituationsPg 14
3
Volume 1 - Issue 2 March 2016
Spring Cleaning, Prepper Style
Keeping Your Stockpile & Bug-Out Bags
Fresh with Prepper’s Spring Cleaning Pg 18
CONTENTS
4. Rain Water CollectionRain Water Collection
How to Make Use of the Renewable Resource that is
Literally Falling From the Sky
repping for possible wa-
ter shortages is something that
many of us should be doing to-
day. Water is the most essen-
tial key to survival, and without
a supply of fresh drinking wa-
ter, one simply cannot make
it. Rainwater harvesting is one
of the most practical and ba-
sic ways to build up a decent
amount of water for storage.
Perhaps the best part is that
the rainwater is free and once
a collection system has been
set up, it takes little effort to
supply your family with their
very own viable water source.
Why Rainwater?
If you want to store up a large vol-
ume of water, it would be quite
costly to do, since you would
need to pay for it.
Rainwater is free and can be
purified for drinking and cook-
ing. As a homesteader, you can
use your harvested rain to wa-
ter your crops or feel your an-
imals. By using rainwater, you
are taking advantage of a nat-
ural and renewable resource.
By setting up a water collection
system, you can eliminate the
worry about running out of your
water supply, because it will re-
plenish itself when it rains or
snows.
Effective Methods for
Collecting Rainwater
There are several methods for
beginners and experts alike to
take advantage of this essen-
tial resource.
4 US Preppers MAGAZINE
P
Rainwaterisfree--
ittakeslittleeffortto
supplyyourfamilywiththeirvery
ownviablewatersource.
Rainwaterisfree--
ittakeslittleeffortto
supplyyourfamilywiththeirvery
ownviablewatersource.
5. For Beginners
Anyone can become a water
collector, simply by setting a
few buckets or jugs outdoors to
collect moisture as it rains. You
can turn around and use your
collected water immediately,
watering plants for instance,
or you can just as easily begin
your water storage. Regular
buckets, pails, anything you
have on hand can become a
rain collection device, though
a popular choice for beginning
rain collector is using 5-gallon
water jugs, often used in office
water coolers. These sizes are
great for beginners or for urban
preppers with limited space.
The good old standard insulat-
ed water cooler will work too,
and they come on wheels and
with spouts making them a
great option for those not look-
ing to engage in heavy lifting.
Catch the Roof Runoff
When it comes to long-term
needs, you want to use effec-
tive rainwater collection meth-
ods to build up your stockpile.
The most common and per-
haps simplest method is using
a tank to catch runoff from the
roof. When it rains, an abun-
dant supply of water comes
running down from rooftops,
into gutters, and then out of
spouts and onto the ground. By
catching and collecting it, you
are actually helping to reduce
runoff pollution from storm wa-
ter that seeps into the ground.
The water that you collect will
obviously not be suitable for
drinking right away, so you
need to take some steps to get
it there. Your tank will need a
filter at the point where rainwa-
ter enters from the spout. This
will collect most dirt and de-
bris. Once you have your tank
set up to collect, your system
will be running on autopilot. As
it rains, your tanks will fill up,
and as you use the supply, it
will go down, then refill when it
rains again, and so on.
If you have branches or trees
hanging over your roof, you may
want to clear them away to re-
duce the amount of debris that
will enter the supply. Although
much, if not all, will be filtered
out before hitting the tank, it
is a helpful step to take to get
the cleanest supply possible to
make the process run smooth-
er. You can also allow rain to
fall for several minutes before
opening access to your tank,
just so that any existing debris
is washed off first. You will want
to clean out your gutters regu-
larly.
The Tarp Option
Another option is to use a clean
surface for collection, such as
a large tarp. With a tarp, you
need to get a bit craftier, using
stakes to raise the corners of
the tarp off the ground and
create an inverted area in
the center for collection. You
could then bottle the water
up, and boil it when you are
ready to use it. This is a more
labor and time-intensive
method, but it does work.
It does not cost very much to
get your rainwater collection
system up and running. Once
you have it installed and have
tested it out to ensure that
everything flows smoothly,
you will be able to build up a
fast supply of potable water.
You can have peace of mind
knowing that your family will
be prepared with water for
years to come.
5
6. DoNOt LetDefenseTrainingScareYou-
EveryPrepperCanBenefitfromThese
EffectiveFormsofTacticalTraining
T
actical training, just by
the name alone, sounds
pretty intense. Military
personnel and police officers
utilize tactical training, just
the mere thought of that alone
might scare away beginners.
But even if you’re new to the
self-defense world, tactical
training is just a logical way to
prepare yourself for the poten-
tial of disaster. Tactical training
is simply defined as any sort
of training that is designed
around a real-world task. Tac-
tical training is required in our
world today by people who are
working in real-life situations
where there is a risk of serious
injury or death, however, it is a
must training method for those
who want to be prepared and
able to defend themselves.
Tactical training is often very
physical , however, there is a
strong psychological compo-
nent to training for real world
situations. You are not just
shooting at a paper target, you
are mentally putting yourself in
situations where you will truly
have to defend yourself. This
is why tactical training is so im-
perative to those who want to
be prepared for TEOTWAWKI. In
a disaster-stricken world, being
prepared mentally and physi-
cally could be the best asset to
you and your family’s survival.
TacticalFirearmTraining
One of the most popular forms
of civilian tactical training is
with the use of firearms. Rang-
es offer tactical shooting cours-
es that provide you situations
that represent more realistic
scenarios, rather than just
standing at one end of a range
and shooting at a stationary
6 US Preppers MAGAZINE
Tactical Training
For Beginners
7. Key Elements to a
Tactical Training plan
target. Classes are often the
best course for many, howev-
er, if you do have the property,
or can find a place where you
can lawfully fire the rounds, you
may consider setting up tactical
training courses of your own.
Remember that the element
of surprise is a huge aspect of
tactical training. If you do set up
your own course, you will need
a partner who can change the
targets and situations to create
a unique training experience
every time.
Psychological Aspects of
TacticalTraining
Tactical training requires a lev-
el of psychological involvement
that is simply not applied in
ordinary self-defense training
approaches. Of course learning
a specific, technical skill for de-
fense is extremely important.
However, a technical skill that
is only mastered in a controlled
environment is only applicable
to similar controlled environ-
ments, not to situations in the
real world. In order to learn a
technical skill that will be help-
ful in any situation, you must
be conditioned psychologically
as well as physically. With the
psychological aspect of tacti-
cal training in mind, you will
practice your technical skill in
a variety of anticipated states,
considering factors like stress
or exhaustion.
Preparing your mind for the
possibility of these stressful sit-
uations will enable you to per-
form with greater effectiveness
when an actual disaster occurs.
Hoplology
Not all tactical training is physi-
cal in nature, and hoplology is a
great place for many beginners
to start. As with most things,
research can be a huge asset
to a person’s self-defense rep-
ertoire. Hoplology is the study
of the development of human
combative behavior and per-
formance. It is in short, the
relationship between different
cultures in regards to how and
why we fight. Becoming a stu-
dent of hoplology opens you up
to a slightly different tactical
approach . Taking the knowl-
edge of why and how we fight
into consideration can give you
a slight advantage when engag-
ing in combat with a potential
assailant. Studying other cul-
tures and fighting techniques
can also give you an advan-
7
Avoidhighlyspecializedtrainingclassesandevents
While it is good to practice in specific ways, broad range
course are best for beginners, so you can build a solid skill
set. You can go on to more specialized training down the
road.
Lookforacoursewithscenariobasedtraining
It can help prepare you psychologically, as well as physically.
Honeyourinstincts
One of the goals of tactical training is to take your actions
from being intellectual to instinctual. In high-stress situa-
tions, if you can rely on your instincts to help in your defense
you have a higher chance of surviving a confrontation. Any
few seconds you can spare in mental processing and de-
cision making, due to effective, tactical training could be
life-saving.
Self-DefenseTraining isalifelongjourney
You must adopt preparing for your own defense as part of
your regular life and commit to continual practice if you want
to truly become a master in the art of self-defense and be
able to defend yourself not matter what the situation brings.
8. 8 US Preppers MAGAZINE
tage when approached with
any self-defense situation as
not only can you anticipate
what might be coming, but you
can take appropriate action to
combat it as well.
Broad&InclusiveTraining
No one is safe at all if they only
learn how to protect them-
selves in one type of situation.
That is why even if you are fo-
cusing on one specific disci-
covers one scenario and is
not effective tactical training.
True tactical training will also
call on more than one level
of physical and psychological
needs at any given time, to
ensure you are well rounded
and prepared for any situa-
tion. A good tactical training
session might even appear
chaotic, but they are highly
structured to call on multiple
skills to test a trainee. If you
can use your range of skills to
make sense and survive the
situation, the chaos melts
away, which is exactly what
you are hoping to be able to
apply to a real life scenario.
Drills
Remember you can help pre-
pare your family with tactical
training as well. There is a
fine line between preparing
and scaring your children, so
always consider their age and
understanding level in every
training scenario. Drills, how-
ever, are important and can
give you the life savings sec-
onds you need in a disaster
scenario. Many families have
fire drills for instance, so
considering a few potential
events and outcomes that
your loved ones can practice
to increase your chance of
survival is a form of tactical
training that can keep your
whole family safe and better
prepared.
pline of tactical training you
will find that it is both broad
and inclusive of a variety of po-
tential scenario. Any good tacti-
cal training course will provide
you with multiple situations to
overcome, preparing you for
a variety of both physical and
psychological tasks associat-
ed with your survival. Yes, you
can learn to shoot the same
menacing looking targets in
different orders each time at
the gun range, but this only
9. 9
Starting a
Prepper’s
Garden
Prepper’s
Garden
From Seedlings to Soil -
Learn What is Takes to
Grow the Perfect
Prepper’s Garden
Whether you’re a prepper or a home-
steader, having a garden is a major
benefit when considering the survival of you
and your family. This is true not just in emer-
gency or disaster situations, but also in your
general, everyday life. Being able to produce
your own food gives you and your family a
Taking the time to
plan the perfect
garden is just the
first step for a
successful season
and harvest
practical advan-
tage that not
only helps you
add food to your
stockpile, it also
saves you mon-
ey, teaches you
and your fami-
ly invaluable skills, and most people find it
pretty fun to boot.
Preppers especially know that taking the
time to plan the perfect garden is just the
first step for a successful season and har-
vest. To plant a Prepper’s Garden, the first
thing you need to do is decide what plants to
grow that will produce food, but at the same
time be conducive to your growing climate
and area.
10. What Plants do I Grow?
Immediately, you know you will want
to stick with fruit and vegetable
bearing plants, so you can ensure
that every inch of space you use will
be working toward feeding your fam-
ily and adding to your stockpile. That
being said, if you have the space, a
few extra plants that encourage a
bee-friendly garden can easily be in-
corporated too.
There are many easy to grow crops
that even if you’re an urban prep-
per, you can have the space to
grow. Consider crops that you can
easily can, dry or otherwise pre-
serve, like tomatoes, green beans,
cucumbers, peas, etc.
How to Plot Your Garden
There are endless options to plot-
ting your garden, whether you
have a traditional garden space,
US Preppers MAGAZINE
or if you’re planning a container
garden. And while a prepper’s
garden is going to have similar
features no matter where you
look, the truth is each garden
is going to be different. That is
why the best way to plan your
garden it to break things down
into small increments, for most
small gardens this would be by
the square foot. Knowing how
many plants you can have per
square foot allows to you plan
for the space you need and is a
size that is similar to many larg-
er containers, if you are going
that route.
Remember to consider factors
like sun and shade in your plan
as well. If you have automatic
watering features you will also
want to make sure that plants
that need similar amounts of
water are close to each other.
Plotting your garden can be one
of the more entertaining aspect
of gardening, especially when
you are trapped in that early
spring and want to get out and
plant mode. Plotting helps you
plan for what your harvesting
needs will be as well when that
time comes.
Starting Seedlings Indoors
Depending on the climate you
live in, you may have to start your
seedlings indoors to keep them
shielded from the early spring
and late winter cold. If you sim-
10
11. 11
ply do not have the space you may
just want to forgo this step, and
buy plant starts at your nursery.
For many of us, this is a fun step,
however, and one that is easy to
get your kids involved in as well.
You don’t necessarily even need
any special equipment, however a
simple indoor growing light or light
bulb can be a benefit. Many peo-
ple, however, just use their win-
dows and keep their seedlings
in the sunlight as much as they
can.
Use regular potting mix, no fer-
tilizer, to plant your little seeds.
You can use little cups, plant-
ing containers, peat cups, egg-
shells, egg cartons, cardboard,
truly just about anything that
will hold up to the water and soil
for a few weeks. Make sure your
containers are on a tray as well.
If you are using a hard container,
like a plastic cup, make sure you
create a drain hole in the bottom
so that water can flow through
the soil.
It will take several weeks for your
seedlings to be hardy enough for
transplant, but the growing pro-
cess at this young stage is cer-
Egg Shell Seedling Cups
Start your seedings in biodegradable egg shells, perfect for green gardening and easy transplanting.
Step One – Crack your eggs, do this as close
to the top as you can, trying to preserve as much
of the cup like shape of the shell as possible.
Step Two – Rinse the egg shell with super
hot water, boiling is best.
Step Three – Pierce the bottom of the egg
shell, from the inside if you can, with a push pin.
Step Four – Gently fill with soil, use a spoon
to handle this delicate step.
Step Five – Plant your seed of choice, and cover with small amount of soil.
Step Six – Water, carefully.
Step Seven – Give them some sunlight in a window or under an indoor grow
light.
In about a week, seedings will begin to sprout. Transplanting will be a breeze, as
you can plant the whole egg shell in the ground when the time is right. The egg
shells also keep pests at bay, allowing your seedlings the time to flourish.
12. US Preppers MAGAZINE12
tainly fun to watch, especially for your
little ones.
When Do I Plant?
Planting is different depending on
where you live, but there is certain
guidelines depending on your grow-
ing location. In the end, it is up to you
how long you keep your seedlings go-
ing indoors before transplanting them
to your outdoor garden, but often
the decision is made by the weather,
more than by you. Sometimes there’s
an old local rule of thumb, like you
don’t start planting until the snow has
melted off the nearby mountain. Pay
attention to these rules in your area,
as they may give you a clue to better
success in your garden.
When do I Plant my Crops?
13. 13
Otherwise, play attention to the
rules of your general region and
climate. Often times planting
guides are included right on the
seeds you buy, but it’s import-
ant to remember that each year,
each place, things can be differ-
ent. Check your area on our zone
map (following page), to get you
a basic guideline to start from.
However, local advice is always
benefcial too. Remember, many
plants like lettuce, should still be
planted in succession to create a
continual harvest. If it is a short
time period from seed to harvest,
consider planting a second crop,
or even several to keep the fresh
food in harvest for longer periods
of time.
Hardening Off Your
Seedlings
Before you transplant, you may
consider hardening off your seed-
lings. This is the process of grad-
ually introducing your seedlings
to the environment before you
officially transplant. You can do
this by taking your seedlings out-
doors for a few hours at a time,
making sure they do not get too
much sun or too much cold. After
a few days they will be more apt to
survive in their new environment.
Usually the hardening off process
takes about 1 to 3 weeks, but
any amount of gradual introduc-
tion will improve your seedlings
chance of survival.
Prepping Your Soil
You can incorporate fresh potting
mix into your soil every year if you
desire, but given you mix in some
compost and some of your favorite
low strength growing fertilizer to
your existing soil you will probably
be okay. You can always test your
soil as well. Still, many planters al-
ways add new soil-- just consider
your current soil quality and you
can make your choice accordingly.
Once your soil is mixed thoroughly
you can begin prepping your plant
holes. Some people like to place
some extra compost at the bottom
of their plant holes. When your
new seedling is met with the plant
friendly fungi and water soluble
material in your compost it helps
create microorganisms that pro-
tect the plant from bacteria, and
help it grow stronger. Composting
can be a huge benefit and an in-
tegral part of successful organic
gardening.
Transplant with Care
If you are using an egg shell or
biodegradable seedling container,
the transplant process is as easy
as can be. You can plant the whole
container, making sure the plants
stay intact. The process of trans-
planting is not a natural process
in the wild, so being as gentle as
you can in important to the safety
of your little seedlings. If they are
in a plastic, or other non-biode-
gradable container make sure that
you gently push them out of their
container, and not pull them by
their stem. If they’ve been proper-
ly hardened off, then the process
of transplanting will be easier and
they should take to the change
better than without this process.
If there is any question on if they
are still weak, you can always cov-
er the seedlings once planted, to
give them a little extra protection
whether from the sun or from the
cold temperatures.
Let it Grow
Watch carefully the first few days
to make sure your seedlings are
rooting into the ground. Be cau-
tious of too much sun, or too little
or too much water.
Soon you’ll see your seedlings
become full blow plants and your
prepper garden is on its way.
14. SUrvivalSKillsSUrvivalSKills
O
ne of the best ways
to prepare yourself is
to arm yourself with
knowledge and that goes for
every member of your fam-
ily. Kids are incredibly apt to
soaking up new information
and teaching your children
survival skills can not only be
useful in a variety of scenari-
os, but it can also provide you
to your family’s overall survival
if they are properly educated.
Teaching survival skills, howev-
er, doesn’t have to be scary…
there are in fact many ways to
teach basic survival skills and
have a blast while doing it. Here
are some favorite ways to teach
important survival skills as a
family— with an element of fun
tied in.
with fun activities that give
you a chance to bond as a
family.
Making sure your children are
prepared mentally in a disas-
ter scenario will go a long way
toward your entire family’s
survival. Most children can
not only hold their own weight,
but they can also contribute
US Preppers MAGAZINE14
15. 1. Grow A Garden
All kids love to play in the dirt
and growing a garden is a
great way for even the young-
est little guys to learn about
how to plant, feed, grow, and
harvest fresh food to eat and
seeds to grow—a skill that in
invaluable in a disaster sce-
nario or in everyday life.
2.GoonaPlantForagingorBer-
ry Picking Picnic
Learning about plant identifi-
cation is a great way for chil-
dren not only to identify foods
that are good to eat, but also
avoid ones that are harmful or
poisonous. When you children
learn how to find food in a va-
riety of places they gain a skill
that can help them stay nour-
ished and healthy when they
need it most.
3. Climb Some Trees
Let your kids climb, in certain
survival situations an ability
to head above ground could
save their life.
4. Make a Backyard Fire or
Campfire
Teaching your kids to start a
fire is as important as teach-
ing them fire safety. When you
child is old and responsible
enough, begin showing them
how to start a fire, as
signals.
5. Cook Over an Open Flame
Whether it’s camping in the
woods or in a backyard fire
pit make sure you share the
knowledge of how to safely
cook food over an open fire.
Start with the basics of roast-
ing hot dogs or cooking up the
well as different methods to
make a spark in case you do
not have a match or a lighter.
Make sure you also impart
the importance of keeping
safe around the fire, as well
as how to completely extin-
guish a fire. You can also take
the opportunity to teach oth-
er skills such as setting up a
flare or sending smoke
15
16. 9. Go Fishing & Hunting
These basic survival skills
are taught to most kids with-
out even thinking about their
prepping potential. Make
sure you take their learning
one step further so that your
kids can learn not only how
to hunt or fish, but also how
to prepare an animal to eat if
the need arises.
10. Take a Self Defense Course
Learning defense is some-
thing everyone in the family
can do to help them prepare
for any situation. Karate and
other martial arts are pop-
ular, but even just sharing
some basic self-defense tech-
niques with your kids can help
protect them in the long run.
11. Play Explorer
Teach kids about map read-
ing, compasses, and basic
navigational skills. You can
easily teach your kids about
directions and how to find
your way even without maps
and compasses. Spend some
time watching the sun rise
and the sun set. Teach kids
about how to use the night
sky to find your way.
12. Learn to Sew
Sewing is a great hobby, as
well as a skill that can be in-
You can also make tents with
tarps or other materials you
may have at your disposal. As
kids get older you can teach
them the importance of cre-
ating natural shelter if they
need to, as well as creating
an elevated sleeping area to
keep them safe in wilderness
survival situations.
7. Play Hide & Seek
Teaching children the art of
camouflage could be the num-
ber one factor in saving their
life down the road. Some-
times hiding is the best form
of self-defense, so make sure
your kids know how to hide
and stay quiet if they need to.
When you are out in nature,
you can take hide and seek to
the next level and play around
with the skills of camouflage.
It’s an important skill to teach
your kids how to hide using
their natural surroundings.
8. Fashion Some Home Made
Weapons
This is an especially easy ac-
tivity to get the boy children
excited about. Teaching a
kid how to make and use ba-
sic weapons, such as sling
shots or spears, could come
in handy in hunting or self-de-
fense situations down the
road. Not to mention the kids
just love this one.
day’s catch over direct flame.
Don’t forget though, you can
also teach your kids about
dutch oven cooking, digging
an oven, aluminum foil pack-
et cooking or a variety of oth-
er methods that could come
in handy for them down the
road.
6. Make a Shelter
Leave a kid alone long
enough in any living room
and if you’re not careful your
couch will soon be turned
into a fort. This is a universal
among most kids, they love
making their own shelters.
Knowing how to create cover
and shelter is an important
survival skill and one and
you can easily turn this into a
game the kids will love. With
the littlest ones I start by just
teaching them how to pitch
a tent, an important skill all
kids should eventually know.
US Preppers MAGAZINE16
17. valuable in a variety of po-
tential situations. Teaching
kids young how to mend,
make their own clothes,
bags and toys, is an easy
and fun activity that can
arm them with an important
Survival Sewing Project for Beginners
Homemade Hand Warmers
Step 1:
Cut Fabric Rectangle, Measuring 7 In. by
4 1/2 in.
Step 2:
Fold Fabric Down the Middle of the 7 in.
Side, Placing the Top SIde of the Fabric
on the Inside of the Fold.
Step 3:
At Sewing Machine, Sew Leaving a 1/4 in.
around the Edge. Leave a Small Opening
Unsewn Near the Folded Edge.
Step 4:
Work Fabric Through Opening to Turn
Right Side Out.
Step 5:
Use Opening to Fill With Rice until Desired
Weight. Add Essential Oils if Desired (But
Only A SMALL Drop). Sew up Opening with
a Simple Slip-Stitch.
Once Completed, These Hand Warmers Can Be Heated in the Microwave or the Oven.
You Can Alter the Measurements to make Larger Versions for Pain Relief Uses as Well.
17
life skill.
It only makes sense that
smart, prepared parents
would also make sure their
kids have the tools and skills
they need to survive in any di-
saster or world changing
scenario.
The better prepared your kids
are the better chance your
whole family has to make it
safely through whatever could
happen in this crazy and un-
predictable world.
18. US Preppers MAGAZINE18
spring cleaning – Prepper style!
1.WaterRotation
Perhaps one of the more im-
portant aspect of preparation
of is having a ready supply of
clean drinking water. However,
over time water quality can go
through an amount of degrada-
tion, especially if you are storing
in plastic containers, like most
E
veryone knows that Spring
time is one of those funda-
mental times to get things
cleaned up and start anew, and
for preppers this is no different.
In fact, spring cleaning may be
more important to preppers than
to any other group of people out
there. That’s why this spring don’t
just clean your house, get down to
of us do. That is why it is a good
idea to plan to rotate your stored
water out this spring.
Not only is it a good idea to ro-
tate your water, if you do it in the
spring you will find that you have
a whole lot of water readily avail-
able to water your garden, as you
can use the old stored water in
your garden.
19. 2.FoodRotation
It is a great idea to keep your food
on a rotation schedule too. While
some food will need to be rotated
more often, your long term storage
items can go years. Once a year is a
good time to check your stock, take
out anything that may be close to ex-
piration to rotate into your everyday
use so nothing is wasted.
If you haven’t done it already you
will want to organize your cans and
other storage items with longer last-
ing, or newer items in the back, and
the older items up front, enabling
you to quickly grab an item from
your storage pantry if you need it,
and ensure you are not letting any
food go to waste.
3.Clean up Over-Growth
AroundYourProperty
If you live on a plot of land, even
if it’s just in a neighborhood, you
will want to ensure your land and
home are staying safe from poten-
tial intruders in case of a disaster or
emergency. Part of proper defense
of your property is being able to
have as close to a 360 degree clear
view of your property. In the spring is
a great time to cut away dead limbs
and ensure that you have a clear vi-
sual in order to protect your home if
it comes to it.
4.Dust Off Your Defense
Skills
Spring cleaning doesn’t just refer to
your home and stockpile, you could
also apply it to your defense skills.
If you don’t stay in practice, you
will get rusty. It’s not feasible for
everyone to remain in consistent
self-defense training, however,
you can always give yourself the
opportunity to brush up on your
skills. Spring is a great time to
pick up a few extra classes, or
even just hit the gun range. Espe-
cially as the weather gets warmer
for those of us in colder climate,
the outdoor ranges are open more
and it’s more fun to go, even as a
family outing.
5. Clean & Sharpen Your
Weapons
Most people are extremely
respectful of their weapons,
but that doesn’t mean they
don’t need a little TLC ev-
ery once in a while. Check
if your knives or other sharp
tools need a quick sharpen-
ing, and clean and guns that
have been used through the
year. Check strings on bows
and anything else that wear
down over time.
6.RefreshFirstAidKit
First aid kits in your homes and
cars get used throughout the year.
Take the opportunity to check the
supplies and refresh whatever
has been used throughout the
year. Check the expiration dates
on ointments and other items that
may lose efficacy over time
7. Inventory YourBugOut
Bags
Many items in your bug out bag
may need to be replaced periodi-
cally. Foods and snacks should be
inventories for freshness and be
rotated out accordingly.
Check sizes of extra clothing
items, especially if you have chil-
dren, you will want to replace any-
thing that will no longer fit them.
Also check the first aid kits in your
bug out bag too.
8.CheckYourVehicles
Most vehicles are checked every
3000 miles but that doesn’t mean
a yearly checkup isn’t a good idea
for the prepared family. Checking
things like your wiper blades, fluid
levels and tire pressure is simply
a smart idea to keep you vehicle
ready at a moment’s notice to
bug-out if need be.
It’s also a good time to check the
emergency kit you keep in your
car, and rotate any supplies as
need be.
9.CheckHomeDefense
If you have a standard electron-
ic security system, you know it is
working, but if you feel the need
you can operate several tests to
make sure that your system is op-
erating at full effectiveness.
Check the batteries of any system
keypad, as well as the batteries in
your carbon monoxide and smoke
detectors.
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