We have several basic needs: food, water, shelter, security, energy, and hygiene/first aid. We know we must have each of these basic needs every day — but most of us are dependent upon systems beyond our control to supply them for us. We also know that those systems have and will again fail. So, if we know we need them, why not plan ahead and have extra on hand, provide a means of getting more, and have the skill-sets developed to use them?

What is a “Prepper”? I like Wikipedia’s definition: an individual who actively prepares for emergencies, including possible disruptions in social or political order, on scales from local to international. But I also believe, as Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast says, prepping is “Helping you live a better life, if times get tough or even if they don’t.”

I began TraceMyPreps.xyz (initially .com) in September 2012. For the first year I posted three times each week, then for a couple more years I wrote about about once a week. In the past I’ve had several wonderful contributors who posted regularly. I took a break for almost a year and a half and now I’m back, living on “The Farm” (after our big move from suburbia) and continuing to write about what we’ve learned.

What should you read first? Consider starting with our Most Popular Posts.

Remember to “like” TraceMyPreps on facebook to be kept up to date on what’s going on.

Terms used
Collapse: The situation the world will be in after a big SHTF or TEOTWAWKI scenario; modern society, infrastructure, and systems as we know it will no longer exist
Collapse Medicine: Medical care that will be provided when “there is no access to modern medical care, and there is NO potential for accessing such care in the foreseeable future.”

Acronyms used
BOB: Bug Out Bag. aka 72 hour kit.
BOL: Bug Out Location. Where you go in a disaster if you have to leave your primary residence.
CDC: the Center for Disease Control.
CFL bulbs: Compact Fluorescent Lamp, low energy bulbs (about 20% power requirement of standard bulbs)
DOD: Department of Defense
EDC: Everyday Carry
EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse
FAK: First Aid Kit
FDA: Food and Drug Administration
FEMA: the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
GHB: Get Home Bag (more than EDC, less than your BOB), something like what you’d have at work with you
GOOD: Get Out of Dodge (frequently in reference to a kit or bag)
HOA: Home Owners Association
HVAC/R: Heating, Ventilation, Air-Condition, Refrigeration (RE: my friend Rick)
KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid, the simplest answer is probably correct
LTS: Long Term Storage. Food that when correctly stored will last 10 years or longer.
MRE: Meals Ready to Eat, U.S. Military field rations
MZBs: Mutant Zombie Bikers. Used in David Crawford’s book, Lights Out, is a generic term used to describe the bad guys, who prey on the good guys, in a collapse world.
OTC: Over-the-counter medications (non-prescription)
SHTF: Shit Hits The Fan. The world has blown up, literally or figuritively.
SHYF: Shit Hits Your Fan. Your world has blown up.
SLEP: Shelf Life Extension Program. A joint DOD and FDA program to test if medications will last longer than their stated expiration date. Results showed that about 90% of the medications were safe and effective as far as 15 years past their expiration date.
SODIS: Solar water Disinfection. Exposing clear bottled water to direct sunlight for 6 hours.
SWYE: Store What You Eat. Short-term food storage.
TEOTWAWKI: The end of the world as we know it. (Pronounced: ti.ɑt.wɑk.i) Total SHTF. Popularized by R.E.M.’s song of the same name.
TSP: Jack Spirko’s The Survival Podcast.
Y2K: year 2000. On January 1, 2000 there was a fear computers that had been programed with a two digit year dating system would think when the year flipped from ’99 to ’00 that it would now be the year 1900 and all time sensitive information could me messed up.

Conversions of Common Measurements

8 fluid ounces (fl oz) = 1 cup
2 cups = 1 pint (pt)
4 cups = 1 quart (qt)
1 quart (qt) = 0.94 liters (l)
4 qt = 1 gallon (gal)
1 gal = 3.78 l

16 ounces (oz) = 1 pound (lbs)
2.2 lbs = 1 kilogram (kg)

1 mile (mi) = 1.60 kilometers (km)
1 km = 0.62 mi
1 yard (yd) = 0.91 meters (m)
1 m = 39.37 inches (in)

fahrenheit to celsius: C = (F-32) x 5/9
celsius to fahrenheit: F = C x 9/5 + 32
body temperature F = 98.6 degrees / C = 37 degrees

weight
water per gallon = 8.3 pounds
gasoline per gallon = 6.1 pounds

Prep Shield
I want to thank my wife, Sarah, for the incredible job she did creating my ‘prep shield’ header graphic. It wasn’t easy getting a loose idea in my head into a finished computer image, but she was patient with me and I love the way it came out. If the image symbolism doesn’t make sense to you, start by reading my post Aesop on Prepping, which discusses the symbolization of the boar and the ant. The lightning bolt illustrates how quickly and without warning our lives can change, or a disaster could strike. The red symbolizes courage and sacrifice. I believe the shield speaks for itself.