The seven P’s

The seven P’s refer to an acronym oft used in the military, and repeated relentlessly by my father in law.

Proper, Prior, Preparation, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance.

I usually take my father in laws ism”s with a bit of humor, as most are given opportunistically at an appropriate “here’s your sign” moment. I have in the past laughed many times at his extolling the virtues of the seven P’s, however lately I find those words ringing in my ear, more and more often.

With our current climate, in politics, faith, and society, proper prior preparation seems to be more important than ever. The question is, what are we preparing for? In my case my family is preparing for a time the bible refers to as the tribulation, a time unequaled in all of history, comprised of wars, famine, disease, murder, theft, etc... You may want to prepare for something less complex and as specific a natural disaster, or for all out nuclear war, either way the seven P’s would be invaluable.

As a survivalist, I acknowledge the absolute in the rule of three’s, and I would urge you to as well. The rule of three’s state that a human cannot survive beyond three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Obviously these timeframes will vary depending upon you’re locale, and the climate there. Here in Texas, as in much of the south you can die within hours without hydration, but the requirements for air, and food are much more accurate. We, then can assume that man will always be presented with situations that may either lead to injury or death, so the specific scenario we prepare for should always be focused on the worst possible outcome, and its effect  based upon the rule of three’s. Any less will just prolong the inevitable. I call this my insurance plan. Much like I carry insurance on my car in case I have an accident, even though I have a perfect driving record, and an accident is unlikely, many things are possible.

So let us focus on proper prior planning, and how that will prevent the piss poor performance. The key to me is to always start with a pencil, notebook, and a calculator.

I find sitting at the dining table, with no distractions allows me to focus my very random thoughts to the task at hand. Obviously you would want to determine a risk assessment, based upon your geographic location, proximity to urban or rural areas, natural resources, and your capabilities, not to mention how many people will depend upon your preparations. The first part of a risk assessment is for you to determine what natural disasters have happened in your area, and in this respect, don’t just limit yourself to recent events. Many natural disasters occur in recurrent patterns, such as tornado alley, hurricanes along the gulf and Atlantic coasts, floods along rivers, and crime in large cities. But let’s not forget uncommon but potentially dangerous situations, such as earthquake activity along even dormant fault lines, dormant volcano’s like in Yellowstone, an x class solar flare knocking out the electrical grid, and the unexpected biological outbreak.  You will need to determine your risk and what you choose to prepare for. Thankfully your preparations for one scenario will quite often overlap with others, so the need for specialty items may be limited. Obviously air is the most important to all of us, and there are few situations comparatively which historically deprive people of this most precious commodity. But you should always prepare for it. A volcano can spew ash into the air which if breathed into your lungs will kill you. Just as dangerous a flood can drown you, if you are unable to move for whatever reason. Some areas of the world experience poisonous gases, and I often include pandemics in this area of preparation for the similarities. One can do as little as purchasing a few bandana’s, or as much as purchasing expensive gas masks and or oxygen tanks, to provide clean breathable air. Again think of it as insurance.

The second rule of three’s is water. “Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink”. Prior proper planning in this section is much more complex, and arguably the most important. Though three fourth’s of the earth is covered by water, very little of it is fit for direct drinking, and if not filtered, distilled, or boiled you will die from its ingestion. In our modern society our tap water is often treated and absent of any microscopic entities which you might build up a resistance to, which leaves a majority of us vulnerable. In almost every scenario I plan for, I assume the electrical grid will be down for whatever reason, and therefore the water pumps will not run. This is where preparation becomes more complicated, as storing water, requires ample storage space, and filtration is expensive. Either way you must be prepared on both fronts in my opinion, as diversity may allow you options, when the unforeseen is encountered. Most modern cities were founded near a water source, and if the source is a river, you have a leg up over ocean bound cities. Having stated this a person can build a solar still and process salt water, but I would only do this if you have a method to store water safely for the proverbial raining day. Some may need to travel some distance to find a safe secure water supply, as you and everyone else will be looking for safe water, so having both a method for storage that is portable and filtration would be invaluable. If you are in a southern climate your plans need to be magnified just to accommodate the increased strain on your hydration. If you plan for nothing else, planning for this may save your life long enough to find or be found.

The third rule of three’s is food. Now food is a commodity that is renewable to a certain extent. There is plenty of food down at Wal-Mart, right now. As hurricane’s Katrina, and Rita taught me, and most grocers will agree, most stores only keep a few days worth of food on the shelves. When hurricane Rita caused the evacuation of Houston, Texas en mass there was very little food or water in stores for approximately two hundred miles. I wondered what would have happened if the potential disaster had continued for a week or two like hurricane Katrina? Fights? Riots? Murders? when presented with a desperate situation, the average person looses all sense in the pursuit of food and water. Planning for this scenario is somewhat easier if you are in a rural area over urban environments. The basic premise here is to accept the fact that you cannot depend upon foraging. Most people miss this concept, and I am by no means infallible, here, but if you can imagine yourself foraging for food, then assume all of your neighbors are as well. Again proper prior preparation for the worst, will leave you rarely unprepared.  I prefer in our preparations canned goods over other types of foods, but then I also live in a very rural area, and we have a secure underground location to store said canned goods in. a single can of vegetables is usually a portion of water, and food, that does not need to be cooked, and a shelf life of up to ten years. Dehydrated foods are also good if you have a water source, but they are expensive, and often need to be cooked. Military style meals, have been popular for decades, unfortunately they are very expensive and in my opinion, plagued by poor taste and nutrition. Dried beans and rice are great foods if again you have water, and heat, and most importantly a way to prevent weevils from entering your stockpile. We have done this by using plastic barrels and old drink containers, in conjunction with either pure nitrogen or dry ice. This is by far the area that will require the most thought, as there are so many options, just remember diversity presents options.

In conclusion I urge you to assess your needs and desires, and consider those around you. I have known many people who felt preparations were folly, but I often wonder what would happen if their loved ones were suffering from a disaster. Would they regret their decision to purchase insurance. I will not. Will you?