A guest post by Skvez.
Having just done the 2011 UK census I was wondering about a ‘preparedness equivalent’. It’s a path and we are all at different points on the path with different ideas of where we want to be. This score chart is far from perfect but I found it helpful to clarify where I am on the preparedness path. What’s your score?
Score all that apply (so if you’ve a months food score for a month and a week):
+1 point if you have 20+ Litres of water stored per person
+1 point if you have water capture capacity (well/rainwater/river) capable of capturing/collecting 5 litres of water per person per day.
+1 point if you have purification capability of 2 litres of water per person per day
+1 point if you have food stores to last 1 week per person.
+1 point if you have food stores to last 1 month per person.
+1 point if you have food stores to last 4 months per person.
+1 point if you have food stores to last 1 year per person.
+1 point if you have 100+ hours of candles or other non-mains light (gas lanterns etc)
+1 point if you have 1000+ hours of candles or other non-mains light (gas lanterns etc)
+1 point if you have a Bug Out Bag packed and ready to go with 3 days of water and fuel, clothes and shelter.
+1 point if you have seeds ready to plant a vegetable garden
+1 point if you already have a vegetable garden planted
+1 point if you have >3 chickens or other meat source
+1 point if you already have enough acreage of crops planted to meet most of your food needs.
+1 point if you have the equipment you need to preserve a years food
+1 point if you have a non-utility dependent cooking system and enough fuel for 1 week (gas/wood stove etc)
+1 point if you have a non-utility dependent cooking system and enough fuel for 3 months (gas/wood stove etc)
+1 point if you have a non-utility dependent heating system and enough fuel for 1 week (gas/wood stove etc)
+1 point if you have a non-utility dependent heating system and enough fuel for 3 months (gas/wood stove etc)
+1 point if you have the acreage to provide enough wood to cook/heat on indefinitely and the saws/axe to harvest it.
-1 point if you live within 2 miles of 100000 people
-1 point if you live within 10 miles of 10000 people
-1 point if you live within 30 miles of 10000 people
+1 point if you have a bug out location to go to that’s more than 30 miles away from 10000 people.
+1 point if you have >200W (rated) of installed solar/wind or hydropower.
+1 point if you have clothes/footwear to last you 1 year of manual labour
+1 point if you have non-utility powered tools for DIY and gardening (drills and shovels etc).
+1 point if you have >10 books on practical survival *and* a means to read them (no use on CD if you’ve not got back-up power for the computer)
+1 point if you have >10 books on rebuilding society
+1 point if you have hardened your location against being raided
SD note : I think this is a great idea. A running scorecard you can use as a quick and easy way to measure your preparedness level and, unlike the census, this one will be useful. Tell us what you think about the questions, the scores, anything.
I get 16. Or I ignore my extended family and get 17…
What are we looking at in terms of rebuilding society? Building books, chemistry, electrical engineering, etc? I could get another +1 if that’s the way we are looking at it.
Also, I kind of cheated. I have solid wood funiture, a very economical cooking stove (wood burns to wood gas and burns again) and a heat box to keep food cooking unheated. Therefore I put down 3 months of fuel for that.
That said, I plan to cheat for all I’m worth if the s every does htf…
Justin,
I got 15. I like this idea though.
Skvez,
This is a great idea. I think we can expand on it and use it to help prioritise our purchases.
Cheating yourself is a bad idea in this situation. However, from what you say that is a reasonable method of providing that heat so how can it be cheating unless you also put the furniture down as a food source or something.
Remember cheating on something like this gives you a false sense of security. If anything err on the side of caution. I have. I could use my barbeque and surrounding wood but didn’t count it because I can’t be certain of getting the wood in a disaster situation.
And we will all be doing things above and beyond if a situation occurs.
Ok, I didn’t really cheat then. The furniture is actually part of my broader plan if it is necessary to use it. The same as it was for the residents of Leningrad during WW2.
I also like the scoring system. I think you could argue more weighting to one or the other based on circumstance but that’s a personal thing.
Reading it over again, I am going to take all those minus’ from the ‘live within’ section as I took all the positive multipliers. I give myself 14, +1 for the rebuilding books. I knew being interested in everything would come in handy one day…
Justin,
I agree the weighing needs adjusting but the principle is sound.
Being a generalist who nows a little about everything is always a handy skill.
I like this!
I got 14, not sure wher that leaves me..? Agree that some needs weighing, but great idea!
I counted the trees, fruit and veg and animals that we have as food stores..? (Not exactly ‘stored’ as in tinned and ready to eat). If we could keep the land secure, we could be self sufficient now.
Stores of clothes and footware, and food preserving will be next.
Ronnie,
Not sure myself. We are looking at upgrading this system, changing the weighing and generating some stats from it. So watch this space. Not too closely though still got plenty to do.