No matter your level of prepping experience, having a checklist can be immensely useful in building an emergency preparedness strategy for you and your family. Use our survivalist checklist as a foundational step toward making sure they’re fully prepared in case an unexpected emergency strikes!
Prepping is more than gear and storage; to be truly prepared requires having the appropriate mindset and set of skills.
1. Food
Food is vitally important to survivalists, providing energy they require for daily tasks and survival. That’s why prepping an emergency supply of canned and dried foods containing high calories and nutritional value as well as long-lasting is so crucial.
Many of these foods can also be easily stored if your power goes out or you need to evacuate, including canned meats and vegetables, canned beans (including black, pinto, red and lentil beans), instant oatmeal, rice cereal jams jellies bouillon cubes reconstituted dry milk dehydrated fruit etc.
Survivalists typically create a list of scenarios they believe could impact them in the future and take steps to prepare. Prepping can vary greatly from just stockpiling food for one or two weeks’ supply to stockpiling a year’s worth – each person must decide for themselves what level of preparation suits their personal circumstances, especially if caring for elderly or disabled family members requires special considerations.
2. Water
Water is essential to life on Earth. It plays an essential role in providing oxygen-rich cells with oxygen while washing away waste products from our bodies – without it, our systems would collapse rapidly.
Survivalists must always have access to water, particularly during bug-out situations when finding clean drinking water is less likely. A great way to ensure they always have access is to locate their shelter close to a source of freshwater. A survivalist should also know how to purify it effectively as freshwater contains millions of organisms which could potentially cause illness such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis; boiling is the best method for purifying it.
While a daily minimum requirement of 50 liters for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene needs is necessary for survival, research has yet to provide strong evidence supporting an Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for water. This may be partly explained by difficulty expressing fluid intake requirements separately from energy needs.
3. Shelter
As any survivalist will tell you, shelter is one of the key elements to survival. Without it, it can quickly lead to your demise; protecting you from harsh ambient conditions while helping thermoregulate. In addition to that, shelter provides protection from predators like snakes or even attacks from predators themselves.
Building an improvised shelter is an invaluable survival skill, yet too few have the knowledge or time to practice in real-life conditions. That is what sets true survivalists apart.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be an expert survivalist in order to construct an improvised shelter that will offer some level of protection from the elements. You could use fallen limbs as lean-tos, leaning them against trees or rock overhangs and covering them with leaves or pine needles to provide rainproof protection in an emergency situation. Although this process requires only basic survivalist knowledge it could save your life in an instantaneous emergency situation.
4. First Aid
First aid training is a key element of survivalist education, providing tools and knowledge needed to assist injured persons before medical services arrive. First aid gives survivalists tools and knowledge necessary for helping an injured individual before medical services arrive; additionally it also teaches how to keep injured individuals safe from further injury while encouraging recovery. Key elements of first aid include airway, breathing and circulation – this means checking whether someone is breathing normally before placing them into recovery position as well as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as necessary.
Accidents can happen at any time and without warning, becoming potentially life-threatening without immediate treatment. With a well-stocked first aid kit in hand, you can quickly treat minor wounds and ailments to reduce severity, prevent infection, comfort the casualty and ensure they do not put themselves further in harm’s way until professional medical assistance arrives. Reassuring casualties of this knowledge could make all the difference for survivalists in times of crisis – learning first aid cannot be understated enough; every survivalist should learn its importance!
5. Tools
Tools are any devices used to help get work done. From simple checklists and back-of-the-envelope checklists to complex software aids for analysis, tools can be anything used to get things done more easily and more quickly. Some tools may help clarify and focus thinking while others help facilitate getting things done more quickly and smoothly.
Survivalists need a wide variety of tools to meet their basic organic needs in the wilderness. This includes having access to topographic maps and compasses (with knowledge on how they should be used), which could easily lead to them getting lost in the backcountry. Without such devices you could quickly become disoriented – which could leave them vulnerable against predators such as bears.
Other essential survival tools include an emergency shelter, knife, and water purification systems. Survivalists should also keep a medical kit on hand which includes Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment for small cuts and scrapes, splints to support broken bones, alcohol prep pads to clean wounds, signal flares to alert rescuers of their location as well as whistles or shovels for digging latrines or burying supplies if necessary.
6. Medical Supplies
If your family needs to survive an emergency situation, medical supplies are an absolute must. This survivalist checklist features items most prepper families should keep on hand, from basic first aid products and specialty tools like stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors to nebulizers that allow more targeted treatments for symptoms that aren’t apparent, such as heat exhaustion versus fever from infection – which will save money by targeting only what’s most serious rather than throwing away other supplies that won’t matter later on.
Other essentials you should include in a survival medical kit are medical staples and remover, an AED defibrillator (essential for all prepper), nitrile gloves and antihistamines for pain management as well as sleeping pills (most over-the-counter sleep aids are really just antihistamines), sterilizing agents like iodine or isopropyl alcohol to sterilize equipment and treat wounds, an AED defibrillator (essential), antihistamines for pain management as well as sleeping pills (typical OTC sleepers actually contain antihistamines). Finally, your kit should include antihistamines for pain management while including antihistamines and sleeping pills as well as having antihistamines, sleeping aids (some OTC sleepers actually contain antihistamines), sleeping aids (most OTC sleepers actually contain antihistamines), sleeping aids (like OTC sleepers are actually antihistamines), along with either iodine or isopropyl alcohol for treating wounds i.e. sterilizing equipment or treating wounds should also contain antihistamines to alleviate pain relief while an antihistamine can provide pain relief while treating pain relief while an antihistamine should also include sleeping aids).
Electrolyte replacement products like Gatorade and Pedialyte should also be on hand in case of sweating, vomiting, diarrhea or unusual diets during emergency situations. Bleach is another essential item, not only purifying water but also disinfecting equipment and cleaning the area around you. Duct tape is great for quick repairs or making last minute modifications so make sure that it is always handy in case any DIY issues arise.
7. Bug-Out Bag
Should a natural disaster or other emergency require evacuation, your bug-out bag is essential to staying safe and prepared. Sometimes known as a 72-hour kit or go bag, an emergency kit contains everything needed for survival in such circumstances.
Add personal hygiene items such as hand sanitizer, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap and toilet paper for use during an emergency situation without running water or facilities – such supplies will ensure you can remain hygienically clean!
Your emergency kit must include essential items, including a survival knife, first aid supplies and tools such as hatchet or machete for defense or shelter building purposes if need be. Practice using them often so you understand their effectiveness under pressure.
