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The Canadian Government advises people to have enough supplies to last at least 3 days without help. Let's consider this the absolute minimum standard for being prepared.

The government is planning for disasters including flooding, hurricanes, power outages, forest fires and ice storms where they expect to be able to restore services or rescue people fairly quickly.

While it's usually best to plan staying in your residence during a disaster (bug-in), there are some disasters that will force you to leave (bug out). Have a Bugout Bag ready so you can leave at a moments notice if you need to.

During an actual event is not the time to be deciding if you will try to grind it out at home, or run for your life. Carefully go over The Plan beforehand and decide how you will handle each event.

If a situation changes, don't be afraid to change your reaction to it as well. A forest fire a mile away is much different that a forest fire burning your neighbors house to the ground.

Prepping can be expensive and overwhelming. Just buy what you can from the list, and knock off action items one at a time.

Bugging-In

Every single level of prep will begin the same way. Water, then Food, then First Aid.

You will have all these items in your Bug-out bag, but personally my preference is to have a house version and a bug out version. If you eat 2 days of food at home, and are forced to bug-out you might have a problem. Another advantage is you can also plan for different
food options at home, like warm soups or stews in a can if you can figure out how to heat them.

If you do end up bugging-in there are a few extra things you might want to consider beforehand:

Waste Disposal might be a problem if your water is interrupted. First day no problem, but on the third day when your toilets are overflowing you might have some thoughts.

You also might want to look into how you will supply your energy needs. You might be able to grind out the hot weather in summer, but can you survive three days of -40 winter nights?

Cell, radio and Tv are great ways of getting information, but might not always be available. Having access to Communications beyond these might be ** soothing.**

It might seem superfluous but you might want to consider Entertainment as well, especially if you have children. The hardest part of your ordeal might be trying not to kill the kids yourself. Again, plan for no electricity or heat/AC.

Security will depend on what type of situation you are facing and how desperate people are. Remember, just because you are prepared, doesn't mean others are.

Generally if a disaster is within the first 3 days the rule of law might be out, but people will expect to be held responsible for their actions once things are over. Check out our legal page for our thoughts on the legal ramifications of self defense.

Bugging Out

The choice to bug out is a hard one. All the planning and preparation that you have put into your house is now gone. Depending on the situation, you don't know when or if you will ever be able to return. Check out our Bug Out Bag page for our thought process on setting one up.

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