R. Ann Parris on Prep by Proximity

Prep by Proximity by R. Ann Parris

Preparedness can be a little overwhelming. Any stage comes with conflicting priorities as we balance time, resources and regularly funds. There are a couple of strategies that can help. One of them is prepping by proximity.

It’s a simple enough concept. Rather than immediately trying to match what “everybody” has, all the skills and stuff we see as we cruise through group-finder posts and prepper blogs, and the many lists of must-have supplies out there on the web, we start with where we are.

Almost all of us, regardless of location, background, capabilities, and financial footing, have localized “disasters”. Some are legitimately disasters, and affect a wide pool of people. Some are minor on the grand scale, but disastrous to our area or to us individually.

They range from a job realignment that turns us into contractors or reduces hours with no or few benefits, to housefires and storms that lead to road closures, outages, and localized supply shortages. They can be an injury or illness that reduces a family member’s ability to contribute to tangible goods and services like cleaning, gardening, livestock care, or maintenance and repair work, or the floods and wildfires that cripple whole areas, altering them for months and years.

So, we start with the things most likely to affect us inside our homes.

Then, we look outward, at family (regardless of distance) and at our neighbors, then further outward to the community, our state or territory.

Once we’re covered there, then we start actively preparing for the things that affect our nations and the world.

Doing so help keeps our focus on the preps that are most useful to us, the ones with the most practical applications. It helps make sure we can handle the upsets in life by drawing on oursavings and insurance — both the “normal” currency-based savings and company-provided insurance, and the savings and insurance we have in the form of our pantries, medical cabinets, “extras” boxes, and other stockpiles.

It’s essentially the same concept as prepping by frequency — where we use historical statistics to guess what’s most likely to happen to us, how people most often end up in trouble, as individuals and as a result of disasters that occur, and prepare for those disasters first, then balance our evolving preparedness to the level of self-reliance we want for whatever duration and bigtime disaster we’re most worried about.

Either way, proximity or frequency, we’ll be better set for things that can and do happen, with fewer gaps and holes in our preps.