Read On To Find Out What You Can Do To protect Your Family If A Civil War Breaks Out
What to do if a civil war breaks out? The key to making sure your family is prepared is with a proactive, rather than a reactive, solution.
1. Food & Water
Do not wait until it’s too late to head to the grocery store and start your food storage plan. Store shelves can empty very quickly in the event of political or social unrest. Just look at any major environmental disaster for proof. If you wait until you need the food, it may be too late. Remember, “failing to plan is planning to fail”.
Long-term food storage items are what you need. Don’t waste your money on perishables:
Things to concentrate on are anything that you can store long term without the need for electricity (if possible)
+ Rice (a combination of instant and bags of long grain rice is best)
+ Beans (black, kidney, pork and beans, etc. Best to get a variety to expand what you can create)
+ Pasta
+ Canned Soups
+ Canned tomatoes, crushed and diced (essential for making pasta sauce, chili, etcv)
+ Canned vegetables
+ Jerky (homemade with a dehydrator is much cheaper than store bought)
+ Cooking Oil
+ Flour
+ Sugar
+ Spices (can make even the most bland survival food palatable)
2. Backup Power
Unless you are not dependant on the power grid, you will need a way to generate backup power if the electricity goes down. There are many reasons that could happen, and if it does, you will find yourself without lights and heat, as well as power to your refrigerators and freezers, which means you could lose the food you have stored in them.
If you live in a winter climate, you will be able to deal with the loss of refrigeration much easier than someone in a warmer climate, however your heating issues will be a much bigger concern. I highly recommend a root cellar for those in warmer climates, and a woodstove or fireplace for those in colder climates, as this will prepare you to deal with those two concerns without need of electricity. Lights are easily remedied by having plenty of candles, flashlights and extra batteries on hand.
This means that you need some type of mobile generator, back-up generator or solar generator that can power things you require when you need them.
There are many different forms of backup power that you can invest in, everything from a backup gas or propane generator, to solar and wind power generation systems, up to much bigger commercial type generators that are wired into your electrical panel and can power your whole house.
What you choose will be dependant on your needs and budget (check out this article for how to become a prepper on a budget).
Always remember as well that any backup generators will require extra fuel storage to make them work or they are useless to you.
3. Emergency Medical Treatments
In the event of a catastrophic event that prevents you from utilising local hospitals and emergency clinics, you will need to be prepared to take care of your own medical needs.
Are you prepared to be the family physician if your household requires that from you? Make sure you have a comprehensive First Aid Kit on hand (and know how to use it). This can include multiple different types of wound dressings, antiseptics such as Polysporin, antibiotics, pain killers such as Tylenol and Advil, a comprehensive First Aid Manual, as well as things like needles and thread for stitches. Also, it’s a good idea to stockpile any medications you may require for your own personal health.
Here is a great and extremely comprehensive resource on home medicine…
4. Gas & Propane
What do you need fuel in order to use during a power blackout? You’ll need gas for your car or truck if you need to travel for any reason, as well as for any mobile generators or gas powered tools you may have, like a chainsaw for obtaining firewood for heat or cooking.
You might also need fuel items like propane tanks for BBQ grills as an alternate cooking method, and don’t forget about kerosene for heaters and lanterns (if you have them, which I highly recommend).
Get what fuel you need for your home and equipment now, before there are shortages, lineups at the pump, or the prices skyrocket.
5. Weapons & Self-Protection
A variety of firearms can prove to be lifesavers if a civil war breaks out, or you are facing a regional or national catastrophe or civil unrest.
If they are legal in your area and you live in a city, it is a wise idea to obtain a handgun or multiple handguns for personal protection. Don’t forget adequate ammo as well, as a firearm is useless without ammunition.
I highly favour 9mm pistols, as the ammo is common, plentiful and cheap, and a good, reliable Glock can be purchased quite cheaply compared to a lot of other brands.
In addition to handguns, If you live out in the country, I recommend (at a minimum), a shotgun for home protection, a high power rifle such as a .243 or similar calibre for hunting, and a .22 rifle for small game.
As far as self-defense goes, I highly recommend learning how to defend yourself with nothing but your own body. Whatever you use as a defense weapon can be taken away and used against you, but this isn’t true with your own body.
I recommend staying away from traditional martial arts like karate and ju-jitsu, and rather pursue some form of reality based self-defense which teaches how to use your natural instincts and weapons that are hardwired into the human body.
This is a really great online course that is a good place to start…
6. Emergency Radio for Communications
Regardless of what occurs with the ongoing election sage and how rough things get, you have have a way of connecting with the outside world if cell and internet communications go down.
Emergency radios are an awesome way of making sure you can still find out what is going on in a local, as well as regional and international level but having a HAM radio is very wise investment as it allows 2 way communication in the event of a crisis (keep in mind local and federal laws regarding radio transmission. A handheld police scanner is a good option as well, but make sure it can pick up a very wide spectrum of radio waves for the most flexibility.
7. Bugout Location
What will you do if civil war breaks out and things get so bad that you have no choice but to leave your home? Where will you go?
This doesn’t need to be an expensive, elaborate, multimillion-dollar underground bunker. It can be something as simple as another family member or friends’ residence outside of the city, or a small piece of property that you have purchase and prepared within an hour or two from your primary location.
Make sure that you have a “bug out” bag loaded and ready to go with all the essential items you will need to carry with you, and have it in a readily accessible location
8. Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is something that a lot of people overlook when prepping for what to do if a civil war breaks out. Discussing different scenarios with your family members and coming up with a plan of attack will go a long way towards ensuring that you are prepared.
+ What happens if you have to flee from your primary location?
+ What happens if your city goes into martial law or lockdown because of widespread rioting?
+ How will you deal with an intruder that is intent on breaking into your house and stealing your goods?
+ What happens if you are locked in your house for an extended period of time?
+ What are you going to do in case of a fire in your house?
Investing some time to discuss these possibilities and coming up with a unified plan to deal with them will ensure that your family is ready to deal with them.
The Verdict?
This list of 8 essential prepping tasks will go a long way to make sure you are prepared for what to do if a civil war breaks out and everything that could mean for your area, the nation at large, and the world in general…
BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!!!
