Prepping For Beginners: A Basic Guide for Disaster Preparedness
By: Ian Freng-Meeteer | Last updated 5 April 2025
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What is Prepping?
In my experience, prepping can mean a number of different things. As with everything in life, there are gradients and varying degrees of how prepared you can be. Personally I started prepping simply by having a road side kit, rain coat, extra water bottles, jumper cables and a few MREs in a compartment of my car. My dad taught me that having some basic necessities in the vehicle before going on road trips or even commuting to work can make a big difference if something goes wrong.
Preparing is looking at eventualities or situations that could arise and working backwards from there to see what you could have on hand to better deal with whatever circumstances you would be facing. Not all preparedness folks are planning on armageddon, full on societal collapse or stockpiling bunkers despite how pop culture and the media portray preparedness.
What Do People Prepare For?
Preparing for various scenarios is important for overall resilience. Some examples of what someone would prepare for are:
Natural Disasters:
Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, etc. Be ready with emergency kits and evacuation plans.
Financial Emergencies:
Have savings and a financial plan to cope with unexpected expenses, job loss, or economic downturns.
Technology Failures:
Prepare for potential technology disruptions, such as internet outages or loss of electronic data.
Food, Water & Sanitization Shortages:
Have a stockpile of non-perishable food, water purification methods, and know how to procure resources in case of shortages. Remember the Covid toilet paper shortage? Yeah.
Health Emergencies:
Maintain good health habits, have health insurance, and be prepared for unexpected medical issues.
Power Outages:
Keep essential supplies, flashlights, and backup power sources for times when electricity is disrupted.
Social Unrest:
Stay informed about local and global events, have a communication plan, and be aware of personal safety in times of social unrest. The looting after the George Floyd riots are a good, closer to present time example of this in the United States at least.
It would only take 3 days of no access to food for any major city to turn into complete anarchy. Being caught in the middle of that sounds like a real bad time.
Job Changes or Loss:
Keep your skills updated, network, and have a plan for career transitions or unexpected job loss.
That all might seem like a lot and be overwhelming for someone just getting into preparedness but remember, it’s all about gradient scales, location and resources. As I mentioned above, my preparedness journey started with having basic preps in my car and it really is an ever evolving journey and making small steps towards an ideal scene.
Home Security:
Ensure home safety with measures like sturdy locks, security systems, and emergency plans for intrusions or burglaries such as poisoned blow darts (just kidding).
Personal Safety:
Develop self-defense skills, carry personal safety items, and be aware of your surroundings.
How to Start Prepping as a Beginner
The best way to start preparing, in my not-so professional opinion, is to start with the basics like what the American Red Cross recommends. I recently attended a disaster preparedness seminar by them and beginning with very basic things you would need if there was a natural disaster, such as a weather event or power outage is a great place to start. At the very least with the essentials you’ll be ahead of everyone else if there is a solar flare, EMP (electro magnetic pulse) or nukes! Glass half full right?
Beginner Prepping Essentials
We’ll start with the age old, tried and true method: The Rule of Three.
The Rule of Three helps you prioritize during emergencies. It is the sequence in which you give importance to what is going to keep you alive.
- The body can’t survive without oxygen for 3 minutes
- The body can’t survive without water for 3 days
- The body can’t survive without food for 3 weeks
- 3 hours without shelter (in extreme environments)
Emergency Oxygen, Detectors & Masks
Short of just not putting yourself in a situation where you’re in a car sinking underwater or getting stuck in a collapsed building, the two best things you can have is the ability to detect things such as carbon monoxide that will cut of your oxygen intake and kill you and having emergency oxygen canisters in case you are stuck in that type of situation. Even having these & filtering face masks on hand if you live anywhere near wildfire zones can be a life saver.
Water Storage & Filtration
Having water stored, having the ability to filter water and having the equipment to boil water are all incredibly important factors when it comes to survival. I personally keep a couple gallon jugs in the back of my car, ten 7 gallon containers which I rotate and refill every few months, a Waterbob which holds 100 gallons in a bathtub and handful of water filtration systems such as the Katadyn Be Free 3.0L.
You can also make your own 5 gallon water filtration system with two 5 gallon buckets and a sink water filter for about $100 instead of spending $200 – $400 online. Check out my guide here.
Survival Food & Long Term Food Storage
Having foods with long shelf life is key when it comes to prepping. Foods such as rice, beans and oatmeal may not be delicious by themselves but they will sustain you and keep you alive if there is nothing else available to eat.
One Pro Tip for beginner prepping for food is that if you are going to stock up on basics like this, consider going to a restaurant supply store instead of your usual grocery store or wholesaler such as Costco. You will get cheaper prices and more quantity! I would also recommend purchasing some mylar bags to store your dry goods in as this can greatly improve shelf life.
MREs (meals ready to eat) are a good choice for something you can keep in your car, backpack or bug out bag as they last for many years and are fairly compact.
Bug Out Bags For Beginner Prepping
Items for a Bug Out Bag
My first recommendation when it comes to items for a bug out bag is to avoid cheaply made things if at all possible. This doesn’t mean that you need high end, top of the line preparedness gear but it does mean that having tools that won’t break the first time you use it (especially if during an emergency) is very important.
Below is a basic list of essentials that I include in my daily go bag:
- Food (3 meals)
- Water (multiple bottles if possible)
- Small first aid kit
- Flashlight
- Duct tape
- Painkillers
- Small tarp
- Fire source
- 550 Paracord (30-50 ft)
- Water filtration tablets
- Emergency pocket radio
- Toilet paper
- Pepper spray
- Multitool or knife
- Oxygen canister
- Thermal blanket
- K95+ facemask
- Sanitization wipes
- Taser
Believe it or not, all of the above can fit in your average Jansport backpack. Just having the above with me on a daily basis gives me peace of mind that if something bad were to happen I would at least have the bare minimum to survive a day or two. Obviously keep in mind if you are taking this with you to places such as your work you have to be aware of the laws in regards to things such as knives, pepper spray and tasers. Be sure to check your local laws and regulations!
In Closing
Beginning prepping by making your first go bag, taking a look at what things you would actually need to survive for a few days without power or pondering how you would filter water if there was none available is a great place to start.
Preparedness goes much deeper than this but as I’ve said, start on a gradient. Get a few extra cans of food when you’re next at the grocery store or a few gallons of water, take the time to make a day bag. Oh, also stay away from tacticool stuff and molle straps as that could give you away as a prepper nerd…
Cause who knows, things might not always be how they’ve been. I hope you found this data helpful and good luck!