When people think of preparedness, they often ascribe a negative connotation to the topic. Between shows like “Doomsday Castle” or “Doomsday Preppers” and the general behaviors of some of the more overboard “Preppers”, it’s become a common view for people to think all of these people are crazy.

These people don’t set the standard, however, and there’s a lot of very rational, intelligent people who have seen very bad things happen for no reason, and they want to be prepared for those situations. I am one of those people. I have no crazy stockpiles of supplies, no underground bunker, and no fears of a zombie apocalypse. There’s a lot of tornadoes in my area, flooding, and more than a few meth addicts looking to make a few bucks on breaking and entering. There’s also more than a little social unrest at the moment, and that comes with risks too. But more than anything else, I really just want to be a little bit more independent then I am.

This is the essential concept behind my presentation of Modern Survival. Independence. To free up time for things I can enjoy. To eliminate questions and doubts in my mind about my own capability. To push myself towards improvement. To protect the people I care about in the case of emergency.

Methodology of Modern Survival

My concepts for Modern Survival are a tiered system, one that I stole from Mike Glover of Fieldcraft Survival. It allows for preparation up to any level, and allows you to balance your life with your preparedness. This gives you a stable foundation from which to build, is enjoyable, and very effective. I’ve added some of my own elements to what I’ve learned from Mike and several other resources, and I’ll do my best to link to expert opinions and reasoning as much as possible through all of my postings. I divide the tiers into two segments, internal and external.

Internal Preparedness

The most important foundation of survival is your home. The majority of your life happens here, and many of our most common and avoidable accidents can happen in the home, so being prepared here both short and long term are critical. An example of short term preparedness in the home is having a tourniquet and other medical equipment available in case of an accident. An example of long term internal preparedness is having a safe room equipped to protect in the case of a home invasion or natural disaster (Preferably both). I would divide the preparation of internal preparedness into food, water, medical, security.

External Preparedness

External preparedness is an entirely different concept. It’s super important to be prepared for external situations ranging from active shooters and bug out emergencies to just being prepared for a breakdown on a cold night. I would categorize external preparedness into food, water, EDC , Go-bag, go-rig, and Bug out Location (BOL). each of these areas should tackle different levels of security, and each one needs to be carefully considered.