The very thought of possibly having to prepare for a hardship of any manner threatens to destroy the collective peace. To a person who may be in denial about anything appalling ever occurring, anything that ruins the image of peaceful coexistence with man and nature is an eyesore.

But, do you stop being a preparedness buff just because everybody thinks your labors are unnecessary? Of course not.

What you can do is to be a good role model, while hoping that nothing ever happens to prove to everybody that you were right in preparing for a crisis all along. What you must do is to fortify your survivalist strategy, and hope that everyone does the same so that you do not have to get stuck in the middle of a panicked, disoriented mob of people if a crisis happens.

Preparedness Tips

If we're speaking the same language, here are some tips on how you can fortify your emergency preparedness plans for a crisis situation.

In any emergency condition, the basic needs of food, water and shelter must be met. This means packing food that will keep without refrigeration for a few days, and bringing enough water to sustain you. This also means planning for the eventuality that you may have to look for for food and water, and assemble your own shelter.

Sharing. As much as we want to survive a crisis, we cannot deny that someone else's safety may turn out to be our problem during an emergency. Then, my recommendation would be to bring enough for sharing, but not too much that you get held back from your top priority, which is saving your family and yourself from danger.

Your worst enemies in a crisis is your surroundings and stressful emotions. Being geared up will give you an edge when it comes to remaining calm and secure in the knowledge that you have the means to carry on when the crisis gets any worse. But you can do little to control the environment. All you can do is manage, and do what you have to do to live on for the next few hours or days.

Keeping the Mentality

As a survival oriented citizen you may have already discovered that even in the company of the few million conservative members of the public you are in the minority. Moreover, you are most likely thought of as an outsider or a "perplexing" individual. Imagine all the raised eyebrows in the PTA gathering when word gets out that you have been teaching survivalist concepts to your children. The prevailing mindset of a community is that someone else is accountable for their survival. It could be the federal government or a higher spiritual force that takes care of their needs.

As a disaster management enthusiast myself, I understand what it feels to be considered a nonconformist during a period of calm, and a hero in a period of catastrophe. It's like being a square bolt in a sea of rounded ones. But you must understand that preparedness is a private decision and that the populace cannot be educated into survival. They ought to acquire the same awareness so that they can make their own choices.