The Prepper Journal

Living a Prepared Life Carries Risks: Keep From Becoming the Prey!

Living a Prepared Life Carries Risks: Keep From Becoming the Prey! - The Prepper Journal

If you have made the choice to live a survivalist or prepper lifestyle, you did it knowing you were making a choice that included some degree of risk. The only question would be what form the risk would eventually take. For most of these resourceful men and women, the risk actually comes from a variety of sources and, like all other aspects of their lives, preparation is key to surviving and thriving.

The Risk of Theft & Property Damage

Whether you are an urban prepper or live on a remote homestead, a prepared lifestyle can be dangerous. Not only are you likely to have a valuable supply of food and supplies, but chances are you also have weapons, ammunition and outdoor gear that thieves can easily steal and resell.

Protecting these items requires an approach specific to your actual location and situation. The urban prepper can access both technology and local law enforcement to help secure the property and stored goods; however, a rural prepper may lack access to law enforcement assistance and, if the homestead or bunker is off-the-grid, there may be no option of a security system.

No matter where your homestead is located, there are a few things you can learn to do to decrease the odds that you will fall victim to a theft or vandalism.

  • Become hyper-observant; this means being constantly aware of your surroundings and watching for anything that seems to be out of place, such as a strange car or someone who is lingering and asking a lot of questions
  • Establish good security routines; locking doors and gates even when you’re home, keeping valuables locked in safes or even a guard dog are all options
  • Find a buddy; no matter how self-reliant you are, there will be a time when you need help. Find a trustworthy person or family member in the area and work together to watch out for each other
  • Divide valuables; instead of storing all your valuables — cash, jewelry, precious metals, guns, ammo — in one safe, split the items between two safes and put them in separate locations on the property

Maintaining Financial Security

As a prepper, survivalist or just someone who has concerns about the perilous economic state we are in, you may have already moved some of your assets into cash or gold. While prudent, this won’t keep you safe from someone who wants to take your identity. Given the chance, these criminals will drain your bank accounts, establish credit and mortgage accounts and perhaps even file a tax return in your name. Recovering your assets can take years and is a huge expense, so it is best to understand the threat and deal with it proactively before the damage is done.

  • Watch all accounts closely for even small changes or errors and deal with them immediately
  • Shred or burn documents that you no longer need
  • Use a reputable identity theft protection service to watch over your assets around the clock
  • Store important papers in a fireproof safe or bank safe deposit box
  • Pick up mail daily from your mailbox and if this is not possible, rent a P.O. box

Mitigating Health Risks

We frequently overlook the health aspect of prepping because it requires more of us I think than  some of the other items on our prepping checklist. You can’t log onto your favorite website and purchase good health. You can’t put a slimmer more muscular physique on your credit card; that takes discipline, time and hard work for a lot of us. Your health is one of the important intangibles and being in a state of good health will help you in many ways. You may have to run to avoid danger.

  • Start a fitness program and pay better attention to the foods and chemicals you put into your body.
  • Try to remove dependence on medication where possible by lifestyle changes.
  • Focus on positive benefits of being prepared as opposed to getting depressed by possible situations.
  • Train in stressful environments so your body and mind can be conditioned to the possible scenarios you are prepping for

These are just a few ideas for how preppers can reduce risk in our lives but there are millions more. What ideas do you have?

 

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