This is a collaborative post and does not necessarily the views and opinions of this blog or its author.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to get creative when the water was unavailable, or the power was out? I’m not talking about a busted light bulb in the bathroom, but when a hurricane has torn the power grid out in your town and you are now without electricity. Have you ever been on one of the islands when a cold snap has hit, and the pipes completely freeze solid? The water stops running when that happens, and you and your family are going to fit into one of two camps: the camp where you have repair supplies to hand along with a supply of water, or the camp who panics and goes without because you weren’t prepared.

Image Source

When you become a parent, you live for your kids and you build your life around helping them to survive. The thing is, most people only prepare for the basics. They make sure there’s a roof over their heads, food in their tummies and heat in the radiators. People don’t often think about preparing their family for survival unless they are planning a camping holiday in the woods. We prepare, though, to stop a bad situation becoming much worse. Having a supply of water in the garage, and repair kits for the pipes when the snow hits and the professionals cannot make it out to you is just good sense. Look at your children and ask yourself: how would you survive if the worst happens? How would you manage if you didn’t have access to healthcare? How would you cope without free survival gear? Would you even cope at all? Would you know how to light a fire? These questions are going to answer whether you are prepared enough for a disaster to happen.

No one wants to face disaster. No one wants to be trying to cope without light or heat or water for days on end while waiting for help. The questions that I asked earlier are real for people who live in areas where climate change can tear their houses out of place. They’re really for people who live in areas where earthquakes are prevalent and can literally shift the ground out from under their feet in an instant. Understanding how to survive in these situations is hard; most people prefer to bury their heads in the sand about the possibilities of that ever happening to them. The thing is, the sand may be a warm and muted place to bury themselves, but it’s not going to keep them safe when a mudslide is outside the house ready to bury them for real. An ice storm or tornado can have the ability to immobilize an entire town and keep out the emergency services. This leads to food shortages, difficulties fixing the utilities and the chance you could be without water. There are things that you can do to prepare your whole family for survival and some of those are:

Image Source

Water. Knowing how to purify and store water correctly is going to help you ensure that you have a plan when the pipes freeze and the water stops running. You need to have a supply of up to a year of water to feel completely prepared, and your family and children will thank you for it. Stocking up on bottled water on offer at the store in the garage is a smart plan, but keep a lock on your garage. A smart idea may be to have a storage space built into your garden where your family can access it at all times.

Food. Canned and packaged goods with very long lives are necessary for survival. There’s no point in stocking a freezer and batch cooking, because if the power goes out, so does the freezer. Keep the storage simple; plastic crates to keep out critters as well as a good lock can go a long way.

Cooking. If the power dies and the heat stops working, you’re going to need to know how to cook in a survivalist way. Learn to cook over an open fire as well as alternative cooking apparatus with varying fuels. Take a look at this guide to cooking in the open air.

Light. Plan to stockpile batteries and torches as well as candles and matches. You can also use lighters that are specific for survival like this one here. Having a plan for emergency lighting and ways to start a fire should you need to is important, as if those power grids go down, it can be darker than you’ve ever seen it before.

Medicine. The likelihood of emergency services getting to you quickly if you need them is low. You need to take a basic first aid course and know how to dress a wound as well as know how to stitch by hand. Stock a first aid kit with as many supplies as possible, as well as tablets for pain relief that you can get over the counter in pharmacies. Have a stock of personal hygiene supplies as well, so that you are ready to be hunkered down for some time.

Laundry. Learn how to go back in time and launder clothing in nature. Check out videos like this that can teach you how to wash your clothes in natural areas.

Prepare. Have a fully stocked bug out bag both in the home and in the car. If you are worried about survival you could even go as far as having one ready in the office where you work. You never know where you will be when a disaster hits your family and your life, so it makes good sense to be prepared wherever you are.

Image Source

Survival isn’t a joke and while friends and outsiders can tell you that preparing for a disaster when one is not obviously imminent is a joke, you would be the one laughing when you are prepared, and they are not. Take the time to protect your family beyond the way you always have done, and you’ll thank yourself later.