https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/guides/sane-prepper-mantra-common-sense-rules/
Since getting prepared makes sense, how you get prepared should make sense too! Unfortunately, a lot of people trying to get better prepared end up confused or they follow bad advice from junky blogs and social media. After years of experience personally prepping and teaching others, we created the Sane Prepper Rules to help keep things rational and valuable. We use it when writing articles for you, and you should use it when making your personal decisions.
Part of why we started The Prepared is that, in our own prepping, we found that much of the advice you find online is either dangerously incorrect or causes more confusion and complication than necessary.
This bad advice leads to countless hours, wasted money, and too much anxiety and frustration. Or worse — you end up less prepared because things got too complicated.
Prepping should be:
- Responsible. It is smart and normal to get ready for emergencies.
- Valuable. The whole point is to actually benefit from prepping if you should ever need it.
- Easy. Don’t waste hundreds of hours digging through incorrect and confusing content.
- Affordable. Almost any budget can cover the basics of prepping.
- Comforting. Have the peace of mind that you and your family are ready.
- Fun. It’s challenging and fun to figure out how to become a more self-sufficient person. It’s like Boy/Girl Scouts for adults.
The Sane Prepper Rules:
- You can’t predict what is going to happen. There are just too many variables. Don’t get tunnel vision or caught up in whatever people are freaking out about on social media.
- Data and reason should always win over opinion and impractical ideas.
- Follow the 80-20 rule to focus on the right things and get the most value.
- It’s impossible to be 100% prepared for 100% of scenarios.
- Great preps are a mix of gear, supplies, skills, practice, planning, community, and you.
- For gear or skills to be useful they must be as simple, practical, and reliable as possible. That means good preps are always ready and double dipping is bad.
- Don’t try to memorize lists and instructions. Focus on learning high leverage concepts and buying high leverage gear so you can think on the fly and adapt.
- Every budget level can prepare, but you get what you pay for. When it comes to saving your life it’s better to “buy once, cry once.”
- Be proud that you’re taking steps to be responsible and self-sufficient. Share that prepping responsibility with your family, friends, and neighbors.
- Prepping should not dominate your life or make it worse. Spend a reasonable amount of time, money, and energy.