Opinions - Single most important prep

I'm sure this has been covered before, probably multiple times. But, since values and situations, and opinions tend to change over time, humor me please..
What do YOU consider to be the single most important prep on you list.. If you had to start all over, what would be the first, most important item on your list ?

I think my answer would be to educate myself as much as possible on all things survival in order to maintain a calm mindset and prevent panic..

Okay.. Physical items.. Your opinion on what single material possession would be first on your list.. Go...

 

The most important Prep is the MInd. If you are not prepared Mentally you can own a warehouse full of stuff & still be screwed.

The most important prep materially is Books. Cuz theres no way you can keep all the knowledge you need in your mind, just not possible.

I have been buying & printing out PDF files for awhile now. Have 2 shelves full of GREAT knowledge. An yes I've read thru it all.

 

My AR then I can take what I want ( just joking) I would say my small survival kit with it I can purify water, build a fire, treat wounds, build temp shelter, make small game traps.

 

im with stangf150
the greatest tool/weapon/resource/prep anyone can have
IS THEIR BRAIN
without a proper brainset everything else is useless junk

 

Sounds like by the answers so far that I'm pretty much on the right path.. Just by preparing the mind, I think those of us here reading this today are a lifetime ( literally ) ahead of the sheeple..

 

Cabo, the vast majority of the sheeple, bear a striking resemblance to your avatar pic of Homer Simpson.

 

Baaa, i think homer is smarter

 

Every list ever writ down has always had the same top answers. Water, food, shelter, and security/protection.
Have water on hand and more than 1 way to purify your collected water.
Have short and long term food stores. No sense in eating up your $7/meal freez dried foods when you are at the end of your first week post SHTF.
Have adequate shelter offering you safety and cover.
Security is a big deal. You are going to have to choose a weapon that is right for you and train with that weapon. If you have something someone else does not, they will want it.

 

Big Item

After taking care of Water Filtration and Food Storage, I rank my smallish Rocket Stove as a key item in my post-SHTF coping tools.

Yes, I've got firearms and ammo.

If we are without electricity for an extended period of time, hot meals and beverages and soups and stews will do wonders for our morale and overall sustenance.

If you do not have one of those very affordable rocket sotves, you might be missing out on a great piece of equipment.

 

Homer is definately smarter... My avatar used to be this: but I've seen that somebody else is using it.. I figured I'd change mine to something else..

 

The most important prep is a gun with ammo for we all know that you can get more with a kind word and a gun than a kind word alone.

 

Food and water.

A gun and ammo is a close second.

There is no food, nor foraging where I am, and the nearest source of water is several miles and wide open. I don't have to worry as much about looting given my proximity from the exodus of LA.

 

Preplanning. "Hedging" my answer with that but without it you will have nothing. Preplanning puts the basics in line and the secondary items/supplies/positions at the ready. No one thing will get you by. It is like trying to swim with boots on. It can be done but not for long and your progress will be laborsome. Best to you as you prep.

 

I like what Stang150 said about mind set, up until now my priority was how to keep my beer cold in a shtf sitchuation. Been thinking about this post last couple of days, time to get serious about my preps, very serious.

 

I would say steadfast faith in God is the most important prep...ESPECIALLY in a SHTF scenario.

 

I'd say food.... assuming that you don't live in desert USA.

Water falls from the sky with some regularity elsewhere. If not, it can probably be had from a surface source or well.

Food would be necessary to provide the energy to do anything else. The most basic and easiest to store... rice.

 

By now it is very common knowledge that water, food, shelter, and protection are a high priority in any situation. What may be more productive is to talk about things beyond the usual "I am new, how do I prep" discussion. Every board has the newby that asks the same question every time, "I am new to this how do I do it" and "What should I buy". Everyone has their own opinion based on their plan. Some are the freez dried everything diet because they are buggin out, others have the rice, beans, and canned stuff because they are buggin in. Of course this means any time a newby asks the question, they are going to get inundated with what everyone else will do. All this will lead to newby being planted in the ground with a room full of stuff somewhere that was useless to him because he planned according to someone elses plan, not his/her own.

I know it is overwhelming to start prepping. You think that there is so much to buy with so little time and money. While that MAY be a possibility, you have to answer one of the biggest questions before you start prepping. What is my plan? Are you moving out or hunkering in? Are you in a flood prone area? Are you in an urban setting? Do you have tornadoes or hurricanes? Do you have land? Do you have a BOL? Is it near you? Can you get supplies there? If you plan on leaving your current location, can you take all your preps with you to your new location? What are the logistics involved in moving you and your stuff? Can you do it in one trip? What are your triggers to go to your plan?

I have a very involved plan with many triggers in place to go to plan B, plan C, or plan D. Some say it is complex while others say it is covering all the bases. Thing is, you need to seriously THINK about what you will do when the SHTF because it can manifest itself in MANY ways. Your job is to think of all of those ways and plan accordingly. I plan on the very real possibilities first like flooding and being snowed in for a period of time. I also plan on very unlikely or unrealistic stuff as well like a nuclear detonation and space aliens landing in the back yard.

So, first to help us help you, you need to figure out what your plan is. Then you need to tell us a little about your plan (without giving away too many details.....remember OPSEC) and from there we can give you plenty of great ideas of how to prep and what direction you should go in. There are a lot of people on here that have been doing this for a long time and have plenty of first hand experience in bein the monkey.

 

life wouyld suck with out penutbutter and blackberry jam ..for one im an adult ..but i still like a pb and j the one good thing in all this ..is i know how to make those things ..thank god ... i just ate 2 pb a js

with my home made jam and penutbutter