Low-Tech Prepping, Evaluating Your Core Preps, and Building Reliable Habits

Summary

Practical Prepping Podcast – Ep. 523: Low-Tech Prepping, Evaluating Your Core Preps, and Building Reliable Habits
Hosts: Mark & Krista Lawley
Date: September 1, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Mark and Krista Lawley focus on the backbone of resilient, realistic preparedness: evaluating core preps, building reliable low-tech solutions, and sharpening situational awareness. They remind listeners that prepping isn’t about extreme doomsday scenarios, but everyday threats—power outages, storms, shortages, or simple disruptions. The Lawleys cover practical strategies for bugging in, emphasize the value of simplicity over gadgets, and teach listeners how to cultivate habits that hold up in real-world emergencies.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Evaluating Your Three Core Bug-In Preps

(Segment starts: 01:24)

• Water:

  • Store enough for your household's real needs.
    • "Do you have enough stored for your household's actual consumption? And have you tested your water filters, your purifiers and or your collection systems?" – Mark (01:44)
  • Test all purification/filtering systems regularly.

• Food:

  • Inventory storage; focus on shelf stability, variety, and ease of preparation without electricity or running water.
    • "Is your food storage shelf stable? Is it diverse? And is it practical to cook? Do you know how to prepare it without electricity or running water?" – Krista (01:56)
  • Rotate your food stock – don’t store and forget.

• Energy:

  • Assess how long you can realistically power essentials if the grid fails.
    • "How long can you realistically power your essentials like your major appliances? If the grid goes down, you've got to test your generators, your solar setups, your battery banks before you actually need them." – Mark (02:12)
  • Try shutting off your breaker for a night to test your setup.

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2. Going Low-Tech: Practical Solutions When Gadgets Fail

(Segment starts: 04:07)

• The Problem with High-Tech Prepping:

  • Overreliance on gadgets is common, but tech is ‘fragile’—batteries die, circuits fry, grids fail.
    • "Every shiny gadget does have a weak point...EMPs or grid failures can render expensive equipment useless." – Krista (04:22)
  • Psychological benefit: skills with simple tools = confidence.

• Lighting Without Electricity:

  • Low-tech options: oil lamps, candles, solar garden lights (charge outside, use indoors during outages), hand-crank flashlights, and glow sticks for kids.
    • "You can also use hand crank flashlights that don't require stored power...And talking about kids, glow sticks, they're great for short term, they're safe, they're non flammable lighting. And kids love to play with glow sticks." – Mark (07:43, 07:52)
  • Test suggestion: "Try one evening with no electric lights and then see what worked and what didn't." – Mark (08:10)

• Cooking Without Power:

  • Camp stoves (with stored propane), DIY or bought rocket stoves (for outdoor use), cast iron cookware.
  • Practice non-electric cooking at least once a month.
    • "Cook at least one meal a month on a non electric method to stay sharp." – Mark (10:46)

• Water Purification:

  • Gravity-fed ceramic water filters (Pro 1 Water Filter praised for simplicity and longevity).
    • "It's just a gravity fed. The Pro, the Pro 1 water filter. We have it on the countertop...such good fresh, clean water." – Krista (13:31)
  • Cleaning/reusing filter cores; DIY sand and charcoal filters; always test purification methods before emergencies.

• Power & Communications:

  • Emergency info = input, not just output.
    • "Think about having a hand crank or even a solar powered am, FM or shortwave radio." – Krista (15:34)
  • Maintain paper maps and a basic compass; set up non-electronic local signals (examples: special window blinds to signal neighbors).

• Heating Without Grid:

  • Many heating systems rely on electric fans/ignition.
  • Low tech: Wood stoves, fire pits (outdoors), propane heaters like Mr. Heater Big Buddy (hosts’ favourite, fan model recommended), thermal sleeping bags, layering, closing off rooms, hanging blankets, passive heating.
    • "Wood stoves are a great addition or even a simple fire pit if the ventilation is safe." – Mark (18:05)
  • New gadgets: No-electricity-required fans that use heat to create airflow.

• Security/preventing electronic theft:

  • Carry credit/debit cards in RFID-proof minimalist wallets (CarryProof recommended with code for discount).
    • "A great way to avoid that, and I do this, is by carrying our debit cards and credit cards in a proof RFID minimalist pocket wallet." – Mark (22:11)

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3. Situational Awareness: The Invisible Prepping Skill

(Segment starts: 23:37)

• What it is/why it matters:

  • Conscious alertness, noticing potential threats/opportunities early.
  • Not just about personal safety, but catching supply shortages early (ex: baby formula shortage).
    • "It gives us early warning and that gives us more options." – Mark (26:20)
    • "If you miss the warning signs of disaster, or if you walk blindly right all up into danger, you're going to lose any advantage you ever had." – Mark (48:59)

• Real-world examples:

  • Escaping trouble or disaster by noticing signs, avoiding panicked crowds, or vacating crowded/tense public spaces.
    • "The safest thing you can do in a crowded situation is get away, get out, get some distance between you and whatever the trouble may be. Don't try to stand there and be all in it." – Krista (29:14)
    • Mark shares tornado scenario: early warning/detection saved lives (31:40–34:08).

• Jeff Cooper’s Color Codes of Awareness (35:45–39:41)

  • White: Unaware/relaxed/distracted ("This is the person thugs are looking for." – Krista)
    Example: Texting, not noticing surroundings.

  • Yellow: Relaxed alertness. Most practical, scanning environment.
    Example: Walking to your car, paying attention, not anxious.

  • Orange: Heightened alert, sensing something off.
    Example: Hearing arguments, seeing odd body language.

  • Red: Action mode—responding to real threat.
    Example: Returning to a store if something feels wrong outside; verbal boundary-setting if someone approaches at night.

  • "For prepping, the goal is to live in yellow. We are aware, but we're not anxious, but we're prepared to quickly shift to orange or red if that's needed." – Mark (39:49)

• Practical exercises:

  • Practice observation games: after passing someone, recall shirts, hair color, etc.
  • Keep track of highways/mile markers in case emergency help is needed.
  • Use all senses: hearing (arguments, alarms), smell (smoke), and noting sudden silence.

• Improving situational awareness:

  • Minimize distractions (phones, headphones).
  • Avoid tunnel vision—don’t fixate on one thing, notice the whole setting.
  • Trust your gut; intuition often catches danger first.
  • Notable quote: "You can't prep for what you don't notice." – Mark (30:48, repeated at 30:53)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Re: relying on skills over gadgets
  "The more you know, the less you have to carry." – Theme reiterated throughout

• Low-tech advantage
  "High tech is great for convenience, but low tech is better for reliability." – Mark (04:53)

• Lighting hack
  "The solar garden light—a lot of people said, I had never even thought about the cross-purposing...it's a portable light source, use it." – Krista (06:54)

• On disaster flexibility
  "Disasters are fluid, they can be low, they can be high, they can be all over the place." – Krista (31:08)

• On situational awareness
  "Situational awareness is essentially…a force multiplier." – Krista (48:36)

• On prepping mindset
  "You can't prep for what you don't notice." – Mark (30:48, 30:53)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:24 – Starting core prepping evaluation (water, food, energy)
• 04:07 – Introduction to low-tech prepping strategies
• 06:15–08:20 – Low-tech lighting (solar lights, hand cranks, glow sticks)
• 08:21–10:53 – Low-tech cooking methods, cast iron cookware, regular practice
• 13:05–14:53 – Low-tech water purification, importance of testing
• 14:59–16:36 – Power/communication without grid dependence, neighborhood systems
• 17:20–21:35 – Low-tech heating, propane heaters, thermodynamic fans
• 23:37–28:28 – Situational awareness: stories, supply shortages, crowd danger
• 31:40–34:08 – Tornado disaster real-time adaptation
• 35:45–39:41 – Jeff Cooper's color codes of awareness
• 44:00–45:49 – Building observation skills through games
• 48:36–48:59 – Summing up situational awareness as a "force multiplier"

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Takeaways & Challenges

1. Evaluate Your Preps: Regularly review water, food, and energy plans. Test and rotate.
2. Practice Low-Tech: Use and become skilled with simple, reliable tools for lighting, cooking, and water purification. Practice non-electric methods monthly.
3. Sharpen Your Awareness: Consciously practice observation. Reduce distractions. Live in “yellow”—alert but calm.
4. Apply Lessons: Prep isn’t just stuff—it’s what you notice, the habits you build, and real-world resilience.

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Closing Reminder:
"Stuff happens. Stay prepared." (49:32)

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Workshop Mention: For listeners wanting to start or refresh their 72-hour kit, Mark and Krista will host a live online workshop on September 16th. (Details and registration at practicalprepping.info/workshop)

Transcript

[A]

We have three segments today evaluating three core areas of our prepping, using low tech solutions in emergencies and using situational awareness to stay ahead of the masses and out of trouble. We also have a big announcement, so stay with us.

[B]

Welcome to practical Prepping. Today is Saturday, September 1, 2025, and this is episode 523. This is the prepping podcast with no bunkers, no zombies and no alien invasions. Just practical prepping where we teach everyday people how to prepare for life's emergencies. And we're here to help you get prepared. I'm Krista.

[A]

And I'm Mark. And if you'd like the expanded notes for this episode, go to practicalprepping.info 523. Happy Labor Day. For those in the U.S. happy Labor Day.

[B]

This is the day that people are supposed to take off work so we can celebrate work.

[A]

Yes. And also a shout out to our daughter and son in law, Dorinda and Jamie lutz, on their 35th wedding anniversary today.

[B]

Happy anniversary.

[A]

Yep. And what do we have for today?

[B]

Well, we need to evaluate our prepping to be sure that our preps work for us when we need them, especially when we're bugging in. An honest evaluation will help us identify any gaps that we may need to fill.

[A]

We're going to cover evaluating three core areas of our prepping for bugging in. And that's water.

[B]

Do you have enough stored for your household's actual consumption? And have you tested your water filters, your purifiers and or your collection systems?

[A]

How about food?

[B]

You've got to take inventory of your food. Is your food storage shelf stable? Is it diverse? And is it practical to cook? Do you know how to prepare it without electricity or running water? And you need to rotate your stock. Don't just store it and forget it.

[A]

And energy.

[B]

How long can you realistically power your essentials like your major appliances? If the grid goes down, you've got to test your generators, your solar setups, your battery banks before you actually need them. And consider some small scale tests like turn off your breaker just for the night. See how you go.

[A]

Now, we live in a world where every prepping catalog is filled with gadgets. But what happens when the batteries die or the circuits fry or the grid goes dark? That's where low tech wins. We'll be right back to the show. But first, this.

[B]

Hey, are you prepared for the unexpected? The power outages, the supply shortages, the natural disasters? They don't wait until it's convenient and neither should you. And the problem is when you Search prepping online, you get buried under conflicting advice, very expensive gear lists and a lot of noise. It makes it hard to know where to start. So here's our big announcement. We are doing a live online workshop and it's called getting started in prepping and building your 72 hour emergency kit. Now, we're doing this on September 16th at 7:00pm Central Time. For just $7, you'll not only get to the live workshop, but you'll get a downloadable workbook and a custom prepping checklist. We're going to cut through the confusion. We're going to give you proven advice that works. We'll get you started right and we'll save you money along the way. Hey, get this. After the workshop, stick around. We're going to have a live question and answer session where you can get your questions answered directly. The spots are limited, so don't wait. Go to practicalprepping.info workshop and take the first step toward peace of mind for you and your family. Oh, let's get back to the show.

[A]

Let's talk about using low tech solutions in emergencies. One of the mistakes that we as people make is leaning too heavily on high tech gear without considering what happens if that tech fails.

[B]

Isn't that right? I mean, the truth is every shiny gadget does have a weak point. You know, batteries can die, circuits can fry, software can glitch and EMPs or grid failures can render expensive equipment completely useless.

[A]

And that's where low tech solutions become not just backups, but in many cases a better option. Now let's talk about why low tech matters. See, technology is great, but it's fragile.

[B]

It certainly is.

[A]

High tech is great for convenience, but belowtek is better for reliability. And there's a psychological factor in there. Confidence comes from knowing that you can improvise with simple tools.

[B]

You know, mankind has survived thousands and thousands and thousands of years with simple tools and doing things low tech.

[A]

Talking about low tech, have you looked at the 1791 gunleather.com products?

[B]

I have.

[A]

We were with family over the weekend and I wore my 1791 gunleather.com American made leather holster all weekend. I wore it to a ball game, a birthday party and just sitting around with family. I also wore it while driving 200 miles. No one noticed it and it was so comfortable and at times I forgot that I was carrying a gun. If you're looking for a great handmade American made with American sourced leather holster, look at the 1791 gunleather.com holsters. You can find them in gun shops. But if you go to the website and use the code PREP15 at checkout, our listeners will receive a 15% discount. And that link and discount code are on our website and in the episode notes as well.

[B]

So now let's talk about lighting. Now here are the high tech methods. Rechargeable flashlights and LED lanterns.

[A]

And they're great, we love them, we've.

[B]

Got them and we do use them. But they do require constant charging or battery replacement. So Mark, what's the low tech solution?

[A]

Now the low tech solution, this is going back, way back. Oil lamps. You know, for years I think about Abraham Lincoln studied law by oil lamps or by the fireplace. You can use candles or solar garden lights. You know the kind that you stick out in the yard during the day and then you can bring them inside at night.

[B]

Yeah, I think we shared that several years ago that the solar garden light, a lot of people said, I had never even thought about the cross purposing of something like that. I said, hey, it's a portable light source, use it.

[A]

Yeah. And you know, people use them to line the driveway or the walkway and they're great. They, they charge in the daytime, they come on at night. Well, in a power failure, bring them inside.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

I knew a lady that had a five gallon bucket that she had some foam in there like the pool noodle type. No, she had foam like florists use.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

She stuck them in there and she'd set it outside and it would charge. But if she needed them, she brought the five gallon bucket in and she put them in different places in the house.

[B]

And that can produce a lot of light.

[A]

A lot of light. You can also use hand crank flashlights that don't require stored power.

[B]

And you can get your kids involved on that. Let them do the work.

[A]

And talking about kids, glow sticks, they're great for short term, they're safe, they're non flammable lighting. And kids love to play with glow sticks.

[B]

And I think you can usually find those at the Dollar Tree and the five below and inexpensive places. And sometimes you can get a multi pack.

[A]

Here's a challenge just to test some of this stuff. Try one evening with no electric lights and then see what worked and what didn't.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

How about cooking and food prep?

[B]

Well, of course the high tech problem would be if you've got an electric stove, a microwave, even an induction cooktop. These are things are useless without electric power. So we've got to go to our low tech solutions.

[A]

Yeah. And we have A camp stove. That's our first go to. If we lose power because we have an electric, electric stove here, we just, we automatically default to that camp stove. And that's good for as long as we have propane.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You can build a rocket stove. Rocket stoves are great, whether it's the DIY or it's the store bought. But you can make them from bricks, you can make them from cans or metal pipes. And these things burn sticks very efficiently. Now they must be used outside because it is an open fire.

[B]

Gotcha.

[A]

How about cast iron cookware that can be used over open flame or over.

[B]

Coals or gas grill, you know, that can be used. Cast iron cookware is great. It's been around for literally hundreds of years. And it can take the heat and the use out there.

[A]

You know, talking about hundreds of years, that stuff gets passed down generation to generation.

[B]

Oh, it's. Some of these pieces are priceless and you ought to go to some of these estate sales out in the country in the rurals that somebody's actually parting with great great great grandmother's cast iron. People will pay thousands of dol those pieces and they may be in bad shape, but you can bring them back. There are ways to restore a good old solid cast iron cookware.

[A]

We have a friend who actually restores cast iron. He goes by the Iron Man, I think on Facebook.

[B]

What a great business.

[A]

And he's one of the members in the private group on Facebook.

[B]

Yeah. So just let me take a moment to say for those of you that are considering your methods of cooking, you've also got to consider your cookware for cooking on these methods. Because some of your aluminum pans or ceramic may or may not work as well in some of these alternative methods. But you invest in some cast iron, you can get them at some of the outdoorman type shops, you can get them at Walmart, you can special order them, you can find them pretty much anywhere. You can even find cast iron at Aldi, which is great. But you need to invest in the cookware you can use outside too, because this is a tried and true solution. Dollar for dollar is the best value.

[A]

And here's a practical tip. Cook at least one meal a month on a non electric method to stay sharp.

[B]

Yeah. Start practicing your skills on that. See how successful you are at it.

[A]

Now we'll be right back to the show but first we want to talk.

[B]

About something I'm going to do today. I have this in my plan. I have been just pining away for another peach cobbler and I'm only going to make it with Muirhead Elberta canned peaches. Why? Because other than me finding a peach grove and picking them myself, the Muirhead Alberta peaches are the finest tasting fresh off the tree flavor. Super convenient way to make an outstanding peach cobbler. And I've got just the recipe in mind. Ever since we've discovered muirheadcanning.com and all of the wonderful foods that they have in canned and bottled and jarred form, we have been so excited to share this information because I'm telling you, this is a game changer for food storage. Because it's canned and bottled, jarred, it's long term. But you can also discover how fresh and delicious the fruit is. You know, we have often referred back to one of our taste testing parties that we had with the grandsons. We're talking about grandsons all ages from 2 up to about nearly 17. And we cut up some various types of fruit for the grandsons and just put two or three little pieces on plates. They were running back to us with their empty plates and literally screaming more, more. And when you can satisfy hungry little boys with food that's good for them without all the weird, strange preservatives and wild unpronounceable ingredients, you know you want to give your children healthy, clean food. And this canned Muirhead canned fruit and vegetables. Fantastic. You can easily [e-mail] they offer so many wonderful things and I am making my world class award winning peach cobbler today. I'm looking at Mark and he's got that big smile, his face like today, today. Yeah. Making peach cobbler today with my muirhead alberta peaches. Muirheadcanning.com that's m u I r h e a d muirheadcanning.com now let's get back to the episode.

[A]

Let's talk about water purification. See, part of the high tech issue with a lot of folks is that we have electric purifiers or we have complicated filtration systems that are whole house and these depend on electricity. But what we need is low tech solutions. And one of those we have, this is a gravity fed ceramic filter, right.

[B]

Doesn't require any extraneous power. It's just a gravity fed. The Pro, the Pro 1 water filter. We have it on the countertop and those filters actually last a long time and it is such good fresh, clean water. Yeah.

[A]

The neat thing is you can pour dirty water in the top and it comes out clean at the bottom. So. And I can't even list all of the things that it filters out, but I'd be comfortable pouring lake water in there and drink it straight out of the bottom.

[B]

And did you know the filters are cleanable?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. And that's actually nice to know.

[A]

I've cleaned ours several times and they don't have all of those complex parts. Okay. But now you can also boil water over fire, of course, and that's timeless and it's very effective and it's still the most reliable method in the world.

[B]

I mean, to this day, even for third world nations that are digging wells, they're still pulling up well water, but they're still boiling it.

[A]

Right. Just as a reminder, test your system before you need it. You can use a DIY sand and charcoal filter. You can build that, I've seen them built out of two liter bottles and you can build it out of a five gallon jug. You can build it out of five gallon buckets. I mean there's just different ways to do that.

[B]

Lots of YouTube videos on how to do that as well.

[A]

Right. But test it before you need it. Let's talk about power and communication.

[B]

Well, okay, here's the obvious. The high tech problem that we have is that our utter 200% dependence on devices, our smartphones, we have our GPS, we have WiFi, we have laptops, we have Internet based communication. I mean, we're all living in that world today. But the low tech solutions are generally the ones that are going to work best in an emergency situation. Think about having a hand crank or even a solar powered am, FM or shortwave radio, because not so much that you need to get message out, you need to get information in after a natural disaster in an area where all the cell towers and all the landlines are not working. You also need to think about having paper maps and compasses because your GPS on your device isn't coming up. You need to think about having signal mirrors, whistles, even maybe some prearranged flags or marker systems for local communication.

[A]

I always think about the two ladies that lived across the street from each other and their method of communication for checking on each other was they raised a particular blind each morning.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Something they could see and they would look out. And if the neighbor's blind is not raised by like 8 o' clock or 8:30 or whatever time they had agreed on, call help.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Both of them were rather elderly. They couldn't be the one to go help or even to walk over there and check on them. Yeah, but they could walk inside of their house. So they had this communication System of raising the blind know that each other.

[B]

That's a very clear message given. So think about this. How would you contact your family if you didn't have a phone? Hmm. What did her, what did the, the cavalry officers do back in the day? I mean, what would that they had telegraphed back in the wild West?

[A]

They sent runners. And that's a reliable way today, unless you're talking 200 miles. But there are ways to contact your family outside the area that's been impacted. And how would you do that? Now, today's cup of coffee comes from Dr. Joy.

[B]

Dr. Joy, we sure do enjoy our coffee and we've been enjoying it all throughout the podcast. We really appreciate your support of our show.

[A]

Let's talk about the heating options.

[B]

Yeah, I mean it's coming. It's not something we here in the southern United States in September need to be overly concerned. But you know, cold weather's coming and it'll always surprise you.

[A]

And part of the problem is we depend on electric space heaters. We depend on heat pumps or central air.

[B]

It needs electricity to work.

[A]

And some of the pellet stoves, some of the wood stoves in the house that people use, they pipe into the distribution center and they become central heating systems just powered by wood.

[B]

Right. But they probably still rely on that electronic ignition.

[A]

They depend on that electric fan to distribute that heat.

[B]

That's it. Yeah.

[A]

So we need to look at some low tech solutions. Wood stoves are a great addition or even a simple fire pit if the ventilation is safe. Now, I'm not talking inside.

[B]

I was giving you the look like fire pit in the house. How rich are you?

[A]

And I've seen these and I've forgotten exactly what they call them, but it's great little fire pit to have on the patio. And you can.

[B]

Oh, the solo stove.

[A]

You've seen the solo stove?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Those are cute. Those are cute. And they're functional.

[B]

It's still an outside fire source.

[A]

But you can also look at layering clothing, wool blankets, thermal sleeping bags. And there's some passive heating tricks that we can use. We can close off smaller unused rooms.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We can hang blankets over doorways. And we're talking about this now because cold weather will come again.

[B]

Well, they're already talking about snow in Canada. You know, our Canada listeners are already seeing some snow. And you remember my cousin who lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, she had snow on the ground In Cheyenne, Wyoming, 12 months of the year.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Now, I don't mean straight, but I mean she would, she would Facebook message us and she said, hey, happy June. Look at the snow in our yard.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'm not talking a little bit.

[A]

And I know she did it one time on July 4th, they had 4 or 5 inches of snow at their house. Now the high tech again is convenience. We love being able to raise and lower the thermostat and the temperature in the house goes up or down accordingly. That's a great convenience. But the low tech is the resilience and independence. And for us personally, we have the Mr. Heater, Big Buddy propane heater.

[B]

And I'm telling you, that's some of the best money we ever spent on a heater.

[A]

It is. It'll run you out of room.

[B]

We have to keep it on low when we're using it. Even in a large setting, like 20 by 40 space, we keep it on low.

[A]

Now we'll turn it up on high to get it heated and then we have to turn it down.

[B]

But now let me also make mention that Big Buddy has two kinds of heaters. They've got the fan driven and the non fan driven. We're Big Buddy fans, pun intended of having the fan. Because if you don't have that blower action happening, you're not going to get them. The. You're not going to feel the heated air moving throughout the room.

[A]

Yeah, it just goes straight up.

[B]

Then you may have to depend on another source like a ceiling fan, which is electric. So if you're going to buy a Mr. Buddy Big Heater, get the kind with the fan that drives the air. It's really well worth it. It costs a little more, but it's more effective.

[A]

And we have that one on our featured items pa [e-mail] featured and we do have that. Now there's something else and I was not aware of these and our son in law had bought one for them and then bought one and gave us one as well. And this requires no electricity. And it's a fan that you hook to the top of the heater and the heat generates some electricity to cause that fan to turn.

[B]

Yeah, that's a nice low tech solution to have an add on.

[A]

Right. It's a no electricity required fan. It's a neat concept and we've used it a couple of times and it just clips onto the top, sits up there and it blows out like a little like you would expect a little 6 inch fan to do.

[B]

So it's physics, it's thermodynamics.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Big lit, big, big words.

[A]

One high tech thing that we've been concerned about is unscrupulous people trying to steal our credit card numbers. With scanners. Yeah, they don't even have to touch you, they just get close. And that scanner will pick up that information from those chips from those magnetic strips. And a great way to avoid that, and I do this, is by carrying our debit cards and credit cards in a proof RFID minimalist pocket wallet.

[B]

It's the neatest, coolest thing and it.

[A]

Is so comfortable and Krista uses it from time to time. We'll be somewhere and we'll be checking out. I'll just hand her the proof wallet and she'll pull out the appropriate card, little tab on there. You pull it out and your cards come out and you can fan them out and get the one you want.

[B]

I noticed that you carry it in your front pocket a lot and I find that to be a little bit more secure as well.

[A]

Well, it's more secure, but it's also more comfortable. I'm not sitting on a wallet.

[B]

Big fat chunky wallet.

[A]

I went to the chiropractor I've been going for the last couple of weeks trying to get this back straightened out where Krista hit me with a stick of stove wood.

[B]

What?

[A]

I thought she said stand up and she said shut up. So I stood up, she shut me up.

[B]

And if you believe that, I've got some costume jewelry you might want to take a look at out here in the trunk.

[A]

But anyway, the chiropractor was asking me did I carry a wallet that I sat on and I actually showed her the proof wallet and I said, this is what I carry. And she said, good.

[B]

Okay, doctor approved.

[A]

It's, it's comfortable in my pocket, easy to get to.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Now you can go to carryproof.com and use the code PREPPER and you'll get a 10% discount. And that link and code are on the front page of our website and in the episode notes. Now let's get back and talk about some situational awareness.

[B]

That's something I really observe when I'm out and about and I'm seeing people in the community. I take note of those who are situationally aware and those who are not. And I'm astonished at how many folks are absolutely zoned into their own world with no clue what's happening. Not three feet away from them.

[A]

I saw a clip on one of the social media. It was two guys in the water like a river and somebody on the other side put a radio controlled alligator in the water and was moving that Radio controlled alligator toward those people. And that thing was about two and a half feet from them before they even saw it.

[B]

They were just so absorbed in what they were doing.

[A]

They were talking and they just never looked. And it was funny, I mean, to watch them try to get away from this alligator.

[B]

That's so close now.

[A]

That is so close. And if they'd have been situationally aware, they would have seen it coming even from the other side. They'd been really situationally aware. They'd seen the guy go down to the riverbank and put it in.

[B]

Well, true.

[A]

This is one of those invisible prepping skills. It's not one of the sexy prepping topics.

[B]

No, because I mean, it's just bare bones. And it really governs how you see how you interpret and how you are reacting to what's going on around you.

[A]

It's just being consciously alert to your environment. It's spotting potential threats or opportunities early and it's making decisions before things spiral out of control. Now, Krista and I play a little game. When we're driving or sometimes when we're walking, we'll get by something and one of us will say, did you see that? And we'll mention something. Yeah, I got her one day. And you know, we get where we're driving, we don't even notice cell towers.

[B]

No, we don't.

[A]

And I asked her one day something like, when was the last time you saw a cell tower? Yeah, we were driving on the interstate. And I don't expect her to be looking for cell towers. Watch out for the idiots on the road that got their driver's license through Amazon.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

But, well, I used to say Walmart sold them, but now you can be nice to Amazon.

[B]

They like me. You know, when they don't see an order come through for me for a couple of weeks, they call to see if I'm okay.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And their stock price seems to drop, I think. But here's why the situational awareness really matters. It gives us early warning and that gives us more options.

[B]

Of course it does.

[A]

The earlier you notice a problem, the more time you have to choose how to respond.

[B]

Right. So you want to notice the people that are around you. You want to notice if something becomes an unusual situation, you know, out of the norm, not customary, totally different. Make sure you're paying attention to what that could be. Not saying it's always a dangerous bad thing, but if something's just out of the ordinary, you need to be the one noticing it.

[A]

And it's not just people and things Threat type situations to us. How about supply shortages at the store?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We can begin to notice when there's less and less of certain items or.

[B]

If it takes longer for them to replenish, you know, because that's something I'm aware of.

[A]

And even in news stories a couple of years ago, or I guess been several years now, when they had the baby formula shortage, I kind of put that together by reading different things and I became aware, okay, this is happening and this is happening. And putting all of that information together, I came to the conclusion we are going to have a shortage of baby formula.

[B]

Right. And we announced it in February of that year and it actually hit the national news in May.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Several months later. And that's when most of the public became completely aware. Remember the big scramble? People were trying to order it, driving out of state, trying to find their particular brand of formula. It was a nightmare.

[A]

And we had told every pregnant woman we could find and family and strangers. Yes. And folks that were raising infants, they had newborns, they had young infants. We were telling them, trust me, this is going to happen. And several of them communicated back to us. Thank you for that. We were ready. Yeah, we were ready. And we never experienced the shortage with our child because we had it on.

[B]

Hand because you took notice early and it gave you more time for options.

[A]

And so that's just being situationally aware. But it also helps us to avoid danger. It lets us get out of trouble before the trouble starts.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And most survival wins come from not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The best fights I've ever had are the ones I was not in.

[B]

You have often mentioned, too, like if we assemble in a public place for a carnival, a fair, an assembly, a parade, something where the whole public seems to assemble and there just seems to be this feeling that there's something a little bit off. The first thing you're always telling me is we need to know where we are and how we can leave quickly. Because you've said the safest thing. The safest thing you can do in a crowded situation is get away, get out, get some distance between you and whatever the trouble may be. Don't try to stand there and be all in it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because you may not know what you're facing.

[A]

And don't try to video it.

[B]

No.

[A]

Just see these things. Yeah. Get the heck out of there, slacker. It's like a Category 5 hurricane. The best defense or. Or an F5 tornado. The best defense is don't be there.

[B]

You can possibly leave some Distance between you and danger. That's the.

[A]

And so best thing to do. That's what happens with situational awareness. Keeping an eye out. I've had people that were walking up to me at night at a gas station. They're coming up to ask for money or whatever. And out there, 10ft, plenty close enough, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Don't come any closer. Yeah, don't come any closer. What do you want?

[B]

And I've actually seen you say that to somebody. And the guy totally obeyed.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because he could tell. He was kind of advancing on you, like real purposefully. And you're like, you don't need to be walking toward me at that pace.

[A]

And when it happens, my right hand tends to go behind my hip. And they get that little subtle. You don't want to do this.

[B]

Yeah. You know, you really don't, and I really don't.

[A]

But it lets us see changing situations quickly. And that awareness helps us pivot.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

See, you can't prep for what you don't notice.

[B]

Oh, say that again.

[A]

You can't prep for what you don't notice.

[B]

So you do need to be noticed.

[A]

And maybe I should say you can't react ahead of time.

[B]

Yeah. Well, reaction is a form of preparedness. How prepared is your reaction?

[A]

If you don't see it coming, you're not going to be prepared. You're going to get popped. It also lets us be adaptable in real time.

[B]

And I know, and you've been preaching this message for the longest, many years because you talk about disasters. There's no textbook disaster. There's no. Every tornado is the same. Every flat tire is the same. Every. Every crisis or emergency has its own character, its own silhouette, if you will. They're very fluid. They can be low, they can be high, they can be all over the place.

[A]

And weather shifts. We had this on April 27th of 2011 in our county. Tornado came across at 6 something about 6:15 that morning.

[B]

That's early.

[A]

And I got up. This again is where the weather radio went off. And it was, get up and see what's going on. It was. I get poked in the ribs when that happens. It goes off. Krista says, get up and find out what's going on. Come wake me up if I need to get up. And I got up, hit the coffee pot and went in and brought up the ham radio network there, the disaster emergency network for that. And the tornado went right over the house. I heard it go over and it sound like a flying freight train. I mean, it really did. Then it actually Hit city about four miles away. And there were two people killed in the county that morning. And then about 9 o', clock, 10 o', clock, it cleared off and it was an absolutely beautiful day.

[B]

So everybody thinks the problem is over.

[A]

They go into, okay, they said we were going to have tornadoes. We've had our tornadoes. So they went into recovery mode. We're saying it's not time, it's coming again, it's coming again, it's coming again. And people were looking. It is an absolutely gorgeous day.

[B]

The radar like you.

[A]

Well, it wasn't on radar at that point, but we knew the setup was there and it was coming.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Yeah, we took that time during the day we met and we decided who's covering what shelter. We went and had barbecue for lunch. And, you know, we just, we had a great day, but then we got ready because we knew it was coming. And then just about dark, here it comes. And we wind up with four tornadoes going across. And we ended up with 12 people killed in our county. Ten in the afternoon, evening.

[B]

And I believe, if I recall, the state of Alabama experienced 254 deaths that day because the worst of the tornadoes came after everybody thought the threat was gone.

[A]

Right.

[B]

At night, at night, in the dark. That's a typical Alabama tornado recipe.

[A]

And situations change, they're fluid. But after the disaster, after the tornado goes through, the weather can shift like it did on April 27. But roads can close, crowds can panic. We see this in active shooter situations where the crowds panic or when a.

[B]

Flood comes, people do the absolute opposite thing they should be doing. They jump in their cars and they start driving. And this is, this is where rescues.

[A]

Have to take place and resources vanish. So we have to be adaptable and be adaptable in real time. And to do that, it takes being aware. See, situational awareness keeps us flexible because we're constantly updating our mental map of what's happening.

[B]

Oh, that's very good.

[A]

Now let's cover some levels of situational awareness. And here we're talking. We're actually drawing this from Jeff Cooper's color codes.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Jeff Cooper.

[A]

And we'll get to that in a minute. But first, if you receive value from the podcast, would you help us by giving back a little bit? You can go to practicalprepping.info support and you'll find several ways there that you can support the show or you can start your Amazon shopping from our website. It costs you nothing extra, but it does pay us a small commission on qualifying purchases. Now, Colonel Cooper's, color codes.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

And we're talking white, yellow, orange, and red. White, unaware, relaxed, distracted. This is the condition I'm in when I'm sitting in my chair at night dozing.

[B]

That's. Most people are in that white zone of color code most of the time.

[A]

Yeah. Sadly, they're distracted. They've got their head in their telephone. They're not paying any attention. And I love to watch the little videos of people walking along, watching their phone running into the fountain, running into the telephone pole.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, that's. That's a pretty distracted color code right there.

[A]

And that's the danger zone.

[B]

This is the person thugs are looking for.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And that's why even in a parking lot, when I'm walking from the store to my car, my head is on a swivel and I make eye contact with everybody that's close enough for me to do that. And I'll tell you that I think more than once that has disarmed someone mentally from, like, advancing on me. Because if my face is in my phone and I'm not even. And seeing where I'm walking, I can be overtaken in a flash.

[A]

And it may be somebody who actually is wanting to ask for money. Well, they can wrong with that. They can ask for money from 10 or 15ft over there. But if you're looking them straight in the eye, they may decide, hey, I'm just. I'm going to pass on this one.

[B]

It just lets them know I see you.

[A]

And then we go to yellow. Now, this is relaxed alertness.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

We're aware of our surroundings, and we're casually scanning what's going on around us.

[B]

And I'd say I'm probably in that yellow mode. This is the mode. A lot of moms are on the playground. You know, they're watching their kid. They're aware. But again, some of the moms are not. They're on their phone.

[A]

But you just described yellow in walking to your car, if not orange. Now, orange is heightened alert. This is really where you sensed a potential threat or an abnormality, and you focus on it. Something just feels off.

[B]

I actually had that happen one time. I was actually pumping gas, and about four pumps over, I began to hear an argument between what sounded like a mother and maybe a teenage or somewhat grown kid. Words were being said, and their volume got louder. Now, I'm not trying to be all up in their business, but I suddenly stopped thinking about I'm pumping my gas. But I began to listen more closely because I wanted to know Am I in any danger? Is there danger over there? Is that mom in trouble? Is that kid in trouble? That's probably an orange situation where I'm paying attention to something that's not normal, and I'm concerned about what it might lead to. Well, they got in their car and drove off, so I don't know what happened. But that's an orange. Since color code.

[A]

Yes. And. And this is where you notice someone loitering your. Your vehicle.

[B]

Yeah, I've turned around and gone back in the store when I saw that.

[A]

Exactly. And most stores, you can go in and ask for an escort out.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

And they'll either give you the security person, or they'll give you the great big guy.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Somebody like that. Now we go from orange to red. This is the action mode.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

You've identified a real threat, and you're responding to it. Now, you can respond to it by leaving or like you were talking about turning around, going back in the store, but you've seen it, and now you're taking action. It might be a situation where you have to take some type of defensive action if they approach you aggressively.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But red is the action mode. Now for prepping, the goal is to live in yellow.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

We are aware, but we're not anxious, but we're prepared to quickly shift to orange or red if that's needed.

[B]

That sounds practical.

[A]

Let's talk about some practical applications of situational awareness in different situations or for preppers. 1. In urban situations. I know some of you live way out in the country.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And kind of envy that we're in the suburbs. Some of you and most all of us go into urban situations from time to time. Of course, it might be going to the courthouse to get your driver's license renewed. I mean, it may be something simple, but we all wind up big bank.

[B]

Or an insurance company or.

[A]

But we wind up going into urban situations. So when we go in, we need to identify the exits. In crowded places, we like to go to a movie once in a while. And that's one of the first things that I do, is identify where the exits are. And usually we're going to the same theater that we have in the past, and it, too, is in the suburbs. And they've not moved the exits. I mean, we know where those are.

[B]

But they change from theater room to theater. There's like, 18 theaters in there. And exits can be in different spots.

[A]

But even in bigger venues and things, if you go to a wedding and you're in the reception, you know, sometimes you can't help but go to a wedding. Just somebody just.

[B]

You just have to.

[A]

Just have to go. And you're at the reception. Identify where the. The exits are.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Or you have to go to a funeral and you're sitting in the church for the funeral. Where's my shortest route out of here? If something happens and notice body language when we're in situations, what's people's body language telling us?

[B]

Right.

[A]

And stay alert to sudden changes. Like you're talking about that fight.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, it just boom, out of nowhere, you hear elevated voice volume. It's alerting and it's alarming.

[A]

If you're traveling or even if you're evacuating, if you're having to evacuate from your house because of a flood or a fire or something or a hazardous material spill nearby, pay attention to the neighborhoods that you're going through. What's that neighborhood like? How safe am I in this neighborhood? And you're paying attention to people. How are people acting? I do this pulling up into someplace to get gas. You know, where there's a lot of pumps there. I'm paying attention to the people. Even when you go into something like Buc EE's that has 237,000 gas pumps in there.

[B]

They're all full.

[A]

They're all full. And I'm trying to find one. I'm paying attention while I pumping gas. Even there.

[B]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

To the people. And that's not someplace that the thugs are usually hanging around.

[B]

Well, because there is a preponderance of just good folks just doing business in a normal way. And so the likelihood of crime is a lot less in a place like that.

[A]

Now, at home, be aware of your neighborhood's baseline.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What's normal? Yeah, what's normal for your neighborhood?

[B]

Like if you live in a neighborhood that rarely gets any kind of thoroughfare traffic, and suddenly all of a sudden, you're seeing a car. Every minute, something.

[A]

All day long, something's changed.

[B]

What's that all about?

[A]

When things deviate sharply, that's really a cue to take a closer look. There may be a wreck nearby that's diverting the traffic through your neighborhood. Okay. That's easy enough to deal with. If you don't have to get out. Don't right now.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But it's time to take a closer look. Let's talk about building situational awareness as a skill.

[B]

Oh, I like the sound of that.

[A]

And you've done very, very well with this.

[B]

You've taught me well. You've done very well You're a good teacher. On the. Sit. Sit. Aware. Sit. Aware. If I could only be aware when I sit.

[A]

Yeah. One is practice observation. And. And we did this. I told you. We made a game out of it, especially with her learning it. We would pass someone in Wally world or on the road or, you know, and I mean, walking on the side.

[B]

Whatever the situation might be.

[A]

And we'd get past them and I'd say, what color shirt was that guy wearing?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And she'd go, what guy?

[B]

Yeah. Oh, he would do this, like, talking about seeing things. We'd be on an interstate or a state highway, and he would ask me to see if I'm really paying attention. Because if we were to have car trouble on a state highway, there's some long, long, long stretches of state highway where there appears to be no civilization. So he'll say, what mile marker did we just pass? Because he knows that I should be paying attention because I had to call in for emergency help. What was the last mile marker I remember seeing? And that at least puts emergency help somewhere in the vicinity of where we could be.

[A]

And you don't have to. And we do this on the interstate as well. And you don't have to pay attention to every single mile.

[B]

Not everyone, but just every, you know, 15 minutes.

[A]

Look up and look at the. Okay, we passed 135 about five minutes ago.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we're west of that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we're around 140 or 140.

[B]

You can calculate the time and the distance.

[A]

And I've asked her, I said, if you had to call 911 right now and tell them where we are, where would you tell them? In the early days, it was, we're on I40.

[B]

Yeah. That's a big road.

[A]

Big road.

[B]

It goes across the whole nation.

[A]

Yep. And so practice that observation. But now, when you're out and about, use all your senses. Don't just rely on sight.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Now, you mentioned the hearing. You heard what sounded like an argument or a fight, but maybe you smell smoke, maybe you hear that shouting, Maybe you notice unusual silence. If you have toddlers, that's a real giveaway. When it all gets quiet, that's when you get scared. That's when you have to go see what's going on. But reduce distractions. That helps us build that situational awareness as a skill, reduce those distractions. Get your head out of the phone. Don't be walking around with headphones all the time.

[B]

I see runners with earphones on a lot, and it bothers me. For them, they're just completely. And in their mind they're thinking, that's what I want to do. I want to block out the world. But you may not be aware there's a caution symbol down there and the streets open and they're trying to get it paved and you don't even know.

[A]

More often than not. And I love to listen podcasts and other things when I'm out and about, but I'll do it with one earbud.

[B]

I've seen you do that.

[A]

I've got one earbud in for listening to the podcast and I've got the other ear available to listen to. Krista.

[B]

Well, that's that what we used to do in the recording studio. When you're actually singing a vocal, you'd actually pull one earphone off of your ear. They call it putting an ear in the room because you have to hear yourself and you can't hear yourself in tune on both headphones. Try singing with both headphones on. You'll be off key every time I've.

[A]

Seen you do it. And I can't sing on key with or without headphones, so that's not an issue for me.

[B]

My point was you're keeping an ear.

[A]

In the room, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And also avoiding tunnel vision. Now, tunnel vision can kill our awareness.

[B]

Is that like when you're distracting on the phone?

[A]

Well, that, but we're paying attention to that one thing.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Maybe it's that good looking guy or that good looking girl. It can happen and we're just focusing on them. Maybe it's something that causes our attention to go straight to that and we put aside everything else. Limit those in public. Okay. Yeah, just limit those distractions and trust your gut. See, intuition often picks up on subtle cues before your conscious brain does. And we learn to read those cues. Just trust your gut. It's usually right.

[B]

It usually is. You know, situational awareness is essentially, and I love this phrase, a force multiplier. You can have the best gear money can buy. You can have the greatest stock pantry in the whole wide world. But if you miss the warning signs of disaster, or if you walk blindly right all up into danger, you're going to lose any advantage you ever had.

[A]

Yep. So stay aware. And if you're staying alert, scanning, calmly reading the environment, it gives you the most valuable resource in survival.

[B]

So what did we learn today?

[A]

Well, we need to evaluate our core areas of our prepping.

[B]

That's one.

[A]

We learned about using low tech situations in emergencies.

[B]

That's two.

[A]

And we were reminded about using situational awareness to stay ahead of the masses and out of trouble.

[B]

That's three.

[A]

Thank you for spending time with us today. We hope you have a great, great Labor Day. Don't forget to register for the live getting started in prepping and building a 72 hour kit. It will be a very well spent $7 even if you've already started your prepping and you can register for [e-mail] workshop. And as Christa always says, stuff happens. Stay prepared and we'll see you next time.