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

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.

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.

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)

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)

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)

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"

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.

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

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)