Prepping Pitfalls: The Mistakes, Myths, Failures, and Lessons Learned

Summary

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Practical Prepping Podcast

Episode 550: Prepping Pitfalls – The Mistakes, Myths, Failures, and Lessons Learned

Hosts: Mark & Krista Lawley
Date: April 13, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the real-world mistakes and myths that sometimes undermine even experienced preppers. Mark and Krista set aside sensational scenarios to focus on practical advice, sharing honest reflections on common pitfalls, misconceptions, and lessons learned through their own experiences and actual emergencies. Throughout, they emphasize the value of skills over gear, building adaptable plans, community involvement, and maintaining the right mindset for true preparedness.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Why Preparedness Fails (00:01–02:55)

• Underlying Message: Most failures don’t come from lack of effort, but from unseen gaps and unpracticed plans.
  • Quote: “Most failures in a crisis aren't because people didn't try. They come from the stuff that folks didn't see coming.” – Mark (00:01)
• Humility in Prepping: Both share that even veteran preppers make mistakes; learning from real-life issues is vital.

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2. Common Mistakes Preppers Make (02:55–09:31)

• Flying Solo / Lone Wolf Syndrome

  • Creating a network of trusted, like-minded people improves security, resource sharing, and morale.
  • Quote: “Trying to go with a lone wolf attitude may not always give you the best level of success.” – Krista (03:30)

• Focusing on Gear Over Skills

  • Gear is valuable, but knowing how to use it is critical.
  • Quote: “The more you know, the less you have to carry.” – Mark (03:52)
  • Learning and practicing core skills (fire-making, first aid, radio operation, water purification, gardening) is essential.

• Not Practicing with or Maintaining Gear

  • Unused gear becomes a liability in emergencies; regular practice and maintenance is required.
  • Quote: “You need to know how to attach a generator...apply a tourniquet...start testing and practicing.” – Krista (05:38–05:55)

• Poor Inventory Management

  • Not rotating supplies or keeping track leads to spoiled or missing resources.
  • Use the FIFO (“First In, First Out”) method for food storage. (07:39)

• Not Diversifying Storage Locations

  • Keeping all supplies at home puts everything at risk during a fire or theft.
  • Suggests storing some preps in vehicles, at work, with trusted family/friends, or in storage units for resilience. (08:16–09:31)

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3. Debunking Persistent Prepping Myths (09:31–14:53)

• The Government Will Save Me

  • Reality: Emergency services are often delayed or overwhelmed, particularly in the critical first 72 hours post-disaster.
  • Quote: “Emergency services may not be available that first 72 hours or longer.” – Mark (09:51)

• Lone Wolf Survival Fantasy

  • Living off the land is unrealistic for all but a rare few; rely on supplies and safe shelter first.
  • Quote: “How many of us could genuinely do that and feel safe and protected and provided for?” – Krista (12:09)

• Ammo & Guns are All You Need

  • Firearms are part of a security plan but cannot substitute for food, water, medicine, or shelter.
  • Quote: “You can't drink bullets or eat guns.” – Krista (13:02)
  • Addresses the problematic “I’ll just take what I need” mentality and rejects it.

• Disasters Only Happen to Other People

  • No one is immune; eventually, everyone faces crisis.
  • Quote: “If you live long enough, you're going to be headed for a disaster of some kind.” – Krista (14:34)

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4. Hard-Won Lessons & Real-World Examples (14:54–25:46)

• Adaptability is Essential

  • Flexibility in plans and willingness to pivot are necessary. Have a Plan B, C, and even D.
  • Quote: “Stay fluid because flexible may be too stiff.” – Mark (16:41)
  • Personal Confession: Mark describes a generator failure due to poor maintenance; he now plans to run and rotate the generator monthly. (15:33–16:39)

• Redundancy: Two is One, One is None

  • Always have backup solutions for essential needs (multiple fire starting methods, water purification options, etc.) (17:41–18:23)

• Fuel & Cash Readiness

  • Post-disaster: Gas pumps and ATMs may not work.
  • Practical tip: Fill up your vehicle at half a tank; keep emergency cash and stored fuel safely.
  • Quote: “If our gas tank hits halfway, we consider that empty and fill up to full.” – Krista (18:57)

• Preparedness Pays Off: Examples

  • Wildfire survivors stress having a “go bag” with documents and essentials ready—evacuations may only allow minutes to leave. (19:34–20:01)
  • Pandemic lessons: Stockpiling everyday essentials prevented panic buying (e.g., toilet paper shortage).
  • Quote: “We buy the big pack... we work out of one and when it's empty, we start working out of the second one.” – Mark (20:23)

• Mental Preparedness

  • Recognizing the psychological aspect—coping with isolation (e.g., 2020 pandemic), sustaining morale for self and dependents is essential.
  • Community and remote connections (e.g., regular Zoom calls) help combat isolation. (22:42–23:26)

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5. Community: The Ultimate Backup Plan (23:26–25:46)

• Neighbors Helping Neighbors

  • Post-disaster, communities that band together recover faster and fare better.
  • Sharing knowledge, checking on vulnerable individuals, dividing tasks among the group.
  • Quote: “Neighbors helping neighbors is really a lot of what you see after a disaster.” – Krista (23:26)

• Contribution, Not Overcommitment

  • You’re not expected to prep for everyone, but being able to help (e.g., serving food, running a chainsaw) matters.
  • Survival and recovery are communal efforts—not just individual.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Flying solo or trying to go with a lone wolf attitude may not always give you the best level of success.” – Krista (03:30)
• “The more you know, the less you have to carry.” – Mark (03:52)
• “Emergency services may not be available that first 72 hours or longer.” – Mark (09:51)
• “You can't drink bullets or eat guns.” – Krista (13:02)
• “Stay fluid because flexible may be too stiff.” – Mark (16:41)
• “If our gas tank hits halfway, we consider that empty and fill up to full.” – Krista (18:57)
• “Neighbors helping neighbors is really a lot of what you see after a disaster.” – Krista (23:26)
• “If you live long enough, you're going to be headed for a disaster of some kind.” – Krista (14:34)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01–02:55 — Introduction & Purpose
• 02:55–09:31 — Common Prepping Mistakes
• 09:31–14:53 — Prepping Myths Debunked
• 14:54–25:46 — Lessons Learned & Adaptability
• 23:26–25:46 — The Power of Community

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Final Takeaways

• Prepping success comes from practical planning, regular practice, strong community, and adaptability—not from hoarding gear or succumbing to doomsday fantasies.
• Recognize and learn from common pitfalls before a crisis occurs.
• “Stuff happens. Stay prepared.” (Krista’s sign-off)

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For expanded notes or community support, visit practicalprepping.info.

Transcript

[A]

Most failures in a crisis aren't because people didn't try. They come from the stuff that folks didn't see coming. The things they never practiced, never questioned, or just figured would work themselves out. And honestly, even experienced preppers fall into these traps all the time. So today we're going to talk a bit about those weak spots. Common mistakes, a few myths and lessons we've learned from real situations. Nothing fancy, just the stuff that actually matters when things go sideways. Because it's way easier to fix those gaps now than to deal with them in the middle of a bad day.

[B]

Welcome to practical prepping. Today is April 13, 2026, and this is episode 550. 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, disasters and crises. And we're here to help you get prepared. I'm Krista.

[A]

And I'm Mark. If you'd like the expanded notes for this episode, go to practicalprepping.info practice 5, 5, 0. Today we're talking about prepping pitfalls, the mistakes, the myths, the failures and lessons that we've learned across all these years.

[B]

I mean, nobody's perfect, right?

[A]

Nobody's perfect, as my daughter used to say. Even Walter the wolf wasn't perfect.

[B]

I don't know the.

[A]

I think it was a book she read as a child. Nobody's perfect. Not even Walter.

[B]

Shaking my head. Okay, so. So, you know, we're not above sharing some of the things that have happened that we've learned from making mistakes along the way.

[A]

I mean, I'm gonna share one today too. I'm gonna fess up.

[B]

Well, you know, experience is the best teacher, they say. So that is exactly why we're here, to help you. Learn from us, listen to us, learn from us, and we'll learn from you as well. You know, even very experienced preppers can fall into some of these traps that can undermine their readiness. You know, a lot of folks depend on having a lot of gear, a lot of food storage, a lot of water storage. But that's before the crisis hits. And sometimes what we have found is that crisis can strike and it can reveal some gaping holes in their prepping plan. This topic is going to explore some common mistakes to avoid, and it's going to debunk some of the persistent myths out there. And we're going to share some hard won lessons from actual real disasters. And by learning these, you can refine your preparedness plan and avoid learning Things the hard way when that crisis hits you.

[A]

Let's talk about some common mistakes.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

This one is a common mistake among many preppers and that is flying solo.

[B]

Well, a lot of people feel like that's the game plan. They ought to have the lone wolf attitude, me and me alone kind of thing. Assuming that they can just go it alone without any kind of help support. No network, no strength in numbers, no tribe, no community. But we have found that the more successful groups of preppers actually do build trust with a few like minded friends or relatives. And this can actually greatly improve the security plan, your resource pool, just the moral support and the strength in being able to handle different types of things. You know, we're all gifted differently with things that we know how to do. So we find that flying solo or trying to go with a lone wolf attitude may not always give you the best level of success.

[A]

Another is focusing too much on stuff over skills. I've said many times gear is good, but the more you know, the less you have to carry.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Well, gear is good as long as you know how to use it right. But without a basic knowledge of survival skills, that equipment won't necessarily save you.

[B]

I mean, how many people have we heard of that went out and bought very fancy push to talk, handy talkie, walkie talkie, or even ham radio. They've bought what a ham radio would use, but they don't have the licensing, they've never trained, they don't know. So in a crisis, that's not the time to stop and learn.

[A]

They've never practiced. And people bought rapid radios and found they couldn't talk out of Asheville, North Carolina. They couldn't get anybody on the other end of that thing that's supposed to be coverage because it is cell tower dependent. Focusing too much on stuff over those skills. Learned skills are where true preppers can excel in emergency scenarios.

[B]

Skills is what keeps you alive. It's the gear that just makes it more convenient.

[A]

Makes it much more convenient.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Another, owning a water filter is good?

[B]

Well, absolutely. I mean we should all have water filters. We do also need to learn how to purify water that's sourced from an uncommon source or a wild source, a stream, a creek, a river, a lake. You need to know how to be able to gather water and purify that water because your clean water storage, you'll get out of that quick. You know that'll get used up right

[A]

away or your filter can break.

[B]

Oh, that's true.

[A]

Don't just accumulate tools Practice those skills. Practice fire making, first aid, navigation, self defense, even gardening. All of these things can help us to be better prepared in an emergency.

[B]

Well, another one of those failures is having that gear and not practicing through your plan and testing your gear, using your gear. Know and become familiar with all of the working parts. You need to know how to attach a generator. You know, you'll need to know how to apply a tourniquet properly. Some of those things you need to go ahead and start testing and practicing once the mind has gone through it. The mind can help remember that when it's really important.

[A]

Another is not maintaining gear and supplies properly. Oh yes, failing to keep an inventory of supplies. How about that?

[B]

Right? Because without a list, you can easily forget what you might actually have in storage. Particularly if you've been doing this for many, many years. You may not even realize that something may be missing or it's expired or you've already discarded it but didn't replace it. That type of thing. You're just going to have to kind of walk back through your storage and your plan.

[A]

Another along those lines is not rotating food and water stores.

[B]

Exactly. Because we do very much encourage you to buy and store the food and the types of food and the storage of food of what you're already eating. Don't rely 100% on the 25 year bucket.

[A]

Oh no.

[B]

Because you just want to go ahead and keep a pantry of the regular cans and bags and boxes of food that you normally eat.

[A]

I can just see the grandkids being relegated to a diet of 25 year prepper food all of a sudden.

[B]

Yeah. And don't be misled. We're not dissing the 25 year buck.

[A]

They have their spot, they have their place.

[B]

We have some of those as well.

[A]

We do have some.

[B]

But we're going to have to be in a pretty long term grid down situation before we break into that.

[A]

And when we do, we're going to use it to supplement what we normally eat.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

We're not going to jump into that. And that's one of the reasons that we've said many, many times, don't jump into prepping by buying 25 year emergency food.

[B]

Yeah. Let that not be your very first thing.

[A]

No, you want to get a supply built up before you move that direction. Use a FIFO first in, first out method. That way you consume and you replace your oldest stored food from.

[B]

That's exactly what we do.

[A]

Yeah. It's hard to remember sometimes when you are replacing something to move all of those cans forward and put it in the back than it is. Just it's so much easier just to put it on the front. So once in a while you probably need to go through there and look at that and rearrange those and put the older things to the front.

[B]

Sure. Now this next one is a little bit more difficult. Not talked about too much, but we're going to bring it up and that's not diversifying your storage locations. Now I realize that there may be some of us living maybe in an urban setting or a small apartment or whatever our living situation may be that you don't often think about having prep storage in other situations. Like some people keep a few things in their car, some people keep a few things in their locker at work or at school or other places rather than just their home. Because it's kind of the idea of not keeping everything in one basket, so to speak. God forbid you had a house fire or you had a theft or something and they took every bit of your storage that was in your house. You've got nothing. You've not stored anything off the property. So think about other places in the home storage outside of your home. A garage, maybe vehicles, maybe even a like minded trusted family or friend. Maybe you could also store types of things in someone else's location as well. Even maybe investing in a storage unit, even if you have to purchase one and have it on your own property, but at least it will divest your storage out of just one and one only location.

[A]

Exactly. Now let's debunk a few myths.

[B]

Okay, Here's a myth for you. And we hear this time and time again. A person will say who proudly proclaims that they're not a prepper. They will say, hey, if a disaster happens, the government will save me. Well, what do you think about that, Mark?

[A]

Emergency services may not be available that first 72 hours or longer. Possibly first responders do get overwhelmed, especially in widespread disaster areas, hurricanes. These emergency services are just stretched thin and they may not get to you for a while.

[B]

I mean think about it. In some communities, your EMT, paramedics, there may be one EMT for every 10,000 people could be. And that's a lot of spread. And let's say 3,000 people suddenly have an emergency. Your EMT paramedics are going to be wiped out. They're going to have to ask for extra help also.

[A]

But it does take time for that relief to get mobilized. Right, because the road help may be coming.

[B]

Yes, but if the road is blocked, if it's flooded, if there's tree that's going to all have to get cleared off because before they can get to you. And a lot of our neighbors in North Carolina, in the western North Carolina, when Hurricane Helene blew through, they got stranded up on that mountain because the roads washed out, the trails washed out and there was literally no way to get to them from the outside until they replaced some of the roadways. It takes time to mobilize relief in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. So it's up to you and me, you know, to get ourselves through.

[A]

And having your own food, water and first aid for at least the first three days, ideally a lot longer than that, but at least that first three days is vital. And I don't care who you are, whether you call yourself a prepper or not, just be prepared with a minimum of three days. Food, water and first aid supplies.

[B]

Now, touching back to that lone wolf idea. There are some that have the lone wolf survivalist fantasy and what that means is they believe that they'll just live off the land if something happens and they're displaced and they have to bug out, that they'll just take to the woods, set up a shelter and start foraging.

[A]

There may be a few people that could do that.

[B]

There's a few Grizzly Adams out there, I believe it.

[A]

And all of the friends I might have known, two or three of those that could actually pull that off.

[B]

And that's the whole point.

[A]

That's the whole point.

[B]

How many of us could genuinely do that and feel safe and protected and provided for?

[A]

Having these wilderness skills is valuable. But count on prepared supplies and safe shelter first.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Another, and I've seen this so many times, ammo and guns are all you need to survive.

[B]

Isn't that what you told me when you were like 20 something?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Your thoughtfulness of preparedness at that time was ammo and guns.

[A]

Ammo and guns. And we had enough woods around the house that I felt like I could feed the family off of game around there if I had to. But I found out that it's a lot more than that. Guns and ammunition are an important part of a security plan, sure, but they don't replace water, food, medicine and shelter.

[B]

That's right. You can't drink bullets or eat guns. So you need to prioritize your life sustaining needs before you get all up into the tactical gear.

[A]

There are some folks that have the opinion that if I have guns, I will take whatever I need.

[B]

There have some, there have been some people that have stated that, but they've never actually had to do that.

[A]

Well, that is true, but I know one day I booted someone out of the Facebook group because they said, I don't need to prepare. I have guns and ammo, and I will take from you folks everything that I need.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

So. Okay. Anybody with that attitude, we don't even want in the group.

[B]

Right? Yeah, exactly. You know, and there's also another myth out there that disasters only happen to other people. It's hard to believe, Mark, but there's some folks out there who've never been through a tornado. They've never had a flat tire. They've never had a job loss or an extended illness. They've never been caught at work when a flood came through. They may never have had some of the disasters that we talk about, but it could be that they're just overdue, is my opinion. I mean, at some point, you're going to have a crisis in your life.

[A]

It could be. And no one's immune. True preparedness is everybody's responsibility. We've got a responsibility to our community for us to be prepared so that we're not drawing resources from the community because we didn't prepare.

[B]

Exactly. Just think about that. Because if you're of the mindset that disasters happen to other people, I can promise you, my friend, if you live long enough, you're going to be headed for a disaster of some kind. I don't know what kind, but just understand that the unexpected can happen to anybody.

[A]

Yes, it can.

[B]

So let's talk about some of the lessons that have been learned, and some

[A]

of these were learned the hard way.

[B]

So we're going to fess it all up now.

[A]

We're going to start with the importance of adaptability.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Things don't always go as expected.

[B]

You know, we've talked about that. You may be in the middle of plan A, but then something happened, and you had to quickly pivot to plan B or C because something happened. To change your plan, you have got to be flexible, and you've got to sometimes allow someone else to have the better idea.

[A]

Maybe the planned safe route home was flooded.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Maybe the backup generator failed.

[B]

Possibly.

[A]

This is where I'm going to make a personal confession.

[B]

Oh, here we go.

[A]

We have a adequately sized generator. And we used that generator to get through a nice power outage. And I drained or I ran it dry. I didn't drain the fuel out. And the problem was really that I did not run it every single month. Then we had a short power outage recently, and I pulled it out and it wouldn't start. Oh, my fault. Because I did not care for my gear. I didn't maintain it. Okay, so now I have to pull that jet out of the carburetor and I have to clean everything and I have to get it back back to where it will start easily and quickly. And then I'm going to run it every single month.

[B]

So what you're saying is have it at the ready, leave it in a prepared position so that when you need to fire it up again on a moment's notice, it'll be ready.

[A]

Yeah. This really applies to all of our gear, regardless of what it is. It could be a roll of paracord. Has it been wet and mildewing? We need to maintain that gear and care for that. But we also need to stay flexible. In teaching disaster relief workers, I used to say stay fluid because flexible may be too stiff.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[A]

But you need a plan B and plan C. Maybe a plan D. Maybe your backup plans need backup plans. And just some examples. If you're only prepared to bug in at home during a crisis, what if your home becomes unsafe?

[B]

True.

[A]

What if there's a knock on the door and the police tell you that there's a hazmat spill a short distance away and you've got five minutes to get out of the house? You need to be prepared to do either or.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But always have an evacuation plan as a backup.

[B]

Well, that's where the redundancy, that mantra of two is one and one is none. That is a very important backup for your critical ge. If one fails or gets lost, at least you would have another piece of gear that can duplicate that. You need multiple ways to do things like how to make a fire. You need matches. You need lighters. You need a ferro rod. You need some tinder, maybe some wet fire. You need multiple water sources. You need to have water stored. You need water filters. You need purification bleach. You need purification tablets. Have more than one way to do what needs doing. Because if you're relying on a single solution for each thing that your life depends on, you may find it's going to fail on you.

[A]

Here's a lesson that I've learned by going to a number of disasters over the years. In the aftermath and helping with that is fuel and cash.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Those shortages are real after disasters.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

ATMs and credit card machines don't work in a power outage.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

So keep some emergency cash. Gas pumps also need electricity. So store some fuel safely and never let your car's tank stay near empty during storm season.

[B]

You know, we've all seen that evacuation thing when the hurricanes are coming and the folks are trying to get out of town and they hit the gas stations and that's when the big crush is on because now everybody needs to fill up and these gas stations will run out if everybody's coming in to fill up. So we have a rule in our house that if our gas tank hits halfway, we consider that empty and we'll go ahead and fill up to full. And I will tell you that that has made a big difference because it's very mind settling when you know you've got at least half a tank of gas if you had to to find another source to get gas. So that's just one example.

[A]

And after wildfires, we've seen that survivors often remind other folks how crucial it is to have a go bag ready with their important documents and backups and other things that are easily grabbed.

[B]

Yeah. You may only have about five minutes to evacuate. If a wildfire is approaching, there's no time to assemble your supplies. You need to have some preparation beforehand that can literally save your life.

[A]

The COVID 19 pandemic, or scandemic, whatever you want to call it, it did teach us some things about the value of stockpiling everyday essentials.

[B]

Right. Remember the massive toilet tissue shortage? Well, we didn't panic because we had already stored several cases of bathroom tissue 2.

[A]

And what we do is we buy the big pack, right.

[B]

At the wholesale club.

[A]

We work out of one and when it's empty, we start working out of the second one. In our next trip, we buy another one to put in rotation. So it's not like we had 39 cases, but we had enough to get us through.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You don't wind up with panicked last minute runs to the store. That often leads to empty shelves. We saw that. We see it with bread and milk. Every time somebody in the. Every time a weatherman mentions snow in

[B]

the south, well, it's because so many people are not putting anything back in storage. So they're going to the grocery stores and they're cleaning out the shelves faster than the stores can restock. And you can go all over town and it's the same story. So that's another reason why preparedness can save the day.

[A]

Yeah, those that already had extra food, extra medicine, cleaning supplies, and as you mentioned, toilet paper, those folks were often far better off.

[B]

Right. No panic. They were prepared. You know, the pandemic you mentioned there, it also highlighted some mental preparedness. I'M not sure we talk about this as much as we should, but it's very important. Sometimes, if you feel like you're having to stay bugged in, for example, or if we're in another type of a shutdown or a lockdown. People need to learn how to cope with some long periods of isolation. You've got to adjust your plans on the fly. Sometimes when the supply chain breaks down. We've got to understand that just about anything you can imagine could possibly happen. Not trying to scare you, not spreading fear, but just going off of what we've already experienced. We found out that during the year of 2020, the whole nation had to literally pivot in a day. And all of a sudden, life as we knew it was catastrophically different. But we all had to kind of pitch in there and do our part, and so we did. So you've got to have some mental preparedness and understand what it's going to take for you mentally. You may also be the person in your household to whom younger ones or dependent ones see as you're the one in control. And you've got to keep it together, because if you lose it, they're going to have a heightened sense of urgency.

[A]

And one of the things that occurred there was long periods of isolation, Right?

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And I do that. I'm retired from law enforcement, so I work from the house here. I do the podcast, the newsletter. We're writing a couple of more books. And so I really spend a lot of time in isolation.

[B]

And.

[A]

And it has an effect. And one of the things that I do that that helps with that I have a couple of groups that I get together with on Zoom on a regular basis, and that becomes community. But I'm also realizing that I need to get out among people more, so doing more things other than just being isolated.

[B]

Well, that certainly highlights the importance of community and communication, because neighbors helping neighbors is really a lot of what you see after a disaster. And they're generally the very first ones to respond after a disaster. And that helps to get people through crises more than this lone wolf idea. So sharing your knowledge and lending a hand, you know, bringing that chainsaw or bringing some extra food and water helps the community that you're serving, because, I mean, that's just the Christlike thing to do. And that's something that we're all about. And, you know, you see, and I've seen it, too, that in many disasters, the aftermath of disasters, these communities have banded together. And a lot of times, this is the first time people are actually Meeting each other face to face to know who's around the block or down the road. If you're in a rural section. And it helps when you're sharing resources and when you're checking on vulnerable people, there's a lot of elderly people that live alone and they may not have somebody checking on them or they may not be able to reach out. Maybe they don't hear well, Maybe they have trouble understanding. You've got to kind of know about this. And also it helps to divide up the tasks that need to be done among numbers of people instead of one person doing it all.

[A]

And these folks fare a lot better, especially these communities fare much better during the recovery process.

[B]

Well, there is something kind of comforting about knowing that there's a helping hand and there's people that become very generous with their time and their resources as well.

[A]

So don't just plan for yourself. Consider your family, your friends and your community. Now, I can hear some saying back there in the background this two way podcast, I can hear what you're yelling at the speaker.

[B]

What are they thinking now?

[A]

I can't feed the whole community.

[B]

Well, no one's asking you to do that.

[A]

Nobody's asking you to stock up for that.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

But be prepared to help out where you can. It might be helping with the recovery. You might be able to run a chainsaw, you might be able to pass out water at some distribution points.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

You might be able to help at feeding kitchens. There are a lot of people that come in to set up to help. And we just need to plan not just for ourselves, but we need to plan for our family, our friends, our community, the neighbors we don't yet know we have.

[B]

Sure. And that's the whole topic is we wanted to address the pitfalls of prepping, that these can be some of the areas where a disaster can point out what is going to work and what doesn't work. And we just certainly hope that you'll think about your own plans, your own storage, your own skills, your experience. And is your gear prepped and up to the ready if something should happen? Because I mean, that's what prepping is all about, to be prepared.

[A]

Yep. Did you learn something today? Did you get an idea of something you need to do or somehow receive value from the podcast or just love Krista's Southern charm, My Southern charm. Would you help us out a bit by giving back a little? Now, Ruby is a longtime supporter of the podcast and she brings today's cup of coffee.

[B]

Thank you, Ruby.

[A]

We really do appreciate that. And you too can go to practicalprepping.info support, where you'll find ways that you can support the show, including a coffee membership. And that's only $5 a month. But it really does help us offset the expenses of the show. Please consider doing [e-mail] support. And we do appreciate you being here today, and I hope that you have gotten something from this episode. And it's just a reminder to me. I've got to work on a generator this week.

[B]

Just makes you think.

[A]

Just makes me think. As Krista always says, stuff happens. Stay prepared and we'll see you next time.