Feb272012
Can you prep too much?
Print 
PDFHow could preparedness ever be a bad thing? Is it possible to over-prepare? In a word, yes.
image by dyobmit
Yes, if anything you are stocking up could be destroyed or ruined because you can’t properly store it.
One woman confessed to me that all her food was stored in her Phoenix area garage! If your stored food and supplies are exposed to heat, intense cold, high humidity, and cannot be secured from the possibility of theft, then you may, indeed, be over-prepared. Two options are to radically de-clutter your home, garage, attic, and other storage spaces or rent a storage unit. The whole point of preparing is that you’ll having your goods available and in good condition when you need them!
Yes, if you have no idea what you have.
Too many preppers buy, buy, buy and end up with too much of one thing and not enough of another. Why have seven hammers and only one hatchet? Or forty-nine cans of pasta sauce and only twelve boxes of pasta? Keeping an inventory and know what you have. It will end up saving you money, space, and time in the long run.
Yes, if you have no idea how to utilize what you have.
What? Are you waiting for the prepper fairy to come down and teach you how to use that pressure canner or candle making kit? Stop procrastinating and learn how to grind that wheat and make a decent loaf of bread! If you don’t know how to use it, don’t buy it until you do or you’re sure you’ll have the time to learn.
Yes, if you’re neglecting your financial commitments in favor of expensive prepping.
Don’t go into foreclosure on your house because you’re purchasing a two-year food supply for every person in your family! Financial stability is, arguably, the most important part of being prepared for an uncertain future.
Yes, if you’re doing it thoughtlessly.
This isn’t the time to let your emotions rule your decisions. Have a plan. Make lists. Do your research. Compare prices. Apply what you’ve learned to your own circumstances and needs. Don’t mindlessly assume someone else’s recommendations will fit your situation.
Yes, if you’re preparing for the least likely emergency first.
HAZMAT suits and field medic kits may be all the rage among hard-core survivalists but won’t be of much help if you lose your job. I guess you could sell them on eBay, but seriously, prepare for the most likely emergencies and scenarios first! Winter is coming. Are you ready for a world class blizzard or ice storm? Do you live in an area threatened by earthquakes or wildfires? In our current economy, most individuals and families should prepare for a dramatic decrease in income first. The good news is that being prepared for one event helps you be prepared for others.
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LizLong
With my first aid kit, I looked at the (to the rest of us) crazy, careless, and / or just plain scary things my Dad and youngest son do / have done / try to do, and have bought accordingly. That's why I bought Quick Clot early on – I just *know* my youngest will try to climb onto the roof of our two story brick house someday, and my Dad already did Bad Things to his hand when he was repairing the mulcher. We aren't in an urban area with lots of medical care five minutes away, so it makes sense.
I have to say, prepping has actually made our regular diet more varied. I've been buying canned pineapple, for example, for our preps. I recently made Aidell's pineapple-teriyaki meatballs with rice and figured I might as well add some actual pineapple. I also have lots of things like Asparagus (canned) in my preps, which will make it easier to make lots of things I might otherwise be missing ingredients for.
Mary Lou in NY
Amen. A logical, calm, well thought-out approach is just as important while prepping, as being calm and logical is in a "situation".
Harold
Excellent advice. I especially like the planning and making lists; that forces you to slow down and watch what you're doing. I think invariably there will be some scenario that "we" aren't prepared for and that's where the ability to adapt and improvise on the fly will prove invaluable.
When you put in down on paper and prioritize it's easy to see where the gaps are and that helps with the budgeting. The cost of all this preparing can add up to quite a bit. Food is probably the easiest to start with but when you get into the "gear" area it can amount to major dollars especially if you have to equip seven people.
Organized Prepper
As a relatively new prepper, I find that keeping my lists nearby have saved me from a lot of temptation! Although I feel overwhelmed sometimes by how much I have left to do (which leads me to want to get More! and get it Now!), I'm trying to keep a cool head and accumulate slowly, with my family's specific needs in mind.
Gadsd N. Flag
I have found that keeping a copy of my prepping lists on my PDA (an iPod Touch, for now) is incredibly handy in two different ways. First, the lists are always in my shirt pocket so I know what I should be focusing on when I'm at Costco, the gun shop, the bookstore, etc. Create the plan, and revise as necessary, but stick to the plan! Second, every time I think of something new I can write it down immediately so I don't forget. Like "Organized Prepper" said, it can indeed become overwhelming when you write down and see the magnitude of everything you still need to buy and learn and do. But removing the vagueness and uncertainty is definitely worth it.
SHTF blog
Yes, if you become obsessed with it and go from prepper to doomer.
Melinda
My lists are like my Prepper's Bible. I don't buy anything without looking at my lists, lol. But I have found my organization slipping as far as storage goes lately, just because things have been hectic. My next step is to clean out a closet, add some shelving, and organize all of our non-food preps into it so they're easily accessible.
Josh
I actually found your article over at american preppers network. I really think you gave a good list of signs to help people look out for when over prepping. I loved it.
TheSurvivalMom
Thanks, Josh! And thanks for visiting my blog.
Emily
Love, love, love this post! I tend to freak out and want to buy everything I need all at once. I need to be talked down every so often. The part that most resonates with me is avoiding debt. Getting prepared at the expense of financial preparedness is a bad idea.
TheSurvivalMom
I'm glad I was able to calm you down a bit! I think preparedness minded people tend to go through the same process of panic to prepping to returning to sanity to a bit of complacency. Then, we hear about a new threat or visit Survival Blog or read One Second After, and the whole cycle starts all over again!
Josh
I know I go through that cycle regularly
LizLong
I keep a list. When I freak out, I go on amazon.com and start shopping for something I know I don't have. For instance, right now I want to find some more medical books like EMT study guides. Or looking for the best price on a Sun Oven. I also make trips to Costco. Since I also buy regular food, I can't go toooo crazy about how much I buy or it won't fit in the trunk. After a few days, I usually start calming down to reasonable levels. I also will use freak-out time to work on organizing, practicing skills, or otherwise learning something new. Also, watching YouTube videos on things like dehydrating.
Brescon
Lizlong
My son went to Firefighter’s school out of HS and I have his emt text. If you have any type of schools like that; vo-tech types, there are probably courses that they offer and the texts are in their book store. I know you posted a while ago but this might help others who are looking for the info but don’t / can’t take the classes.
Dagny
Excellent points. My earliest "prepping" was getting in the habit of stocking up on soups and crackers every fall in case I caught the flu. Being single I didn't want to have to go to the grocery feeling horrible and did not want to spread the germs. Since then I've always had at least a couple weeks of food on hand — simple flu prep.
Prepare for the likeliest scenarios — flu, short-term power outages, job loss, earthquakes/hurricanes — and put emphasis on skills and not just stuff.
TheSurvivalMom
Being prepared is just smart, whether it's for an epidemic, severe weather or whatever. If you prepare for severe weather, you'll also be well prepared for a job loss, a natural disaster, or worse.
Linda Raper
One thing that keeps me balanced is knowing that I already have waaaay more food and water than most people. So when the bad stuff happens and they're all at the grocery store cleaning out the shelves, I'lll be elsewhere acquiring other things of value, like a bike for transportation or extra garden tools. There's no way to cover everything all at once, but getting the high-priority things done now buys us some time and reduces some of the anxiety. And hey, peace of mind is worth its weight in gold.
Kandi
Good comment about being able to utilize what you have, I thought about that, I have food but can I cook it if the power goes down? For even a few days? Also on preping for financial emergencies. I have stockpiled for years and 2 years ago during some hard financial times my girl and I lived on what food I had stored. It kept us going till we were back on our feet.
Nick
I budget 5 percent of my take-home pay for prepping–not a budget-breaker at all. The key is to plan ahead and stick with your plan! Make lists. Imagine the most- and least-likely scenarios you're apt to encounter and plan accordingly. I'm stuck in a small (60,000 population) town with lots of farms in the outlying areas and a very self-sufficiency-oriented mindset among many of the townsfolk. I'm not in a position to move to more secluded areas because my wife is disabled, but we've got a pretty low-profile existence and we look like a pretty typical couple. We just figure out what the most productive use is for the resources we have and see how far our dollars can get us. We've also got lots of friends and family in the area, most of whom are sympathetic to the notion of prepping even if they aren't doing much at the moment. My wife and I have tried to drop hints on common-sense things that people can do to survive as the economy continues to decline, and thankfully some people have been listening to us and following our lead.
Lynda
It's nice to see some balance to this. Prepping is truly important, but some of the ones that have been featured on the Nat Geo show, come across as absolute loonies who've been given a public forum for their obsessive compulsive behaviors. I date and rotate my supplies, because there are experation or best used by dates that in some of these packed full rooms shown in examples of "preppers" reflect no ability to gage this. I'm also amazed at how many are worried about mega earthquakes or shifts then have open shelves that I can tell you as someone living in earthquake country, are all going to be smashed on the floor with even a slight shaker. Common sense needs to be maintained as life needs to be lived now, while we prepare for the whatevers. Thanks for this piece of advice- good post.
TheSurvivalMom
Thanks, Lynda. I wrote this a while back but thought that we all need a reminder every once in a while to stay balanced.
countrygirl
I remember reading this when you first posted it and now, as I've grown and matured in my preps, I still think it is a good post, from a different perspective.
L P
I think most people can do well by first planning to maintain their dietary habits during an emergency. Supplementing that with non-food preps that support food preparation and cooking. When they are sure they can provide sustenance, their focus can go into other areas. But ALL preps require a plan. Even a sense inside that guides – but something clear and meaningful. Most people do need something concrete written down, and I feel there is no comprehensive substitute for it. We can UNDER prep and OVER prep, and never know it without that guide. This list of yours takes the problems in prepping and boils them down to the rock hard core of our errors. It's a good thing that you resurrected it and shared it again.
Amanda
I am so glad I am not the only one that recently stumbled onto this post! You know you need to be “talked down” when your husband starts making up songs making fun of you to country songs like, “I’ve Got a Drinking Problem” (His line, Yes I admit, I’ve got a canning problem… it’s always on my mind) because your night reading after your devotions is the Ball Canning Book. LOL. It’s nice to know that even if I do it at $50 a month, it’s better than most others!!
Bazza
I have some trouble understanding why anyone has to store more than one years supply of food as we should be living off the produce we are able to grow in our gardens and orchards.
The idea of having so much money and space tied up with excessive food in storage and the worry that it will be alright to consume if ever the need arises when what we all really need is a garden that is able to provide us with our nutritional requirements.
Items such as preserving jar lids we would never be able to make ourselves so if ever they became unavailable we would have to look at what we preserve and try and either grow the crops over an extended season or sun dry them so that we could have them out of season.
If push ever came to shove, my store of vegetable seeds would be more valuable to me than any commercially prepared food items as when sown they would be able to sustain, on the arable ground we have, at least five times the two of us that normally live here. We know this because of the amount of produce we already grow to give away or market but that amount could be increased with the availability of more labour.
lee
very wise article…I find my preps are this and that away….mostly because I have this skinny space with shelfs for my food preps but also some of the kids old toys,mementos,odds and ends, etc…
I’ve really begun to try to de-junk……even nice things….Christmas dishes,white glass, clear glass items, bells…..all nice things but not nice enough to take up valuable space…mostly they go to Goodwill or Salvation Army…..people would be surprised how the market for collectibles has just crashed and todays generation does not collect nearly as much as we older/middle age ones….
but no more…..I want more space so I know exactly what I have and can get it without rumaging…
Kat
We’re looking at doing more purchasing of store items, simply because we live in a desert and we have to buy all of our produce. Can we grow our own food? Yes, of course. Can we do it for cheaper than store bought canned goods? No, not at all. Water is much more expensive than even in Phoenix in my small Arizona town. It would cost us in excess of double to grow our own, even using rain barrels and grey water.
Personally, I would rather use that money to purchase other preps, than spend it foolishly.
BERTHA JEWEL
Just wondering if anyone remember how our grandmothers would make jelly and pour a coating of hot wax over the top. I remember having to dig the wax out to eat the jelly. Apparently this was used instead of the canning lids we buy now.
PegMo
Some thoughts about Prepper Anxiety from a Newcomer to your Forum: I’ve been a Prepper for about 1 year — before I discovered there was a TV show for this! My prepping actually began by being a coupon shopper, and I use a coupon mostly when there’s a store sale going on to magnify the possible savings. Thanks to my couponing, I figure I now have provisions to last Hubby and Me several months if need be. My next priority is to actually write up an inventory of all this stuff so I’ll know for sure how supplied I really am.
Although fairly new at prepping, I’ve certainly experienced the cycle of fear/uncertainty that several people mentioned upstream in this thread. Like everybody else, I’ve felt the need to run out and immediately buy stuff that seems necessary In A Perfect World. For example — How can I put together a Bug Out Bag (72 Hour Bag) if I don’t have something to put the stuff in??? But somehow I’ve managed to step back long enough to realize it’d be better to do a little research about what kind of backpack (or other container) works best for my situation. Rather than mess up my cash flow and hastily purchase backpacks (without doing any research), I decided instead to gather up the Bug Out supplies I already had in the house and put them in a container and place where they could be readily grabbed.
After a bit of trial and error and soul-searching (but NO extra spending) I now have assembled stuff taken from my shelves and closets that will cover some possible survival scenarios. I’ve put together meals and water for Hubby and me for 3 days and something to cook it with. At the moment it’s all stored in an 18 gal. plastic recycle-type bin in a closet — and it weighs A TON!! Actually, I can lift it single-handedly, but wouldn’t want to carry it any distance. Anyway — I fully realize this isn’t an ideal set-up (not really portable), but I’m at least confident I could get this stuff into the car’s trunk so we could at least Bug Out automotively.
I view my current situation as only a step in a many-step process where I’ll: 1.) continue to research gear and options; and 2.) buy stuff that’s lighter-weight/more durable/ yadayadayada….. and will gradually transition to a Bug Out Bag that’s more useful in more situations where our car can’t be used. For example, when I get around to buying a package of Mountain House Beef Stew I’ll replace the really heavy Giant Can of Dinty Moore in my plastic bin and subtract a few ounces from the total weight — and so on, and so on…..
I bet many people get anxious (like me) when they learn about other people’s preps and want to get there IMMEDIATELY. After all — it’s tornado season now, and Iran and North Korea are acting up, and the economy continues to slide — and the zombies could come ANY MINUTE NOW. But at least, as of today, I feel much more relaxed when I look at that big blue bin in my closet and know I could get out of Dodge in the car — RIGHT NOW — if I needed to.
Gary Wolf
I keep quite a few things around. people laugh because I have solar panels in my back sliding glass door. But i actually use them. they keep my batteries charged, they run an inverter I’m sure that helps to lower my power bill by a Fraction of a %
With the living room lamps attached to it. were more mind full of turning them off. it’s just good practice.
*hangs head in shame* I guess I have stuff that i don’t Really need. But It was all bought for a reason, like the 2 way radios. they get used a lot. (letting the kids go play at the park for example) I can squawk at them when ever I want. oh yeah, and it makes me feel better knowing they have it… and there safer n’ stuff…