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We are getting used to hearing about the importance of being prepared. Whether it is a local emergency, weather related or illness, it’s always a good idea to have a stocked pantry at the very least.
Even better is making sure your family can stay warm inexpensively and has basic lighting needs met. You really can’t expect to be able to have a flashlight on all evening long during a power outage.
Having a box of candles or a hand crank flashlight is a good idea and they aren’t expensive. Your little ones will have fun doing the cranking. Get out a board game and huddle around the kitchen table with your family. Turn power outages into fun family time; it can be done. Score bonus points by letting the kids roast marshmallows in a low burning woodstove.
But being prepared may not be enough. It’s important to have a back up plan too. Or a back up to your back up plan, if that makes sense. Always leaving as many options open as possible is important. Sometimes we think we have thought things through and are prepared, only to find that we aren’t. If you are only operating with a flashlight, what happens if you forgot to buy those extra batteries when they were on sale a few weeks ago? Having the flashlight means you are (somewhat) prepared. Forgetting to buy more batteries is a failure of the back up plan.
What if the flashlight craps out? Replace the batteries and it still doesn’t work? That is a failure of your back up plan. Try and think further along the path to be better prepared. Do you need more than one flashlight? Do you have enough batteries? Do you need a couple of flashlights AND a hand crank light?
Thinking along these lines will help you form back up plans, and back up plans for your back up plans. Think things through to figure out what might go wrong and what you will do at that point.
Here’s an example of someone who thought they had a back up plan in place. But now that plan has fallen through, and they are scrambling to find another solution. This could happen to ANY small farmer. I’m not trying to find fault with their system at all. They run a great magazine Small Farm Canada (well worth the subscription cost) and they run a viable small farm. This doesn’t make them immune to problems. We would all do well to learn from what has happened; have a back up for the back up!
So, what’s your back up plan? Check out these products in our Preppers Guide – you will find some items well worth having on hand.