Why Being Organized Is So Important When It's Time To Go!
No matter how much gear or resources you have as part of your preparedness plan, none of it matters if you don't remember you have it, can't find it, or can't get to it, when you need it most.
Considering that it is impossible to determine exactly how much time you will have before you need to evacuate, you need to make sure that whatever time you do have, you know exactly where to go and what you have to pack. If your resources are stored all over your home, it will take some time just to remember what you have, more time to remember where everything is, still more time to find containers to pack your gear into, and still more time to pack it all in your car. But, what if it doesn't all fit? Do you have time to repack or do you just have to throw some things out?
Depending on the event, you might need to survive for several days or longer while on the road. The supplies and equipment you bring along will be invaluable. Throwing something aside because you didn't have room will be hard. What if you throw away something you really need? Would it be better to plan ahead? Wouldn't it be better to have it all organized so that you can just grab what you need, when you need it, knowing it will all fit, and then just head out?
Here are a few simple suggestions that you might consider on how to organize and be ready before disaster strikes. Being organized and prepared will help you save time and save space, which could in effect save lives.
Make sure you have enough container that holds what you need and also fit in the vehicle you will be bringing. It doesn't do any good to organize everything you need into containers only to find out that those same containers will not fit in the trunk of your car. Now, I understand you need to make an assumption regarding the car you will be in when you need to evacuate but there are some assumptions we will have to make. If you buy a new car after you organize everything, you need to do a run through to make sure it all fits and make adjustments as needed.
Plastic bins work great for organizing your emergency supplies. You can stack them, they provide for quick access, and they will protect their contents from moisture, insects, and rodents. Better still, you can color-code the bins to help with identification of their contents. One great advantage of color coding your bins is that you will not have to open bins all the time to see what is inside. That brings me to my next point, labels.
Also, aside from using color-coded containers, labels are another way to make sure the contents of bins is known. Again, this will prevent you from having to open up containers more times that is necessary. Each time you open a bin, you are taking a chance that something doesn't come out and get lost. On each label, you need to include the date the contents were added, the quantity of each item, and important dates like food rotation dates. Please remember to never back equipment away in your bins that require batteries with the batteries inside. Batteries should be stored separately. That way you always know that nothing you have packed has batteries and the equipment is safe from corrosion.
Great, now we have our bins that are packed with everything we need to survive a disaster and we have all of our bins labeled appropriately. But, if we keep all our supplies and resources in the same location in our home and that portion of our home gets damaged or destroyed, what then? That is why it is better to store your resources and gear in multiple places. Not all resources can be stored in all environments so you need to know what can take certain conditions and what can't.
Because you will be storing equipment in various placed, you will need a system to remember what’s stored where. Having a system is one of the most important steps in coordinating your survival supplies. You can have the most organized supplies in the world, but it won’t don't remember where everything is located what good is it all. Make sure everyone in your family knows your system, what to do when you need to retrieve your supplies, and how everything is laid out. This would include what the color-coded container represents, what the labels mean, what the important dates are and what needs to be done on or before those dates.
Make sure you also have a master inventory list for everything included in your bins with all the notes from each bin's labels. This will allow you and your family to stay on top of any rotation needs or restocking needs.
When it comes to surviving unforeseen disasters, preparation is key. To be adequately prepared, organization is essential. Even if you’re totally unorganized in other areas of your life, take the time to figure out a good system to keep track of your survival supplies today.
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Thanks So Much - Liquidtravel
Great post @ liquidtravel, we are taking a bit of a risk waiting to move out of the concrete jungle nefore prepping for disaster. The move is only in a few weeks, but still, all we have here is a couple roughly sketched escape routes out of New York City and a good medicine pack ready to grab.
I believe where we are, cars will be useless.
Thanks for sharing a very tought out detailed post to save time through organization. It should help a lot of people, if they follow through this idea!
Yeah, it amazes when I hear from people that they only have enough supplies for a few days. Scary
We dtore enough dru food for about week... but not really in an organized way. We probably will start really prepping for survival after the move. Building a root cellar big enough for a year's worth of stuff would be great smart too!
Your suggestions are helpful... We always make a list eveytime we use to plan a travel but there's always one thing missing :)
Great article. I already have a few totes with essential items packed and ready to go. The items list and labels are a good idea though, a lot easier to read a list then have to rummage through the bin every time you need something.
Indeed, labels are very helpful.
CONGRATULATIONS!
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Thank you. LVX
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Way to go for all of us... being organized is good but is so hard to maintain! 😂
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