Can You Survive A Month Without Any Outside Help?
Here’s a preparedness question for you, “Could you survive a month without ANY external source of help or supplies?”
I’m not talking about just food, but everything and anything that you would need to survive for a month.
There would be no going out to get (buy) anything.
Not only that, but take it to the next level and add this factor: No electricity.
We’ve talked about this many times here on Modern Survival Blog, and I know that most of our regulars here could easily survive this hypothetical situation.
With that said, I’m simply challenging anyone reading this to think of your own personal situation. Your own current readiness. There are plenty of new people who hit this site on a regular basis, so I’m putting this out there especially for you, as food for thought.
Originally posted during 2018, it’s a good one to revisit, because the message applies the same today (as it will tomorrow, and so on).
Lets brainstorm on some of the needs and concerns. And this is just a very short scribble of thoughts to simply get your own wheels turning, so to speak. (There’s tons more here on the blog if you search for it).
Survive A Month
First, if the electricity is still on, you can survive pretty darn easily for a month without outside help. The water will still be flowing, the outside world will be functioning as normal, so all you need are a few things…
– Food
– Specific Needs
Got enough food?
Surprisingly though, most do not have anywhere close to a month’s worth of food in their home. A grocery store run is at least a weekly chore. The solution is obvious. Get more food on your shelves.
Don’t forget about any specific needs that you might have whereby you’ve become complacent being able to run out and get it (whatever “it” is). Do you have enough of “it” for a month?
Lights out?
Now lets throw a wrench into it… Survive a month with the electricity off. Uh oh…
This changes things pretty drastically, to say the least. A week or two is bad enough. But what about a month?
A few immediate and potentially huge concerns include water, unique food loss issues because there is no electricity, climate control mitigation, and potential or probable security concerns depending on where you live.
Survive for a month without a WATER SOURCE?
If you’re on a well, how are you going to get enough water to last a month without external help? Or mitigate the well pump issue (grid down) in some way…
If you have municipal water, you might or might not be okay due to unspecified scenarios which I did not prerequisite…
( Town gravity feed water source (or not) — How long will municipal pump generators operate — Potential infrastructure damage (e.g. earthquake) ).
Unique Food Issues?
If part of your month’s food storage is in the freezer or a chest freezer, you’re looking at 24 – 48 h ours and it’s gone. What then?
If part of your food storage requires cooking or boiling, how are you going to do that without electricity? Got what you need in that department?
How much food do you have that doesn’t necessarily require cooking? Enough for a month?
Survive for a month without CLIMATE CONTROL?
Within a few days, the inside of your house will stabilize to a temperature that’s more or less similar to the average temperature outside. What if it’s winter? What if it’s the middle of summer? These could be MAJOR issues. Got a plan for that?
SECURITY CONCERNS
When there’s no electricity for a week, people generally are able to deal with it. Although many may require help or support, even two weeks can be smoothed over with neighbors helping neighbors, etc.. This is typically what happens during the aftermath of a major storm event or things like that.
But how will these same people cope with week 3 and then week 4? Big difference! Will security become a concern at some point? Certainly it will depending on where you live.
Think about it. Do you have what it takes?
One way to think about it is to think about every time that you’ve gone to a store or somewhere to get something or “run errands” throughout a month. How much of that was, or is, a necessity? Do you have a plan for that?
Now think about this…
What about 6 months?! Say it aint so!!
[ Read: Food Storage List For a Year ]