Why You Shouldn’t Put All Your Prepping Gear in One Place
In today’s world, many people have turned to prepping to protect themselves and their families in emergencies. Prepping involves gathering essential supplies and developing skills to ensure self-sufficiency during crisis situations.
While having a stockpile of provisions is crucial, it is equally important to avoid the common mistake of centralizing all your prepping items in one place. I’m a big fan of telling others why you shouldn’t put all your prepping gear in one place. This may appear contrary to my suggestion to have things handy so you can easily grab the critical items if you have to evacuate in a hurry. Grabbing things in a hurry would certainly apply to your 72-Hour Kit or grab-and-go bag, along with your important documents binder.
Since I plan to shelter in place and evacuate as a last resort, most all my preparedness items will be here at home, and I think most people would feel similarly. There are those who have a remote location to evacuate to and I understand their desire to do so. Either way, we need at least some basic items like food, water, first aid items, and extra clothing to make sure we can survive for at least a few days.
Here are some reasons to pay attention to this concept of storing your prepping items!
![72 Hour Kits and Emergency Binder](https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Why-You-Shouldnt-Put-All-Your-Prepping-Gear-in-One-Place-P-473x710.jpg)
How can I keep track of my prepping gear stored in multiple locations?
To keep track of your prepping gear, create a detailed inventory list or checklist of what you have stored away that includes the location, contents, expiration dates, and any additional notes you feel are important. Maintain a digital or physical copy of this inventory and update it regularly as necessary.
1. Mitigate the Risk of Loss
Putting all your prepping items in one location poses a significant risk. In the event of a natural disaster, fire, or other unforeseen circumstances, you could lose everything in an instant. Placing your supplies across multiple locations, you minimize the likelihood of losing everything at once.
Consider dispersing your provisions among several secure locations, such as your home, a small closet at work, a storage unit as a last resort due to the cost, or even with trusted friends or family members.
2. Increase Accessibility
During an emergency, access to your prepping supplies may become difficult or even impossible if they are all stored in one place. Disasters like floods or fires can render a single location inaccessible. When you spread your provisions across various locations, you ensure that you have access to at least some of your supplies, even if one location becomes unreachable. This is a really important reason why you shouldn’t keep all your prepping gear in one place.
3. Enhance Security
Having all your prepping items concentrated in one location makes you vulnerable to theft. In times of crisis, looting and theft often increase, and a centralized stockpile becomes an attractive target for opportunistic individuals, especially if it’s known that you are a prepper.
Taking the time to move your supplies to different places, reduces the likelihood of losing everything to theft. It is advisable to store your most valuable and critical supplies in separate, secure locations to minimize the risk of theft. How Humans Can Use Mountains During a Disaster
4. Adaptability and Flexibility
In a rapidly changing situation, adaptability and flexibility are key to survival. By spreading your prepping supplies across different locations, you increase your ability to adapt to various scenarios. For example, if you need to evacuate quickly, having supplies in multiple locations allows you to grab essentials from each place instead of relying solely on one centralized stockpile.
5. Redundancy and Resilience
Diversifying your prepping supplies ensures you’ll have supplies, which is crucial for resilience in emergency situations. If one location or set of supplies becomes compromised or depleted, you have backups in other places. This provides a safety net and increases your chances of sustaining yourself and your loved ones during prolonged crises.
6. Barter and Trade Opportunities
During times of crisis, bartering and trading become valuable means of obtaining necessities. Don’t keep your prepping supplies in one area because then, you might limit opportunities for bartering or trading with others who may have items that you need. Having goods stored in multiple locations increases your bargaining power, and enables you to participate in mutually beneficial exchanges. 50 Items You Need In Order To Barter
7. Psychological Comfort
Not keeping your prepping supplies in one spot can provide psychological comfort. Knowing that you have supplies stored in different locations gives you a sense of security and peace of mind. It helps alleviate the anxiety of relying solely on one stockpile, allowing you to focus on other important aspects of survival.
How often should I check and rotate the supplies stored in different locations?
It’s essential to regularly check and rotate the supplies stored in different locations to ensure their freshness and usability. Set a schedule to inspect and replace expired items, update your inventory, and replenish any depleted supplies.
Isn’t it inconvenient to have my prepping gear scattered in different places?
While it may seem inconvenient at first, distributing your prepping gear in multiple locations ensures that you have access to supplies even if one location becomes inaccessible. It’s a small trade-off for increased preparedness and security.
What are the advantages of distributing prepping gear in multiple locations?
Distributing your prepping gear in multiple locations provides security and ensures that you have access to essential supplies even if one location is compromised. It also reduces the risk of losing all your gear in a single event.
More Tips
- Using Your Vehicle as a Tool for Prepping
- 10 Types of Glue to Keep at Home for Prepping
- Using Sleeping Bags for Prepping
Final Word
While accumulating prepping supplies is crucial, it is equally important to change up their storage locations. Remember, preparedness is not just about having supplies, but also about strategically managing them for maximum survival. Your prepping plan is up to you and your family alone, no one can tell you what to do. Taking the time to prepare a plan and then executing that plan is vital. It means having essential items, knowing how to use them, and acquiring survival skills so you can help yourself and others in times of need are all important aspects of being prepared. May God Bless this World, Linda
This is not an easy thing. We had a group discussion one time about an extra rifle/pistol/ammo and I stated how easy it was in this state especially to lose everything to natural disasters and that if someone showed up they’d need things.
Now look at the wars going in and how quickly houses and whole neighborhoods disappear and you start to see why it’s big a bad idea to spread things out.
I won’t turn away the selected family and team if the show up empty handed and reciprocal to us.
When you store things in other locations it’s harder to secure from theft etc
Great point, Matt,
I agree with you totally. Same situation with us here in the Texas Hill Country. We will make our stand here. We really have no other place to safely store any of our stuff. And, like you, we may take in the selected family/team if the need arises. A few more trusted souls would make it easier to defend our stuff. And, some of those who we could expect to show up will most likely not arrive totally empty handed.
Hi Harry, you are blessed to be able to take your stand. We will all need a few trusted souls, not every neighborhood understands the need to have a team to help one another. Great comment, Linda
HI Matt, I totally agree, I worry that someone will come to my house and expect hand outs or worse. I’m building a small home and hopefully most of the stuff we have will fit. I will not store things where I cannot get to them. You are right we will have to be selective after a disaster. Hopefully, people will have a team. I do not have one as of right now. Great comment, Linda
Linda,
Aside from get home bags stored in our vehicles, all of our preps are right here at our house. Other than renting a storage space we have no other place to store preps. The only natural disasters we have to worry about are fires and flash floods and we’re pretty well situated regarding both of those. A big quake could cause problems but such an event is not likely. Much more likely is a terrorist attack, like Israel just suffered or our own government stealing our preps as well as our rights. So, I agree with Matt and Harry. We’ll make our stand here.
Hi Ray, we will all have to make our stand that’s for sure. I’m building a small home as you know and it’s hard knowing my preps are in climate control storage units. We all need a plan and a team. Linda
The most likely problem where I live is earthquakes so I’ve run scenarios to figure out the best placement of the grab and go bags. The main spot is somewhere near the door it’s fastest to get to, which has a perfect spot under a work table. If it happens when I’m in a bedroom at the back of the house I might have to get out over a balcony so I’m making a smaller “just in case” bag and preparing a rope ladder there. The main shelter in place items are tucked away here and there as space allows. I wish I could use a small shed nearby but it’s unheated and prone to rodent and insect activity. There is a small camping trailer on the property that would be reasonable shelter if the house falls apart so it’s going to get a basic kit as well. A friend has a small, well sealed shipping container in a back corner of her yard for her supplies. Luckily we live in an area that usually stays just above freezing for most of the winter.
Hi Alice, I love hearing you have more than one plan. This is what everyone needs to do. Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C, or whatever we think we need. Earthquakes are expected where we live, so I could love everything, that’s the coin toss.
Linda,
This topic has been on my mind alot recently. At one point, our son had some acreage along a creek, and a motor home, that we thought of as a last resort refuge, but he has since sold that. I remember when my uncle had built a bomb shelter in the 60s, and my aunt said unless her whole family was there, she would not go in it, because life without them would be unthinkable. I feel the same way. Our current physical limitations make leaving unless the house is on fire, impossible. Blizzards, flooding, limited item availability I am prepared for. We all know things in the world are about to get a whole lot worse, and all we can do is go for rides in the country and enjoy the beauty of the world that God has given us while we and it are here while we prepare and pray. God keep you all safe and healthy.
Hi Chris, you are so right, we must enjoy going for rides now to see the leaves changing! We just barely saw ours up in the canyons before the snow hit, not heavy but enough to make us glad we went we did. LOL! I remember those shelters in California when I was growing up. Now people are building bunkers, my home will be my bunker unless we are hit by an earthquake. I agree, I pray we will all stay healthy and safe. Linda