Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios by Lisa Bedford

Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios by Lisa Bedford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From Publisher: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe and Secure—No Matter What

Undaunted by the prospect of TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It), Lisa Bedford tackles every what-if and worst-case scenario head-on, offering practical advice on how to prepare your family for whatever might come your way. From a few days without electricity to an unexpected job loss or total chaos after the destruction of a tornado, Survival Mom provides everything you need to become self-reliant and establish plans for your family, including:

• preparing the home for a natural disaster
• alternative sources of energy in a power's-out situation
• everything you need to know about food storage
• personal protection (do I really need to learn how to shoot a gun?)

Deep inside every mom is a Survival Mom whose passion for her family drives her to make the best of the present and prepare for the future. So tap into your Mama Grizzly instincts and channel your worries into action. Whether you're a full-fledged "prepper" or just getting started, with real-life stories and customizable forms and checklists along with Lisa's "you can do it" attitude,Survival Mom replaces paranoia and panic with the peace of knowing YOU have the power to keep your loved ones safe and secure.

My thoughts: Lots of excellent information. Some I already use but a lot I didn't know. Great ideas for simple preparedness at different levels. The author not only points out natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, etc., but also simple emergencies that can happen at any time like job loss or forgetting to pay the water bill.

I've been a crazy proponent for emergency food supply and Bug-Out Kits (I call 72 hour kits, but I like her title better) for years. Mine is a much more haphazard approach but I've gone so far as to build a house with a cold storage under the porch where I keep cans and buckets of wheat, beans, flour, sugar, honey and other such staples. I've invested in a 55 gallon water storage unit, hosted canning parties where we seal flour, sugar and rice in #10 cans. But I am still SO behind in information and organization!

After reading the chapter on water, I went to Costco and bought water bottles to keep in the car. I also bought an extra sleeping bag while I was there. On hot days and we're driving around, who couldn't use a bottle of water? Or driving home from someplace on a cold day, with or without engine trouble, who couldn't use a sleeping bag for the non-driver?

The best ways for storing food and purifying water is included, as well as second and third best ways. I'm not going to go out and get myself a gun and start hunting but this book provides enough of something for everybody, regardless of circumstances. Great starting points. Now I'm going to go start my compost pile!

*I received a free copy of this book from publishing company in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.