Testing your preparedness

We are having some electrical work done around our place. And part of that process involved turning the power off to our house.

For us, this was a minor test of our battery backup systems. I was able to see what could be on, how long the batteries would last. I then started planning how best to make use of the power I had available. It allowed me to consider what was most important, and what really doesn’t need power (like TVs on a battery).

We often spend our days building up our preps, but we don’t take the time to test them in a real-world situation. We might have the gear, but if we are lacking the skills we will fail anyway.

To test your power preparedness, you could simply turn off the main breaker to your house and run without it for a few hours. Or even a whole day.

I bet you would get a pretty good picture of what you really want or need.

And this can extend beyond power. You could try your preps with water usage, food storage cooking (got to try those MRE’s sometime) and even skills you learn in books.

As you work through various preparedness plans, make sure you write down your failures. Then after your test, correct the wrongs. Make them a priority. Then try it all again.

Write out plans for how you want the items you prepared used as well. This way when crap hits the fan, you and your whole family will know how to use what you have, even if you can’t be there.

Are you ready to test your preparedness?