Prepare for the Long Haul: Your Long-Term Survival Blueprint

Imagine this: No running water. No electricity. No grocery stores.
Not for a few hours—but for months… maybe longer.
Could you live without the grid? This guide will help you start preparing—right now.

Step 1: Build a Layered Food System

Don’t rely on one method—layer your food security so you’re covered short-term and long-term.

1. Stock Up on Shelf-Stable Foods

• Canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, freeze-dried meals
• Focus on what your family eats. Eat what you store and store what you eat.
• Start with a 72 hour supply, then a two-week supply, then a 30 day supply; slowly build toward a 3-month supply, then stretch to 1 year

2. Grow Your Own Food

• Even a patio garden can produce real calories
• Start with high-yield, easy crops: potatoes, green beans, squash, lettuce
• Learn how to save seeds
• Consider hydroponics, though it will require some backup power, it could be good for small things year-round like lettuce or dwarf tomatoes
• Microgreens and sprouts grow quickly

3. Forage for Wild Food

• Learn what’s edible in your local area
• Invest in a field guide and/or take a local class
• Foraging won’t feed you alone—but it’s helpful in your overall layered food storage system

4. Raise Livestock (Optional but Powerful)

• Chickens = eggs + meat
• Rabbits = fast-reproducing protein
• Quail = small, quiet and heavy egg producers and great for meat
• Know how to humanely butcher and preserve meat
• If you can’t raise your own livestock, get to know your local farmers and neighbors who are raising them and be prepared to barter and trade

5. Preserve Everything You Can

• Canning: Pressure or water bath
• Dehydrating: Electric or solar
• Fermenting
• Freeze dry: (before the collapse)
• Smoking or Drying

Step 2: Create a Layered Water System

Water is life—and the average person uses a lot more than they think.

1. Store It

• Aim for 2 gallons per person, per day (bare minimum) and don’t forget pets and livestock
• Stock up on already bottled water
• Use 55-gallon barrels, water bricks, or food-grade jugs
• Freeze it
• You can access water from your water heater if needed
• Get a bath tub waterbob
• Rotate every 6–12 months

2. Collect It

• Set up rainwater catchment from your roof into barrels

3. Haul It (If You Have To)

• Be ready to collect from nearby creeks or ponds
• Use 5-gallon jugs, collapsible containers, or a sturdy cart pulled by a bicycle

4. Purify It

• Invest in a gravity-fed filter (Berkey, etc.)
• Know low-tech methods: boiling, bleach, iodine, or solar distillation

Step 3: Prepare to Live Without Electricity

What would your daily life look like without power?

Light & Communication

• Solar lanterns, headlamps, candles
• Crank-powered radios, NOAA weather radio, ham radio, GMRS radios
• Rechargeable batteries + solar chargers

Cooking

• Rocket stove, hobo stove, propane stove, fire pit, solo stove
• Solar oven
• Learn to cook with off-grid basics like cast iron

Power Backups

• Solar generators (Jackery, Bluetti, EcoFlow, or DIY kits)
• Power banks for small electronics
• Practice “power discipline”—don’t waste watts and prioritize what needs to be powered and what doesn’t

Step 4: Adapt Your Home to Off-Grid Living

Make your space work without the systems it depends on.

Heating & Cooling

• Wood stove or propane heater (with ventilation!)
• Insulate windows with bubble wrap or heavy curtains
• Create warm sleeping zones with zero degree bags and maybe a tent
• Get blackout curtains
• Seal gaps in doors and windows
• Get solar and battery powered fans
• Get a kiddie pool to possibly swim for some relief
• Get cooling towels

Waste & Sanitation

• Use a bucket toilet with sawdust or build a composting toilet
• Stock up on TP, feminine hygiene, diapers, etc.
• Create an outdoor handwashing station

Hygiene

• Sponge baths with boiled or solar-warmed water or use no-rinse soap
• Use vinegar, baking soda, and bulk soap for cleaning
• Know how to make basic soap and toothpaste

Step 5: Master Essential Skills

While I believe stuff can help a lot and it’s nice to have things on hand that can help us be better prepared, in the end, skills will never run out.

Repair & Maintenance

• Learn basic plumbing, electrical, and carpentry
• Build DIY tools and fix common household and vehicle issues

Cooking from Scratch

• Practice now: bake bread, cook beans, preserve leftovers
• Get used to cooking without gadgets or pre-made ingredients, cook from scratch as often as you can

First Aid & Health

• Build a basic first aid kit, and get a trauma kit and know how to use them
• Learn basic herbal medicine
• Sanitation = prevention. Keep your area clean.
• Make a toilet bucket

Community & Trade

• Start building local networks now—trade, barter, teach, find local farms, get to know neighbors, etc.
• No one survives alone long-term

What You Can Do This Week

• Store 7 days of water per person (two gallons per person, per day)
• Start growing one edible plant (like microgreens)
• Cook one meal using no electricity (like with a coleman camp stove)
• Learn how to filter water (or make your own)
• Create a blackout box (or closet) with lanterns, crank radio, etc.
• Stock up on some non-perishable food items from your normal grocery store, for at least three days.

Final Thoughts:

You don’t have to move off-grid tomorrow. But if you’re prepared to live without modern systems for a while…
You’re prepared for just about anything that comes your way, that includes Tuesday and Doomsday.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Learn what you don’t. And keep at it! Little by little, step by step. You got this!