About Prepared Dad

As an Eagle Scout, I was trained in numerous things. I earned more than fifty merit badges by honing skills such as canoeing, wilderness survival, archery, and first aid. One of the required merit badges to attain the coveted Eagle rank is Emergency Preparedness, but there’s little about that badge that I remember. The Scout Motto, on the other hand, now that’s something that’s ingrained in me.

“Be Prepared”

For whatever we as scouts were about to venture upon, that was our call to one another. “I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” Sure, that can lead to some chronic over packing, but it can also help form the mindset of a man who left behind being an Eagle and Scouting altogether and is on the precipice of seeing his 20s slip from his fingers.
When my wife and I were married in 2006, that’s when my father truly instilled in me a love of firearms and the duty of one to protect himself (or herself) and their home. I wrapped my brain around personal protection by remembering back to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina where people were left with no place to go and, yet still, there was a small percent of the population looting for things like plasma televisions.

In 2007, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world, and our second came in early 2010. Having these rugrats in my life has completely rewired my brain. My focus is now on caring for and protecting them and my wife. It’s about the entire family unit.

No, my four year old cannot snipe bad guys from 1000 yards with a .308, and my wife can’t take out the zombies while changing diapers. Preparedness is about  more than “beans, bullets, and bandages” (though those are nice to have). To me, preparedness is about making sure that, as a family, we’ll be hanging around no matter what life throws at us. It’s about using more of our brains and unplugging from our satellite or cable - and even our precious internet - to enhance our skills or just have family bonding time. It’s about getting back to the way our grandparents and their parents lived. I believe that we all need to endeavor to become more self-reliant and what you’ll find here at prepareddad.com is our journey, as a family, to take our lives into our own hands.

Preparedness refers to the state of being prepared for specific or unpredictable events or situations. Preparedness is an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes. It is a major phase of emergency management, and is particularly valued in areas of competition such as sport and military science.

Methods of preparation include research, estimation, planning, resourcing, education, practicing and rehearsing.

• research : studious inquiry or examination; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws;
• estimation : the act of estimating something;
• planning : the act or process of making or carrying out plans specifically : the establishment of goals, policies, and procedures for a social or economic unit;
• resourcing : the work of finding and providing the material, money or people needed for a particular project;
• education : the activity of teaching about a particular subject;
• practicing : actively following a specific way of life, religion, philosophy, etc;
• rehearsing : to practise something you are going to say or do.