Hello AmConOWC,

It's been busy here at the house getting the new baby into a routine and trying to figure this whole "being a parent" thing out.

I wanted to share some thoughts on preparedness/prepping as we move forward, and particularly as we get closer to the election and what may come after.

First, I'd urge you to check out the links in the "Information Sharing", particularly the FEMA materials. They're actually pretty good. Also, I'd ask that if you have any websites, YouTube channels or books that you think are of value - please add them to that post. This is your community, please feel free to share.

As we move toward the election, I'm hearing that we may see another round of hoarding like we did during the peak of the COVID hysteria in March and April. It probably won't hurt to pick up those extra packs of foods that you normally eat, TP, pet food and so on.

Better to have and not need, than need and not have.

For us as an AmCon group, I'd like to start identifying critical skills that we can work on together. Primarily communications and medical are the two biggest skillsets that will provide the most overall benefit. They're not as "sexy" as pewpewtactical stuff, but they're far more important in the overall scheme of things. More on that later.

As for supplies, especially in light of possible future shortages or unrest that may create issues with simply getting out of the house to get supplies, it's vital to start now picking up those extra items that you normally use every day. Build a three day supply of food/water, then expand that to a week - a month - six months and so on. The nice thing is that every little bit you do now will be beneficial later.

There are a number of great resources for this online, the Fieldcraft Survival YouTube channel, and a host of other prepping related channels, websites and books.

Since one of our purposes is to come to one another's aid in bad times, if needed, we should probably look at some standardization of equipment. For example, I'd guess that most of us have an AR pattern rifle and a Glock 9mm pistol in our inventories. Communication equipment, medical and other support gear should probably be similar - if not the same. Even some items of clothing to make ourselves easily identifiable to one another in a crisis situation might not be a bad idea.

Let me know what you think. As I said, this is your group. Everyone's input is not only welcome, but it's absolutely vital to making this effort a success.