I was speaking with my Mom the other day and she told me they had a power outage due to a wind storm. The loss of power took them by surprise and lasted for an entire day. They could not find all their backup lighting, and the propane stove was lost in the garage somewhere. We had talked about being prepared for this sort of thing before! She even said, “I know you talk about this in your book.” But sometimes the message does not always get through, or the intent to prepare is there but gets put off. This conversation helped me make up my mind on what to get my parents and my other relatives for Christmas: preparedness themed gifts.

We all have family and friends who are not really into prepping, or who mean to but don’t get around to it. Since we’re giving gifts anyway, might as well give them something to help them prepare for an emergency. Here are a few ideas for various budgets:

• Weather Radio with Flashlight, Solar Power and Cell Phone Charger, Priced around $30
• Fold’n Go 2-Burner Stove, Priced around $80
• Solar Watch, Priced around $57

• Red Pepper Spray with Dye, Priced around $15
• Good Grip Can Opener, Priced around $13
• Swiss Army Pocket Knife, Priced around $17

• AA and AAA Solar Battery Charger, Priced around $25
• Door Stop Alarm, Priced around $9
• 16 GB Flash Drive, Priced around $17

As you can see, there are preparedness gift for every budget level. Some useful items like my favorite, the can opener, can be essential in an emergency. But wait, it’s not all about giving “stuff.” If you prefer, you can still give the gift of preparedness by helping someone accomplish a chore that eludes them:

• Backing up documents and photos for a close relative.
• Giving a friend free lessons on skills that you already have such as knitting, canning, breadmaking or even a free cooking lesson.
• Printing up PDF files for an emergency binder.
• Making firestarter with household items such as cotton balls and petroleum jelly and packaging a handful in a jar labeled Emergency Fire Starter, with instructions.

Sharing your knowledge and time is just as valuable as giving an item. We all want to help our loved ones prepare and Christmas is a great time to spread the “joy of preparedness” in subtle ways.

Reprinted with permission from The Apartment Prepper’s Blog.

The Best of Bernie Carr

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