The main focus of the book is to discuss the differences and similarities between Homesteaders and Preppers. As my other books have dealt with Homesteading I wanted to connect the dots for those that feel they walk in one world or the other. The lines can get blurred on this matter. I want you to know that you can walk in both worlds. I believe that the early Homesteaders were the actual Preppers of their time. They understood the importance of Self-Reliance and were prepared to deal with almost anything that they encountered. This could include a variety of hardships, greedy land barons, Indians, weather disasters, and many lived far from town where you couldn't jump in the car and pick up what you needed. You performed as many of the tasks that today are taken for granted while relying on others as well as throwing cash at problems. you repaired, made, built, grew, raised or did anything else you could to not rely on others. This also included taking care of a variety of illnesses and injuries. There were no fast food joints and convenience stores on the corners. You did for yourself and family or you had to find away to pay someone to do it. Barter was used daily as much as money was. You developed networks of people that could help you or trade with you for the things you wanted or needed.
Being prepared today makes sense in the uncertain times that we live in. If you were prepared before the financial collapse of 2008 in the United States, then you were better prepared than most. The sudden loss of a job allowed you have a safety net by being prepared. If you faced foreclosure and had a Bug Out Location you could have moved there and worked from there as your base. These are some of the things that I discuss in the book. If the winter of 2013/2014 had an effect on you and your family at some time (since it had an effect on most of the country) being prepared when the power was off, or the roads were impassable helped you to carry on. You had food and water, you may have had a generator, you may have had sleeping bags and a camping stove. If you didn't, then why not? Everyone. regardless of where you live should have at least the basics of survival for themselves and their families. You were prepared to evacuate from a forest fire, you were prepared for the earthquake that disabled, electric, power, water and natural gas. You were prepared for the tornado, the hurricane, loss of job, loss of drinking water (as in West Virginia) and a variety of other things that can happen. Using the information I have compiled here as a starting point, you can get yourself better prepared. I can't provide you with all of the answers. I am not going to preach to you. I am going to give you some information that will hopefully provoke some thoughts about preparedness. If you are already living the life of a Homesteader, you may not have thought of some of the items contained here in the book. I don't claim to have all of the answers. Know that I also don't try to force feed you the information. I try to stir thoughts and hope that they will provoke you to take action and acquire the information you will need. I also provide you with a list of Facebook pages and websites where you can obtain more info. So take a look at the information and see what thousands of others are doing. Don't be misled by people on TV shows that talk about prepping. Many of those people seem to believe that you throw money at the problem and make it go away. This causes people who don't have access to that amount of money to think "what's the use, we can't afford it". I hope you enjoy the book. I give you our website, Facebook page and Email info so you can contact me. I also use almost all of the social media sites as well.