We think that one of the most important overlooked prepping items is situational awareness. We all prep for one reason, to make an otherwise uncomfortable situation more comfortable. In some cases uncomfortable could be unsurvivable and comfortable could be thriving. We hedge the risk of an uncomfortable scenario by setting back goods and skills that will make that scenario more comfortable. Many of us try to prepare for all possible eventualities including hunkering down, long term self-sustainability, bugging out, defensive positioning, some even practice offensive offensive maneuvers.
Failing to have a robust communication plan could leave all of the above in a state of failure.
A good example is the Maui fire where no sirens alerted the residents of their impending doom. They had little or no situational awareness until it was too late to devise a proper reaction plan. Would a communication plan saved the 1000+ residents that lost their lives? Let’s think about that, how many died moving the wrong direction? Executing their predetermined communication plan may have resulted in at least some of those folks making better decisions due to having information and guidance from others that were participating in the communication plan.
We have heard people saying they don’t need a communication plan, they enjoy their solitude on their homestead paradise. However that solitude will only last as long as your situational awareness allows it to.
Events that could strongly benefit from a communications plan:
- Wildfire
- How far is it, what direction is it moving? Am I being forced to evacuate?
- Tornado or Hurricane Aftermath :
- Where to get medical attention or what roads are passable?
- Government Intervention
- Martial law, National Guard forcing evacuations etc.
- Long Term Grid Outage
- Locations of refugee caravans, proximity of thieves or bad actors
- Setting up defensive perimeters
- Collecting / sharing intel about non-friendly movements
In some cases having a network of trusted people could be the difference between surviving and not surviving. Using the information gleaned from your communications plan could help you make informed decisions instead of guessing for the following :
- When to bug out
- When to hide
- When to provide disinformation over the air (very effective in steering away bad actors)
- When to take up a defensive posture
- Where to obtain medical assistance
- Where to redirect folks who need help
- How to prioritize your own situation.
Off Grid Comms is trying to wake folks up and provide useful solutions to these challenges, follow us for to learn more about what a good communication plan should include.