So what the heck is a "real life prepper?" My definition is simply someone who has an interest in being prepared for the events we may face in our lives while continuing to live out their life in as normal a fashion as possible. I will not attempt to define "normal." Real Life Prepper is written to address the needs of the real life prepper. What do we do if we do not face a total collapse of society and no horde of mutant ninja zombie bikers tries to attack us at every turn? I am in no way guaranteeing that society will not collapse. Nor am I guaranteeing that the golden horde will not swarm over your peaceful home to steal all of your food. Real Life Prepper will give you the information you need to get started and help you move in the right direction. We stress a common sense approach to prepping. Where you go from there is up to you. Real Life Prepper is primarily a non-fiction work. There are stories, both real life stories and created scenarios that develop perspective and hopefully communicate key concepts in a better way than a list of facts alone might do. One long story you will be presented with is "A Tale of Two Cities." This story can actually be used as an individual, family, or group exercise. After you read about Sherry and Pepper, there is a list of questions and then some answers. Another longer story is "Real Money: A Fable." Only the characters are fictional. This story sets the stage for financial preparations. Why Prepare? This question has been asked a million times in a million different ways. It has also been answered in more than a million different ways. What you may want to do is have some sort of answer to the question, "Why you prepare?" Notice I did not say a complete or final answer. There will never be a complete or final answer and the answer for you may not be the same as someone else's answer while both may be correct. We need to take care of ourselves, our families, and potentially others. Most of us want to be left alone to live our lives. For the most part, we want to be able to protect our lives, our liberty, and our pursuit of happiness. Many things can happen that threaten our lives, our liberty, and our pursuit of happiness. Those things can be minor or they can be major. A worse scenario involves multiple or unforeseen threats. Anything that is a viable threat to our lives, liberty, or pursuit of happiness should be at least evaluated and some determination made as to what action you are going to take to mitigate that threat. Real Life Prepper is a practical, not a theoretical, guide to preparation for disaster and subsequent survival. It is designed to address most topics in a very broad fashion. In addition, some topics are addressed in a very deep and technical fashion where RLP believes that adds value to your journey. If you are not concerned at all, you are suffering from normalcy bias or you are delusional. If your imagination is now active, you are fairly normal. If you are really scared, you need to stop and take a breath. We are encouraging reasonable, logical, real life preparations that will at least get you started in the right direction.
About the Author: RLP, alias Frank Cohee, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a BSAE and entered the Navy Nuclear Power program. After serving on two nuclear powered guided missile cruisers, RLP taught management courses at Georgia Tech where he earned a MSNE. RLP was a certified NREMT for a while. Leaving active duty, RLP worked for the civilian nuclear power industry cleaning up the damaged Three Mile Island nuclear reactor then as a Startup Test Engineer. RLP ran his own computer consulting business for a number of years and then went to work for the federal government. RLP earned a MBA from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. RLP retired from the Naval Reserve as a Captain, with three separate commands. After starting a Project Management Office for a software development firm, RLP went to work for the U.S. Treasury as an IT manager and recently retired. RLP's military certifications include: Navy Nuclear Engineer and Surface Warfare Officer. RLP earned more than a dozen information technology certifications plus the Project Management Institute PMP certification. RLP is a certified NRA firearms instructor and loves to teach. RLP is also an Elder in the PCA, a father of two, and a grandfather of three. He currently resides with MrsRLP in the Southeast.