Being prepared for a SHTF scenario can literally mean the difference between life and death, not just for you, but for you family and loved ones as well. That being said, however, being prepared for a large-scale crisis also has a downside: you will become an instant target of the non-prepared. They will want what you have, and they become desperate, there is little that they wouldn’t do to get their hands on your food and supplies.

Thankfully, as explained by PreppersGab.com, there are a number of steps you can take in order to minimize the chances that you and your family will be attacked by somebody or a group of people that were not prepared for SHTF.

Don’t become a target

One of the best ways to avoid detection both before and after a large-scale crisis is to board up your windows and keep your lights off at night. It’s important to realize that when you leave your lights on after the sun goes down, you are creating a beacon that will draw attention to not only the house itself, but also to everyone – and everything – inside. Another step that you can take involves forming a close relationship with your neighbors and the people that live nearby. As previously mentioned, in a SHTF situation, desperation will cause people you thought you could trust to do some extraordinarily evil things, and they won’t think twice about breaking into your home if it means their survival. That’s why working to form a unified community before SHTF can help minimize the chances that you will become a target of the non-prepared. (Related: If you’ve stopped prepping, it could be the biggest mistake of your life.)

PreppersGab.com also stresses the importance of keeping your home physically unattractive to potential looters. A home that has an extravagant fortress on the backyard with stone walls and locked gates will immediately become a target because looters will think that something valuable is being guarded. “By comparison,” Preppers Gab explains, “a house that doesn’t look like much, is overgrown in the yard, and has every appearance of having already been ransacked a time or two, is far less likely to attract attention.” (Related: Here are ten good reasons to prep even if SHTF never happens.)

Firearms skills for personal defense

When SHTF, you and your loved ones will be forced to live in a lawless society whether you are ready for it or not. In the even that you have to directly deal with a threat that’s trying to break into your house, the single best tool that you could ever have at your disposal is a firearm. Having a gun in your home (or, better yet, attached to your waist) is great for personal self-defense, because especially in a world where the rule of law no longer exists, you never know when you will need to use lethal force.

That being said, it’s incredibly important that you not only own a firearm, but also know how to use one properly. In an article published back in 2014, The Prepper Journal discussed how to train for a gunfight should you ever need to engage in one after SHTF. “First and foremost, you will need good basic marksmanship skills because advanced combat shooting skills involve solid applications, and in some cases, modifications, of the basic skills. Thus, you must master the basics,” The Prepper Journal explained, adding that these “basic skills” include “a solid (power) stance, a solid and stable (crush) grip on the gun, acquisition and maintenance of good sight alignment and sight picture, good trigger control and trigger reset, and good follow-through.” Notably, using a gun properly in self-defense requires one to be able to fire multiple shots fast and accurately, and to also keep moving so as to not become an easy target.

For more information on how to use firearms when SHTF, check out the upcoming pistol how-to course, available only on Real.video when it launches in early July.

Sources include:

PreppersGab.com

ThePrepperJournal.com