Two is one and one is none.

You have spent the last few years prepping for some impending disaster.  You have been diligent in your work and have a well rounded plan, you have paid attention to current events and knew it would be coming.  You have enough food and supplies to last your family for one year, possibly more.  However despite your best efforts your loved ones (parents, siblings) refused to get on board and start preparing themselves.  They would acknowledge that something seemed a bit off but would always come back with “it’s OK, someone will surely do something to fix things.”  When you would send them links to various issues (fiscal cliff, debt, food shortages, impending euro-zone collapse) they would tell you to stop being so paranoid and that you should just enjoy life once and a while.  While you were buying buckets of grain they were financing a new SUV.  You spent your weekends learning about gardening and they were going to concerts and tailgating.  Now the poop has been flung into the fan at high speed and they are standing on your doorstep begging for help.  Do you turn them away?  Of course not, they are your family.  Now the harsh realization sets in that all the planning and preparation you have been doing has been shot to pieces.  Your one year supply is now a three month supply.  This is a more likely scenario than many of us would like to admit.  The question is how to prepare for it.

The phrase two is one and one is none is frequently used in the military.  It basically alludes to having multiple courses of action when approaching any one problem, or to put it simply having a backup plan.  It could be as easy as packing an extra pair of socks on your hiking trip in case the pair you are wearing gets wet, or as complex as having a backup food storage cache in an off-site location should your main supply be compromised.  As Murphy’s Law dictates: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  The same concept could be applied to your preps and your stubborn family members.  You should take into consideration that when things go bad they will most certainly come to you for assistance.  Here are some tips on how to make that process as painless as possible.

When they won’t listen.

Perseverance is key here, don’t push it to the point where you become annoying but do your best to keep your family informed as to what is going on outside of what the mainstream media tells them.  I have found that each person must come to their own conclusion that things are not what they seem, that truly the government cannot save them in every circumstance and that they should start preparing accordingly.  Nobody can forced into “waking up”, they must realize this for themselves.  Keep gently prodding your family members, if they refuse do not become confrontational.  They probably don’t realize you are doing it because you care for them.

Prepare yourself.

Two is one and one is none applies here.  If you have three months of food, try to make it six.  If you have one year of supplies your goal should be two.  We preppers often refer to some total collapse of the economy as being inevitable, and if that happens it will be just as inevitable that some of your loved ones will show up on your doorstep looking for handouts.

Look at the positive.

While extra mouths to feed will no doubt put a strain on your supply you have to look at the positive.  Extra bodies also mean extra hands to do labor.  More people available to take the night shift watching for less than desirable types. If you are going to support extra people within your home they should definitely be made to earn their keep.  Getting frustrated at a situation you cannot possibly control will not do you any good, look at the positive and try to capitalize on it.

Do they have skills?

In keeping with the focus on the positive mantra, maybe your once stubborn family members (who decided to show up on your doorstep) have value that extends beyond the tangible.  Maybe your dad is a welder, or your mom or sister is a nurse.  Even if they sat behind a desk and crunched numbers they can be of value, tabulating daily supplies and doing the math to see just how long they will last is a very important task.  Even if they don’t bring food to the table maybe your family members bring something of equal value in what they are capable of.

The bottom line.

Plan for the worst, hope for the best.  Even if you live alone in a community with no family anywhere near you, it is possible that some of your neighbors could see that you aren’t suffering quite as bad as they are and start asking for handouts.  Be prepared to address this situation, simply turning them away will only make things more difficult down the road when they decide to stop asking and start taking.  By having a plan on how to utilize those family members or neighbors who failed to prep you can greatly increase your chances of survival if the world as we know it experiences major turmoil in the near future.