How to Survive the End of the World

lego mountain man

The end of the world might be right around the corner.

I figure with everybody in a hysterical frenzy these days about the end of the world, hurricanes and wildfires and earthquakes, governments spending money like it’s Monopoly money, and my years-long obsession with becoming a real life Jason Bourne (seriously), I figured this would be a good time to share everything I’ve stumbled across to prep for a disaster/emergency of epic proportions.

Does this make me a weirdo? Hell yeah!

But when the zombie apocalypse happens, who’s got two thumbs and will be totally prepared?

This guy.  

Here’s how you can survive the end of the world too! 

Note: This is an article for entertainment purposes only. If it is in fact already the end of the world and yet you can still access the internet to read this article, color me impressed.

End of the world?

aliens globe

When I say “the end of the world,” it doesn’t need to be something like a scene out of I Am Legend.

As we’ve recently seen from natural disasters like Katrina and Sandy and Harvey and Irma and Jose, Mother Nature can be a real jerk sometimes, destroying the infrastructure and endangering lives across massive sections of the country.

On top of that, we’ve seen these disasters create real shortages and scares, affecting everything from gas to groceries.

Of course, there could actually be an end of the world scenario in which we’re overrun by zombies, super-intelligent monkeys, or Twilight Fans.  You never know.

Mayan Apocalypse or real life storm, these are the situations where you can’t be caught saying, “Oh shoot, I probably should have prepared for that huh? Haha oh well YOLO!”

To best prepare for these extraordinary events, it’s best to start preparing today!

Survival of the Fittest

lego man hammer

First and foremost, get healthy.

Yeah, this is absolutely the most important way to prepare for the end of the world.

When the **** hits the fan, your car breaks down or you run out of gas, you might be relying on your own two feet or a bike to get out of dodge.  If there’s an earthquake or fire, you might need to sprint to safety, move debris, swim through a flood, and more.

Depending on the length of the disaster, you might be without access to reliable health care for a considerable amount of time, and your skills and physical abilities might be the only tools you have to barter for precious supplies with other survivors!

Essentially, if technology goes kaput, we’ll be reverting back to survival of the fittest. 

Start building your apocalypse body NOW.

Stop eating junk food.  Start exercising regularly.  If you’re holding off on getting elective surgery for something, get it done now.

The stronger you are and the faster you are, the better chance you’ll have at surviving whatever end-of-days scenario gets thrown at you.  Here’s a great article on the skills that every person should have to save their own life.

Take care of yourself, because the world needs you.  

My hope is that when the zombies do come (or the regular boring apocalypse finally happens), Nerd Fitness has built a sizeable army of incredibly smart, freakishly strong, incredibly good looking rebels ready to fight them off.  We’re strong, everywhere, and our movement is growing rapidly.

Have a Bug Out Bag prepared

lego backpack

Disasters attack without warning, prejudice, or mercy.

Whether it’s an earthquake, flood, tornado, hurricane, or terrorist attack, things can get ugly VERY quickly.

In these instances, every second counts, and you getting the hell out of harm’s way as quickly as possible should be your primary goal. It’s in these instances that you only have a matter of minutes to get to safety, and every second counts.

This is why it is recommend you build yourself a Bug Out Bag: A 72-hour “ready for anything” bag that you can grab at a moment’s notice that will have everything you need to survive a last minute evacuation from your home.  First and foremost, when putting your bag together, you need to remember the Rule of Threes:

  • You can survive for three hours in bad weather without shelter.
  • You can survive for three days without water.
  • You can survive for three weeks without food.

Your bug out bag should make sure these three issues are addressed.  You have a few options when it comes to getting started:

1) Buy a pre-made Bug Out Bag – This is a big no-no according to all of the true survivalists, but if you’re convinced the world will end this Friday, check out something like this Guardian Bag and have it delivered in the next two days (thank you Amazon Prime!).

2) Construct your own – Now, if you’re more of an optimists and think the world won’t end for a few months (that was a joke, ha ha, get it?), you can take a more hands-on approach to building your own But Out Bag.  I won’t claim to be an expert on this stuff, so I’ll instead whet your appetite and share some tips I learned from, “Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag,” and “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It.” I love my kindle, but I figured these would be good resources to have if technology isn’t an option; I purchased the actual dead-tree versions.  If you’re going to build a bag, “Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag” is a must-have resource.

Your pack should contain twelve types of supplies: water and hydration, food and food preparation, clothing, shelter and bedding, fire, first aid, hygiene, tools, lighting, communications, and protection and self-defense.

You can find more specific and detailed information at these resources:

If you think you might end up in a situation where your ONLY option is to stay IN your current apartment should a catastrophe arise, then you can afford to stockpile more supplies ahead of time: gallons of water, weeks/months supplies of calorie dense foods, proper sleeping arrangements should the power go out, lighting, and so on.

Just be careful, you’re about to become the most popular kid on the block because you’re the only one prepared.

Have a path to safety

lego map

Now, once the **** hits the fan, you need to make sure you can quickly grab your Bug Out Bag and get to safely as quickly as possible.  Where that is will depend largely on your current living situation:

  • Live in a city?  Identify a safe location to which you can drive or hike – maybe it’s a camp ground or your grandparent’s farm house.  Also identify multiple routes to that path, should traffic block your primary exits.  If you live in a high rise building, make sure you know where the stairs and exits are. Here’s an article dedicated to Urban Survival.
  • Live in the burbs? You’ll have to ascertain the type of threat and decide if you’re better off staying put in your home, or if you need to vacate quickly and move onto another location.
  • Live in the country?  Barring a geographical specific disaster, your best bet would probably be to stay at home, batten down the hatches, and hole up if you’re adequately prepared.  Check out this book for the optimal way to barricade yourself into your dwelling.

This will also be a matter of preference.  You’d be wise to start exploring your surroundings, points of escape from your town, where the bottlenecks are likely to cause problems, and what your absolute best chance of survival will be: staying at home vs. getting away.

It’ll depend on the severity of the catastrophe and your own particular situation.

Necessary Skills

Lego Explorer

In my research and training to become Jason Bourne, I’ve stumbled across a number of skills that would also prove incredibly important should we reach the end of the world.

These are those skills:

Self Defense – I’d like to think that we’d all act like civilized human beings should there be a major catastrophe. However, considering how we Americans act during a black Friday sale, I don’t have too much faith in society when we’re scrambling for food, water, or supplies.   If you are already well-prepared and stocked with supplies, then you’re a prime target.  For this reason, I would recommend you look into taking self-defense classes in your town.

Consider taking Krav Maga (Israeli special forces martial arts) or Systema (Russian martial art).  How “prepared” you want to be is up to you.

First-Aid/CPR/EMT – If you manage to survive the initial catastrophe or apocalypse, you might be one of the few people available, ready, and willing to take care of others.  One of the Rules of the Rebellion is to “never leave your wingman,” which still applies after the world ends.  So get prepared:

  • CPR, First Aid, and AED.  CPR saves lives…and even if you don’t think the world is ending, this is an incredibly valuable skill to have!  You can find out more information about First Aid, CPR, and AED classes through the Red Cross.  Do it.
  • Volunteer EMT, Community Emergency Response Team, etc. – Consider volunteering for your town’s Community Emergency Response Team.  A simple google search with “CERT + [your city/town name]” or a search here should provide you with more information.  Getting certified could not only help save lives, but also provide you with special permissions or access to certain parts of town during an emergency.

Hunting, farming, fishing, and foraging – Depending on how long your catastrophe lasts, you might be on your own for food once your Bug Out Bag rations run out!  There are thousands of books written on each of these subjects, but to start, I found the “survival” sections of Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Chef to be incredibly well done and a great primer to get me interested in survivalist ‘food.’ This includes topics on forging for plants, how to catch and cook a squirrel, deer, pigeons, fish, and more.

If you will be taking shelter on a farm for a long time, actually planting your own crops and raising your own livestock could be the best path to sustainable survival. Even if you don’t live on a massive farm, the ability to grow your own food source is incredibly advantageous.

Bartering – Once the end of the world happens, the money in your bank account could become as worthless as the paper it’s printed on.  Instead, you might be stuck bartering for goods and services like the good ole days.  Simply developing the skill of negotiation can be a lifesaver in the end of days – you can get rid of any excess supplies in exchange for supplies of which you’re in desperate need.  This is also a prime opportunity for you to showcase any other skills or talents you might have – an expert hunter, a forager who knows the woods, a woodworker, or a doctor/nurse will be VERY valuable when catastrophe strikes.

Lock-picking – If you’re trying to prepare for a zombie apocalypse (or have become paranoid watching The Walking Dead), then being able to get into abandoned houses, offices, cars, or buildings could be the difference between life and death.  Believe it or not, you can actually take lock-picking classes.   Do a google search for your town and “lock-smith class” and see if anything pops up.  If not, you might be stuck scouring lock-picking message boards to see if there’s any club or person in your area that you can learn from.  If you’re trying to become an international man of mystery, then this skill is essential.

Not being an ass – Despite Negan’s success in the Walking Dead, the optimist in me believes that being nice, supportive, helpful, and generous during the end of days will make life worth living.

Surround yourself with nice people who have your values, who appreciate life the way you do, and want to help each other out.

If you can think of other important skills, make sure you share them in the comments with your fellow rebels!

More information and resources

lego book

These are some of my favorite sites, books, and resources that I’ve discovered for getting started down on the journey towards apocalypse survivalism.  Even if there is never a catastrophe, think of all of this information, training, and a cool (albeit strange) hobby that might also help you save somebody’s life someday.

STARTER BOOKS: 

Emergency, by Neil Strauss – the book that started it all for me.  Written as a more comical take on the subject of survivalism, (compared to the other dry, fact-based sites and books below), Emergency covers a LOT of ground relating to survivalism and international diversification.

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, by James Wesley, Rawles –  definitely the comprehensive resource in this article relating to survivalism.  Wesley paints a really grim future, but provides you with very specific information needed to adequately prepare for practically any catastrophe. I recommend getting the real book (not the digital version), in case you DO lose power/technology and this becomes your new bible.

Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag, by Creek Stewart and Jacqueline Musser – this is an entire book dedicated to building your own bug out bag.  If you don’t plan on buying a pre-made one, then this resource is well worth the money.

WEBSITES:

Sovereign Man – This website, run by a gentleman who uses the alias “Simon Black,” is less of a survival blog and more of an international diversification site.  If you’re concerned about your country’s monetary policies or the direction it’s headed, this site explains how to plant diversified “flags” all over the world. Second passports? International bank accounts?  Gold storage?  It’s all here.

SurvivalBlog.com – Run by James Wesley, author of the book mentioned above.  Wesley is a man who is fully convinced there is a massive shift coming and has taken every precaution to protect himself and his family.  If the world ends, he’s the guy I’d want on my team. However, the site is pretty low-tech, and not easy to navigate, which is why I also recommend…

SurvivalCache – I just recently found this site, thanks to my research for this article.  I find the site to be full of quality knowledge, presented in a solid fashion, and even bares some resemblance to how I approach my articles.  I mean, the author draws inspiration from movies at times. Sound familiar? 🙂

Get started

lego hazmat

It’s never too soon to start getting prepared.

You never know when the next earthquake, flood, or hurricane might hit. You don’t want to be scrambling at the eleventh hour to protect yourself, your friends, and family!  Even if you’d rather just stick your head in the sand and assume that ALL IS WELL! – a little bit of preparation can go a long way.

Remember, it’s okay to be weird – you’re going to be the weird guy/gal right up until the moment your survival skills and supplies are needed, and then you’re the hero.

I can understand that the end of the world may overwhelm you (it is…the end of the world, after all), so break things down into bite sized pieces and take it one piece of prep at a time!

  1. Stock up on food and water for your apartment.
  2. Plan out a route to safety should an emergency hit your city or town should a disaster strike.
  3. Start to build your own bug out bag, one item at a time.
  4. Pick one of the skills above and take a class in it.
  5. Pick another skill, and repeat.
  6. Set up lawn chair, grab popcorn, wait for end of world.
  7. Totally kidding about #6.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go put on my tinfoil hat and prepare for the end.

And if the world does in fact end soon..we had a good run, right?

See you at the end,

-Steve

###

photo sources: lego mountain man, aliens globe, lego hammer, lego backpack, lego map, lego book, lego explorer, lego hazmat

The Last Fitness Program You’ll Ever Need

Workouts, nutrition guidance, and habit-building. Never wonder where you should put your limited time, energy, and effort.

Get our FREE Starter Kit with dozens of resources today!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.