If You Couldn’t Leave Your House, How Long Would Your Family Last?
***Disclaimer- I tried to make this email as spoiler free as I could.***
I watched a movie last night on Netflix called The Last House, and about five minutes into it my preparedness brain kicked in.
Here’s the setup:
A family of four wakes up one morning and discovers they can’t leave their house.
Doors won’t open.
Windows won’t break.
Something strange is happening outside.
And nobody is coming to explain it.
I’m going to stop there because I don’t want to spoil the movie.
What interested me wasn’t the sci-fi explanation anyway.
It was the question underneath it:
If your family suddenly had to survive entirely on what is inside your house right now, how long could you make it?
That is one heck of a preparedness exercise.
WEEKLY TRAINING
Your House Is Already a Survival Kit
When people start thinking about preparedness, they tend to think about things they need to buy.
Food buckets.
Generators.
Medical kits.
Radios.
Water filters.
All useful.
But The Last House made me think about the opposite question.
What do I already have?
Walk through your house sometime and look at everything through that lens.
How much food is here?
How much water?
What could collect water?
What could store it?
What could become a bandage?
What could become cordage?
What could provide light?
What could generate heat?
What could be dismantled and repurposed?
What could keep the kids occupied if electronics disappeared?
Suddenly your house looks different.
It’s no longer just where you live.
It’s an enormous cache of resources.
The question is whether you know how to use them.
MEDIC’S MINUTE
Improvisation works best when it’s built on knowledge. Learn what equipment is supposed to do, and you’ll get much better at finding substitutes when you don’t have it.
I’ve improvised plenty of things during emergencies.
Sometimes you have exactly the piece of equipment you need.
Sometimes you have duct tape and a prayer.
Knowing the difference between what is ideal and what is necessary is an important survival skill.
AFTER ACTION REPORT
Five Needs Come First
Something I particularly liked about The Last House is that the survival elements weren’t completely invented by Hollywood.
The filmmakers brought in survival consultant Megan Hine, and the family’s survival strategy was built around five fundamental needs:
Shelter.
Water.
Food.
Fire.
Sleep.
As the situation continues, the family begins repurposing ordinary household items and developing systems that allow them to keep going.
That’s the part I want you watching.
Don’t just watch what they build.
Ask yourself:
Could I have thought of that?
And even better:
What would I have done differently?
That’s where a movie becomes training.
DR. DAVE’S FIELD NOTES
One thing I’ve learned from military operations, emergency medicine, and disaster deployments is that emergencies have very little respect for your plans.
You might have an entire garage full of emergency supplies.
Then the emergency happens while you’re 40 miles from home.
You might own the perfect tool.
Then it breaks.
You might have planned for three days.
Then day four arrives.
Preparedness has to include the ability to look at an unfamiliar problem, take inventory of what you’ve got, and start figuring things out.
That’s one reason I like survival movies.
I’m constantly asking myself:
What would I do right now?
Try watching The Last House that way.
YOUR MISSION
The 30-Day House Test
Here’s your assignment.
Pretend your front door just became permanently sealed.
You have electricity and running water right now, but assume both could disappear without warning.
Nobody can bring you anything.
Amazon isn’t coming.
DoorDash isn’t coming.
Walmart isn’t an option.
Your family has to survive for 30 days using only what’s currently inside your house.
Don’t buy anything before doing this exercise.
Walk around and take inventory.
Pay particular attention to:
- Water and ways to obtain more
- Food
- Cooking
- Sanitation
- Medicine and first aid
- Light
- Heating or cooling
- Communication
- Tools
- Entertainment and morale
Then answer one question:
What would become your first serious problem?
That’s probably where your preparedness needs work.
Hit Reply and tell me your answer.
I’m curious what everyone’s weak point turns out to be.
TONIGHT’S HOMEWORK
Watch The Last House.
But watch it differently.
Every time the family encounters another survival problem, ask yourself:
What would my family do?
Pause it if you need to.
Argue about it with your spouse.
Ask the kids what they’d do.
There are worse ways to spend family movie night.
TRANSMISSION
There’s a concept we use frequently around Prepared:
Capability beats inventory.
Your supplies matter.
Your equipment matters.
Your stockpile matters.
But eventually something runs out.
Something breaks.
Something happens that you didn’t plan for.
At that point, what’s between your ears becomes part of your emergency kit.
The Last House takes that idea to an extreme.
Hopefully none of us ever wake up mysteriously sealed inside our homes.
But finding out how long we could survive there?
That’s worth knowing.
Stay Prepared,
Dr. Dave
P.S. I’m thinking about turning this into a 30-Day Prepared Challenge where we tackle one scenario like this every day. Power goes out. Water stops. You can’t leave home. Communications fail. You’re stranded away from home. Each day, you’d get a new situation and figure out how your family would handle it with what you have right now.
Interested? Hit Reply and tell me. If enough of you want it, I’ll build it.