Video Title
Free Inventory Assessment PDF | A Starting Point | Prepping for Non-Preppers #BetterPrepared
Video Description
Understanding where you are is critical to know where you’re going. When it comes to prepping and preparedness figuring out “where you are” and “where you’re going” can seem like overwhelming tasks. We created this Inventory Assessment to help you chart your course by establishing your current state.
This FREE 2 page PDF worksheet guides you through some basic questions to help you focus and understand your current level of preparedness.
Page 1: This page walks you through some of the important questions around logistics and establishes the size and scope of your plan (what are you preparing for and how many people do you need to account for).
Page 2: This page helps you understand the gear that you have and how you might prioritize it in a disaster. Using P.A.C.E. and some time range suggestions, you will be able to visually see where you have weaknesses and be able to prioritize them as you see fit.
This is ultimately a self-assessment tool, so there is no grade at the end, but it will provide you with a means of organizing your starting point, and then monitor your progress moving forward.
Link to FREE Inventory Assessment PDF
Video
Click Here to see more Videos about Prepping for Non-Preppers
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00,060 –> 00:00:03,570
have you been watching the news seeing
all of the natural disasters that have
2
00:00:03,570 –> 00:00:07,049
happened over the last few weeks and
gotten real concerned about your level
3
00:00:07,049 –> 00:00:13,650
of preparedness what would you do what
do you have how prepared am i well a lot
4
00:00:13,650 –> 00:00:17,310
of people are and a lot of people have
messaged me about it and said where do I
5
00:00:17,310 –> 00:00:20,070
start
oh my goodness I need help well today
6
00:00:20,070 –> 00:00:23,550
I’m really excited because we are gonna
dive into our inventory assessment
7
00:00:23,550 –> 00:00:27,539
worksheet which is a free pdf that we’re
gonna walk through and will hopefully
8
00:00:27,539 –> 00:00:33,840
help you solidify your framework for
preparedness and give you a little bit
9
00:00:33,840 –> 00:00:37,320
more confidence as you begin your
preparedness journey so stay tuned and
10
00:00:37,320 –> 00:00:41,000
we’ll go through it here in a second
11
00:00:42,700 –> 00:00:47,340
hey everybody welcome back to cascade
today I’m Casey and today we have a very
12
00:00:47,340 –> 00:00:52,170
exciting episode we are going to dive
into our inventory assessment PDF
13
00:00:52,170 –> 00:00:57,000
worksheet that is available for free the
download link is in the description
14
00:00:57,000 –> 00:01:00,809
feel free to download it and then you
can follow along with us if you are new
15
00:01:00,809 –> 00:01:04,290
to the channel and you are interested in
these sorts of topics which you probably
16
00:01:04,290 –> 00:01:07,860
are please go ahead and hit the
subscribe button in the notifications so
17
00:01:07,860 –> 00:01:11,640
you will know when we put out new videos
we usually put out new videos every week
18
00:01:11,640 –> 00:01:16,259
so we would love to have you viewing and
watching and sharing when we do that so
19
00:01:16,259 –> 00:01:21,020
you’re probably wondering what is our
inventory assessment PDF download
20
00:01:21,020 –> 00:01:28,020
checklist for you to use well it is a
two-page document that we created that
21
00:01:28,020 –> 00:01:34,830
walks through some basics on kind of
level setting your level of preparedness
22
00:01:34,830 –> 00:01:39,479
so it is an inventory assessment not
only of your gear but also kind of your
23
00:01:39,479 –> 00:01:43,740
planning your state of mind what you’re
thinking how you want to do it and then
24
00:01:43,740 –> 00:01:47,600
building forward off of that so why do
you need a an inventory assessment
25
00:01:47,600 –> 00:01:51,090
worksheet to help you with your
preparedness journey well
26
00:01:51,090 –> 00:01:54,959
when most of us are starting out on our
preparedness journeys it can seem like a
27
00:01:54,959 –> 00:01:58,709
daunting and overwhelming process there
are so many checklists there are so many
28
00:01:58,709 –> 00:02:02,550
recommendations there are so many things
to get and you can kind of get lost in
29
00:02:02,550 –> 00:02:06,270
well I need to get everything I need to
prepare for everything what am i doing
30
00:02:06,270 –> 00:02:11,459
well as we’ve addressed in some of our
previous videos on what to prepare for
31
00:02:11,459 –> 00:02:15,390
and who you’re preparing for and we have
a playlist on kind of starting your
32
00:02:15,390 –> 00:02:19,560
preparedness journey sometimes you need
to kind of just sit down and really map
33
00:02:19,560 –> 00:02:23,190
out what it is that you need to do what
is your goal and then everything else
34
00:02:23,190 –> 00:02:27,300
kind of falls into place so this
inventory assessment is not a checklist
35
00:02:27,300 –> 00:02:32,370
it is not designed to say get these
twelve things for your bug out bag it is
36
00:02:32,370 –> 00:02:37,920
really more to help you crystallize what
it is that you’re trying to do where you
37
00:02:37,920 –> 00:02:43,709
want to go and then baseline where
you’re at to identify what you still
38
00:02:43,709 –> 00:02:48,629
maybe need to get maybe what you have
too much of where you want to go what
39
00:02:48,629 –> 00:02:51,930
are your next steps and help you
prioritize that and then this worksheet
40
00:02:51,930 –> 00:02:55,500
will then be kind of a it’s an evolving
process so you’ll probably do this once
41
00:02:55,500 –> 00:02:57,180
and
maybe you do it again in three months
42
00:02:57,180 –> 00:03:00,360
and maybe you do it again in six months
but you always want to be updating it
43
00:03:00,360 –> 00:03:03,780
and keeping track of kind of where you
are and how close you are to your goals
44
00:03:03,780 –> 00:03:09,000
so the first page is about crystallizing
the framework of your preparedness
45
00:03:09,000 –> 00:03:13,800
journey the first couple of questions
are around what are you preparing for so
46
00:03:13,800 –> 00:03:18,060
are you preparing for an earthquake
hurricane some sort of other natural
47
00:03:18,060 –> 00:03:21,900
disaster is a job loss
what is that focus and primary event
48
00:03:21,900 –> 00:03:25,830
that you are most concerned about and
then also how many people are you
49
00:03:25,830 –> 00:03:28,830
preparing for who are you preparing for
are you preparing for your immediate
50
00:03:28,830 –> 00:03:33,150
family are you preparing for neighbors
community members are you dealing with
51
00:03:33,150 –> 00:03:37,260
two people or are you planning for 12
people it’s really going to impact how
52
00:03:37,260 –> 00:03:43,170
you think about strategies and gear and
resources we have videos that dive into
53
00:03:43,170 –> 00:03:47,790
both of those topics which I am linking
to up above right now that you can dive
54
00:03:47,790 –> 00:03:52,200
into more we’re going to be creating
videos around more of this stuff as well
55
00:03:52,200 –> 00:03:55,290
so again it’s a reason to subscribe if
you haven’t already
56
00:03:55,290 –> 00:04:00,780
the next section on page one is around
logistics so who are your out-of-state
57
00:04:00,780 –> 00:04:05,070
contacts and do you have out-of-state
contacts if there’s emergency who is
58
00:04:05,070 –> 00:04:10,740
your kind of communication Nexus outside
of the disaster area where you and your
59
00:04:10,740 –> 00:04:15,020
friends or relatives are going to be
funneling information back and forth
60
00:04:15,020 –> 00:04:18,690
because likely you won’t be able to
communicate directly with each other
61
00:04:18,690 –> 00:04:23,820
unless you have some sort of a satellite
communicator or ham radio or something
62
00:04:23,820 –> 00:04:27,690
like that so you’re gonna want somebody
who can be that kind of communication
63
00:04:27,690 –> 00:04:31,890
Nexus for you
how about emergency documents you know
64
00:04:31,890 –> 00:04:34,980
we all have things like driver’s
licenses birth certificates social
65
00:04:34,980 –> 00:04:40,260
security cards where are those are they
accessible are they organized do you
66
00:04:40,260 –> 00:04:44,910
know where they are and if they are
current things like passports can expire
67
00:04:44,910 –> 00:04:49,280
so where are those and are those easily
available and accessible to you
68
00:04:49,280 –> 00:04:53,940
emergency cash this is something that a
lot of people especially now with credit
69
00:04:53,940 –> 00:04:59,400
cards you know very few people I’ve met
actually have cash on hand but in an
70
00:04:59,400 –> 00:05:02,430
emergency if credit cards don’t work
you’re going to want to have some cash
71
00:05:02,430 –> 00:05:07,130
on hand
so do you have cash on hand you have it
72
00:05:07,130 –> 00:05:10,430
with you do you have it in your car do
you have it at your house is it in a
73
00:05:10,430 –> 00:05:14,390
safe how much do you have what are you
planning on doing with it do you want
74
00:05:14,390 –> 00:05:19,370
living expenses for a month if you
needed to evacuate in cash or are you
75
00:05:19,370 –> 00:05:23,630
just hoping to be able to buy supplies
with it while you stay bugged in for a
76
00:05:23,630 –> 00:05:27,590
couple of days those are the sorts of
things you want to be thinking about in
77
00:05:27,590 –> 00:05:31,550
that section the last section of page
one talks about special considerations
78
00:05:31,550 –> 00:05:36,410
so these are things that are specific to
you they could be things like within
79
00:05:36,410 –> 00:05:39,890
your geography and your climate what are
things you want to be concerned about
80
00:05:39,890 –> 00:05:44,600
does it snow a lot does it rain a lot is
it super hot you’re gonna want to make
81
00:05:44,600 –> 00:05:49,670
sure that you have those types of
situations accounted for in your plan
82
00:05:49,670 –> 00:05:54,140
you don’t want a plan like you’re living
in the Arizona desert but actually be
83
00:05:54,140 –> 00:06:00,350
living in the Oregon Valley where it
rains all the time you don’t want to be
84
00:06:00,350 –> 00:06:03,650
planning for sunny California if you
live in Minnesota and it’s gonna be
85
00:06:03,650 –> 00:06:08,270
below freezing and snowing for part of
the year so you want to make sure that
86
00:06:08,270 –> 00:06:12,860
you have taken that into account you
want to make sure that if you have pets
87
00:06:12,860 –> 00:06:17,870
and you need special you know you need
pet food you need special supplies for
88
00:06:17,870 –> 00:06:21,470
them that you have that accounted for if
you have a medical condition or a
89
00:06:21,470 –> 00:06:26,240
disability of some sort how are you
planning for that and you’re not gonna
90
00:06:26,240 –> 00:06:29,780
want to make realize that you need a
prescription medication when the
91
00:06:29,780 –> 00:06:34,130
pharmacies aren’t working so do you have
a backup of some prescription medication
92
00:06:34,130 –> 00:06:38,450
do you have an extra wheelchair battery
or do you have a charger that can charge
93
00:06:38,450 –> 00:06:42,830
a wheelchair battery if that was
something that you need it so those are
94
00:06:42,830 –> 00:06:46,070
the sorts of things that we kind of
round out and then when you look at all
95
00:06:46,070 –> 00:06:49,850
of the questions that we’ve asked it
kind of gives you an idea of what are
96
00:06:49,850 –> 00:06:54,020
what am i doing who am i doing it for
what are the things that are specific to
97
00:06:54,020 –> 00:06:58,130
me and then that heads in to the next
section the second page of the inventory
98
00:06:58,130 –> 00:07:01,250
assessment is probably what you were
more expecting from an inventory
99
00:07:01,250 –> 00:07:06,170
assessment which is more of like a
checklist but it’s not a checklist it
100
00:07:06,170 –> 00:07:10,070
really is a worksheet it doesn’t tell
you what you should have or what you
101
00:07:10,070 –> 00:07:14,000
shouldn’t have this is about giving you
ideas and letting you kind of assess
102
00:07:14,000 –> 00:07:19,430
where you are right now and then where
would you like to be and identify your
103
00:07:19,430 –> 00:07:23,999
gaps
or surpluses as they may be the table on
104
00:07:23,999 –> 00:07:29,069
page 2 is organized using the pace
method across the top so the columns are
105
00:07:29,069 –> 00:07:33,929
organized by primary alternate
contingency and emergency and I’ve given
106
00:07:33,929 –> 00:07:39,689
some rough timelines to those the way
that pace works is it’s a prioritization
107
00:07:39,689 –> 00:07:44,729
system where you are planning on what is
your primary maybe in this case let’s
108
00:07:44,729 –> 00:07:48,689
say gear so what’s your primary piece of
gear what’s your secondary piece of gear
109
00:07:48,689 –> 00:07:51,749
what’s your alternate piece of gear and
then what’s your emergency piece of gear
110
00:07:51,749 –> 00:07:56,849
so if you were thinking about food your
fresh food in your refrigerator might be
111
00:07:56,849 –> 00:08:02,069
your primary your alternate food maybe
whatever is in the freezer that’s got a
112
00:08:02,069 –> 00:08:07,529
thaw out your contingency is maybe your
canned goods and then your emergency is
113
00:08:07,529 –> 00:08:13,829
maybe freeze-dried or kind of dry rice
and beans that you would be reheating
114
00:08:13,829 –> 00:08:18,419
the idea there is you have kind of
timeframes associated with whatever the
115
00:08:18,419 –> 00:08:23,909
item is your familiarity with the item
and then also the duration of the
116
00:08:23,909 –> 00:08:27,659
emergency as to how long that item is
going to need to last you as you look
117
00:08:27,659 –> 00:08:32,189
down the rows you’ll see that each row
is a category of gear or supplies so
118
00:08:32,189 –> 00:08:37,199
things like food and water and shelter
are all there and then next to them are
119
00:08:37,199 –> 00:08:41,699
examples of items that you might
associate in that category things you
120
00:08:41,699 –> 00:08:47,160
might want to have and a rough kind of
prioritization of what might go into
121
00:08:47,160 –> 00:08:53,399
each of the categories within pace so
you may have water bottles as your
122
00:08:53,399 –> 00:08:59,149
primary and you may have gallon jugs as
your alternate and then you might have
123
00:08:59,149 –> 00:09:06,389
55-gallon drums as your contingency and
emergency it’s totally up to you the
124
00:09:06,389 –> 00:09:11,250
examples are there to give everyone a
baseline idea of what might go into a
125
00:09:11,250 –> 00:09:14,550
category like this and allow you to
think about other things that might that
126
00:09:14,550 –> 00:09:19,170
might work at there as well and then
also to give you an idea of what are the
127
00:09:19,170 –> 00:09:23,610
different types of things that might go
in there as it relates to pace so you’re
128
00:09:23,610 –> 00:09:26,970
not just thinking about the thing you’re
familiar with but also thinking about
129
00:09:26,970 –> 00:09:31,319
well what might an emergency item here
look like or what might a longer-term
130
00:09:31,319 –> 00:09:35,779
solution be
whatever the category is now that we’ve
131
00:09:35,779 –> 00:09:39,829
addressed how the the table is filled
out it’s time to actually do the filling
132
00:09:39,829 –> 00:09:44,599
out which is the fun part so the way I
would recommend is to go row by row
133
00:09:44,599 –> 00:09:50,239
category by category and fill out each
category across all the columns do your
134
00:09:50,239 –> 00:09:54,039
best
this isn’t a test no one is grading you
135
00:09:54,039 –> 00:09:59,389
but the idea is to understand
realistically what you have right now
136
00:09:59,389 –> 00:10:03,169
what are the supplies that you have in
every single one of these categories and
137
00:10:03,169 –> 00:10:07,579
how would you think about laying them
out from a priority perspective using
138
00:10:07,579 –> 00:10:12,349
pace in some instances you may have one
thing that you put in all four
139
00:10:12,349 –> 00:10:16,519
categories or two categories like
shelter you may put a tent in primary
140
00:10:16,519 –> 00:10:20,509
and alternate and you might put a tarp
in contingency and emergency you could
141
00:10:20,509 –> 00:10:24,739
probably use them for both but it maybe
gives you an idea of the priority there
142
00:10:24,739 –> 00:10:29,659
for food you may have two or three
different types of food that you would
143
00:10:29,659 –> 00:10:32,749
want to lay out and this gives you an
idea of how you would start to think
144
00:10:32,749 –> 00:10:36,709
about that so your refrigerator or
freezer food is probably going to be
145
00:10:36,709 –> 00:10:40,519
first in your primary then you’re gonna
have alternate which may be canned goods
146
00:10:40,519 –> 00:10:45,319
or packaged goods and then you know
emergency and contingency depending on
147
00:10:45,319 –> 00:10:49,100
what you have could be dried food could
be more canned food could be
148
00:10:49,100 –> 00:10:53,809
freeze-dried food so you could have very
easily in the food category four
149
00:10:53,809 –> 00:10:56,929
distinct options whereas maybe in
shelter you would only have two and
150
00:10:56,929 –> 00:11:02,059
that’s totally fine fill it out this
kind of first time as best you can with
151
00:11:02,059 –> 00:11:06,799
what you have okay so now that you’re
done it’s time to put your pencils down
152
00:11:06,799 –> 00:11:11,209
and send it in for your grade nope just
kidding
153
00:11:11,209 –> 00:11:14,359
we’re not gonna grade it nobody’s gonna
grate it the only person is gonna grade
154
00:11:14,359 –> 00:11:18,459
it is you and it’s gonna be graded based
on your level of comfort with whatever
155
00:11:18,459 –> 00:11:23,779
your kind of table looks like I would
definitely recommend going through it
156
00:11:23,779 –> 00:11:28,759
and circling any item where you think
you are either lacking or could be doing
157
00:11:28,759 –> 00:11:32,959
better whether it’s an area in a
category whether it’s an entire category
158
00:11:32,959 –> 00:11:39,229
whether it’s a specific time interval or
a prioritization level but circle use a
159
00:11:39,229 –> 00:11:43,519
red pen if you want to all of those
areas where you feel like you could use
160
00:11:43,519 –> 00:11:46,800
improve
and that then is going to be your plan
161
00:11:46,800 –> 00:11:52,379
so as you look at this you’ll be able to
visually see very quickly where are you
162
00:11:52,379 –> 00:11:56,579
strong and where are you weak and
probably you didn’t realize how strong
163
00:11:56,579 –> 00:12:00,839
you were in a lot of areas and you also
probably didn’t realize how weak you are
164
00:12:00,839 –> 00:12:05,999
in a couple of areas so it’s going to
help you orient based on then your plan
165
00:12:05,999 –> 00:12:13,379
from page one and you’re kind of deer
assessment of page two of really where
166
00:12:13,379 –> 00:12:17,339
do you need to go next and what does
your preparedness journey look like
167
00:12:17,339 –> 00:12:21,600
going forward do you need to add more
supplies because you actually have more
168
00:12:21,600 –> 00:12:25,319
people than you thought you did and
you’ve been planning for four and you
169
00:12:25,319 –> 00:12:31,259
actually have eight do you need to add
different types of equipment do you have
170
00:12:31,259 –> 00:12:35,819
kids that you know actually yeah you
want to have a headlamp for all of the
171
00:12:35,819 –> 00:12:39,839
family members but the adult headlamps
are too big for the kids and so I
172
00:12:39,839 –> 00:12:43,199
actually I need to go out and get some
kid headlamps those are the things
173
00:12:43,199 –> 00:12:48,809
you’re gonna start to recognize and then
prioritize based on kind of your own
174
00:12:48,809 –> 00:12:53,639
comfort what you’re preparing for how
you want to do it and we really how you
175
00:12:53,639 –> 00:12:58,949
want to fill out this this chart so that
is gonna do it for today’s episode again
176
00:12:58,949 –> 00:13:03,449
I’m really excited to share this
assessment with you I think it’s gonna
177
00:13:03,449 –> 00:13:07,139
help a lot of people always ask me where
do I start I don’t know I feel
178
00:13:07,139 –> 00:13:11,850
completely unprepared hopefully this
gives you a means to really understand
179
00:13:11,850 –> 00:13:17,999
and get control of that kind of fear and
overwhelming feeling and say actually I
180
00:13:17,999 –> 00:13:22,889
may not have everything I want but I’m
better prepared than I was or that I
181
00:13:22,889 –> 00:13:27,269
thought I am and I have a plan forward
this is something I would recommend that
182
00:13:27,269 –> 00:13:31,379
you do either every three months every
six months and you know you probably
183
00:13:31,379 –> 00:13:35,399
don’t need to do it every day because we
all have lives and things going on but
184
00:13:35,399 –> 00:13:38,519
it’s a good thing to kind of go back and
look at and just see what have I
185
00:13:38,519 –> 00:13:42,059
accomplished in the last three months or
six months what has changed what are my
186
00:13:42,059 –> 00:13:46,740
priorities going into winter going into
summer are there different things that I
187
00:13:46,740 –> 00:13:50,550
want to put at the top of that list what
are the things that I want to be looking
188
00:13:50,550 –> 00:13:55,620
at when there are sales every season has
different kind of preparedness items
189
00:13:55,620 –> 00:13:58,320
that go on sale and if you know what
you’re looking if you know
190
00:13:58,320 –> 00:14:02,690
what you’re missing you can then do a
better job of trying to find deals and
191
00:14:02,690 –> 00:14:07,920
coupons and sales for the things that
you feel like you’re lacking to boost
192
00:14:07,920 –> 00:14:13,320
you up overall so thanks again for
watching again there’s a link in the
193
00:14:13,320 –> 00:14:16,620
description down below if you’d like to
download the assessment and take it for
194
00:14:16,620 –> 00:14:18,990
yourself
if you have any questions please go
195
00:14:18,990 –> 00:14:23,370
ahead and leave them in the comments
below you can get on social media and
196
00:14:23,370 –> 00:14:28,620
message us there as well subscribe if
you haven’t already we’re gonna be
197
00:14:28,620 –> 00:14:32,400
putting out additional videos talking
about each of these categories talking
198
00:14:32,400 –> 00:14:36,720
about pace talking about kind of all of
the different elements that went into
199
00:14:36,720 –> 00:14:41,640
this as well as we are working on some
checklists they’re not going to be your
200
00:14:41,640 –> 00:14:45,390
standard checklist because I’m not a
huge fan of standard checklist I feel
201
00:14:45,390 –> 00:14:47,550
like they kind of get a little
overwhelming but we’re putting together
202
00:14:47,550 –> 00:14:52,470
some sort of a checklist that will kind
of be an augmentation on top of this
203
00:14:52,470 –> 00:14:57,810
that you can go in and kind of use so
again stay tuned stay subscribed and
204
00:14:57,810 –> 00:15:02,840
thanks again we will see you next week
bye
