Preparing Yourself for the Next Disaster: Tailgating at the Patriots

Preparing yourself for the next disaster gives you a certain mindset. You’re always trying to absorb as much information as possible from all of life’s experiences. And they all don’t have to be gloom and doom.

Take tailgating at a New England Patriots game for example. The parking lot before a game can be surprisingly educational from a disaster prep standpoint.

Any successful tailgating involves prep days before the actual game. Saturday afternoon, for example, I was at Staples picking up a storage bin for cups, paper towels, and other stuff I didn’t want to slide around in the back of the Suburban. Note to self, this is the second time I’ve used Staples to find storage containers over the last month.

As I told you last week, I ordered my water storage barrels from Walmart. I went to the actual store on Saturday to find some chairs and sure enough they were priced lower than I could have imagined. Two sturdy chairs, that are great for camping, for less than ten bucks each.

Part of the danger of going into Walmart is I end up perusing the camping section and end up buying stuff I didn’t go there to buy. It’s like grocery shopping when you’re hungry. An hour or so later, I now know a lot about the cool propane lanterns and stoves available at Walmart. Not to mention tons of water for sale that could meet your short-term needs.

Not that tailgating is a survival situation at Gillette. It’s far from it on game day.

On Sunday, I found myself scanning the parking lot in awe. Who knew living off the grid could be so good? In a matter of minutes, empty parking spaces turned into a city of tents where family and friends gathered around—each member contributing to the pre-game experience. And it’s an experience.

Eating involves not just hot dogs and hamburgers. It’s baked stuffed shrimp, stuffed quahogs, lobsters, steamers, filet mignon, to name just a few entrees being served—imagine the best foods of New England and you get the picture. And what’s obvious is that this tailgating thing is a science.

Everyone has a formula that makes it work. Where to meet and where to park, what time to break down the gear to head into the game to make a speedy exit afterwards; or not, as some like to have another meal until the lot clears out a bit.

If you have a chance to catch a game near you, do it. Tailgating puts you into a mindset of how to make living off the grid a lot more fun, and you get to see a live game. So what if you have to find places to store stuff you never intended on owning.

Originally posted at Yoursurvivalguy.com.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.