Prepper Binder on Steroids – Meet the New Prepper File Box!

You’re reading through your latest edition of Mary Jane’s Farm magazine and you see an article on making ink out of walnut husks, and you know you can’t do it now, but you SO WANT to remember HOW to make it “just in case you ever have to.”  What do you do?  You didn’t see anything else useful in that issue, so you don’t want to keep the whole thing, but you’re afraid that you’ll lose the article if you just tear it out.  What’s a girl (or guy) to do?  You’ll file it in your Prepper File Box!

What is a Prepper File Box?

A Prepper File Box is a place that you can file all your preparedness related information that you either print off the internet, find in magazines, get from a friend, or find from any other source.

The Importance of a Prepper File Box

When I was a speech communications major in college, I did a LOT of performing.  I took classes where I would perform cuttings from novels or plays or sometimes poems.

But when you’re in the thick of things, it’s hard to decide what to perform if every time you need a new piece, you have to go read four, five, or six books worth of material to find what it is you want to perform.

Our solution was a file box where we would keep pieces that we liked as we found them.  Heard someone perform an amazing piece?  We added it to our box.  Found a wonderful cutting as you’re reading a book for English Lit?  We added it to our box.  Wow!  There was an incredible story that you read on the net?  We added it to our box.

Organization of the Box

Our box was organized by genre (Poetry, Prose, Famous Speeches already given)  These were then subdivided into further categories: Narrative, Dramatic, Descriptive.  These were further subdivided into serious or comic, and if we wanted to, we could subdivide it even further.  When I was taking a class in Oral Interpretation of poetry, I had a bunch of poems on hand that I could choose from.  When I was working with my private speech coach, she could tell me the type of piece that she wanted me working on, and I could easily find one.

Translate that to a Prepper File Box

The whole point of having a prepper file box is that when you are without electricity and you need to find information on a given topic, if you’ve already come across it and it’s in your prepper file box, you will be able to put your hands on it at a moment’s notice.  It will be an invaluable (and mostly free) addition to your preparedness efforts.

Why a Prepper File box?

Why not just put your articles in a binder like many other preparedness gurus talk about?  I have a couple of reasons why I suggest a box instead of a binder.
(1) Articles can easily fall out of a binder.  Have you ever been around when a binder accidentally opened and the pages all went flying?  A box would prevent that.
(2) If you put your articles in page protectors, it’s more expensive than using file folders.
(3) It’s so much easier to organize and find what you’re looking for.
(4) A file box holds more than a binder.  It has a handle and is easier to take with you effortlessly.
(5) A box protects your articles from the elements if you need to take them out with you when it’s raining.

There are three parts to your Prepper File Box.

(1) Your box or drawer in an existing file cabinet or accordion file folder.
(2) Your labeled file folders.  I use colored file folders so as to visually divide the box.
(3) Your articles

Suggestions to get you started.

Let me start by saying that no two people’s prepper boxes are going to look alike.  Each of us will find our own articles that will speak to us or we will feel that we need.  Someone may have a solar-powered electrical system file folder, so they collect articles about fixing and repairing the system should something happen.  Others may plan on going it without electricity if something happens, so that person will ignore anything about solar power that they come across and instead focus on gardening, home repair or other areas. Take this box and make it tailored for you and your family.

Potential topics to get you started:

Gardening

Defeating pests, composting, soil amendments, herbs, vegetables, trees, bushes, winter gardening

Foraging

Mushrooms, dandelions, purslane, chicory, pine nuts, rose hips, wild garlic, elder, stinging nettles.

Food storage recipes

Condiments 1, 2, 3, 4, dairy 1, 2, 3, noodles, breads, sourdough, salad dressings, sauces, crackers, dips, breakfast foods 1, 2, 3, ingredient substitutions, lunch ideas, dinner ideas 1, 2, snack ideas 1, 2, 3, magic mix 1, 2, 3

Disasters to prepare for

Hurricane, tornado, wildfire, nuclear, job loss, armed burglary, evacuation, riot, global financial crisis, EMP

Kits to put together

Medical kit, communications kit, homeschool kit, cooking kit, pandemic kit, heating kit, water treatment kit, kid kit, NBC kit, clothing repair kit, winter kit, lighting kit, bug out bag

Financial Preparedness

Debt, currencies, silver, gold

Preparedness organization

Kit organization, food storage organization, water organization, rainwater runoff, catchment systems

Treating Medical Conditions

Cold, flu, stomach ailments, headaches, high blood pressure, (conditions your family has),  diabetes, learning how to do stitches, poison ivy, bug bites, skin infections, antibiotics

Self-protection

Ammunition, handgun, rifle, bow and arrow, stun gun, knives

Sanitation

Showering, portable toilet, hand washing, waste disposal, laundry – washing, laundry – drying

Animal Husbandry

Rabbits, cows, pigs, chickens, horses, quail, sheep, goats

Handwork

Clothing repair, knitting, crochet, spinning, needlepoint, embroidery, counted cross stitch, darning socks, weaving

Household repair

Electrical systems, HVAC, water, sewage, repairing drywall, basic construction

There are more potential topics out there can we could list, but this helps you get going.

What About You?

Have you already put a box together?  Do you notice any glaring holes in the lists that I’ve provided as a suggestions.  I’d love to hear.  Leave a comment below.

Together let’s Love, Learn, Practice, Overcome

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