Hi, I’m Dan.
I’m not a survivalist. I’m not a doomsday prepper. I’m a parent who, a few years ago, sat through a 5-day power outage with two kids, a freezer full of food going bad, and absolutely no plan — and decided that was never happening again.
That outage didn’t happen because of some catastrophic event. A storm knocked out the grid in our neighborhood for five days. Five days without power, without a generator, without stored water, without even knowing where our flashlights were. The kids thought it was an adventure for about six hours. After that, it was just stressful — for them and for us.
What surprised me most wasn’t the inconvenience. It was how quickly I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I’d always assumed that in a real emergency I’d figure it out. That assumption doesn’t hold up past hour 48.
So I started reading. Then testing. Then building systems — for water, for food, for communication, for power. Over the following years I’ve assembled and stress-tested family emergency plans, kit configurations, and evacuation protocols. I’ve read through FEMA guidelines, military field manuals, and dozens of after-action reports from real disasters. I’ve bought and returned a lot of gear. Some of it was excellent. Most of it was overpriced marketing.
Preparing with Dan is what I wish had existed when I started. Not a site that sells you fear or a 72-item kit you’ll never use — but a practical resource that starts with your actual family, your actual home, and the actual emergencies most likely to affect you.
What you’ll find here
Every guide on this site is built around one question: what would a prepared family of four actually do in this situation? Not a hypothetical lone wolf with 40 lbs of tactical gear — a real household with kids, pets, medical needs, a car, and a mortgage.
How I research and test
When I recommend a piece of gear, I’ve either used it personally or researched it extensively against verified user data and technical specs. I cross-reference manufacturer claims against independent tests and real-world field reports from emergency responders, outdoor organizations, and preparedness communities. When something doesn’t hold up — I say so.
For emergency scenarios (hurricanes, blackouts, chemical incidents, EMP events), I work from published FEMA guidance, NOAA protocols, and documented historical events — not speculation. If a claim is contested or uncertain, I say so explicitly.
Some links on this site are Amazon affiliate links — if you buy something through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This never influences which products I recommend. I link to products I’d actually buy myself for my own family’s emergency kit. Products I wouldn’t use don’t appear here, regardless of commission rate.
Where to start
If you’re new here, the best first step is building your family’s emergency plan — everything else in preparedness flows from that foundation. I’ve written a step-by-step guide that takes about two hours to complete and gives you a real, working plan tailored to your household.