Pick Up A Piece icon

About

In short, Pick Up A Piece is an informal, non-centralized, and non-political organization formed to promote personal preparedness and standardize a level of readiness.

After seeing people being pulled apart by a society and world that revels in division, I (Bunker John) decided to try and combat that with this loose organization. Many individuals are looking for ways to better prepare themselves and their families. But there are so many voices, it's easy to get lost in them (I certainly have at times.)

This site serves as an informational hub to gather individuals together in becoming more prepared. The first line of defense against a crisis, big or small, is an individual, a family, and a community. Pick Up A Piece serves as a uniting factor in preparing and responding to a crisis, a uniting factor in which political view, race, religion, or other factors are not barriers. It aims to point them in the right direction, to offer both guides for preparing for a crisis as well as direct links to products that are well-researched and widely relied on.

Many people appreciate the idea of belonging to something. That urge to belong drives many to areas of good influence, but also bad. Since many individuals gravitate towards belonging to something, why not have that be a force for good? Perhaps, in time, you'll see individuals with the organization's logo helping out after a disaster, or even simply in your day-to-day life. As described on the 'Become a Mitigation Agent' page, it's similar to a Boy Scout oath. You are personally ascribing to the idea that you will help to the best of your ability irrespective of race, income, religion, or political view. We're all the same when disasters hit. The goal is to unite us in that fellow status.

I wish to make this clear:
This is not a militia.
No illegal activities will be condoned.

The advice on this site is to guide individuals to operate under their local laws, including not interfering with official emergency responders or other organizations. Should emergency services be unavailable, this site and organization aims to have prepared members to respond to the best of their trained ability.

The quote that kick-started this venture is as follows, from Tom Clancy's 'The Division.' The upcoming threat rating system and 'mitigation agent' designations are simply a mostly tongue-in-cheek nod to this origin.

"It's hard to watch something you love destroy itself, to see it fall apart. Disaster always feels so distant, detached, someone else's struggle in some far away place. It's not until it's in our city, at our doors, do we realize just how fragile we are, all of us, all of this. And when it hit, when it came down, it came down hard. And we fell. We buried ourselves in anger, fear and the instinct to survive. And the real truth is no one watched. No one saw or wanted to see.

Tragedy is invisible. People turn away from it, they run from it if they can. And it's hard knowing you belong here. That your purpose lies amongst all this pain. But someone's gotta be there. To pick it up, to push back, to put the first piece back together.

To put us all back together."

- Tom Clancy's The Division


This is Pick Up A Piece. Putting the world back together when it all falls apart.

Who is Bunker John?

Bunker John is, well, me! It's a pseudonym I have used online for years as I try my best to guide people towards self-reliance on various platforms. (Imgur/Reddit, mainly.) It's the username I utilized during the 2 years of running a COVID-19 newsletter on Imgur.

So, why trust my recommendations?

Formally, I have a graduate degree in Emergency Management/Disaster Preparedness. I've also written multiple articles for a major Outdoors/Solar System company instructing others how to prepare for a disaster, along with having covered the COVID-19 Pandemic for 2 years with a regular, non-political newsletter on Imgur. My other Disaster/Emergency Management experience/certifications include:

  • Experience as a Wildland Fire Dispatcher/Fire Lookout
  • Experience as an Emergency Planning Specialist (Health Department)
  • Multiple IS-FEMA Classes completed, including the Professional Development Series.
  • Certified Firearms Instructor (Pistol/Rifle/Shotgun)
  • Certified Chief Range Safety Officer
  • Certified Wilderness First Responder


On a less formal note, I've been involved in self-reliance/prepping for over a decade, and have done hundreds of hours of research for the various preparedness steps, products, and ways of thinking I now try to pass along.

While I'd be honored if you trusted both the how-to prepare guides, along with my other recommendations, I hope you have a bit of skepticism. That's healthy! I'm just one of many individuals on the internet giving their advice, and there are many.

While the suggested/linked products are the result of hours of research and quite a bit of waffling back and forth for my own supply list, the items are ultimately for you, and I hope everyone explores various options, as nobody's self-reliance journey is 100% the same. I simply aim to offer a general guide, both recommending products I personally trust, and also providing a baseline if you choose to research alternatives.

I do want to clarify that I do not offer any products I, myself would not use, own, or recommend for myself or family and friends. If I am ever paid to promote a singular product/brand in a post, I will not conceal that in the slightest. Products in the 'Store' section of the site are ones I feel comfortable using myself.

So, thank you for reading, and if you so choose to support the efforts of this Site and Organization, welcome to Pick Up A Piece.