In a continuing effort to educate our readers on the finer aspects of self-sufficiency, I have invited Dan Chiras to share his best strategies and tips for creating a rain catchment system that works.

If Dan's name sounds familiar, it is because he is the author of two Prepper Book Festival titles, Survive in Style: The Prepper's Guide to Living Comfortably through Disasters and Power From the Sun: A Practical Guide to Solar Electricity.  Today he is here with specifics on collecting rainwater, regardless of where you live.

Let it Rain: Collecting Rainwater from Your Roof to Survive in Style

In a crisis, rainwater can become one of a prepper's greatest allies. If you live in an area with as few as 30 inches (12 cm) of precipitation a year, you may be able to live entirely off water falling on the roof of your home. That is, you could collect enough water from precipitation to meet all of your needs for cooking, cleaning, bathing, flushing toilets, watering gardens, and supplying a few chickens and a goat or cow – if you use water efficiently. I've done it for many years.