Jason Charles, a 39-year-old firefighter who lives in Manhattan, started prepping in 2010 after he read William Forstchen’s “One Second After.” Set in post-apocalyptic North Carolina, the book chronicles a man’s efforts to keep his family alive.

Charles immediately started amassing thousands of dollars worth of supplies — from canned goods to knives to first-aid kits — and wilderness skills, so he would be ready if a disaster hit the city.

“There was one part [in the book] when he says, ‘I should have gotten more. I should have gotten more food,’ and it got me thinking, I never want that to happen to my kids,” Charles, who has a wife and three kids, tells Business Insider.

Two years later, he became the president of the New York City Preppers Network, the local chapter of a national organisation that promotes self-reliance in case a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or other unforeseen catastrophe strikes.

Charles took us inside his Harlem apartment and storage unit, where he keeps his gear.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.