Over time many of us find ourselves burning out or getting side tracked in our preps. We try to only buy our food stuffs on sales and in large quantities and get very used to doing this. Lately we have found as we are taking inventory of our storage rooms that we have over done certain items. As the summer bbq season was about to start I bought a couple of dozen bottles of bbq sauce and the same day at a different store my wife did the same. We laughed about the oops as we loaded them on to a shelf and proceeded to forget about it. A month later I was in a store and saw bbq sauce on sale and proceeded to buy a couple dozen more bottles. Once I was home and went to put them away I very quickly saw my mistake. I now have so much of this on the shelf I may never get through it all. This is not the end of the world as we know it but that money could have been better used somewhere else. Up until this point we did not really plan out our shopping trips just went with the sales and staple foods. We have now learned that we need to do a inventory before every trip and write a list. It does not matter how good the sale is if we will never use it before it goes bad. Since this discovery that many of you take completely for granted we have a spreadsheet with our total long and short term stores that we update every time we add or remove anything from the storage rooms. We do not include anything in the cupboards into our inventories but each to their own.
Since this wake up we have sat down and wrote out meal plans and figured out exactly what is needed and filled any of the holes that we found in the supplies. The idea behind this is to be able to keep our diet as close to the same post SHTF as before it. If we are able to take this stressor out of our lives the survivablity of a bad situation goes up in our opinions.
We also inventoried our non food stored items and found that we needed more focus in this area. If the economy were to crash tomorrow or a disaster/war what items do we need that are hard for us to produce for ourselves. Some of the items that we came up with were rope, thread, buttons, velcro, plastic sheeting, nails, plywood, pipe/tubing and bottled propane etc. Once we had identified these items we were very quickly able to obtain them and move on to something else. As we think of anything else we write it down on a list and then determine a priority level and then the amount required.
Since we do have a fairly large amount of storage space we have left items like TP and kleenex permanently of the list for purchase when we see them on sale. Rodents and moisture are the only real enemies of these products and if you have both of those under control the paper products have an unlimited shelf life.
One thing that we have looked into is getting some steel barrels with seal-able lids to store sugar flour pasta and rice still in their factory packaging but without exposure to any air or moisture in our storage rooms.
The end of our preparing may never come but we as a family have reached a place that will provide for our needed long after the supermarket shelves are empty. Stay safe and keep prepping.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Emergency Kit
With the current events unfolding in Japan it brings to home the need for a emergency supply of survival items. Many governments are advising all people to have 3 days of water, food and first-aid supplies set aside in case of emergency situations. For me I think a better idea would be to have a minimum 7 days of clean water 1 gallon per person per day is a good place to start. Food items that are best in this type of kit include power bars, granola, MRE's, canned fruit, canned meat/fish, packaged nuts, trail mix, raisins and jerky. If you have a camp stove, wood stove or BBQ I would include canned soup's, pasta's, chilli and rice. Other items that can make a bad situation more comfortable are little things like instant coffee, tea bags, hot chocolate, hard candies, chocolate bars, gum or cigarettes.
As for non food items included in the kit a manual can opener, flashlight, candles, battery powered radio, emergency blankets, canned heat or small propane/kerosene heater, water proof matches/lighters and extra batteries for radio and flashlight's.
When it comes to first-aid kits really more is better but as long as you have a good basic home or auto kit it is better than nothing. One thing to remember is if you have long term running prescriptions never let your supply run down below 7 days.
I keep one bag of supplies packed just in case our family must evacuate in a hurry. In this I have power bars, granola, MRE's, jerky, packages of nuts, instant coffee, tea bags, bottled water, emergency blankets, campers first-aid kit, small flash light, candles, matches, camp pot, water purification tablets, 100' 550 paracord, hunting knife, folding saw and hatchet. This bag sits on a shelf in our garage every few months I will change out the water and some of the shorter life span food items. If we ever need to leave in a hurry it is right there waiting for us. Till next time keep prepping.
As for non food items included in the kit a manual can opener, flashlight, candles, battery powered radio, emergency blankets, canned heat or small propane/kerosene heater, water proof matches/lighters and extra batteries for radio and flashlight's.
When it comes to first-aid kits really more is better but as long as you have a good basic home or auto kit it is better than nothing. One thing to remember is if you have long term running prescriptions never let your supply run down below 7 days.
I keep one bag of supplies packed just in case our family must evacuate in a hurry. In this I have power bars, granola, MRE's, jerky, packages of nuts, instant coffee, tea bags, bottled water, emergency blankets, campers first-aid kit, small flash light, candles, matches, camp pot, water purification tablets, 100' 550 paracord, hunting knife, folding saw and hatchet. This bag sits on a shelf in our garage every few months I will change out the water and some of the shorter life span food items. If we ever need to leave in a hurry it is right there waiting for us. Till next time keep prepping.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Weapons for SHTF
This is a real touchy subject for many people, some are of the belief that they need to arm themselves for a small war and others want very little to do with it. This is one area where your personal location and situation play a huge part in what you may need. I live in a very rural area a long ways from any large population base, so personally I focus on hunting not repelling hordes of raiders or mass migrations of starving desperate people. Regardless of where you live you need to obtain your weapons legally. Here in Canada it can be a real pain and there are many restrictions on what you are able to own and forget being able to carry a handgun or own a assault rifle. A good place to start if you have no firearms right now is a 12ga pump shotgun and a semi-auto .22lr rifle with 200 rounds for the shotgun and 2000-5000 rounds for rifle. A firearm is no good if you are not trained with it so get a membership at a range and learn the ins and outs of your weapons. A high power rifle like a .308 or 30-06 with a 100 rounds minimum are great additions as well. Many people will feel that this is nowhere near enough but you need to decide for yourself what is needed in your situation. For me these are tools to protect and provide for my family but there are many other options.
There are far more options than just firearms, I am a bow hunter so I have my compound bows and also a trio of crossbows with several dozen carbon arrows with razor broadheads for each one. These are great for hunting or defending without giving away your position with the loud report of a firearm as well you can retrieve your arrows or bolts and reuse them many many times. Modern high speed bows and crossbows with broadhead tipped arrows can penetrate through most kevlar vests giving you options. Another option for hunting smaller game is slingshots and air rifles. A high speed pellet rifle is very quite and extremely cheap to shoot. Rabbits, squirrels, and other small game are very easily taken with a air rifle without scaring off future meals. It only costs me about 2 cents per shot with my air rifle making it the easiest long term food getting prep. A good sling shot can be completely deadly in the right set of hands is ultra cheap, easy to carry in a backpack or pocket and ammo is everywhere. I find that I have a lot of practice left before I will be able to call myself proficient with a sling shot but the practice is free.
The options for hand to hand weapons are endless but should be a last resort. Anything at hand can be a weapon when needed so with this in mind I really do not see the point of having special primitive weapons. The big hunting knife hanging on my belt is just as effective as a purpose built fighting knife but has the advantage of me being very comfortable with it because of daily use. Other items that have great practical and tactical uses are tomahawks, machetes, walking sticks, framing hammers etc. etc. etc. The most useful weapons are ones you are comfortable with and feel right in your hands.
The most powerful weapon you can ever have is a clear head. When you are thinking clearly and can confuse your enemy even if they are better armed the balance of power shifts to your side. I believe the more confrontations that can be avoided the better but sometimes it may come to a fight when it does do not hesitate to do as you must to come out on top.
If you are in a more urban setting than me you may have to deal with a lot more people looking to take what you have than I feel that Very rural people will have to. I would say the more urban your surroundings the more thought and effort you will need to put into your defences. One item that is valuable regardless of where you are is high power spotlights especially if you can have them hard mounted on all sides of your home or property and powered off a battery bank. If you can see them and not be seen well you get the idea.
These are just a few of the options for defence and food gathering that are available but regardless of what you have or acquire you need to practice with them for them to be of any use to you when needed. Till next time stay safe and keep on prepping.
There are far more options than just firearms, I am a bow hunter so I have my compound bows and also a trio of crossbows with several dozen carbon arrows with razor broadheads for each one. These are great for hunting or defending without giving away your position with the loud report of a firearm as well you can retrieve your arrows or bolts and reuse them many many times. Modern high speed bows and crossbows with broadhead tipped arrows can penetrate through most kevlar vests giving you options. Another option for hunting smaller game is slingshots and air rifles. A high speed pellet rifle is very quite and extremely cheap to shoot. Rabbits, squirrels, and other small game are very easily taken with a air rifle without scaring off future meals. It only costs me about 2 cents per shot with my air rifle making it the easiest long term food getting prep. A good sling shot can be completely deadly in the right set of hands is ultra cheap, easy to carry in a backpack or pocket and ammo is everywhere. I find that I have a lot of practice left before I will be able to call myself proficient with a sling shot but the practice is free.
The options for hand to hand weapons are endless but should be a last resort. Anything at hand can be a weapon when needed so with this in mind I really do not see the point of having special primitive weapons. The big hunting knife hanging on my belt is just as effective as a purpose built fighting knife but has the advantage of me being very comfortable with it because of daily use. Other items that have great practical and tactical uses are tomahawks, machetes, walking sticks, framing hammers etc. etc. etc. The most useful weapons are ones you are comfortable with and feel right in your hands.
The most powerful weapon you can ever have is a clear head. When you are thinking clearly and can confuse your enemy even if they are better armed the balance of power shifts to your side. I believe the more confrontations that can be avoided the better but sometimes it may come to a fight when it does do not hesitate to do as you must to come out on top.
If you are in a more urban setting than me you may have to deal with a lot more people looking to take what you have than I feel that Very rural people will have to. I would say the more urban your surroundings the more thought and effort you will need to put into your defences. One item that is valuable regardless of where you are is high power spotlights especially if you can have them hard mounted on all sides of your home or property and powered off a battery bank. If you can see them and not be seen well you get the idea.
These are just a few of the options for defence and food gathering that are available but regardless of what you have or acquire you need to practice with them for them to be of any use to you when needed. Till next time stay safe and keep on prepping.
First bigger purchases
The hardest thing to store enough of is water. No matter how much you store you will eventually run out of clean safe water. Knowing this the first item that I would acquire is a water filtration system or water sterilizer. Personally I lean towards the UV sterilizers with solar chargers over filters but I have both and would not be without them. Sterilizers like the Steripen with solar case can be had new for about $150 and will effectively kill off anything in the water same as boiling without the work and cooling time. These work best with clear water but even pre filtering through cloth can achieve this. Filter units start a little cheaper than this and quickly exceed this price tag. Both Berkley and Katadyn make great quality products that range in size from a water bottle personal filter to institutional units. There are many other choices for filter brands but these are the two that I have had over the years and the are top notch.
Never forget that water can be made safe by boiling for a full minute, using water purification tablets (iodine) or chlorine bleach.
Here is a chart for using regular Clorox Bleach to sterilize water.
Ratio of Clorox Bleach to Water for Purification
2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water
8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water
1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water
If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.
Only use Regular Clorox Bleach (not Fresh Scent or Lemon Fresh). To insure that Clorox Bleach is at its full strength, rotate or replace your storage bottle minimally every three months.
Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution
To sanitize containers and utensils, mix 1 tablespoon Regular Clorox Bleach with one gallon of water. Always wash and rinse items first, then let each item soak in Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution for 2 minutes. Drain and air dry.
Any chlorine bleach will work but for the tiny expense extra I would only buy name brand. I would print this guide and post it beside your stored bleach.
The next item on my list is a gas or diesel generator. I would get one that uses the same fuel as your main vehicle so fuel storage is simplified. The size of the unit really depends on how much you want to run off of it and how much you are willing to spend. We have become very dependant on our appliances even being able to have the use of them for the first few days of a event may give you the piece of mind to analyse the situation and form a solid plan. Any generator you buy will have a fuel consumption guide along with it. A good minimum fuel supply is 72 hours at full load but it would be better to have 7 to 10 days. While you are figuring out the required storage to achieve this you should look at having a minimum 2 tanks of fuel for your vehicle. In my case my truck is a diesel and holds 25 gallons in the tank and 40 gallons in the auxiliary tank, my 10KW generator consumes 6 gallons every 12 hours. So for me to have 2 tanks for my truck and 72 hours for the generator I need to have 86 gallons or 325L on hand. For 10 days and 2 complete fills for my truck I need 250 gallons or 950L. Honestly I do not have near the fuel on hand that I want but I fill another 5gal jerry can each time I fill my truck. For storage at home I have 50gal poly fuel barrels and a barrel pump for transferring the fuel along with a dozen or so 5gal jerry cans. Fuel must be stored out of direct sunlight and the more stable and lower the temperature the better. Fuel has a fairly short shelf life so you will want to use a fuel stabilizer and change out you fuel every 6 months to a year by using it in your vehicle and refilling storage. These large storage numbers are a best case even having an extra 5gal of fuel is better than not having it.
Do not get overwhelmed keep it to one prep at a time and stay positive. Till next time keep on prepping.
Never forget that water can be made safe by boiling for a full minute, using water purification tablets (iodine) or chlorine bleach.
Here is a chart for using regular Clorox Bleach to sterilize water.
Ratio of Clorox Bleach to Water for Purification
2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water
8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water
1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water
If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.
Only use Regular Clorox Bleach (not Fresh Scent or Lemon Fresh). To insure that Clorox Bleach is at its full strength, rotate or replace your storage bottle minimally every three months.
Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution
To sanitize containers and utensils, mix 1 tablespoon Regular Clorox Bleach with one gallon of water. Always wash and rinse items first, then let each item soak in Clorox Bleach Sanitizing Solution for 2 minutes. Drain and air dry.
Any chlorine bleach will work but for the tiny expense extra I would only buy name brand. I would print this guide and post it beside your stored bleach.
The next item on my list is a gas or diesel generator. I would get one that uses the same fuel as your main vehicle so fuel storage is simplified. The size of the unit really depends on how much you want to run off of it and how much you are willing to spend. We have become very dependant on our appliances even being able to have the use of them for the first few days of a event may give you the piece of mind to analyse the situation and form a solid plan. Any generator you buy will have a fuel consumption guide along with it. A good minimum fuel supply is 72 hours at full load but it would be better to have 7 to 10 days. While you are figuring out the required storage to achieve this you should look at having a minimum 2 tanks of fuel for your vehicle. In my case my truck is a diesel and holds 25 gallons in the tank and 40 gallons in the auxiliary tank, my 10KW generator consumes 6 gallons every 12 hours. So for me to have 2 tanks for my truck and 72 hours for the generator I need to have 86 gallons or 325L on hand. For 10 days and 2 complete fills for my truck I need 250 gallons or 950L. Honestly I do not have near the fuel on hand that I want but I fill another 5gal jerry can each time I fill my truck. For storage at home I have 50gal poly fuel barrels and a barrel pump for transferring the fuel along with a dozen or so 5gal jerry cans. Fuel must be stored out of direct sunlight and the more stable and lower the temperature the better. Fuel has a fairly short shelf life so you will want to use a fuel stabilizer and change out you fuel every 6 months to a year by using it in your vehicle and refilling storage. These large storage numbers are a best case even having an extra 5gal of fuel is better than not having it.
Do not get overwhelmed keep it to one prep at a time and stay positive. Till next time keep on prepping.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
SHTF first purchases
If you are new to the survivalist life and looking at all the gear that is available wondering where to start I have a few suggestions for you. Your first forward looking purchases do not need to be huge dollar items, start simple and work into it. Long time prepper's will talk about their survival triangle. This is the combination of food/water, shelter/tools and security. For me one of the most important things for survival is fire. If at all possible your home should at least have a fire place in it but if not a outdoor wood grill or oven will work. These can easily be constructed out of cinder blocks or bricks. Next you will need a good quality axe and at least a small supply of wood. You will need multiple ways to make fire at your disposal. Lighters are good in the short term and a fire steel is a good purchase for the real long haul but the strike anywhere match is a must in my opinion. Believe it or not matches have a shelf life and are deteriorated by oxygen. To combat this I will melt paraffin wax in a old pot and dip the match head and half the length of the wooden shaft into the wax and a then laid on a baking sheet or a sheet of tinfoil to cool. When I do this I will do 4 large boxes of the wooden matches, not only does it triple or better the life of the matches but it also water proofs the matches. This is very cheap and does not take much time once you start.
The next item's that I would purchase are a good quality fixed blade knife and a sharpening system for it. When it comes to knives every person you talk to will give you different advice as to what you should buy. All I will say is if you are only going to have one hunting/survival knife it should be a minimum 5 inch blade and very sturdy. Personally I like the offerings from Buck, Kershaw and Cold Steel but each to their own. No one way of sharpening a blade is best but you need to have more than the sharpening steel you use on your kitchen knives. To start I would get a dual grit wet stone and learn how to use it. There are many good instructional video's on the net to help you get the basics. I would include a ceramic rod or leather strop to finish the edge.
Quality camping gear is a must for any prepper, not only buy it but use it. Camping is a low cost vacation allowing you to invest more into your preps but also allows you to test your woodcraft skills. A good 3 season tent with a rain fly along with rope and a large tarp provides good shelter when needed. Sleeping bags and ground pads should be the best that you can afford and have the fill rating for the climate that you are in. I only buy bags that are rated for -10C or colder but if you are in a warmer climate that may not be needed. Sleeping pads will make the experience more comfortable and really helps to insulate you from the ground robbing your body heat. Cookware that can be used over a open fire is a must. Often these items can be bought at garage sales or good will stores. I look for plain stainless steel pots with steel or wood handles and I avoid aluminium or copper bottom pots many places that sell camping gear have low cost enamel cookware that works great as well. The only battery operated item I take with me is a flashlight. You may want your BBQ or a camp stove but they are not vital items just nice to have. If you are totally new to this form of camping you may want to have a backyard camp out to test yourself before you head out.
A complete first-aid kit can be purchased at most sporting goods stores or even big box stores for a reasonable price. What I would look for is a kit that includes trauma bandages, tourniquet, antiseptic, tensor bandage, gauze pads, fabric tape, burn dressing, topical skin cream for insects and a first-aid guide as a starting place. It is your life so you decide how far you want to go with your first-aid supplies. Having items like crutches, canes, splints, suture kits, snake anti-venom and a medicine stockpile and a good home medical guide are all very good ideas as well.
Manual hand tools are good items to pick up as you see them on sale or at garage sales, every home should have at minimum basic carpentry tools like hammer, hand saw, rasp, plane, tape measure, rafter square and chisel. A full set of wrenches, socket set, screwdriver set, pipe wrench and multiple pairs of pliers. I live by the motto that I can never have enough tools.
These are the very basic first items to purchase if you do not have them already. Next time I will get into the larger ticket purchases and the order of importance as I see it. Till then keep on prepping.
The next item's that I would purchase are a good quality fixed blade knife and a sharpening system for it. When it comes to knives every person you talk to will give you different advice as to what you should buy. All I will say is if you are only going to have one hunting/survival knife it should be a minimum 5 inch blade and very sturdy. Personally I like the offerings from Buck, Kershaw and Cold Steel but each to their own. No one way of sharpening a blade is best but you need to have more than the sharpening steel you use on your kitchen knives. To start I would get a dual grit wet stone and learn how to use it. There are many good instructional video's on the net to help you get the basics. I would include a ceramic rod or leather strop to finish the edge.
Quality camping gear is a must for any prepper, not only buy it but use it. Camping is a low cost vacation allowing you to invest more into your preps but also allows you to test your woodcraft skills. A good 3 season tent with a rain fly along with rope and a large tarp provides good shelter when needed. Sleeping bags and ground pads should be the best that you can afford and have the fill rating for the climate that you are in. I only buy bags that are rated for -10C or colder but if you are in a warmer climate that may not be needed. Sleeping pads will make the experience more comfortable and really helps to insulate you from the ground robbing your body heat. Cookware that can be used over a open fire is a must. Often these items can be bought at garage sales or good will stores. I look for plain stainless steel pots with steel or wood handles and I avoid aluminium or copper bottom pots many places that sell camping gear have low cost enamel cookware that works great as well. The only battery operated item I take with me is a flashlight. You may want your BBQ or a camp stove but they are not vital items just nice to have. If you are totally new to this form of camping you may want to have a backyard camp out to test yourself before you head out.
A complete first-aid kit can be purchased at most sporting goods stores or even big box stores for a reasonable price. What I would look for is a kit that includes trauma bandages, tourniquet, antiseptic, tensor bandage, gauze pads, fabric tape, burn dressing, topical skin cream for insects and a first-aid guide as a starting place. It is your life so you decide how far you want to go with your first-aid supplies. Having items like crutches, canes, splints, suture kits, snake anti-venom and a medicine stockpile and a good home medical guide are all very good ideas as well.
Manual hand tools are good items to pick up as you see them on sale or at garage sales, every home should have at minimum basic carpentry tools like hammer, hand saw, rasp, plane, tape measure, rafter square and chisel. A full set of wrenches, socket set, screwdriver set, pipe wrench and multiple pairs of pliers. I live by the motto that I can never have enough tools.
These are the very basic first items to purchase if you do not have them already. Next time I will get into the larger ticket purchases and the order of importance as I see it. Till then keep on prepping.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
How to start Prepping
When you look at a good prep setup it is very intimidating, prepper's have many thousands of dollars invested in their gear and supplies. While looking at the completed prep you are seeing the end product of many years of work and planning not just one large purchase. Some may have the finances to be able to do it all at once but for most of us this will never be a reality. Starting out all you are able to see is how much others have set aside and you may end up feeling like giving up before you start.
When ever I have been asked where to start I tell people start with water. Water is the single most important item for your survival, you can not last more than a few days without it. To start I would buy 4 cases of bottled water and place them in a closet or basement. Next I would buy large 3 or 5 gallon jugs of distilled water for storage. Pure water that is stored out of sunlight is good for at least 2 years but it is really the make up of the storage containers that determine the actual life span. Distilled water stored in sterilized airtight containers in a dark cool location will last forever. Water in good quality plastic containers stored in a cool dark place will be good for about 2 years. You can store tap water but I would not personally recommend it unless you have reverse osmosis water. Any water you package yourself for storage should be treated with standard chlorine bleach before being sealed. I use a pool testing kit and mix my water to the second weakest concentration. Iodine tablets are another very good item to have on have for emergency water purification.
I personally do not enjoy freeze dried foods (MRE's, C-rations) so I do not include much of them in my supplies. I recommend looking your home over and seeing what space you have to work with. Good storage area's are protected from direct sunlight, are dry and maintain a constant cool temperature. I use shelving units in my basement to store non-perishable food items and paper stuffs. Self rotating can racks are a great investment or weekend project if you are handy. Many good sets of plans are available for free on the net. Traps and bait stations for rodents and insects are a absolute must to protect your investment. A good house cat is also great for rodent control but if you have a cat you will not want to have poison out for the rodents.
The type of foods that we store really are just the same items we eat on a daily basis minus the produce. Canned foods are great items for storage along with flour, rice, beans, powdered milk, coffee, tea, juice crystals, dry soup mix, pasta's and other grains. Before you start storing look in your cupboards and see what you have already and what you are using regularly. Always remember that for long term storage the best policy it to replenish your cupboards from your storage and put your new purchases into storage. Doing this will keep your stores from spoiling. You must remember you need far more than just foods and water for survival salt, sugar, vinegar, hygiene items, medical supplies, tools, weapons/ammo, canning jars are all very important items for your preps. One item that I have included and recommend to everyone is a very good collection of heirloom vegetable seeds sealed in a air tight container regardless if you are a gardener or not. Regardless of what you are storing moisture is your biggest enemy.
Once you have a good idea of the items that you want to store and the area setup for the storage you are ready for the actual shopping. You are going to want to buy in large quantity's to keep the price per unit as low as possible. To do this you may need to change where and how you shop. The best places are price clubs, costco's and restaurant supply stores. Usually these type of places have deals for buying by the case. Next is to train yourself to only buy on sales and to cut coupons. This may seen tricky starting out, but once you are on the roll and are able to start using and replenishing your stores the monthly food budget will go down dramatically. To me this comes down to short term pain for long term gain.
When ever I have been asked where to start I tell people start with water. Water is the single most important item for your survival, you can not last more than a few days without it. To start I would buy 4 cases of bottled water and place them in a closet or basement. Next I would buy large 3 or 5 gallon jugs of distilled water for storage. Pure water that is stored out of sunlight is good for at least 2 years but it is really the make up of the storage containers that determine the actual life span. Distilled water stored in sterilized airtight containers in a dark cool location will last forever. Water in good quality plastic containers stored in a cool dark place will be good for about 2 years. You can store tap water but I would not personally recommend it unless you have reverse osmosis water. Any water you package yourself for storage should be treated with standard chlorine bleach before being sealed. I use a pool testing kit and mix my water to the second weakest concentration. Iodine tablets are another very good item to have on have for emergency water purification.
I personally do not enjoy freeze dried foods (MRE's, C-rations) so I do not include much of them in my supplies. I recommend looking your home over and seeing what space you have to work with. Good storage area's are protected from direct sunlight, are dry and maintain a constant cool temperature. I use shelving units in my basement to store non-perishable food items and paper stuffs. Self rotating can racks are a great investment or weekend project if you are handy. Many good sets of plans are available for free on the net. Traps and bait stations for rodents and insects are a absolute must to protect your investment. A good house cat is also great for rodent control but if you have a cat you will not want to have poison out for the rodents.
The type of foods that we store really are just the same items we eat on a daily basis minus the produce. Canned foods are great items for storage along with flour, rice, beans, powdered milk, coffee, tea, juice crystals, dry soup mix, pasta's and other grains. Before you start storing look in your cupboards and see what you have already and what you are using regularly. Always remember that for long term storage the best policy it to replenish your cupboards from your storage and put your new purchases into storage. Doing this will keep your stores from spoiling. You must remember you need far more than just foods and water for survival salt, sugar, vinegar, hygiene items, medical supplies, tools, weapons/ammo, canning jars are all very important items for your preps. One item that I have included and recommend to everyone is a very good collection of heirloom vegetable seeds sealed in a air tight container regardless if you are a gardener or not. Regardless of what you are storing moisture is your biggest enemy.
Once you have a good idea of the items that you want to store and the area setup for the storage you are ready for the actual shopping. You are going to want to buy in large quantity's to keep the price per unit as low as possible. To do this you may need to change where and how you shop. The best places are price clubs, costco's and restaurant supply stores. Usually these type of places have deals for buying by the case. Next is to train yourself to only buy on sales and to cut coupons. This may seen tricky starting out, but once you are on the roll and are able to start using and replenishing your stores the monthly food budget will go down dramatically. To me this comes down to short term pain for long term gain.
Friday, March 11, 2011
What are we prepping for
Many of the tinfoil hat club would have you believe that the world as we know it is coming to a end so we must be ready. I personally find this to be far to simplistic in it's reasoning. Not one of us has any clue what the future holds, and when some form of hardship will descend upon us. Personally I have not and will not ever worry about the world coming to a end, really what good does this line of thinking do any of us. I will live each day as best as I can trying to leave this world better for me having been in it.
We are preparing for the unknown really that is all that can be said about it. It does not really matter if this unknown is civil unrest like much of the Arab world is going through right now, natural disasters like Japan just experience or something far closer to home like the ever increasing price at the store for continually lower quality food items. To many people just the rising fuel prices are reason to panic so what if something actually devastating was to happen. Much of the world saw drastic increases in the prices of food this year caused by a horrible wet growing season and greed. This has sparked problems all around the globe this year and may continue for years to come.
I myself and thousand more like me are not prepping for disaster but for the love of our families. My parents, grandparents so on and so forth laid away provisions in the times of bounty for leaner days thus providing stability for their family. This is really all that we are doing now, but because of all the years of living in excess many of us have lost the knowledge of how to do this. Many people in times of disaster expect someone else to come to their aid well what if there is nobody coming or real help is days from coming. If you are like many in North America that buy groceries one meal at a time and totally expect good clean water to flow ever time you turn the tap you have just subjected your family to real hardship far outside of their norm, or you have to venture out into the aftermath of said disaster to obtain provisions for your family putting yourself in harms way.
Both the US and Canadian government recommend that EVERYONE has a minimum 72 hours of emergency food, water, heat and light in case something happens. Personally this amount is a good place to start but for those with the space to do it far more than 3 days of clean save water should be stored in the home. For anybody living outside a major center the need for these supplies goes up dramatically. In times of disaster aid will come first to the areas with the largest population because of the largest number of voters.
After all of this my answer is that I am prepping for the health and well being of my family and no other reason. Regardless of what or any disaster that comes our way we will be as ready to face it and help those around us as possible. This is no different than why you have a savings account or buy insurance.
We are preparing for the unknown really that is all that can be said about it. It does not really matter if this unknown is civil unrest like much of the Arab world is going through right now, natural disasters like Japan just experience or something far closer to home like the ever increasing price at the store for continually lower quality food items. To many people just the rising fuel prices are reason to panic so what if something actually devastating was to happen. Much of the world saw drastic increases in the prices of food this year caused by a horrible wet growing season and greed. This has sparked problems all around the globe this year and may continue for years to come.
I myself and thousand more like me are not prepping for disaster but for the love of our families. My parents, grandparents so on and so forth laid away provisions in the times of bounty for leaner days thus providing stability for their family. This is really all that we are doing now, but because of all the years of living in excess many of us have lost the knowledge of how to do this. Many people in times of disaster expect someone else to come to their aid well what if there is nobody coming or real help is days from coming. If you are like many in North America that buy groceries one meal at a time and totally expect good clean water to flow ever time you turn the tap you have just subjected your family to real hardship far outside of their norm, or you have to venture out into the aftermath of said disaster to obtain provisions for your family putting yourself in harms way.
Both the US and Canadian government recommend that EVERYONE has a minimum 72 hours of emergency food, water, heat and light in case something happens. Personally this amount is a good place to start but for those with the space to do it far more than 3 days of clean save water should be stored in the home. For anybody living outside a major center the need for these supplies goes up dramatically. In times of disaster aid will come first to the areas with the largest population because of the largest number of voters.
After all of this my answer is that I am prepping for the health and well being of my family and no other reason. Regardless of what or any disaster that comes our way we will be as ready to face it and help those around us as possible. This is no different than why you have a savings account or buy insurance.
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