Before we start, I’d like to thank Judith for the generous donation. Thank you – it is very much appreciated.
Remember, all donations are voluntary and gratefully accepted – but before making a donation, please be sure you can afford to do so - please get your finances squared away before worrying about me.
Okay, lets see what did I do to prep this week?
Cleaned the area underneath the rabbit hutches and added the droppings to the compost bin. Raising rabbits can be very productive, three does and a buck will produce sufficient young to provide at least two meals per week.
Just be aware of rabbit starvation caused by excess consumption of any lean meat and lack of nutrients from other sources.
Canned a bunch of produce from the garden. Dried a bushel of apples, that I picked up at an abandoned farm that I once lived on. The apples are small, but sweet and free. Never pass up free food.
Ordered four #10 cans of Instant Nonfat Dry Fortified Milk from Emergency Essentials and a dozen #110 conibear traps through Amazon.com and started reading Buckshot’s Complete Survival Trapping Guide - look for my review on Monday…
Also picked up a copy of John Hagee’s new book “Can America Survive” but have not started reading it yet.
What did you do to prep this week?
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We haven’t done much as we have lost our very special 15 1/2 year old German Shepherd on Tuesday. She was truly a sweetheart and very intelligent. She was very well trained and good mannered when we got her. People would come up to us all the time and tell us what a beautiful dog she was. She was a quiet dog and now the house is very quiet and empty as is our hearts.
In trying to keep busy I made and canned 6 pints of bread & butter pickles and 11 pints of meat sauce. It is hard to do anything as we are grieving.
So sorry to hear of your loss. We had to put our beloved dog down nearly two years ago and we still miss him. He was very special and we miss his companionship and protection!
We understand how significant a loss of a pet can be and pray for compassion for your at this time.
MaMaBear in the Mitten
My deepest sympathy. It is so terrible to lose a beloved pet.
sorry to hear of your loss. My best friend had a brindle rottie/mix when he saw my son’s friends brindle dane/mastiff mix he said that’s the mate for Karma. A week later while fishing he asked me to promise to get the Beast when Karma came into season. I said sure no problem I’ll bring him out whenever you call. He died of a sudden heart attack two weeks later. When Karma’s time came I got her from the widow and bred her as he wanted. If your near enough I’d like to offer you one of the now 2 mnth old pups. You would have to supply your own saddle cause they look to be taken after the dads mastiff breeding
Sorry for your loss. My best freind made it 14 years. Lost him 4 years ago. I still miss him terribly. I know in my heart that our pet freinds go to heaven and wait for us. When it’s time,another pet freind makes the loss easier to bare. God bless
Shotzeedog,
Sorry for your loss – I love all my dogs but if something were to happen to my chiwawa I would be lost. Truly my best friend. My heart goes out to you.
Not much. Made a mag loader for my Makarov out of aluminum stock. Bought another brick of .22 and more grocery store canned goods. Signed up for new jiu-jitsu class my gym plans on offering. Trying out a new pre-workout supplement called jack3d.
Waiting for Overland Park gun show at the end of the month to load up on ammo and pick up some spare parts.
Convinced the wife that we need to expand the garden and start separate plots next spring to prevent the interference we had this season.
How much is admission to the gun show?
Set up another 8′ of shelves in my root cellar. Bought almost a hundred more canned goods to add to my preps. Started looking into planting a vineyard (in a depression, booze always sells). Harvested some of the early pumpkins for pumpkin butter, seeds, and drying (which will be next weeks “What did you do to Prep”)
Catherine,
Canned pumpkin is extremely hard to find in NE Ohio right now,
as there is some sort of shortage going on???? We have a cookie recipe
we’ve been wanting to try but can’t find canned pumpkin anywhere.
Last year our local grocery store ran out of pumpkin pretty quickly. I hope it had nothing to do with the 36 cans my wife bought when it first went on sale.
Jim,
In the past I have used mashed (fresh or canned) sweet potatoes to replace pumpkin in recipes, and I have never been disappointed. I actually like them better in “pumpkin” bread and “pumpkin” squares. Consider that, I think it is usually a less expensive option too.
Went back to the shooting range to try out pistols.
I think I like the Beretta Px4 Storm. Now to get the money for it.
Cleaned out one closet to get no longer worn clothes to sell on ebay to make money for my preps. Got three other closets to go.
Bought and read Peggy Layton’s Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook. Seems to fill in the cracks that other food prep resources don’t cover. Glad I bought it.
Hit a bt a couple of grocery sales to stock up the freezer. Found bacon for 99 cents a package. Bought hot doggs for 77 cents per package. Other good foods found on sale for the freezer. When do you find bacon for 99 cents? Yum.
I ordered beans and rice from the LDS (Mormon) site:
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&categoryId=10002&langId=-1&cg1=14087&cg2=&cg3=&cg4=&cg5
You don’t have to be LDS to order. Prices include shipping. Last time I ordered it arrived in less than a week.
I do wish they would offer dry milk.
Nancy
Thanks for the link to the site. I ordered wheat, oxygen absorbers, mylar bags, and water bottles with filters. That is mainly what I have done to prep this week.
this week-purchased and recieved 12 cans of dehydrated vegetable stew mix.
-Worked on dissertation.
-Worked on garden: weeded and mulched with straw; picked two large buckets of tomatoes; watered and made more compost.
-canned dehydrated celery and dried cherries.
-dehydrated tomatoes.
-purchased silver.
This week, I found a local supplier who sold me 5 gal containers with lids brand new. The containers are food grade and the lids have rubber gaskets for proper sealing. Ordered O2 absorbents to complete the proper storage of food. I was able to buy 24 of them for food storage. Rice, beans and grains will be stored in the upcoming days. Also, I added more rice, oatmeal, nuts, powder milk to the stash. Found out supplier who can sell me 80 pound bag of different beans at wholesale.
Replaced window in my bedroom with triple pane High E unit. Started construction of a heat trap to scavenge waste heat from fridge and freezer to heat bedroom this winter. Malting mesquite pods to check sugar content for brewing experiment. Ramen noodles were on sale, added 4 cases @ .50 a sixpac. 100 lbs of recleaned wheat. [up $2 since last month] Made a tincture of stevia for sweetner, would like a quicker way to store stevia from garden, but tincture in a dark bottle should be good for a decade. Quick or long term, I’ll take long, but sugestions are welcome.
Hey how are you storing those Ramen noodles and how long do they last? We eat them alot anyway but I never thought about trying to store them.
I’ve had Ramen noodles (about three cases) go bad in about 4-6 months. They get a sort of musty flavor–you just know it is not right. Also, they were not stored anywhere unusual; just in the house in the pantry–normal room temperature and all that.
Sounds like mold, ramen noodles are flash fried in oil before packaging. The oil can go rancid if stored too hot or damp. If I kept them in my conex or on a shelf in my pantry 4-6 months sounds about right.
Don’t know how long they will last. after a year I donate them, if there are any left, my kids help me with overstock [they're all over 21] I keep them in an extra freezer with my other dry goods [pasta, loose beans, box dinners, instant mash taters, etc. When not freezing I put a golden rod [gun safe dehydrator] in the freezer to dry it out. The seal is good so it’s like a big cabinet. I don’t need to run the golden rod all the time just enough to keep it dry. [DRY is not hard to find here] Humidity rarely gets above 50% and most times it runs in the single digits. If the sales get real low on frozen stuff I put the dry goods on a shelf and turn on the freezer to store stuff while I can, dehydrate, brew, or distill whatever.
Thank you ,MD,for this blog. Its been a great help to me.This week? Well,I put up 6 quarts of tomatoes and a few of hot peppers.I have a bunch of peaches to dry and can.I will do those over the next few days.
Rhonda,
Thank you – wish I could do more to help others perpare for what is coming.
Long time lurker, second time commenter.
We continued working on getting the backyard cleaned up. Started digging a fresh water well. Dug down 10′ or so, four feet across the hole. Already hit water, so we’ll dredge it out another couple of feet and then begin lining the walls with bricks. Picked up four bags of mortar for the well. Also marked out the location for where the chicken coop will be and also marked the location for the rabbit hutch.
I enjoy these weekly posts the most, so I hope they continue for a long time. Thanks.
MOPrepper,
Well you’re not a lurker anymore – wecome.
MOPrepper,
Be very careful with your well. I’m sure you are bracing as you dig (to even get to 10′). But I’m sure you have heard the horror stories of people suffocating from a hole collapse – EVEN with their head above ground! The pressure of the dirt makes it impossible for your diaphragm to take in a breath. A horrific way for one to go.
See this:
http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/dlge/enviro/excavations.pdf
Whew, wish I had your energy.
First, I lost 10lbs.
Received my big order from Walton Feed. They have a lot of long term
storage food that no one else has.
Picked peaches. The bugs and birds did a job on them but we still had
plenty. Dried some, froze some and gave a lot away to neighbors.
As we speak DH is harvesting almonds. They are nice this year.
A few other misc. things but I am winding it down for awhile. Wore plum out.
CONGRATS on the weight loss – a HUGE battle for me. I’m battling to “get back on that horse” again imminently. Celebrate this as probably THE most important thing you did for your preps this week!!
MaMaBear in the Mitten
Woke up this morning and had a question on my mind. Since I have to switch out some of my gear and then my families gear to help balance the load for the new younger children of the rest of the group. I started to think about sleeping bags. Right now everyone carries their own 5 lb mummy bag ( except children under 8yrs). These are supposed to be good to 35 F. If i get some regular style bags that are good to 5 to 15 F and are of the same style then 2 could be zipped together. ( big 5 sale on very light weight bags)This would allow 2 people to share body warmth and increase the cold survival temp. I say this meaning mother/daughter in my case because i will be on night watch. Other members of the group would have mothers with their little children. This would also help in hypothermia cases. I will go by Big 5 and check their bags out also check out Cabela’s.
Hmmm Cabela’s… I dream about their gun library… We have one here in Canada but its all the way out in Winnipeg… not too handy. Highly recommend their soft sided cooler bags with the hard tops that allow the cold packs to slide in. Well worth ordering on-line for abt $25 a pop.
Woke up this morning and had a question on my mind. Since I have to switch out some of my gear and then my families gear to help balance the load for the new younger children of the rest of the group. I started to think about sleeping bags. Right now everyone carries their own 5 lb mummy bag ( except children under 8yrs). These are supposed to be good to 35 F. If i get some regular style bags that are good to 5 to 15 F and are of the same style then 2 could be zipped together. ( big 5 sale on very light weight bags)This would allow 2 people to share body warmth and increase the cold survival temp. I say this meaning mother/daughter in my case because i will be on night watch. Other members of the group would have mothers with their little children. This would also help in hypothermia cases. I will go by Big 5 and check their bags out also check out Cabela’s.
Mummy bags are the worst style to gang together, they are well designed for individuals but flat bags join better. A good trick for increased thermal protection is the lowly ground cloth. doubled over and stuffed with grass, leaves, crumpled newspaper, etc. Large trash bags make good ground cloths for kids. Painters drop cloths in 2 mil plastic are also good improvised thermal barriers, leantos, or rain flys. I keep both large trash bags and a drop cloth in my BOB.
Azyogi, thanks. I carry (6) 2mil painters cloths spread out in my gear and a bivy sack. After talking to the younger men in my group, we decided that the men will carry an extremely lite mummy bag to cut weight and to be able to take out on scouting trips and hunting trips. The ladies and older kids will all carry matching regular shaped bags. This will spread usage around and everybody will still have a bag. I am to contact the elders from the other (2) family groups and give them our decission and the brand names of the bags we decide to carry. On the way out the door now to go to Cabela’s to check out a game carrier/cart. We plan to take vehicles ( if enough advance notice ) as far as we can if there is time. With the game carriers we can carry items and the littlest children can ride some or most of the time when were on foot.
Bought shoes a size and a half too big for all the children (next year’s shoes) and sealed them up in mylar with Ox absorbers to keep them fresh. Also stored up some coloring books and crayons, and small games like jacks and cards and jump ropes. This is “Prepare for the kids” month for me. Next month will be the pets I think.
This week got a little weird with an unexpected memorial service for a departed loved one. Still managed to get a few things done:
bought several more cases of canning jars and completed more canning: 11 pints sweet pickle relish, 6 pints garlic dill chunks, 11 pints of bread and butter pickles and one small crock of dill pickles (fermenting away!).
purchased 4 herb plants to add to our container garden and 2 more packages of clothes pins.
Scored more free yarn to add to the stash for blankets, scarfs, booties, etc.
Though not your “usual” preps – treated to three meals provided and paid for by others with leftovers from two meals coming home with us. Saving our food and having an additional three – four days worth of meals FREE was a BIG blessing! It is all in your perspective!
Likewise, gathered up two nearly new rolls of duct tape left at a family reunion along with a couple other rolls of various tape. Blessed with a handful of coupons for some first aid items which, after doubling at our local store, will allow us to purchase these items for nine cents!! :) :)
Most of all – SURVIVED and found more “like-minded” folks who can support and encourage our self-reliant goals!
MaMaBear in the Mitten
MaMa, your herb plants reminded me I ordered Motherwort seeds.
Are you familiar with it? It is a relaxant and also used for woman’s problems. They say it is like being wrapped in your Mother’s arms.
The desert is tough on some herbs so I am going to try containers.
Although the Feverfew I planted has taken over the whole place.
Judith – YES I’ve heard of Motherwort…it grows quite well here in Michigan – especially around disturbed ground. A wise woman once told me God brings the things to you you need most. Every spring I laugh at the folks who are having their lawns sprayed with Chemlawn to rid it of dandelions and know someone in that home needs to detoxify their liver and/or kidneys, not to mention the great culinary delight their losing! We’ve been surprised over the years to see what grows – it always changes and YES – our yard seems to bring what we need. Good luck with the Motherwort…I know you’ll find it beneficial for you!
MaMaBear in the Mitten
It took three precious weeks but I finished Cody Lundin’s book “When All Hell Breaks Loose.” It was liberating to tear off the brown paper bag book jacket I made for it so I could read in peace in the break room at work.
In my opinion, this is a book worth investing in for your reference library. I learned so much, I wouldn’t know where to start but I can tell you about a book Cody recommends in his 432 page turner. Esther Dickey wrote a book in 1969 titled “Passport to Survival,” Four Foods and More to Use and Store. If you are new to prepping, or a seasoned Prepper Vet, please realize the importance of the four components of an emergency survival diet: Wheat, powdered milk, honey, and salt. If you budget for anything, budget to have these four ingredients on hand. They store indefinitely. I bought the book (out of print but available at Amazon) and am on page 38 of 162. Yes, I made another brown paper bag book jacket.
Although we didn’t do this this past week but last month, it’s worth noting to get your Tetnus shot. They say they’re good for 10 years but our nurse recommended having one every five years. Plan on a sore arm for a while.
Noticed our Aloe Vera plant sprouted another shoot, which reminded me to mention it here to have one of these low maintenance~hard~to~kill plants on hand. Great for burns.
Staying on the medicinal theme, our Terrier/Blue Healer got into some barbered wire and ripped her check open. We applied something we have used in the past on canine puncture wounds called Vetericyn a wound and infection treatment. You’ll love the fact that it was tested on humans for use ONLY on canine, feline, equine, bovine. It works, and for $39.00 – 8 ounces (found at Pet Sense) it sure is cheaper than a vet bill and when the times get tough, we’re banking that it will work just fine on humans OR canines. Stores at room temperture.
For inspiration this week I ordered and received Rick Kelly’s print titled “On Freedoms Wing.” Goggle it. It will give you a moment of pause.
To wrap things up with a chuckle, I scored two Flaring Tools for $2.00 each. Gave one to a friend (also a prepper) who simple said, “Have no idea what I would ever have a use for this other than possibly a bartering item.”
You can get the 16 oz size of Vetericyn for the same price, check the local feed stores in the equine section. I’ve used on my dog’s cuts, rashes and clean his itchy ears with it. I’ve used on myself for small cuts and bug bites. Love it.
Found some monarch 223 softpoint at Academy for $5.99 picked up 200 rds. I taught my brother/sister in law and my wife to shoot my AR 15 with a red dot sight, open sights and scope this morning. I also showed my sister in law how to reload the 9mm Glock 19 rapidly. We ran drills for about an hour along with jam clearing and I watched her grow in confidence! I went to the store with them as well and assisted in obtaining a holster for their Ruger LCP 380. We chose a Fobus for outer wear. I began my workout with my loaded backpack. Whew I’m getting old!
Re-Checked the long term storage food items I put up earlier this week in mylar and bucket and put them away.
I read “Lights Out” then reread “One Second After”.
Received Berkey filters to make my own filtration system and a Sport Berkey for my BOB.
Bought 7 more hens for my flock bringing it up to 30. I sell the eggs at work to pay for their winter feed.
Jen, which of the two books did you prefer, or should I say, was more instructive. I’ve read “Lights Out” but haven’t come across “One Second After” yet.
AZGuy, I haven’t read “Lights Out” but I found “One Second After” to be very well written, both from a story perspective and from an instruction perspective. Definitely worth your time to read.
Still looking for LMI in and around Kansas City and East of Kansas City. You can email me at mofreedom2@yahoo.com. Can I suggest that you put your state in when posting comments? It would be great to chat with some of the people that read this blog in our areas. There is someone that posts that goes to the Overland Park gunshow that is kind of in my area, email me if you like. Would like to chat about local prepping issues.
Went to World Market and bought a 2 l. can of ExtraVirgin Olive Oil. It is wonderful stuff. Some have tested this 5 years after purchase and it has been fine. The trick is not to store it too hot. You can sign up and get a coupon emailed to you for a 10% off one time purchase on a total purchase. Mine was emailed to me within 12 hours of signing up. I am going back Monday to purchase 12 cans. Oils are something that are often neglected when considering food storage.
There is a free spreadsheet at http://www.patriotmoney.com. Scroll down and get Butterknifes Food Storage Spreadsheet FREE! It runs on open office which is FREE to get. You put in your preps and it tells you how many man days of food you have and will help identify your shortcomings and in what area. It is COOL!
I contracted with a ‘Picker’ to buy all of the reloading components that he comes across in estate sales etc. This week he had 5 pounds of powder (IMR SR7625) and 900 jacketed projectiles.
I contracted with another guy to get all of the lead pipe that he comes across. Please start stockpiling this and even if you don’t use it someone will. It stores basically forever and can handle any climate. I picked up about 25 pounds of lead this week.
Picked up several hundred brass cases, mostly once-fired and will get them cleaned up this weekend and in airtight containers (Ammo Cans). If you can afford it put some away to get to the reloaders.
Ordered a spare parts kit including ejector, extractor, and spring kit. I don’t have to pay until they come in so didn’t have to put out the money just yet.
Good luck and keep the faith,
MOFreedom East of KC
I filled out the Emergency Essentials Food Storage Analyzer at http://foodstorageanalyzer.com/.
It was very interesting as I thought I had six months of food storage for three adults. According to the Analyzer, however, I have much more. And this is without counting the dozens of boxes of Carnation Instant Breakfast (which are rotated) and even more cans of Spam (which are not rotated).
Checked out each and every piece of amateur radio equipment: transceivers, HT’s, tuners, batteries, and antennas and found them all in good working order.
Had another CERT class with our local Fire Department. This is my second time around, but I am happy to take it again.
Take the class online for free at http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/training_mat.shtm and you will help yourself out.
Thanks for the links. I checked out the food storage analyzer. I’m not sure I believe the results, though. It says that I have 910 days of food storage. This is without adding things that weren’t on the list like canned meat, raisins, or other things. I’d be more likely to believe that I’m closing in one one year of food for my family. If I’m wrong and Emergency Essnetials is right, though, I will not complain.
I’ve been a lurker for awhile. I enjoy reading everyone’s posts—they help keep me motivated. This week I canned 12 quarts of green beans and 5 pints of watermelon rind pickles.
I added several #10 cans of freeze dried foods to my preps. I also bought some additional pails of wheat, beans, and rice. After reading about possible wheat shortages next year, I thought it might be a good thing to have extra.
Thank you MD for this blog. I continue to be amazed at how resourceful you all are.
I harvested 6 bushells of potatoes this week. This is about half of what I have planted. We plan to can some and the rest place in cold storage. We are planning to can green beans and new potatoes this week.
Most of my prep time has been focused toward reorganizing and planning. We recently moved back to our old location so I need to change a couple of procedures and scenarios to reflect that. We also have a new baby on the way so that will change up things a bit also.
Had to leave the garden behind but the new tenants were excited about it and will put it to good use and take care of it for me. I already have a garden here too but it’s pretty much dead, I need to go ahead and cut my losses and start the late crop.
Been canning this week, tomatoes. potatoes, beans, pickles
Had to add more powder milk due to bread making
That’s about it this week
PREPARE FOR THE WORST AND PRAY FOR THE BEST
Loading up on sardines and wheat crackers. I know, not very exciting.
Not interesting to me, since I’d have to be pretty hungry to eat sardines. But my DH loves them and considers them a prepping priority! LOL
To each his own. Store what you eat.
J Stuart I picked up a six pack of the 15 oz cans of sardines and a 12 pack of goya peach drinks in the spanish isle of wally world. 2015 exp date
Researched dehydrators and non-hybrid seeds. Any recommendations for dehydrator or hand crank mill appreciated. Will be purchasing both this month.
Harbor Freight sale, picked up 2 small flashlights, hand crank led lantern, fire starters for BOBs, driveway alarm and work gloves. Continuing to stock up on canned vegetables this month.
Husband finishing up 2nd coop for new chicks.
Received Preparedness Principles, ordered Apocalypse Chow and reading Patriots (compulsive reader).
Sunny– I have an electric dehydrator, a common brand, but mostly use a set of window screens that I set out in the sun. They are metal, and can be well cleaned. I’m in Colorado, so most summer days are dry and sunny and a lot of things are dry in just one day. The sun is free.
A little word of warning– if you do garlic and onions in the electric dehydrator, do them outside! I did some in the garage once, thinking I didn’t want the house to smell. Well, I learned I also didn’t want the garage to smell! Car smelled of old onion for more than a week!
Sunny-I use the Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator with the built in timer. I usually dehydrate frozen vegetables when I find them on sale. 16lb of frozen cut green beans, cut corn, or peas at a time. Its easily cleaned. http://www.dehydrate2store.com/ This is a great site for dehydrating information
Because diseases relative to bacteria, fungus, etc. will be a part of every day life when the system fails or if things get bad I went to http://www.silversol.us. It is quite a bit stronger than colloidal silver from what I learned on a show in regards to it a few weeks ago and I am studying it’s capabilities further before I decide whether or not to purchase some soon but I am fairly certain I am going to get some. I ordered a 2 oz. bottle of 500ppm colloidal silver for just over $21 before shipping. 500ppm is pharmaceutical strength and I know that it works due to personal experience. Rototilled three, ten-foot rows of new ground with a gas-powered rototiller for planting many onions this fall and laid straw over the top to keep the moisture in and feed the ground a bit. Lucky to have the nice little machine. Preparing to remove the straw and fertilize the ground in a few days and rototill the dirt again in order to fully distribute the plant feed more thoroughly. Finished filling the cache buckets and duct taped around the edges of the lids and will be putting them in their respective cache places in a few days. My friend started a few of their sprouting seeds they have had in storage for a few years to make sure they are still able to grow in case they need replaced and we are finding that they are still going strong. Made plans for October or November to fill a few medical cache buckets ASAP with scissors, gauze, kotex, tie-offs, iodine, hops tincture, curved and straight needles, knives, and so forth to accompany the food buckets. I like buckets because they can float when they are sealed up watertight and they make ideal sitting stools if they are very sturdy. The handles make great spears for fish and cooking shish-kabob-style over a nice hot fire.
Went garage saleing – got 1 plastic 5 gal jerry can and 2 metal 5 gal jerry cans for $15 total. Minor cleaning and all 3 will be in service.
Also got some chicken wire to finish the chicken run. And tomorrow will be a Costco run.
Busy but profitable weekend!
Received a copy of “Putting Food By” and caught up on some reading. Also, bought and stacked another cord of split hardwood. Generally prepping for winter up in the north.
I had my parents over for dinner, I served them lasagna that I made in my homemade solar cooker. They were very impressed , they are now thinking about trying it themselves. I have been trying to get them to see the sense in my prepping but they poke fun at me and don’t take it seriously. I know that they don’t have more than a week’s worth of food in their house, and no way to cook it if the power went out. I also lent them my copy of “One Second After”. I pray that they will read it and start to think about prepping.
The only other thing I did this week was I bought my way onto a bus that is going to the rally in D.C. on 8/28.
Good deal! Way to exercise the 1st!
We’re thinking of going to that. We went to the 9/12 rally last year and were glad that we did. This year we have a two year old and a 1 month old, so travel will be difficult, but we’re still considering making the trip.
Hi, Went with a friend to a warehouse and got Sugar, Salt. Honey,
Wheat, Rice all in bulk this is only for shopkeepers to buy from but my friend invited me along as she knows i am prepping. Also read the book Last Light by Alex Scarrow
M D Thank you for this blog where i live people dont have more than a couple of days food and they spend like theres no tomorrow.
Its nice to have somewhere to go and be among like-minded people
Denise
To ALL. I woke up this morning and was feeling good about stuff in general. Thats the first sign that Something is up in my world. So after a talk with my brother I got on the old bad info machine and read this. The senate Dumps a bill to protect the American people against EMP’s. Now with all of the people out of work and the excess stimullas money they have. Why not put people to work by spending the money to Protect the American People and Our antiquated electrical Grid and such? ( please forgive the spelling I’m Pissed Off.) Here is a link to read for yourselves.
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=188605
On several other reports Our government has been able to confirm that N. Korea and other unstable countries have the ability to do EMP strikes. Or they can give the ability to Rouge Nations.
Time to get back to Prepping.
DaveNV – Protecting our electrical grid will also serve to protect us from solar storms that might be powerful enough to fry the transformers on our electrical grid. Google “Carrington Event” for more information.
Also, there is an organization in support of protecting our grid. Check out http://www.EMPactamerica.org . They have organized a letter-writing campaign to urge our representatives to pass legislation to protect the electrical grid.
I share your frustration on this matter.
My main storage is a 40 foot conex shipping container.[big metal box] My back up laptop, old PDA, etc is stored on it on wood shelves. My question is this, should the whole thing be grounded. Each componet, spare ECU, HEI distributer, etc. is foil wrapped then packed in an ammo can. I’ve run a ground from the doors to the body. Will a 10 foot grounding rod help or just turn it into an antenna?
Assuming this shipping container is resting on the bare earth, it is essentially grounded already so long as it is not insulated by paint or other material. Adding a grounding rod might help assure grounding, but the lead shouldn’t be a long one, otherwise it would act as an additional antenna. Any electonics inside this shipping container should be stored inside other insulated Faraday boxes and be placed on non-conducting surfaces. These Faraday boxes should be shielded from the walls of the shipping container. After an EMP event, each Faraday box within the shipping container should be discharged separately using a sufficiently grounded grounding rod to be on the safe side.
Completely agree with (W).
Your shipping container shouldn’t need to be grounded to be effective. Grounding could turn it into an antenna, but since it is already resting on the ground (I assume), then it would probably act as one regardless.
The important thing is to make sure that you have a good electrical connection all the way around the container. Doors should have an electrical connection with their door frames along the entire circumference of the door. Both paint and rust will impede the flow of electrons. Ideally all door interfaces would have a strip of bare metal with low electrical resistance corrosion protection. To this strip would be attached an electrically conductive gasket, which would seal against a similar strip of exposed corrosion protected metal along the mating surface. This is how we design military electronics enclosures where I work.
The duplicate Farady cages for sensitive equipment within the enclosure is a very good idea. Again, make sure that they are electrically conductive along the entire surface and that the contents are electrically insulated from the cage.
One other thing I did this week was to refill some prescriptions.
Since keeping a minimum of a 90-day supply of prescriptions on hand at all times is a wise prep policy, I thought I’d remind everyone to make sure that your refill date is well noted on your calendars. It’s too easy to forget your (earliest) refill date and start using your reserves by accident. Once you’ve started using your reserves, it’s difficult to build them back up again.
For the time being I rent the ground floor portion of an old house. This week my neighbors moved out suddenly one afternoon. In their rush to leave they piled everything they didn’t want at the curb. After they were gone I went and looked through the items they discarded and was surprised by what I found. There were several pairs of aluminum crutches, aluminum pots/pans/cookie sheets, a few hundred pounds of other scrap metal, two boxes of canned goods, several boxes of unopened breakfast cereal, a half used up first aid kit from Walmart, a 400W inverter, a large bottle of laundry soap, four bags of woman’s clothing, a sterling silver necklace and lastly a large bag of frozen foods. In this bag was chicken breasts, chicken legs, pizza, ground beef, juice concentrate, cornish hens, bratwurst, pot pies, hot pockets and bacon. WOW! All of it was still frozen solid and had current expiration dates. I washed all the packages off and inspected them closely and then tossed them in the freezer. The food alone was worth well over $100, I sold the aluminum and steel to the scrap yard and got $33 for all of it. The first aid kit’s contents got blended in with the one I have now. I took the clothes to a thrift store and got .35¢ a pound in store credit. I used that credit to buy some shoes and clothes for my son. I fixed the inverter by removing the cross threaded nut on the post and re-threading it. It amazes me that in today’s economy people would throw things like this out. The money I was going to spend on groceries, laundry soap and back to school clothes for my son this week along with the scrap money was used to pay down the one and only debt I have left. It was a good week.
Cartman, good haul! It only goes to show you, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. How crazy are people to throw away perfectly good stuff…obviously they’re at the opposite end of the spectrum from we who are prepping.
Sunny: The Corona is a good grinder and can be had for about $55 delivered from Evil-Bay. There are less expensive units, but the Corona is a very strong burr type grinder. It doesn’t do the best on wheat but will grind almost anything. On wheat you just have to run it through as many times as needed, I grind, sift, and put whatever didn’t go through the sifter back in the grinder and regrind. Works pretty well. A dedicated wheat grinder would be cool, but will not grind stuff that has a high moisture content or oil content like corn. Home made grits anyone? I have a Corona and if I only had one grinder that would be it. If money was no object I would still have the Corona and also buy the $450 cool wheat only grinder.
MOFreedom
I did not do anything this week for preps. We had a party for 5 kids in my neighborhood that are going to colleg. That was our prep project for the week.I think sometimes you have to live life also. Stotz I am sorry about your dog. I had to put down my beloved springer Jake this year.I personaly did it and it was probably the hardest thing that I have done in my adult life. Steve
W ND thanks for your respones.
axel in Time Enough for Love by R. Heinlien the main caracter Lazurus Long is quoted [from the sayings of] His list of things every man should be able to do is a good checklist for skills. It includes putting down a loved pet.
Bought 2- 25lb. sacks of dehydrated refried beans (we love these) and 1-25lb. sack of non instant dry milk, 2-10# cans of sugar and 3-10# cans of non instant dry milk from the LDS cannery. I am not LDS btw. Also sold our house, being ruthless about getting rid of stuff. We will be moving into our 5th wheel and also buying a delivery truck to use as a mobile storage unit. Hopeing to pay off almost all debt. We should have everything paid off except the 5th wheel and pickup next month. We will then pounce on that debt and get rid of it.
Also bought a wriger washer and cast iron propane table top stove unit.
I will sure be glad when all this purging is done.
Went back on weight loss. A little low on funds and figured this is cheap starting riding my bicycle everyday again lost 16 pounds in 4 weeks. I guess we better all get used to eating alot less.
This week we received our new battery charger and 20 rechargeable batteries. I have been charging them up and will soon begin replacing many of our alkalines with rechargeables.
Also made plans to get a wood stove installed in a couple of weeks.
We also placed an order for mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and silica gel in several different sizes. Once the mylar arrives, we will be busy packaging wheat, oats, etc.
As always, we worked on the garden. We’ve been busy harvesting beans and zuchini. The first tomatoes have started to ripen. My wife has also started collecting seeds for next year’s garden.
Visited Honeyville Farms store for the first time, great store! Bought 150 lbs of hard wheat, 25 lbs of brown rice, several #10 cans of freeze dried food to round out our current supply. Also bought 5, 6 gallon buckets & lids, 100pk of oxygen absorbers, a barrel pump for my 55 gallon water drums, and a combo bucket lid remover/bung plug wrench. At home, transferred the wheat to the buckets and closed them up with the oxygen absorbers. Also stored a 50 lb bag of flour. Hope to finalize our BOL purchase next week. 36+ acres with water and electricity in Arizona, rarer than hen’s teeth.
Congratulations on the land purchase Arizona Guy!
We bought a large chunk of land in 2000 and paid it off in near record time. There is nothing finer then walking upon the ground you own. Will you be able to make it your primary residence?
Hey, Pioneer Spirit, thanks! That’s our plan. Get the land paid off ASAP, so if my job goes sour (IT is hard hit by outsourcing, believe me, I know!) my house is underwater. If my contract runs out , and I don’t get hired in a timely fashion (36 week average now to find a new job) I may have to bug out, and put a travel trailer on the BOL and survive there. I am very happy to have this option now, and should the crap not hit the fan (very doubtful) our plans are to retire to a sustainable lifestyle on the land.
The land purchase is basically my retirement investment. 401k and other investments have taken a beating. Buying food and land is safe.
Great blog – this is my second post – and I’m finding it really interesting. Over here in England, I’ve never met another prepper (I’m sure I can’t be the only one).
This weekend, I drove hubby up to the Midlands to pick up an air rifle (vintage Sharp Innova) so he can practice getting his aim back after he had a stroke last month. Actually, he’s still pretty good even though he can’t feel the trigger much.
He’s gonna get back to rabbiting fairly soon! The Sharp Innova is a good air rifle for hunting – no licence needed in England, very little noise but will kill rabbits and birds outright.
We also visited an outdoor store which always has cheap stuff and bought 4 summer-weight sleeping bags @ £5 each, plus a 110Ah deep cycle battery for £69 and a stock of old-style can openers for 29p each. My daughter bought a new 3-season mummy-style bag, which we will make 4-season by adding a silk inner and a proofed breathable outer with a thermal lining.
Talked about keeping chickens – ex-battery rescue hens (cheap at around £3 per hen) or getting a particular breed. Just waiting for the land to come available.
Added some cans to the store and today I did a supermarket sweep checking for BOGOFs and twofers and got lucky with some spelt flour.
Tomorrow, I’ll be harvesting rhubarb and either canning it or making preserves with it – I haven’t decided yet.
I’ve been to your Country and welcome you to ours via this site. Reading about your Rhubarb brought back memories of growing up (and growing it) back in Colorado. To eat some Rhubarb Cobbler now would be divine.
We have chickens. Worth the investment. Ours are still laying eggs in 100F degree weather. This is a sign of sturdy stock and happy surroundings.
What is spelt flour?
Spelt (Triticum spelta) is a hexaploid species of wheat. Spelt was an important staple in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. It is what wheat was before we started slected breeding bigger,shorter stalked, more drought resistent strains of wheat.
Spelt is an old form of wheat which is digested slowly and doesn’t cause a spike in insulin production like regular wheat does. It keeps you full for longer.
The taste is better (IMHO), and it can be used to make bread and pastry just the same.
I can’t tolerate the regular flour, it causes bloating and gives me an inflamed gut. As I nearly died from diverticulitis about 4 years ago, an inflamed gut (well, what’s left of it!) is the last thing I want.
What breed are your chickens?
MD,
Congrats, the blog comments have seemed to take a friendlier, more supportive tone. I appreciate the differences of opinions because you can learn a lot. When it gets too pointed and ridiculously anal, I draw the line because nobody wins especially the audience wishing it would end.
As far as prep, went shooting with my 18 year old son and watched him hit targets 1/2 mile away with his Mosin, using the iron site. I couldn’t even see that far without the binocs! I was impressed – he hit the target multiple times. Broke out the 9 mm’s, 22′s, 38′s and an embarrassing amount of ammo. Had MRE’s for lunch – yea buddy, a real man’s day.
I taught him how to field strip & (over) clean the weapons and he loves it and knows more about guns than most I know, don’t worry much leaving him home alone. One of the many joys of kids …
I went to the doctors for a bloodwork and visit about the upcoming colonoscopy. My bloodpressure was great according to the doctor and my heart and lungs are fine.That was good news, I have never been a smoker though.I am out of shape and need to lose some weight though.I weigh 280 lbs and want to get back to 250 lbs. We all need to start somewhere. Steve
Axelsteve, Go for it. Each pound lost is another mile you can walk later in life if need be. I was 370lbs in 2004. Today I’m 270lbs and over 50. I just finished working out and sat down to eat my breakfast and scan the net. I need to lose another 70 lbs according to my Dr. I’d be happy with 50. :-). Keep up the good work by making it become natural to exercise. Remember to start out easy and work up from there. I know you can do it!
Thanks Dave! Today I cleaned some junk out of my garage and I plan on getting it more orginized so I will have room to excercise.I plan on getting leaner and stronger. Steve
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