I wanted to let you all know about specials being offered from two Prepared Christian supporters. You might have seen the offers on the banners on the right side of the site, but I wanted to mention it just in case.

Seed of the Month Club is offering a 25% discount! To sign up, just click on the banner! For a little more information you can click on the banner or read a Q and A session I had with Mike, the owner of Seed of the Month Club.
 

The End Times Warehouse is one of the newest supporters! I was a little skeptical when I saw the name, thinking they might be beating the end times’ drum, but their slogan is “Preparedness for the End Times or Any Time”.

They are currently offering a waterproof Bible with the purchase of Wise Food 240 meal or above. Find out more by clicking on the banner and then on the link for food!

I was recently contacted by a representative of ALTAI and asked if I would like a pair of the ALTAI™ MF Tactical Boot to wear and write a review on! I gladly accepted, as I had recently been considering buying a pair of boots.

When I saw the claim of “no break-in period”, I was more than a little skeptical. Having served four years in the Navy and breaking in more than a few pairs of flight deck boots, I remember how painful the break in period was.

Some quick facts about the boots:

• Altai® is light at 650 grams – 23 ounces (size 9)
• Waterproof / breathable bootie
• NO break-in period.
• Highly functional upper with SuperFabric® material
• Abrasion Resistant
• Quick drying
• Stain Resistant
• Air Permeable
• Vibram® outsole – hiking tread
• Slip Resistant
• crimped laces
• Speed lacing – metal eyelets
• Padded nylon tongue
• Waterproof leather toe

Here is a 360 view with some information on some of the features.

My Take:

As I said, I was a bit skeptical when I saw the claim of “no break-in time”. While I did need to put in an insert, I think this had to do more with my feet than the boots. To be honest, I did not put them through a rigorous stress test. I wore them through my normal day. However, I will often times have to take my usual shoes off at my desk because they’re uncomfortable after a while. These boots are quite comfortable. In fact, probably one of the most comfortable pieces of footwear that I have worn right out of the box. I believe that they’ll probably get more comfortable the more they are worn.

It’s been many years since I wore something with this much ankle support. Because you can’t move your ankle, you have to walk a little different. This goes for all boots that go over the ankle, not just these boots. I don’t know if all military style boots were made the way flight deck boots were; mostly leather. Because the upper part of these boots are made with SuperFabric®, they actually hug more and offer more ankle support than flight deck boots did.

The boots are made in Korea, however the SuperFabric® material is made right here in my state, Minnesota!

Because of the features of these boots and the level of comfort, I think they would be well suited for anyone whose footwear is important and considered to be part of your gear, not just an accessory. Whether you’re in the military, are an officer, or spend time outdoors, I think these boots will serve you well!
 
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I know I am not the first person to think of storage units as either a cache site, or as a BOL (Bug Out Location), but I’ve given this some thought recently and want to share those thoughts with you. There are admittedly some shortcomings, but there could be enough upside for this to be a great option for some of you. For this idea to make any sense at all, you might need to change how you think about storage units. Don’t think of it as a place to keep the crap you don’t have space for at home. Instead, think of this as a viable secondary location to store supplies to meet your family’s five basic human needs.

 
Cost

The first hurdle might be monthly expense. I checked Uhaul.com for some local storage facilities and for a 5x5x8 climate controlled unit, they wanted $59 a month. To keep perspective, I’ll wager the overwhelming majority of people with a BOL pay more than $59 a month in a mortgage or other loan payment. Look at this like your other prepping, as another form of insurance. I don’t know that the expense is justified for me right now, but if I lived in an area with common natural disasters it might be.

I said “$59 for a climate controlled unit” earlier because if you’re going to store food in this location, you’re going to need it to be climate controlled. This means it is going to be more expensive than a normal unit. Temperatures between 40 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for food storage. For every 18 degrees above 72, the food loses up to half its nutritional value over time.
 

As a BOL

I would be shocked if any storage facility does not have verbiage in the contract about not residing in the unit. If you’ve followed the blog for a while you probably know that I believe in 95% of situations people should not bug out and are better served by staying home. Personally, if I take action on this at some point, I don’t plan on residing at the unit itself and will use the unit as a cache. However, if there is an event that pushes me from my home, and we make it to the storage unit, we could resupply and hit a hotel or, if needed, stay at the unit or nearby.
 

How far away?

There are a couple things to consider when it comes to distance. If you live in an area hit by natural disasters, having the unit outside of the “danger zone” might make sense.

If you have a long commute, having the unit at a half-way point might make sense. I personally think the risk of an EMP is low. If it is a concern for you, having a storage unit in between would provide a safe spot in between and a place to resupply or lay low if needed. You probably don’t want it further than you could walk in one or two days.
 

What Should You Store?

To my thinking this would be an endeavor for someone who has either been prepping for a while, or someone that sees a big need for a cache/BOL.

To the seasoned prepper who has probably accumulated plenty of equipment, I would say store some of the “extra” gear you have that isn’t crucial to keep at home.

To the person who sees a need for a cache/BOL I would say store what you think you will need most. I realize that is very open ended, but hear me out. I read on a forum once about man who had a conversation with a wealthy executive that worked from their home. This executive expressed some concern over evacuations taking place in California due to wildfires in the last few years. The person on the forum told the executive they could do as little as a BOB, or as much as stock a storage unit with everything they would need in the event their house burned down. Months went by and the forum member received a call from the executive, thanking them for the advice and stating that they had stocked a storage unit with every necessity for him to work. When they were forced out by a wildfire, the only downtime they had was for the drive time to the unit.

So, if you think having a cache is important, stock it with what you think will be important.

Rotate, rotate…rotate!

Please do not forget to rotate any perishables you store in a storage unit.

 
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Two Prepared Christian advertisers are having Mountain House sales that I want to let you know about!  While I am a firm believer in the Prepper motto, “eat what you store, and store what you eat”, I also believe that if you want to grow your pantry large enough to last your family six months or more, freeze dried foods are an excellent option to do so.

Ready Made Resources

Ready Made Resources is having the longest sale on Mountain House that I have ever seen, it will run all summer long. They are also offering some deep discounts, 32%-60% off!  They are offering some other nice benefits as well:

They will allow you to mix and match cans as long as you order in increments of six cans (which makes a full case).

Free shipping as long as you order in increments of six. If you order less than six cans there will be a $15 shipping fee.
 

Camping Survival
 
Camping Survival is also have a great sale on Mountain House, which lasts until 6/28/2014.  They are offering 25% off on all #10 cans with a free pouch of Mountain House freeze Dried Neapolitan Ice Cream with every can purchased as a bonus!

They are also offering 15% off all Mountain House Freeze Dried Food; Breakfast Pouches, Entree Pouches Dessert Pouches and Buckets.

The beautiful Mrs. Ray and I don’t tolerate the heat very well. July and August in Minnesota can see 100 degrees + with humidity that would make someone from the tropics feel right at home. I wrote last year about how our AC went out and how we dealt with it. Well, we’re in the same situation this year, albeit better prepared. We’re also blessed that we’re not in the hottest time of the year.

I thought I would share some tips for staying cool that I have found over the years. If you have followed the blog for some time, you might have seen some of these. There will be at least one new one that is pure genius and makes me wish I had come up with it.
 

Clothing

Wear loose fitting, light colored clothing.

It might sound counterintuitive, but wear long sleeve shirts and a hat. The sun directly on your skin will heat you even more.

Wear clothes made of cotton as it wicks heat away from your body. This is the reason the phrase “Cotton Kill” exists. When the phrase is used, it’s usually in cold climates.

If you wear a hat, get it wet and put it back on. A bandana can work for this as well.
 

Liquids

In hot weather, you need to increase your liquid intake. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty. When you’re active, you should be drinking 16-32 ounces of water an hour.

If your urine is anything but clear, you are dehydrated and need to rehydrate ASAP.
Avoid beverages containing caffeine as it promotes dehydration.

Water is a great source to stay hydrated, but many people don’t like water. There are additives such as powdered Gatorade that can flavor water and add electrolytes at the same time.

Put a water bottle in the freezer. When you go outside, take it with you. As the ice melts, you’ll have cold water to drink.
 

Food

Avoid using the stove, as it will just add more heat.

Eat cold foods; fruits and vegetables are a good idea.

Eat smaller meals but eat more often. The larger the meal the more metabolic heat your body produces to digest it. The same applies to drinking very cold water; it can actually heat you up because your body quickly reacts to warm the water to core temperature.

Eat copious amounts of ice cream. (Sorry about that, the little kid in me took over for a second.)
 

The Body

The body radiates heat from the head, hands and feet. Getting these areas wet will aid in cooling.

When I was in the Navy, on a cruise to the Gulf, they told us to eat more salt on our food, to help the body retain water. It’s true that we lose salt and minerals when we sweat. These salts and minerals need to be replaced. A sports drink will often work. Check with your doctor before going this route.

If outdoor work must be done, do it in the morning or evening. Avoid being out in the sun in the hottest part of the day.

Put a bottle of lotion in the fridge. Squirt some on and rub it into hands and feet. (I have never tried this, but it sounds like a decent idea.)

By placing a cool water bottle between your upper thighs or in your armpits, you will cool the blood. Don’t use ice cold as this could be a shock to your heart.

A similar principle is to get a bandana wet with cool water and wrap it around your neck, head or wrists.

Take frequent cool showers or baths.
 

Don’t Forget Your Pets

Keep plenty of cool water available.
Make sure they have shade available to lie in.
Some of our dogs love chewing on ice cubes.
 

The Home

If you have a basement, the temperature there is often 10-15 degrees cooler. My home is a four level split. I would say each level is at least 5 degrees cooler than the one above it.

Keep your curtains or blinds drawn. If possible, have the outside of the blinds or curtains be light in color. This will reflect heat back outside. Dark colors will increase the temperature. This would be a good idea in the colder times of the year.

I have not done this but have heard that it works; hang a damp sheet in place of your drapes. To go with the drapes suggestion from above, use a light colored sheet.

Another thing that I have heard of but haven’t tried is spraying your roof with water. The heat evaporates the water, leaving the roof cooler. Here are several other passive cooling techniques.

This idea would only work if you have power but no AC. There are indoor AC units that give cool air inside, venting the exhaust to a panel you cut to fit into your window. This wasn’t an inexpensive solution but cooling the bedroom so we could sleep is worth it. Yes, I realize that if the grid fails, it will be worthless. But the grid is still up right now and we’ve had to use this when the AC has stopped in the last two years.

The following is an idea that I think is brilliant! For those who can’t watch the video yet, the premise is to place a frozen milk jug into an insulated 5 gallon bucket, drill 3-4 holes on the sides of the bucket and place a small fan on top of the bucket, blowing air towards the ice, forcing cool air out the holes in the bucket.

 
I realize not all of these suggestions will work in all climates. Please add any others you might have.
 
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One of the most important tasks in a survival situation is prioritization. In a dire situation, doing the wrong thing first can literally mean the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, there are so many potential situations that prioritization of an emergency is not a one-size-fits-all methodology. With that being the case, I have some general guidelines that I think could be helpful.
 

Knowing What is Important

I have written a few times on the five basic human needs. These needs exist every second of every day, but ensuring that you have potable water to drink, food to eat, shelter from inclement weather, energy for heat and cooking as well as security from those who might mean you harm should be your priority in a survival situation.
 

Knowing When it is Important

There is a general survival rule called “the rule of three’s,” which states that the average human can last:

3 minutes without oxygen
3 hours without shelter in severe weather
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
 

Putting the What, with the When

This might seem over simplistic but using those two in conjunction should help prioritization in any survival situation. Take a look at both and apply them to your situation. Meeting the 5 basic needs is the goal, now start to apply the rule of 3’s to your situation.

Do you have clean oxygen to breathe? If not, this is a dire emergency! Getting out of the smoky area, breaking the choke hold or getting to the surface of the water is your priority.

Do you have shelter from the weather? For the majority of situations, our homes will be our shelters. If your home has taken damage from a storm, is it safe to stay in? If not, taking temporary shelter somewhere else might be needed. If you’re lost in the woods without shelter, making shelter is a priority. I believe another aspect of shelter is security, but I’ll cover this later.

Do you have enough potable water, or access to water, to last your group three days? I think saying the average person can go three days with no water is a bit misleading. Sure, one might not die for three days without water, but you’re going to be feeling pretty rough after even half a day, especially if you’re exerting more energy. This isn’t to say that you must have 3 days’ worth of water stored for each person in your group. If you have access to water and a means to filter and purify it, then the danger is lessened.

I think food is one of the needs that people think about first and probably most. The truth is that food should often be lower on the priority list. In a survival situation, there is a good chance we’ll be exerting ourselves more than normal and we eventually need to be replacing those calories, but missing a few meals is something most of us can handle.

Out of the five basic needs, the rule of 3’s covered shelter, water and food. Energy and security remain. This makes sense because energy and security don’t have strict guidelines.

Everyone will need to use some type of energy to cook, boil water or possibly for heat, but the amounts and types of energy will vary greatly. Fuel is kind of the oddball of the five needs in that the importance of having enough fuel completely depends on your situation and circumstances. If you’re stranded in the bush, gathering fuel (wood suitable for burning for example) is much more important than for someone who is at home on the third day of an extended blackout, who might need to ensure enough propane for the camp stove.

When it comes to security, the chances are low that one will need to use violence to defend themselves. But, if/when the need to use force presents itself, it is absolutely the most important need. This is not to say that security can just wait until all of the other needs are fully met. I mentioned above that I believe that an aspect of shelter has to do with security. As long as humans have been building shelters to live in, it has been in part to make us more secure from wild animals and those who would do us harm.

The Discovery channel hosted a show called The Colony for two seasons, both of which are available on Netflix and I recommend them. The premise of the show was a group of people thrown into a mock situation. For example, one season was a TEOTWAWKI pandemic event. The group had to come together to meet their five basic needs.

***Spoiler Alert***

If memory serves, they put off security until “bandits” raided their compound during both seasons. In the beginning, they were gung ho about finding shelter, clean water and enough food and later found ways of generating energy. If they would have told one person a day to work on securing the shelter, and making some improvised weapons, they would have been so much better off.

So when is security a priority? When in the midst of an attack, it is the number one priority. Otherwise I think it should be woven amongst the other needs until your shelter is secure and your means of defense are seen to.

For the record, I don’t think The Colony was something to follow as an example. There aren’t that many TV shows that thrust people into actual survival situations. You can learn from what the members of the Colony did wrong and decide what you would’ve done differently.

 
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If you are a frequent reader of this or other preparedness/survival related blogs, you most likely have preparations stored for various “stuff-hitting-the-fan” scenarios. For short term, minor/moderate events, the chances are good that what you have stocked could see you through to the other side. However, in a prolonged, far-reaching, severe scenario, the chances increase that you might run out of some of your supplies.

If faced with dwindling supplies, or if your supplies are destroyed or stolen, you could be faced with scavenging or salvaging to resupply. I have given this subject some thought and have developed some guidelines. If forced by a survival situation to scavenge or salvage, I believe these guidelines will help one to do so safely, effectively and morally.

 
Morally

One of the rules in every society is “No stealing”. God believes in this so much that He made it one of His Ten Commandments. But is scavenging stealing?

I used the words “salvaging” and “scavenging” above intentionally. I believe they have different meanings and are not the same as stealing or looting. Language is important, so here are some brief definitions, all from Dictionary.com;

Scavenging:
to take or gather (something usable) from discarded material.
to search, especially for food.

Salvage:
the act of saving a ship or its cargo from perils of the seas.
the act of saving anything from fire, danger, etc.

Steal:
to take (the property of another or others) without permission or right, especially secretly or by force:

Looting:
spoils or plunder taken by pillaging, as in war.
anything taken by dishonesty, force, stealth, etc.

There are some who see this issue in black and white and say that taking anything that you did not purchase is stealing and, therefore, sin. In Scripture, we’re told of Jesus plucking grain on the Sabbath, also of Him going to the fig tree to eat figs and cursing it when it had none. Later, He tells the disciples to go ahead of Him and take a colt to bring to Him.

It is clear that Jesus did not own the field of grain, the fig tree or the colt. If we look at this issue in black and white, Jesus committed petty theft for taking the grain, attempted theft for the figs and the equivalent of grand theft auto for taking the colt. Did Jesus sin? Of course not. My point is that there can be extenuating circumstances where someone could take things that they did not pay for without stealing and thus, is not sinning.
 
How can one scavenge morally?

Do not take anything that is actively owned. An example; if during hurricane Katrina someone came upon a home with boarded windows and a light visible on the inside, obviously the home and its contents are being actively owned. However, if you stumble upon a home that is damaged by the storm and is not fit to live in, if you called out and no one answered, one might make a judgment call to see if there were any life sustaining supplies inside or signs of recent usage. If, after the survival situation has passed, the people who owned the home or business returned, I would gladly reimburse them somehow for the supplies I used.

A survival situation is not the time to score free TV’s, stereos, liquor or any other item that is not needed for survival. If it cannot increase your five basic human needs; water, food, shelter, energy and security, it could be looting.

Only take what you need. If you have an abundance of water and a water purifier at home and you come across a case of water bottles, leave them for someone without.

On a side note, if you ever have someone accuse you of hoarding because you prep tell them this: buying now when there is plenty of supply and stocking up is prudent. Running out and buying or taking in an emergency when there is a limited supply is hoarding.

 
Scavenging Safely and Efficiently

Like most of the population, I have never had to scavenge or salvage to survive. I have developed the following ideas from watching TV/movies related to survival as well as from Prepper fiction and from video games. In the last year or so, there have been several games with varying types of events; some zombie outbreaks, some pandemics, some stranded on an island and on and on. Many of these games are multiplayer. In some of these games, if you are killed, you must start over with nothing but the clothes on your back, so people are very cautious when dealing with others.

While the event may be fictional, I have learned a lot about scavenging/salvaging and about how people react in SHTF events. Some might say that people act tougher or ruder because it is over the internet in a game. I tend to believe that the internet just magnifies a person’s true self. If someone is opinionated in person, they’re even more so online. If someone is a bully, they are even more so online. If someone is compassionate in person, they are more so online.

Here are some tips if you ever find yourself in a situation where you must scavenge to survive.

One of the things I learned by playing video games is that it can be very easy to forget where you’ve scavenged and where you haven’t searched yet. One thing I started to do in games is to place an item by the front door of houses when I was done, so I could tell I didn’t need to go back in during return trips to that neighborhood. In real life I would probably make a discreet mark with spray-paint or marker.

Another thing I learned was to always carry a good backpack! In several of these games, there is a lot of junk laying around. Some of it might have a purpose, but the lesson I learned is that while a sturdy backpack is important, it fills up quickly and gets heavy even faster.

Take what is needed and make plans to come back for things you want or can’t carry during the first trip. One could place a discrete mark of another color to signify you want to get something from inside.

The grid or internet could be down, so keep a phone book around. If you discover a specific need, you’ll have a means to look for the address of a place to go trade or salvage what you need.

Work in pairs. It is easy to get focused on the task and not be as alert as you should be; use the buddy system!

In a few of these games, there are “safe zones,” where combat is not possible. Other players were often willing to trade inside this zone. However, one of the most dangerous places was the area nearby. Other players who play as bandits know that people coming or going often have gear from trading. I think this would be the same in real life. If you go to a known area to trade, don’t go alone. Again, use the buddy system.

Think outside of the box. Everyone is going to think of Costco, Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart. They might not think of the office complex or the industrial area of town.

 
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