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Preparedness Tip: Biannual Inspections

January 24, 2012 by

Here are some things that should be checked biannually and daylight savings is a convenient reminder.

• Smoke detectors. The batteries are most likely still good, so use them in a remote or some other non-life saving item. Put new ones in the smoke detectors.

•All Kits; change out any seasonal clothing, rotate food if needed.

•Flash lights, if you keep the batteries in the flashlights then makes sure they haven’t started to corrode and make sure the flashlight still works. Another way to keep the batteries near the flashlight but not inside it is to put them in a plastic bag and secure the bag to the flashlight with a rubber-band.

• If you have a generator then this would be a good time to exercise it and do any routine maintenance.

Can you think of anything else that should be done twice a year that could be done at daylight savings time change? If so please add a comment!

 
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Preparedness Tip: Homemade Laundry Soap

January 17, 2012 by

I came across an article on making laundry soap and mentioned it to my wife. She looked into it and decided to give it a shot. Follow the link to see how to make laundry soap. with pictures included. I’ll just give you my thoughts.

For under $20 my wife was able to purchase enough supplies to make enough laundry soap to last us roughly a year and in my guestimation we spend around $100 on commercial laundry detergent. (for reference, there are my wife and I and two teenage boys)

We used it for roughly 2 months and stopped because it didn’t get the clothes as clean as commercial detergent. In the FAQ section of the site explaining the process, she mentions that some commenters have said they double the amount of Borax, which makes it clean more thoroughly. We did not try that.

My wife also didn’t care for the smell, but you can add things to change it.

We have an HE (High Efficiency) washer and did some research before using it. I was able to find a few people who had tried it and had no issues. We gave it a shot and had no problems. In fact, my wife heard that homemade laundry soap is actually better for HE washers, as it doesn’t create the suds that aren’t good for them.

We kept the ingredients and will use it if things get ugly, but have continued to use commercial detergents since going back.

If you’re looking for a way to save money, this might be of interest, if you try it let me know how it worked for you.

 
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Preparedness Tip: Food Grade Buckets Tips

January 10, 2012 by

We got most of our buckets from a small bakery. They charged $2 per bucket with the lid. Before we found that bakery, I got some free ones from bakeries in grocery stores; a couple from Sam’s Club and Costco.

I have read about people getting them from different types of grocery vendors. The trouble is; the bucket may retain the smell of whatever was stored in it and you might not be able to wash it out. If you’re storing directly in the bucket and not in Mylar, I wouldn’t suggest using a bucket that retained a smell. However if you are using Mylar, I would think since it’s airtight it should keep the smell out.

Do you need to put food in food grade buckets?. If you are going to put the food directly in the buckets without Mylar then yes, I would say that you need to put it in food grade buckets. However if you are using Mylar then it doesn’t really matter. I have actually put some of our long term staples in Mylar and stored it in a new 30 gallon trash can. You wouldn’t believe how much fits in one. (maybe a future article or tip).. That being said, most of our food is still in buckets.

If you go with buckets do yourself a favor and get a Bucket wrench and if you store food directly in the bucket a Gamma Seal Lids might be nice for easy access.

Where have you gotten your buckets from?

 
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Preparedness Tip: Fuel Tanker at the Gas Station

January 3, 2012 by

If there happens to be a fuel tanker at the gas station when you go to fill up, find another station or come back later. Problems are rare, but they do happen, as can be seen from this video taken in Australia. Searching youtube revealed more videos, some showing the fire much better, but they had some foul language.

On a side note: I’m sure it’s probably a federal regulation, but if you see a tanker at a gas station, they always have a fire extinguisher out with them. Seems like trying to kill an elephant with a finger gun and yelling bang to me. But like I said, it’s probably a federal regulation.

 
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Tips On Stocking Up and Affording it All

January 28, 2011 by

Tips On Stocking Up and Affording it all

I am not going to lie and say that food storage is cheap or easy, but it can be and should be done. You might have to make some short term sacrifices, but the long term peace of mind that comes from knowing that you can feed your family, come what may, is worth it. I’m going to try to provide some ideas to build up your pantry and a few ideas to raise some income.

Remember the short-term goals that I mentioned in “Food Storage Part Five”? Make sticking to them a priority. Don’t go into debt to stock up, but don’t put fluff ahead of it either. I plan on covering debt in another article. For now I’ll just say that getting debt free (aside from a mortgage) has not only been a tremendous blessing, it has been a huge prep in and of itself.
 

Food Storage Acquisition Tips

 
Big Box Stores and Discount Grocers

You may have a discount grocer like Aldi; this would be one way to save money. Buying bulk from a Costco, Sam’s or other big box store is another. I also know that there are some online companies that will give discounts for large ‘group buys’. If you know of other like-minded people this could be a great option.

Avoid going out and dropping hundreds at a big box store, this can really tax your finances and this is often done out of fear. If you’re not reacting out of fear and have the disposable income, this might work for you. On a side note, when you do buy from them, the items on the bottom or in back usually have a longer shelf life, as they rotate with ‘First In, First Out’ too.
 
Co-Op or Farm Direct

Another way to save money is to purchase from a co-op or directly from a farm. I listed some ways to find local co-ops and farms as well as some on-line stores at the bottom of “Food Storage Part Three” (LINK).
 
Double Buying/Copy Canning

I first heard about this process from Ron Hood ‘s video “Urban Master, Volume 1”. His wife explains that if you normally eat Spam and use a can for lunch, the next time you go to the grocery store, you purchase two. You do this for every shelf stable food that you purchase until you have the desired amount. On a side note, if wilderness survival is a topic of interest, Ron Hoods’ videos and Internet forum contain some of the best knowledge on the subject that I have been able to find.
 
Target Buying

I don’t mean the store, but a specific item. Pick one shelf stable food and purchase a specific amount each week. This number is going to vary, based on income and whatever the item is. As an example, this week I buy 12 cans of green beans, next week it’s 12 cans of corn.

Even if you are on a very tight budget, you can still add to your pantry a little at a time. I did a web search for “Food storage for $5 a week” and “Food storage on $10 a week” (without the quotes) and found the following sites. Food storage for $5 a week and Food storage on $10 a week .

Even if you can only spend $5 a week, you can take advantage of sales. The most important thing is that you are working toward your goal.
 
 

How Can You afford this all?

 
Know where your money goes.

There are two ways to do this, you can either write down what every single penny is spent on, or you can do what we did and get the bank statement and itemize it. You need to do it for at least one month, as this will make sure you get the monthly bills. We actually printed off the statements for the last year and broke things up into twenty or so categories and tallied it all up. Shocked is the best word that comes to mind. My wife does a fantastic job of keeping our budget but seeing the total that went to junk, well that brings me to the next section.
 
Needs vs. Wants

Many people are willing to spend much more on their wants then they are on their needs. Jack, at The Survival Podcast explained it something like this; gas in your car is a need, but people will complain that the price of gas went up $.05 and then drive across town to save $.02 a gallon, saving a grand total of $.40 on a twenty-gallon tank. That same person might have a craving and spend $5 on a latte. I don’t care how good it is, its still a want.

If you do as I suggested above and can see the amount of money you spend on wants, I bet you’ll be a little surprised. I’m not saying that you should deprive yourself but being honest with yourself and looking at this list, I bet you can find ways to cutback and still feel like your not being deprived.

Cut back on spending

Eat at home and bring your lunch to work. For a family of four, a fast food dinner can run up to $30, pizza or take out can be almost $50. I bring my lunch to work while most of the guys in my department eat out every day. I bet that what they spend in two days will pay for my brown bag lunch for two weeks.

Sell the excess

Glenn Beck recently cited a story that said the average family has $20,000 worth of unused stuff in their home. I’m not so sure about the $20,000 part, but I know most families have excess stuff they could sell on Craig’s list or in a garage sale or eBay. I have seen a few businesses that will sell your stuff on eBay and just take a small portion for their efforts.

Part Time Job

This might not be a great tip given our current economy; however it might be in your situation. If you get a part time job, even if you only work one shift a week and dedicate the money you earn to preps, you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll increase your pantry.

Sell Plasma

Another option is selling plasma, I have thought about this. The last time I looked into it a person could sell plasma twice a week and receive $25 each time. That’s $200 extra a month! Blood Banker is a site that you can use to find areas local to you to sell or donate blood and plasma.


Here are the links to the other food storage articles.
Food Storage Part One: Why Store Food And The Rules For It.
Food Storage Part Two: The Kind Of Foods That You Can Store
Food Storage Part Three: Shelf Life of Staples.
Food Storage Part Four: The Process and Enemies of Food Storage.
Food Storage Part Five: How much food should you store and where should you put it all?
Food Storage Part Six: Tips On Stocking Up and Affording it all.
Food Storage Part Seven: Food Boredom to Survival Cooking .

 
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Acronyms, Mottos and Phrases

November 27, 2010 by

Acronyms, Mottos and Phrases

I thought I would write this to help explain some of the Acronyms, Mottos and Phrases used on this and other preparedness/survival related sites.
 
 

Acronyms

ELE: Extinction Level Event.
This is an event so large that it affects most life on the planet, such as Noah and the flood.

TEOTWAWKI:
The End Of The World As We Know It. (Please don’t sing it).
This is a large-scale event that changes life, as we know it, smaller then an ELE but larger then a SHTF event. An example could be an EMP that takes the grid down.

SHTF: Stink/Stuff/S**t Hitting The Fan.
The scale of this can vary from a single-family event to a nation wide like a stock market crash.

EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse
I’ll be covering this in more detail soon. A quick explanation is that an EMP is a high-altitude nuclear explosion that “fries” electronics with printed circuitry.

BO: Bug Out
Leaving your local area, generally heading for a BOL.

Bug In or Batten Down.
Staying put at your primary residence. For most people this will be the best option unless you have a BOL.

BOL: Bug Out Location
A place away from your primary residence, this could be a relatives house or a family cabin. If you live in hurricane country, this could also be a hotel inland.

BOB: Bug Out Bag, also called a 72-hour kit.
Generally, this a bag packed with three days food, water clothes and supplies. While I think everyone should have one, I also think in most circumstances it is a better idea to batten down.

BOV: Bug Out Vehicle
This is the vehicle used to bug out. Some people say that for a vehicle to be a true BOV, it must be 4×4 and hardened against EMP. Vehicles that are older then the early 80’s often do not have a computer and are often thought of as EMP proof.

INCH Bag: I’m Never Coming Home bag.
If there is a TEOTWAWKI event this is a bag that would have every thing in it you would need if you were never returning home from your BOL.

GHB: Get Home Bag.
This is a bag stored in a vehicle or office that you would use in the event you had to walk home; contents are similar to a BOB.

MSM: Mainstream media
The people that report on what they think is important for us to hear.

MAG: Mutual Aid Group.
This is like-minded people that form a group to share resources and responsibilities. When I think of a MAG I often think of the first church that is talked about in the book of Acts.

LBE, MOLLE, ALICE:
Load Bearing Equipment; MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment; All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment.
These are all systems to aid in carrying gear that is often connected via harness or pack.

MRE: Meal Ready to Eat.
A self-contained field ration for the United States Military. There are many civilian versions available.

JBT: Jack Booted Thug
A derogatory term used to describe an oppressive group that rules with violence or with the threat of it.

MZB: Mutant Zombie Biker
This is often a term used to describe the “bad guys”.

SAK: Swiss Army Knife

EDC: Every Day Carry
This is gear that you carry every day.
 
 

Mottos

“Store what you eat and eat what you store”.
This is the golden rule for prepping. Store the foods that you eat on a regular basis; this will keep your pantry stocked and rotated.

“Two is one, one is none.”
Redundancy – I like to have multiple ways to do things, such as starting a fire and purifying water. This phrase can also be used for gear. If you only have one of something and it breaks, you have nothing, always have a spare.

“I would rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.”
I use this on things that I am on the fence about purchasing. If it could come in handy and won’t strain our finances, then this motto comes in to play. My wife likes to use it for buying purses.

“Plan your work, work your plan.”
Plan for different scenarios, this way when an event does happen, everyone knows what is expected of them. An example is a fire at your home. Know who is responsible for grabbing any pets and where everyone should meet; you could also plan different ways to escape your house depending on where the fire is.
 
 

Phrases:

Paracord/550 cord:
Parachute Cord has 7 separate strands, held together with a nylon outer layer. Each length can support 550 lbs. There are many knockoffs; if you buy some make sure it has the 7 separate strands

Rule of Three’s:
The rule of three’s is a survival rule that states the average human can go:
Three minutes without oxygen.
Three hours without shelter.
Three days without water.
Three weeks without food.

Prep, prepper, Prepping Preparedness.
The people who are preparing and the act of preparing. I have seen preppers referred to as, survivalists that don’t want to overthrow the government.

Shelf stable food:
A shelf stable food is one that will not spoil for at least six months without refrigeration, when packaged and stored correctly.  Some examples are canned vegetables, canned meats, white rice, dried beans, pasta and sugar.

False Flag: Definition from Wikipedia

Before I give it, let me say that I am not saying whether or not I believe in false flags. I am just explaining a phrase you might run into.

False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one’s own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and can be used in peace-time.

Balloon going up:
When the balloon goes up is a phrase used to imply impending trouble. This relates to the use of observation balloons in the First World War.

Being gray:
I wrote an article dedicated to the subject, found at the link above.

Cotton Kills:
This is reference to outdoor survival and how cotton is a poor choice when compared to wool when it is cold. Wool can be wet and still let you retain heat, the same isn’t true for cotton.

 
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Filed Under: General Preparedness, Getting Started, Preparedness Tips
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