Prepping

[NS Gearhead]

I know there must be lots of people here that could sustain themselves for a long time, simply because of the situation they're in, or the way they've always lived... but I'm not one of them. LOL

I don't even like the label "prepper" because of the extreme end of the spectrum that makes it sound like everyone who preps is a whack job. LOL

Here's my situation; I've got a wife and three year old girl. We live in a fairly wooded and private subdivision... 10 min drive to the store. 2,600sq ft home with electric boiler/ infloor heat, 1500L propane tank that supplies a 17kw generator, fireplace, and BBQ. The generator can run the entire house other then the boiler.(It would have taken the entire generator to run it)

Anyway, I've decided that I want to be able to be self sufficient for my family and my home for three months. Baby steps though. I'm starting with a week. The most realisitc situation would be a mayjor snow storm, or huricane that closes the rds, and basicly traps everyone in their homes. These both happened here in 2003/2004 with Huricane Juan and White Juan. Around 3' of snow for White Juan with mayjor drifting and Juan took down so many trees in the city is was completely shut down for days. IMO more long term problems could be a flue pandemic of some sort or econimic collapse. Sounds far fetched, but it has happened in the past, and could very well happen again.

For one week the main issues are; water, food, and heat.(in case it's winter) I've got 21gal of water (three of us X 1 gal/day), made a list of food to try and stockpile and started purchasing extra with each visite to the grocery store, and purchaced a wood stove. Oh, and stored a chord of hardwood in the shed, as well as the two chord of softwood outside. Now, the propane fireplace may last a week in winter, but I'm not sure... and the woodstove is part of the more longterm plan. It'll be an emergency only through-the-window setup. Cement pads on the floor, thimble through a plywood opening sandwiched to the window frame, out to a chimney. All I have is the stove, but will slowly gather parts as I go. The food storage will be two tier; food we regularly eat will be in the pantry off of the kitchen... but we'll just keep more of it. New at the back, old in front so nothing has a chance to expire. Other food and water will be kept in the basement. Once things get close to expiration it'll be donated to the food bank and replaced.

A couple other semi-related items I've been working on; I've aquired my firearm licence... but haven't yet made a purchace. I'm thinking 22LR semi for my 1st. My wife and I have become quite good at making wine, and I've just made my first batch of beef jerky that's 3X better then I ever could have emagined! My wife has been a hard sale on this whole consept, but she's comming around. The more she sees disasters on TV and the hopelessness that follows... I can see her opinion changing. It doesn't help that my neighbor and buddy like to kind of carry on about the zombie apocalipse and such more extreme things when they're around. LOL

Anyway, that's my little prepper story. Feel free to comment or share what you're doing to prep.

 

[EddieWalker]

We are thinking the same thing. We want to be less dependent on the outside world and more capable of living off the land or going for a period of time without services. Wood stove was the fist step. Clearing land for a garden has begun and we will start planting in the spring. Plans are done for a canning/processing room. Building a chicken coop is near the top of the list, but drilling a well and getting a 2,500 gallon storage tank is a higher priority. We have guns for hunting and two ponds for fishing. We want to build a big pig trap for meat with the thought that we can catch more in a trap then by shooting them, and also save on ammo. The wild hog meat will be made into sausages that we can store long term.

Eddie

 

[dave1949]

Medical/first aid stuff.

A $5 tube of neosporin can save your life. Hydrogen peroxide, a box of Epsom salts, a simple camphor-based healing salve--all good wound treatments that will avoid infections becoming serious.

A guide to foraging for edibles in the outdoors, and how to safely prepare them. There is some food around us that would be good for supplementing your pantry stores.

 

[YesDeere]

Eddie

I have cousins in Florida that trap hogs. Then they pen them up and corn them for several months. Says it makes much better eating. Not good for a prepper but a thought in the meantime.

 

[charlz]

You say you have a basement so my first thought is a root cellar.

You don't say if you garden but if you garden canning is a good way to preserve foods. Root cellar is also a good place to hang game for aging the meat anytime of year. My parents had one growing up and here I cannot (easily) have one (or a basement) as the water table is too high and I have flat land so no hillsides to dig into. I have been gardening for some years but not canning. They say inflation is flat but it sure doesn't look that way when I compare the total of my receipt to what is in the shopping cart. I would like to start keeping more food from the garden so we can eat it for more of the year than just 'fresh picked'.

 

[schmism]

Even if you dont drink, a 6 pack of beer will trade you a 5 gal of fuel long before several boxes of mac-n-cheese or some other staple you have stored away.

If you have pets you need 3-6 months of food for them also. (this is our bigest issue at our homestead)

i second the well. We have one but bought a 1900 farmstead so it kinda came with one (although we have city water) Even a shallow well can be used to flush toilets and boiled for drinking water.

learn to can, learn to garden. Its taken us 4 years to get a decent onion crop, a staple for winter. We still havn't figured out potatoes in IL clay. A greenhouse in the back yard will be very usefull especially in CAN. People think its as easy as sticking seeds in the ground. but if your depending on that crop to can for winter, you cant miss a planting by 2 weeks else your ______ never comes in because it gets to hot (or cold) before things mature.

while the propane setup is great for "short term" outage (3-6 months) if the real SHTF then your going to wish you had something long term like solar. Id add at least 1 if not 2k of solar. youll likely want a tracker setup to get max output at your high CAN latitude.

Anyone can pack away 6 months of food in a basement. Thats the easy part. Putting together the infrastructure to go the long haul is the hard part.

- solar
- well
- wood burning stove/wood burning cook stove
- greenhouse and learn to use it

 

[RDrancher]

It seems simple, but after last weekend, I'd have to say CASH. My wife's debit card was lost on Friday, so I cancelled it and ordered a new one. The card company decided it was best if they cancel ALL my cards, including the one for my business account. Found this out at 1pm on Saturday, after the bank closed. I had four dollars cash and a handful of change. That could have been a really bad situation.

Funny that this thread came up. My wife has been reading up on aquaponics. As of a couple of weeks ago I had kinda blew it off, but then I figured, why not? We already have a wood stove to provide the majority of heat for our house. Heck, I even switched plans to turn a spare room off of the kitchen into an office and decided to build an extra large pantry for canned goods.

I guess I've been thinking about it more than I thought.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Paranoid or what! ! Your stovepipe through the window is asking for a disaster - if and when you house burns down during a crisis where will you be? Especially if emergency service can not get to you. Ya better rethink that part. Water is not enough... try filling your 23 litre wine bucket with water and use it for a day - coffee/tea/water for preparing food(3 meals), washing dishes, personal needs etc. I go through 23litres/5 gallons over a weekend at my cabin and that is being careful - I haul my drinking water in and use water from rain barrels for washing/bathing.

I would keep at least 3-4 45 gallon plastic barrels filled with water. You can use these to help flush toilets and wash. Even though you have a generator(I do too) you should plan for the worst. You will need storage for generator fuel. A few extra parts for the generator: air filter, fuel filter, spark plug, gas line/tubbing, etc.

Shortwave radio, small propane for BBQ or plumb a hardline from your larger tank. Costco offers 100lb tanks for $125 with first fill included... I think. I would stockpile old pallets(out of site) - they can be used for firewood and or firewood storage, as well as fencing for garden or small animals. They are free and there will be a run on them if disaster strikes. Extra firewood/food to trade for items (the beer idea is great!)

First aid kits: for car and home. Use a tupperware container to hold everything. Also google tea light heat stove. This compact unit can heat a room and your car, truck interior easily. 4 tea lights last 4 hours - bulk pack from IKEA, they mail order.

I would try to make as much as possible, your own charcoal, dehydrated food(you know what is in it) frozen soups, stored veggies, etc. I would also keep lots of flour - water, flour and some salt can make you something to eat, add a few more things to get Bannock - may not taste great but will help keep you going. Some type of material to spell out words on lawn or driveway from aerial surveillance - HELP, OK, etc.

I would also partner with another family close by... numbers are better in a disaster situation for safety, support etc.

Alarm system for your home - obvious reasons. Bear spray. Some type of mechanical alarm system for your property and house: thinking strong fishing line with items tied to it that will make noise when someone hits it.


I guess I better get a start on this list!!!

 

[NS Gearhead]

Anyone can pack away 6 months of food in a basement. Thats the easy part. Putting together the infrastructure to go the long haul is the hard part.

Like I said, baby steps. LOL The Boss says 3 months max... she's affraid I'll get carried away, as I do tend to do. LOL

We have arsenic in our water, and a drilled well, so for the short term I'm just colecting bottled water. I've researched a fair bit on how to pump water out of a deep well, and fitler arsenic... but that's for later.

My neighbor and I have talked about raising/ going half on chickens/ rabits/ turkeys. We've both been too busy so far, but it's not a dead project.

A garden is out of the question for now, as I live on rock... so I'd have to truck in the soil. Also, my house is a new build... the basement is finished with insulated walls, so no root sellar there. I have thought about cutting out a door to go under the garage... but that one scares the wife. Root sellar/ bomb/ fallout shelter/ panic room

 

[brin]

NS Gearhead - Have you seen this for an emergency pump for a deep well...? What do you think ?

http://www.ezwaterwellhandpumps.com/?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={water%20well%20hand%20pumps}&utm_content=3310805882&utm_campaign={1}