Thursday, March 21, 2013

Ode to Spring

Since I have nothing more important to post other than get buckets, get mylar bags, fill with rice, beans, lentils, repeat, I will post a poem.

Spring has sprung,
The grass has riz,
I wonder where them lil flowers iz!

Ok, that is about the extent of my poetic ability, sad as it may be. 

Stay busy preppin'!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Ok, I am still here

I have been prepping like there is no tomorrow (because let's face it...one of these days, there won't be).

I came across a good ideal that I will certainly be doing and adding to my preps.  It's relatively inexpensive, easy to do, and will be invaluable if and when.

Click here for good idea!

Springtime is coming and I will be getting out of the more mundane tasks and will be getting outside and doing some more visual type preps that I will be sharing here.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Winter Preps

Since Winter has most of the US firmly in its grasp, I figured that I would write a bit about some winter preps.

Probably the most important winter prep is energy.  All kinds of it.  You will need energy in some form to keep warm.  You will need some form of energy to keep your water liquid for consumption.  Your body will need energy in the form of calories to allow you to stay warm and complete the necessary activities that will present themselves in a grid down scenario.

For most of us, the first winter after a grid down situation will probably be our easiest.  We will still have ample supply of food, more than likely we will have at least some amount of stored fuel for generators, propane heaters, wood stoves etc. to allow us a relatively easy first winter.

However after that, most of the rest of the year will be spent preparing for winter.  There will be food to store, water to collect, wood to cut, season and stack, livestock to butcher and process etc.

Now, imagine not only having to do all of that to prepare for winter, but at the same time keeping a watch out for intruders and marauders; keeping a low profile to not attract unwanted attention etc. 

No matter which way we stack the odds in our favor, in a true grid down scenario, things are not going to be easy at all even in the best of times.  Throw in a few roving thugs, hungry families that are on the edge of sanity, people "bugging out" without any plan whatsoever except to "get to the country where all the food is" which, incidentally, is exactly where you are.  Couple that with predators, natural disasters, crop failure, drought, flood etc.

I guess this post is really more about hoping and praying that things don't go "grid down", but knowing that if they do, most "survival fantasy" books and movies probably don't do justice to how things will really be in such an instance.

I would be happy to hear some of your thoughts.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I HAS SHELTER! part 2

Well as I was looking back over my blog and noticed that I haven't really done much about my big prep item: my tornado shelter/root cellar/storage/bugout living area.

Over the next few weeks. I will do a couple of posts about the process that I have taken to turn my tornado shelter from a big cold concrete room into something that is a bit more livable and comfortable if worse comes to worse.

Stay tuned...

Another product position and review

I don't get paid for anyone for doing my blog (because they certainly wouldn't get their money's worth, that's for sure!!)

But occasionally I get a product that I get excited about when I think of the possibilities.  Here is one such product.






Its fairly basic and innocuous, but when a bit of ingenuity is used, it can be a very wise and important prep item, especially for the short-term.

It dawned on me that I might could use a handy, readily available power source when I saw all of the issues that the folks that were hit by Sandy were facing. 

If need be, I could put this in my shelter, hook a few low voltage LED lights to it to provide more suitable illumination than candles as well as be able to run a radio, charge a cell phone etc.

I jerry-rigged a 12 volt florescent bulb to it to test how long it could run.  I ran it for almost 48 solid hours before it got low enough for the last battery charge indicator to start dimming.

So basically if it runs a 12 volt florescent for that long, it should easily run 4 times that long on good LED's with room to spare. 

This would be a good backup to have as an emergency.  Plus it can still help start your car in an emergency, pump up your tires etc.

This would not be able to replace a generator (which you should have regardless) and would be a good addition to any wind or solar power that you may have.

Just my .02 cents worth.




Wednesday, November 7, 2012

No shock

Since people figured out that they can get on the government dole and they can vote in someone who will take what belongs to one person and give it to them, I guess we get what we deserve as a country.

Keep prepping!