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.

I take a pause to link to something that should be read by all!

A letter to Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock about gun "control"

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.

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!

Keep your friends close and your food closer - #4

Ok, so I have talked about grapes and cherries and squash and quail and peppers and tomatoes and chickens and eggs and okra and etc etc etc.

Now let's get a bit more personal.  All the quail and chicken in the world ain't gonna help you if you don't know how to properly (AND HUMANELY) process them. 

I don't want to sound all weird and stuff because I am a pretty down to earth guy actually, BUT, I am always a bit in awe when I harvest and process an animal because this animal is giving its life for me and my family, friends and acquaintances to eat and gain nourishment from them.  Treat animals with the respect that they deserve and always strive to harvest and process them in the most humane way possible.

Ok, enough of the touchy/feely crap.  Onward.

The saying goes that a pictures is worth a thousand words, so a video is probably like a whole library.  So here ya go. 

I took this video last night on a request from a fellow blogger who wanted to know more about how to process a farm raised quail. 

By the way, wrap these in bacon, pan fry (or grill them) and they are delicious!

How to properly process a farm raised quail

SO THE SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN...NOW WHAT?!

I recently read a great article that said "So the S has H T F.  How do you know really know though?  Is it a local, regional, national or worldwide event?"  What happens if you experience a Carrington Event.  How do you know that its not just a local thing and that by tomorrow you will be sitting on your front porch sipping mint juleps? In the same way, how do you know that it is not a life changing, true SHTF end of the world scenario that has jumped out of the pages of fiction and landed right on your head?

That really got me thinking.  Right now we are so used to easy, cheap and verifiable information.  In less than a minute, I can find out who a girl that I dated out of college is married to, how many kids they have and where they live.  I can find out what the lead drummer for Led Zepplin likes to eat and how he likes it prepared.  I can find out what our current national debt is and verify it through several sources.

However, in a true TEOTWAWKI event, we will not have this type of information.  We will be going off of word of mouth, hearsay, rumors etc.  Information will not be quick, it will not be easy, it probably will be a mix of some truth and some fiction and it will not be easily verified, if able to be verified at all.

SO WHAT ARE WE DO TO?

If you came here for answers, you are SOL, but over the next few weeks/months, I will be digging up some way to help combat this type of information vacuum and come to some good solid information.

Of course I always welcome comments, so if you have some information to help other folks out, please feel free to share.