Posted on 02/17/2012 1:00:17 PM PST by Kartographer
Ok I've been asked by a few members of the Preppers Ping list to start a weekly thread to post things like good preparedness supply buys, small discoveries and helpful hints which possible by themselves would make a interesting thread, but would be of interest to fellow preppers. So here goes. I'll try and do this every Friday and see how it goes.
For those of you with a second home, bleeding the lines keeps them from bursting during winter freezes. That's one less worry and one less $$$ repair.
If you’re storing jugs or bottles of water, store them on the floor or bottom shelf rather than an upper shelf. When they leak, and they will, it won’t drip down and ruin your other supplies.
Good point on the UV problem. I had one of those totes sitting out, Fully exposed at the gulch and in 6 months it shattered at a touch on the parts that got strong sun.
At least cover them with a tarp.
lol It might. I was half joking, so don't take a thing I say seriesly.
http://www.amazon.com/Merchandising-SOLR-FL-Infinite-Solar-Flashlight/dp/B003VP637A/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi
My helpful hint would be to not put your thumb over the end of your gun barrel if National Geographic is filming because you will look like a dufus when your laying in the dirt in shock.
Please add me to your Prepper Thread , Thank You
You have been added.
Add me to the list please.
Thanks for the ideas; maybe this is too obvious, but there is also water in your hot water heater.
bttt
Then we can have some fun....
Please add me to your ping list. Those tanks can also be cut and used to build an Aquaponics system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYFM7J_TpTU
This sounds fascinating and you can spend hours on youtube checking out Aquaponics for the homestead.
or the old backyard pool at www.gardenpool.org
And if you combine the Squarefoot garden layout with Aquaponics beds and fertilizer I think you can grow lots of food in smaller space.
Dunno about the brightness, but I found these on ebay - $5 each free shipping from Hong Kong.
Likewise.
And it looks like business if good for kartographer. Lots of new additions.
/johnny
Before people start making preparations, they should sit down and work out just what threats they face, the seriousness of the threat and likelihood of occurrence. What I’ve done goes like this, first break them down between natural and man-made threats -
Storms
Hurricanes
Ice Storms
Earthquakes,
etc
Man made
War
Civil disturbances
crime
terrorism
Nuclear war,
etc.
Then do some research on WHAT to expect. No use planning for a blizzard if you are in Florida. No use planning for a hurricane if you are in Montana.
Next, look at the history - how severe have those events been and what scale of and kinds of disruptions occurred. For example, in my case flooding is not a concern - I am well above even a 500 year flood plain (fact is if flood waters reach my door, there would have been a large boat built by a guy named Noah floating near by). However, 1997 floods shut down highways and limited railroads and associated storms caused power outages.
FInally, give a swag at what percentage chance of occurrence. In California, seismic is big, but not so much where I live. USGS has a tool here
http://eqint.cr.usgs.gov/eqprob/2002/
That allows you to plot % chance of earthquake by size over a user set period within 50km (or your choice). My plot shows I have a 15% chance of a quake greater than mag. 5.0 within 50km A 5 range won’t do too much damage. It drops to 3% for greater than 6.0. Other places are not so lucky.
Finally, threat analysis as to the necessary preparations. What are the practical preparation steps to take. Generally this has been a balance between beans, bullets and bandaids. I think people should think through their needs and not buy into the years supply of food with a mini-arsenal of guns, and a concrete bunker in Idaho. Everyone is not able to devote the resources to such preparations and I think it has a reverse effect to discourage people from common sense planning. You have to make the assessment and own your preparations and use the bizallion lists and recommendations out there as a guide.
In my case this means an initial 30 stock of food into a pantry being rotated as necessary, improving home security and adding arms and ammo, developing a longer term medical supply 30-90 days roughly to handle things if the compost hits the mixer. I have initial bug out routes and destinations selected and mapped with instructions. I’ve updated property insurance, etc.
I gotta tell ya MapMaker, your Ping List is really gaining a lot of new members. Obviously, the NatGeo series is one of the reasons. Despite the fact that they seem to be doing everything to make Preppers look like idiots, the Cognescenti are coming around.
Keep up the good work.
sneakers, can you ping our list this way?!
You can even, according to my dog, drink the water in the toilet bowl. If really thirsty you can empty it out.
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