Posted on 07/29/2011 11:30:01 AM PDT by Voice of Reason1
With all that said, my time with these four families did influence my thinking about being prepared. Gliding the endless, overstocked aisles of my brightly lit supermarket, I inexplicably paused in front of the canned beans.
"These, as all times, are uncertain," I mulled and started to reach for a can.
Pictures of the families near the tsunami damaged nuclear power plant in Japan, evacuating their wind and water battered homes, quietly queuing up for food and water, seeped, like the radioactive water into the ocean, into my thoughts. I glanced around — I was alone. I fast plucked a few extra cans of garbanzos, and another two, dropped them into the cart.
Waiting my turn at the checkout, the cash register ring of wealth echoing the waxed linoleum floor, I closed my eyes, blocking out the surrounding culinary abundance, and imagined a world without. I opened my eyes and started to unload my cans onto the rolling black conveyor belt. "Having a party," I muttered defensively, thinking she was looking at my purchase askance.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel.nationalgeographic.com ...
I realize that it’s a bit biased [MSM biased, that’s a shocker huh?]
But it has some good overall information on prepping and is perhaps a good introduction for those who haven’t started yet.
Also interesting that the producer had a skeptic bias at first and then changes his mind later on.
We began our preperation about 18 months ago when we realized how bad things were getting. We’ve always planted a garden and done some home canning but we’ve gone into overdrive the last 1.5 year.
We now have about 9-12 months of food stored which we rotate to keep fresh. Factory canned goods will last about 2 years, home canned food will last as long as the seal remains unbroken. We planted 3 gardens this year and, dispite a historic drought, have gone through over 300 canning jars so far. We’ve even canned chicken that we raised, the deer I shot last year, and some older beef from the frezzer.
As a source of reference material I’d recommend “Backwoods Home Magazine”, they’re what “Mother Earth News” was before they went environazi.
It can be done quite quickly, however, be prepared to defend what you store or keep it a closely guarded secret. When things implode there will be those who will try to take what you’ve stored if they know it’s there.
I do believe our own resident freeper chocchipcookie stars in that !
At least 1 yr supply of food per person hidden away so it cannot be easily found. Water from gutters to cistern. 2 gal per day per person is comfortable & have 60 days on hand at all times. Keep it a secret. See “The Shelter” Twilight Zone episode 68.
Don’t tell the kids, they will tell friends and the neighbors will beat a path to your door.
Many many folks that I have told I was storing food have not seen any value in it but the say “But if it gets really bad, I will know where to go”. That is why I do not keep my food stores at my house, they are well hidden in a retreat so well disguised that it won’t be found by roving gangs and looters, they couldn’t spot it if they were standing right in front of it.
Within days of a breakdown in law and order there will be chaos, anarchy, murder, rape and torture. Desperate people will do desperate things.
In the event of an EMP 250 miles over Kansas, Dr. Graham, EMP Commission Chair, believes less than 20% of the US population would survive due to food production and distribution constraints.
Desperate people will indeed to desperate things.... to those who do not prepare in advance. Start today.
I had someone say that to me once. I told him if he showed up at my house empty handed I'd shoot him dead in the driveway. That was about a year ago. Now he asks me for advice on how to care for his stash. LOL.
That family with the pool was AWSOME!
The little writeup by the producer of the show mentioned that idea – but what happens when 100+ decide to do the same thing?
Some of the people profiled lived in suburban neighborhoods – do they realize that it only takes a couple of their neighbors who didn’t prepare, that they may have too much?
Yeah. And they completely misquoted me, dammit. Actually, the production company is now taking “applications” from other preppers for additional episodes.
Bookmark
So far this is good, they don’t make the preppers look like kooks but instead, very practical. I love the swimming pool set-up the first family has. I also like how they worked with their kids. Even if nothing happens, it can translate to practical knowledge that can help you thrive in even the best of times.
Great job. So should we guess who you are? Either way, so far every family/person highlighted was very practical, smart, and well thinking. I appreciate how they highlight the ingenious thinking of everyone.
I was worried they would make people look like kooks who were digging hobbit holes and ranting about Myan prophecies. Everyone here seemed pretty practical- techniques that can translate to any situation, even helping people thrive in the best of times.
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