It’s the Little Things That Matter (Shortened Title)

SHTF Plan ^ | 12/29/12 | Norse Prepper

[Kartographer]

It’s the Little Things That Matter: 100 Survival Items To Help Keep A Sense of Normality and Sanity After the Collapse

Bullets…check. Beans…check. Band Aids…check. The list goes on and on sometimes doesn’t it? As preppers, we all are stockpiling the items and supplies that we plan on needing if and when it hits the fans. We all need to make sure we can eat, drink, protect ourselves from the elements and defend what needs to be defended. However, today I found myself thinking of things that weren’t on my “Need in order to survive” list. Little things that we all take for granted today, but someday, we may look back and think how simple it would have been to pick up a couple of those items when they are no longer on a store shelf near you.

[Ellendra]

Have you bought any recently? I had a flashback to when pepper was oz per oz with gold. 1/10th of a month food budget, for black peppercorns.

And that is why, even though I'm mildly allergic to peppers, I invested in paprika and pimento seeds last year. I can grow my own barter items :)

[JRandomFreeper]

Trousers. Those things that sometimes get left on rooftops a house or two away, or in the floor, when the neighbor calls about a fire in her kitchen.

/johnny

[JRandomFreeper]

I've got a strain of jalapenos that I've bred for over 5 years, refining every year. They are good.

NOTHING replaces black peppercorns except black peppercorns. Sure, I'll slather home-smoked chipotle pepper sauce on my eggs in the morning. But if it don't have a twist of fresh ground peppercorns... it ain't breakfast.

/johnny

[Ellendra]

Going by what I’ve read in the how-to articles, and from memory at that. Thanks for the correction.

Maybe it’s the particular breed that lays eggs that size. At any rate, here’s one of the articles my info came from: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/easterly101.html

[JRandomFreeper]

I've used quail eggs (raw) on top of sashimi. They are tiny little things, and it would take a dozen to make the same mass of eggs I eat every morning (except Sunday, which is tinned smoked herring, beer, and stewed tomatoes).

That's just my practical, real-world experience.

/johnny

[Stegall Tx]

I see “ Small cooler that can be plugged in to solar power.” I don’t know about this and wonder if any of you have this?

If you live in an arid area, you can take an unglazed clay pot, fill any holes in the surface (like the drainage hole in the bottom), and invert it over the things you need to keep cool. I use the water catcher base from a much, much larger pot as the base and the lip of the inverted pot fits INSIDE of the base. If you keep the outer surface moist, evaporation will bring the internal temperature down somewhat. The base will catch any water that spills off the sides as you are soaking the pot and form a seal to keep the cold(ish) air in and the hot air out.

I've used this method out at the farm to keep some stuff cool. I wouldn't actually call it "refrigeration", but it does keep the contents somewhat cooler.

Every time you lift the pot, the accumulated cold air spills out, so you can't open it very often. Once or twice per day is about right.

I've had a 12 v cooler and it was much, much more efficient than the clay pot. But it only lasted a few trips. The pot is probably 10 years old or more and still works fine.

[Marcella]

Thanks. I’m going to try this even though I’m not in an arid area.

[Marcella]

“Pants? Do you mean little girl under garments, or trousers?”

You will have to ask Johnny because I use his word and he uses “pants”. His definition of “pants” may have no relation to a dictionary definition. He says pants cover “fiddly bits” and that’s his definition, too - you decide what “fiddly bits” means or ask him.

[JRandomFreeper]

Ubi sub ubi is for bloomers. Trousers are pants. Blouse is something a soldier wears over his shirt.

I generally use the accepted (possibly archaic) terms for most things.

Fiddly bits are... fiddly bits.

Not much talked about in the kind of books I read.

/johnny

[DukeBillie]

In the early 70s, King Feisal built a state-of-the-art hospital in Riyadh. He hired the best doctors from around the world to staff it. My father-in-law was one. The foreign medical staff all lived in special quarters separate from the general population. One British doctor went home for a visit and brought back a pig. He walked off the plane with it on a leash. This was before the internet. The officials asked him what it was to which the doctor replied, “That my good man, is an English bulldog.” Having never seen one before, the official let it pass. Shortly thereafter, the doctors had a great BBQ.

[JRandomFreeper]

I just sorta implied that an invitation to the BBQ was contengient on the 'dog' making it to 100 lbs. ;)

But yeah, that's the general idea.

/johnny

[Vermont Lt]

And I am not going ask for the definition of fiddly bits. It sounds like something that has been through a food processor. Ouch.

[richardtavor]

We have all of that. But get a book on natural medicines. Shelf drugs have a life.