Preppers’ PING!!!
Hat tip to LadyBuck for the heads up!
bump
it takes so much less room to stock up on food stamps though.
BS. Two liter soda bottles last just about forever.
It does not go bad even when stored for a long time. I just found a jar I bought and opened over ten years ago. It got lost in one of the moves. Still good. And works for more things then cooking.
If you are starting from scratch, remember that you are essentially pushing out the day you die. I know that is harsh but the further out you push that date, the better prepared you will be.
Without air, you die in minutes
Without first aid, you die in an hour
Without shelter, you can die overnight
Without water, you die in 3 to 7 days
Without food, you die in a couple of weeks
Without sanitation, you die in a month or two
Extras include electrical production and fuel production along with other trade items and skills (soap making, candle making, woodworking, etc)
So, I would advise a first few simple purchases:
Masks - start with basic flu cover masks, later upgrade to actual gas masks (about $250 to $300 per) with extra filters.
First aid kit and know how to use it and a supply of gloves and masks, bandages, tampons (the kind you can shove into bullet holes), medications, and a good first aid book. Hydrogen peroxide tends to go bad over time so I like iodine and bleach for sterilization.
A supply of water that can be obtained without power. This will likely mean you will need to filter and purify on your own. A small personal hand water pump filter types might be enough if you have one per person plus some extra filters but I prefer to also have larger, higher volume gravity fed filters. Large clear glass gallon jugs can be used to take the filtered water into the sun for 8 hrs to kill of most of the critters in the water.
Guns and ammo and the skill and will to use them to defend yourself. At a minimum, a handgun, a shotgun and a rifle. Preferably one of each per adult. Reloading supplies with the correct dies and bullet casting extends this even further. Minimum 100 rounds each weapon that is your stock (different from training ammo) but 500 per is better.
Shelter that is able to sustain you against first the cold, then the elements, then the sun, and finally, the externals that WILL attack. Remember that stick built homes offer ZERO bullet protection. Concrete, brick, sandbags, etc are needed to provide a barrier.
A transit food supply (prepped food) and a long term food production (garden, greenhouse, etc)
After that, you can start to work on the extras:
Power production (off grid solutions)
Fuel production (ethanol or bio-diesel)
Supplies for trading items (soap, lanterns, ammunition, gold and sliver, lighters, propane, etc)
Supplies for trading skills (first aid items, wood working, welding, etc - what ever skills you have)
Pfl
Thank you for this post and others you have done over time. Great information on suppliers, resources, methods and new considerations from every one of them.
bkmk
There are more than a few FReepers who like to point out how silly they see preparing for a ‘Mad Max’ situation is, but what if it isn’t ‘Mad Max’? What if it is something as simple as being able to shelter in place for 30-60 days while an outbreak runs its course? Could you make it through such a quarantine self imposed or mandatory with what you have in your home? If you haven’t thought about it maybe its time. Ask yourself how would I provide for my family if the power was out for a month?
It is your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo and maybe you can even get your picture as you stand there on the national news.
The world is dry tinder just awaiting the right spark.
So listen to what the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV Proverbs 22:3
Selco covers this in this article many times people just can not except that a breakdown is occurring even as they watch it happening before their eyes. Why don’t they realize it? It’s caused by a condition called ‘Normalcy Bias’ a mental state people enter when facing a disaster.
It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.
A good article on ‘Normalcy Bias’ is on our own ChocChipCookies Blog The Survival Mom:
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/
You either prepare and stand on your own beholden to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become their ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.
Just getting started or an old hand you might find my Preparedness Manual helpful. You can download the manual at:
http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!
For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, cash (I myself have been putting up change for the past few years both for the metal content and the fact that using change places to make what purchases you can will move you down the the list of possible marks during shtf), tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.
As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”
Again I like to recomend FReeper’s ChocoChipCookie Blog The Survival Mom (Please Blog Police let this one slide!) Where you can get lots of useful information like:
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/11/20/8-morale-boosters-for-any-worst-case-scenario/
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/02/02/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three/
And More
Also there is Ferfal’s Blog a survivor of Argentina’s first collapse:
And there is Selco’s Blog a Bosnian War survivor at:
“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”
Bump
Pretty good. I wish I had that much money to use, but alas, I have to just buy extra each month.
I would want way more sugar/honey/sweeteners - like about 60 lbs per person for 1 year.
More milk - 75 lbs powdered milk per person for 1 year.
I assume the salt is iodized for eating. I would want at least another 30 lbs of plain or kosher for canning and preserving.
I’d just mention that lard or shortening can be stored for long periods with out refrigeration especially if in cans. I much prefer oil, but I just stock what we can use for about a year or 18 months at most on the shelf, since I don’t have the freezer space.
For Grains, Rice, Beans, and flour, the LDS on line store would still be my favorite for these basics. About 30 bucks a case for one person for one month - called a starter kit. It has 6 number 10 cans. Free shipping when you order more than 2 cases.
Every family is different, and food choice is going to vary according to tastes, I think.
Very interesting article. Thanks for the ping.
POLAR PURE IS BACK
For anyone interested in a low cost way to treat questionable water to make it safe for drinking this is good news.
Polar Pure was forced off the market by the federal government several years ago because drug manufacturers were using the chemicals it contains to make drugs. The Polar Pure manufacturer has finally been able to institute controls that satisfy the government and has brought the product back on the market.
Polar Pure isn’t the long term answer to providing large quantities of safe drinking water for your family but it is perfect for the short term, bailing out, emergency carry bag, camping, storm and power emergencies, etc.
One $20.00 bottle of Polar Pure treats up to 2,000 quarts of water.
POLAR PURE INFO:
http://www.polarequipment.com/directions.htm
BUY POLAR PURE HERE:
HISTORY: WHY THE GOVERNMENT FORCED POLAR PURE OFF THE MARKET:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19385037
Ping for later.
Later
Now for $10K to fall into my lap. ;0) Seriously, though, thank you for posting articles like this all the time. The prep for my family is slowly coming together. I wish I could move it along faster but am grateful for what we have so far. So much to do and I feel like there’s so little time. I’m responsible for so many mouths to feed and it gets a bit overwhelming sometimes.
Reckon I have not put by enough tooth paste.
I have a quick question seeking recommendations. We’ve recently moved and I no longer have a gas stove although we’re hoping to switch it out eventually. If power goes out this winter, we’re now in a location that probably won’t be on a priority list for getting things running again. We do have two gas/wood burning fireplaces but other than hot dogs, I’m not sure that I could anything of value in there. We do have a gas grill with spare propane but there isn’t a burner attached.
What would be a good inexpensive option for warming up food should we be without power for long? I’m not looking for elaborate meal prep! I think I should just go buy a used gas stove to either connect to our gas line or for use with propane but thought I’d see if you all had any brilliant ideas! Thanks in advance.