Oklahomans from all walks of life prepare for emergencies

The Oklahoman ^ | 3/31/12 | MATT DINGER

[Kartographer]

As a New Orleans police officer in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Kevin Diel learned how quickly a disastrous event can bring a city to its knees and bring out the worst part of human nature.

“Within about a week of it hitting, it completely changed my mind. This was a whole new world, and there was nobody to help,” Diel said.

He used his wits, the few supplies he had on hand and what he could scavenge to survive the ordeal until order was restored.

Diel, now a private corporate security officer, considers himself a member of a community that focuses on emergency preparedness, or “preppers” as they call themselves.

[Kartographer]

I especially like this quote:

“You don't necessarily need to be preparing for the end of the world, but just what you'd consider a personal emergency,” he said.

He's so right! You can do the right thing and provide for yourself and your family or you can stand on a bridge and wait for FEMA to come along with a bottle of water, a MRE and a warm blanket.

[Kartographer]

Please consider this to be our weekly Preppers Thread. Please post your buys, discoveries and projects you like to share.

As for me the Smith’s Grocery Change is having a case lot sale, so I am stocking up on sugar, canned beans and god old Spam!

[Kartographer]

I meant Smith grocery CHAIN, not Change!

[Secret Agent Man]

Exactly. You have to know what kind of “emergency” you want to be prepared for. For some, that’s two weeks. For some it’s a few days. For some, a couple months. For others, half a year, or year, or several years. But it has to make sense to you and what you consider what you are considering and even whether you’re staying where you are, or going somewhere else, or staying a little while then leaving, etc. And also what makes sense to prepare for given your current housing and financial situation.

[JRandomFreeper]

Supper tonight was about a pound of pork shoulder, smoked outside, and then slow cooked in coffee, roasted comino and chili powder, tomato juice and not-so-good (oops) old homebrew. Refried pinto beans (homemade), rice with jalapenos canned last year, green onions from this year, and cilantro out of the herb garden. And homemade corn tortillas cooked on the comal.

Beans, rice, can of tomatoes, old coffee, old beer, and a few things out of the garden along with packaged Masa Harina de Maize. Cheap meal.

The ingredients are simple but the skillsets to turn that into a primo Tex-Mex meal take practice.

Cook what you store. Store what you cook.

/johnny

[The Duke]

Our prepper group here in Tampa is starting to get into group-buys for a wide range of things. Tomorrow I’m going out shopping at a new wholesale outlet for bulk peanut butter.

[blam]

You’re probably gonna get some free gas out of that meal too.

[JRandomFreeper]

The catz have already vacated my office. ;)

Actually, I pre-soak the beans to begin breaking up the tri-saccharides that produce the gas. Training is as important as gear and product.

/johnny

[Terry Mross]

A guy sent me an email today about something I’ve never thought of. Those solar powered landscape lights are cheap and stay on all night. The light isn’t very bright but it would beat candles in the house. Bring ‘em at night then take ‘em back out the next day to be recharged.

[kalee]

Placemarker

[JRandomFreeper]

On that note, pay attention to the way you point them if they have a separate panel. They should generally point south, here in the US, unless you have trees blocking the sunlight.

I recently helped a geriatric neighbor with her lights. She had all the panels pointing North. ;)

/johnny

[saintgermaine]

Stay away from sugar as it is bad for your health. Spam, beans, rice, flour ok.

[saintgermaine]

Stay away from sugar as it is bad for your health. Spam, beans, rice, flour ok.

[KoRn]

Please add me to your list. Thanks!

[Kartographer]

Obviously you don’t know a thing about southern boys and their sweet tea!

[wastoute]

We are preparing for a “new reality”. There won’t BE an end. What is coming won’t last a few weeks or months.

[Freddd]

We don’t have case lot sales in my area. The stores here know they can pretty much get whatever price they set.

I have noticed the cost of food out West is much cheaper than it is here. Well at least fruits and vegetables.
I check out what Aldi’s advertises everyweek, online. When you first check it out, it is on default of Texas. You can look at that ad, then compared against the area where I am, the price difference is huge.

But I mostly grow my own. (Except citrus). That helps tremendously.

[georgiagirl_pam]

We are putting together a bulk food co-op but this is only for people within driving distance of North Georgia. We order from Walton Feed. The prices will be discounted some with a large order but where we really realize our savings is on the shipping. We must get together a LARGE order, $20,000 or 20,000 pounds. It is all shipped by large truck to one location, unloaded, distributed and picked up on the same day (hence the need for anyone ordering to be in close proximity). If you are interested in joining, please message me privately. We hope to get this together in the next 4 weeks.
Pam

[blam]

"We are preparing for a “new reality”. There won’t BE an end. What is coming won’t last a few weeks or months."

That's my fear, slow, grinding and brutal, years.

[blam]

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