Posted on 06/29/2010 2:53:52 PM PDT by Kartographer
If you are just getting started preparing your family survival kit, it probably seems like a huge, daunting task. You are not alone, and I was in the same boat just a few months ago. So I decided to get started and make my first purchase.
The difficult task for most people will be how to balance the cost of long term emergency supplies and food for your family, while still balancing the monthly budget. The only advice I can give is the way things are going, money doesn’t appear to be worth anything in the future. And in fact at some point, food may be worth much more than any money you have in your pocket. I am not suggesting to act foolishly, but when it comes to protecting your family, it is something to consider.
In my view, the following are emergency essentials that you should plan for with your family emergency survival kit:
(Excerpt) Read more at bestsellers-emergency-preparedness.blogrica.com ...
I went to your site and had all kinds of “things” being loaded on to my PC. I backed out with difficulty & took my PC out back & pressure washed it:)
MREs and freeze dried meals are a great layer for your food storage in case you don’t have any electricity or need to evacuate. Also, they’re easy to prepare in case mom and/or dad are incapacitated, away from home, or dead. The bulk of your storage, though, should be INGREDIENTS: wheat, spices, salt, sugar, honey, dehydrated and canned veggies, etc. When you focus on ingredients, you can make hundreds of different recipes. Rice, beans, all the grains are included in that category.
I write quite a bit about food storage on my blog, thesurvivalmom.com and can answer questions you might have.
That’s why I only use the stuff to make soap:)
It’s the lye that is getting harder to find.
Anyone who wants to take advantage of a FREEPER only coupon for the TheReadyStore...here it is:
The promotional code for us is:
FR61410
You enter it during checkout to get your additional discount of 10% of your purchase.
They have decent pre-packed solutions for all emergency situations.
I myself have purchased a lot of things from these guys and happy with all.
good tip
You can buy Red Devil lye in the plumbing section of just about any supermarket.
That is, unless they are clamping down on that too.
I do have a source for lye. I have been getting a little extra in case they stop carrying it. However, our supermarkets no longer carry it. I should check the local hardware store to see if they have pulled it also. They stopped carrying powder TSP also.
If I have to, I know how to make lye, but sheesh, making all the basics is a lot of work for something cheap.
Also, no more phosphate dish cleaner in Oregon starting tommorow.
A few other basic home chemicals are getting harder to get.
A lot of the expensive cleaners can be made from these inexpensive basics.
Well, I never had trouble getting it here in Washington. But I have about 3 lbs under my sink so I admit I haven’t checked for a while.
Most of the major chains of hardware stores have stopped carrying lye products. However, if you have a small mom and pop, they may still carry it, or will order it for you. Just say you are using it for soap making.
Apparently too many people used lye in their drains and then peeked down to see if it was working, and burned themselves.
The gout is secondary to essential hypertension medications.
I have made wheat gluten. It is about a 20 minute job for enough for one dish. Flavoring it is the challenge, IMO. It not only is tasteless, it is difficult to flavor adequately. I am unsure how they do it commercially.
Gout patients can eat animal protein, they just need to keep the purine level down by avoiding the dark meat of fowl, seafood, game and legumes. We compromise by making sure the 2 days before and after such a meal are purine free,adding quantities of foods rich in anthocyanines (basically any red or yellow fruit/veg) upping his gout meds and keeping the water flowing through. He will also eat more of the side dishes than the main dish. I have stockpiled a lot of rice, pasta, dried corn, canned cheese & butter (from New Zealand), sugar, dried milk,oatmeal, dried potatoes and flour and have been growing lettuce and tomatoes hydroponically in the winter while drying and making sauce from my summer garden tomatoes for years. I don’t grow onions and cabbage at the moment, but I have and could. You can keep lard almost indefinitely if it is kept cool and a large size of cooking oil will last us almost a year, as I don’t fry things that often,
While it makes the survival diet a challenge, it is possible.
People with a wheat allergy will have a tougher time, IMO and those on medications that demand refrigeration will need a generator and fuel, at least until things stabilize.
I am more worried about money if they devalue the currency and there is no tax relief while energy prices soar. We heat with wood, but propane is essential for hot water. We are too far North for solar to work in winter under heavy snow and our wet cellar would flood w/o a sump pump in heavy rains, The waste heat from the propane water heater keeps our pipes from freezing while we need supplemental electric heat down there when it is less than -18F. We have considered one of those small wood stoves for tents in a worse case scenario, but running a stove pipe up along the side of the house is also dangerous. We have access to water, could store rain water and are considering a hand pump, as we have a high water table. There is just so much any of us can do, IMO. Better to get rid of these politicians and go back to a productive economy.
I have read predictions from many sources that food and fuel will be available, but priced out of reach for most of us. Everyone can only store so much and it will run out, eventually, if things don’t return to sanity.
Paradoxically, our businesses have seen a 25% increase over the lows during the past 3 months. Some days, I doubt the severe Depression will happen.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
BTTT
I have one of those arctic tent stoves. If you are worried about the stove pipe alongside the house you can A: brace the pipe away from the house B: Strip of sheet metal off set from the siding C: Double wall pipe.
Although I have an emergency wood stove, I am thinking about installing a full time wood furnace. The envirocommunist of Oregon are trying to close a coal plant which will dramatically increase our electric rates. The envirocommunists have also got a scam going where people putting solar panals up will force the electric company to pay them 6x the going rate for electricity.
Thanx. Those are all good ideas. They are neat looking little stoves.
I know several people with wood furnaces. If allowed, IMO, the outside ones are best. I know of one case where a wood furnace caused the wood flooring in the room above to shrink and warp.
A lot of jurisdictions won’t allow the outside furnaces, with some good reasons, especially in urban areas. I see a lot of them within a few miles of my home out here in the country and they do put out a lot of smoke.
We have no central heating. The core of the house is 100 years old and the additions are 16-22 years old, but well-insulated. The wood stove is in the old core. We have 2 propane wall furnaces for the coldest time of the year (can get to -35 here) and the propane piping is installed in 2 of the additions. However, we have decided not to install the wall furnaces in the additions because of cost.
We close off one area in the winter and we use limited-time electric heat in the other. The upstairs is heated by convection from the wood stove, with one room closed off in the winter. We have a very efficient wall a/c upstairs for summer and when it is needed we again close off one room, which is primarily storage with some ancillary business use.
The upstairs of our shop is all propane. It is an old barn with loft ceilings upstairs. We have a wood stove up there, but the stove pipe is so tall and the cold will draw the flames up so fast, it is plain scary. Since it is a shop area, we installed a propane furnace there that is so efficient, it is really cheaper than wood. Ugly, but efficient. The downstairs of the shop is heated by wood because the cost of insulating it for a furnace and installing duct work became prohibitive.
In addition, we wear heavy-to-middleweight baselayers, flannel-lined jeans and sheepskin house shoes with outdoor soles in winter. My husband loves his expedition weight baselayers for snow throwing. Right now is the time to shop online for these items, as they are always marked down in summer.
Try dehydrating those canned peach slices. YUMMM!
“they do put out a lot of smoke”
We have those here too. The smoke is from alder and they are full of salmon. We call em smoke houses:)
Sounds yummy!
>Wish I had a better answer.......... <
A few chickens can subsist on bugs, grass and scraps and will lay eggs in the spring and summer months. Hens do not have to have a rooster to lay eggs, but a rooster will ensure chicks. Likewise if you have a little land, a goat or 2 will provide a quart of milk a day and that provides cheese, yogurt or butter.
We got chickens this spring and they are pretty interesting pets. They also can provide hatching eggs and chicks for barter.
Thanks for the ping!!
Thanks for the ping!!
*ping*
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.