National Preparedness Month - Are you prepared?

[Ronald_55]

September is National Preparedness Month. Whether you want to plan for a house fire, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, electrical grid failure, societal breakdown, or zombies, it is a good time to make or review your plans. 

Ready.gov has some good info

https://www.ready.gov/september

The CDC has a page

https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/areyouprepared/plan.htm

The Red Cross has a page

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies.html

 

Or if you so desire you can visit my site where I cover a wide range of disaster readiness info based on my disaster level methodology. I am celebrating one year of running the site this month. (Shameless, but totally transparent plug)

http://leveledsurvival.com

Wherever you decide to look, make a plan for possible emergencies. When they happen it is too little to late to make it up as you go. 

-Ronald

[owejia]

Almost, just need to powder coat the 6,000 cast bullets already cast and size the 4000 already powder coated. Reload a few more rounds. Which color boolit kills zombies?

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, owejia said:

Almost, just need to powder coat the 6,000 cast bullets already cast and size the 4000 already powder coated. Reload a few more rounds. Which color boolit kills zombies?

Contrary to popular belief that bright green works, Tyrol Blue (a 1967 Pontiac color)  with red metal flake overlay seems to be most effective. They can't be fired semi or full auto though (it ruins the paint job). Preferably they should be shot out of a Savage Model 1903 slide action rifle for best effect. Few know this rifle was designed to quell the first zombie uprising that has since been redacted from history by the government.  

Always remember though, it is hard to eat bullets past the 1st one....

[owejia]

Going to need a lot of bullets loaded into cartridges to keep what we already have. Too old to worry about surviving too long if shtf anyway. Have spring water, wood to cook and heat, steak on the hooves , what else do you need.  Take no medications, figure if can survive for 6 months will meet up with like minded survivors.

[Ronald_55]

8 minutes ago, owejia said:

Going to need a lot of bullets loaded into cartridges to keep what we already have. Too old to worry about surviving too long if shtf anyway. Have spring water, wood to cook and heat, steak on the hooves , what else do you need.  Take no medications, figure if can survive for 6 months will meet up with like minded survivors.

If all goes to $hlt, you are correct. Some people will pretty quick decide that the world is their playground. All the sickos and violent minded will not be held back by threat of government punishment. 

On top of the worse case though you have to look at more temporary issues. I know tons of people that would have trouble if a bad snow storm stranded them without power in their house for a week. They do not have flashlights, extra food, alternate heat source, or even extra blankets.

[RED333]

7 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

I know tons of people that would have trouble if a bad snow storm stranded them without power in their house for a week. They do not have flashlights, extra food, alternate heat source, or even extra blankets.

i know a few myself, sad.

[bud]

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Edited October 8, 2018 by bud

[Ronald_55]

2 minutes ago, bud said:

@Ronald_55 , anyone you know make a pre-packed legit bug out bag/ 72 hour bag/ I.n.c.h. Bag with contents as described on your site?

I'd like to be able to purchase one pre-assembled with quality gear, without having to do all the research and procurement. 

Heck, even just a comprehensive List, of essential items that are of good quality with links to purchase them, would be very helpful.

 

@bud

I have been working on an Amazon list of this sort and I know a few possibilities. It really depends on your intended use. Why don't you PM me some info on how you want to use it and we can talk about some options. I would rather not have anyone post detailed planning publicly.

Thanks

[Grayfox54]

I learned quite a few lessons back in 2003 when "Hurricane Elvis" hit. I was one of the lucky ones and my power was only out for about 5 days. I had the gear and basically just set up camp inside the house.  It was awkward for a while, but I got through it fairly comfortably with just what I already had on hand. 

What surprised me was that most of my neighbors didn't have so much as a old fashioned mechanical can opener and had no choice but to bug out to wherever thy could find someone with power to take them in. Some even ended up staying in expensive hotels well outside the damage zone and eating out for every meal. That cost them a bunch of money. 

Further, at that time I was still a city employee and we were running on the disaster plan 12-16 hours a day trying to deal with the mess. 

I vowed right then that I'd never get caught off guard again.  

 

[enfield]

16 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

If all goes to $hlt, you are correct. Some people will pretty quick decide that the world is their playground. All the sickos and violent minded will not be held back by threat of government punishment. 

On top of the worse case though you have to look at more temporary issues. I know tons of people that would have trouble if a bad snow storm stranded them without power in their house for a week. They do not have flashlights, extra food, alternate heat source, or even extra blankets.

Ain't that the truth!  And, after getting caught unprepared during an event, they'll be just as unprepared for the next event.  No, I don't loan generators.

[Ronald_55]

6 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I learned quite a few lessons back in 2003 when "Hurricane Elvis" hit. I was one of the lucky ones and my power was only out for about 5 days. I had the gear and basically just set up camp inside the house.  It was awkward for a while, but I got through it fairly comfortably with just what I already had on hand. 

What surprised me was that most of my neighbors didn't have so much as a old fashioned mechanical can opener and had no choice but to bug out to wherever thy could find someone with power to take them in. Some even ended up staying in expensive hotels well outside the damage zone and eating out for every meal. That cost them a bunch of money. 

Further, at that time I was still a city employee and we were running on the disaster plan 12-16 hours a day trying to deal with the mess. 

I vowed right then that I'd never get caught off guard again.  

 

Growing up we had a huge snowstorm that knocked out power for a bunch of days and stranded us at home. My parent's thought about stuff like that so we just stoked the woodstove up higher and cooked off the top of it. We all camped on the living room floor in front of the fireplace. We packed all the food from the fridge and freezer in coolers and buried them outside in the snow. I guess that might be part of what taught me that I wanted to be ready for most anything that came along. 

I have propane logs that can heat about the entire house with a tank that would last months. I keep a closet full of quilts on top of that. My 2 burner Coleman stove is at the ready to give us hot food, warm water, and clean drinking water. I always keep a manual can opener and a cupboard full of canned goods.  Most could be eaten straight from the can if I needed to conserve stove fuel. I have a large box of candles and holders tucked away right next to my extra flashlights and batteries. I purposely picked a house in a flood free area and we are not prone to hurricanes or tornadoes here. 

I do have things I would like to do still, but i have the basics covered for a lot of scenarios. 

[owejia]

The best mechanical can opener I've ever had is a p-38. Have one on my key chain ever since home from Nam. How many weeks, months food supply do you keep in your cupboard?  Do you store dry food also or just canned?

[Shorty]

Amount of food would depend on which scenario you are planning for, how many people and available resources .  A 4-6 weeks supply of dry and canned goods should be a decent start to get you through general issues.  Just remember the more dry goods you store, don't forget to increase water supply to be able to cook it and clean.

[Ronald_55]

2 hours ago, owejia said:

The best mechanical can opener I've ever had is a p-38. Have one on my key chain ever since home from Nam. How many weeks, months food supply do you keep in your cupboard?  Do you store dry food also or just canned?

I have several of those p-38s around in my kits.

I store a mix of ready to eat canned (home and store) food, dry food (pasta, beans, etc. ), S.O.S bars, and freeze dried stuff like Mountain House makes. Taking it all into account I try to have roughly 60 days at the moment. I am adding dry goods as I have space and funds. They require much less rotation if stored properly. Water is a big deal and I keep looking for better solutions to store it. 

The Mountain House stuff is not cheap, but is reserved for my "get out of Dodge" on foot supplies. The S.O.S. bars  ( http://amzn.to/2omzxQj) are stocked in my car bags since they require no prep, have a long life, and can stand up to the heat. 

[Ronald_55]

1 minute ago, Shorty said:

Amount of food would depend on which scenario you are planning for, how many people and available resources .  A 4-6 weeks supply of dry and canned goods should be a decent start to get you through general issues.  Just remember the more dry goods you store, don't forget to increase water supply to be able to cook it and clean.

You beat me to it. And you are so right about prep water. It takes more than you think to boil beans or pasta. 

If you have access to a natural water source be sure to put back water purification chemical or bleach. Having to boil all the water is very labor intensive. 

[Shorty]

Of course all the food in the world won't do you any good if you don't kow how to cook it.  Sad, but some people couldn't boil water.  Know how to use your preps.

[Ronald_55]

45 minutes ago, Shorty said:

Of course all the food in the world won't do you any good if you don't kow how to cook it.  Sad, but some people couldn't boil water.  Know how to use your preps.

You mean Pizza Hut will not deliver in SHTF??? Lol

[enfield]

I got tired of putting up with multi-day blackouts and had a 17KW, natural gas automatic standby generator installed last spring.

[Jamie Jackson]

On 9/7/2018 at 4:43 PM, owejia said:

The best mechanical can opener I've ever had is a p-38. Have one on my key chain ever since home from Nam. 

I keep my "John Wayne" on my primary keychain. It's from a box of C Rats from around '74. Awesome tool! 

We use a Swing-a-way can opener and have for close to 30 years. We don't even own an electric can opener. I'm unsure of current production quality, but ours is built like a tank and extremely easy to use.

I can't recommend a Berkey water filter system enough. We have the "Big Berkey" and it's been in daily use approaching 10 years now.

We certainly keep alternate water purification options available and have a sand filter bucket device to filter out gross water contaminants. It's simply sand in two 5 gallon buckets.

Rain barrels give ready water for washing and toilet flushing.

@Shorty nailed it! Gotta practice with what you have. You'll have enough stress in your life if/when the time comes without having to learn a new skill.

 

Swing-a-way: https://www.amazon.com/Swing-Way-107BK-Compact-Opener/dp/B07FT38MCJ/ref=asc_df_B07FT38MCJ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241956196713&hvpos=1o6&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10548642088821312661&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013463&hvtargid=pla-544861391647&psc=1

Berkey link: http://www.directive21.com/products/big-berkey-water-filters/

[Ronald_55]

3 minutes ago, enfield said:

I got tired of putting up with multi-day blackouts and had a 17KW, natural gas automatic standby generator installed last spring.

I hope to get to something like that soon. I know I can live without electricity though. So I am conpleting those plans first. 

[owejia]

Just curious do you keep water purifications tablets to put in your drinking water, or do you just depend on filtration system?

[Jamie Jackson]

17 hours ago, owejia said:

Just curious do you keep water purifications tablets to put in your drinking water, or do you just depend on filtration system?

If you are asking me owejia, we keep unscented liquid bleach, dry bleach tablets to reconstitute to liquid bleach, and iodine tablets on hand.

I would only use these with a questionable water source and/or after running funky looking water through a sand filter first.

I also have 2 rain barrels (50 gallons) and a 50 gallon water barrel in the garage and treat or replace that water annually. I also keep a few 5 gallon water containers in the basement pantry. Katrina taught me you can never have enough safe drinking water on hand...

I've had iodized water before and don't particularly care for the taste...but what the heck if you need it.

I've also had too much chlorinated water via Water Buffalo's as a Corpsman back in the day. Those boys never could get the ratio right! 

I'we keep Life Straws in our GHB (Get Home Bags) and well as a Berkey Sport Bottle with the black filter.

https://shop.lifestraw.com/collections/frontpage/products/lifestraw

https://www.amazon.com/Berkey-GSPRT-22-Ounce-Purification-Bottle/dp/B00BWIWX9K

You can usually find the Life Straw and Berkey Sport cheaper as they tend to have specials and sales periodically.

[Handsome Rob]

How did I miss this? 

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[Ronald_55]

@robtattoo

I don't know, I have been talking it up for a year. Lol

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by Ronald_55