Preppers

Prepping Reality Check

What will go first in a SHTF scenario?

I totally agree with all of you about the importance of storing food, water, medical supplies, knives, weapons, and ammo. What I see as a discrepancy is that some are forgetting about the ‘looting masses”. The idea of “trade” or barter resembling near what everyone thinks will happen, wont exist for a long time. The looters will not have a lack of guns, ammo, knives, or food for at least 3 to 6 months and when that runs out, they will be stealing from every store that sells guns and ammo. Granted, the food will probably run out first because they are either too lazy or they aren’t smart enough to plant gardens or can their food if they do. The ones who weren’t prepared will be looting or killing for food and water.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition: The Original Manual of Living Off the Land & Doing It Yourself

Medicine will run out after the pharmacies are looted dry. Drugs will be a hot commodity. Beer and liquor will last only as long as the looters allow. Paper money will be good for starting a fire. Rather than being in short supply, I believe that clothing will last a very long time just because the “looters” will be going from home to home and taking what they want and there are so many clothing stores. If they run out of bullets, they might try to trade for it. Silver and gold might hold some value but we have to remember that any place that sells or trades precious metals will be on their list to knock off. Wedding rings, diamonds, ear rings, gold teeth, or necklaces will be stolen from the less fortunate.

Gas will only last for a very limited time, even with the proper additives and stored properly. Diesel will last longer and there are many homes that have “fuel oil” heat that can be used in diesel vehicles. I’m not sure what the life expectancy of propane is. That will run out also.

Everything will run out eventually

Do I sound like the “grim reaper”? Sorry. Just trying to keep it real. If you’re going to prepare, Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Preparing like you are going on a camping trip and being caught in a real major TEOTWAWKI catastrophe is going to leave you a statistic. You won’t be any better off than those who didn’t prepare. In my opinion trying to survive alone is the worst case scenario and is not an option. The “looters” won’t come around knocking at your door and asking if you can help them and they won’t be alone.

If you want my opinion, get as much ammo as possible and learn to reload. Start growing your own food, collect water from natural sources and learn skills now that can help you protect your home or bug out location. You also need to get as many like-minded people with skills to join you. The only people to consider are those that you can trust and know will have your back no matter what.

It’s always a good idea to have the 5 basic weapons. There is another posting on here for that. Having the ammo and the skills to use those firearms are just as important as having them in the first place. I would like to add 1 more, the air rifle. To be exact, you should consider an Adult Air Rifle. Don’t discount its possibilities. It can save your life in more than one way.

Nothing brings a person to his or her knees like a dental emergency – be it an infection, a lost filling, or fractured tooth.

Having extra seeds to plant your garden (or trade) is or can be a life saver. Buying the right seeds are just as important. Heirloom seeds are seeds that are taken from mature vegetables. They will grow the same plants and give you the same vegetables year after year. You can also use those same seeds to trade or plant new stock.

Fishing and hunting skills are necessary by someone in your group and could prove not only to save you, your family, and group, but to barter with if you have a “good day” and can’t preserve it. You don’t need expensive fishing poles and reels. You don’t need a lot of lures. You will need hooks, sinkers, and bobbers. Remember, you’re not trying to win a fishing tournament; you’re trying to supply food. Small fish taste just as good as or better than big ones. Nets, fish traps, trout lines, hand lines and a stick with a string, hook, and worm will catch you a meal.

Rain catchment barrels are a must. They can give you many gallons of water even in a small rain fall. The water still needs to be purified but a simple boil can make it ready for drinking. I would strongly suggest getting food grade barrels and converting them to your gutters. There are many YouTube videos on how to do this. Very easy and very cheap.

The final piece of equipment I would strongly recommend is an M-67 Immersion heater. They can heat your water for showers, heating food, and cleaning dishes and they are not expensive. (under $200) You will need a metal trash can (35 gallon or larger) and PLEASE, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. It runs off of gas, diesel, kerosene, or any flammable liquid.

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What will go first in a SHTF scenario? I totally agree with all of you about the importance of storing food, water, medical supplies, knives, weapons, and ammo. What I see

7 Prepper Food Storage Mistakes

1 – VARIETY

Most people don’t have enough variety in their storage. 95% of the people I’ve worked with only stored the 4 basic items we mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey, and salt. Statistics show most of us won’t survive on such a diet for several reasons.

Many people are allergic to wheat and may not be aware of it until they are eating it meal after meal.
Wheat is too harsh for young children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as their main staple.
We get tired of eating the same foods over and over and many times prefer not to eat than to sample that particular food again. This is called appetite fatigue. Young children and older people are particularly susceptible to it. Store less wheat than is generally suggested and put the difference into a variety of other grains, particularly ones your family likes to eat. Also store a variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor. Variety is the key to a successful storage program. It is essential that you store flavorings such as tomato, bouillon, cheese, and onion.

Also, include a good supply of the spices you like to cook with. These flavorings and spices allow you to do many creative things with your grains and beans. Without them you are severely limited. One of the best suggestions I can give you is buy a good food storage cookbook. Go through it and see what your family would really eat. Notice the ingredients as you do it. This will help you more than anything else to know what items to store.

2- EXTENDED STAPLES

Few people get beyond storing the four basic items, but it is extremely important that you do so. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Store dehydrated and/or freeze-dried foods as well as home canned and store bought canned goods. Make sure you add cooking oil, shortening, baking powder, soda, yeast and powdered eggs. You can’t cook even the most basic recipes without these items. Because of limited space I won’t list all the items that should be included in a well-balanced storage program. They are all included in the The New Cookin’ With Home Storage cookbook, as well as information on how much to store, and where to purchase it.

3 – VITAMINS

Vitamins are important, especially if you have children, since children do not store body reserves of nutrients as adults do. A good quality multivitamin and vitamin C are the most vital. Others may be added as your budget permits.

4 – QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOODS

Quick and easy foods help you through times when you are psychologically or physically unable to prepare your basic storage items. No cook foods such as freeze-dried are wonderful since they require little preparation. MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), such as many preparedness outlets carry, canned goods, etc. are also very good. Psychological Foods are the goodies – Jello, pudding, candy, etc. – you should add to your storage.

These may sound frivolous, but through the years I’ve talked with many people who have lived entirely on their storage for extended periods of time. Nearly all of them say these were the most helpful items in their storage to normalize their situations and make it more bearable. These are especially important if you have children.

Store a variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor.

5 – BALANCE

Time and time again I’ve seen families buy all of their wheat, then buy all of another item, and so on. Don’t do that. It’s important to keep well-balanced as you build your storage. Buy several items, rather than a large quantity of one item. If something happens and you have to live on your present storage, you”ll fare much better having a one-month supply of a variety of items than a year’s supply of two to three items.

6 – CONTAINERS

Always store your bulk foods in food storage containers. I have seen literally tons and tons of food thrown away because they were left in sacks, where they became highly susceptible to moisture, insects and rodents. If you are using plastic buckets make sure they are lined with a food grade plastic liner available from companies that carry packaging supplies. Never use trash can liners as these are treated with pesticides. Don’t stack them too high. In an earthquake they may topple, the lids pop open, or they may crack. A better container is the #10 tin can which most preparedness companies use when they package their foods.

7 – USE YOUR STORAGE

In all the years I’ve worked with preparedness one of the biggest problems I’ve seen is people storing food and not knowing what to do with it. It’s vital that you and your family become familiar with the things you are storing. You need to know how to prepare these foods. This is not something you want to learn under stress. Your family needs to be used to eating these foods. A stressful period is not a good time to totally change your diet. Get a food storage cookbook and learn to use these foods!

It’s easy to solve these food storage problems once you know what they are. The lady I talked about at the first of the article left realizing what she had stored was a good beginning, but not enough. As she said, “It’s better to find out the mistakes I’ve made now while there’s still time to make corrections.” This makes a lot more sense.

If you’re one who needs to make some adjustments, that’s okay. Look at these suggestions and add the things you’re missing. It’s easy to take a basic storage and add the essentials to make it livable, but it needs to be done. As I did the research for my cookbook I wanted to include recipes that gave help to families no matter what they had stored. As I put the material together it was fascinating to discover what the pioneers ate is the type of things we store. But if you have stored only the 4 basics, there’s very, very little you can do with it. By adding even just a few things it greatly increases your options, and the prospect of your family surviving on it. As I studied how the pioneers lived and ate, my whole feeling for food changed. I realized our storage is what most of the world has always lived on. If it’s put together the right way we’ll be returning to good basic living with a few goodies thrown in.

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1 – VARIETY Most people don’t have enough variety in their storage. 95% of the people I’ve worked with only stored the 4 basic items we mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey,

Survival Without Prepping

I continue to see articles that offer good advice about prepping, but survival is education, training, and skill. Barricading yourself in the home for defense or Bugging out! Yes, Fine. The more you have and can do works, but you and I have different meanings of the word. My transportation breaks down 40 miles from somewhere in snow/ice 20 degrees, and 30+ winds…. is a nice, but inconvenient adventure. I wish to tell a story, and make a “comedy media” about it. Not funny when you hear/see people die, but fantastic if you can learn for when you need it.

There are stories in Oregon, of instant storms, rain and wind for eons, beautiful country and hypothermia. Meaning rapid condition changes. Easy to prepare for if you know what to expect, but, lets talk about what you really mean by prepping. It’s too late for many who live in those countries where the violence and breakdowns are occurring now or that have destroyed once wealthy nations. Earthquakes, the Tidal Wave, economic collapse, War, and societal breakdown. For the purge, or martial law, I’m armed ready, trained… and not going to be sitting here. Now for the coming zombie apocalypse, there is always the better ground. They call mine, the cascade mountain range, from Alaska to Mexico. what do you call yours? If I’m away from Portland, and in a 100 mile move, I can choose Mountain, Desert, Coastal, or the greatest ditch to ocean drainage system in which to live, prosper and hide in that ever existed – with perfect climate.

In my opinion. personally I hope most people go to the outskirts for their protection and care. They will not make it in cities, but the government will be there to Sign U UP, have a sandwich, sorry NO gear allowed, dress warmly. I don’t want to live in a city, now, or then. Being a Oregon country Man, I’m a little rough around the edges, had a couple bad habits, you probably know a similar story, Ex-USAF, pain pills, drinking. I seemed to have finally turned out OK. And no, I have no one to volunteer witness for me. But I digress.

So Its cold, snowy, I’m at a friends cabin, on Mt Hood, Anyone knowing Trillium Lake and Still Creek Campground should know what I am saying here. As usual, HWY 26 is right there, you can’t see it, but you can hear it. Chains, trucks until the winds shut down the highway. My friends cabin is less than 2 miles from a liquor store, beer store, food? Although there are 3 foot drifts on top of 2 foot snow pack.

Noticing we didn’t bring enough supplies to and it is already 7pm. The sun sets at 5. I decide to walk a trail cut through to the campground which will be easier. This time of year, the gates are closed and locked, you can not drive to government camp from here… kinda.. 5 miles back down the snowed in road, cut over, hit 26, and back up the mountain, sanded and police.. where you belong.

The Winter Survival Handbook: 157 Winter Tips and Tricks

I smoke to improve my health, most know what I mean by now. This night I have a partial pint in my pocket, a beer in my bare hand. I dress in open cell polyurethane foam, with a field jacket, stocking hat, and boots. I’m good for -10 and 50 mph winds except hiking through the snow will make you sweat. So I open my chest to the air. Feels great. It’s actually somewhere around 25 degrees Fahrenheit with 20-30 mph winds. And snowing. The year was 2009-2010 if you wish to look at the storms. 3500 feet above sea level. Portland is 50 miles at 85 feet sea level. I used to live 30 miles down there. 600 feet above seal level at the time.

So imagine my surprise to hear a commotion, some movement, and a light. Not many bears or lions and definitely not this Lyon, ever use flashlights at night, except sparingly. We all do use light properly, bears are just too smart to consider a “flash” light. The noise was caused by a group of people stranded.

So add to the confusion, these people are stuck. Their vehicle is still warm inside with motor off and radio and lights on. In these conditions, the car may stay warm for a couple of hours or so? As long as it starts. If it doesn’t, these people are in for some serious trouble. I think the driver said he had just under quarter tank. v-8 Ford car, nice. Should have left it in Portland and brought a truck.

I also came up here in a car and plan to leave the following afternoon. Now consider this from the side of the people in the car. You are semi lost with your car stuck, although not that bad. There are 2 men, 2 women, and you are angry, blaming, and maybe scared? I don’t know, and am not judging. You look out the front windshield, and a Bigfoot sized man, wearing a field jacket, open at the chest, drinking a beer walks up to you. He pulls out a pint, takes a slug, indicates sharing.

The guy inside rolls down the window and says, “what are you doing out here?” I reply, “Well, I was hoping to make the liquor store before they close”. The window goes up, and I feel, I should probably get moving. I’m out here in this environment because its my favorite thing. Had they acted sooner, those poor people would have suffered, at best getting their four Arses out and unsticking the car. But we know potheads, don’t matter, no need to listen to this guy. Be your own man. You aren’t going to listen? are You?

So a guy gets out the passenger door. That’s the right side front door, for you common law, private property folks that know, you don’t have a passenger vehicle. Title 18. When the liquor store is already closed, it’s illegal to take retail drink off premise, or outside in the winter. I could talk about title 31, legal tender and silver coins and walking back with a bottle but there is not much having to do with survival in that subject. I no longer drink alcohol much, but when a drunk is smarter than you, prepping may not come to mind.

So I tell him how far, and what they should be doing, to get out, if they stay where they are they will die, etc. He gets back in already freezing, while I actually have been semi stationary and ready to now button back up since having cooled down a bit. I am probably running a 100 degree body core. So to make the short story long, and the long story short. Against my advice the women want to go with me. Uh, no. A man wants to go with me to the store. If he is borrowing gear, he should be OK. My thoughts are with the 5 of us, lets dig, support, and push this vehicle out, and you all drive down this tree lined road, right here back home. Driver thinks he should go down the ridge. But with the Lake gate closed I ask how he is gonna climb back up in this snow? Once the car is free, point it the way home.

What did I do next?

What are you going to do, and how will you know? When you are a prepper you help people, in a survival situation those people you are trying to save might injure or kill you. Getting cold and hurt helping is always a bad idea. Sometimes you know not to. I hope we can all learn that safely? Not being seen, heard, tracked, is and will be necessary, while traveling, hiding, holed up, or even when it is time to attack. Warrior? He’s the teacher, dump him out naked in Alaska, in a week he’ll be sitting in Florida with a drink in his hand in your back yard. Observe and learn from this man, do not engage. (paraphrased from the sarge in Seagal’s on deadly ground) Green Beret Tactics.

Seriously now, I step back and short hop behind the tree,over a snow berm. erasing my tracks with a branch. (snow, wind, remember) and I walk to the village known as Government camp Oregon, 97028. Some time goes by, and I am in the bar, purchasing my goal and enjoying a nice drink, when in come the group from the stranded car. They look all brave and proud of their escape and are, like me having a drink, and talking about heading back home. As I depart, I understand that in front of me is a 2 mile walk in the storm. I am happy to go. In coming prepper days, there will be no time for fun and games. It wont be humorous anymore. But little will change for me the way I see it. I will have powerful trained friends, or I will be alone.

The other story was in Oregon, around the same time, I’m pretty sure. Of the Kims whom made some random mistakes. in the much safer coast range. Yet, with no drunk hillbilly to advise them what to do. The family survived without the Father, being rescued we are told. they were missing. The people in the Mt. Hood forest were not. yet. and they might have been OK. Maybe I should mind my own business?

Maybe I should not write a stupid article containing, alcohol use or smoking the evil marijuana? Fine. Maybe you all will learn, be the teacher, prepare for timing, retreat and advance. Learn martial arts, gather friends, recognize enemies. Plan to move. Prepare, train, practice till it’s a reflex. Relax, never panic, always respond. Conserve energy. Create energy. Everyone has my excessive survival tool for all occasions, a magnifier, or a Fresnel lens. Nothing excessive about my knife.

So that’s enough rambling on, you can thumb me up, or subscribe to the newsletter, or respond to me in the comments at the bottom. Luck favors the prepared mind. Your worst enemy, other than bankers, government, and media; will be shock, at loss, injury, family. War sux and will mess you up. I’m already messed up, so they cant win. I have nothing to lose. except some family and friends. If I don’t lose them, its like carrying my magnum, so I don’t have to argue or fight. If I do, well, a hazard may be upon them.

Prep well, folks. Remember what the greatest teacher said. “and I will be with you Always, even to the end of YOUR DAYS.” I’m gonna win this challenge, so are some of you. Survive!!

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I continue to see articles that offer good advice about prepping, but survival is education, training, and skill. Barricading yourself in the home for defense or Bugging out! Yes, Fine.

Living Comfortably When the SHTF

As a prepper you’ve thought about the necessities for survival, but have you thought about your comfort? Imagine a long-term situation where you have food and water, but survival is a constant struggle. Will lack of sleep and uncomfortable surroundings take a toll on you over time? You might be sleep-deprived because of a need to stand guard against those who would do you harm, or simply because you’re not able to maintain a comfortable living environment. The inability to keep food from spoiling might result in a constant need to find food, robbing you of opportunities to rest. And, in harsh conditions, can you keep yourself clean and healthy? You may have considered bugging out, but you know that your home has most of what you need to survive, even if you’re not a serious prepper.

To get straight to the point; a reliable, sustainable, and ample alternative supply of electricity can solve the problems mentioned above and allow you the potential of living comfortably when the SHTF. A security system may include cameras, motion sensors, and trip wires to set off alarms. A surveillance system can keep an eye on your garden and animals in addition to your home, and alert you to an intrusion. Devices and systems relieve you of the need to stand guard.

An alternative source of electricity adds to your comfort by allowing you to cook meals indoors, and boil water, making it safe for drinking. You can use propane, wood, or charcoal for cooking if you have an ample supply of those, or you could use a solar oven, but nothing is as convenient as using electricity for indoor cooking.

The ability to preserve food means that you won’t have to hunt, harvest, and process food daily, providing opportunities for rest. With ample rest you’ll feel and perform better. A reliable supply of electricity allows you to use a refrigerator and freezer for food preservation. You may also need refrigeration to keep medicine from spoiling.

The biggest challenges, that is to say devices that use the most electricity, are air conditioning and heating equipment. The system described here is not large enough to handle whole-house heating and cooling systems. If you have a fireplace, you probably consider that as your source of alternative heat. If not, you may consider a wood- or pellet-burning stove. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages. If you rely on fuel such as propane or kerosene, do you have enough for a long-term situation? How much can you store safely, and how long will it last? Will you be able to replenish your supply when it runs low? Weigh your decision carefully, implement it, and then stock up on wood, pellets, or fuel. I chose to install a pellet stove. It can run up to 12 hours unattended and maintains a relatively constant output. I can safely store enough pellets to get me through the winter, and left-overs can be used the following winter. Most importantly, I’ll get a good night’s sleep, and I won’t be inhaling dangerous fumes.

Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

You’ll also need electricity for communication devices, computers and tablets, TV, and Radio. Be sure to keep energy-efficiency in mind when shopping for any of these items. Energy-Star tags are helpful, but I’d rather measure energy use myself using a Kill-A-Watt meter. A Kill-A-Watt meter is a low-cost device that measures energy use over time (kilowatt-hours). You can find it at Wal-Mart or on Ebay.

Emergencies can occur at any time, in the middle of the night for example, and may include broken glass and structural damage to your home. The importance of good lighting cannot be overemphasized. You certainly don’t want to complicate an emergency situation with an injury.

Right-Sizing the Solar Electric System and Trade-Offs

If you want the same level of comfort as you had with grid-supplied electricity, you’ll pay a high price. To avoid the high cost, I’ll describe a system that will result in comfortable living, but there will be trade-offs. The system I’m outlining here can best be described as a mid-sized off-grid solar electric system. It’s not connected to your house wiring, so you’ll need extension cords, power strips, and light fixtures. I keep all of these items in a plastic container, so I won’t be fumbling around for them when grid power fails. I think you’ll agree that this modest system offers good trade-offs where comfort and cost are concerned. Don’t be fooled by pre-packaged systems that won’t actually meet your needs.

Home Heating

I’ve already listed alternatives to your existing whole-house system. In exceptionally cold weather you may want to use an electric blanket, and limit heating to one or two rooms. Table top and window fans are the most energy-efficient way to move heated or cool air.

Heating Water

As a substitute for your water heater, heating water over a fireplace or on a wood stove are good options. Since you won’t be using a fireplace or a wood stove when the weather is warm, you can heat water with one or more of your kitchen appliances, but the best option for heating water involves using the sun.

Harnessing the heat of the sun for water.

I’ve installed a PVC tubing grid in the attic portion of my storage shed for heating water. Mine is not the most efficient system, but I wanted a solution that would be out of sight and maintenance free. I use a hose to force water through the system when city water is available, but I can also use an electric pump. A fifty-gallon plastic barrel and a couple of hoses round out the system. Either way I can have a warm shower just about any afternoon or evening, using little or no electricity.

Other Decisions and Trade-Offs

I’ll begin by establishing some basic needs that will apply to many people, and then I’ll provide design details for a system large enough to meet those needs. Finally, I’ll discuss the cost, and some design options. I’ll assume that you’ve already ruled out a generator. You know that choosing a generator means that you’ll have to purchase, transport, and store a lot of fuel. What happens when the fuel runs out? Will noise from the generator attract unwanted attention, or mask the sound of approaching intruders? Instead, this is about a quiet and sustainable solution. You may only need to darken your windows to hide the fact that you’re living comfortably.

Honda EU2000I 2000 Watt Super Quiet Inverter Generator

Prerequisites

To keep the size, and therefore the cost, of a solar electric system down, there are a few things you can do. Often, adding insulation to an existing home can reduce the need for heating and cooling. Lights to be used with the system should be energy-efficient CFL or LED types. If your washing machine and other appliances are old, replace them with energy-efficient ones. Use a hotplate or microwave oven, instead of your gas or electric stove.

Identifying Your Needs

Once you’ve listed the devices you want to use, and estimated how long each device will run each day, you can calculate the total energy you’ll need by simple math. For example; a fan rated at 35 watts, running for 3 hours each day, will need 3 times 35, or 105 watt-hours each day. Likewise, a 10 watt lamp, running for 6 hours each day, would need 10 times 6, or 60 watt-hours each day. Adding the daily requirements of both equals a total need of 165 watt-hours per day. The following chart is an example of total daily energy use, where energy availability is limited. It assumes cold-weather conditions, where circulating warm air, or powering a pellet-stove in my case, is the largest single energy requirement.

4 10 watt LED bulbs 4 hrs each 160 wh per day
1 40 watt Laptop Computer 2 hrs 80 wh per day
1 120 watt Blower Motor (stove) 12 hrs 1440 wh per day
1 105 watt (intermittent) Chest Freezer 6 hrs 630 wh per day
1 80 watt Television 2 hrs 160 wh per day
1 30 watt Modem 2 hrs 60 wh per day
1 6 watt Clock Radio 24 hrs 144 wh per day
1 26 watt Cell Phone Charger 1 hr 26 wh per day
1 1000 watt Hot Plate 0.75 hr 750 wh per day
1 900 watt Toaster 0.10 hours 90 wh per day
1 1000 watt Microwave Oven 0.15 hours 150 wh per day

During periods of warm weather, when the stove is not used, my daily average load is greatly reduced. When the stove is used less, I can use devices not listed here, such as a vacuum cleaner and washing machine, and still not exceed the capacity of the system.

Determining the daily energy use of the Chest Freezer is a little tricky because its compressor runs intermittently. This is where a Kill-A-Watt meter comes in handy. Simply connect the Kill-A-Watt meter to the chest freezer and take note of how much energy it uses (in kilowatt-hours) over a 24 hour period. You can do the same for other devices that use electricity intermittently. (One kilowatt-hour equals one thousand watt-hours).

Tip: In a situation where keeping energy use to a minimum is important, move your chest freezer or refrigerator to the coolest part of your home. The compressor will run less, cutting energy use.

Renogy 400 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Starter Kit

Tip: When you have a choice, use energy during the day and limit night-time use. During the day, when the sun is shining, energy travels from the solar panels to the load. Nighttime energy comes from the batteries, and therefore is subject to charging and discharging losses and battery inefficiencies. Cooking, pumping water, and washing clothes are examples of tasks that can be relegated to daytime hours. Do this, and you’ll help to offset the negative effect of cloudy days and system losses.

Selecting the System Components

In the example above, the total energy used each day (the sum of the energy used by each device), is 3690 watt-hours. To determine how many solar panels you need, divide the need by the total hours of peak sunlight, in this case it’s 3690 by 4 ½, or 820 watts of solar panel capacity. Solar panels come in different sizes. Seven 120 watt solar panels will provide a little more power than you need, (840 watt-hours per day), while five 160 watt solar panels will provide a little less (800 watt-hours per day).

GM Deep Cycle 12v 125ah SLA rechargeable Battery for Use with Pv Solar Panels

Next, calculate the size of the battery bank you’ll need. Since batteries are rated in amp-hours, convert amp-hours to watt-hours. As an example: For a 12 volt deep discharge battery rated at 100 amp hours, calculate watt-hours by multiplying volts times amps. In this example, that single battery can theoretically supply 1200 watt hours. However, to avoid damage and maintain high life expectancy of the battery, you should not discharge the battery below 50%. This leaves you with 600 usable watt-hours for a fully charged battery. Because of battery inefficiencies, plan on the actual usable energy to be at least 10% less, or 540 usable watt-hours. Since you need a total capacity of 3690 watt-hours, you’ll need 7 batteries (7 times 540 ), to provide 3780 watt-hours of storage.

In the event that the cost of a system large enough to meet your needs is prohibitive, you may opt to cut back a bit on energy usage. There are many ways to do that. Preparing meals in a microwave oven, instead of on a hot plate, is one way:

Using a 1000 watt microwave oven for 15 minutes results in an energy use of 250 watt-hours.

Using a 1000 watt hot plate for 45 minutes results in an energy use of 750 watt-hours.

Read More: Cooking when the Grid goes Down

A slow-cooker (crock-pot) might seem like an energy-efficient choice, but remember, using a small amount of electricity over a long period of time is the energy-equivalent of using a large amount of electricity over a short period of time. A slow cooker might be a good option when something needs to be simmered for an hour or two.

The chart lists a small chest freezer, and no upright refrigerator/freezer. Upright refrigerator/freezers are inefficient because the cold literally “falls out” each time the door is opened. A chest freezer is much more efficient, and a 6 cubic foot chest freezer uses much less electricity than a 12 cubic foot chest freezer. A chest freezer not only keeps frozen food frozen, it makes ice for use in an ice chest for items that need to be kept cold, but not frozen.

How Much Will it Cost?

I’ll assume that you’re doing all of the work yourself, and will not include labor costs.

Once you’ve calculated your needs, you may choose to build larger or smaller than the system described here. Adding solar panels helps to improve system performance by increasing charging power, and adding batteries helps to improve performance by increasing the storage capacity. If you want to maintain a system output in excess of 3690 watt-hours each day, consider adding at least one more solar panel and two more batteries. Anticipate extended periods of cloud cover.

The per-watt cost for solar panels is currently between one and two dollars. Therefore, 820 watts of solar panel capacity will cost between $820 and $1,640. Shop around for the best price. Sometimes you’ll find sales or special deals.

Having explored various battery types and compared costs, I’ve determined that the best value when considering cost vs storage capacity to be GC-2 deep-discharge batteries. GC-2 batteries are rated at six volts, so you’ll need a series-parallel wiring arrangement. It’s easy to do. For the system described here, you’ll need at least 6 of the GC-2 batteries for a total watt-hour storage capacity of just over 3700. GC stands for “Golf Cart”. These are available under several different brand names and at many stores, including SAMs Club. You’ll pay about $100 per battery, for a total cost of $600.

Consider 8 batteries if your budget will allow it. Although you can get by with 6 batteries, making your battery bank larger than your calculated need offers three advantages. 1. A larger battery bank helps to compensate for extended periods of cloud cover. 2. The load on the battery bank will be distributed over more batteries, resulting in an efficiency boost. 3. Distributing the load across more batteries will extend the life of the battery bank.

The next component is a charge controller. A charge controller uses power from the solar panels to safely and efficiently charge the batteries, and prevents overcharging. A charge controller helps to extend the life of the batteries.

Top of the line charge controllers have advanced features which can, in some cases, dramatically improve system performance. However, these features come at a high price, and not all advanced features are beneficial to a system such as the one described here. For now we’ll consider a reasonably priced, but good, charge controller.

Renogy Tracer 4210 40 Amp MPPT Charge Controller, 12/24V 100VDC Input

The charge controller you’ll need will be one that can handle the maximum current that your solar panel array can produce. For the system we’re describing here, a 60 amp charge controller will do the job, and leave room for expansion. While it’s not your only option, a Morningstar Tri-Star 60 will do nicely. I highly recommend the remote meter option, and the battery temperature option. The cost for the controller, with options, is about $350.

So far, I’ve listed all of the major components for a 12 volt DC system, but you’ll probably want to add an inverter. An inverter converts 12 volts DC (your battery bank voltage), to 120 volts AC. In making your decision, you should understand the pros and cons of two basic types, MSW, (Modified Sine Wave), and PSW (Pure Sine Wave). PSW inverters can safely power sensitive devices, but are much more costly than MSW inverters. A TV or Radio can be powered with a MSW Inverter, but you’ll probably hear an annoying buzz in the sound, and the picture may have streaks. Motors may run at the wrong speed, or overheat when using a MSW inverter. Inverters are rated by how much AC power they can provide. If you opt for a 600 watt inverter, you won’t be able to use a toaster, microwave oven, or any other device that requires more than 600 watts. If you want to watch TV, use some lights, and power a chest freezer at the same time, the total power (the sum of the individual power requirements), cannot exceed the capacity of the inverter.

My preference is an inverter that doesn’t harm sensitive devices, has enough power to handle most high-power devices, and can power most of my devices simultaneously. An Exeltech 1100 watt PSW Inverter can handle just about any load I’ll connect to it, but not all at the same time. For example; if I decide to use my 1000 watt microwave oven, I can’t use my 900 watt toaster at the same time. The total would be 1900 watts, exceeding the capacity of the inverter by 800 watts. My choice was to accept that inconvenience, rather than to pay an additional $1100 for a more powerful inverter. The cost of the Exeltech inverter is about $575, which is about $1100 cheaper than a good quality 2000 watt PSW Inverter. I’m aware of lower-cost PSW inverters, but I’m not sure if they match the quality, performance, and reliability of Exeltech products.

Tip: Some electric motors have a high starting current requirement. If the inverter you purchase can’t provide that initial starting surge, the device will not run.

Mounting the Solar Panels, Wiring, and other Considerations

Solar panel mounting can be as simple as bolting them to a south-facing roof for less than $50, or more complicated if you intend to build a mounting framework. Your creativity can help to keep the cost low.

Wire, wiring hardware, fuses, and a lightning protection device round out the requirements for a complete system. Because of the high current flow, battery wiring is the heaviest (thickest), wire. The wire you’ll use between the solar panels and the charge controller should be able to handle the maximum output current from your solar panels, and should be rated for outdoor use. Your local hardware store should have what you need. Since it’s a 12 volt system as far as the panels and batteries are concerned, I opted for low-cost automotive fuses and in-line fuse holders. I used heavy-duty terminal blocks, the kind you find in circuit breaker boxes, to tie the wiring together. You’ll need battery terminals or lugs, tie-wraps, tape, and other hardware. The cost of the wiring depends upon how far the solar panels are from the controller, but you may get everything you need for less than $300.

The total cost of your system, not including labor, should be in the neighborhood of $3000. You may choose to build with fewer panels and fewer batteries and add to the system at a later time. If you start small, buy a charge controller large enough to handle a bigger system so you don’t have to replace it when you expand. For less than $1000 you could build a system that can provide power for lights, TV, radio, fan, computer, and other small devices, but with limited use of course. For a little bit more than that you could power a small chest-freezer or refrigerator, in addition to those other devices.

The total cost may seem expensive compared to the cost of a generator, but don’t forget it’s sustainable and there are no operational costs. Assuming no physical damage or vandalism, solar panels will last 25 years. The batteries, with good care, can last in excess of 5 years. A properly constructed system will be almost maintenance-free.

Become an expert (or at least knowledgeable)

If you think a system like this is right for you, start by learning all you can, especially about batteries. Batteries are the most expensive component when you consider that they’ll need to be replaced more than once for the life of your system. Most importantly, know when to shut down your system to prevent over-discharge. Learn about battery types, paying special attention to those that last longer, but at a higher cost. Compare inverters and read reviews on them. Purchase reliable components, because you can’t afford a failure when the SHTF.

When you’ve built your system, test the heck out of it. This is where the Charge Controller’s remote meter comes in handy. Simulate grid power failures and see how long your system can power the loads. Upgrade if you’re not satisfied with the run-time.

Tip: As a capacity test I’ve connected two light bulbs, one 60-watt and one 100-watt bulb. A load of 160 watts over a 24 hour period equals a daily load of 3840 watt-hours. I’ve connected a Kill-A-Watt meter to the inverter’s output to keep track of the power that the system delivers. In bright sunlight the solar panels provide enough power to charge the batteries and power the load simultaneously. However, batteries charge more quickly if no additional loads are present. I record test results each time, which helps me determine when my batteries need to be replaced.

Failure Considerations

Perhaps the biggest threats to your system are lightning, and EMP events. You will, no doubt, use a lightning protection device, but it may not save your system in the event of a direct hit. An EMP event would have to be close and strong, to do any damage. In either case, it’s not likely that the solar panels and batteries would be damaged. The most vulnerable component is the charge controller. Here’s the good news: In the event that a replacement charge controller is not readily available, you can connect the solar panels directly to the battery bank. You’ll have to monitor the battery voltage, disconnecting the solar panels (charging source), when the batteries are fully charged. It’s inconvenient, but at least you won’t be without electricity. You shouldn’t have to worry about disconnecting the loads when the battery SOC falls below 50%, because most inverters will automatically disconnect at that point. You might also consider a low-cost MSW inverter as a back-up for your primary inverter.

Bartering

Assuming that you have an ample supply of electricity, you might consider charging batteries for your neighbors. I’m assuming a SHTF situation where those around you are also trying to live comfortably. A fully-charged automotive or deep-discharge battery might be used for lighting, to power a TV or radio, a fan, tablet computer, etc.

Taking it to the next level

If you build the system described here and then wait for a SHTF situation, you’re wasting a great resource. Why not use the system every day, and cut your electric bill? I’ve added two components to the system described here and accomplished just that.

I use an IOTA Automatic Transfer Switch to select either grid-supplied power or inverter-supplied power to run my refrigerator. When my batteries are above 50% SOC (state of charge), the refrigerator gets power from the batteries, via the inverter. When the battery SOC drops below 50%, the refrigerator is powered by the grid. I use a Morningstar Relay Driver to monitor battery voltage, and switch the inverter on or off. I can fine-tune the upper and lower thresholds as I see fit. When the transfer switch senses the loss of power (because the inverter is switched off), it automatically switches to grid power for the refrigerator. The Relay Driver is programmed to not turn on the inverter again until the batteries are once again fully charged. This happens automatically. It’s a wondrous thing to observe.

Should you decide to build the system I’ve described, or something like it, you’ll probably have many questions. The Wholesale Solar website has a wealth of information for solar do-it-yourselfer.

Summary

How much does electricity contribute to your survival? Try switching it off for a week and see how well you cope. With electricity you’ll live comfortably, not just survive, while the world around you crumbles. A good night’s sleep, vital to your long-term survival, is made possible because of sensors, appliances, and automatic systems. If you wait until things get bad you’ll be forced to use the resources you have, not the system you planned to install someday. Surviving a crisis doesn’t need to be unbearable, or even uncomfortable. It won’t be if you prepare in advance.

Perhaps some will say “I’m looking for ways to survive, while you’re talking about watching TV, wrapped in an electric blanket, after a hot meal and a warm shower.” I get it, but I want to live for a few more decades, and I plan do it in comfort.

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As a prepper you’ve thought about the necessities for survival, but have you thought about your comfort? Imagine a long-term situation where you have food and water, but survival is

9 Less Than Lethal Self-Defense Items

Many times on Final Prepper, we have articles that revolve in some capacity around the subject of firearms. If you can access firearms and aren’t morally or philosophically opposed to them, they are the single greatest defensive tool you can have on you in a bad situation. Naturally, they come second to a good smart brain, but as tools go, firearms are the best self-defense items that preppers can acquire in my opinion.

Now, that being said it is just my opinion and you all know what they say about opinions. To continue down that line, simply having a firearm is no guarantee you will use it or that it can’t be taken from you. Firearms are simple tools designed to kill people but they require training, discipline, wisdom and willpower to be effective in a self-defensive situation. They aren’t a magic wand that you can simply wave at a problem and make it disappear. Often their very use creates more problems for those who carry them.

There are others that will say (rightly so) that without ammo, or if parts malfunction, any firearm is just an expensive club. To that end they will advocate alternative self-defense strategies. Still others live in areas where firearms are illegal so I wanted to write today about some less than lethal self-defense items that can be employed by just about anyone who can’t or does not want to own a firearm. We showed some of the creative weapons made by the protesters in Ukraine but this list will be a little tamer than that.

Less than lethal

Before I get to the list, let me explain what I mean by less than lethal. The items below with just a few exceptions could all be used to kill someone if used too long, too often or too forcefully. You could say the same thing about a rock. I gave them the less than lethal category because unlike a firearm, the self-defense items below won’t likely penetrate skin, almost assuredly won’t go through a wall and kill someone else and can likely be purchased anywhere without the need for a background check or permit.

Additionally, these items may fall into groups that could be expanded upon logically. It is really just a thought-starter for those preppers out there looking for options. Some of these items could be used in an emergency or improvised if needed. The down side of most of these items in my opinion is that you have to be really close to your attacker to deploy them. That proximity brings greater risk of injury but we are talking about saving your life here. I don’t want my wife or children to get any closer than they have to.

Tazer

VIPERTEK VTS-989 – 88,000,000 V Heavy Duty Stun Gun – Rechargeable with LED Flashlight

The venerable tazer has been around for a while now and you can purchase one for less than $20. These use a small battery and a transformer to multiply the voltage of that battery. When pressed against someone’s skin, it delivers a high charge over stimulates the sensory and motor nerves. This results in strong involuntary muscle contractions and the victim is usually incapacitated for a brief time.

Tazers have been known to kill people but this is rare so I still believe this weapon qualifies as less than lethal. If you are ready with this in your hand, you can subdue an attacker and make your escape.

Pepper Spray/Bear Spray

SABRE Red Pepper Spray – Police Strength – Compact, Case & Quick Release Key Ring (Max Protection – 25 Shots, up to 5x More)

Pepper spray is concentrated chemical compound that irritates the eyes, causing tears, pain and temporary blindness. It is used by police officers in crowd control and against rapists by females all over the world. The effect of pepper spray doesn’t last long but it is serious enough to allow you to escape. Unlike the tazer, you can spray pepper spray usually up to 10 feet. Bear Spray has a longer range of about 30 feet and the containers hold more spray which is why it is a prepper staple.

Kubaton

FURY Tactical SDK (Self Defense Keychain) with Pressure Tip

A kubaton is a short striking instrument that is designed to be held in your hand and deployed against sensitive or vulnerable areas on your attacker’s body. This requires some training before use, but you can get an idea of the use in the video below.

Many kubaton’s are designed to be a part of your key chain and ready to deploy quickly.

Self-defense cane

61ht3k-b59

Durable Self Defense Cane – Virtually Indestructible

We’ve all seen the comedy act where the little old lady is whacking the purse snatcher over the head with her cane as he is trying to wrestle her pocketbook from her grasp. They do make canes that are designed from Fiber filled nylon that are meant to be used as a striking weapon. Crack someone over the head with this and you will get their attention. They also make canes with a tazer built in!

Extendable Baton

baton

Expandable Solid Steel Baton

The expandable baton is a modern revision of the old police baton. Newer models are stored collapsed down and extend with a spring and a pretty good amount of force. Police officers carry these and they are basically a metal rod used to break windows or skulls.

Tire Thumper

tirethumper

RoadPro RPTT-1 Wooden Tire Thumper, 19-Inches,

Tire thumpers were designed by truckers to check the air pressure in tires. It is not a scientific measurement, but by listening to the sound the thumper makes and judging by the recoil felt in your hands you can get a good idea of roughly whether it needs a lot of air. The tire thumper itself is just a simple club and can be used to crack someone’s head under the right circumstances. Of course you could also break hands, arms, legs…

Baseball Bat

Or golf club, hockey stick, cricket bat, broom handle… Anything with some mass you can get your hands on and swing with all your might. Primarily for last ditch home defense, the baseball bat is certainly a formidable weapon but like most of these others will require some stealth. If you can sneak up on someone and disable them with a blow to the head they aren’t getting back up.

Fire Extinguisher

Why would you waste a good fire extinguisher on a bad guy? Because your life depended on it! A fire extinguisher puts out a big cloud of flame retardant that not only could temporarily blind someone but could also be very disorientating. Follow up by swinging the heavy cylinder at their head for the big finish.

Bug/Wasp Spray

We had a guest who wrote a post some time back about a weapon you may not have thought of. Bug Spray or more specifically wasp and hornet spray because it has a more targeted spray and further distance is one of those items that has made the rounds in prepper circles. To be honest, if I am down to wasp spray it is pretty serious, but in a desperate situation, I would give it a try.

So there are 9 less than lethal self defensive items you could use if the situation called for it. What ideas do you have for potential weapons?

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Many times on Final Prepper, we have articles that revolve in some capacity around the subject of firearms. If you can access firearms and aren’t morally or philosophically opposed to

Gardening During Disasters

Coping with Challenges – Growing in Drought & Short Seasons

It can be frustrating to plant a garden and watch it fail. It can be mean life and death when it is the food your family is counting on for survival. Yet crop failures happens, to big growers and small farmers and backyard enthusiasts. There are methods that involve earth works, terra-forming or terra-sculpting, or things like hugelkultur mounds that can increase resiliency. Depending on location and if we’re saving to move, our age and finances, or if we’ve just relocated and don’t know the land well yet, those may not be a great solution for us – at least not yet.

We may also find ourselves in a special season instead of a special climate, a year that just tests us to the limits of sanity. It can happen in a lot of ways. Late, wet Springs that have what would normally be a hay cut going to seed because we can’t get in, and forget trying to till for crops. Flooding, heavy rains that wipe out our seed or sprouts. A season that just doesn’t produce the Spring rains our plants need to germinate and get established. Incredible heat and sun that has our plants growing like weeds, but then wilting off at midday – something that can wreck tomatoes and corn, especially.

It’s heartbreaking. I know a permaculture homesteader in Alberta and a nursery grower in Ottawa who both practice clean, sustainable, resilient planting methods, and they’re suffering this year, hugely, while some of the home growers around them are cheering about the incredible sales they’re finding – quart and gallon pots as little as five and ten cents, a dollar, even for fair-sized perennials. The homesteader finally just washed her hands of most of her annual garden, skipped her summer planting, and will skip a lot of her autumn planting.

Why would they put things on such deep discount, 10-20 times lower than normal sale prices, taking a loss on even perennials? Why would they walk away from gardens that usually provide 50-80% of their fruits and veggies, and almost all of their livestock crops?

Water.

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

It’s more expensive to keep pumping (or buying) water than it is to fall back on their savings and stored foods.

It’s the second year in a row that weather had been screwball for the homesteader, in a part of the world where we don’t usually think of droughts forming. Yet her pond is half its normal size, her creek is dry, and she purchased water and tanks because her well level concerned her – purchased them early, and now there’s another pair near her who are on Facebook and forums begging for tanks and deliveries, trying to find them cheaper, because their well is drying and they have just enough to last their animals and households a week.

It happens. Even in deep-well rural Canada. It for-sure happens further south.

It happens with water, and it happens with heavy frosts and ice that show up late, with false springs that last two weeks and then return to winter, wrecking fruit crops as in the U.S. Northeast, and with sudden frosts that come in a month early. It happens today, with all the advantages of credit cards and technology and the difference a few phone calls can make.

What happens if we’re in a situation similar to World War II’s Victory Garden push, the Cuban oil crisis, or Argentina’s and Venezuela’s collapses, or the more sudden and more devastating and widespread disasters like EMPs, internet-shutdown viruses, and earth-shattering asteroids or eruptions that some preppers foresee? Our options may be limited to making sure we have enough food and water stored for a poor season or year, or join whatever relief community or agency we can find.

There are some other preparations, however, that can limit and avoid some of the stressors, and help us still get yields from our gardens, whether they’re small planters and beds in the city or ‘burbs, or larger acreage.

I’ll mostly deal with drought. Historically some of us have always dealt with drought during our growing seasons, but it’s increasing in prevalence, as is heat. The solutions can also be applied to losing an early “normal” harvest, getting a late start for any reason, or noticing a trend early.

I also use some in years I’m going to be traveling during the normal garden heyday period, so that I can still produce some of our groceries, or so that I can collect early harvests and then drop seed that doesn’t really much need me, or can always be harvested as livestock feed.

Generating Shade

Let’s start with the Cuba example

When the embargo went into effect, the impact was felt almost overnight at the markets. Cuba’s incredibly sunny, and there are native fruits and veggies that thrive there, but growers were too few, too far between, and too reliant on European crops that required an enormous amount of water. There are also periods in the middle of the summer where Cuban farmers wouldn’t normally grow food crops, because of the heat and water needs. With thousands clamoring for anything, they couldn’t afford to not grow.

So they hooked their plants up with parasols.

Okay, not parasols (some balcony growers sure did). They rigged opacity screens from 20% up through even 60% over greenhouse frames and row covers. That gave plants a more spring-like condition and helped keep evaporation from drying out the soil.

generatingshade

If we really want to plan ahead, we have other options for generating shade.

Shade can be generated by large-space sheets or full-sized greenhouses, or individual cloths can be draped over rows or beds. The cloths can be full coverage, or arranged just to break the heat of the worst midday sun. What works best will vary by the materials available, winds in the area, and if insects are also being combated. Access for watering, weeding, pollination, and harvest also has to be factored in.

If we really want to plan ahead, we have other options for generating shade. We can use plants themselves, both annuals and perennials.

Grapes, kiwi, and other vines – to include larger squashes and runner beans – can all be used to create arbors. Some like Chinese yard-long beans and grapes run up for a while before they start leafing out. That allows more light to penetrate from the sides during the cooler morning and evening hours.

shadecloth

Shade can be generated by large-space sheets or full-sized greenhouses, or individual cloths can be draped over rows or beds.

Full-circle shading can really help potato and tuber crops in hot-hot seasons, while corn and beans will likely do better under a flat-roof arbor of grapes or kiwi or shade cloth.

We can also arrange our tall plants to the west instead of north, and plant between rows of trees or shrubs (NOT with a till method) to let those plants shade thirstier crops from the worst of the drying sun and summer winds.

Image: Droughts, loss of irrigation, and other climatic challenges can ravage even experienced growers.

Splitting the Season

There are already growers in Cuba, Arizona and South Florida who pretty much shake their head at standard North American growing guides. It’s so hot and so dry, a March-planted turnip bolts without making a bulb, and tomatoes will drink three gallons a day in July, even pruned to bare stalks.

So they split their seasons around summer’s worst.

We can do the same during a crisis if we know we live in a hot environment and don’t have many backup water options.

It requires a little research. We need to hunt down our monthly average rainfall totals, and see when we’re most likely to hit our droughts. Then we count backwards. Instead of ground sowing squash, we might start them in the middle of winter or early, early in spring with our tomatoes, and up-pot them once or just start with an oatmeal container instead of a toilet paper roll. Then we transfer them, possibly with plastic or a cloth row cover or into a greenhouse we can open up.

Chart – Parts of the U.S. already flip seasons or split seasons to avoid planting in the height of summer heat and drought.

The goal is to get them out when the heat and sun are less savage, and when nature will handle at least some of the watering for us.

Likewise, we can lay on supplies to heat small and expanding row covers to direct-sow normally hot weather plants like corn and beans. Lower light means they’ll take longer – at least two weeks and sometimes as much as twice the time to harvest – but they’re growing sweet corn and tomatoes in Alaska with minimal heating. We can do it, too. They are sensitive to cold rains and cold mud from spring melt, so we may need to mound up a bed to 4-8” to help them or use raised beds and containers.

When it’s heating up, the plants have massive head starts or are already nearing their harvest dates. Again, that lets rain water them for most of their lives, and then we let the garden go dormant for the most brutal heat.

Then we come back in July and August in hot climates, and we have plenty of time for green beans, summer squashes, and more to grow out before our frosts close in again.

We may need to have a place to start and harden-off plants indoors for a while, or plant dwarf, bantam or compact varieties developed for short-season growers to make the system work, but it gives us harvests we might not otherwise have, not without stripping out our wells and water storage.

corncrop

Image: Dwarf corn is lower in yield than standard varieties, but since it’s shorter and takes less water and nutrients to develop its yield, it can offer a faster harvest after a late or delayed start to the season, or allow growers to avoid the driest parts of summer.

Selecting Varieties

Plant selection for desert species is a really excellent way to build some resiliency, but it can be challenging for those who live in typically cold-winter temperate zones. There are “drought tolerant” varieties available for a lot of annuals and perennials now, but most need to be well established before they’ll suffer from abuse. That can be difficult if it’s a strange spring or if a summer storm wrecked our harvests by battering away flowers or uprooting plants.

amador

As presented by Clemson University – Amador, M.F. 1980. Behavior of three species (corn, beans, squash) in polyculture in Chontalpa, Tabasco, Mexico. CSAT, Cardenas, Tabasco, Mexico.

As with straddling summer for gardening, it’s not a bad idea to maintain a seed stock that gives us some fast-growing options. They can help us whether the problem is a lack of rainfall, or if we’re facing a short season from a freak late snow or ice storm, or if goats got loose and ate the garden we’ve been hauling and pumping water to for three months.

Hybrids serve their purpose there more than anywhere else. Because hybrid seeds won’t breed true to a next generation, we want to be careful that they don’t cross pollinate our seed-saving crops and we have to keep fresh seed stocks going.

There are some short-season crops that can help, though, that are open-pollinated and heirloom stock.

Barley has been bred for so long, seed is now tailored to exactly when we plant it, so we need a selection if that’s our backup. There are a wealth of midget, dwarf and bantam corn, for sweet corn or for popcorn, that take as little as 55-75 days, and even more that fall in the <90-day range. Yukon chief and strawberry popcorn are two, although they have short cobs as well as short seasons. Teff can be a fast, resilient option for livestock hay and grain, although it’s pretty intensive and water-heavy to mill it for human use.

Summer squashes and bush green beans are awesome in that they can be had as OP’s in 55-65 days, and bush dry beans may take only 75-90. Even some autumn or winter squashes like Jester acorn can finish up in 85-95 days. Bush beans and squash can easily be covered to give them some protection from the first couple weeks of chill and frosts. 3-sisters-lush

By tweaking our Three Sisters mounds to a set of corn, squash and beans that can be ready in 45-55-65-75 days, we can still gain some harvest off a short season. Because they don’t spend as much time and nutrients growing up and out before producing, we save days of watering. We can also get them under some plastic if the air starts cooling before they’re ready, and by planting in combination, we can get some serious benefits in yield and plant health from them, as well as maximize the efficiency of the watering that we do have to do.

There are compact peppers, Egyptian wheat, and alternative crops like oca, millet, African yams, and Jerusalem artichoke that can handle varying conditions like heat, drought, or short seasons. Desert perennials may work for us as well. “Weeds” that are edible also increase our options, although the women I mention above are both foragers and only have about 25-50% of their usual wild harvest stored due to the drought.

Turnips, radish and lettuce aren’t going to work in summer conditions for a lot of the U.S. They’ll bolt before they really produce. Still, they might be something we can start in flats, bread pans, and buckets someplace cooler, and either transfer or grow out quickly enough to merit the space they take up. They can also serve as our backups if the weather stays cold unexpectedly.

Curveballs and Challenges

Mother Nature is always going to throw us some curveballs and there will almost always be a new challenge that arises in gardening, especially if we’re trying to eat off our gardens and crop fields. Happily, history has some examples of ways we can make it work, even in the worst of seasons. We may not be able to get the full, usual yield, but with the right combination of methods and plant selection, we can still positively impact our pantries and tables.

We do need to know our trends ahead of time, so that we can recognize when we’re in trouble early enough to walk away and refocus, or switch gears. Research to keep in our garden binder includes monthly rainfall and temperatures as well as our record first and last frosts and snows.

Hybrids may not be our first pick or the bulk of our stock, but they offer some benefits that make them excellent additions to our OP and heirloom stockpiles.

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Coping with Challenges – Growing in Drought & Short Seasons It can be frustrating to plant a garden and watch it fail. It can be mean life and death when it

Conventional Guides to Crop Rotation

As preppers, we not only want to stockpile food, we tend to want to grow some, too. Maybe we just want enough to augment our beans and rice. Maybe we are currently only planting enough to rotate our seeds and learn a bit. Maybe we’re going whole hog with 10-30K square feet of veggies, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes, corn and grains for us and livestock. Maybe we’re working off of a few buckets or storage totes and a hanging basket or five (been there). Maybe we like a big square of tilled, bare earth. Maybe we like Eden-style gardening.

No matter what scale or system we’re working at the moment, our plants can benefit from crop rotation. Understanding rotational systems can also be huge when we expand during a disaster.

Why rotate your crops?

Plants use different nutrients at different amounts through their growing season. A general rule of thumb is that fruits need more phosphorous (P), leafy veggies and grasses use nitrogen (N), and Roots (and tubers) want the excessive amounts of potassium (K). Fruits will take it, but they need more balanced K and N, Mg and Ca, whereas roots love K like tomatoes love Ca. (Notice the PNK trend, as seen on bags of fertilizer?) Repeatedly planting the same thing in one space will utterly strip out not only the three primary nutrients, but the other macro and micro nutrients, among them calcium, magnesium, copper, and iron.

Plants are also share diseases and sometimes pests, especially within families. Those build up when we continuously provide habitat for them. When we break the cycle of availability, we lower the load our plants have to carry.

The “Sam doesn’t rotate” excuse

There are certain growing schemes that don’t need rotation as much. Those growers are typically top-dressing with worm castings, finished compost, and cured manure – especially from pasture-raised livestock with a wide variety in diet. They regularly use a method like companion planting, or Eden, lasagna or hugel beds. Perennials make a difference, too.

Successful non-rotational or lowered-rotation planting tends to share a common trait: plant diversity and planting schemes that result in truly healthy, living soil that is rarely disturbed and never tilled in. That practice allows for mature microbe and micro-fauna systems with viruses, bacteria, fungi, worms and others all working in synch, the way they do in undisturbed forest and meadows and ponds. The good bugs keep bad bugs in check. Diversity and a complex web makes it harder for pests and diseases to overwhelm anything.

Plants with really good, healthy soil can fight off a lot of diseases and overcome leaf damage from pests without problems. However, even when we start with really good soil, certain practices mean we strip it out, stop the nutrient cycling, or otherwise break those systems. Rotation is one way we can prevent some of the stripping and reduce the disease load for our plants.

As with everything, there are some good rules of thumb and some exceptions to be aware of.

Common crop rotations – 3-bed or Leaf-Root-Fruit

In the leaf-root-fruit system, the order is important for best results. In beds, portions of beds, containers, or plots tallied in fractional or full acres, I hit the bed that’s going to get my leaf crops with the bulk amendments the previous autumn. The excesses and any residual “heat” won’t bother crops I’m growing for the foliage as much as it can affect others. I then tailor amend for the specific draws of my root and fruit crops by bed or plant.

The lower number of beds we use in a rotation system, the easier it would seem to be to remember. The problem is that plant families don’t follow the 3-bed divisions.

Brassicas produce both leaf and root crops (cabbage, kale, turnips, beets). The mustards from the brassica family are considered a slate-cleaner, but others in the family share diseases that can build up. Likewise, tomatoes and potatoes are both solanaceae (nightshades) – as are eggplant and peppers. Tomatoes and potatoes may manifest the symptoms very differently, but they all harbor pests and diseases that apply to each other.

So sometimes I have to remember to pull a fruit from a root group or vice versa, or plant my roots with my leaf crops. Otherwise, I have only one year between brassicas and brassica diseases and larvae can last 2-3 years in soil. Same goes when I plant tomato where my potato was last year.

Another issue that crops up is that a lot of the leaf veggies are cool-season crops. They tend to bolt or get very, very bitter during the warmest traditional growing months.

I could certainly use them for chickens or rabbits. However, since a 3-plot system regularly doesn’t list out grasses (corn, wheat, teff, millet), and pseudo-grains like buckwheat or amaranth/quinoa don’t share pests or diseases with our common garden crops, I can use my leaf bed for them.

One salvaging aspect of using the leaf beds for warm-season grains is that the previous year, the leaf beds were a “fruit” bed. The simple system puts legumes in that category. That means I can take a page out of Big Ag and small-cropping companion planting, mow down my peas and beans instead of pulling them, and let the precious root nodes that make N keep working undisturbed through winter. When I test my soil or judge by plant productivity and leaf color what’s going on, I may need to add less N to those plots.

Common crop rotations – 4-plot and 5-plot systems

There are myriad breakdowns for four- and five-plot systems. Some of them are essentially three-bed systems that provide for a rest year, a cover-crop year, or a year for chickens in that plot. Some of them break plants into legumes (beans and peas), brassicas, fruiting plants (melons, squash, tomatoes), and root crops. Some of them switch the root crops into fruits and call for grain grasses in a fourth bed. Some of them come up with their own tailored mixes, some of which call for companion plants in there with primary crops.

It becomes a bit of a head-scratcher. And because of the variety of systems, it’s hard to categorize them as good or bad.

One thing that becomes quickly apparent with the rotation guides available, is that they’re either built for Big Ag and one or two crops per season, or they’re built for home gardeners who may have the same amount of space designated for corn that they do their melons or lettuce.

Because even as preppers, the focuses of our growing spaces are so different, those can work, or we can use hybrid versions to account for the greater amount of livestock feed or human food we want to grow. We can adjust to reflect our focus on nutrient-laden “rainbow” fruits and veggies, the desire for more crops that can be pulled and sit in a root cellar and basement for weeks or months while we finish putting in gardens or harvesting, or a desire to grow more calorie staples, fats, or proteins with everything else a bonus.

That can get time-consuming to develop. On the other hand, asking everyone to learn family names and relationships for a 10-stage rotation is an overreach.

But there is hope.

Common crop rotation strategy – 6-stage “pie”

I found this rotation wheel. It’s a six-stage, or “pizza pie” crop rotation, named for the shape. He drew it and conceived it as a circular garden (not without merit, says the greenie). The rotation runs clockwise .However, it’s pretty quick and easy to apply to a large field of rows, 3-10 raised beds, or a dozen containers.

He was also nice enough to draw all six years, so it would be totally reasonable to print all of them as a guide when drawing plans specific to our spaces. Limited head scratching = good.

One of the things I like most about it, is that it is set up with easy tailoring possibilities.

6-stage-rotation-farmerfredrant_blogspots_com

6-stage crop rotation plan

In this, the legumes are following the corn and melons and squash, but for those interested in Three Sisters mounds or companion planting, the two wedges can easily be combined each year, with three years still between the beets (in “root crops”) and the brassica wedge.

He does combine beets and carrots, which are typically shorter and cooler season crops, with onions and garlic that can take up a full season. And as with other systems, his wedge for brassicas leaves Southern growers with an empty or bolting bed for 4-6 months. Handily, the system is plenty big and “old” enough that our first crop (tomatoes-potatoes wedge) can expand and take part of the beet-carrot wedge.

Equally handy, the brassicas and greens are right beside the compost-cover crop wedge. We can plan to plant our longer-growing cabbages and Brussel sprouts on one side or another so that we can protect them, set up a bunny cage (overturned Goodwill playpens) or chicken mesh, and let them forage and pre-till and fertilize for us (double-handily: a season ahead of hungry corn and cucurbit crops). As one area gets picked over, when we’re ready to turn from our autumn-sown spring cover or our summer biomass builder to a fall-winter cover, we can just scoot our critters around and let them work for us.

We can also, again, replant our spring lettuces with summer crops that don’t share pests with corn or legumes – teff for livestock, a fast barley for sprouted fodder, salads like Malabar spinach, less-common pseudo-grains like amaranth, or sweet potatoes that are related to morning glories, not nightshades.

The greater divisions of the 6-bed rotation allow us a lot of easy flexibility.

The season and year the wedges spend dormant or left with a cover helps keep the system super productive and allows us to apply our fertilizers to crops that really need them, saving money and labor over time.

Not a bad system. While six years is something of an investment for rotations, it passes relatively quickly once you hit thirty and own a home. Plus, we don’t have to “remember” the rotations. Since it’s drawn up in detail for us already, easy enough to mark each wedge A-B-C and annotate “Year One” with the date, then sketch our own 4-16 beds or plots, the lobes of our mandala, or our containers and mark them A-B-C as well. It doesn’t have to be round, and due to the length of time involved, it doesn’t have to divide evenly into six. After that we just flip through to the appropriate year and match letters between what should go in each bed. Easy-peasy.

Crop rotation really does matter

New gardeners, especially if they started with pretty lush soil full of organic matter or gumbo-brick clay, may be inclined to scoff off rotations. Those who have a cabinet full of either herbal or Big Ag-derived chemical treatments might scoff it off as well.

Once you’ve had just tomatoes and maybe a handful of marigolds in the same spot for a few years, you might start changing your mind, and same goes for those cabbages that were huge and booming for four years, but the four beds we’re working now have problems that lime and a floating row cloth aren’t solving.

Too, if there’s a way for plants themselves to be healing some of their woes, providing for each other, why wouldn’t we let them? Big Ag itself started going back to cover cropping and rotation not only to keep their soil in place, but to return nutrients and prevent pests.

These are lessons we can readily apply, no matter what scale we’re working or which crop rotation system we choose.

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As preppers, we not only want to stockpile food, we tend to want to grow some, too. Maybe we just want enough to augment our beans and rice. Maybe we

How to Make A Survival Bracelet

A survival bracelet may look to some like a fashion statement, but this unique type of accessory is actually a functional item that can be used in an emergency situation. When this kind of bracelet is made from parachute cord, it is called a paracord survival bracelet.

Learning how to make such a bracelet can be a fun and useful activity. Exploring a few facts about parachute cord and survival bracelets could help you to understand the many reasons that these handy accessories are in such demand across the world. Once you have explored the reasons for owning this kind of bracelet, you can get started on learning how to make paracord survival bracelets for yourself and your loved ones.

When you assemble an emergency preparedness kit, adding a few survival bracelets is not a bad idea.

What Is Paracord?

Paracord is a shortened version of the term “parachute cord.” This type of cord is a lightweight rope that is made from nylon. Its original function was to suspend lines in the Second World War. This cord has a smooth texture; because it also lightweight and has an elastic feel, it is perfect for a broad assortment of functions today, from enabling water rescues to keeping cargo secured. It can be used as a thread for sewing gear that needs to be repaired, and it may also be utilized to create a line for fishing. It has even been used to make whips for those who ride horses or drive livestock. The rope can be utilized to secure camouflage or mosquito nets, fasten rucksacks securely, and position equipment on harnesses. This versatile cord is ideal for many outdoor activities, especially since it does not mildew as other materials might.

Survival Bracelets and Their Uses

Just as parachute cord can be a useful tool, survival bracelets made from paracord may be transformed into useful tools. By simply disassembling a survival bracelet, you may utilize the material from which it is made. You might rely on your survival bracelet to make a fire via the bow-and-drill friction technique. Another option is to use the cord from a survival bracelet to create a tourniquet or splint in an emergency medical situation. You could utilize the cord from your bracelet to make a snare trap for food. If you are hiking on an unfamiliar trail you can tie the cord around a tree limb to create an instantly recognizable marker. The uses and possibilities associated with survival bracelets are seemingly endless.

Making Your Survival Bracelet

Now that you understand how useful and essential a survival bracelet can be, you’re probably ready to make one. The first step you will need to take is to gather all of the materials necessary to make your bracelet. To make a basic survival bracelet with a release buckle, you will need:

paracord that is approximately 1/8 inch in diameter – you will need about one foot of cord for every inch around your wrist (a wrist that is six inches would require about six feet of the paracord for this project)
a release buckle
measuring tape
scissors
a lighter

Once you have your materials assembled, measure your wrist in inches. Simply wrap the measuring tape around your wrist to do this. This will determine exactly how many feet of paracord you will need to create your survival bracelet.

Place the two ends of the cord together, and determine where the middle of the length of cord is. Then, pull the center of the cord through either end of the release buckle to create a loop. Once you do this, you will then pull the ends of the cord through the loop you’ve made. Tighten the loop until the cord is securely attached to the release buckle.

Next, disassemble the release buckle (but leave the cord where it is). Pull the ends of the cord through the other end of the buckle, and slide that part of the buckle toward the other piece. You will then measure the cord to be sure the length is the correct size for your wrist. You will measure in inches from the flat part of the pronged piece to the end of the other piece. Be sure to add one more inch than you need, so the bracelet fits comfortably on your wrist.

Once you have measured the cord length to ensure a proper fit, you will begin the process of knotting the cord. You might choose a basic knot, such as the cobra knot, for your bracelet. First, position the left side of the cord underneath the center strands of cord; then, position the cord on the right underneath the left strand, above the center strands, and through the left loop. Pull the cord to tighten it until the semi-knot is adjacent to the buckle. Repeat the entire process in reverse (starting with the right side first, and then the left). Continue alternating sides until the bracelet is complete.

Once the bracelet has reached the size you need, cut the loose ends and melt them together with the lighter. You should now have a survival bracelet that meets your needs and looks great!

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A survival bracelet may look to some like a fashion statement, but this unique type of accessory is actually a functional item that can be used in an emergency situation.

3 Levels of Disaster Preparedness

There is one critical question that you need to ask yourself more often but don’t: Am I ready for the next big disaster? All too often, you get so engrossed with the clamor of daily life that you forget the possibilities that may happen when a normal day suddenly takes a different turn. What if a natural disaster like flood, tsunami or earthquake strikes your city? What if a grave emergency comes up? Can you rise to the challenge when your safety is on the line? What about your family? Are they aware of the important things to prepare in case of a disaster? Are they well-informed about what to do when confronted with a life-and-death situation?

“I don’t know.” That is likely what you’ll hear when you ask the average person these important questions. “I don’t have time to think of all those things. I don’t have time to prepare.” People won’t recognize an impending hazard until it’s staring them right in the face. They believe that they can get away with anything because a special force will somehow help them. Disasters and tragedies only happen to others, they would argue. But the thing is, disasters don’t choose their victims. They recognize no power and wreck everything in their way. So, if you’re a wise and responsible adult, you will start planning ways to provide safety for your family while you still can.

There are at least three levels of disaster preparedness that you need to focus on before you can be confident about your chances of survival against disasters and natural calamities. Here is a guide to help you go through them one by one.

FIRST LEVEL: Preparing your physical resources

The most basic way to prepare for a disaster is to ready your physical stock. The three most essential resources that you need to survive are food, water, and an emergency kit. Your supplies should last for at least 72 hours.

1. Food: The Whats and Hows of Stockpiling Food

It is important to have a sufficient supply of survival food for disasters because you just don’t know when help will arrive and when your situation will be stabilized. Make sure to have the following ready.

cannedfood

Photo courtesy of Andres Rodriguez via Flickr

What food to store – When storing emergency food, you need to consider the best survival food kits for disasters. Canned goods are ideal because they have a long storage life. Store food that can be consumed without cooking. Those that don’t need to be refrigerated are preferred. Depending on the type of disaster that may strike your neighborhood, your supply of electricity may be disconnected so consider this possibility, too. Also, don’t forget to store food for the members of your family that are on a special diet. If you have pets, include them on the count. The types of food you store are important, too. Steer clear of salty and spicy food since those can make you thirsty, and water is a precious commodity during these times.

How to store your food – When you have your pile of emergency food ready, it’s now just a matter storing them. Canned goods typically last for two years, but it’s still good practice to keep track of their expiration date just in case. Spoiled, poisonous food on critical situations is the last thing you need. All food items should be stored in boxes, paper cartons, and airtight containers to preserve their freshness. Store all food supplies in a cool and dry place away from sunlight.

2. Water: Your Ticket to Survival

Water is the most important resource you’ll need in the event of a disaster because it is what will keep you alive. These are the two most important things you need to consider when storing water for emergencies.

bottledwater

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay

Potable water supply – To survive a disaster, you need to have a sufficient supply of water that will last you three days at the least. If you can store a two-week supply, then better. Just remember to regularly check the date on store-bought water because those typically last for only six months. Change your supply every now and then to keep your stock fresh. Also, keep a bottle of unscented liquid household chlorine bleach to sterilize untreated water if no supply of potent water is immediately available.

Water containers – Your water containers should be sealed tightly so that no drop of water will be wasted. Remember, water is an important commodity that you shouldn’t take for granted, especially during tight situations. The best containers to store water are unopened plastic bottles because they don’t easily break unlike glass containers. When storing water, make sure that every container is labeled. Separate potable water from bathing water.

3. Emergency kit: What should be in the box

familytraining

Photo courtesy of Jorge Franganillo via Flickr

Disasters usually strike from out of the blue, so being prepared all the time is crucial to survival. Always have disaster supply kits ready at home and in your car. The supplies in your car should last at least three days while those in your house or apartment should sustain you for at least a week. Gas, water, electricity, and communication lines may be out of service during a catastrophe so include basic items in your emergency kit that will address potential problems like these. Make sure to have a flashlight and a set of batteries, a fully charged spare phone with load, candles and matches, an electric light, and a fuel lamp. You just don’t know when these tools will come in handy.

SECOND LEVEL: Preparing your plan of action

Create a plan of action in advance and communicate it with your family members. A carefully outlined survival strategy can go a long way when disaster hits. Although there will be unforeseen events that can hinder you from carrying out some of these plans, it’s still comforting to have a ready list of measures to take. When outlining your strategies, make sure to get your family members on board.

1. Family: How to prep them

familytraining

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks via Flickr

You should orient your family about the risks of certain disasters and the safety measures you can take as a family to thwart those risks when they’re preventable and to address them when they’re inevitable. Your kids, especially, should know how to prepare for disasters. Explain to them what disasters are without making them panic. Teach them how to call for help when there is an emergency, and train them to recognize danger signals. Don’t forget to always reassure them along the way.

2. Pets: What to do with them

cat

Photo courtesy of JoeSang via Pixabay

When preparing for disasters and emergencies, don’t leave your pets behind. If you need to evacuate your home and you can’t take your pets with you, call your local veterinarian or the neighborhood kennel to take care of the pets. If these authority figures can’t be reached, prepare a list of pet-friendly places outside your neighborhood that can look after your pets while you’re away.

THIRD LEVEL: Preparing your family emotionally

To fully prepare for a disaster, you need to complete the last level, which involves your emotions. Ultimately, your survival won’t be determined by how much food or water you have, or by how ingenious your plan of action is. Ultimately, it’s about how you perceive your situation and how resilient you are in dealing with it. In the event of a disaster, it’s important to have the right blend of calm and panic so that you can act without over thinking. Be aware of your situation and your emotions. If you believe that you will survive and that you ought to survive, you will.

Don’t wait until it’s too late before you prepare for an emergency. You have the time now, so why not invest in the future safety of your family? I wish I had is never a great phrase. Do something now and prep your home so that you will be ready when the next catastrophe hits.

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There is one critical question that you need to ask yourself more often but don’t: Am I ready for the next big disaster? All too often, you get so engrossed

Survival Gear: Setting Your Group Standard

Everyone likes to think they are unique and many people even go to great lengths to show the world just how special and creative they are. You have seen these types of people, maybe you are one yourself. Those who have tattoos all up one side and down the other (no judgement), who have multiple piercings and giant gauges in their ever expanding earlobes. They wear all manner of fashion that seems to be designed purely for shock value and their hair is carefully combed into their eyes.

Now before I get anyone upset, I am not advocating anyone dress any differently. I am a firm believer in the philosophy of if you want to let your freak flag fly, go right ahead. You aren’t bothering me at all. Except maybe the hair thing on guys today… I just want to cut that mop out of your eyes because it would drive me insane…And stop with the hair products maybe…

Seriously, I love variety and if you feel that you are expressing yourself, go right ahead. More power to you! However, in a survival situation there are times when being the only round peg in a room full of squares could be a disadvantage so today I want to talk about conforming.

The importance of the group standard to preppers

Now when I mention conforming, I am not talking about conforming to my version of society, your morals or style of dress or personal hygiene habits. I am talking about the decisions you will make regarding the survival gear and equipment that your larger mutual assistance group is going to use. It is important to formalize a group standard on several major pieces of gear if you want to function cohesively as a unit.

If each person is unique, their own purple flower with magenta ombre highlights, and does their own thing – you aren’t a group at all. You are just a bunch of individuals hanging around together and believe it or not, that could be a drawback. Let’s imagine a SHTF scenario for example. It’s bad, really bad and you are huddled together with your survival group, trying to get by and taking each challenge as it comes.

Choosing standard firearms

One of our posts that has had the most discussion back and forth has been The AK-47 vs AR-15: Which Rifle is Better? I wrote this back in March of 2014 but debates about the best firearm in a SHTF scenario have probably been raging since men were carrying around flintlock pistols. We are unlikely to find consensus as a whole prepper or survivalist movement, but your own survival group needs to come up with one choice and stick with it.

Why can’t I have my AR15 and Bob have his FN SCAR? Why can’t Julie carry her KRISS Vector while Mary rocks the tried and true AK-47?

I can give you a lot of reasons:

AR15

Standard firearms behave the same way. One you learn the mechanics of your AR15, every other AR15 behaves the same way

Magazines: Each of your battle rifles should use the same magazines so that if needed, you can grab a spare one from your buddy, lock and load and keep going. You never want to find out that you are under attack and nobody around you has the same magazine, or that two people do, but they aren’t with you at the moment. Try telling your buddy to just hold them off-while you reload a few more magazines.

Spare Parts and Accessories: Let’s say someone has a rifle that has a part malfunction that renders that rifle inoperative. You could either let that sit on the shelf or you can use the spare parts to fix other rifles that may need it. Yes, you should always have spares but it’s far less trouble to buy three of one thing as opposed to one different part three times. You won’t have to learn how to pull apart three different weapons either although knowing how would be a good skill.

You can also look at accessories the same way. I have at least 3 different sets of scope rings I got for 3 different scopes. If I were to have the same scope as my buddy and mine went bad, if needed, I could simply swap his out with mine. The alternative of strapping that nice Vortex Strike Eagle down with duct tape isn’t a good option.

Operation and features: Standard firearms behave the same way. One you learn the mechanics of your AR15, every other AR15 behaves the same way. Learn how to disassemble one, you know how to disassemble all of them. Have a misfire? You know how to quickly clear one AR…I think you get the point.

Reliability: I will also add this minor factor in there. Assuming you buy comparable quality firearms, the make of your rifle and the reliability will be comparable to the other rifles so your lifespans should work out close to the same period of time assuming proper care and maintenance. I know I had an M-16 from the 70’s when I was in the Army and it worked just fine. I did get some new hand-grips though.

Choosing standard calibers

This one should be in the same category but I wanted to break it out because we could be talking about Shotguns, Rifles and Pistols above with your standard firearms. Your ammo should be the same for all firearms as well. So if you have standardized on Glock for example for your pistol, everyone should have the same caliber. This can be .45 or .40 or .357 or .9mm but everyone should carry the same ammo. Same point as above for magazines. When you run out, someone else’s magazine and the ammo naturally will slide right back into your pistol. Which pistol caliber is the best? That is a different argument and a completely different post.

Choosing standard camouflage

REALTREE_CAMOUFLAGE_SUIT

Uh, yep! I think camouflage is very necessary in a survival situation.

Is camouflage necessary? It really depends on what you envision as being possible in your survival group. Do you see this as the end of the world as we know it? Do you imagine hostile refugees coming down your street to demand food or the use of your women? Do you expect to be fighting traitorous UN forces who are marching across town? Do you think you will need to hide? Do you think you will need to hunt?

Having the same outfit can prevent someone from easily sneaking into your perimeter unnoticed. Granted, they could be wearing the same old Woodland Camo fatigues I wore in service and if that is what I chose for my group I would be in trouble. There is a case to be made for selecting something a little more novel like German, Australian or British camo. I prefer the easy options available at any hunting store in the US made by RealTree. They match your local foliage and if you are caught in them, you can easily say you were hunting. No need to look like a paramilitary type and gain unwanted attention if you don’t have to.

Choosing standard communication equipment

Baofeng makes a great, affordable radio for preppers.

I am referring to shortwave radios here. Radio frequencies are the same no matter what equipment you have so why do we have to purchase the same radios? I will give you two reasons. The first is batteries and the second is operation. I have yet to see two HAM radios that were programmed the same way. I know there is software that can make this easier, but to my mind if everyone has the same radio, everyone will know how to use it the same way. Less problems, fewer mistakes. You can choose from a lot of manufacturers and spend a little or a lot of money, but radios should also be the same for your group. My personal choice is Baofeng’s BF F8HP model.

Conclusion

There you have a few of my reasons and rationale for setting a group standard and in these instances at least, not trying to be a purple unicorn with sparkles. I am sure there are those out there who have different opinions so let’s hear them!

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Everyone likes to think they are unique and many people even go to great lengths to show the world just how special and creative they are. You have seen these

Safe Drinking Water Strategies for Preppers

DRINKING WATER – BACKGROUND:

How to sterilize water? Simple: You don’t need to ‘sterilize’ water. Sterilization is the destruction of all microorganisms in, on and around an object. What is needed for safe drinking water, is disinfection (killing of pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms). Disinfection can be done many ways, including filtration, heat, ozonation, and chemical disinfection.

Despite many stories to the contrary, simply boiling water will disinfect it. At any elevation you’re likely be at the boiling point of water is high enough to kill (or denature) anything in the water. You don’t need to boil it for any particular length of time, just get it boiling at a good rolling boil.

Pasteurization removes (Kill) disease-causing organisms in water by exposure to heating to 65°C (149°F) for a short period of time. This will free the water from microbes, including E. coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia and the Hepatitis A virus.

A Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) contains a heat specific soy wax that helps users determine when water has reached pasteurization temperatures. The WAPI has the added benefit of a tough stainless steel cable and brass end caps. Both are designed to withstand high heat which means they won’t melt when used over an open flame. This feature makes the WAPI especially valuable when used over an open fire, like camping or in situations where solar cooking is not an option.

Filtration is a good method, you should use a filter that has an absolute rating of 0.2 micron diameter or less (0.1 micron). Personally, I use iodine crystals (Polar Pure™ first, then filter the water. Chemical disinfection is the use of various chemicals (usually a halide like chlorine or iodine) in the water. It’s usually a quick, economical and effective method.

Purifying water with bleach

Letter Re: Purifying Water with Bleach

Regular liquid bleach is not stable, it breaks down gradually and eventually becomes just salt water over a period of 2 years. It’s still usable at 1 year but you must use twice as much.

Purifying water with Calcium Hypochlorite (pool shock)

Calcium hypochlorite will store in dry form nearly indefinitely (10 years), whereas liquid chlorine bleach loses half of its potency after a year (use twice as much for the same effect) and is next to worthless after two years.

Using calcium hypochlorite you can mix your own liquid bleach on an as-needed basis and have it fresh and fully active. (It’s very much like the difference in storage life between whole kernel wheat versus ground flour.)

Calcium Hypochlorite (Pool shock) can be purchased at any Pool supply center and most hardware stores.

Calcium Hypochlorite – purity

A granular (dry powder) “pool shock” product that lists only Calcium Hypochlorite as the active ingredient should be safe to use for water purification. The problem with other varieties is that they include other algaecide or fungicide chemicals that are probably not safe for human consumption. Ditto for using liquid bleach for the same purpose. Do NOT buy bleach with fabric softeners, scents, et cetera. Keep in mind that bleach solutions break down and weaken with time (anticipate a 24 month shelf life), but that dry granular bleach stores indefinitely.

Berkey BK4X2-BB Big Berkey Drinking Water Filtration System with 4 Filters – 2 Black Filters and 2 Fluoride Filters

Calcium Hypochlorite – Mixing

In an EXTREMELY well ventilated area, (Hint: OUTSIDE!) add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. Five pounds of dry pool bleach costs about $10-15, which will make about 92 gallons of bleach, which will sterilize 706,560 gallons of clear water, or 353,280 gallons of cloudy water.”

“Granular Calcium Hypochlorite. Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 mg/L, since the calcium hypochlorite has an available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 oz.) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the water as described below.

The treated water should be mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand, preferably covered, for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine odor; if not, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand for an additional 15 minutes. If the treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, it can be made more pleasing by allowing the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or by pouring it from one clean container to another several times”

Okay, a lot of people don’t have a 12.5 gallon container lying around, so let’s break it down. To make two gallons of the bleach, one heaping teaspoon of the calcium hypochlorite goes into 2 gallons of water. To make drinkable water, 1/8 (about 8 drops) tablespoons of the bleach goes into 1 gallon of water. Let stand covered 30 minutes, aerate to taste.

Safe Drinking Water treatment process – General

As mentioned previously, water from open sources must always be treated before use. Typical chlorine concentrations will kill bacteria but not all viruses. So I recommend a three-step approach to treating water from open sources:

Pre-filtering. This remove particulate matter. Pouring water though a couple of thickness of t-shirts or tightly woven bath towels works fine. The water that comes through will still look like tea, but at least you will have removed the crud and larger particles. By pre-filtering, you will also extend the life of your water filter. (You avoid clogging the microscopic pores in the filter media.)
Chlorinating. This can be accomplished following directions above.
Filtering. I recommend the large Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters. Some filter elements available for Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters can even remove chlorine.

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DRINKING WATER – BACKGROUND: How to sterilize water? Simple: You don’t need to ‘sterilize’ water. Sterilization is the destruction of all microorganisms in, on and around an object. What is needed

How to Travel Like a Prepper

Prepping for a large majority of us involves analyzing the risks we see inherent with situations we could be faced with and taking steps to mitigate those risks. For a lot of risks, the answer is simple. To avoid starving due to a disruption with our food delivery system you can grow your own food, you can plan to increase your storage of long-term foods by canning or purchasing quantities of extra foods, freeze-dried foods or bulk food items like wheat, beans and rice. Other aspects we prepare for involve a similar process but usually the place where we are best prepared is home.

Sure we can plan for bugging out if needed. Our bug out bags extend our abilities to leave our castle in the face of impending doom and move to a safer location. We can outfit bug out vehicles with additional capacity to move overland and carry extra supplies but nothing really replaces a strong, stable location where we have systems in place to help us survive. As well has having all our stuff, we know the land, usually have some relationships with neighbors or friends to further build-out our potential survival group. Our home base has incredible advantages that we might not miss unless we are away when some disaster happens and you are forced to make it home with only what you have on you and what you are able to scrounge or scavenge along the way.

I think of this subject at least once per year because I travel on business. My family travels to see relatives or to vacation in some nice place if we are lucky. When either of those things happen and I am hundreds or thousands of miles away from home, I feel less prepared for anything than when I am sitting in my suburban (non)bunker with all of my support systems surrounding me. However, I have learned that just because your man-cave isn’t within arm’s reach and all your weapons and gear aren’t as easily available, you can and should still prepare. There are some lessons I have learned and rules that I try to follow as closely as I can when I travel that could keep me alive and help me make it back home if disaster struck and I was away from my family. Today I want to talk about how to travel like a prepper so that you aren’t left with nothing if faced with disaster.

I have discussed in the past how to pack like you are never coming home. That article captured some of my thoughts around what you should consider if you were traveling with family via car somewhere away from home. Today I will focus more on the scenario of a trip where you are going to be traveling alone perhaps on business and need to plan for getting back home and surviving should some emergency occur.

Do your homework before you travel

Naturally, where you are traveling to, what your reason for traveling is, who you will be with and the method of travel all factor into decisions you have to make before you start throwing the first pair of socks into your suitcase. If I am headed an hour or two away, I would not plan the same way I would for a trip overseas. If I was traveling in my car, I would have different items than if I was traveling by plane.

Here are a few things I think about:

How far away from home will I be?
Is the destination a major urban center or more rural?
How will I get there?
What restrictions if any are there on what I carry or how I dress?
Can I make it home if needed on foot from this destination?
What is the best/safest route?
How long would it take?

The goal is to consider my travel destination within the context of what I am traveling for and take with me items that appropriately could mitigate my situation if some emergency happens. These emergencies can scale from minor travel disruptions to a complete grid-down mess.

What prepper tools can you bring with you on your travels?

Many of us leave the bug out bags and our go-to war chest rigs at home when we travel and that makes sense. If you leave town for a business trip, you simply won’t be able, without an inordinate amount of headache, take many of your prepping supplies with you.

There are some staples that I bring with me whenever I go that are multi-use and offer me several advantages that the casual traveler won’t have. Before I get into those, make sure your situational awareness doesn’t take a break when you are out-of-town. Know where the exits are at all times, especially in a strange place. Do you know the route back to the airport? Where are the major freeways? Are you watching the news for current events? Keeping connected to what is going on around you is advantageous too.

EDC items packed in the suitcase

Many people who fly these days pack all their luggage in a carry on. This has some advantages but many more drawbacks in my opinion. First, you can’t bring anything on the plane that could be construed as a weapon so that rules out knives and firearms obviously. Yes, I know people will say that you can never lose your luggage if it’s with you in the overhead compartment, but I would rather take my chances with that than to not have some defensive measures with me. Actually co-workers have looked at me strangely when they saw I was carrying a knife on a business trip because the idea is so foreign now. They even said, “How did you get that through security” because the idea of checking luggage is so foreign to them. Oddly enough another co-worker. when they saw I had a knife and a multi-tool said, “I know who I am hanging out with if anything bad happens”. They could see I was thinking ahead.

CamelBak Arete 18 Hydration Pack – Day pack for carrying essential gear plus water bladder

Knife – I bring along my tactical folding knife whenever I travel because the utility and advantages of a knife in a survival situation are too great to ignore. Yes, I assume that there might be some way for me to purchase one at my destination should all hell break loose, but who wants to take that chance?
Multi-Tool – Another force multiplier that goes with me. My Leatherman Wave has 17 tools that I could use if needed during an emergency. Some will say that since you have a knife on your multi-tool you could leave the other knife at home. Yes, you could, but I have a backup.
Headlamp – I have extolled the benefits of a great headlamp many times in the past and you don’t even have to worry about sneaking this past security. Being able to see with the added benefit of hands-free is a great advantage in a lot of situations. Need to get out of the hotel at night because of an earthquake? Wouldn’t you want to slap your headlamp on your head before you move out?
Bandana – Cheap multiple use items. The ubiquitous bandanna can offer protection from contaminants in the air, can be used to shield you from the sun, as a bandage, a sling and many other tasks limited only by your ingenuity. Carry more than one because they don’t weigh anything or take up space. You can have one in your carry-on luggage.
Source of fire – Pack a couple of Bic lighters and some dryer lint or a few WetFire packages to get a blaze going when you need to.
Firearm – If I am traveling any place that has a reciprocity agreement with my state on concealed carry, I am flying with a firearm. Flying with firearms is perfectly legal and relatively pain-free. I also carry a spare magazine, a holster and at least one box of ammo. If the worst does happen and I am forced to deal with a horrific situation, I want something more than harsh language as self-defense.
Bag/Backpack – I won’t pack anything large, but a small bag to carry items is another useful thing if you have to walk. Many travelers already have a backpack that they throw their laptops in. If you have one already you are good. I don’t have a backpack though so I carry the Camebak Arete 18 which does two things for me. First, it is a simple day-pack that can hold a modest amount of gear and supplies. I can throw all of my EDC items in this pack if I need to plus some shelter options and maybe some food and hit the road. Additionally, it has a water reservoir so I can carry water to drink at the same time. You can never have too much water capacity though so I also pack a 48 Ounce Nalgene Wide mouth canteen. This rolls up to about the size of a small deck of cards when I am not using it, but allows me to double my water capacity. I throw in a Sawyer Mini Water Filter too. For its size, it is phenomenal and gives me the ability to filter more water than I can probably drink in a couple of years safely.
Watch – My Pathfinder watch is solar-powered and it has a compass so if I get lost, this could help point the way.
Backup power – I also carry a battery backup system. The RAVPower 16750 Battery pack can charge my cell phone 6 times. If you are delayed somewhere or the power is out but cell service is still working, this can keep you talking with family. Also makes long overseas flights better when your devices don’t crap out on you mid-way across. Bonus feature, this has a light on it.
Cash – Always fly with cash because your credit cards or ATM cards may not work where you end up. How much cash should you carry? That depends on what you are comfortable with. I generally tend to bring enough to get me out of minor jams, but not so much I could buy a car. A couple of hundred dollars could go a long way.

hiker-1149877_640

You could be forced to make it home on foot. Will you have the right supplies to do that?

How will you make it back home if the worst happens?

So the EDC items above give me some advantages. I can cut things, shoot at bad people if they try to harm me, light my way and know where I am going. These tools above can help you anywhere you are, but what if you are forced to try walking home? What can you bring with you to assist you on that journey should you be unfortunate enough to have to make it back to your family.

Consider your clothing

I love sitting in airports and observing the outfits that people fly in. I imagine something tragic like a crash landing on a remote mountainous region and visualize how these people in their flip-flops and short shorts will fare.

For starters, I always fly in good laced up shoes just in case I have to make it out over sharp or hot surfaces but I also pack a walking outfit that fits the climate and terrain I will be traveling through if I have to make it back home. This isn’t anything fancy and I am not bringing changes of clothing but I do have some basics.

Long pants – Preferably some that are a little more durable. Hiking pants that convert to shorts would work too and pack down small. Extra pockets give you the ability to carry more and make sure they have loops for a belt.
Long Sleeve Shirt – Yes even in hotter climates I pack a (lightweight) long sleeve shirt. I can roll up the sleeves if needed, but cover up if the sun is an issue. Longer sleeves also help with mosquitoes and other insects.
Hat and Sunglasses – Seasonal. For warmer weather Hats offer a break from the sun and you always need to protect your eyes. In colder weather, the hat would be a toboggan.
Rain Gear – A jacket at a minimum even if there is no rain forecast for where I am staying. A rain jacket also doubles as a windbreaker. Colder locations I would bring other layers and a fleece.
Good walking shoes – These don’t have to be hiking boots but something that you can comfortably walk in all day. For many days potentially.

Know your route home

Sure you might be able to pick up a road atlas at a store before you leave, but know the route you would take back home just in case. One business trip I was on put me on the other side of the country. There were several routes home, but most passed directly through large cities. It may be necessary to avoid these in a really bad collapse.

Discuss plans with family

My family knows that if something happens when I am away that I will be coming back as long as I am alive. Cross country trips on foot could take months so they know it may take some time. If communication is open, then likely the emergency isn’t so wide-spread that civilization has failed. They know where the supplies are and what to do in order to stay safe. Make sure your family knows this too.

The items above only scratch the surface. There are so many other ways to stay safe when you travel that aren’t mentioned here but I find that the items above are the ones that most people leave at home. I could go on and on with other items that are useful, but I thought that this list covers most bases. What do you pack when you travel?

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There are so many other ways to stay safe when you travel that aren’t mentioned here but I find that the items above are the ones that most people leave

Everything will run out eventually

1 – VARIETY

2- EXTENDED STAPLES

3 – VITAMINS

4 – QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FOODS

5 – BALANCE

6 – CONTAINERS

7 – USE YOUR STORAGE

What did I do next?

Right-Sizing the Solar Electric System and Trade-Offs

Home Heating

Heating Water

Other Decisions and Trade-Offs

Identifying Your Needs

Selecting the System Components

How Much Will it Cost?

Mounting the Solar Panels, Wiring, and other Considerations

Become an expert (or at least knowledgeable)

Failure Considerations

Bartering

Taking it to the next level

Summary

Less than lethal

Tazer

Pepper Spray/Bear Spray

Kubaton

Self-defense cane

Extendable Baton

Tire Thumper

Baseball Bat

Fire Extinguisher

Bug/Wasp Spray

Generating Shade

Splitting the Season

Selecting Varieties

Curveballs and Challenges

Why rotate your crops?

The “Sam doesn’t rotate” excuse

Common crop rotations – 3-bed or Leaf-Root-Fruit

Common crop rotations – 4-plot and 5-plot systems

Common crop rotation strategy – 6-stage “pie”

Crop rotation really does matter

What Is Paracord?

Survival Bracelets and Their Uses

Making Your Survival Bracelet

FIRST LEVEL: Preparing your physical resources

SECOND LEVEL: Preparing your plan of action

THIRD LEVEL: Preparing your family emotionally

The importance of the group standard to preppers

Choosing standard firearms

Choosing standard calibers

Choosing standard camouflage

Choosing standard communication equipment

Conclusion

DRINKING WATER – BACKGROUND:

Purifying water with bleach

Purifying water with Calcium Hypochlorite (pool shock)

Calcium Hypochlorite – purity

Calcium Hypochlorite – Mixing

Safe Drinking Water treatment process – General

Do your homework before you travel

What prepper tools can you bring with you on your travels?

EDC items packed in the suitcase

How will you make it back home if the worst happens?

Consider your clothing

Know your route home

Discuss plans with family

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