Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card Protecting homes from water infiltration Jesse Smith - September 7, 2021 Across the northeast, many thousands of basements and crawlspaces have taken on water. I’m sure this will cost tens or hundreds millions of dollars to fix. A sizable number of these instances could have been easily avoided. Here are some quick thoughts from someone who diagnoses and fixes buildings for a living. Comments here are limited to rural and suburban homes not located in a flood plain. First an anecdote regarding one of the houses I was in last night. Late in the evening one of my neighbors knocked on my door to help another neighbor who she said had around 2″ of water in their basement. I grabbed boots and a headlamp and headed over. Once in the basement I found the owner and 2 other neighbors pushing water towards a sump pump in the rear corner. The water problem was so serious that they noted a nearby basement window well was full of water, which was running down the wall and back into the sump. <This might sound strange, but water infiltration is actually a window into the centuries old feud between religion and science, except that we currently live in something resembling the 1600s. Consequently, a great majority of people adhere to a religious perspective, which stipulates that the gods put water in basements, and there is nothing you can do to stop the basement water gods, aside from being a good person generally. Conversely, the profoundly unpopular scientific view stipulates that water in basements actually originates somewhere other than the basement, and remediation of water infiltration should see considerable effort devoted toward the prevention of water entry. Back to the story.> Being an adherent to the scientific camp, I proceeded outside to investigate potential sources of water infiltration. Once there I discover that the sump outlet was directing most of its water into the window well. So three dudes pushing water into a sump that pushes water into a window well that leaks back into the house in an infinite loop, while Yakety Sax loudly plays in the background (maybe the music is just in my head). My purpose here isn’t to ridicule my neighbors. It’s simply a window into the shortcomings of the nearly universal approach to this problem. In my experience the great majority of basement water infiltration is due to very remedial problems compounded by homeowners’ and technicians’ lack of sophistication, buttressed by their deeply held conviction that they’re a lot smarter than they are. For every 1.5″ of rainfall, each horizontal square foot of your home will manage roughly 1 gallon of water. The footprint of most single family homes is probably over 1500 sq ft (think overhang, garages, porches, etc), which means that a lot of houses last night saw 6000 gallons. In a heavy rain, a single downspout and the ground around it might see over 1000 gallons of water. So this system has to have high integrity. What are some common problem areas? The roof deposits the water into a gutter via a flashing connection (drip edge) which directs water from the roof into the gutter. This drip edge has to be over the gutters. Gutters are often placed over the drip edge, which can direct water behind the gutter. The gutters must be sloped to downspouts (not aggressively 1/16″ per foot is fine) or they will overflow. The gutters must be free from debris or they will overflow. The gutter connection to the downspout must be robust, and the cutout from the gutter must be adequate (read that carefully – a large number of gutters simply have a hole to the downspout that’s too small). The downspouts and sump outlets should deposit water at least 10′ from the foundation where the grade slopes away from the house. (A corollary to this that I may cover later is that we usually don’t go over 20′ and we avoid tying multiple downspouts/sumps together!) I prefer to use 4″ PVC sub-grade to daylight wherever I can. Horizontal downspout extensions get stepped on by people with lawnmowers. Corrugated pipe extensions get knocked loose. Houses where the ground slopes toward the house may need to use grading and landscaping to direct water to the sides. Downspouts are often located in intractably stupid places, i.e. where water simply can’t be managed from the ground. Look up! Can you eliminate that downspout and pitch the gutter towards a different downspout? Can you redirect a substantial amount of water from an upper roof to an alternate downspout? At least half the homes I see have a significant opportunity to redirect water before it hits the ground. One of the most effective ways to evaluate your drainage system is to walk around your house during a torrential rain. Look at every part of the system from the roof-flashing-gutter-downspout-drainage system. Does water pond against the house? Can you redirect it? For advanced diagnosticians, here are some handy tips for interpreting symptoms and the nomenclature of homeowners or techs: Efflorescence is characterized by salt deposits on the inside of masonry walls. This will form in areas with longstanding moisture problems, meaning the foundation is staying wet for a very long time. Check for water sources on the outside. I play a fun guessing game from inside the basement called ‘where are your downspouts? Oh, there they are!’ “My house has high water table.” = Water is getting into my basement and I don’t know why. “This whole neighborhood has high water table.” = My neighbors are idiots too. “The water is coming in through the floor.” = I don’t know where the water is entering and I’ve confused the low point in my basement slab with the point of entry. Hope someone finds this helpful! Read More 6 12 Thoughts on Blue Can Emergency Drinking Water? CamilleContributor - September 6, 2021 I was doing some research on how to safely store a supply of emergency water in my vehicle. I am moving to a more tropical climate to start graduate school and temperatures there can climb quite high for the majority of the year, and because it’s a hurricane/flood zone it’s important to have a supply of emergency water in the vehicle in case I need to evacuate. I have read through the Best Emergency Water Storage Containers for Your Home article by The Prepared team and I think it’s very well researched, but I have concerns about using the home storage containers recommended (which are plastic) for months at a time in the incredibly high temperatures found in a car in the tropics. Even though it may not be super dangerous to my health to be drinking water stored in plastic at high temperatures for a long period of time in an emergency scenario, I’d still like to avoid it, and I worry about the plastic warping in the heat and losing it’s integrity. I was also looking for a method of water storage that was easy to grab and drink while driving, no pouring out of a larger, potentially heavy and bulky container required. I found Blue Can Premium Emergency Drinking Water on Amazon. It basically looks like a pack of aluminum soda cans, except they are filled with water that the Blue Can company claims has a shelf life of 50 years. Reviews on Amazon are quite mixed. It’s about $2 a can after tax and shipping. Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with using Blue Can Emergency Drinking Water in their preps? Read More 11 5 AdviceGear Anyone have any experience with heated clothing? pnwsarahContributor - September 5, 2021 Hi TP friends, After Oregon’s snow/ice storms and multi-day power this past winter, my partner and I realized we needed to get serious about the implications of living in an on-grid, all-electric house in the event of a prolonged power outage during cold weather. We’re not stoked on generators for several reasons (Most prominent: We don’t want to have to store all that fuel; we don’t want to spend a ton of money on something we will be far less likely to need when we inevitably move), and we’ve been thinking about heated clothing as an alternative. My two main questions are: (1) “What brands are good quality?” (i.e., function reliably; won’t set us on fire), and (2) the more fundamental, “Is this even a good idea?” Before you take a stab at (2), some context: We live in western Oregon. It doesn’t get that cold. When it does get seriously cold, it doesn’t stay that way for long. We’re avid outdoorspersons. We have multiple sleeping bags, multiple down comforters, multiple down jackets, two tents, and a LOT of fleece and wool blankets and clothing. We can always heat water on a camping stove in the backyard for tea and hot water bottles. We also have a husky mix, who doubles as an XL, living hot water bottle. For all these reasons, I am very confident in our ability to create a space in our home where we can sleep comfortably on a cold night without heat. While I am confident in our ability to create a warm bed/blanket fort for ourselves in our house in winter without heat, I do not want to actually LIVE in said bed/blanket fort for the duration of a power outage. That would suck. We have friends who lived in a shipping container for two western Oregon winters while they were building their house. One of them bought a heated jacket to get through it. That’s where we got this possibly stupid idea. Both friends are, however, very much alive as of this writing. So… thoughts? Experiences? Alternatives? Brand reccos? Thanks in advance… Read More 9 29 AdviceGear Booster shot / jab for already vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna Bob - September 5, 2021 https://www.businessinsider.com/how-where-when-to-get-covid-booster-shot-vaccine-2021-8 Good evening, This is first article I’ve run across telling that the booster is “free”. It’s administered 8 months after second primary shot / jab. Some medical sites say it’s best after 9 (nine) months. Definitely check with your health care providers re 8 or 9 months. For me, I avoid driving in adverse winter weather so will factor this into my plans. Read More 3 2 Tips on working with FEMA for an insurance claim after a disaster? Courtney - September 2, 2021 I’ve been seeing a lot of media around the fact that FEMA actually accepts very few claims, very few claims are approved, and some folks have difficulty producing documents or getting a reasonable claim on lost property. I live in a wildfire prone state. Up until a year ago I would have said I wasn’t in a wildfire prone neighborhood, but the east suburbs of Portland, OR ended up with a fire close enough and big enough to take out some property and caused a large evacuation area. I live in the west suburbs so this felt like a close call. So it got me thinking about how I would rebuild after a fire. I have homeowner’s insurance I am going to look closely at, but I’m not sure yet if it would pay out if I lost my house to a wildfire. Does anyone have the inside scoop on FEMA, getting through the process, documents needed, common errors, what kind of reimbursement to expect, etc? Read More 6 11 How have y’all improved or worked on your preps during lockdown? Alex Henry - September 2, 2021 Hi, Kindly let me know How have y’all improved or worked on your preps during a lockdown? Read More 3 4 “Domestic Preparedness” website good to subscribe to Bob - September 2, 2021 Good morning, The website “Domestic Preparedness” is a decent site to get on their mailing list. Believe: domprep.com They’re out of Severna Park, Maryland … metro D.C. (the Swamp). This week’s issue had an article re security lessons from Boston Marathon, the expansion of CDC, and “First Aid for Severe Trauma” (FAST). Again, worth checking out. It could be of value to one’s prepper education. Read More 2 0 A review of finger splints Bob - September 1, 2021 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-finger-splints#finger-splints-for-kids Good morning, The above linked article good for both review and intro to subject. I never gamble. Risks: yes – just no gambling. Had I been a gambler of any sort, my definition of “trigger finger” would have involved Hopalong Cassiday, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and SFO’s Kitty Marcus, wife of Wyatt Earp. Read More 4 7 When have you become the first responder? Molly N. 😆 - August 31, 2021 Just joined the forum after seeing ya’ll on CNN last night. I have been looking for a website with good information about emergency preparedness and it seems to have found me! I’d like to hop in and introduce myself as Molly and ask a question. When have you had the chance to be a first responder to someone or a situation? Have you came across a car accident or stopped a child from choking on something? I’ve always been intrigued with being prepared and able to help out others and save the day. I once saved my niece from drowning at a family BBQ. She was a decent swimmer but for some reason must have tuckered out and just went under the water. I went down and pulled her out and she sputtered some water and was afraid of the pool for the rest of the day, but she made it. Thank you to everyone who comments and replies. Read More 9 17 Austere First Aid video course trailer + 50% off preorders are live John AdamaStaff - August 31, 2021 Excited to share that we’ve just released the trailer and preorders for the Austere First Aid online video course we’ve been working on the last few months! Check it out and preorder for only $59. Similar in-person courses cost $300-500 and take 5-7 days. Includes 90+ lessons, 7+ hours of video, downloadable references, and lifetime access with free future versions. It’s the only online course of its kind, and there just aren’t many classes anywhere that teach you how to handle medical emergencies when you can’t depend on professional help to save you. Is this something you’re interested in? Full course will launch later this summer. Read More 25 24 NewsSkills Bugging IN or OUT your response times matter Bill Masen - August 29, 2021 Bug In or out , your response times matter. Think about it, we nearly all have well sorted INCH, BOB or GHBs and plans on what to do it the balloon goes up, but have you considered your RESPONSE times in relation to Getting Out Of Town / Getting home/ Evacuating in the context of what everyone else is doing at the same time. Lets consider a few examples of thev worst kind first before looking at more likely issues. 1 Cascadia / San Andreas. If you live close to the coast you could have as little as five minutes to react to a tsunami hitting places like Coastal Oregon / Washington and an average of roughly 12 to 25 minutes in So Cal. But remember the footage from Anchorage in the 60s when the same fault let rip, the first thing that went out was the bridges and roads as huge landslides blocked roads, bridges collapsed and in places roads split and rose or fell by 30 meters so you need to explore all options including such things as heading to the upper floors of tower blocks and Multi story Car Parks insead of joining the masses running away from the sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake 2 Depending where you live if the Volcano on Gran Canaria erupted and that huge chunk of mountainside fell into the ocean you could have up to 3 hours to get out to safety in Northern Europe and FIVE hours on the East Coast of the US, but consider the blind panic as New York, Boston etc Galveston, New Orleans, Miami and the Keys etc all tried to get inland in five hours ?. During H Andrew when the target area had DAYS of warning many left it late to move to safer ground inland, Gridlock ensued and one well documented Prepper families efforts were for nothing. They left 12 hours before the storm was due to hit in a fully prepped BOV with full tanks and extra jerry cans, But because of the huge volume of traffic they found themselves crawling along at 5 MPH for 14 hours and ran out of fuel in the middle of nowheresville Georgia. Imagine all of the lowlanders of SE England trying to head west and north in a blind panic with the news that the tsunami is only 3 hours away. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew 3 Slipping down the scale of dramatic effect a bit if we had another perfect storm of the type that caused so much damage to the UK east coast in 1953 where nearly 3000 Brits and Dutch drowned often in their homes. Today sea levels are higher, population density is FAR higher today and only certain key coastal and riverine defences like the Thames barrier are fully maintained. Another storm like the 1953 storm if it broke through the defences could kill upwards of 50,000 people and deluge much of London and the area around the Thames estuary. Can you imagine 9.3 million Londoners trying to leave the area in a hurry and most would not try to get out until the barriers started to fail. Only ONE van leaking diesel in the Blackhall tunnel recently during rush hour caused traffic jams over 10 miles long and delays of up to 5 hours across a huge area, so a couple of minor crashes, people running out of fuel etc and hundreds of thousands will be stranded with no room for manoeuvre. Oh and in 1953 we still have a huge CIVIL DEFENCE program of equipment and staff to help rescue efforts ALL now long disbanded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953 I wrote this BEFORE the Covid Outbreak of 2020. 4 So imagine a Spanish flu outbreal like the one in 1918 hitting London, crippling essential services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic or an EMP or Carrington event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 hitting the country and suddenly the power is gone, not only have your cities lost their electricity but their street lights, traffic lights, cell phones, land lines, refrigeration, tube trains, trams, water , gas and sewage supplies, check out tills and credit card readers, cash points, lifts, flood barriers power to houses and shops. Imagine the Carrington event happening in a bad winter? 5 The HUGE firestorms that raced across both California and Australia in the last few years, that in some cases the fires were reported to travel faster than a speeding vehicle.. 6 Mass urban civil unrest and rioting looting and arson in the US in 2020, often the law enforcement agencies stood aside and did nothing. Think about people living OVER or NEXT to shops and businesses being looted. OR Imagine living along a route between shopping centres and business districts. It could even be the arrival of MILLIONS of desperate migrants overwhelming the authorities and pouring into the country in huge numbers collapsing our entire social welfare infrastructure and looting, stealing and rioting. The EU has found itself totally unable to stop 2 million migrants from surging across Europe, And in the US Trumps wall looks likely to be abandoned because of a change in the administration. Imagine any given scenario where you need to get home QUICK or bug out QUICK I am sure most if not all of us have our plans in place regardless of how minor, melodramatic or massive they are, but have you considered all the potential obstacles in your way from blocked roads, refugees, road blocks, strikers, terrorist activity, riots by migrants creating no go areas, collapsed bridges, traffic jams, YOUR vehicle breaking down AND the realisation that your allotted times for getting out of town turn out to be far shorter than you planned for. Consider Alternative routes, Consider alternative responses, Consider the suitability of your current kit to deal with varying situations and far shorter reaction times. Consider ensuring you have TV and Radios with the ability to switch to breaking news broadcasts if something happens. Oh and never forget its the preppers who are best informed who can react quickly to take advantage of the various APPS and Tickers you can get for your PCs and Cell phones that instantly send breaking news to you as it happens. PreWARNED is as good as being prePARED. Read More 10 19 FYI a photo montage of the huge increase in secure gated communities Bill Masen - August 27, 2021 Here is an insight into how many mainly middle class types are responding to increases in anxiety over their families security. Whilst the silly rich go the Bunker/ Iceberg home/ Private Island or Retreat route, this is how many middle classes go. I recently read that over 40% of all new build developments in the US are now Gated or Secure communities. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/may/05/for-your-protection-gated-cities-around-the-world-in-pictures Read More 5 11 🏠 Home buying with preparedness in mind Lowell - August 25, 2021 Put yourself in my shoes. You’re currently renting, but eventually want to buy a home for the sake of financial and physical security? What traits do you look for in the home itself? My general thinking is we’re heading towards some sort of climate apocalypse (and maybe with some broad state repression too). Not soon, but perhaps decades down the road, which is very pertinent to me as a twenty something. Here’s some examples I can think of, but I’m very curious to hear what y’all have to recommend! Roof conducive to solar panels. Ideally South-facing and in a shape that’s easy to cover in panels. A basement, for passive insulation during heatwaves, among other reasons I’m sure. A location with multiple exit routes, so like not an island (like Mercer Island in Seattle) or the tip of a peninsula (like Alki in Seattle). I figure a standalone house is ideal, rather than a condo or townhouse. Perhaps some minimum distance between the home and property line on all sides. Elevation above sea level, and perhaps even relative elevation to avoid flooding. Read More 15 36 AdviceScenarios How to connect with farmers that are selling to people, not restaurants? Conrad B - August 24, 2021 Trying to kill two birds with one stone. I’m seeing the effects of meat shortages in my area so I’m going to try and get more stocked in my freezer. And I’ve read in other forums about people sourcing meat from ranchers who ordinarily sell to restaurants but are starting to sell to regular people to make ends meet. Has anyone done this? And what kinds of prices are the farmers charging / is it cheaper than stores? I admit I’ve never had to think much about where to get food before and don’t know how that all works. Read More 13 10 Advice What are the best apps dealing with maps? Wicked74 - August 24, 2021 Hello all, New to the site and am excited to be here. I need some help. Can you all chime in and let me know which apps are the best when it comes to maps. I need an app that will allow me to download maps. I figured many if not all, of you, know more than me and have been through the said apps and already know the good ones. I thank you all in advance!!!! Read More 13 9 Bartering items which hold value and could be liquidated Reaper19 - August 24, 2021 Hello, With people growing more nervous about the economy and potential hyper-inflation not to mention the potential for overall collapse, I’m identifying items which can be bought in large quantities for barter, but could also be re-sold/liquidated for close to the cash value should the economy stabilize or the the national/global outlook improve. The only items I can identify are guns and ammo. Most other large quantity prepper items are not going to be able to be easily resold for approx the same value under normal circumstance. Thoughts? Thank you. Read More 6 15 Your longest time without seeing a new face? Oldprepper - August 24, 2021 I would be interested to know your experience of not seeing or communicating with other people for a good while.? Did it go as expected?….. What pitfalls did you encounter?… Were your preparation adequate? Would you have done something different? Read More 12 12 Hiding stuff like Bobs, supplies, valuables Bill Masen - August 23, 2021 Seeing we appear to be chatting about places to cache or conceal gear and BOBS I thought I would share a few images I found some years ago online. Regretably I do not have the details of the authorship. Just some images FYI. Read More 1 1 A question about your caches and stores. Bill Masen - August 23, 2021 Across the board (and the pond) I read with great delight that more and more people are putting time, effort and money into prep supplies. Food, Fuel, Water, Medical, Maintenence, Logistics, Communications, Reference and Security subjects being addressed in sensible and prudent style. But ( and please correct me if i am wrong) but I am detecting a few cases that cause me concern. (1) Dates and Ages (1) People bulk buying their food, fuel, medical TIME SENSITIVE gear all at one time, which can often mean those supplies become life expired all at the same time. I have just heard from a friend who bulk bought ALL of his AA, AAA and CR123 Lithium batteries in 2012 and now they are all just about life expired which means a big bill to replace. I have read of people buying assorted bulk food stuffs from one supplier all at the same time thus meaning stuff like their bulk rice, grains, powdered eggs all need replacing at the same time. And should that batch of supplies be defective you lose the whole lot. I strongly reccomend getting your supplies in over a prolonged period from various sources and if it suits you, different brands. Then EAT the oldest foods first, use the oldest batteries first, the oldest meds the oldest fuel etc. and buying different batches with different dates from different stores also reduces the risk if you are unfortunate enough to buy a bad batch of something. BUY WHAT YOU EAT AND EAT WHAT YOU BUY, rotate your stocks so the freshest gear goes to the back of the shelf., and only buy foods and brands you actually like and prefer. (2) Where are you storing your supplies, again I am hearing some alarming stories. So it is highly preferential you dont put all your eggs in one basket, literally. IF you can do not store all your supplies in one location, if there is a fire, flood, riot, quake, etc you could very easily lose everything instantly. Try where possible to store your essential supplies in multiple locations, even within your home by spreading your supplies about, it is better than having them all in one cupboard or larder. Even better if you can divide your supplies at assorted locations such as work, the cabin, in an insulated trailer, or even at a neighbours place. (2A) Guys unless you attic / loft space is weather proof and totally insulated dont store FOODS, MEDS, or perishables in your roof space, temp variations in roof spaces can vary by 100 degrees in some places. (2B) Going to the other end the Outhouse, Cellar or Garage, unless it temp and humidity stable dont store perishables in those places also (2C) Never store FUEL or Chemicals in the same place as Food, Water and Med supplies (or cleaning materials) (2D) If storing bulk water never stand plastic containers directly onto the floor ESPECIALLY if its concrete, Insulate with wood, carper etc because chemicals in the concrete apparently can leach into the stored water ( I dont know the chemistry but I’m told its true). Also water does NOT go off but it does go stale and cab absorb chemical from the air and storage container. So its wise the empty, rinse and refill the water containers a couple of time each year. (2E) Dont store anything on the upper shelves that could ruin the supplies underneath if it leaks. (2F) dont store glass containers high off the ground in quake zones, Also consider stringing elastic shock cord across each shelf to hold containers in place if their is a quake. Read More 2 12 Spiders – the insidious attack insects Illini Warrior - August 22, 2021 https://survival-mastery.com/med/health/spider-bites-treatment.html Read More 1 2 Skills Twenty minute dry beans Barb LeeContributor - August 21, 2021 Dry beans are a really important staple in food storage, but preparing them is really fuel and water intensive. Over time, I’ve been experimenting with making “quick cook” dry beans, based on this blog post: https://seedtopantryschool.com/dehydrating-beans-make-quick-cook-beans/ I’ve noted she’s made some revisions to the instructions I read some years ago. Lots of pictures and explanations in the article. Anyway, I’m in the midst of a dehydrating frenzy, with the unit going nearly every day, and this week I’m preparing a stash of dry beans for quick cooking. So nice to use the cooking resources when they are plentiful! The basics: Soak dry beans 8-12 hours, or use the “quick soak” method. Rinse the beans, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil and boil ten minutes. Drain and rinse. Dehydrating is “tricky” unless you don’t mind bean crumbles. This method prepares the beans so they remain intact, and make nice additions to soups, etc. Dry the soaked and rinsed beans for about 5 hours at the lowest setting. The article says 95 deg F, my unit doesn’t go lower than 105 and that worked. At higher heat, apparently the quick-drying skin will “curl” the softened inner bean and cause it to split and crumble. The lower temp seems to “set” the inner bean and make it more crumble resistant. After about 5 hours, I went ahead and cranked the heat up to 125 and dried the pinto beans hard. They are almost 100% intact and virtually look like raw dry beans. This morning I rehydrated by pouring a normal cooking amount of boiling water over them and left them to soak a couple of hours. Then without draining, I brought the beans to a boil, then reduced to simmer. They were al dente within 10 minutes, and mash-able within 20. Tacos and refrieds tonight! I’m about to vacuum seal the rest, and I expect to have “20 minute pinto beans” in storage for years to come. Currently I’m drying great northern and navy beans. I have a great recipe for bean soup that uses mashed potatoes as a thickener. Read More 7 7 Do you fish? Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021 We just published a guide to fishing. Do you fish? Have any tips or experiences you’d like to share? Read More 7 8 MetaSkills Lessons from my 2021 garden Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021 I offer a lot of gardening advice on this site, so I think it’s important that I share how things have worked for me. Here are some of the lessons I learned from my summer garden: Raised Beds A while back, I wrote about how I switched to raised beds. Some are no-till, one was double dug, but all have done pretty well. I’ve grown cucumbers, peppers, sweet potatoes, basil, marigolds, amaranth, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Yields weren’t just fantastic, but we had a baby this summer, so I greatly scaled back my ambitions. But the raised beds still produced a good amount of food and I didn’t break any machinery or myself in the process, so I think it’s been a big success. Trellising I posted a forum thread on how to make trellises with PVC pipe and string. I got the idea from Brett Markham’s The Mini Farming Bible. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up well at all. My pole beans regularly broke the trellis, so I had to support it with a metal t-post. The tomatoes (which did amazing) completely overtook the trellis and everything around it. Future trellises will be made of t-posts and cattle panels. Squash and Melon Pits The squash crop was a disaster. A rabid possum ate everything in the melon pits, including the dirt, so I had to buy bagged soil and start over. Squash germinated well enough but produced very little. My neighbor also had trouble, which he blamed on blight. I think next year I’m going to just grow winter squash in raised beds and trellis them. Melon pits aren’t without value. David the Good had great success with them this year. Mulch Since I planted so intensively, I made a point of deep mulching. I have a bagger on my pushmower so I just threw down grass clippings. The beds stayed moist except during the worst dry spells. Tomatoes I don’t specify tomatoes as a survival crop, but my wife canned a ton of them last year and we’re still using them, so I put five tomato plants in the ground that I started from seed (German Pink from Baker Creek). They did almost too well. I put them at the north edge of the bed and they ended up taking over their bed and the one next to it. And of course they totally overwhelmed my trellis. The tomatoes had no disease and were barely bothered by pests. I attribute that to planting them in a bed that was double-dug two feet down, plant them about a foot deep in the ground, and I put a Tums at the bottom of the holes for calcium. I’ll repeat all that next year, but I’ll put them in the center of the bed, dedicate the entire bed to the tomatoes, and properly cage them. One mistake I made: picking tomatoes when they were too green. The right time to pick them is just when they start turning red. If I wait for them to get fully ripe, the bugs will eat them. Sweet Potatoes I haven’t harvested them yet, but the plants have done really well in a foot of compost. The leaves make great rabbit fodder. The leaves have perfectly shaded the bed so I almost never have to water it and there are very few weeds. Green Beans I went all-in on pole beans this year (Kentucky Wonder), but I kind of wish I hadn’t. They produced well, but it took them two months before I got anything. Next year I’m going to mix bush beans with pole beans. Bush beans produce faster, pole beans produce more. Cucumbers and Peppers I grew these because my son likes them. Poor yields from both. Too much cucumber disease and the peppers just didn’t produce. I think they were spaced too closely. But I have two big mason jars full of fermented pickles that are quite good. I saved a bunch of cucumber seed to see if the second generation is better adapted next year. Amaranth I grew two varieties: “Chinese spinach” and Golden Giant. The Chinese spinach ended up being bug fodder, which is okay because I didn’t stress the garden this year. I’ve been harvesting the Golden Giant for seed when the heads are dry and putting them in large paper bags so the seeds can fall out. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but I grew it as an experiment. Lettuce I made it a goal to grow a decent amount of lettuce this year, with some success. The problem is it gets so hot here so fast that lettuce gets bitter. There are a number of things I could do to mitigate that, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. What I may do next year is grow just a couple of heads at a time, planted a couple of weeks apart. Harvest one head, replant, and then harvest the other head a week or two later. Or maybe I’ll just buy it locally and focus on survival crops that take less work. Garlic I had two beds of garlic in the ground. Garlic is easy to grow, so it produced okay, but the heads were kind of small, I think due to hard soil. I’m going to fill a raised bed with garlic in a few weeks. Other Observations Spinosad and neem oil work okay against bugs, but I think diatomaceous earth works better. An irrigation system of some kind would be really nice, but I want something that isn’t dependent on city water. I’m planning to set up a water collection system next to my workshop and I’ll work from there. Next year, I’m going to focus more on survival crops, like potatoes. I’ll have more beds built then and I’ve sort of learned the hard way to not plant things just because the kids say they’ll eat them. Read More 9 8 Skills < Prev 1 2 3 … 38 39 40 … 60 61 62 Next > Recently Active News for the week of 2025-07-07 - 18 hours agoFun ways to teach kids outdoor/survival skills - 7 days agoNews for the week of 2025-06-30 - 1 week agoNews for the week of 2025-06-23 - 2 weeks agoNews for the week of 2025-06-16 - 2 weeks ago RULES This forum is heavily moderated to keep things valuable to as many people as possible. Full community policies are here. The basics: 1. Be nice to each other. 2. Stay focused on prepping. 3. Avoid politics, religion, and other arguments. 4. No unfounded conspiracies, fake news, etc. 5. Debate ideas, not people. FILTER Show all Advice Gear Meta News Scenarios Skills

Protecting homes from water infiltration

Jesse Smith - September 7, 2021

Across the northeast, many thousands of basements and crawlspaces have taken on water. I’m sure this will cost tens or hundreds millions of dollars to fix. A sizable number of these instances could have been easily avoided. Here are some quick thoughts from someone who diagnoses and fixes buildings for a living. Comments here are limited to rural and suburban homes not located in a flood plain.

First an anecdote regarding one of the houses I was in last night. Late in the evening one of my neighbors knocked on my door to help another neighbor who she said had around 2″ of water in their basement. I grabbed boots and a headlamp and headed over. Once in the basement I found the owner and 2 other neighbors pushing water towards a sump pump in the rear corner. The water problem was so serious that they noted a nearby basement window well was full of water, which was running down the wall and back into the sump. 

<This might sound strange, but water infiltration is actually a window into the centuries old feud between religion and science, except that we currently live in something resembling the 1600s. Consequently, a great majority of people adhere to a religious perspective, which stipulates that the gods put water in basements, and there is nothing you can do to stop the basement water gods, aside from being a good person generally. Conversely, the profoundly unpopular scientific view stipulates that water in basements actually originates somewhere other than the basement, and remediation of water infiltration should see considerable effort devoted toward the prevention of water entry. Back to the story.>

Being an adherent to the scientific camp, I proceeded outside to investigate potential sources of water infiltration. Once there I discover that the sump outlet was directing most of its water into the window well. So three dudes pushing water into a sump that pushes water into a window well that leaks back into the house in an infinite loop, while Yakety Sax loudly plays in the background (maybe the music is just in my head). 

My purpose here isn’t to ridicule my neighbors. It’s simply a window into the shortcomings of the nearly universal approach to this problem. In my experience the great majority of basement water infiltration is due to very remedial problems compounded by homeowners’ and technicians’ lack of sophistication, buttressed by their deeply held conviction that they’re a lot smarter than they are.

For every 1.5″ of rainfall, each horizontal square foot of your home will manage roughly 1 gallon of water. The footprint of most single family homes is probably over 1500 sq ft (think overhang, garages, porches, etc), which means that a lot of houses last night saw 6000 gallons. In a heavy rain, a single downspout and the ground around it might see over 1000 gallons of water. So this system has to have high integrity. What are some common problem areas? 

The roof  deposits the water into a gutter via a flashing connection (drip edge) which directs water from the roof into the gutter. This drip edge has to be over the gutters. Gutters are often placed over the drip edge, which can direct water behind the gutter. The gutters must be sloped to downspouts (not aggressively 1/16″ per foot is fine) or they will overflow. The gutters must be free from debris or they will overflow. The gutter connection to the downspout must be robust, and the cutout from the gutter must be adequate (read that carefully – a large number of gutters simply have a hole to the downspout that’s too small).  The downspouts and sump outlets should deposit water at least 10′ from the foundation where the grade slopes away from the house. (A corollary to this that I may cover later is that we usually don’t go over 20′ and we avoid tying multiple downspouts/sumps together!) I prefer to use 4″ PVC sub-grade to daylight wherever I can. Horizontal downspout extensions get stepped on by people with lawnmowers. Corrugated pipe extensions get knocked loose.  Houses where the ground slopes toward the house may need to use grading and landscaping to direct water to the sides.  Downspouts are often located in intractably stupid places, i.e. where water simply can’t be managed from the ground. Look up! Can you eliminate that downspout and pitch the gutter towards a different downspout? Can you redirect a substantial amount of water from an upper roof to an alternate downspout? At least half the homes I see have a significant opportunity to redirect water before it hits the ground.

One of the most effective ways to evaluate your drainage system is to walk around your house during a torrential rain. Look at every part of the system from the roof-flashing-gutter-downspout-drainage system. Does water pond against the house? Can you redirect it? 

For advanced diagnosticians, here are some handy tips for interpreting symptoms and the nomenclature of homeowners or techs: 

Efflorescence is characterized by salt deposits on the inside of masonry walls. This will form in areas with longstanding moisture problems, meaning the foundation is staying wet for a very long time. Check for water sources on the outside. I play a fun guessing game from inside the basement called ‘where are your downspouts? Oh, there they are!’  “My house has high water table.” = Water is getting into my basement and I don’t know why. “This whole neighborhood has high water table.” = My neighbors are idiots too.  “The water is coming in through the floor.” = I don’t know where the water is entering and I’ve confused the low point in my basement slab with the point of entry.

Hope someone finds this helpful!

Read More

6

12

Thoughts on Blue Can Emergency Drinking Water?

CamilleContributor - September 6, 2021

I was doing some research on how to safely store a supply of emergency water in my vehicle. I am moving to a more tropical climate to start graduate school and temperatures there can climb quite high for the majority of the year, and because it’s a hurricane/flood zone it’s important to have a supply of emergency water in the vehicle in case I need to evacuate.

I have read through the Best Emergency Water Storage Containers for Your Home article by The Prepared team and I think it’s very well researched, but I have concerns about using the home storage containers recommended  (which are plastic) for months at a time in the incredibly high temperatures found in a car in the tropics. Even though it may not be super dangerous to my health to be drinking water stored in plastic at high temperatures for a long period of time in an emergency scenario, I’d still like to avoid it, and I worry about the plastic warping in the heat and losing it’s integrity. I was also looking for a method of water storage that was easy to grab and drink while driving, no pouring out of a larger, potentially heavy and bulky container required. 

I found Blue Can Premium Emergency Drinking Water on Amazon. It basically looks like a pack of aluminum soda cans, except they are filled with water that the Blue Can company claims has a shelf life of 50 years. Reviews on Amazon are quite mixed. It’s about $2 a can after tax and shipping. Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with using Blue Can Emergency Drinking Water in their preps? 

Read More

11

5

AdviceGear

Anyone have any experience with heated clothing?

pnwsarahContributor - September 5, 2021

Hi TP friends,

After Oregon’s snow/ice storms and multi-day power this past winter, my partner and I realized we needed to get serious about the implications of living in an on-grid, all-electric house in the event of a prolonged power outage during cold weather. We’re not stoked on generators for several reasons (Most prominent: We don’t want to have to store all that fuel; we don’t want to spend a ton of money on something we will be far less likely to need when we inevitably move), and we’ve been thinking about heated clothing as an alternative. My two main questions are: (1) “What brands are good quality?” (i.e., function reliably; won’t set us on fire), and (2) the more fundamental, “Is this even a good idea?”

Before you take a stab at (2), some context:

We live in western Oregon. It doesn’t get that cold. When it does get seriously cold, it doesn’t stay that way for long. We’re avid outdoorspersons. We have multiple sleeping bags, multiple down comforters, multiple down jackets, two tents, and a LOT of fleece and wool blankets and clothing. We can always heat water on a camping stove in the backyard for tea and hot water bottles. We also have a husky mix, who doubles as an XL, living hot water bottle. For all these reasons, I am very confident in our ability to create a space in our home where we can sleep comfortably on a cold night without heat. While I am confident in our ability to create a warm bed/blanket fort for ourselves in our house in winter without heat, I do not want to actually LIVE in said bed/blanket fort for the duration of a power outage. That would suck. We have friends who lived in a shipping container for two western Oregon winters while they were building their house. One of them bought a heated jacket to get through it. That’s where we got this possibly stupid idea. Both friends are, however, very much alive as of this writing.

So… thoughts? Experiences? Alternatives? Brand reccos? 

Thanks in advance…

Read More

9

29

AdviceGear

Booster shot / jab for already vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna

Bob - September 5, 2021

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-where-when-to-get-covid-booster-shot-vaccine-2021-8

Good evening,

This is first article I’ve run across telling that the booster is “free”.

It’s administered 8 months after second primary shot / jab. Some medical sites say it’s best after 9 (nine) months.  Definitely check with your health care providers re 8 or 9 months. 

For me, I avoid driving in adverse winter weather so will factor this into my plans.

Read More

3

2

Tips on working with FEMA for an insurance claim after a disaster?

Courtney - September 2, 2021

I’ve been seeing a lot of media around the fact that FEMA actually accepts very few claims, very few claims are approved, and some folks have difficulty producing documents or getting a reasonable claim on lost property.

I live in a wildfire prone state.  Up until a year ago I would have said I wasn’t in a wildfire prone neighborhood, but the east suburbs of Portland, OR ended up with a fire close enough and big enough to take out some property and caused a large evacuation area. I live in the west suburbs so this felt like a close call.

So it got me thinking about how I would rebuild after a fire.  I have homeowner’s insurance I am going to look closely at, but I’m not sure yet if it would pay out if I lost my house to a wildfire.

Does anyone have the inside scoop on FEMA, getting through the process, documents needed, common errors, what kind of reimbursement to expect, etc?

Read More

6

11

How have y’all improved or worked on your preps during lockdown?

Alex Henry - September 2, 2021

Hi,

Kindly let me know How have y’all improved or worked on your preps during a lockdown?

Read More

3

4

“Domestic Preparedness” website good to subscribe to

Bob - September 2, 2021

Good morning,

The website “Domestic Preparedness” is a decent site to get on their mailing list.

Believe: domprep.com   They’re out of Severna Park, Maryland … metro D.C. (the Swamp).

This week’s issue had an article re security lessons from Boston Marathon, the expansion of CDC, and “First Aid for Severe Trauma” (FAST).

Again, worth checking out. It could be of value to one’s prepper education.

Read More

2

0

A review of finger splints

Bob - September 1, 2021

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/types-of-finger-splints#finger-splints-for-kids

Good morning,

The above linked article good for both review and intro to subject.

I never gamble.  Risks: yes – just no gambling. Had I been a gambler of any sort, my definition of “trigger finger” would have involved Hopalong Cassiday, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and SFO’s Kitty Marcus, wife of Wyatt Earp.

Read More

4

7

When have you become the first responder?

Molly N. 😆 - August 31, 2021

Just joined the forum after seeing ya’ll on CNN last night. I have been looking for a website with good information about emergency preparedness and it seems to have found me!

I’d like to hop in and introduce myself as Molly and ask a question. When have you had the chance to be a first responder to someone or a situation? Have you came across a car accident or stopped a child from choking on something?

I’ve always been intrigued with being prepared and able to help out others and save the day. I once saved my niece from drowning at a family BBQ. She was a decent swimmer but for some reason must have tuckered out and just went under the water. I went down and pulled her out and she sputtered some water and was afraid of the pool for the rest of the day, but she made it.

Thank you to everyone who comments and replies. 

Read More

9

17

Austere First Aid video course trailer + 50% off preorders are live

John AdamaStaff - August 31, 2021

Excited to share that we’ve just released the trailer and preorders for the Austere First Aid online video course we’ve been working on the last few months!

Check it out and preorder for only $59. Similar in-person courses cost $300-500 and take 5-7 days. Includes 90+ lessons, 7+ hours of video, downloadable references, and lifetime access with free future versions.

It’s the only online course of its kind, and there just aren’t many classes anywhere that teach you how to handle medical emergencies when you can’t depend on professional help to save you. 

Is this something you’re interested in? 

Full course will launch later this summer.

Read More

25

24

NewsSkills

Bugging IN or OUT your response times matter

Bill Masen - August 29, 2021

Bug In or out , your response times matter.

Think about it, we nearly all have well sorted INCH, BOB or GHBs and plans on what to do it the balloon goes up, but have you considered your RESPONSE times in relation to Getting Out Of Town / Getting home/ Evacuating in the context of what everyone else is doing at the same time.

Lets consider a few examples of thev worst kind first before looking at more likely issues.

1 Cascadia / San Andreas. If you live close to the coast you could have as little as five minutes to react to a tsunami hitting places like Coastal Oregon / Washington and an average of roughly 12 to 25 minutes in So Cal. But remember the footage from Anchorage in the 60s when the same fault let rip, the first thing that went out was the bridges and roads as huge landslides blocked roads, bridges collapsed and in places roads split and rose or fell by 30 meters so you need to explore all options including such things as heading to the upper floors of tower blocks and Multi story Car Parks insead of joining the masses running away from the sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake

2 Depending where you live if the Volcano on Gran Canaria erupted and that huge chunk of mountainside fell into the ocean you could have up to 3 hours to get out to safety in Northern Europe and FIVE hours on the East Coast of the US, but consider the blind panic as New York, Boston etc Galveston, New Orleans, Miami and the Keys etc all tried to get inland in five hours ?. 

During H Andrew when the target area had DAYS of warning many left it late to move to safer ground inland, Gridlock ensued and one well documented Prepper families efforts were for nothing. They left 12 hours before the storm was due to hit in a fully prepped BOV with full tanks and extra jerry cans, But because of the huge volume of traffic they found themselves crawling along at 5 MPH for 14 hours and ran out of fuel in the middle of nowheresville Georgia. Imagine all of the lowlanders of SE England trying to head west and north in a blind panic with the news that the tsunami is only 3 hours away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Andrew

3 Slipping down the scale of dramatic effect a bit if we had another perfect storm of the type that caused so much damage to the UK east coast in 1953 where nearly 3000 Brits and Dutch drowned often in their homes. Today sea levels are higher, population density is FAR higher today and only certain key coastal and riverine defences like the Thames barrier are fully maintained. Another storm like the 1953 storm if it broke through the defences could kill upwards of 50,000 people and deluge much of London and the area around the Thames estuary. Can you imagine 9.3 million Londoners trying to leave the area in a hurry and most would not try to get out until the barriers started to fail. Only ONE van leaking diesel in the Blackhall tunnel recently during rush hour caused traffic jams over 10 miles long and delays of up to 5 hours across a huge area, so a couple of minor crashes, people running out of fuel etc and hundreds of thousands will be stranded with no room for manoeuvre. Oh and in 1953 we still have a huge CIVIL DEFENCE program of equipment and staff to help rescue efforts ALL now long disbanded.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953

I wrote this BEFORE the Covid Outbreak of 2020.

4 So imagine a Spanish flu outbreal like the one in 1918 hitting London, crippling essential services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic or an EMP or Carrington event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 hitting the country and suddenly the power is gone, not only have your cities lost their electricity but their street lights, traffic lights, cell phones, land lines, refrigeration, tube trains, trams, water , gas and sewage supplies, check out tills and credit card readers, cash points, lifts, flood barriers power to houses and shops. Imagine the Carrington event happening in a bad winter?

5 The HUGE firestorms that raced across both California and Australia in the last few years, that in some cases the fires were reported to travel faster than a speeding vehicle..

6 Mass urban civil unrest and rioting looting and arson in the US in 2020, often the law enforcement agencies stood aside and did nothing. Think about people living OVER or NEXT to shops and businesses being looted. OR Imagine living along a route between shopping centres and business districts.

It could even be the arrival of MILLIONS of desperate migrants overwhelming the authorities and pouring into the country in huge numbers collapsing our entire social welfare infrastructure and looting, stealing and rioting. The EU has found itself totally unable to stop 2 million migrants from surging across Europe, And in the US Trumps wall looks likely to be abandoned because of a change in the administration. 

Imagine any given scenario where you need to get home QUICK or bug out QUICK I am sure most if not all of us have our plans in place regardless of how minor, melodramatic or massive they are, but have you considered all the potential obstacles in your way from blocked roads, refugees, road blocks, strikers, terrorist activity, riots by migrants creating no go areas, collapsed bridges, traffic jams, YOUR vehicle breaking down AND the realisation that your allotted times for getting out of town turn out to be far shorter than you planned for. Consider Alternative routes, Consider alternative responses, Consider the suitability of your current kit to deal with varying situations and far shorter reaction times. Consider ensuring you have TV and Radios with the ability to switch to breaking news broadcasts if something happens.

Oh and never forget its the preppers who are best informed who can react quickly to take advantage of the various APPS and Tickers you can get for your PCs and Cell phones that instantly send breaking news to you as it happens.

PreWARNED is as good as being prePARED.

Read More

10

19

FYI a photo montage of the huge increase in secure gated communities

Bill Masen - August 27, 2021

Here is an insight into how many mainly middle class types are responding to increases in anxiety over their families security.  Whilst the silly rich go the  Bunker/ Iceberg home/ Private Island or Retreat route, this is how many middle classes go.    I recently read that over 40% of all new build developments in the US are now Gated or Secure communities.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/may/05/for-your-protection-gated-cities-around-the-world-in-pictures

Read More

5

11

🏠 Home buying with preparedness in mind

Lowell - August 25, 2021

Put yourself in my shoes. You’re currently renting, but eventually want to buy a home for the sake of financial and physical security? What traits do you look for in the home itself?

My general thinking is we’re heading towards some sort of climate apocalypse (and maybe with some broad state repression too). Not soon, but perhaps decades down the road, which is very pertinent to me as a twenty something.

Here’s some examples I can think of, but I’m very curious to hear what y’all have to recommend!

Roof conducive to solar panels. Ideally South-facing and in a shape that’s easy to cover in panels. A basement, for passive insulation during heatwaves, among other reasons I’m sure. A location with multiple exit routes, so like not an island (like Mercer Island in Seattle) or the tip of a peninsula (like Alki in Seattle). I figure a standalone house is ideal, rather than a condo or townhouse. Perhaps some minimum distance between the home and property line on all sides.  Elevation above sea level, and perhaps even relative elevation to avoid flooding.  Read More

15

36

AdviceScenarios

How to connect with farmers that are selling to people, not restaurants?

Conrad B - August 24, 2021

Trying to kill two birds with one stone. I’m seeing the effects of meat shortages in my area so I’m going to try and get more stocked in my freezer. And I’ve read in other forums about people sourcing meat from ranchers who ordinarily sell to restaurants but are starting to sell to regular people to make ends meet.

Has anyone done this? And what kinds of prices are the farmers charging / is it cheaper than stores?

I admit I’ve never had to think much about where to get food before and don’t know how that all works.

Read More

13

10

Advice

What are the best apps dealing with maps?

Wicked74 - August 24, 2021

Hello all,

New to the site and am excited to be here. I need some help. Can you all chime in and let me know which apps are the best when it comes to maps. I need an app that will allow me to download maps. I figured many if not all, of you, know more than me and have been through the said apps and already know the good ones.  I thank you all in advance!!!!

Read More

13

9

Bartering items which hold value and could be liquidated

Reaper19 - August 24, 2021

Hello,

With people growing more nervous about the economy and potential hyper-inflation not to mention the potential for overall collapse, I’m identifying items which can be bought in large quantities for barter, but could also be re-sold/liquidated for close to the cash value should the economy stabilize or the the national/global outlook improve.   The only items I can identify are guns and ammo.   Most other large quantity prepper items are not going to be able to be easily resold for approx the same value under normal circumstance.   Thoughts?    Thank you.

Read More

6

15

Your longest time without seeing a new face?

Oldprepper - August 24, 2021

I would be interested to know your experience of not seeing or communicating with other people for a good while.?

Did it go as expected?….. What pitfalls did you encounter?… Were your preparation adequate? Would you have done something different?

Read More

12

12

Hiding stuff like Bobs, supplies, valuables

Bill Masen - August 23, 2021

Seeing we appear to be chatting about places to cache or conceal gear and BOBS I thought I would share a few images I found some years ago online. Regretably I do not have the details of the authorship.

Just some images FYI.

Read More

1

1

A question about your caches and stores.

Bill Masen - August 23, 2021

Across the board (and the pond)   I  read with great delight that more and more people are putting time, effort and money into prep supplies.

Food, Fuel, Water, Medical, Maintenence, Logistics, Communications, Reference and Security subjects being addressed in sensible and prudent style.

But ( and please correct me if i am wrong) but I am detecting a few cases that cause me concern.

(1) Dates and Ages

(1) People bulk buying their food, fuel, medical TIME SENSITIVE gear all at one time, which can often mean those supplies become life expired all at the same time. I have just heard from a friend who bulk bought ALL of his AA, AAA and CR123 Lithium batteries in 2012 and now they are all just about life expired which means a big bill to replace. 

I have read of people buying assorted bulk food stuffs from one supplier all at the same time thus meaning stuff like their bulk rice, grains, powdered eggs all need replacing at the same time.  And should that batch of supplies be defective you lose the whole lot.

I strongly reccomend getting your supplies in  over a prolonged period from various sources and if it suits you, different brands.  Then EAT the oldest foods first, use the oldest batteries first, the oldest meds the oldest fuel etc. and buying different batches with different dates from different stores also reduces the risk if you are unfortunate enough to buy a bad batch of something.

BUY WHAT YOU EAT AND EAT WHAT YOU BUY, rotate your stocks so the freshest gear goes to the back of the shelf., and only buy foods and brands you actually like and prefer.

(2) Where are you storing your supplies, again I am hearing some alarming stories. 

 So it is highly preferential you dont put all your eggs in one basket, literally. IF  you can do not store all your supplies in one location, if there is a fire, flood, riot, quake, etc you could very easily lose everything instantly.  Try where possible to store your essential supplies in multiple locations, even within your home by spreading your supplies about, it is better than having them all in one cupboard or larder.  Even better if you can divide your supplies at assorted locations such as work, the cabin, in an insulated trailer, or even at a neighbours place.

(2A) Guys unless you attic / loft space is weather proof and totally insulated dont store FOODS, MEDS, or perishables in your roof space, temp variations in roof spaces can vary by 100 degrees in some places.

(2B) Going to the other end the Outhouse, Cellar or Garage, unless it temp and humidity stable dont store perishables in those places also

(2C) Never store FUEL or Chemicals in the same place as Food, Water and Med supplies (or cleaning materials)

(2D)  If storing bulk water never stand plastic containers directly onto the floor ESPECIALLY if its concrete, Insulate with wood, carper etc because chemicals in the concrete apparently can leach into the stored water ( I dont know the chemistry but I’m told its true). Also water does NOT go off but it does go stale and cab absorb chemical from the air and storage container. So its wise the empty, rinse and refill the water containers a couple of time each year.

(2E) Dont store anything on the upper shelves that could ruin the supplies underneath if it leaks.

(2F) dont store glass containers high off the ground in quake zones, Also consider stringing elastic shock cord across each shelf to hold containers in place if their is a quake.

 

Read More

2

12

Spiders – the insidious attack insects

Illini Warrior - August 22, 2021

https://survival-mastery.com/med/health/spider-bites-treatment.html

Read More

1

2

Skills

Twenty minute dry beans

Barb LeeContributor - August 21, 2021

Dry beans are a really important staple in food storage, but preparing them is really fuel and water intensive.  Over time, I’ve been experimenting with making “quick cook” dry beans, based on this blog post: https://seedtopantryschool.com/dehydrating-beans-make-quick-cook-beans/ I’ve noted she’s made some revisions to the instructions I read some years ago.  Lots of pictures and explanations in the article.

Anyway, I’m in the midst of a dehydrating frenzy, with the unit going nearly every day, and this week I’m preparing a stash of dry beans for quick cooking. So nice to use the cooking resources when they are plentiful!

The basics:  Soak dry beans 8-12 hours, or use the “quick soak” method. Rinse the beans, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil and boil ten minutes.  Drain and rinse.

Dehydrating is “tricky” unless you don’t mind bean crumbles.  This method prepares the beans so they remain intact, and make nice additions to soups, etc.

Dry the soaked and rinsed beans for about 5 hours at the lowest setting.  The article says 95 deg F, my unit doesn’t go lower than 105 and that worked.  At higher heat, apparently the quick-drying skin will “curl” the softened inner bean and cause it to split and crumble. The lower temp seems to “set” the inner bean and make it more crumble resistant.

After about 5 hours, I went ahead and cranked the heat up to 125 and dried the pinto beans hard.  They are almost 100% intact and virtually look like raw dry beans. This morning I rehydrated by pouring a normal cooking amount of boiling water over them and left them to soak a couple of hours.  Then without draining, I brought the beans to a boil, then reduced to simmer.  They were al dente within 10 minutes, and mash-able within 20.  Tacos and refrieds tonight! I’m about to vacuum seal the rest, and I expect to have “20 minute pinto beans” in storage for years to come.

Currently I’m drying great northern and navy beans.  I have a great recipe for bean soup that uses mashed potatoes as a thickener. 

Read More

7

7

Do you fish?

Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021

We just published a guide to fishing.

Do you fish? Have any tips or experiences you’d like to share?

Read More

7

8

MetaSkills

Lessons from my 2021 garden

Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021

I offer a lot of gardening advice on this site, so I think it’s important that I share how things have worked for me. Here are some of the lessons I learned from my summer garden:

Raised Beds

A while back, I wrote about how I switched to raised beds. Some are no-till, one was double dug, but all have done pretty well. I’ve grown cucumbers, peppers, sweet potatoes, basil, marigolds, amaranth, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Yields weren’t just fantastic, but we had a baby this summer, so I greatly scaled back my ambitions.

But the raised beds still produced a good amount of food and I didn’t break any machinery or myself in the process, so I think it’s been a big success.

Trellising

I posted a forum thread on how to make trellises with PVC pipe and string. I got the idea from Brett Markham’s The Mini Farming Bible. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up well at all. My pole beans regularly broke the trellis, so I had to support it with a metal t-post. The tomatoes (which did amazing) completely overtook the trellis and everything around it.

Future trellises will be made of t-posts and cattle panels.

Squash and Melon Pits

The squash crop was a disaster. A rabid possum ate everything in the melon pits, including the dirt, so I had to buy bagged soil and start over. Squash germinated well enough but produced very little. My neighbor also had trouble, which he blamed on blight. I think next year I’m going to just grow winter squash in raised beds and trellis them.

Melon pits aren’t without value. David the Good had great success with them this year.

Mulch

Since I planted so intensively, I made a point of deep mulching. I have a bagger on my pushmower so I just threw down grass clippings. The beds stayed moist except during the worst dry spells.

Tomatoes

I don’t specify tomatoes as a survival crop, but my wife canned a ton of them last year and we’re still using them, so I put five tomato plants in the ground that I started from seed (German Pink from Baker Creek). They did almost too well. I put them at the north edge of the bed and they ended up taking over their bed and the one next to it. And of course they totally overwhelmed my trellis.

The tomatoes had no disease and were barely bothered by pests. I attribute that to planting them in a bed that was double-dug two feet down, plant them about a foot deep in the ground, and I put a Tums at the bottom of the holes for calcium. I’ll repeat all that next year, but I’ll put them in the center of the bed, dedicate the entire bed to the tomatoes, and properly cage them.

One mistake I made: picking tomatoes when they were too green. The right time to pick them is just when they start turning red. If I wait for them to get fully ripe, the bugs will eat them.

Sweet Potatoes

I haven’t harvested them yet, but the plants have done really well in a foot of compost. The leaves make great rabbit fodder. The leaves have perfectly shaded the bed so I almost never have to water it and there are very few weeds.

Green Beans

I went all-in on pole beans this year (Kentucky Wonder), but I kind of wish I hadn’t. They produced well, but it took them two months before I got anything. Next year I’m going to mix bush beans with pole beans. Bush beans produce faster, pole beans produce more.

Cucumbers and Peppers

I grew these because my son likes them. Poor yields from both. Too much cucumber disease and the peppers just didn’t produce. I think they were spaced too closely. But I have two big mason jars full of fermented pickles that are quite good. I saved a bunch of cucumber seed to see if the second generation is better adapted next year.

Amaranth

I grew two varieties: “Chinese spinach” and Golden Giant. The Chinese spinach ended up being bug fodder, which is okay because I didn’t stress the garden this year. I’ve been harvesting the Golden Giant for seed when the heads are dry and putting them in large paper bags so the seeds can fall out. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but I grew it as an experiment.

Lettuce

I made it a goal to grow a decent amount of lettuce this year, with some success. The problem is it gets so hot here so fast that lettuce gets bitter. There are a number of things I could do to mitigate that, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.

What I may do next year is grow just a couple of heads at a time, planted a couple of weeks apart. Harvest one head, replant, and then harvest the other head a week or two later. Or maybe I’ll just buy it locally and focus on survival crops that take less work.

Garlic

I had two beds of garlic in the ground. Garlic is easy to grow, so it produced okay, but the heads were kind of small, I think due to hard soil. I’m going to fill a raised bed with garlic in a few weeks.

Other Observations

Spinosad and neem oil work okay against bugs, but I think diatomaceous earth works better. An irrigation system of some kind would be really nice, but I want something that isn’t dependent on city water. I’m planning to set up a water collection system next to my workshop and I’ll work from there. Next year, I’m going to focus more on survival crops, like potatoes. I’ll have more beds built then and I’ve sort of learned the hard way to not plant things just because the kids say they’ll eat them. Read More

9

8

Skills