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DIY ranger bands – the ultimate prepping rubber band
Robert LarsonContributor - June 19, 2021 The wife’s bike got a flat tire this week so I saw it as another opportunity to make some more ranger bands. What is a ranger band? It’s a great prepping fastener along the lines with duct tape, super glue, and paracord. Pretty much it is a piece of bicycle inner tube cut into a strong and durable rubber band that can be used to secure gear together.
Now for a bunch of uses from random people on the internet:
Many people attach ranger bands to the sheaths of their knives so that they can attach additional gear to them like a ferro rod.
Although I’ve never tried it before, they are supposedly flammable and are a source of tinder. Here is someone using ranger bands to strap a flash light to a rifle, and another picture of more gear strapped to a knife sheath.
You can use ranger bands to add some more grip to something like a knife or flashlight too when placed around the handle.
I’ve used ranger bands in all sorts of cases from adding some additional rubber bump protection on some gear so it doesn’t get scratched, securing multiple items together, or using as a strong rubber band to hold containers shut.
The diameter of the inner tube you use will determine the diameter of your ranger band. I tend to use the 1.75″ diameter bands the most but there are all sorts of sizes such as 1/2″, 1″, 1.75″, 2.50″ all the way up to motorcycle tubes.
When cutting your inner tube, vary the width of each band and don’t cut them all the same size. Make some super thin, some the width of your finger (my most commonly used) but also make some 1″, 2″, 3″ or even 4″ wide bands that can be slid over various things. And don’t cut up the entire tube in one sitting, leave about 1/4 of the tube left over so if you have a specific need case you can cut to the length you want. For example, see that last picture of the ranger band knife handle? You could cut a piece of tube the length of the handle and have one solid piece instead of three separate pieces like that guy did, if you want.
I’ve turned popped tubes into ranger bands from bikes we have had, but also have gone to a local bike shop and they had a trash can full of used tubes and I could pick whatever size I wanted.
I tend to like the cheaper tubes better for ranger bands that can be stretched out more than the really thick puncture proof tubes.
Not bad for a free prep where a standard 26″ bike tube will give you a whole sandwich baggie full of bands. Or you can buy 48 bands from Walmart for $18.
Does anyone else make or use these? What use cases can you see yourself using them in?
Read More
Is there a place for memorabilia, family heirlooms and keepsakes during any bug out scenario?
Jonnie PekelnyContributor - June 19, 2021 Before I found TP and started prepping seriously, I spent years making various attempts at emergency preparedness by using a combination of various websites and my own thinking. (When push came to shove it turned out that I was completely unprepared and that’s when I went looking for a better resource.)
During that time, I had seen some bug out lists suggesting that we take precious family keepsakes with us if we had to bug out. Then I found TP and the advice here is forget the keepsakes. If you have to flee from a wildfire you need to focus on saving your and your loved ones’ lives. Besides, what are you going to do with an album of family pictures if you have to go on foot? Upload the pictures to the internet and leave the originals at home. Etc. Accordingly, the TP BOB lists don’t make any mention of keepsakes.
But now I’m revisiting that guideline. I’m wondering if there is a place for important family objects and/or pictures in some bug out scenarios? What if we’re leaving early, well ahead of the disaster? Might we assume that we’re not going to be forced to walk? Might it make sense to have a plan to grab some precious items? If that’s so, it seems to me that this is better planned ahead.
Read MoreA question for Californians with electric stoves/ranges
Jonnie PekelnyContributor - June 18, 2021 This is another version of my question from last year (?) about cooking in a disaster scenario, but now the scenario I have in mind is much more frequently occurring. I’m currently shopping for a new (to me) gas range, or oven, whatever you call those things that have burners on top and an oven underneath. I love having a gas stove, but I know that they will be being phased out in the next few years. Here in California and probably in some other parts of the West, it’s pretty common now during fire season for the electricity to be turned off to prevent fires. This is also exactly the time when we are supposed to avoid generating sparks outside, so it’s not safe to cook on the porch with your camping stove.
This has been occurring so frequently lately that it’s hardly even a disaster scenario. I’m usually unaffected by this problem because I can always light my gas range manually. (Plus I like the control a gas range gives me much more than electric). But if we are all going to be using electric ranges soon, how are we supposed to cook during fire season electrical outages? Many of you no doubt already face this problem. Would you share how you’ve dealt with it?
Read MoreWhat’s the favorite women’s underwear you’d use in an emergency, in your BOB, or SHTF scenario, and why?
Carlotta SusannaStaff - June 17, 2021 Since we women and/or people with breasts and vulvas have a greater variety of body shapes and needs, I think it would be helpful if we include as many details as we’re comfortable in sharing, such as bust and hips sizes, what you’re looking for in a bra or panties, does the material matter, would you change your selection between winter and summer, etc? If we keep a standard format it might be easier to find suggestions. I’ll propose the following format, but we could adjust/edit according to what you folks think.
Bust: 35 in (34A)
Hips: 36.5 in (M)
What I look for in a bra: My bust is not particularly large so I only need light support so my boobs don’t dance around too much when walking or hiking and my nipples don’t rub into the fabric of my top. I want a bra that’s not tight (don’t we all!) and is comfortable to wear all day long, but also that doesn’t dig into my flesh when I carry a backpack. However, my under bust is slightly larger than average, and so my biggest issue is that bras that are a great fit for my bust dig into my underbust, or if they are a great fit for my underbust, they are too large for my bust.
Favorite bra: Patagonia Barely Everyday Bra.
PROS: This is so far the bra/lette that hits all the spots for me. Light support, breathable, comfortable when wearing a pack (as it’s a bralette it doesn’t have hooks in the back that are usually uncomfortable) and, most importantly, the elastic part under the bra is not tight at all, while still being elastic enough to keep my boobs in check. The first time I wore it camping I even forgot to take it off when I went to bed!
CONS: It takes ages to dry! Ok, not ages, but slightly longer than I would like. A full day vs few hours, if that makes sense.
What I look for in panties: Mainly, four things: Is the crotch wide enough to keep me entirely covered when walking? I also suffer from cold butt syndrome, so if I camp or sleep outside I always keep my panties on. This means that I’m looking for panties that are generous in covering my whole butt. I usually go for either bikini, hipster, or shorts styles, but bikinis seems to be the most versatile and are the types I keep in my BOB. Thirdly, I want seams that are not too tight around my leg or waist, and that don’t chafe when walking for a long time. Lastly, are they breathable?
Favorite panties: Patagonia Barely Bikini Underwear. Breathable, the seams are super comfortable, and they cover everything generously. Interestingly, they have a round seam around the legs but they don’t dig in at all!
REI Co-op Active Bikini Underwear. Same as above: comfortable, super light, and they cover everything fine. I wear them quite often and after a couple of years I’ve noticed that the seams around the legs and waist started looking as if stretched out. I say “as if” beacuse the performance does not seem affected at all. I’m wondering if they are going to fail soon, or not. In comparison, this is not the case with the abovementioned Patagonia Barely underwear.
Mention of shame: Smartwool Seamless Bikini Underwear. I had to add this because I was shocked by the poor design of these panties. They are very comfortable and breathable, but the crotch is so narrow that I had to throw them away – they were useless even when wearing them at home!
Read MoreHow would an EMP affect a solar electricity set-up?
John Chamberlain - June 15, 2021 Can solar electricity survive a EMP?
Read MoreItems with multiple uses – Lighten the BOB by using these!
Robert LarsonContributor - June 13, 2021 What are some items that have multiple uses which can help cut down on the shear number of items to prep for or lighten a bug-out-bag?
Or what are some modifications you have made to some items to allow them to be used in different ways?
Here are some I have done:
Took a file to the back side of my knife so that it can be used as a ferro rod striker. I have a Glock 22, which is normally a .40 caliber gun. I have a conversion barrel that I can swap out the stock barrel in less than 15 seconds and the gun will now shoot 9mm. 2 different caliber guns in one package! Fresnel lens, can be used to magnify what you are looking at for like first aid or used to start a fire. I have a small credit card sized one in my wallet, and also got a large sheet sized one at Dollar Tree for a dollar. Tarps! I love tarps! I have like a dozen from when Harbor Freight gave them out as a free item with every purchase. Shelter, protect the car seats from pet hair, used to signal, collect water, and so many more uses! I’ve thought about replacing my shoe laces with paracord, but heard that it is too slick of a rope to hold a shoe lace knot well. Have any of you done this? Another one I like is the alcohol wipes in your first aid kit can be used as an extremely flammable fire starter, sanitize your knife, or clean up your eating utensils. I love these little things. Read MoreWhat do you think about a modular bug out bag?
Peter 44 - June 12, 2021 I’m trying to create the perfect system for a bug out bag and was wanting some advice. So tear this apart and let me know what you think. Am I onto something here? Or is there something I’m overlooking that will get me killed?
The Problem:
Current bug out bag recommendations from places I’ve seen tend to lean a bit to the ‘bug out to the woods’ side of things. But I’m thinking that if a hurricane is coming my way, I am more likely to bug out to a hotel in a neighboring city. But then I don’t want to only have a bug out bag set up for hotel living and if a different disaster comes where I do need to bug out to the woods, then I don’t want to have to be rearranging my entire bag to be able to survive that way.
My crazy hair-brained scheme:
I’m thinking about creating a modular bug out bag system. I’ll have my main pack with essentials like toiletries, map, water filtration, and more. But then I’ll have different modules next to it that I can quickly add to my main pack according to the disaster I’m bugging out to. For example, lets say I’m bugging out to a hotel and the weather is on the colder side of the year. I would then grab my hotel module and my cold weather module and stick it in the bag and go.
These modules can be color coded and/or labeled with big pictures of what they are used for and be something simple like a gallon waterproof plastic bag or a small case.
Why this might work:
I know that time is of the essence, but I don’t think that an additional minute of grabbing a module, putting it in the bag, and zipping the bag shut will be that critical. And with this design, I won’t be carrying unnecessary things that I don’t need and have the perfect load out for my situation. I’m not going to be carrying around fire starting and cooking stuff if I’m bugging out to a hotel, or carrying USB cables and other plushy things that would be useless in a camping scenario.
Read MoreArticle: “The M.R.E. Finds a Civilian Fan Base”
Bob - June 11, 2021 Good morning,
In Wednesday’s 9 June 21 New York Times, the Food Section leads off with an article about M.R.E.s. by Priva Krishna. I can’t link article because it’s paywalled. I can guess in a few days, it will be on a web search enging.
It’s a light-reading article leading with a large picture of various components to include the heater.
Intro para startes with mention of a store in Gainesville, Georgia (ATTN: Dog Lover and TITW) that had substantial business expansion due the pandemic.
A couple of good points for research if a student of MREs;
There is a Defense Combat Feeding Division in Natick, Massachuettes. Sometimes these organizations have well=established public information offices where inquiries can be made for your research.
Some of the packed foods in the pouches get an additional infusion of vitamins and minerals and etc. The beef jerky is fortified with caffine and “the applesauce contains maltodextrin, which provides and energy boost”.
“and the flameless ration heater”
For the record, I don’t stock MREs. My foods are tailored to involve different and frequently changing scenarios. Honey, coffee, espresso and chocolate are my base survival foods.
Also for the record, the flameless ration heater doesn’t substitute for coffee-making.
Read MoreStill shooting high even after adjusting my rifle scope
grntrkguy1964 - June 11, 2021 I just put a new VX-3HD scope on my AR15. I got the scope bore sighted, but my first shots at 100yds were really high. I adjusted the scope down and to my surprise, the shots were higher. Now, before someone says, I did turn the elevation knob in the correct direction. Any suggestions?
Read MoreChainlink fencing; Know thy area and beyond
Bob - June 11, 2021 https://chainlinkinfo.org/petrochemical-security-fencing/
Good morning,
Above links to industry association website. Well worth surfing around their entire site. Above is set up (I hope !) to display their security fencing for petrochemical industry. Obviously, it’s for a sophisticated audience of users but link has many useful charts along with their narrative.
Item inventories to install an important fence privides principles good for preppers to rely on … eg have the hardware and tools ready for project.
Look for Table 3 “Mesh Sizes and Gauges”. I believe it’s at petrochem section. Regardless, surf around entire site. The charts are real good.
At different industy section of website there’s a chart listing tennis courts. I can guess they’re up there with nuclear power plants for importance.
Hopefully you find the surfing around time a good learning experience.
Read MoreTP team on break the rest of June
John AdamaStaff - June 10, 2021 Just letting ya’ll know that a few babies are being born over the next few weeks, so our small team is taking the rest of June off to spend time with family after this insane last year and a half.
So there won’t be many new articles until July.
But the twice-weekly news roundups will continue as normal, and forum moderators are still on duty.
Hope you’re enjoying the start of your summer! 🙂
– John, Tom, Gideon, Carlotta, and Josh
Read MoreMedical Alert bracelets
Bob - June 8, 2021 https://www.medicalert.org/product/catalog/medical-ids
Good morning,
Above links to the Medical Alert Foundation. Clicking on above hyperlink brings you to page of the pictures of the various types of bracelets they sell. Am only posting this for the exposure to the different types and their logo, a modified caducous … the snake and the shaft.
This basic info is good to know about. The only big headache I’ve ever run into is what MedAlert Foundation calls the “Advanced Directive/DNR (Do Not Recisitate) bracelet. Virginia’s name is “DDNR” – Durable Do Not Resesitate. “Advanced directives can be viewed as a different topic. It is a messy matter here to prepare both. Was told Virginia does not recognize out of state bracelets.
Besides knowing about these types of bracelets – and following one’s health care provider … or a Paramedic friend’s recommendation … I recommend carrying in one’s wallet business card or even old appointment card of one or more of your health care providers (eg doc, DDS, optical, VA).
Definitely staple a current business card of one’s health care providers into CDC 731 – the yellow shot/jab pamphlet for documenting certain specific-important types of shots/jabs like Yellow Fever. The CDC 731 pamphlet is somewhat internationally standardized since it’s an international requirement for travel to certain destinations. If you glance at your COVID card, you’ll see a similiar frontal format of logo.
The origins of these medical alert bracelets go back to 19th century but common to use the World War ! trench warfare era of identification bracelet with name only. Later, especially in US World War II participation, blood type and Rh factor added but placed on a dog tag around a neck chain.
Foot Note: Don’t look for or wear a bracelet with “I am an alcoholic. In case of emergency get me a beer”. Some aspects of life are inherently understood. Avoid information overload.
Read MoreMinimizing bug out bag weight
CamilleContributor - June 6, 2021 I’m interested in any tips or advice others would like to share about minimizing bug out bag pack-weight without sacrificing the quality and usefulness of gear. While I really appreciate the gear reviews, basic no-nonsense information and the kit builder feature on this website I also know that the pack-weight of 41.7lbs listed for a bug out bag on this site isn’t realistic for me to carry. I’m a farmer and very active but carrying something that weighs a quarter of my body weight over any distance more than 5-10 miles would most likely result in some type of soft tissue damage or other complications that would be disadvantageous in an emergency situation where I would have to bug out farther than that distance to be safe (and I like to play on the safe side and assume I would have to bug out at least part-way if not all the way on foot). Currently my bug-out bag which contains the essentials I feel I need weighs about 27lbs (not including a full 2L water reservoir) because I look mainly at ultra-light camping gear for traditionally heavy items (ultra-light gear can be pricier to obtain the same high quality but it is worth it for me in the weight savings category).
There is a lot of discourse on how to reduce pack-weight for long distance hikers that I read before building my kit since I knew pack-weight would be a concern but only some of that can translate to a bug out bag because the expectations for the kits are incredibly different. I have never seen any discourse by preppers about reducing pack weight despite the fact that if you can’t actually carry it-you aren’t getting out of an emergency situation anytime soon with the things you need to bug out with the most. Thank you in advance for any suggestions or tips!
Read MoreSome basic disaster alert news sites
Bob - June 5, 2021 Good morning,
A couple of days ago was discussing with LBV of New Zealand, their current major alert re floods and evacuations.
Had mentioned that “… had been following … “.
News like the New Zealand emergency is not something I sought scanning the world news. I just have some automatically-generated emails from web sites I enrolled in (all no-cost). Much can be learned by following our industry news on these events.
Here’s some sites I’m involved with:
– relief web – This is a UN office for coordination of humanitarian affairs. Surfing around their overall site will introduce one to the varios and many responder organizations.
– Devex . com – This site provides much news re disasters and the tangents like governmental funding.
Both above sites do have a clearly allocated space on the political spectrum. Please avoid the politics and just keep up with the locations, countries and types of disasters. The UN’s “relief web” site is NYC-based. Devex is based in Washington, D.C.
Not a responder type site but my favorite for “real world operations” is – insurance journal . com – . These are the folks who work the real resiliency matters, the insured claims and business commentary to the authorities. It is my favorite.
Read MoreDoes an off-grid future exist?
Molly - June 5, 2021 Hello pepper community. I have recently taken a great interest in prepping and how prepping is a way future-proof ourselves.
Like many others, the development of AI concerns me. I often idealise going off-grid today to live in tune with nature. I am interested to know if you think this idealisation will exist in the future. I imagine more and more land becoming privatised for other peppers and borders being drawn. Maybe we will have to make applications to go to these privatised areas which are removed from AI. What do you imagine?
No wrong answers! I am keen to hear from how others imagine a future off-grid life to look like.
Thanks!
Read MoreThe need to be self sufficient and not rely on others. How to take your home off-grid
Robert LarsonContributor - June 5, 2021 My wife and I have been looking at houses recently, and our desire to be off-grid and self reliant is a major factor we are considering. We declined a house that was pretty nice because it wasn’t able to be made off-grid and we would always have to be reliant on someone else and their prices and supply. Got me thinking about this topic and I wanted to brain storm some ideas.
There may come a time when gas (propane, natural gas), electricity, gasoline/diesel, and even water are in short supply. As we have seen in the news over the past year prices and supply is very fragile and can’t always be relied on to be available and at a low cost. Take Texas just this year where electricity was unavailable for many during the middle of winter, and if it was the prices were jacked up 10,000% leaving people with a $9,000 electricity bill for the month. That is just wrong…
We need to look at our lives especially when we see it happening to others on the news, and know that it can and probably will happen to us. Call your power company and ask what your rates are. Are they locked in? Or will you have a couple thousand dollar electricity bill with no warning if there is a shortage?
What happens if there is a gasoline shortage and you have to still keep up your 45 minute commute everyday or risk losing your job and then your home?
How will you cook if the natural gas is out because someone crashed into a pipeline and you can no longer use your stove or oven?
Or even worse, what if an EMP or other SHTF disaster happens and water, gas, and electricity are all knocked out at once for everyone? Are you just going to freeze, not be able to eat, or live in darkness?
Lets do something about it and not be a victim! Please contribute your thoughts on each section and lets come up with some real solutions for people. Share what your utility setup is like and how you would like to make it more self reliant, others can then give feedback and help you out.
Gas (propane, natural gas)
The house we were looking at this week had the furnace and oven/stove ran on natural gas that had to be pumped in from the city on demand. The question we had is, is there a way to convert a house to run on propane? We would like to get one of those 1000 gallon propane tanks that we fill up once a year. That way we wouldn’t be as reliant on the grid and could possibly have a couple months worth of fuel for cooking and heating, hopefully enough time for things to settle down and supply to get back to where it was. Does anyone know if you can convert a natural gas home to propane? What does that process look like? All new piping and appliances? Or can you just buy an adapter and screw your pipe lines into a propane tank? A propane grill, propane space heater and a month’s worth of propane can help you to keep cooking and stay warm Look into alternatives for cooking, heating, and light with kerosene. Solar oven for cookingElectricity
Getting a generator to keep your fridge and lights on. Having solar panels, portable solar chargers, battery banks, etc… Have heat and cooking sources that don’t rely on electricity Lanterns, flashlights, and headlamps Maybe something like a large portable battery like the Jackery? Has anyone tried something like this?
Gasoline and Diesel
Water
Rain catchment Storing water Using baby wipes instead of showering
I’m not prepared for any lack of supply of my utilities, but want to do something about it
Who is off-grid? What did you do to get there?
Who wants to be off-grid? What is something you can do to be a bit more self reliant?
Read MoreHow to overcome differences in opinion with your partner on food storage
Pops - June 2, 2021 Usually the title of this thread is “How do I get my spouse on board?” or similar. I wanted to go at the topic a little differently this time and talk a little about how my wife and I over years have learned to complement each other WRT food storage and hear how you all do it.
We are a “traditional” one income family. I’ve been working from home for 25 years or so and she’s been mopping around me. Our kids are raised and gone. Temperamentally I worry about things and the future and she worries about people and the present. I’m a ‘buy one good thing’ type and she is a budget-minded, needs-based, lowest-price shopper. I’m also of a “stock-up” mindset while she is more of a “just-in-time” shopper. It isn’t that we have philosophical differences as much as she is a creature of habits and schedules and I’m a little less ‘structured’ shall we say.
Take our groceries. I could harp and carp endlessly about stock what you use and first in – first out and believe me I did in the younger days, but it just doesn’t stick because that just isn’t how she thinks. She doesn’t reject the premise of having a pantry, she in fact likes the benefits: fewer trips, cheaper in bulk, and of course, in the past year bragged that our shelves have what the store doesn’t— but, it just isn’t her natural mode to buy three cans of peaches if we’re only going to use one before she goes to the store again on Monday.
So I just do my thing and she does hers. She shops once every couple of weeks just like clockwork and every so often I tag along. When she puts in a can of peaches I add 2 more. When we get home I do the shelf stocking, rotating, etc. No biggie, in fact it is as soothing to me as hay in the barn.
Long term food storage is my thing alone. We have a good amount of canned foods and staples good for a few months to a year. But because we eat a lot of fresh food there is only so much one can reasonably stock and still rotate. My wife is an awesome baker but the bakery is pretty convenient so we just don’t use as much flour for example as we might if baked goods were not available. In a long term situation we’d run low within months using up regularly rotated staples. So we have some long term storage.
We store seeds, sugar, pasta, dehydrated milk, potato flakes (yuck) and various “chemical” things like salt, soda, pickling lime, etc for long term emergency. I have used several different means over the years but now mostly use mylar zip-locs with O2 absorbers heat sealed with an iron. I have some amount in ‘one gallon’ sizes and a larger amount in 5 gallon size I call the Deep Bunker. The smaller bags are in small aluminum garbage cans and the plastic pails are well guarded by cats, traps and poison. I’ve been happy with these people on Amazon (I’m not affiliated) for heavy bags and O2 absorbers.
I use an outfit called Azure Standard (not affiliated with them either) who sell all manner of bulk food. They specialize in non-GMO organics but I use them because of price. They have a nationwide truck delivery system (not sure about Canada) that delivers orders to hundreds of location monthly. You can probably find one nearby, it is usually in a public parking lot at a park or church near the highway. I can buy and bag bulk foods for half what the “survival” stores sell it for—before they ship it.
The LDS church (I’m not affiliated with any religion or denomination, BTW) are the past masters of food storage. Their FAQ and pamphlet are simple, direct, budget conscious and not overly proselytizing.
I got a little sidetracked there. But it kind shows that with both of us doing what we do we get it done. Without her being willing and able to learn how to cook from scratch—from seeds actually, all my squirreling would be worthless.
So how do you and the significant other work your plan?
Read MoreTownsend’s homestead videos – homesteading like it’s the 18th century
Josh CentersContributor - June 2, 2021 I’m a big fan of John Townsends’s YouTube channel. He LARPs as though he lives in the 18th century and his channel focuses on him cooking a lot of recipes from around that time. He was one of my main sources for our recent hardtack guide.
I recently discovered a series he did last summer, in which he built a cabin and homestead from scratch. After he builds the cabin, he builds an outdoor workshop with a pole lathe, shaving horse, and a forge. If you’re interested in those sorts of traditional crafts, I encourage you to check out the series.
Read MoreYour prepping time line and other dimensions in prepping
UbiqueContributor - June 1, 2021 I wanted to become as prepared as circumstances would allow.
Self-sufficiency was another goal, although I understood that the same circumstances would influence the degree of self sufficiency that would be realistically achievable.
Gardening and seeds are part of that self-sufficiency, but I learned quickly that it is necessary to have food stored. Food storage is a part of self-sufficiency for me.
I assembled resources like timeless, solid reference books. The items included in my preps were meant to cover obscure, but important possibilities that could occur in a disaster, like eyeglass repair kits.
Disaster duration was another factor that influenced the way I prepared. How long could I survive for?
History and current events, both of which exist on entirely different time lines equally impacted how I prepared.
The Covid-19 pandemic taught me much about how other people can react in a crisis, and further, how their reactions can impact my preparedness.
Certain items became very hard to get and even today the supply chain can be erratic. Prices skyrocketed as well which affected the ability to purchase, as did limits placed on various items during the pandemic.
Shopping became a high risk venture. Pick and pay grocery shopping had it’s limitations. I would pick up my order, check it, run into the store for missing items that weren’t there when the order picker assembled my order.
There was a time long ago when I was elated to finally have three months of key nutritional foods in storage. Three months became six months, then a year. Today, I store three years of key foods and am working on expanding this to five years or longer.
A freeze dryer is on my priority list. I want long term food storage.
My prepping time line is progressively increasing as the world changes and evolves in ways that worry me.
Circumstances change over time. How has the affected your preparedness?
As your preparedness has evolved, how has this impacted your prepping time line?
Read MoreNew cars are using capless fuel tanks, but normal funnels and fuel cans might not work in an emergency
Barb LeeContributor - June 1, 2021 This may seem an odd subject but here goes. I’ve been busy staging gear for potential wildfire evacuation this coming season. We recently bought a new truck with a capless fuel tank (which we just discovered) and the last thing in our preps is buying a new gas can for it so we can carry extra gas. We went through half a tank in the old truck last year waiting to get through ONE intersection, and this truck has only one tank, where the other had two. After exploring the filler tube we realized that no ordinary gas can would work to get fuel into the tank, so I thought aha! We need a funnel. Only what funnel?! As it turns out Mopar has a designated fuel funnel for this vehicle! (It’s a Ram 1/2 ton). The array of funnels available is mind boggling, and there’s no way to know if “any old” funnel would work.
Just sharing in case this might be relevant to others with newer vehicles. You might want to check if you can get fuel into your vehicle from an ordinary gas can!
Read More“Their ‘I told you so’ moment” prepper article
Bob - June 1, 2021 Not exactly gloating, stockpiling ‘preppers’ have a moment
Good morning,
It’s a light-reading article on preppers in the self-reliant category and not the “doomsday” ones. When I just read the article a few minutes ago, the beginning section was a little jumbled. Might get editorial review when reading it. Still, it’s a good article.
Article illustrates theme by telling of a 32 member Ohio group.
I only recognized one name in article and a prepper site: John Ramey, the founder of “The Prepared”. On a daily basis, I’m here at TP.com.
Thank you, John !
Read MoreFlooding in New Zealand causing evacuations and road closures
LBV - May 31, 2021 This weekend the metservice put out a Red Warning (definition below). A state of emergency was declared.
Red Warning – When an event is expected to be among the worst that we get – it will have significant impact and it is possible that a lot of people will be affected.During a Red Warning, Act now! Immediate action is required to protect property, people and animals from the impact of the weather. People should also be prepared to follow the advice of official authorities and emergency services.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/300320443/canterbury-floods-more-stress-for-communities-already-hit-by-fires-quakes
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/300321551/the-big-wet-receding-waters-untold-damage-and-rescuing-swimming-piglets
Read MoreCooling towel technology
Bob - May 31, 2021 https://www.towelspecialties.com/understanding-cold-front-cooling-towel-technology
Good morning,
Safe Memorial Day. Hope all experiencing a SAFE Memorial Day holiday week. My well-wishes for your safety.
Above link provides the basics of this somewhat new technology for keeping cool. Per the above site, the fabric “is engineered to absorb water, not for it to evaporate”. For any planned hot weather this material can be important.
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Another website … nothing to do with cooling fabrics but appropriate for learning.
In a current Smokey Bear catalog of merchandise just sent me, it’s mentioned somewhere buried in the catalog about the Forest Fire Lookout Association http://www.firelookout.org. I’m linking it just for info. There’s a $15.00 annual cost and I usually hold to only doing volunteer work for no-cost. It’s just that this organization does do some important work – and not just watching for fires.
A parallel to lighthouses and their preservation for their history, this Association has a history section where there are efforts to preserve the records – and surely pictures – of our no longer used forest fire lookout towers.
For those new to prepping and especially new to the outdoors … not the picnic in the park: the real outdoors, worth glancing at this site.
Again, have a SAFE Memorial Day !
Read MoreWhen the crisis becomes prolonged, how do you survive?
UbiqueContributor - May 30, 2021 Come with me again and let’s look at a different scene. It is late September 2023. The trees are wrapped in warm golds, oranges and browns. Leaves are beginning to reach for the earth. The air is scented with a spicy decay.
The world is a different place in September 2023.
Covid-19 never went away because transmission between humans continued. Each time the virus transmitted from person to person, it copied itself between 10,000 and 1,000,000 times. Each time, those copies carried a risk of variant creation.
The emerging variants became the wild cards in a new and deadly game of survival.
In 2021, during the third wave, everyone saw how younger people were now being infected. No one could have imagined what life in 2023, less than two years away, would become.
Vaccines had been developed and at one point, people relaxed and thought it was over and that life as they had known it would soon get back to normal.
That was before two variants quietly merged to form the first recorded ‘recombinant’ virus. The event was reported in the media on February 17, 2021. Two variants, B.1.1.7 from the U.K. and B.1.429 from California combined.
B.1.1.7 was more transmissible and B.1.429 was able to resist some antibodies. It had researchers worried but not panicking. They felt that the future might focus on booster shots to workaround any pesky new variants.
But, the last paragraph was one that contained the warning that was buried at the end of the article:
“There are a variety of factors that impact the transmissibility of a virus, including human behavior, population structure and immunity levels, if some deadlier recombinant strain spreads or not.”
The world played the wrong hand by not changing the one thing they had control over: their behavior.
Two more variants again quietly merged in the winter of 2022, only this time both variants were highly transmissible and both antibody resistant. The event was a biological marriage made in hell.
Their union unleashed a variant that was highly lethal and easily transmitted upon a world that was exhausted from coping with a pandemic since 2019.
Leaders from the civic through to the national level all struggled to find solutions and ways of navigating through a situation that had become much worse and more taxing of their already strained resources.
Researchers, who had so quickly developed vaccines in 2020 for SARS-Cov-2 now labored fruitlessly to arrive at an effective vaccine.
Control of the new variant was just beyond their reach, and more variants were occurring because a pandemic fatigued world had tired of mask wearing and social distancing.
Those who had been doing what they could do to stop the spread of Covid grew tired and fatalistic. Those who refused to do anything to help stop the spread, said “I told you what you were doing wouldn’t work.”
Many people were beginning to show signs of mental instability from the ongoing and worsening stress. Homelessness was increasing. Murder suicide, domestic violence, addiction and child neglect skyrocketed.
Theft, vandalism and acts of violence further drove the crime statistics up.
People wanted to wake up from the nightmare or escape it. It was a groundhog day, endlessly repeating and from which there was no escape.
As the death rate climbed, health care was over run. People died alone and suffering badly for a lack of drugs and other supplies that would have helped them have an easier passing. Mass graves became commonplace as they had in the Spanish flu and other disasters.
Those who could still work, worked from home. Children were home schooled. Still others lost their jobs and relied on their wits. Start up businesses failed for the most part because no one had any money.
Gardens became gold. People tilled their entire yard and planted everything. Elaborate security systems were devised to protect these precious crops. Hungry people were shot at for reaching into a yard to pick a tomato. The lucky gardeners could electrify their fences.
Hunters hoping to use venison as a food source discovered a chronic wasting disease in deer that also affected other animals such as bovine and sheep, a form of mad cow disease. Eating the meat was not recommended.
People began to fish instead, but instead of setting up fish farms, most of them over fished and soon the fish populations were decimated.
People who didn’t understand safe stewardship of rabbits contracted diseases that required treatment and medical intervention such as pasteurellosis, ringworm, mycobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis and external parasites through scratches and bites.
Unfortunately, medical intervention and treatment now consisted of field hospitals where the ill and dying are laid on cots and administered what little medications are now available. There isn’t enough equipment to go around.
The factories that produced ppe’s, sanitizer and other items fell to the economic tsunami caused by the prolonged and worsening effect of Covid and the new variant. There weren’t enough people to run the factories, or to supply them with raw materials, or to ship and transport what they needed.
Many people adopted a vegetarian diet and sought protein in increased legume crops.
We are preppers. We were ready for this, at least in the beginning we were, or so we believed. Were we as prepared as we thought?
Now, we are all only one bad gardening season away from starvation.
It feels like the world we knew is being de-constructed.
Look around you. This is our world as we stand here on a crisp autumn day in September 2023. There is no one outside. Many are ill, some are too afraid to come out even if they have a mask. In the distance we can hear coughing, crying and death rattles.
We look at the road ahead of us on the street where we are standing. Where do we go from here? Do we bug out and go back to nature and throw ourselves on her mercy?
What do we do now to survive?
Here are the links for factual references in this scenario:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/two-variants-merge-to-form-first-recorded-recombinant-virus-1.5312679
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/wildlife/wildlife-health/wildlife-diseases/chronic-wasting-disease#:~:text=Chronic%20Wasting%20Disease%20(CWD)%20is,and%20even%20plants%20and%20soil
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-chronic-wasting-disease-north-america-0
Read MoreFEMA’s latest shelter in place pictogram
Bob - May 29, 2021 https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_shelter-in-place_guidance_5-25-2021.pdf
Good morning,
Per the title, the pictogram arrived yesterday.
At FEMA’s active shooter “Fight as a last resort”, I will not comment on “Throw objects … a stapler”.
Remember not to swim through flood waters.
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