You certainly have see your fair share of world and local events, have been preparing longer than many have been alive, and sounds like you have real life experience helping others which in turn taught you many survival lessons. You are a wealth of knowledge for sure! From what you have seen over the years, which decade of people do you feel people were most prepared or could handle and survive a large scale disaster? For example, were people in the 60’s generally more versed in life skills such as canning and doing without or is today’s generation better with more access to knowledge and maybe more income?

I totally forgot about these until I got a notification about your response and am grateful you updated with your experience! How was the taste and how did the caffeine kick compare to a cup of coffee?

I did not know about this event and am kind of glad I wasn’t alive during it.

Having extra spices for food is something I had not considered storing.

Buying in bulk is just good practice in general. Not only do you save money on the products, save time and money on not having to go shopping as often, but also are more prepared.

While browsing through the news, I read this article that says that by deploying insulation in homes and electric heat pumps, the UK will be able to reduce demand for gas by 4% by 2027. Which is the same amount of gas that the UK imports from Russia.  https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4046244/study-insulation-heat-pumps-deliver-uk-energy-security-quickly-domestic-gas-fields So it is true, insulate and make your home more efficient to reduce the need for energy.

Have your gas tank full and an extra can ready. Be able to flee the area you are in without having to stop for gas.

I really should get my documents ready and a bug out bag packed with the essentials for a possible quick getaway 

That’s what I have heard as well, that troops have  been slowly building up around the boarder of Ukraine for years and only recently built up more. I too would probably fall into the normalcy bias in that situation. Makes me also wonder what dangers are building up around my boarder that I am totally ignoring and seeing as normal because of how slowly they are growing.

That was a very creative experiment and story, I enjoyed it. Hopefully things will never get so bad where I need to cook over a candle, but I know that I can now. Have a good weekend too Jay.

Luckily I haven’t had a pull tab can fail on me either. I will inspect them more closely though when buying for any dents to suggest that it may have been dropped at the store.

That’s what I was thinking, melt some candle wax and just dip the entire can lid into the wax. The wax will also prevent rusting on the end that it’s dipped in. I noticed the increase in ring pull cans and made a post about it a long time ago: What are your thoughts on pull-tab lids on cans? In my opinion, they open way too easily for my liking and I can see them easily being punctured and exposed to air. I try and buy cans without the ring pulls when I can, even if it’s more expensive.

I’m not even a chocoholic and I can tell you that a piece of chocolate or other comforting sweet food really brings me happiness and calms down my mood.  Don’t they put some small mint or chocolate in military rations? It’s not there for nutrition or pure energy but probably for comfort and a sense of normality.  Once people’s needs are met like having water, a fully belly, and a warm blanket, the chocolate, coffee, or other comfort food will greatly improve moral and let people know that things aren’t too bad. 

That’s what I would do. Use any method possible to grab them and go. Even if I am running out of the house with them in my arms. They can sit in the back seat of the car and I’ll drive to a Petco and pick up more supplies in a worst case scenario. Not shaming the lady in the story though. I don’t know her situation and it sounds like she did the best she could. 10 guinea pigs is a lot of fur to handle.

Thank you for sharing this story. Having to leave so abruptly without any ability to grab things drives home to me the need to have everything staged perfectly.  But like you said, even if she did have pens ready for her guineas, she might not have even had time to load them up.

My first thought when you said ‘BOB for the bunz’ was a little bug out bag strapped to each rabbit.  That’s wonderful you have the resources to build a bug out bag for them. What are some of the things you have included in their bag? 

I wish I lived closer to my work and that this could be an option. Wonderful goal for this next year! Are you going to change once at work? How is weather going to play into your goal? You should ride at least one day in rain and one day in snow just to experience what it would be like to bug out on bike in adverse conditions. You’ll probably get sympathy from your boss after he see’s your dedication or riding in the rain and will give you a raise too!