I am well past the age that I could volunteer for such a worthy cause, but knowin now that so many are volunteers makes me want to reach out and see how I can support them. Low number of fires in the area and low budgets, are probably the cause of so many being staffed with volunteers.  It is concernin however that the number of volunteers is shrinkin. What happens during a particularly hard year in the economy and people are givin up their volunteer time to work a second job? That could lead to some issues and disasters.

 I do not think that pressure rods would be a particularly good idea for dogpatch if they are usin a bookcase for storage and have it secured to the wall with a cable. The cable will give some slack and prevent the bookcase from fallin all the way and stop at like a 45 degree angle, but that will be a lot of force to put on those pressure rods with all those cans behind it.  If your cupboard is secured to the wall tightly and will not fall itself, I imagine pressure rods will be just fine because you just have to deal with the cans or jars wigglin a bit.

I’ll third this. I’ve scored a few hard hats from the neighborin thrift store in the past and it’s a good item to have, especially if you live in earthquake country. A bonk to the head will set you back. And if a disaster is goin on, then hospitals will be full of people with bonks on their heads.

Ain’t it amazin to have so much free and valuable information at the tip of our fingertips? I’ll be reading this over the next few days.

Sorry I haven’t responded to  you pnwsarah. I only tend to be on the forum durin the weekends when I have spare time. Thank you so much for your detailed explanation and for the comfort it gave me. I am goin to look into the history and stability of my house some more, but from what you said I probably don’t have much to worry about. As a follow up question, if an earthquake hits and my house is still standin but clearly is in bad shape, how do I know if it’s safe to live in and when I need to find other accomodations?

Thank you for your thorough explanation and many ideas. Hadn’t thought about storin gear in a barrel like you have pictured there. Placin additional gear in a storage rental location is also a solid backup plan. 

You make many good points of the need to be prepared and to be able to react quickly. Do you have any ideas on how and where to store supplies if livin in earthquake country? My fear is I’ll have my bags and food but everythin will be buried under my collapsed house. Then what?

Are the nets that blow in after a storm worth salvagin or are they all just a torn up tangled mess? If I was feelin a bit younger, that would be a nice hobby and service project, to walk the beach after a storm collectin old nets and keepin them from blowin back out to sea. 

A dab of peanut butter on a trap has caught me many a mice. Chipmunks in the shed lean towards the tootsie rolls though.

My memory ain’t what it used to be even five years ago, so Im bound to forget various items while packin for a trip. How do you get your poster to look so clean without a background and just have the item image on there? Did you use some kind of computer software?

As I have gotten older, I have seen many friends and family come and go. Providin a simple dinner for them is a huge help because it keeps their energy up, a tasty meal will boost their mood, and that’s the last thin they want to be worryin about. My wife and children are aware of our will and trust and should be fine if I pass. The grandkids will probably miss me most of all though. I’m takin grandpa’s ribs recipe to my grave though. It’ll force em to miss me every 4th of July.

There is more risk of injury with usin an axe. All it will take is a missin your block of wood and you have a chunk of leg you need to mend now. I’ve hurt myself on more saws than axes though, but they were all little nicks and cuts rather than a deep wound that would require stitches. 

Those were a fun read. What are some of the different animals you have hunted over your life? What huntin tips would you give to someone before their first hunt?

I have a Berkey and checked with what they filter and didn’t see it on that list. https://www.berkeyfilters.com/pages/filtration-specifications Distillation might be the best treatment method. The article says how rain collects these forever chemicals when it is rainin from air particles. So good to know it isn’t being evaporated up in the water droplets but rather is collected while comin down to the earth again. A distiller should be able to produce clean PFAS free water. Good news roundup by the way Stephanie. Always enjoy the weekly survival news

Tent – Matches – Pot – Ax Tent – shelter is key and you will be spendin energy to build somethin. Get inside your waterproof tent and be much more comfortable. Use the rainfly to catch rain run off into your pot Matches – you’ll die fast without heat. Will also produce light, rescue signalin, and used to make tools. Pot – More durable and versatile than the water purifier. Can boil water, collect water, and cook in Ax – Use as a way to chop firewood, build additional shelter, use as a sledge to pound in stakes, and sharpen well to process animals

I’ve caught many a doctor skippin out on testin or other procedures that should have been caught. You know your body best, learn up on what you are goin through and hold your doctors accountable.

I have been gettin out and walkin more lately. It feels good and maybe there is somethin to this exercise

We hired a company to come do fire mitigation for our property and they arrived with 6 guys and popped it out in an afternoon. They all were havin so much fun. Made me jealous of their career.  Wish I had taken a job that I enjoyed in my youth. Maybe I wouldn’t be so gray as I am now if I had enjoyed what I was doin like you said.

Cars today are gettin too darn complicated. Good to know for the future, thanks.

The wife keeps tryin to get me to exercise. It just gets harder and harder as I get older and older.