Hope this isn’t being political, if so remove, but I’ve been getting my fair share of political mailings and one of the big bolded things on some of them is that these local city candidates are promising to stop inflation. I’m sure that is going to get some people to vote for them, but I really don’t know how much power they will actually have to stop inflation. Good to see a professional in this field say the same thing I was thinking.

More North/South Korea news this morning: South Korea scrambles fighter jets after detecting 180 North Korean warplanes, military says | CNN

That is a good question because many of us have inherited some silverware and if push comes to shove, we might go to selling it because it is one thing we have of value. My initial thoughts are to see what you could get selling it. Check out a couple pawn shops or coin stores that buy silver and see what you could get from them. I’m guessing that pricing will vary greatly depending on where you go. Hopefully they would pay you in it’s melt value, which is how much it weighs and what silver is currently going for. That way I would sell it and then buy some US coins. The reason I say that is that a 1 ounce silver dollar has a known value because of it’s weight. People aren’t going to associate the same value to a 1 ounce fork that they might not know the weight of.  And if you are just going to sit on it, a stack of coins is more compact and easier to store than a stack of silverware.  I don’t know the market, but I don’t think you will be able to get more than melt value for a set of mismatched silverware. People who want it for eating with are going to want a complete matching set. Now don’t take this as fact and don’t take advice from a random stranger with no experience, but if you look at https://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html you will see that between 1-3 months after a US election, silver prices seem to go up for a bit, even if it’s only a few dollars. That might be a good time to sell… wait for it to come down a few months later, then buy your coins. 

So you would vacuum seal the flour inside it’s original packaging right? Makes sense because otherwise loose flour would get sucked into the vacuum.

Reminds me of Tom Hanks in The Terminal.  Comfortable clothing. Jacket for the cold. Assume your checked bag is going to get lost because it happens, have what you need in your carry on bag to live for a day or two. Pack some snacks because airport food is expensive. 

I liked watching Juan Pablo on the Alone tv series, he had a different approach to survival in the show than I’ve ever seen before.  Would you consider this book a good reference guide that people can refer back to often or once you read it, you pretty much know everything he talks about?

I’d like to see your electricity bill this year compared to last, seems like what you are doing is going to help out with that as well.  I hadn’t thought about appliances putting off heat but they do. After a two hour movie, my television is hot and you can feel a heat radiating off of it when you go near it.

Is it sort of like a bushcraft book with primitive survival techniques?

I enjoyed One Second After, but there really are so many that follow that same story line of an EMP SHTF and you can only read so many of those. 

Can’t even imagine losing your roof in the middle of -40 Alaska weather!  Do you have to do anything special to keep the generator working properly in those harsh conditions? I assume you have to go out every so often and make sure it’s clear of surrounding snow buildup.

Two very thought provoking questions. Sometimes worrying is useful and drives us forward with a determination to do better and achieve our goals, but it can easily be distracting, stressful, and debilitating.  Being aware of your emotions and not letting them negatively affect your decisions is a valuable skill.

Townsends is one of my favorite YouTube channels. They deal with 18th century ways of cooking, building, and living which all of us can learn from in many ways.

We’ve always just written on the bucket with a sharpie what it is and the expiration date to know when to rotate. I like the visuals of the pictures and nice uniform labels. Next time I need to label a bucket I will print these off and adopt them, so thank you for sharing. What would look nice would be to get some of those clear plastic sheet protectors that you put in a binder and tape that onto the bucket. You then can slip whatever sheet you want into the sheet protector. If you need to change out what you store in there or update a label you can. Another thought I just had is that the pictures could help identify what is in there if you didn’t have your reading glasses on you for small text, children could identify the food in there more easily, and it would be helpful if you were trading or giving away the food to someone who spoke another language.

I like that idea more than donating to some cause on the other side of the country where the CEO of the foundation makes quarter million a year. Your donation may (hopefully not) pay off someday when that firefighting gear is used to save your home.

I’ve read so many guides on how to bug out, but I can’t get enough of them. I learn something new from each one and there is no ultimate best way to do it.  I’ve never heard or seen an ear spoon before, but just looked it up and that’s what it looks like. Is this something that many people use and my family just isn’t one of those families who use them? Adding to your vehicle recommendations, if using a motorcycle have a small gas can that you can strap on, if using a bicycle bring a spare tube, pump, and repair kit (usually allen keys).

No worries at all 🙂 Thank you for sharing the correct link.

Are these the latches you were talking about? I like how it says “Prepare for: Earthquakes, Kid-quakes, Pet-Quakes” 🙂 So do these latch shut when they sense quake? How do they work?

My advice for you is to slow down and take a breather. No one knows what the future will hold. All this might blow over tomorrow and go away, we may live the next few years in another Cold War situation with the constant possible threat of nukes, or bombs might be dropping tomorrow. No one knows. What we can do though is to slow down and make rational decisions. I can understand your desire to move to the countryside but that isn’t always the answer. If that is something you feel strongly about though, you could possibly hire on with an existing farmer and be a help for them. This will teach you many skills and allow you to live that lifestyle without being too involved where you have to make money or lose the farm. Stay away from the news, because they like to get people all riled up, it makes them more money.  Enjoy your life where you are living, prep the best you can, and look more into if moving more rural is the best decision for you.