41 replies to this topic

[PapMyc]

Hey Guys and Gals,

In light of our friends in the South East USA being recently hit my hurricane Florence and Michael , I'm curious as how prepared are you for a natural disaster ? Hurricane , tornado, earthquake, ice storm ect.

I'll give you a little glimpse of how we prepare. We have oil lamps for light, propane auxiliary ventless wall heater, and sawyer water filters.

Hopefully this topic and ensuring conversation will help other's.

[scott_1971_h]

Hey Guys and Gals,

In light of our friends in the South East USA being recently hit my hurricane Florence and Michael , I'm curious as how prepared are you for a natural disaster ? Hurricane , tornado, earthquake, ice storm ect.

I'll give you a little glimpse of how we prepare. We have oil lamps for light, propane auxiliary ventless wall heater, and sawyer water filters.

Hopefully this topic and ensuring conversation will help other's.

I used to have a bunker (brick box half buried below ground, the removed earth stacked on top) with water, generator (diesel) and food/clothes etc for bushfires, but then I moved.

It was the most silent place I'd ever experienced.

[Coopdog]

I used to be OCD as hell about this subject and had food/water stores, and a lot of other essential provisions. As the years go by though, you have to use that stuff or lose it, and through a few hard times that gutted us like a fish, as I got older i got sort of complacent. Not nearly as well prepared as I once was, and damn man I sure should be considering where I live. 

[coorsmikey]

I'm about 50 miles from the Yellowstone Caldera (the way the crow flies) I don't think the natural disaster I may be worried about necessitates preparation other than maybe a Jet. If I lost infrastructure I would have enough natural resources to survive a while. I do keep stuff in my auto however in case i was stranded somewhere in the cold. 

[onediadem]

I am pretty prepared. I always have a lot of bottled water at all times, flints for fire, and enough canned food to last at least 3 months. Will it be enough? Not for a complete breakdown of civilization, but enough to survive for a few months. Longer than that and I am toast.

[Juthro]

I also could live fairly comfortable for an extended period of time if I am able to stay where I am at.    Clean, drinkable water is the most important thing to have sourced IMHO.  If you don't have it, you wont last where your at for very long.

 

We actually had a earthquake here last night, a 4.5.  I would have slept through it if my wife hadn't woke me up and accused me of having some kind of seizure, lol.   She woke up feeling the bed shaking, and blamed me.  So then she woke me up by hollering "Why are you shaking?". 

It didn't help that about the time she woke me up the earthquake stopped, so that just reassured her she was right.

 

She still didn't believe me until I looked it up this morning on the USGS site, lol.

Edited by Juthro, 15 October 2018 - 01:04 PM.

[PJammer24]

I'll survive in many situations, but if Yellowstone blows.... We all have problems!!

[PapMyc]

Agreed PJ. Major volcanic eruptions anywhere in the world will have huge consequences. In the US most of us are screwed. Cyclical world disasters are overdue IMHO.

We've had two major health issues in our lives ( one for 18 months ) and our being prepared kept us from excessive grief.

And yes even a full years amount of goods \ money will not be enough as history has shown us. Some is still better then none.

[majormillet]

In some ways prepping is nothing new.  I would imagine many of our grandparents would be considered preppers today, although it is a relatively 'new' term.  I know mine were.

 

I live on a farm, we grow most of our own plant based food, as well as a majority of our meat..  What we dont grow we get from a CSA.  I have numerous windmills on the place for water, as well as one solar pump stock well, to water goats and cattle.  I have a furnace in my house, which I dont use.  We have a big wood stove and propane ventless heaters wall mounted in strategic locations throughout our 3300 sq ft house.  Our cook stove is propane as well.  We have a 3k gallon propane tank we fill when it gets to 50%.  Of course we have oil lamps and lanterns as well, as we have frequent power outages in my area, esp in winter.  We can, dehydrate and freeze, and have a large pantry.

 

The one big hole in our place is lack of generated power during extended outages.  While well have heat and light our refridgerator and freezers will have no power.  I have looked into propane powered freezers and refridgerators, but havent bought one becuase they are expensive.  They would be a better long term investment for us IMO, as we have fluctuations in power here and an electrical appliance doesnt last as long as it would with a constant power source.

 

We dont necessarily prepare for weather events, we have several blizzards and some tornadoes every year.  Blizzards mean lots of working taking care of livestock, and tornadoes, well, we just hope it doesnt hit our place.  We are more focused on being able to remain isolated for an extended time if there is civil unrest, collapse of society, terror attack, or pandemic.

 

Here is a tip of the day.

 

All wild animals from mice to the biggest buck, and anything in between (even reptiles like snakes), are attracted to a livestock salt block.  They will visit it regularly, to download minerals.  They will even lick the ground at places a block has sat in the past.  As you can imagine, a well placed block might allow you to take game from the safety of your home, thru an open window.

 

best regards,

millet

[Juthro]

Don't forget that most of us own pressure canners.   You can safely store many kinds of food for months, or even years without refrigeration with the use of canning jars and a pressure canner. 

 

Home canned food requires no refrigeration until opened, and it's already cooked so you don't have to have fire or a stove to work with before you can eat.

 

A case of cooked pinto beans is good insurance that you've got several filling, nutritious meals ready to eat at a moments notice.  A little bit of some home canned salsa, or  pepper relish will make them much more palatable, but they can be eaten right out of the jar if need be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[majormillet]

In an extended grid down event, it would be possible to can most of the contents of your freezers if you had the cookers and jars on hand, and a propane, preferably, heat source.  When we bought this place I purchased 2 pallets of canning jars, and more lids.  It is nice to know we could preserve the protein in our freezers if need be. 

 

Also those one time use disk lids, if you have to, they will seal more than once.........;)

 

best regards,

millet

[PJammer24]

We have a vertical gas well that feeds directly to the house at the farm and we recently reached an agreement on a 2nd well... There is a 3rd well on the farm that we have allowed the neighbor too draw from since it wasn't producing enough to heat our house...

 

I am pretty sure our gas will continue to flow or can be made to continue with ease in case of disaster. A gas fired generator would probably be a good investment for us... If we are fueling a generator with natural gas, mom might have to disconnect the gas kiln she uses to fire pots...  I will have to build her a wood fired kiln just in case the world comes to and end!!

[SteampunkScientist]

My plan is to use the knowledge learned here on the forum to move to a new universe. 

[Juthro]

My plan is to use the knowledge learned here on the forum to move to a new universe. 

But you haven't finished serving your sentence here, yet.... 

[Juthro]

Here are some cute little tea candle, candle lanterns that I use when the lights go out here.   These things are great, they store with six tea candles in them, and are very easy to load and light.   

 

They aren't a 100 watt incandescent bulb, but they provide plenty enough light to be able to function by.  They also have the benefit of providing a little bit of heat, if your in a cold weather situation.  I also like the fact they are small and easy to hang from strategically placed  hooks in the ceiling around the house.  That way they are well out of reach of curious children and pets.

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[scott_1971_h]

There were numerous 'shelters' back in the 70's when we were being told to just duck and cover. Underground railways were used during the london blitz, etc. (glad it wasnt a flood)

Exactly WTF was ducking and covering supposed to achieve, apart from being a bromide bath for The People?

[SteampunkScientist]

 

My plan is to use the knowledge learned here on the forum to move to a new universe. 

But you haven't finished serving your sentence here, yet.... 

 

Jail-Break Baby!

[PapMyc]

I kind of figured the conversation here would be in line with our taking control of our medical / mental well being.

@M&M You are right that being prepared ( prepping ) was a way of life for centuries. We do can our meat in a PC for long term plus use a freezer. Home generated electric seems to be an issue for a lot of us. Midwest guy so solar is a limited option. We do however have a gas well on our place and should get a natural gas generator. Cost is always an issue with electrical generation.

@Juthro. Buying a couple extra cans of food like beans each week is a great way for people to start taking more control in their lives. Some safe lighting like the tea candles makes us feel very secure with no electric lights. We have even used the cheap solar sidewalk lights for the kids to use.

Thanks everyone for the input. Teaching others about taking more control of their lives is something I too feel is our duty.

[SteampunkScientist]

In all seriousness, a herb garden with both food and medicinal herbs, and some Turkey Tail and Reshi mushrooms is a damn good idea. Also a regular garden if you got the time and energy.

I did the herb garden, results weren't great, but proved it can be done. I grew up having to work in my parents massive garden so I can if I have to. I got too many hobbies, but... In a SHTF situation, hobbies that don't help with survival go out the window.

Seeds. Save seeds or buy them from local savers at farmers markets.

Oh, and learn to shoot a bow and arrow or crossbow. Save your ammo for life or death situations.

Edited by SteampunkScientist, 16 October 2018 - 08:12 PM.

[onediadem]

I am crazy insane about saving seeds. Every veggie I buy, I save them. Most are organic, and very easy to do. It takes 5 minuites to clean and wash the seeds. Drying is a breeze on (UGH) styrofoam plates, and I reuse them over and over with tape used for labeling. The seeds dry nicely and do not stick. Next year I am going to try container gardening since I have has issues with in ground stuff. I buy a case of soup every time it goes on sale. Pretty much has everything in it. If there is an aldi's near you, they have some great prices on canned foods. Salt is a very important mineral also. Vitamin c is the most important vitamin to prevent scurvy. Surprising enough, fat is a very important thing also. I have 5 chickens for eggs. You just cannot beat an egg laid at home from chickens fed organic food.

They are funny creatures and each has their own personality. I have been saving for one of those water purifiers that Juthro has. I dry edibles, grind them up and use them in sauces when I have more than I can eat. It stores lovely.