Emergency Preparedness

By no means do I want to turn this thread into a Rambo survivalist thing.

Also I realize that a lot of forum members are still in their teens and not the bread winners of the family and not responsible for providing for the family.

I am curious how many folks keep emergency supplies on hand. Food, water,
lighting, radio(with extra batteries) emergency plan for the family, etc....
It hit me several years ago when I visited my sister in law in Los Angeles area.
This was after the last big quake. I realized they ate a lot of take-out.
I looked around their kitchen and found they didn't have enough food two make 2 meals.
When I asked my sister in law and 24 year old neice how they would get by
if there is another quake or some other thing happen.No utilities, roads closed, no stores open.....My neice told me that was no problem, said she'd get on her cell phone and order a pizza from Dominos and if they dont deliver in 30 minutes its free.
Would like to hear thoughts from you good folks.
...................Dennis.....The Alaskan

 

We have spent the last decade working torwards being as self sufficient as we possibly can. After we take our annual moose in the fall we figure we have food and supplies on hand that will last a year or more. Food for the dog team has been the only area we have been short on in recent years. Our basic list of supplies is as follows:

Food - 1 moose packaged and frozen. 20 chickens frozen, 50 jars of home canned marinara sauce. 50 jars of home canned salsa. Various canned veggies, tuna, beans etc. 100 pounds brown rice. 100 pounds of dry red and black beans. 100 pounds of flour. 50 pounds of sugar. 50 pounds of various dry pasta. Fresh frozen greens. 200 pounds of potatoes, carrots and onions in the root cellar.

Water - We are self sufficient with water. We have a large pond that provides all the agricultural and animal water we need and a spring that over flows all winter for drinking and houshold use.

Fuel - 20+ cords of firewood split and stacked. This provides for all of our heat and winter cooking. We try to keep enough propane on reserve so our freezer and fridge will last a summer. Our root cellar will suffice for refridgeration if necessary, but in a long term SHTF senario we would have to rely more on canning and curing of the meat. The freezer is outside and is turned off for 6 months of the year. Thats one of the benefits of having six months of sub-zero weather. We keep about 50 gallons of gasoline for running the chainsaw, generator and water pump on hand and about the same in kerosene.

Power - solar. We are fine for six months of the year, but we use a generator a few hours a day to charge our batteries in the winter.

Tools - We have all the tools we need to take care of ourselves. The two Husky chainsaws are prized possessions, but if necessary I have a crosscut saw that I could make do with.

Weed - We keep 100 pounds of super kind bud stashed...HA HA I wish.

Beer - Not nearly enough.

Coffee - Not nearly enough.

Transportation - Dog team.

Guns and ammo - plenty.

Sorry Dennis, I guess we do sound a bit Rambo.

 

Doesn't sound Rambo to me, but then again we're both Alaskans.
Shit man I've still got 5 gallon buckets full of ammo left from the Y2K stash.
Hadn't seen you on the forum for some time, out working or something I figured.
Enjoy the spring weather......Dennis

 

Well I personally am still living under my parents house and not by myself so I dont really have any emergency food prepared. Though once I'm older I would like to fill my basement with 2 liters or big water coolers filled with fresh water.

 

we have NOTHING.
if something happens we will be the first ones to die.

 

I am a little sheepish about what I have.


10 Boxes Talon ammo for 9mm
2 cases 7.62x39
20 bricks .22 mag
100 bricks .22 lr
10 boxes 30-06
5 boxes 6.5x55 (new gun not stocked up)
2 freezers full of assorted stuff
lots of hand crank items
couple military stoves with pipes and ect
4 field radios and 1000 yards of wire
tons and tons of canned foods
and so on and so on.

I rotate stuff but have been selling alot of this as I know its far too much to have for one guy but had family around when I bought it all.

 

Well Yank it sounds like your ready for anything that comes your way in a SHTF situation.
I was posting earlier today after Amyleeloo's post. But the forum went south on me.
The points I was trying to bring up were, changing buying habits, only buy things on sale and buy extra with what you save.
If green beans are on sale, here 10 cans for $8.00 is a good price, buy 15 cans and put 5 of them in your emergency pantry. Do this every week with different products on sale and at the end of a month you've almost a case of canned goods and spent less than the price of a take out pizza.
Dry goods, cheap, flour, salt, sugar, dried beans, peas, pasta, etc... If stored right will store for years. In fact the spaghetti we had a couple of nights ago was made with noodles I bought and stored in 1999.
Water...Not everyone is as lucky as FreeinAlaska and myself to have our own water system that no-one can shut off. Water comes be for food.
You can live a long time without food, but a very short time without water.
Save your 1 gallon milk containers, wash them in a soapy/bleach bath, rinse and dry.
Fill with clean tap water and add 2 drops of regular bleach, seal and store.
A portable radio, flash lights with extra batteries. First aid kit. Extra medication for those who depend on it. Toilet paper and a system to depose of human waste.
The government used to recommend a 3 day supply to get through a problem time, now they are suggesting 2 weeks.
I'm not talking of digging in for a war where nukes are getting thrown all over the world . I'm talking about what mother nature can throw at us.
Remember the poor souls in Katrina, who didn't have a gallon of water to drink, waiting for the government to save them, the government isn't set up for that magnitude of disaster.
When it comes right down to it, your own your own.
For you virgins here, SHTF=Shit hits the fan=Really bad times......

 

Wow I'm glad you guys are ready, we are not. I need to get some water stored for sure. Especially since we have a one year old! We have a deep freezer packed to the gills and more food in our house than most people (since we are the only people around that cook every meal we eat). Most of our friends rely on convenience foods or dining out. We keep a camping stove and a stash of small propane tanks to run it. We could eat for a month easily just from the cupboards and freezer (if the power stayed on). If the power went off, we'd eat what we could with the frozen food and then move on to dry beans, rice and other staples.

I'm on several forums and this has been a very hot subject. Great minds do think alike!

We're in town in a duplex so major storing isn't an option at this point.

 

Sociologist:
Glad your thinking about providing for yourselves.
With a little creative thinking a lot of storage options are available even in a apartment.
Low profile boxes can be stored under beds, lot of unused space there. Get same sized
boxes, stack them to the right height, throw an old table cloth over them, instant night stand or end table.
Do you have access to an attic, if so , you have a warehouse for dry goods.
Your propane camp stove, those little propane tanks are spendy and wind up in land fills. For just a few bucks you can get a 5 gallon tank and adapter you can cook with that for months. ( dont get the trade-in bottles, their a rip off ).
Well if anyone is interested, maybe we talk about B.O.B.'s ( Bug out bags ) ?

 

The only thing ppl need is a weapon to get food and water and shelter if a crisis pops up.

 

Alaskan brought up the big issue of what to do with human waste. It doesn't take too long without the toilets being able to flush to have a huge issue. Outhouses are illegal in most places so that's not an option for most of you. One option is a sawdust toilet. Take a five gallon bucket put a layer of sawdust in the bottom and add saw dust after each use. The sawdust with the waste can then be stored in garbage bags or dumped in a compost pile. Most local lumber mills will give away sawdust or sell it for a few bucks for a trash can full.

 

Good idea Freein, thats a new one on me. Got a cabinet shop on the hwy. and their more than happy for you to haul it away.
Saw dust is also good to use on ice to help keep from busting your butt.
Sign Related brought up the topic of self defense, to protect you and your loved one from people like him.
By now you can pretty well figure out how "FreeinAlaska" and I would deal with punks.
I'm not saying you need to run out and buy an assault weapon, securing your home, keeping a low profile and keeping aware of your surroundings and situation.
Later....Dennis

 

Sorry to hog the thread, but I found a cute post on another site.
Some of you may freak out, most of you will get a chuckle...Check it out....

http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/04/you_might_just_be_a_survivalis.html

 

Oh yes the compost toilet, check the ol Humanure Handbook. Very neat concept really.


Yes I too just added stuff here and there over time and now really have way too much. To deal with it I am actually having a yard sale next weekend to lighten the load a bit. I mean I dont have the need for 4 pack setups of emergency supplies to keep around since I dont have 4 ppl here anymore.

Yes I was in C.A.P. as a kid, assisted in the Mt St Helens searches when it popped its top so 4 years of training sorta rubbed the mind to be self reliant.

 

Dennis, thanks for the link. I had a great laugh. Here's a couple that really hit home.

Well you know as REM said....It's TEOTWAWKI...and I feel fine!

 

Freein:
I feel I'm not all together, I only have 2 generators, but no solar panels.
Have never served MRE's at a diner party, but took a spam casserole to a pot luck last week. Several folks asked for the recipe.
Guess its time for a lesson in survival speak....TEOTWAWKI.....
"The end of the world as we know it ".........Dennis

 

Allright, here's another one for you all. What about fire starting? Everyone got a flint and all that's needed to start a fire without a match? I don't. A neighbor of ours is convinced that one of the things that will be better that money, when the SHTF, is a Bic lighter. If no one can light a fire.....well then what happens? I now have about 70 Bic lighters stashed with my 100 pounds of bud.....Well not really the bud, but the lighters.

The Bics are great, but I'm all for "strike anywhere" matches. They light at forty below. You can take your "strick anywhere" matches and dip the ends in candle wax, let them dry, and store them for later. Don't be conservative with the wax. A well waxed match is almost like a candle, and they survive moist environments.

 

I do the same thing with kitchen matches, also found some medication bottles that my wife gets will hold about 30 matches and are water tight.
Does anyone here carry any supplies in their car or truck. A "just in case stash" ?
I keep a small back-pack in my work truck. I contains a 1 burner camp stove, mess kit, 6 bottles of water, 4 cup of noodles, several sealed packs of cheese and crackers, trail-mix, hot cocoa mix, coffee, a pouch of tobacco with papers, a roll of quarters and about 30 dollars in small bills.
Here with weather being a crap shoot and certain times of the year, there may be nothing open on the hwy for 50 miles. It's nice to know you can wait out a problem with a bit of "comfort food".

 

I drive truck so I keep a little something for just incase. Lance brand peanut butter crakcers, knife, string, matches, instant cocoa, 3 gallons of water, instant diet lemon tea, roll of heavy aluminum foil, mirror, clothes, blanket, pillow, cb, electrical kit, tools, duct tape, cd's, my laptop. Just items needed to make my flip from one place to another. On my way back home food is never an issue as the trailer has atelast 27,000 pounds plus of it.

 

I had to laugh at myself yesterday. I opened a drawer in the kitchen and found several handfuls of packets of ketsup, soy sauce, sweet and sour and all sorts of stuff I've brought home from the Deli.
Reminded me of a mess hall in a rear area in Viet Nam that had a sign posted "please not steal the condiments, ask the mess Sergent". Well the mess Sergent would load you up with Tabasco, Heinz 57, etc... Sure made C-rations more palatable.