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'Preppers' stock up on guns'n'gear as financial doom looms
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The Will to Act: Your Ultimate Bug-out Kit by R.B.
By James Wesley, Rawles on July 30, 2011 8:25 PM
http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/07/the_will_to_act_your_ultimate.html
Section One
The Bug-Out Bag is an icon of the preparedness movement. The principle is well known and agreed upon: we may indeed have to pack-up and take flight to a more orderly, less hostile environment, intelligently. This would be either in anticipation of a great upheaval of social order or in its aftermath. How we will face the situation and deal with it is our part to play. Bug-out is an emergency measure, supplying us with a three-day margin for action: decisive action, evasive action, survivalist action or other salutary maneuvering. You must make an informed plan for your exodus. Considering that this would be enacted on foot, there will be an urgent need to map-out a route, determine an objective, establish foreseeable safe resting places along your intended escape-and-evasion route that include points of re-supply or hidden caches. Make back up plans. Now, try out everything in a realistic rehearsal, pack up your Bug-Out Bag and start using it. There is no better time than now. If you plan on using military gear, you might practice with more discreet colored civilian camping gear so as to avoid curiosity. Try bugging-out in increments, start with good weather and light loads. Work towards nighttime and inclement weather scenarios. Add weight as your personal physical condition improves. The goal is to gradually rule out most potential surprises and unknowns. Whether solo or with like-minded comrades, practice equals preparedness. If you are the leader of a family or group, members of your troop must train as abilities of age and state allow. It will be harder, and more practice will be necessary.
This proverbial “Three day” limit is not realistic for most situations we are likely to face. “72 hours” is a military standard. Soldiers are re-supplied, but who will come and re-supply you after 72 hours? There is an urgent need to rise above this imaginary status quo. Common sense tells us to select and pack items that can be used not only for the hypothetical three-day scenario, but rather indefinitely. In light of this, a solid and foolproof modus operandi must be established: the B.O.B. must serve our resolve to remain pro-active and prevent us from falling victim to circumstances of the unexpected. It is a tall order. Contents lists, ideas and examples abound on the Web. Most of it is show-and-tell. Some of it is abstract theorizing. Consult, sift through the media, but you will soon agree that people are not understanding the seriousness of the situation. Either they underestimate the critical nature of bug-out, likening it to a picnic outing, or they get sidetracked in the materialism of gear gadgetry. The bug-out market has caught the eye of commercial capitalists. Survival kits in sardine cans...? So beware. Shun the disposable, wasteful, throw-away mentality. Cheaply made and cheaply purchased items are indeed disposable, not like your hard-earned money you handed over in vain. When the worst is upon us, no one will be replacing any so-called “unconditional lifetime guarantee” items for you.
Beyond the tedium and disagreement caused by excessively detailed lists, here are fundamental, building block elements that will form the backbone of your kit. Here is what works. Sorry if there are no sparkling gadgets to make you think bugging-out will be fun and games. If something happens that will truly require a bug-out scenario, it will be catastrophic. People will face death. “Pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath...” In real world bug-out, the first thing necessary will be to remain rational, and keep the Faith. Keep your bearings. Keep to the proven principles. Important choices have been made here, and this principle of discernment is a key factor in assembling your personal kit. The definitive checklist is strictly your business. Your ultimate choice of gear should be the things that serve your purpose to remain in control, and to rise above the situation at hand. Consider what is being put forth, it is foundational and proven. Source references are for suggestion only.
The Bug-out Bag: get a backpack and get the best you can afford: it may very well be your lifesaver. But it has to perform, full. It cannot fail in rigorous or sudden use: It should be able to withstand dropping, dragging and hastened concealment. It should also withstand whatever you might do: like falling, crawling, swimming or accidental situations. Imagine being pursued, being a possible target, hunting, defending a perimeter: you should be able to run, sit, duck, lie prone or take a moment of rest with your pack on, in reasonable comfort.
Whether with or without a traditional frame, here is the definition of the ideal: A medium-size pack 2.500-3.500 cubic inches more or less, with a padded hip belt that puts the weight on your legs: the legs having the most powerful muscles in the body, with shoulder straps being only for load control. This is better and safer than slogging with an unpredictable, overloaded small pack that will cause suffering. An overloaded large “moving-van” pack will be even worse, maybe fatal. Medium-size is where the balance of moderation is. It is a good spiritual and mental factor as well.
Your pack should be either camo to match your local woods or civilian colored for discretion. Camouflage means to blend in with your immediate surroundings. Urban scenarios might fare better with civilian gear. Not everyone will be able to have recourse to the back of beyond. Think about where you will go, then blend in accordingly. Civilian gear does look a little less threatening. Solid colors in earth tones would be a good balance: Coyote tan and O.D. green are better than black. Nothing in nature’s background is truly black, though your protection and concealment will be in darker shades of most colors. Avoid loud colors. If you want the visibility option, use a pack cover or a separate piece of material in the color you want to be seen. Put it away and save it for when the time comes.
The pack should be top loading. Few or no zippers that will break or fail at the wrong time. If there must be a zipper, make sure there are back-up straps and buckles to remove weight and stress from the inherently weak zipper closure. No Velcro, which is noisy and prone to clogging and failure in inclement conditions. In essence, a pack is just a vertical sack. Cutting openings and compartments will only reduce the structural integrity. A strongly constructed single space bag is the original and still the best. Inside, pack items in small dry bags by category. Mark them with permanent marking pens or colors for rapid recognition. You should never have to be digging around inside your pack for some loose item. There is a forcible and rational order of things that go in and come out of a bug-out bag. Establish a priority of items by use: primary use, secondary use, etc, so that when arriving at your destination, especially if it is a temporary bivouac, necessaries will come out of the pack quickly and efficiently according to purpose. Articles abound on this subject, study, learn and practice how to efficiently set-up and pack-up any scenario that involves the use of your kit.
There is a need to approach your initial B.O.B. purchase with clarity.
Judge the ruggedness of your potential pack by putting weight in it and grabbing and pulling on all straps. If the seams start to give out, the sewing is probably low-quality throughout. Try it on with a load. Politely and reasonably abuse it while still in the store. Features should be truly useful and not frivolous. What looks good in the store might fail in the field. Now make your judgment, take notes and move on to another pack if you have your doubts. Remember, what is best for you, and you alone, is what matters. It has to fit your size and your natural dimensions. That means it must not extend above your head or be wider than your shoulders, it should not hang much below your waist. It should fit your torso perfectly. If you are presently fighting the battle of the bulge, then choose a waist belt that fits both now and when you will be in better shape.
Military and non-military packs are legion. But no one makes a pack like Americans do. Watch out for imports. The ones coming down the tracks, loaded in those ominous shipping containers, are getting less and less cheap only because of corrupt marketing strategies. Prices are being deviously re-calculated and raised because it is a known fact that cheap junk is cheap. If it costs more, it must be better ... Beware of this and other big lies. European imports are inflated because of the manipulated exchange rates. There is indeed a price for buying local, but isn’t this part of the present battle? Domestic shops are still in business, call them and communicate. Support them. Thank them for staying home to make their products. There are small companies that make camping and tactical gear, proving that yankee ingenuity is still the best. You can also search for outdoor gear at www. Still made in the U.S.A. com. You will find your kindred spirits there. You will also find items that should outlast the coming ordeal, within the range of your budget. Avoid supply purchases at the mega-store globalist marketeers who film you while you shop, beg you to spend less money by joining their club, and ask for your phone number or zip code at checkout. It goes without saying how you should handle this affront. Common sense is in the balance. Most small hunting or military surplus shops are still ma-and-pa operations. Support them first. Some e-Bay "stores" are actually gifted artisans trying to make a living without being able to afford a brick-and-mortar storefront. Look up the contact info and deal directly. You will know right away if they are legitimate. These micro-industries are to be supported. Their proprietors are often geniuses, and honest.
External frame packs: The ubiquitous ALICE pack is still in use today by respected military. The original version is the medium-size. It is a marvel of simplicity and solid engineering, very easily obtained at a reasonable price. You can get OD or camo versions. The frame is the Achilles heel: drill out all rivets that will likely fail. Replace them with fine thread 8/32 stainless steel bolts, with round heads that have an Allen or Philips slotted head, depending upon what your multi-tool can do in the field. Use stainless steel locknuts. The medium ALICE can remain minimalist or it can be built up with add-on modular components. It can be used without its frame if it fails. Upgrade the shoulder straps and waist belt if you want more padding. The MOLLE II waist belt is an inexpensive and effective upgrade. Replace the steel buckles with quick-attach Fastex buckles if you want the added convenience. TacticalTailor.com, HighSpeedGear.com, SpecOpsBrand.com are just a few of the military-class producers of improved accessories. Backpacks that resemble the medium ALICE are made by DownEastInc.com and others, with a modern polymer frame and other upgrades. They keep strictly to the original principles of the ALICE wherein the dimensions do not surpass the average natural dimensions of the wearer. This is important in bug-out when speed and maneuverability are expected. Most packs are intentionally not 100% waterproof. If you have to move through water or soaking rain, you will quickly understand why. The pack should be able to drain. With your BOB contents packed in dry-bags, water is no longer a threat. And if necessary, your pack will now float in extreme water-crossing scenarios. Practice before you take the big plunge.
Internal frame packs: some frame designs are effective while others fail before their weight capacity is reached. Some kind of frame is needed for average loads of 35 lbs. or greater. If the internal frame is too minimalist, it will flex and compress, your spinal column will do the same. Wearing an internal frame pack loosely will reduce the critical nature of potential problems, but the problems are not completely eliminated since internal frame or frameless packs are not designed to be worn too loosely. Beware of overheating from direct contact with your back. Lungs and parts of organs, muscles extend rearwards in your torso, when they overheat, you, too, will overheat. Plan on your back being soaked from shoulders to waist when wearing an internal frame pack. In winter this will increase the danger of chills. Variations of the internal frame theme are as numerous as brand names. Some are practical and minimalist while others are cerebral and scientific. Top-of-the-food-chain medium-size internal frame packs are listed in order of size: Eagle Becker Patrol, Kifaru Zulu, Mystery Ranch SATL. They have PALS webbing for add-ons. Even if they are above your means, they are the best example of what other comparable packs should be. The military has tried many internal frame packs in the larger-size category, like the CFP-90, the SPEAR, the ILBE but the external frame pack is the current choice. The USMC, having tried these packs, is also going back to a contoured external frame.
There is also a possible third category of pack, a hybrid fusion design, where the best of both worlds has been attempted. High-end military level makers such as Kifaru and Mystery Ranch are among the designers of this type of pack. It comes under the larger-size category. They have made a quasi-external frame that functions with the close-hugging benefits of an internal frame. The problems with internal frame packs are thus resolved, except for the overheating part. Their efforts at inventing a cooling system for the back are a failure. Only a true external frame will give the necessary air space to keep cool and dry. They are also quite expensive and disproportionately heavy for the most part. They are works of art but you must be truly committed to this design if you want one, after ruling out every other possibility. They have elaborate web sites and customer forums where feedback is published.
For backpacks in general, the military is a good rule of thumb since soldiers are load-carriers by profession. The military also established the bug-out concept. You will not be disappointed with a military level bug-out bag. It is made to withstand the abuse you will need to personally undergo in bugging-out. The newest versions of military packs are a far cry from the old instruments of torture used in the John Wayne movies.
Repeat: what matters in choosing a pack is what is best for you only. Size and shape matter a lot when moving quickly. You are the one doing the moving. The medium-size category is where we want to be in the bug-out context. But if this range is truly insufficient for you, consider the newer military packs from Specialty Defense Systems that still use an external frame such as the MOLLE II Rifleman Pack, the main ruck is 3,000 cu. in. The attached sleep system carrier is a failure, replace it with something else, or rotate it downward so it does not project out from the frame like a tail. Military users of this system have colorful words for this bobbing sleep system compartment... You will also need to upgrade to the Down East 1603 Generation IV frame, which replaces the original 1602, quite breakable frame. This new frame has fallen out of helicopters and hit the ground, nothing broke. If you envisage a "big-B" bug-out, needing a house-on-your-back rucksack, the 10th Mountain Ruck is the current U.S. Army issue, 6000 cu. in. MOLLE pack. It is basically the previous generation two-component Rifleman pack in a one-piece configuration. This pack represents the current military philosophy in load bearing. You can find it in woodland camo, coyote tan or multi-cam. The current, ineffective ACU camo will be phased out. The large-size ALICE is currently getting more attention as well. Some speculate that bigger is better because you will have extra load capacity. A completely full, large-size ALICE, as well its upgraded improved versions, such as the BDS Mountain Ruck, the HighSpeedGear Trash Bag, or the Tactical Tailor Malice, can be dangerously unwieldy when full. These formidable moving vans, when fully loaded, will severely limit your speed and agility. Though this level of pack may have a place in the extreme bug-out scenario, its wearer will be constrained to pack mule velocity. Even trained soldiers collapse beneath big rucks. They complain when having to double-time with these prime movers. If you are bugging-out with bulky but lightweight insulated cold weather gear, the larger size pack will not be unbearably heavy. Bug-out is not the same across the board, in all climates or foreseeable conditions. It is time to experiment according to your personal plan, which will be carried out in your bug-out theatre of operations. It is better to make a medium-size pack bigger with removable add-ons than to make a large pack smaller by carrying it half empty, where the load will be off-balance. Civilian frame packs have extension bars behind the head, such as the classic Kelty. If you need to duck, the frame won't. In contrast, most military packs stop at shoulder height, allowing the user to move through low-clearance situations more intuitively, the pack will move with you.
How much is to be spent on your BOB? Surplus military gear is an excellent value for the budget. There is a certain mystique about military gear, with which the common man has been made into a warrior… Tactical suppliers who upgrade soldiers or outfit various law enforcement groups abound on the web. But they need to hear you ask if it is made in the U.S.A. Excellent civilian gear is abundant as well. You can also rent quality name brand equipment from a backpacking outfitter. Try both kinds of packs, external or internal frame. Start deciding right now what works best for you by manual and physical trial and error. Tempus fugit.
Add-ons should include a chest pack, suspended from the backpack frame and not from shoulder straps or sternum straps, so it can be flung rearward, up and over the head, if necessary. Put quick-release Fastex buckles so it can be adjusted and disconnected. Ingenious, multi-compartment organizers, also known as E.D.C. essentials bag, medic’s bag, in every shape and configuration, are readily available from tactical gear suppliers. Kifaru, Maxpedition and others make these. They can be military or civilian in appearance. The G.I. Field Training Pouch makes an effective chest pack. Just like the ideal bug-out pack, it is top loading, single compartment, with a drawstring inner closure. The chest pack principle is to keep small, first-line usage items within immediate reach, accessing them without having to stop and remove your main pack, wasting precious time and exposing yourself. The chest-pack keeps your overall load better balanced, with the weight of your most essential gear forward. Keep an empty dry-bag packed inside your chest pack so it can be quickly put to use in the event of a water crossing. Your chest pack is the container of critical equipment. It must be kept dry. Being up front, it will always be under your watchful and vigilant gaze.
Extra pockets, removable waist packs and a compartment for a sleeping bag or more gear can be attached to the medium ALICE. If you need more food provisions, put them in drop-leg pouches that hang from your waist belt. Your leg muscles can handle the extra weight more easily than back muscles. Make sure you can swing your arms without hitting these drop-leg additions. Some individuals like to wear a MOLLE LBE vest rig beneath their backpack. Just make sure you can crawl or lie prone with all this gear on. What about trekking poles? Try them and decide if they are a help or a hindrance. In most cases, four legs are better than two. Carrying a load downhill puts stress on the knee joints. The poles minimize this undesirable effect. Trekking poles can multi-task. They can be used to quietly ward off pests instead of firing a shot, which will attract unnecessary attention. They can prop up your shelter; they collapse for quick storage. If you are humping serious weight for yourself or for others, 25-30% of your bodyweight, consider spandex compression knee braces. GI kneepads help as well.
The bug-out bag is meant to equip you, to support your will to act and to prevail, and to keep peace of mind.
Section Two
In the bug-out moment of truth, you will have to depend on certain basic things to help you survive. They must not break or fail. They are tools, but remember, you are the one doing the surviving. Material failure is one thing, but if you are the one who fails, it will be tragic. So choose the tried and true: simple, well-made designs, favoring heavy-duty and versatile things. Learn their manifold uses. Do not go out testing your kit in a bug-out-ops scenario until you first learn the limits of your gear at home, in a controlled environment.
Bug-out pack contents: the four classic elements of survival are what you are GIg to carry. 1 - Shelter, 2 - Fire, 3 - Food and 4 - Water.
Shelter: definition: protection from the elements while moving or resting. Tents are out. This is not recreation. This is survival, adding the word “reasonable.” Combine poncho and tarp, GI types will usually mate, check the snap configuration. Two ponchos can mate as well. This will give you room to expand your comfort zone or your safe zone, depending on circumstances. Prevent grommet failure by attaching 1/8” shock cord loops to your tarp and pre-tie lengths of 550 paracord so you can set-up faster. Your shelter is worth more than cheap plastic sheeting or woven plastic, both of which are highly disposable. Get a well-made nylon tarp that will serve you for the duration. Above and beyond the GI issue standard fare, are the Wiggy's Hootch, Jacks'R'Better hex tarp, and Equinox Egret among others .
Enduring the elements can be critical if you have not yet found a safe site for shelter. Foul weather gear should be kept in the quick access parts of your pack, such as inside the lid compartment or in an outside pouch accessible by simply reaching and without having to remove the pack. Beyond the classic poncho, if you are a consummate jacket wearer, Gore-Tex type rain gear, both tops and bottoms, are easy to find. The GI issue versions come in all shades of camo, they are still some of the best. Be they military or civilian, Gore-Tex products are an investment. The poncho has its virtues and vices, but when stealth shelter is needed fast, the rain jacket will not be enough. Shoot your poncho or other waterproof gear (not the Gore-tex) with Camp Dry spray. Gaiters: keep a pair with your rain gear. Besides their obvious use for snow and rain, try them once while hiking through wet brush or just wet grass. You will be a believer.
Tents: if insects or reptiles are really a problem in your area, or you get violent storms with high winds, a lightweight tent can offer the desired sanity-factor protection. Hilleberg.com. Stephenson Warmlite, Biblertents.com and others make the ones that fit this category. Eureka!com sells their military tents to the public; they are heavier than backpacking tents but also heavier duty. The price of tents at this quality level, from any source, will remind you that they are an investment. If you have a family or group to house, separate into two’s or three’s so as to keep to the smaller, stealthy tents. Distribute tent parts to keep loads lightweight. Always try out your shelter in the backyard before you take it on bug-out ops. Shelter is a priority concept, whatever configuration you choose, it should come out easily and quickly from your pack upon establishing a safe and secure campsite.
Sleeping bag and bivouac bag. The military modular sleep system: a lightweight warm weather bag, a medium cold weather bag plus a Gore-Tex bivy bag make the modular parts of the system. Combine all three for extreme conditions. For the space-critical bug-out bag scenario they compress surprisingly well. Wiggy’s.com makes an improved but somewhat bulkier sleep system. Synthetic fill holds up to the elements better than down. You can add some kind of sleeping pad as well. Self-inflators draw in ambient air, scorching hot or ice cold are the risk. Beware of the ultra high-tech, which is prone to failure. The standard GI foam pad or its civilian equivalent is plenty good. The basic sleeping pad can be used for many things besides sleeping. Think sled. Think flotation. Kneel on it when working in camp. If you want to survive the long-term, a sleeping system will be necessary. The bottom line: rest is necessary for survival.
Hammocks are not for everyone. Try one and decide if you are pro or con. Grandtrunkgoods.com makes one that compacts to a softball size and weighs mere ounces. Jacks'R'Better.com makes the ingenious lay-flat hammock as well as a camo tarp to cover everything. Clark makes the stealth, camo Jungle Hammock. Brace yourself for sticker-shock. Junglehammock.com.
Use a poncho liner or a wool blanket if the sleeping system is beyond your bug-out eventualities. Put on loose-fitting clothing, covering all cold-sensitive points such as feet, ankles, neck, wrists, head, with clean, dry and preferably wool clothing. Then add the poncho if condensation will not be an issue. One trick is to breath outside of the poncho so as to minimize condensation. But your body will naturally release humidity. Wet weather and condensation are problematic when living inside nylon. Ponchos, bivy bags and tents need adequate ventilation: waterproof is a double-edged sword.
The uniform: little or no synthetic clothing. If you are wearing a military uniform, consider the golf-suit: mismatched camo. Your legs should match tree trunks or ground covering while your torso should match branches and foliage. Older military clothing, which can still be found new or barely used, is made better, and the fabric blends contain a higher percentage of natural fibers. By far, aside from the military uniform, wool is still the best for every clothing item. Do not think of wool as exclusively winter clothing or as something that keeps you warm even when soaking wet, as testified in the Filson catalogues. It is indeed every bit of that. But wool is also for warm weather. Lightweight wool t-shirts are made by Ibex.com and Icebreaker.com. Fine wool is expensive, but you buy it "once"--to last. Other natural, God-made materials would be a second choice. Linen, cotton, raw silk, canvas. Wool does cost more than synthetic clothing, which really is just a plastic imitation of the natural fibers. We are no longer accustomed to buying long-life clothing items, so take care of these as in all investments. [JWR Adds: See the many warnings that have been posted to SurvivalBlog about cotton clothing. Search on the phrase: "Cotton Kills".] Somewhat loose-fitting is best. Pack a small squeeze bottle of Woolite or one of those all-purpose biodegradable detergents such as Mrs.Meyer's. Natural fabrics wash and dry out rapidly if there is sunlight, they can be dried near a fire without melting. “If your feet are cold, cover your head:” Boonie hats that obscure the human form, wool watch caps and helmet liners will keep your head warm in three very different ways. Headgear should allow for the ears to be uncovered. Unobstructed hearing is essential in bug-out survival. Cover your ears only when you really need the extra warmth. Keep a bandana around your neck; keep it wet in hot weather. It will keep the spirits cool, core temperature also. A wet bandanna is best for wiping salty sweat from the face before it burns your eyes. The G.I. wool tube scarf is for cold winds and winter. Carry two and you have makeshift wool long johns. Cut one in half, wear it like pullover collar. No more flying in the breeze.
Boots: Forget style and fashion, or the latest glossy magazine fad. You are the Infantry; your feet are your transportation. Treat them with care. Boots should give ankle support as well as total foot protection. Include removable insoles that can be washed and disinfected. Judge sufficient support requirements only when standing with a full load on your back. Shoemakers are beginning to understand. Lightweight boots with a stiff ankle section are becoming available. High-tops do not always mean better support. Avoid side zip. Put the boots on, put on a load, now stand on ramp: uphill then downhill, your toes should never touch the front. Now stand sideways on the same ramp, try to roll your ankle, simulating a sprain. It should be next to impossible with the right boots. The boots should also be able to withstand total water immersion without dissolving. As they dry out, they should still fit. Use 550 paracord instead of shoelaces. This will give you two spare lengths when needed. Three sets of thin and thick socks are standard. Blister-provoking friction should dissipate between the layers. Wool is still the best. Add silk liners for the ideal set.
Fire: it warms both flesh and spirit. But in the bug-out strategy, the romantic, dream-inducing campfire will be rare. Have three ways to make the flame. Sparking steel, waterproof matches, refillable all-metal lighters are three that tie for first place. Trick birthday candles ? Do not pre-make petroleum soaked cotton balls. Keep cotton balls dry and sterile for more uses before you commit them to a last ditch fire-starting scenario. When inclement conditions call for a fire starter, far superior to Vaseline, and maybe providing a moment of comic relief, is a tube of Preparation H, containing petrolatum, beeswax and paraffin... Cotton balls, gauze or tissue with this petroleum ointment added will burn with a steady candle-like flame. Some facts about fire: where there is smoke there is fire, and where there is fire there is smoke ... If you are evading, a smoky fire might as well be a flare signaling your position. Firewood itself can also be an issue. When scavenging for campfire fuel, avoid deadwood from poisonous or questionable bushes and trees whose smoke can kill. Some wood is toxic. In 1809 Napoleon lost seven soldiers not to the British army, but to meat rations cooked on Oleander spits. See Fine Woodworking Magazine issue 114, “When Wood Fights Back.” See also “Toxic Wood” from the same.
In bug-out, the small fire, made only for cooking or boiling water, is what you want. A stove is better. Use a very basic commercially produced or self-engineered wood-burning Ranger stove. “Ranger” usually denotes a product of self-engineered genius. People are now selling commercially made versions of these simple stoves. Some, like Littlbug.com, are made of stainless steel as well. You have heard this “stainless steel” nomenclature elsewhere. Aluminum is lighter. Does it really cause Alzheimer’s disease? Is “cast” aluminum safer than “spun” aluminum? Regardless of the answers, one fact still stands: Aluminum is an unstable alloy. Steel is real. The weight vs. utility co-efficient should be the keep or reject rule for every item in your kit. If bug-out is indeed evasion from the confusion of chaos, it is also a focus on surviving the long-term. The extra ounces in steel products remind you that you have long-lasting, durable tools for one thing: to outlive the ordeal.
Fuel canister-type stoves will eventually run-out and become pitifully useless. You can carry a lot of fuel, but the weight will be disproportionate to the convenience factor. Or you can bring a minimal amount of fuel for the emergency. But bug-out is already an emergency. One which, in all probability, will last longer than we anticipated. Multi-fuel stoves are better. Circumstances may allow for siphoning of fuel from abandoned vehicles, fuel can be cached along your evasion route, if you are able to follow it. Alcohol is a proven system, so is solid fuel, which is a lightweight and compact back-up strategy. Be careful not to breathe the fumes. Surplus stores have a lot of solid fuel choices because the military dropped many of them for safety reasons.
The Ranger stove is for the unknown and unforeseen duration. This wood-burning type stove can be as simple as a section of snap-together stovepipe, ranging from 8 to 12 inches in length, 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Commercial versions are variations on a steel tube that looks like a muzzle brake for a bazooka. Less is more with these stoves. The principle is to produce contained, intense and protected fire. Use discarded paper products, dry grass, twigs, pinecones, anything that burns. Rows of holes at the bottom and top of the tube allow for a full airflow. The fire rests on an elevated perforated plate or a piece of steel mesh, and roars in seconds. The tube utilizes the chimney effect, creating an upward draft. With a little hand-pressure to reshape the top opening of the tube, you can make your G.I. canteen fit right into it. There is your one-quart teakettle. Transfer hot water into your canteen cup and continue boiling more water. Cook your own recipe-concoction directly in your stainless steel canteen cup, or in the components of the G.I. mess kit, the only cooking set needed. Grab hot items with leather and canvas work gloves. Winterize your leather gloves with G.I. wool liners. Synthetic hunting or shooter’s gloves are a hazard around fires. They will melt with your hand inside and cause severe burns. Neither leather nor wool will ever be a problem. Your multi-tool works best for gripping hot steel. This bug-out micro mess hall makes cooking pots and pans totally unnecessary. The mess kit can work like an oven. Place coals on top and beneath for a Dutch oven effect. Pour boiling water over grains, clamp the mess kit airtight, and you will have steamed food. Who says survival means being constantly miserable? If you are a staunch “cooking-pot” chef, having mouths to feed, take a look at the heavy-gauge stainless steel vertical shaped pots from Grandtrunk.com. The vertical shape better utilizes the heat rising upwards. It also fits into a pack more easily than a wide diameter pot. Avoid Teflon or coated cookware. The toxic coating wears off and you ingest it. Titanium is available, at a price.
See CascadeDesigns.com or Titaniumgoat.com also offering the Caldera wood-optional stove. Initiation in working with fire includes a tube of Calendula burn ointment in your First Aid kit.
Enclose the G.I. stainless steel spoon & fork, squeeze-bottle of MrsMeyers.com natural detergent, Scotch-Brite combo sponge or stainless steel scrubber and anything else you can fit inside your mess kit. Tall squeeze bottles will fit into the depressions of the mess kit lid. Put in a natural sponge as you close it up. This will compress and keep the contents quiet and secure. The natural sponge is a thing of beauty and holds many times its weight in water. For collecting water from dripping cracks and small springs a natural sponge is unbeatable. The sponge bath gives instant relief from the stress of survival and restores you to an acceptable state of hygiene. A medium-size sponge will practically soak up a canteen full of water. It weighs virtually nothing.
So far the kit has been minimalist and broad spectrum in its philosophy. Those two terms really do go together in bug-out.
Section Three
The bug-out bag should contain much more than carefully chosen gear. It should include strategy dynamics, and other peace of mind intangibles. If we are sufficiently equipped for the duration, if our modest bug-out kit of tools will aid us in prevailing, we will not be so desperate as to fall below our human dignity. The next part deals with food and water. We are more spirit than flesh. Be willing to share.
Food: Health is more than not being sick. Remember that we are emulating trained combatants and athletes when we are bugging out. The need to keep mind and body alert is critical. The effort to keep energy at peak level is not optional. Pack basic food elements for situations where you might have more time to prepare your meals, you will be thankful to eat a traditional meal that not only looks and tastes like a real food, but has the salutary effects of balanced nutrition. Avoid pre-packaged, ready to eat junk foods that are full of preservatives and additives that cause health side effects. The appearance of convenience is an illusion. Select and pack your food separately by food groups from bulk quantities. Use various sized re-usable vitamin bottles, or other screw cap plastic bottles that have been pre-tested for being leak-proof. Food storage should not allow light penetration. GNC makes colored bottles. GearPods.com canisters are modular. Take care of your food. Vacuum wrap or stretch wrap is less re-usable, but a moderate quantity of heavy-gauge foil is essential. Those fuel-stove foil shrouds are very versatile. Be sure to include a P-38 or bigger "P-51" G.I. can opener in your tool kit.
Phase-1 bug-out is usually intense and evasive. Use your ration packaged athletic food and drink mixes for this initial phase only. Phase-2 bug-out is when you have achieved a reasonable measure of safety and security, even if it is temporary. Build-up your health as conditions allow in these moments when a stove can be used. Freeze-dried food or MREs are practical but better fare is not difficult to achieve. Phase-3 bug-out is when you have attained your projected destination or objective. Food re-supply takes place then, usually upon the arrival at a retreat or outpost. Nutritional overhaul takes place now. What you choose to carry or store will be for maintaining the balance in your strength and performance. It is unacceptable to think that taking toxic doses of vitamin B or other shock-energy drinks will be enough, you will be in for a few surprises. You should be training in the present moment, and your strength and endurance levels should be on the rise. Solid nutrition, not chemicals or instant-ized pseudo-foods, will keep you stable in this state.
On a 33-day 500-mile course, few of us came back the same. Many of us dropped dangerous amounts of weight. The high-tech sports food had no more effect after the first week. It has its place, to be sure, and its limits. It doesn’t rebuild or restore for the duration. Classic nutrition saved everyone. Learn now which foods support you, discard what doesn’t without apology, even if it fills full-page ads in the magazines. You will not find bug-out nutrition outlined anywhere. Forget calorie-nutrition-exertion co-efficient tables. Bug-out is off the charts. It falls under the extreme exertion category because it is both mental and physical, more akin to sustained warfare than survival. Bug-out is the will to overcome, to remain in control because of the foresight of preparedness. Load your B.O.B. with the most concentrated forms of only the best foods. The term “lightweight food” is an oxymoron. Watch weight, but better food means better performance, the scales tip in favor of nutritional value. There is no room for convenience-packaged junk. Intelligent food rationale is an essential part of bug-out.
The principle in stressful conditions such as the bug-out scenario: high fat content is necessary. Eating a steady diet of wild game, such as venison, long after your freeze-dried backpack food and MREs have run out, can cause sickness and even death, if that missing element: fat, is not added to the extra lean game meat. What is fat content? If your food has any flavor, it is probably the fat. The old-timers talk about this important fact of living off the land. Refer to the classics in survival reading. “How to Stay Alive in the Woods” is just one of Bradford Angier’s many excellent readings, or grab the works of Colonel Townsend Whelen. Their books are among the old hardbound classic treasures if you find them used. These are luminaries among the real men.
For the extended bug-out context, pack highly concentrated foods, such as dried meats and fruits, pemmican, food bars, dark chocolate, (Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt is 5 star) various dry grains and legumes for boiling or for sprouting, raw cane sugar, sea salt, powdered milk, potato flakes, grain flour. Most trail mix is anything but quick energy, the nuts are slow digesters. Seeds are more quickly assimilated. Canned meats and fish, and various cheeses and butters are highest in total fat content. Load nut butters, honey or non-clogging fruit jams into refillable squeeze tubes. Soup based dishes re-hydrate us and make food easier to digest. Carry a small squeeze bottle of olive oil. It is both medicine and condiment. Study, learn to recognize local wild edibles as well. Get a published guidebook for your region. Attend classes on plant recognition and use.
First Aid: Band-Aids are the least important. Gauze, cloth medical tape and cotton balls can multi-task outside the parameters of First-Aid. Hydrogen peroxide is still the old favorite for cleaning wounds and other uses, keep it in the brown bottle. Essential oils and herbal poultices are also traditional. Insect bites and stings, poisonous plant irritation, intestinal imbalance, any health condition that worsens by nature, needs immediate attention. Thermotabs prevent muscle cramps and dehydration without provoking the dry-heaves, keep them in your chest-pack. Chafing is a problem in hot weather marches. Foot powder should double-task for this. Tools: Foldable sewing scissors, tweezers and dental floss, suture kit, needles and alcohol wipes for blisters, tongue depressors. Examine the military Blow-Out Kit online, see if it pertains to your Bug-out curriculum. Avoid individually foil-wrapped travel-size pharmaceuticals that waste space and only placate most problems. First-Aid kit contents should focus on basic, broad-spectrum elements of healing and immune system defense.
Keep an eye on problems and stop them in their beginning stages. Besides the need to patch up cuts and scrapes, which become more easily infected in the out-of-doors, your immune system may need some first-aid as well. Include whole food multi-vitamins and compressed green super-food tablets. They are not cheap, but they will keep up your health. Most airborne sickness begins in the mouth. Add three drops of Super Strength Oregano Oil from North American Herb and Spice at P-73.com to your gargle water to kill everything. This variety of oregano is actually akin to hyssop, the biblical bitter herb. Timeless, natural remedies handed down from the ancients, as well as proven home remedies are the subjects of other articles published on this blog. Learn to react at the first sign of declining health.
In the Bug-out context of events, there will have been a massive upheaval of social order, making our departure the only rational solution. Catastrophic events, whether they be acts of God or engineered through human malice, imply the potential outbreak of disease. Your First-Aid kit should include de-contamination: radiation, toxic chemical or vapor leaks, bacteria, viruses, etc. The best remedy is usually physical distance from the stricken area. You can walk 15-20 miles in a day. Running with a backpack, maybe 5-10 miles more. Is this far enough away? There is a category of items, “better to have and not need than to not have and need.” A gas mask that works, medicines and antidotes for pandemic viruses, penicillin, surgical mask and gloves, anti-bacterial liquid soap. Keep an old-fashioned thermometer in your kit. Learn to count your pulse rate with your watch, memorize the fever zones and danger zones. There are also herbs and traditional remedies that help keep you calm and focused in the stress of bug-out. Remember the charming story of Thieves oil, fact or fiction, it represents the savoir-faire which is the foundation of any First-Aid kit.
Water: Learn how to find water. Look downward into gullies, look for green, only water can do that. If there is a choice, it should be flowing rather than still. If you find it before you need it, collect it anyway. Anticipate the need for water. Keep a collapsible canteen or bladder in your kit for this purpose. Purification: boiling is still the easiest and most economical way to purify water. The old method for purifying water consists of two steps: filtering the water through a cloth such as a dedicated clean bandana, then putting it to boil 3-5 minutes, adding 1 minute per 1,000 feet in altitude. Water purifiers are also available in countless shapes, sizes and prices. Some even work. Articles on this subject, field-testing reports abound on the subject of water purifiers. Most ceramic and synthetic filters are imitations of two natural water purifiers: charcoal and cinnamon, both are effective bactericides, cinnamon being from biblical origins. Cinnamon in capsule form or drops, has proven more effective than Imodium, it can be used daily as a condiment while in reality, it is being taken as a preventive measure. Being around water in the wild, cinnamon would be better in your stomach instead of stowed away somewhere in your kit. Read and study this important question of water purification. Everyone seems to have a preferred “best” method. Foil-wrapped or bottled tablets are also available, some are better than others. Water filter pumps: the extra-rugged Katadyn Pocket Filter is the golden standard. Its mere weight tells you it is all business. The MSR Mini-Works squeeze pump screws directly to a standard bladder to eliminate contamination. Sterilize your water filtering gear and keep inlet and outlet hoses apart to avoid cross-contamination. This seems extreme but deadly bacteria are microscopic. Water is life. It can also be death. Treat water with respect, then do not forget: water is more important than food. Thus the critical survival rule: do not eat unless you can also drink. Under duress, we need more hydration than nourishment. Stress and anxiety are dehydrators. So are diuretic drinks such as coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, certain soft drinks and commercial fruit juices: these “refreshments” cause fluid evacuation. Compliment them with twice the amount of water to curb dehydration. Never wait until you are parched with thirst to begin drinking. One military unit urges pre-hydration: the day that precedes operations is spent drinking larger than usual amounts of water, though without exaggeration.
Your bug-out water container must be able to multi-task. The legendary kidney-shaped G.I. stainless steel 1-quart canteen, or an unpainted stainless steel water bottle can be placed directly in a fire or a stove for the absolute fastest boiling of water. Loosen or completely remove the cap. For purifying water or cooking, time is always critical: 10 minutes to bring a quart of water to boil is too long. And you might have to add the extra time for purifying. Survival is stressful enough; let alone fooling around with fire and water boiling. Think of the teakettle. The top is domed. A cooking pot with a flimsy flat lid is the worst way to boil water. A steel canteen is always ready to serve the cause. Along with the G.I. canteen is yet another marvel of engineering: the nesting steel canteen cup. CanteenShop.com has raised this lowly military artifact to an objet de art. It holds a generous 24 ounces. That equals more than enough water or food for one person. Add the G.I. canvas canteen cover, which is felt-lined. Soak it in water to keep canteen contents cool or leave it dry for insulation in cold weather. The 1-quart nylon MOLLE canteen covers are not insulated. The 2-quart covers are fake-fur lined. They also melt. But they are still very good additions to your kit, just be aware of their quirks. Carry several quarts of water. Several meaning many... as many as you can. A gallon per day of drinking water, that means four quarts, is considered the average personal intake for moderate exertion. One gallon is eight pounds. If you like to drink on the move, use the hydration bladder, but get the kind that open all the way at the top so you can put your hand inside for cleaning. Sourceoutdoor.com makes them. Whatever vessel you choose to carry your H2O, the puncture resistant, fire-compatible steel canteen should be the foundation of your hydration system.
Miscellaneous: As far as other practical gear, here are some personal notes.
No flashlights. Two headlamps are better, one heavy-use and one spare. [JWR Adds: I concur with this wisdom. A headlamp can also be used as a hand-held light, but not vice versa.] A single “white-light” beam is better than the blue light produced by inferior LEDs, which is not true light, and causes depth perception failure in rapid evasion. Single-beam lights cost more but their purpose is to move you at night without incident. Petzl, SureFire, PrincetonTec and a few others make the single beam lights favored by military and night riding mountain bikers. They are essential for night ops. For all other purposes, the inexpensive LED lights are sufficient. Study the question of colored light, red, green or blue, decide if this feature is an advantage for your circumstances. Petzl Taktikka XP and PrincetonTec Eos Tactical are two that include colored filters.
If you absolutely must have a handheld light, SureFire.com or Goncz.net make the real ones. Knock-offs have poor contacts and inferior materials. They will leave you in the dark. Hand crank dynamo lights: squeeze-type military Daco-lites are now collector’s items. They are very noisy, and the dynamo must be constantly going. Freeplay makes the wind-up Jonta, probably the only light of its kind that is not a toy, it also tips the scales at 15 oz. but unfortunately “Made in China” Chemical light sticks have their place. A thousand uses ? Maybe not. Military surplus stores sell the special holders that control light output. Medics use these.
Batteries: Standardize your battery type and size. Only one size for everything is the ideal. Keep rechargeable batteries only if you have a solar-powered charger. Batteries are fuel. Carry a sufficient supply of battery sets: for example, if your headlamp uses three AAA batteries, your supply should be in multiples of three. Some lights and electronics require specialized batteries, this means keeping an appropriate inventory of spares. If you are not in evasion mode, and not needing bright light, a windproof candle lantern is better than wasting precious batteries for night lighting.
Battery problems: How long will your batteries last? Being parsimonious with battery power may be counter-productive in bug-out. Extreme conditions imply extreme use. Batteries may wear out faster, headlamps constantly used on full-brightness will quickly go dead. There will be no warning with 123a Lithium batteries that go dead without going dim. Other battery issues: can you change a watch battery in the dark or in the midst of confusion, and be able to reset the correct time? Can you change the battery of your rifle scope in the field while your target waits for you? Same for a rangefinder. The more electronics used, the more types of batteries will be needed. Electronics are also fragile. Ask yourself that question of all questions in assembling the bug-out kit: “Can I do without?” Consider non-powered, manual, mechanical equivalents for all but the most essential electronics.
Repair tape. Duct-tape: 100 m.p.h. tape doesn’t need to be 100 miles long. Compress a small roll flat. All adhesive tape will eventually dry out and become ineffective. Protect your tape in a canister or in the humble Zip-lock bag. Get some black or green zip-ties, long ones can be trimmed when the point of no return has been decided. Can you repair or sharpen every item in your bug-out bag? There’s your repair kit list, but keep it micro. Add a Rite-in-the Rain notebook and a pencil or a space-pen. Write and keep notes, record landmarks, physical and spiritual...
Hunting: Constant thinking ahead about food source possibilities should be a permanent state of mind in bug-out. Do not let opportunity pass by, it may never return. Small game is quickly dealt with. Its finality: one meal or two. Big game will consume your time unless you have an established plan for processing this quantity of meat.
Weaponry is highly subjective. Survival hunting: one rifle is all you can carry. One sidearm. What is the effective range of your firearm? Memorize windage and elevation compensation. For close range, use the sidearm. For noise discipline, shoot an arrow. Try a slingshot. Trapping is silent, snare wire can multi-task as well. Binoculars or a simple monocular: hunting or not, always glass before you go. Is fishing possible where you are? Put together a minimalist kit, and be content with small catches. Collapsible fishing rods collapse at the wrong time. Make a primitive pole or use a sectional knock down rod if you are casting and spinning.
Knives: k.i.s.s.= keep it simple and sharp. Razor-sharp is normal. No combo-blades: where the sweet spot once was there is now serration, an unwanted challenge to re-sharpen. Bug-out might include Search and Rescue. Multi-tools have full-length serrated blades and specialty cutters. A razor-sharp plain edge has been used until now for breakout scenarios. It still works. Knives: Rule #1: cannot have too many. Rule #2: a dull knife is a dangerous knife. Get a stone set from Dan’s whetstone.com. His family still sells the increasingly scarce natural Arkansas stones in miniature singles or combo’s, get a piece of the rock. Keep your stones in hard cases or padded pouches to prevent accidental breakage. Double-task your micro-bottle of Hoppe’s or Rem-Oil for lubrication. Stones or diamonds, keep your sharpening system simple. Do not bring what has not already been pre-tested. Keep your blades scary sharp. Pre-sharpen every cutting tool you plan on using, each one should be the extension of your hand. Your primary use knife should be non-reflective. Set aside a dedicated stainless knife for skinning and food prep. Maintain your edges frequently, even unused, they still degrade from humidity in the air.
Becker, KA-BAR, Benchmade, Ontario, are among the myriad makers of good knives. They are exceptional American made medium-size knives for the mid-range budget. They still offer plain and simple, well-made knives that get right to work. They all offer non-reflective blades. Buy the best you can afford. Some brands offer a low-end import line of knives. Absolutely avoid these objects designed-in-America but made in... bleep. Boycott such products which offend our nation's deep sense of honor until they are dead and gone.
Select a few knives, close your eyes and handle them with various hand moves. Imagine both dry hands and wet slippery hands. Buy the one that stays balanced and feels secure in the grip throughout all of your hand movements. If the hand says its right, it is right. What is a good measure for medium blade length? Lay your hand on the blade, it should be as long as your hand is wide, or thereabouts. Make sure one of your choices has a lanyard slot in the pommel. Attach this medium-size, primary use, “first line of defense” fixed blade knife to your B.O.B, inverted carry, to the shoulder strap opposite of the hand you use. Put a lanyard on it. The best lanyard combines a short piece of 1/8” diameter shock cord added to 550 paracord. Attach the sheath to your shoulder strap with the similar shock cord so it can give and move when falling or crawling. Lanyards: Attach essential items in your chest and waist area with these umbilical cords. Example: the ever-indispensable Cammenga lensatic military compass should be attached so as not to lose it, make sure the lanyard is as long as your reach. Attach all primary-use items the same way, make the lanyard as long as your reach will require. The items you grab for rapid use need to be attached because things get dropped. We fumble under stress. Attach a mini-biner for quick release of your lanyard system. Sidearms should also have lanyards similar in theory to what PistolLeash.com offers, for obvious reasons. Don’t wait until you drop your pride-and-joy sidearm to see the light.
Chopping tools like machetes are lighter than axes. The military had a special short machete made by Ontario Knife, the LC-12. They are still simple and good, you will use this size more often. Heavy “survival knives” try to fill the gap in between a traditional combat knife and a full-size machete. Is there really a gap? The 12” machete is lighter than a survival knife and you will reach for it more often. It is not a thing of beauty. It is strictly business. Its thinner, softer steel blade sharpens faster and when it gets nicked, it is more quickly restored. In bug-out you are not needing a large machete, which will leave damaged vegetation in its wake, signs that say, “follow me.” The short machete is a shelter-building tool. If you still insist on the merits of the big blade survival knife, before you weigh-in your heavy contender, the often imitated, best-of-both-worlds Becker Machax is soon to be made available again through Ka-Bar. Knife patriarch Ethan Becker at BladeForums.com sheds light on this and all things edged.
Wrap “Ranger bands,” i.e. bicycle inner tube slices, around knife sheathes. These rubber “pockets” can contain small items such as fishhooks, etc. Include both fish and game skinning tools in your collection of blades. Skeletal neck knives like the Becker Necker or Remora from Ka-Bar can be sterilized by dropping in boiling water [suspended by their lanyards]. Keep a variety of knives in different places. A spare fixed blade can go in the chest pack, folders in your pocket. Always have a back-up knife and assign it a place which will never change.
If you really need an E-tool for digging, you can sit on the folding ones like a milking stool. The surplus wooden handle classics weigh about the same as the current G.I. issue tri-folder. The rivets on the classics are three times bigger than the modern version. Both have a folding business end. If you need a shovel for latrine duty only, a small, one-handed gardener is all you need.
Your watch: no quartz, battery types. Manual wind or automatic, heavy-duty types are better for bug-out. Luminous hands. Features such as chronographs, stopwatches, alarms, can and will fail. Accurate time is why you have a watch. Make sure it can get wet.
Your eyes: if you plan on fleeing into the woods, which is the ideal, plan on getting slapped in the face by branches. A poke in the eye might be next. Clear goggles will give you a measure of confidence needed for night movement in dense vegetation. Shaded lenses can be swapped out quickly for reduced eye stress in bright daylight. G.I. goggles come with both lenses, they will protect the noblest of the five senses.
If your B.O.B. is going to battle, if it is to include the transport of weapons and ammo in the face of organized military-level aggression, you will need to bug out in stages. Your remote arsenal should be pre-supplied and located in strategic position. Minuteman deployment represents the paradigm of bug-out. This level of the will to act is the most noble of all, but it requires the most experience and training. Bug-out gear will ideally be worn over an LBE vest carrying first line items. Multiple bug-out bags are to be sized for rapid transfer, they must withstand being dropped, dragged and concealed. They must be reasonably lightweight so as not to stall the multiple repeats of re-positioning movement. Here is where zippered daypacks get ripped open and precious contents get scattered. Remember, top-loading, no zippers, no velcro …
A note on bug-out vs. bug-in: Defending your castle while standing in your front doorway with your shotgun in hand may remain an unfulfilled dream. The “knock at the door” will probably never come to pass. So don’t wait for it. If you are a known “threat” -- a member of an organized militia, a patriot, a gun collector, a political or religious conservative, then you are probably a target. It is better to establish a communication network in your area, warn each other of the location of the enemy and act accordingly, by anticipation, calculating miles into hours so as to move your loved ones well out of harm’s way in time. You and your property will be observed through the rangefinders of mortar teams or tank crews. The exchange of small arms fire will probably never occur, unless you are the target of a sniper. Modern sniper range is more and more frequently around the one-mile mark. What was once the achievement of the elite few is becoming the standard. Can you see one mile in every direction ? Are you a sitting duck ? Hindsight is 20/20. What has always been the unanimous regret in every case of disaster or conflict, has been the misjudged or lost opportunity for movement. Your B.O.B. is the ready and willing servant of golden opportunity. It will move each family member to reasonable safety, it will carry supplies to an outpost, it will re-position you for recon, counter sniping or underground resistance strategies. Bug-out is salutary movement.
Books and articles wherein theories of what could happen, what might happen, what was going to happen: ranging from the probable to the preposterous, these theories are developed ad nauseam. There is tension in the air. We are all sniffing the wind. The philosophy of bug-out is simple. It is visceral. It corresponds to the gut-level. Taking flight will lead you to more strategic positions of observation and intelligence, where informed decisions can be made by the light of sound reason. Bugging-out is never an act of cowardice.
Put on your B.O.B. and practice agility moves with a full load. Ascend and descend stairs. Jump off the first step, then the second, then the third … Dive onto your bed. Go outside and navigate across a stream, jump across a gully, rise up from a prone position, run bent-over, etc. Be careful with load shifting. Pack heavy items low and close to your center of gravity, which is your lower back: from the base of your shoulder blades to your waist. Forget the way vacationing backpackers are told to load their packs, with weight high and forward. This is bug-out. A complete pack with food, water and gear should be tried-out on a weekend, every item in your kit must face real use. Know what you have on hand and start accumulating the inestimable knowledge of practical experience. Be ready for some surprises. Time is of the essence and now is the time to make harmless mistakes. Later, everything will count. Amend and modify your kit as you train. However, keep in mind that a fully loaded pack used for the first time is never perfectly comfortable. Give it a few tries before you decide to change packs.
Improve your health. 90% of military basic training is comprised of mind and body conditioning. In that order. We fight and we survive first with the spirit. Weapons and equipment come later. Work towards the established average height and weight ratios. Consume low fat in training but consume high fat in survival situations. The finest in bug-out gear will not help someone in poor physical condition. Keep yourself looking respectable and trustworthy; learn to shave with a straight razor that can be re-sharpened. God-fearing individuals should appear as such.
Your true base of operations is within. Improve your soul: learn prayer.
Ask any survivor of combat: God helps him that asks.
There is only one Master of life and of death. Learn how to speak to the Almighty.
A pocket-size New Testament and Psalms weighs mere ounces. It may very well be the most valuable part of your bug-out kit.
Learn to quote the Word of Life by heart, the words spoken by the Divine Master. Be a Good Samaritan and give these words of consolation to a victim of bug-out breakdown, and keep an extra supply of this “oil and wine” in memory.
We are our brother’s keeper.
Whatever is coming, whatever may happen, it might be beyond bullets. So pray hard.
Start a 1-Acre, Self-Sufficient Homestead
http://www.motherearthnews.com/modern-homesteading/self-sufficient-homestead-zm0z11zkon.aspx
Congressman Warns: “Those Who Can, Should Move Their Families Out Of the City”
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/congressman-warns-those-who-can-should.html
Letter Re: The Butter Storage Dilemma
By James Wesley, Rawles on May 14, 2011 8:01 PM
http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/05/letter_re_the_butter_storage_d.html
[Making large batches of ghee now while butter is still cheap and relatively radiation free, may be great for trading later if you can keep the fucking FEMA and DHS nazi's out of your storage...~THG]
Dear JWR:
I've been reading your site for some time and thought that some of your readers may find our Butter Storage Solution helpful in their plans.
I've been a prepper for decades and I've spent a lot of time thinking about butter. Our stored food reflects our caloric needs as well as having some things to eat that we really like -- things that make us feel better. My wife likes butter very much and I began looking for solutions around the turn of the century.
Living in New Orleans (or anywhere with a sub-tropical climate) just makes the butter problem that much more difficult. In the 1970s while homesteading in the Alaskan interior I tried canned butter but I rejected it for three reasons: it's expensive, it's hard to get and worst of all, once you open the can you are still faced with all of the storage issues you were trying to get away from.
I explored a few possibilities but when Katrina blew through I still had no solution. We were provisioned pretty well and sheltered in place for the storm and throughout the entire six week forced mandatory evacuation. More for psychological reasons than dietary I got more serious in my search as the city began to get back on it's feet.
In short, I revisited Ghee and decided to give it a try. All ghee is clarified butter but all clarified butter is not ghee. Ghee is anhydrous butter that has also had the milk solids removed. It is a way to preserve butter without refrigeration that has been in use for over 4,000 years. If made properly it may be stored for years at room temperature in the tropics.
A great deal of information about ghee is available online but I will hit a few high points. If you decide to try it there are many recipes out there that detail each step.
After making it in increasingly larger batches on the stove top for five years I had a forehead slapping moment where it occurred to me that I could use our crock pot instead. This not only makes for a much better product, it also greatly decreases the chances of burning a batch. Our five quart crock pot will make a six pound batch.
Since my goal was a product that would store well at room temperature I would cook it for about 2.5 hours in an attempt to cook off as much water as possible. Now I make it overnight on a cold night and let it cook in the crock pot for over 14 hours. This is by far the easiest way to make high quality ghee. I use coffee filters to remove the fine solids. I put up enough ghee in pints during the cooler months that I never have to make it during the air conditioning season anymore.
There is one handy, low tech test for ghee quality that is not mentioned much online: Cut a strip of paper two inches by one quarter inch wide. Dip just the end of the strip into the ghee. Light the dipped end with a lighter. If the flame pops and sputters there is still quite a bit of water present.
When you use ghee it is very important to never introduce any water into the jar while you are taking some out. Later, if you decide that you need just a bit more ghee in the pan be sure to use a clean knife or spatula. I have yet to have any ghee go bad on me.
Even with a crock pot, making ghee is probably not for everyone. It is available for purchase online but I would advise buying some unsalted butter and making a small batch yourself. There is also a product out there for high end movie theaters that is an anhydrous butter product which is made by running butter through a centrifuge. You may have tasted this product if you frequent theaters where they are very proud of their popcorn. Personally I prefer to retain control of the entire process myself.
Once you start using ghee you may be surprised how handy it is. Since ghee has a very high 'smoke point' it is truly a joy to sauté with. It is like butter on steroids.
Please read up on it a bit and give it a try. It has been very easy to weave into our food storage program and it has been the solution to our butter storage dilemma.
Thanks for the great blog site! - L.C. in New Orleans
Stocking up on Grains and Legumes (Part 1), by Sky Watcher
http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/04/stocking_up_on_grains_and_legu.html
By James Wesley, Rawles on April 29, 2011 9:28 PM
As I write this I am currently awaiting arrival of my 6,711 pound order that I placed with Bob's Red Mill. Crazy? Maybe, maybe not. This is not something I entered into quickly or lightly. Please let me explain my reasoning and methods of madness to you in the hope it may strike a chord with you in your own preparations.
Recent national and international events have spurred my husband and I into kicking our preparations up several notches. We have only been seriously preparing for TEOTWAWKI for a few months. After reading "Patriots" by James Rawles and "One Second After" by William Forstchen it was evident we had a long way to go. Both of those are scary reads in that I can see either situation (and many others) happening today.
We decided to bite the bullet and pull money out of retirement to get fully prepared. We see the dollar losing value everyday and food prices soaring. We figured we needed to get tangible assets while the money was still worth something. With the crisis in Japan now, food supplies will be even tighter to compensate for what Japan cannot grow and radiation tainted food that is unusable.
Awhile back I saw a post on this blog from someone who said that you could get wholesale prices from Bob’s Red Mill if you ordered at least 500 lbs. That got me thinking and I e-mailed the company and found this to be true. I was also e-mailed their 2011 Wholesale Price List and ordering form.
It pays to always do your homework before making such large purchases. I spent a good couple months checking out food supplies from several emergency supply places online as well as local sources in my town. I have found the emergency supply outlets to be short on supply as we all know and expensive for what I needed. A years supply of food costs anywhere from $1,200 to $1,800 for just one adult. Since we are looking at a supply for 12-15 people that would be $14,000 to $30,000 just for food alone. I also found the variety to be somewhat lacking. Other places carried only a certain item, like wheat berries, which would necessitate getting essentials from multiple sources, which gets confusing and tiresome.
I finally settled on ordering from Bob’s Red Mill and decided it was better to have more than enough rather than less! Why Bob’s Red Mill? I have used their products before and found them to be of high quality. I like the fact that all of their products are from non-GMO seed and contain no additives or preservatives. It states this on their web site. I love the great diversity in grains they carry including several that can be sprouted.
Over a period of 2-3 weeks I sat down with the list and went down it item by item. I looked the item up on their web site which includes a description of the item, suggested recipes and uses for the item, photos of the actual package labels listing nutrition info, and comments from previous purchasers.
I focused on ordering whole grains as they will store longer than already processed ones if repackaged correctly. They also offer a nice variety of seeds, beans, cereals, and baking amendments.
Working off the recommended pounds per year per adult person listed in "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It" I calculated what I would need for 12 people for 1 year. Since there are several smaller children in our expected group, I equated 3 of them to being 1 adult .
Here is some of what I ordered:
GRAINS (Rolled, Cracked)
50lbs Rolled Barley
50 lbs Corn grits
37 lbs cereal grains
50 lbs Millet
100 lbs quick oats
50 lbs Steel cut oats
8 lbs Rye flakes
50 lbs cracked Rye
50 lbs Asst. Granola
50 lbs Triticale rolled flakes
50 lbs Spelt rolled flakes
RICES/PASTA
6 lbs Couscous
25 lbs Quinoa
100 lbs Long brown rice
100 lbs Short brown rice
50 lbs Country rice blend
100 lbs Semolina flour
50 lbs Arborio Rice
WHOLE GRAINS
100 lbs Barley
100 lbs Buckwheat
200 lbs White corn
400 lbs Yellow corn
150 lbs Blue corn
200 lbs Oat groats
100 lbs Rye berries
100 lbs Spelt berries
100 lbs Soy Beans
50 lbs Teff
100 lbs Triticale Berries
1000 lbs Hard Red Spring Wheat
1,000 lbs Hard White Wheat
100 lbs Kamut Berries
50 lbs Amaranth
100 lbs Sorghum
500 lbs Soft White Wheat
BEANS/other protein source
75 lbs 13 bean soup mix
75 lbs Vegi soup mix
75 lbs Whole grains & Beans soup mix
100 lbs Red Beans
100 lbs Black Beans
100 lbs Green split peas
100 lbs yellow split peas
100 lbs lentils
100 lbs Red lentils
50 lbs Adzuki beans
50 lbs Cranberry beans
50 lbs Mung beans
4 lbs Hemp protein powder
3.5 lbs Soy protein powder
25 lbs TVP.
Other items included baking powder and other baking amendments, variety of seeds (flax,pumpkin,caraway,poppy,sunflower,chia,sesame),
Dates, currants, raisins, cashews, evaporated cane sugar, etc.
Some things I did not order but that were available were salt, baking soda, yeast, brown & white sugars, corn starch, other kinds of nuts, pinto beans, etc. I was able to find local more affordable sources for these items taking into consideration that I was going to have to pay for shipping on all this poundage. Considering the price of escalating fuel I didn’t want to unnecessarily waste food dollars on shipping costs.
Why did I choose what I did? I considered very carefully things that I could use for multiple uses. You can see the nice variety of grains and beans there is. Variety is an important thing to consider in food storage for long term. I did not order a lot of flour since it is an already processed product and thus would not store as long. Instead I ordered whole grains that can be ground into whatever type of flour I need with my grain mill. Some of the more unusual grains you may not be familiar with are very nutritious and good sources of protein.
The different type of grain berries (Rye, Spelt, Triticale, Kamut) can be sprouted for variety and added nutrition. As well, the Adzuki and Mung beans can also be sprouted. There was recently a blog on here about sprouting for added nutrition.
Because these are non-GMO grains, seeds and beans, I can even plant them in my field for growing a never-ending supply, harvesting seeds to perpetuate the crop. I can feed these to my livestock to supplement their pasture grazing. Thus there are multiple uses and none should go to waste or spoilage.
My family currently consists of 4 people. While this supply is geared for 12 people for one year, until the Schumer hits and others arrive, my family of 4 can subsist from this for 3 years. I plan on a yearly basis to order for replacement anything we have used so as to keep the level up and even add to it.
This is certainly not our whole food storage. I have cases of canned fruit, vegetables and meats. We also have approx. 130 fruit and nut trees planted which will start bearing in another couple years as well as a whole slew of garden seeds. I do have more fats, sugars, salt, and powdered milk to buy.
Once I was thoroughly ready to place my order I carefully filled out the Wholesale order form and faxed it in. I was sent, via email, an order acknowledgment to review and approve. Being such a large order I checked it over very carefully. I did find a couple of minor errors. Those were corrected within minutes and a new acknowledgment sent to me. It listed how many pounds, shipping costs, and approx. date it would ship out.
It did take about 7-10 days for the order to ship out. I was then called by the freight company to schedule date and time for delivery to my home and provided with a tracking number. I was told the truck driver would call 30 minutes prior to delivery to ensure I was home.
The shipment arrived! Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned. I was given a window of between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for delivery and it ended up being like 6:45 pm. I had placed a call to the freight company. They called the driver and he was running late because some of his freight has fallen over in back and he had to go back to the terminal to get it repacked. I thought: "Yikes, I hope it wasn’t mine!" Well, it was. All in all the three pallets I was to receive ended up being four re-packed pallets. Of all of this there were 6 bags of wheat that were broken. The driver and I documented what was broken and signed. I then took digital pictures that I will e-mail to Bob’s Red Mill in the morning. Since they are a reputable company I’m sure it will be no problem getting replacement goods.
Now the hard part starts! Part 2 of this article will be my experience and learning curve in repackaging all this into 5 gallon buckets with mylar liners. Bob’s Red Mill even provided me with several product labels free of charge to help me label all my buckets.
How much did all this cost? For 6,711 lbs of foodstuffs it was $5342.98 which works out to $0.80 per lb. Shipping was $844.30 or approx. $0.12 per lb. So overall just $0.92 per pound of food. I consider that a very reasonable amount for the food and shipping.
Grand total of $6,187.28. Peace of mind in having a secure food supply? Priceless.
Living Without Electricity
http://ifyearepreparedyeshallnotfear-susan.blogspot.com/2010/09/living-without-electricity.html
Living without Electricty
by Self Sufficient if Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear on Friday, September 10, 2010 at 5:30pm
For most modern Americans, the loss of power means the complete loss of normalcy. Their lifestyle is so dependent upon the grid’s constancy that they do not know how to function without it. How do you cook a meal if your gas stove has an electric ignition? How do your children find their way to the bathroom at night if the light switches don’t work? How do you keep warm if your wood heat is moved through ducts by an electric fan? What do you do with a freezer full of expensive meat? How do you find out what is happening in your area with the TV and radio silent? What will you drink if your water comes from a system dependent on electrical pumps?
There are five primary areas that are easily disrupted if the power goes off. Each of these is critical to daily survival, as well, so when making preparations for emergencies keep these in mind. In order of importance, they are: water, heating/cooling, light, cooking and communication.
Water
If you live in a town or city, the loss of power to homes and businesses probably will not immediately affect your water pressure, but it could affect the purification process or allow reverse seepage of contaminants into the lines. If, instead, your water comes from an electrically-powered home water pump, your water stops flowing the moment the power does. Either way, with the loss of power often comes the loss of water (or, at least, cleans water). Water that is free of bacteria and contaminants is so crucial to our survival that it should be a special concern in your preparations.
The easiest way to guarantee quality water is to store it right now. The important question is: how much? Both Red Cross and FEMA suggest a minimum of one gallon per day per person. This is an absolute minimum, and covers only your real drinking and cooking needs; bathing, laundry is out of the question. Personally, I don’t take to heart much of what FEMA says, remember, these are the folks who want to destroy us, so why would the offer any true helpful survival information? You often don’t realize just how much water you use in one day, until you don’t have it readily available. I recommend that people do a test run of how much water they use in a normal day. Fill up one gallon of water for each person in your ‘test group’ and then make sure that you only use the one gallon. Things to consider: flushing the toilet for proper sanitation, pets’ water needs, cooking, have seedlings growing that will need your care because it is too cold for them to be outside right now? Well, they’re going to need water too. Now, after your day of one gallon of water is over, fill up 10 gallons of water and start a new test. On day 2…go about your normal daily activities and see how much of the 10 gallons of water you use and how much is left over, if any. This should give you a pretty good idea of how much water you should store for your household. I’m sure you’ll come to appreciate water and the key role it plays in our lives. You’ll better understand why water is termed the Survivalist’s Gold.
The typical American currently uses around 70 gallons a day, taking a nice long hot shower, flushing the toilet several times, washing a load of laundry, letting the water run while brushing teeth, and for cooking and drinking. In a short-term emergency situation, only drinking and cooking water is crucial, but if that short-term incident drags out to weeks or months, daily consumption would rise to include bathing and clothes washing. In that case, 5-10 gallons per day per person would be a more reasonable amount, with a weekly communal bath becoming the routine This presumes that the family has prepared a sanitary “outhouse,” so flushing isn’t needed. One has to take into consideration proper disposal of human waste. If no outhouse or other sort of set up is available, take all of the water out of the toilet and the tank and use it for other purposes. This is clean water (tank). Place a heavy duty trash bag into the toilet bowl and anchor it with duct tape and then putting the seat down on top of it. Fill the trash bag with shredded newspapers or straw and use this as an emergency toilet. The bag can be removed and sealed shut and then placed outside until proper disposal can be used.
One to three-gallon jugs, direct from the supermarket, run about 60 cents to $2; these store easily under cabinets and counters. A few tucked into the freezer will help keep things cold if the power goes off. You can also store water inexpensively in large, covered plastic trash cans; they hold 36 to 55 gallons each. Refresh the water every two weeks, so it will be ready in case the power goes off. You can make your water stay fresh longer by placing a few mint leaves in each storage container. You can also refreshen and re-oxidate water by just giving it a good shake.
Farm supply stores often sell “water tanks” made of heavy grade plastic. These can be partially buried underground to keep water cooler and less susceptible to mold and bacteria. These run about $1 per gallon of holding capacity, so a 350-gallon tank new will cost $350. Plan to filter and purify the water before use. I also recommend investing in the collapsible water containers. You can often find them reasonably priced at military surplus stores. Fill Ziploc bags with water and lay them flat until they are frozen. After they are completely solid, use them to layer your freezer. In the event of the power going out, these water bags will help to keep your frozen food cold and as they begin to melt, will also provide you with drinking water. You can also store water in Ziploc bags and layer them in boxes, which you can store under beds, in closets, etc.
Collecting water can be done by hand with 5-gallon plastic buckets if you live near a river or stream, if it isn’t frozen too thick (it must be filtered and purified before use). You can also divert rainwater off your roof, through the rain gutters and downspouts into plastic trashcans. If you live in the Midwest, Northwest, or East Coast, rainfall is adequate to make this your primary backup water source. West Coast, high desert, and mountain areas, though, won’t have sufficient rainfall to make this a reliable source. In snow areas, snow can be used as your water supply. Melting the snow is preferred for intake. But remember that it takes a lot of snow to make one gallon of water. If the snow is eaten, treat it like ice cream and eat it slowly. If eaten too quickly it will give you the nasty Ice headache and it can also contribute to lowering the core temp of your body, which could invite hypothermia.
A drilled well with an electric pump can be retrofitted with a plastic hand-pump for about $400 – $600. These systems sit side-by-side with your electric pump down the same well-shaft, and can be put to use any time the power is off. Typical delivery is about 2 gallons per minute, and pumping strength varies from 11 to 20 pounds—a good but not exhausting workout.
Water can be purified inexpensively. Fifteen drops of bleach (plain unscented) per gallon of water costs less than 1 penny, and ¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide (3%) per gallon will also destroy bacteria. Twenty minutes of a hard, rolling boil will, too. Bleach is effective against both cholera and typhoid and has kept American water supplies safe for decades. The chlorine taste can be easily removed with a charcoal filter system (such as Brita Pitcher or Pur brands for home use, about $30).
Berky water filters, along with various other brands, are more expensive ($150-$250), but can filter and purify water indefinitely. Both eliminate bacteria, contaminants, and off-flavors. A Big Berkey is a very reliable gravity-fed system. When shopping for filters, if they only offer “better taste” they won’t protect you from bacterial contaminants.
Noah Water System’s travel companion will work great in case of a power outage, or your water supply becomes undrinkable. The Trekker is a portable water purification unit. With the Trekker you can get water from any river, lake, or pond. It’s small enough to carry like a briefcase.
Heating and cooling
With the instability in the world today, it is sensible, and reasonable, to prepare well in advance of season changes. Putting in supplies a year ahead of time is a traditional farm practice, and it gives a cushion of safety against uncertain conditions.
Tape over unused outlets, along baseboards, windows anywhere that you feel cold air coming in, hot air is going out. Lay blankets in bathtubs and shower areas cover the drains and any vents in that area. If you have a dryer in the house, make sure that there is no cold air coming in thru the vent. If you are in a snowy area shovel your snow up against the foundation of your home. This will help to insulate and keep the heat in your house.
Woodstove heating is more common, and comfortable to use, than it was two decades ago. New wood heaters run from $100 to several thousands, depending on materials, craftsmanship, and beauty. Better stoves hold heat longer and may have interior baffles that let you use less wood to produce more heat. Even so, the most basic metal-drum-turned-stove also works to heat a room or a house.
Heating a 3-bedroom home that is moderately insulated will use about 8-12 cords of wood throughout the winter. The size of a cord (sometimes called a “rick” or a “rank”) is not standardized from region to region, but typically will be about 8' x 8' x 2', roughly a pickup truck bed loaded even with the top of the sides. Prices will vary between $65 per cord to $150, depending on the region and type of wood. Hardwoods, such as oak and walnut, and fruitwoods like apple and pear, burn better and longer than softwoods like poplar. Don’t use resinous woods, such as the pines, cedars, and spruces for the main heating—only as fire-starters—because they burn too hot and fast and generate creosote. Better home insulation and better quality hardwoods will decrease the amount of wood you need to use.
If you plan to secure and cut your own firewood, be willing to acquire a good-quality chainsaw—any that cost below $200 will only give you grief. Keep an extra chain on hand. Use safety precautions, too: wear ear and eye protectors, heavy gloves, and don’t chainsaw alone. Cutting your own wood will decrease your heating costs significantly, but increase your labor. It typically takes us a full week of constant work to put up a winter’s worth of wood.
Woodstoves require heat-proof surfaces surrounding them, an insulated chimney pipe (about $90 per 3-foot section), and some building skills in order to install. Installation costs can equal or surpass the cost of the stove itself. Chimneys need to be thoroughly cleaned of the black crusty buildup, creosote, at least twice each year (and more often if you use the stove continuously).
Propane heaters that don’t need venting to outdoors are a relatively new product. A plain one ($200) can be mounted on the wall in the home’s main room, or more fancy models that look like built-in fireplaces complete with fake logs ($450) are available. You will need a propane tank, regulator, and appropriate copper lines, but these will all be installed by your propane company for a small charge. Propane has varied widely in cost from year to year, but typically runs around $0.95 to $1.30 per gallon.
Kerosene heaters ($120) are freestanding units that burn kerosene in a way that is something like a lamp—it uses a wick system and flames to provide heat. These are best used in areas that can be easily ventilated, because of the potential for buildup of carbon monoxide. Kerosene has a strong odor, as well. Kerosene costs about $1 per gallon or less (in quantity).
Solar heat can be “grabbed” anytime the light from the sun hits your house. Even in the dead of winter, the south-facing walls will feel noticeably warmer than the shaded north-facing ones. You can “store” the sun’s heat in any surface. Ceramic floor tiles, for instance, are excellent at retaining heat. So will a flat-black painted covered plastic trash can filled with water. If these surfaces are exposed to sunlight, say, indoors next to a south-facing window, they will absorb heat during the day. At night, with the window curtains closed, the surface will release heat slowly and steadily into the house.
One of the most efficient ways to heat is something else we have forgotten in the past 50 years—close off rooms that are not being used. If doors aren’t available, you can hang curtains in doorways (or even tack up a blanket, in a pinch), and keep your heat restricted to the room you are actually in. In an emergency situation, you can curtain up a room and set up a tent-like “den” for the family to snuggle in under blankets. Body heat alone will keep the den’s interior comfortable. If you have any of those nifty sun tanning blankets that were really popular back in the 80’s or if you have purchased at recently, these make excellent blankets to use when closing off room. They not only will keep the room closed off, but will reflect any light or heat into the room in use. Be sure to hang it so that they ‘shiny’ side is facing into the rooms that will be used.
Light
The most simple and familiar form of emergency lighting is a flashlight. Do you have one that you could find in the dark, right now? If so, congratulations. You are among a very small percentage of Americans. Better yet if you have one for each member of your family, with fresh batteries, plus three extra sets of batteries for each flashlight. That should be your minimum “safe” number. Store your flashlight where you can quickly reach it in the dark night—under the mattress of your bed, for example. Each child old enough to walk should also have his or her own flashlight, and be taught how to use it.
Flashlights range in price from the 79 cent cheapie to the fancy multi-function $80 special. Consider a small 2-AA battery flashlight with a halogen bulb. These cost about $4-5 each, give an excellent clear white light, and are easily portable in a pocket or purse. Additionally, when we discuss communications later in the article, the most common battery used in these devices is also the AA, so your life will be simplified if you stick primarily to one type of battery and don’t have to buy various odd sizes for different needs.
Batteries wear out rapidly if your flashlights are used continuously: figure two changes per week of regular use. Alkaline batteries last longer, give a more powerful light, but cost more than regular batteries. Most rechargeable batteries are suitable for flashlights, but should be recharged when the light begins to dim a little. Don’t let them get completely drained. This means you would need several sets of re-chargable’s for each flashlight (some would be recharging while you use the others).
Recharging can be done by means of a charger plugged into your car’s cigarette lighter outlet. These DC-powered re-chargers can be found at auto supply stores and at Radio Shack for about $30 or less. Solar re-chargers work slower but produce the same results for about $30.
Candles are available, slightly used, at garage sales and thrift stores (5 cents to 10 cents each or less), and some outlet stores like Big Lots have new candles for 25 cents. We have a cardboard box weighing 35 pounds that is filled with various sizes and shapes of candles. This would be about a year’s supply for my family. We’ve acquired them gradually, every time we found them inexpensively. They never go bad! Candles are easy to use and familiar. Most of us can adjust to using candles easily. The light is soft and wavering. You’ll need at least three candles if you hope to read by the light. If you have small children or indoor pets, care must be taken where you place them. Metal candle holders that hang on walls are probably the safest. Remember to place a heat proof plate underneath the holder to catch drippings. Save your wax drippings, too, to make more candles later. To increase the amount of light that the candles give off, we hang mirrors behind them. You can also use aluminum foil to reflect light.
Oil (kerosene) lamps produce a steadier light than candles. Department store oil lamps cost about $10 each and come in attractive styles. Lamp oil is about $3 per liter. A typical lamp will burn one to two cups of oil per night, so you would use about two liters each week per lamp. The light from these lamps is not quite adequate to read by unless it is placed very close, and the light does waver a little. A single lamp can provide enough light in a room so that you don’t bump into furniture, but two or three may be needed to provide good functional light. As with candles, if you have children, these lamps need to be placed securely and out of reach. The smell of burning oil (kerosene) can get heavy in a closed room so keep ventilation open. Keep an extra set of wicks ($2) and chimneys/globes ($3) in case of breakage.
The Cadillac of oil lamps is the Aladdin Lamp. These run from $60 up to several hundred each. The light given off is as good as a 60-watt bulb, clear, and unwavering. You can read or do needlepoint by the light of one lamp. These burn the same oil or kerosene as typical lamps, but because they burn hotter, there is much less odor. Position these lamps so that they cannot accidentally be overturned, and so that the intense heat coming from the chimney won’t ignite something. Purchase an additional “mantle” (the light-giving portion of the lamp – $3), and chimney ($15), as backups.
Solar powered lamps ($80-$120) are typically small fluorescents, and can be run off of battery systems. It may take more than one day of bright sunlight to recharge these lamps, so you may need several—one to use, while others are recharging. The light is white and clear, good for area-lighting, and rather difficult to read by. Have extra fluorescent bulbs on hand, too.
Don’t forget to store matches!
Cooking
A person can survive indefinitely opening cold cans of beans for meals, but it wouldn’t be a very satisfying existence. In times of crisis, a hot meal goes a long way toward soothing the day’s troubles. The simplest way to heat a meal is the Boy Scout method: a couple of bricks or rocks set around a small outdoor fire, with the bean can propped over the flames. It’s low cost, and it works. However, the cook doesn’t have much control over the outcome.
Outdoor cooking of all kinds, including grilling and barbecuing, all work during emergency situations, provided you have the charcoal or wood (and matches!) needed to get the heat going. These are familiar methods, so family members don’t have to make a huge leap to accept these foods. It’s difficult to cook much more than meats and a few firm vegetables over open heat like this, though. Also, never use these devices in a confined space, as they emit carbon monoxide.
“Campfire” cooking can lend itself to some baking, if you also have a cast iron Dutch Oven—a large, heavy, cast iron covered pot. Place a well-kneaded pound of bread dough into a heavily-greased or oiled Dutch Oven and put the cover in position. Make a hole or pot-sized well in the ash near the fire, and line this with glowing coals. Put about an inch of ash over the coals, and place the Dutch Oven into this. Now, pile about an inch of hot ash around the oven and cover with glowing coals, then another layer of ash to keep the heat in. Uncover and check your bread in about 35 minutes, it should be done. It’s better to cook all the food you will need for at least one entire day, at one time. This saves heating oil, gas, etc.
Propane and butane camp stoves are so much like ordinary home stoves that there is no difference in the cooking results. Portable RV 2-burner propane stoves are often available used and can even do pressure canning because the heat is consistent and reliable. A typical 18-gallon propane cylinder, the kind used for barbeques, costs around $30-$50 new, and a propane fill up is about $7-$20. This will last for nearly a month of daily use. You’ll also need a feeder hose and pressure regulator for the stove, which can be prepared by your propane dealer for $20 or so.
Butane stoves are also portable and run off of a cylinder of the same kind of butane that is used in cigarette lighters. These stoves are $80-90 new, and cylinders are about $5 and last for approximately 8 hours of cooking.
General camp stoves (around $65 at department stores) operate on “stove fuel” (basically, propane in a small 1-pound cylinder – $3). A cylinder lasts for around 8 hours of cooking. You can also find camp stoves that will cook off of unleaded gasoline, and there are some that are “multi-fuel,” using either kerosene or gasoline—handy in case of a shortage of one fuel or the other. Use outdoors or on a covered porch to prevent carbon monoxide buildup in your home.
Solar cooking is another option, if you have plenty of unobstructed sunlight and someone who is willing to adjust the cooker to face the sun every half hour or so. A solar oven need be no more fancy than a set of nested cardboard boxes painted flat black on the inside with tempura colors, a sheet of window glass, and some aluminum foil glued to cardboard panels. Total cost for this, if you can scrounge leftover glass and cardboard, is about $1.
Place your food in a covered lightweight pan inside the box, prop it so the entire interior is exposed to the sunlight (about a 45-degree angle), cover with the sheet of glass (and tape the glass so it won’t slide), then prop the aluminum foil panels so that they reflect more sunlight down into the box. Move the box every 30 minutes so it maintains an even temperature. It will get hot fast, easily up to 325 degrees, and hold the heat as long as it faces the sun. Remember to use potholders when removing your foods! Our first solar oven had a black plastic trash bag as a heat-absorbing inner surface; it worked superbly until the plastic actually melted.
Keeping foods cool if the power goes out can be as simple as looking for shade, even under a tree. Some folks around here have partially buried old broken freezers in the shade of backyard trees, storing grains and winter vegetables inside. During the winter, your parked car will stay at the same temperature as the outside air—below freezing on those cold nights—so you can store frozen goods there safely. During the daylight hours, the car interior will heat up, though, if it’s in the sun. Park it in the shade of the house, or cover the windows and roof with a blanket to keep the interior cool.
Kerosene refrigerator/freezers are alternative appliances that will continue to function with the power off because they are “powered” by kerosene. Their cooling and freezing capacity is exactly the same as a regular refrigerator, and they come in the same colors. Typically, they are a little smaller than conventional ‘fridges and cost up to $1500, but they’ll last for decades with care.
Portable battery-powered refrigerators that keep your foods 40-degrees cooler than outside temperatures are available at most department store sporting-goods sections ($90). These run off of both DC and AC power, so they can be plugged into your car battery through the cigarette lighter outlet or into a solar power system.
What about that freezer full of expensive meat if the power goes off? First step is to cover the freezer with blankets to help retain the cold. Then, find dry ice (if everyone else in your town hasn’t already bought out the supply). Blanket coverings will keep a full freezer frozen for two days, and the addition of dry ice will prolong that to three or four days.
American Indians dried food on a rock above a campfire. This is one of the ways they made pemmican (a concentrated food of dried beef, suet, dried fruit, etc.).
Communications
In a time of distress, keeping in contact with family and knowing about local and national situations is important to maintaining both continuity and confidence. In general, telephone systems are on a different system than the electrical power grid, but they can be disrupted if there are earth movements or as the result of terrorist activities.
You can stay informed about the damages by watching a 4-inch black and white TV set (bought used for $25) that was plugged into our car battery through the cigarette lighter. At night, we heard reports from the BBC via a 4-AA battery powered shortwave radio ($70 from Radio Shack). I consider these two devices—shortwave and TV—the required minimum communication/ information devices during a crisis, especially if the phone system is down.
Satellite internet hookups, using a battery-powered laptop, could be an excellent communication tool, both for accessing news and for staying in touch with friends and colleagues by email.
Citizens Band (CB) radios are excellent tools, as well. These portable devices can be carried with you into the field and used to stay in contact with neighbors and family when you are away from the house. Basic models run $60—you’ll need at least two—and ones with greater ranges and features are more costly. They’ll run on 6 to 8 (or more) AA batteries. Check pawn shops and truck stops for good deals on CB’s.
“Family Radios” are FM-band devices that have a short range, about ¼ mile ($60 for a pair). These are handy for keeping family in contact during outings, when traveling in a caravan, or when one member needs to go out to the barn during a storm. They run on 2 AA batteries.
Keeping things normal
Even though circumstances may change in the world, we can choose how we wish to react. We can live in a state of helpless anxiety—or control what we can. We can control our responses, in part, by maintaining as much normalcy in our lives as possible and being prepared for anything. When one is prepared, the panic button is eliminated and we all know that nothing good ever comes from panic. Many needless accidents, deaths and injuries can be avoided by being prepared.
If your family relaxes in the evenings with a video, plan to continue doing that. Acquire a battery-powered TV/VCR combination, and make sure you have enough power sources to keep that going for at least two weeks. (If things get dicey, you can wean off the system in two weeks.) A cassette player or CD player with external speakers can provide relaxation and entertainment, and they run off of AA batteries as well.
Children have difficulty adjusting to sudden changes in their environment, so if you expect them to play board games if the power goes out, they should be comfortable with board games now. Keep routines consistent, arising at the usual time in the morning and going to bed as you have in the past. Prepare familiar meals with foods everyone enjoys. Have “fun foods” and goodies on hand. Remember to reach out to your neighbors and older folks who live nearby, and provide extras to help them, as well.
Use the knowledge you’ve gained, and your experience with non-electric living, to make your neighborhood a more secure and adaptable place.
Long Term Food Storage Basics - How to Pack Rice, Wheat, Beans and Dry Goods (Video)
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/04/long-term-food-storage-basics-how-to.html
11 Emergency Food Items That Can Last a Lifetime
http://snardfarker.ning.com/group/emergencyprepardness/forum/topics/11-emergency-food-items-that
Monday, April 04, 2011 12:38
The following article has been contributed by Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition.
Editor’s Note: In our recent article Investments for Preparedness and Wealth Preservation That Your Financial Adviser Will Never Mention, we discussed a variety of strategies and reasons for investing in hard assets like precious metals, arable land, micro-livestock, alternative energy, skills development and bulk foods as a way to hedge against inflation, economic uncertainty and natural disasters. In the following article, Tess Pennington of Ready Nutrition provides some excellent recommendations for bulk foods that should be in your preparedness larder – foods that are nutritious and have a shelf life of 20 years or more if stored properly. Now, more than ever, it is important to consider where food prices are headed, and what you might do if disaster strikes, be it natural or man-made. Our view is simple: Buy commodities at today’s lower prices, and consume at tomorrow’s higher prices. The benefit of holding physical assets like bulk foods in your possession is that you have no counter-party risk. Whether the threat we face is inflation, disruptions to our just-in-time transportation systems, a collapse of our Ponzi economy, or food shortages, you can sleep comfortably knowing that your investment is safe and sound, and easily accessible in your kitchen pantry or prep closet.
Did you know that with proper storage techniques, you can have a lifetime supply of certain foods? Certain foods can stand the test of time, and continue being a lifeline to the families that stored it. Knowing which foods last indefinitely and how to store them are you keys to success.
The best way to store food for the long term is by using a multi-barrier system. This system protects the food from natural elements such as moisture and sunlight, as well as from insect infestations.
Typically, those who store bulk foods look for inexpensive items that have multi-purposes and will last long term. Listed below are 11 food items that are not only multi-purpose preps, but they can last a lifetime!
Honey
Honey never really goes bad. In a tomb in Egypt 3,000 years ago, honey was found and was still edible. If there are temperature fluctuations and sunlight, then the consistency and color can change. Many honey harvesters say that when honey crystallizes, then it can be re-heated and used just like fresh honey. Because of honey’s low water content, microorganisms do not like the environment.
Uses: curing, baking, medicinal, wine (mead)
Salt
Although salt is prone to absorbing moisture, it’s shelf life is indefinite. This indispensable mineral will be a valuable commodity in a long term disaster and will be a essential bartering item.
Uses: curing, preservative, cooking, cleaning, medicinal, tanning hides
Sugar
Life would be so boring without sugar. Much like salt, sugar is also prone to absorbing moisture, but this problem can be eradicated by adding some rice granules into the storage container.
Uses: sweetener for beverages, breads, cakes, preservative, curing, gardening, insecticide (equal parts of sugar and baking powder will kill cockroaches).
Wheat
Wheat is a major part of the diet for over 1/3 of the world. This popular staple supplies 20% of daily calories to a majority of the world population. Besides being a high carbohydrate food, wheat contains valuable protein, minerals, and vitamins. Wheat protein, when balanced by other foods that supply certain amino acids such as lysine, is an efficient source of protein.
Uses: baking, making alcohol, livestock feed, leavening agent
Dried corn
Essentially, dried corn can be substituted for any recipe that calls for fresh corn. Our ancestors began drying corn because of it’s short lived season. To extend the shelf life of corn, it has to be preserved by drying it out so it can be used later in the year.
Uses: soups, cornmeal, livestock feed, hominy and grits, heating source (do a search for corn burning fireplaces).
Baking soda
This multi-purpose prep is a must have for long term storage.
Uses: teeth cleaner, household cleaner, dish cleaner, laundry detergent booster, leavening agent for baked goods, tarnish remover
Instant coffee, tea, and cocoa
Adding these to your long term storage will not only add a variety to just drinking water, but will also lift morale. Instant coffee is high vacuum freeze dried. So, as long as it is not introduced to moisture, then it will last. Storage life for all teas and cocoas can be extended by using desiccant packets or oxygen absorbing packets, and by repackaging the items with a vacuum sealing.
Uses: beverages, flavor additions to baked goods
Non-carbonated soft drinks
Although many of us prefer carbonated beverages, over time the sugars break down and the drink flavor is altered. Non-carbonated beverages stand a longer test of time. And, as long as the bottles are stored in optimum conditions, they will last. Non-carbonated beverages include: vitamin water, Gatorade, juices, bottled water.
Uses: beverages, flavor additions to baked goods
White rice
White rice is a major staple item that preppers like to put away because it’s a great source for calories, cheap and has a long shelf life. If properly stored this popular food staple can last 30 years or more.
Uses: breakfast meal, addition to soups, side dishes, alternative to wheat flour
Bouillon products
Because bouillon products contain large amounts of salt, the product is preserved. However, over time, the taste of the bouillon could be altered. If storing bouillon cubes, it would be best repackage them using a food sealer or sealed in mylar bags.
Uses: flavoring dishes
Powdered milk – in nitrogen packed cans
Powdered milk can last indefinitely, however, it is advised to prolong it’s shelf life by either repackaging it for longer term storage, or placing it in the freezer. If the powdered milk developes an odor or has turned a yellowish tint, it’s time to discard.
Uses: beverage, dessert, ingredient for certain breads, addition to soup and baked goods.
Also From Ready Nutrition:
Best Practices For Long Term Food Storage
Essential Prepping Calculators
The Unprepared Population: A Statistic You Don’t Want To Be a Part Of
This article has been contributed by SHTF Plan. Visit www.SHTFplan.com for alternative news, commentary and preparedness info.
Be prepared. Also contains a bit of humor.
http://www.runtogold.com/2009/05/survivalism-in-the-suburbs/?awt_l=N7e2h&awt_m=1eSaxEScQbfdxm
Yes, You Can Survive The Coming Economic Nightmare – One Family In California Grows 6,000 Pounds Of Produce On Just 1/10th Of An Acre
http://saladin-avoiceinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2011/03/yes-you-can-survive-coming-economic.html
Expiration Dates
http://www.organizeyourlife.org/Expiration.htm
Certain items in your house practically scream “toss me” when their prime has passed. That mysterious extra white layer on the Cheddar? A sure sign it needs to be put out of its misery. Chunky milk? Down the drain it goes.
But what about that jar of olives or Maraschino cherries that has resided in your refrigerator since before the birth of your kindergartner? Or the innumerable nonedibles lurking deep within your cabinets and closets: stockpiled shampoo and toothpaste, seldom-used silver polish? How do you know when their primes have passed?
With help from experts and product manufacturers, Real Simple (http://www.realsimple.com/) has compiled a guide to expiration dates. These dates are offered as a rough guideline. The shelf lives of most products depend upon how you treat them. Edibles, unless otherwise indicated, should be stored in a cool, dry place. (With any food, of course, use common sense.) Household cleaners also do best in a dry place with a stable temperature. After the dates shown, beauty and cleaning products are probably still safe but may be less effective.
Food
Beer
Unopened: Starts to lose flavor after 110 days.
It’s best to store bottles in boxes, and then in dark place.
Stronger alcohol and higher levels of hops might extend the shelf life of a beer.
One example is Michelob Craft Specialty beers, which are often at their peak with 180 days.
(Source: Budweiser support)
Brown sugar
Indefinite shelf life, stored in a moisture proof container in a cool, dry place.
Chocolate (Hershey bar)
1 year from production date
Coffee, canned ground
Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 1 month refrigerated
Coffee, gourmet
Beans: 3 weeks in paper bag, longer in vacuum-seal bag (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Ground: 1 week in sealed container
Coffee, instant
Unopened: Up to 2 years
Opened: Up to 1 month
Diet soda (and soft drinks in plastic bottles)
Unopened: 3 months from "best by" date.
Opened: Doesn't spoil, but taste is affected.
Dried pasta
12 months
Frozen dinners
Unopened: 12 to 18 months
Frozen vegetables
Unopened: 18 to 24 months
Opened: 1 month
Honey
Indefinite shelf life
Juice, bottled (apple or cranberry)
Unopened: 8 months from production date
Opened: 7 to 10 days
Ketchup
Unopened: 1 year (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Opened or used: 4 to 6 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Maple syrup, real or imitation
1 year
Maraschino cherries
Unopened: 3 to 4 years
Opened: 2 weeks at room temperature; 6 months refrigerated
Marshmallows
Unopened: 40 weeks
Opened: 3 months
Mayonnaise
Unopened: Indefinitely
Opened: 2 to 3 months from “purchase by” date (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Mustard
2 years (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Olives, jarred (green with pimento)
Unopened: 3 years
Opened: 3 months
Olive oil
2 years from manufacture date (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Peanuts
Unopened: 1 to 2 years unless frozen or refrigerated
Opened: 1 to 2 weeks in airtight container
Peanut butter, natural
9 months
Peanut butter, processed (Jif)
Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 6 months; refrigerate after 3 months
Pickles
Unopened: 18 months
Opened: No conclusive data. Discard if slippery or excessively soft.
Protein bars (Power Bars)
Unopened: 10 to 12 months. Check "best by" date on the package.
Rice, white
2 years from date on box or date of purchase
Salad dressing, bottled
Unopened: 12 months after "best by" date
Opened: 9 months refrigerated
Soda, regular
Unopened: In cans or glass bottles, 9 months from "best by" date
Opened: Doesn't spoil, but taste is affected
Steak sauce
33 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Tabasco
5 years, stored in a cool, dry place
Tea bags (Lipton)
Use within 2 years of opening the package
Tuna, canned
Unopened: 1 year from purchase date
Opened: 3 to 4 days, not stored in can
Soy sauce, bottled
Unopened: 2 years
Opened: 3 months (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Vinegar
42 months
Wine (red, white)
Unopened: 3 years from vintage date; 20 to 100 years for fine wines
Opened: 1 week refrigerated and corked
Worcestershire sauce
Unopened: 5 to 10 years (After this time, color or flavor may be affected, but product is still generally safe to consume.)
Opened: 2 years
Household Products
Air freshener, aerosol
2 years
Antifreeze, premixed
1 to 5 years
Antifreeze, concentrate
Indefinite
Batteries, alkaline
7 years
Batteries, lithium
10 years
Bleach
3 to 6 months
Dish detergent, liquid or powdered
1 year
Fire extinguisher, rechargeable
Service or replace every 6 years
Fire extinguisher, non-rechargeable
12 years
Laundry detergent, liquid or powdered
Unopened: 9 months to 1 year
Opened: 6 months
Metal polish (silver, copper, brass)
At least 3 years
Miracle Gro, liquid
Opened: 3 to 8 years
Miracle Gro, liquid, water-soluble
Indefinite
Motor oil
Unopened: 2 to 5 years
Opened: 3 months
Mr. Clean
2 years
Paint
Unopened: Up to 10 years
Opened: 2 to 5 years
Spray paint
2 to 3 years
Windex
2 years
Wood polish (Pledge)
2 years
Beauty Products
All dates are from the manufacture date, which is either displayed on the packaging or can be obtained by calling the manufacturer's customer-service number.
Bar soap
18 months to 3 years
Bath gel, body wash
3 years
Bath oil
1 year
Body bleaches and depilatories
Unopened: 2 years
Used: 6 months
Body lotion
3 years
Conditioner
2 to 3 years
Deodorant
Unopened: 2 years
Used: 1 to 2 years
For antiperspirants, see expiration date
Eye cream
Unopened: 3 years
Used: 1 year
Face lotion
With SPF, see expiration date. All others, at least 3 years
Foundation, oil-based
2 years
Foundation, water-based
3 years
Hair gel
2 to 3 years
Hair spray
2 to 3 years
Lip balm
Unopened: 5 years
Used: 1 to 5 years
Lipstick
2 years
Mascara
Unopened: 2 years
Used: 3 to 4 months
Mouthwash
Three years from manufacture date
Nail polish
1 year
Nail-polish remover
Lasts indefinitely
Perfume
1 to 2 years
Rubbing alcohol
At least 3 years
Shampoo
2 to 3 years
Shaving cream
2 years or more
Tooth-whitening strips
13 months
Wash'n Dri moist wipes
Unopened: 2 years
Opened: Good until dried out
Beauty Supplies Expiration Dates
Anti-aging and acne treatment
Three months to a year. Antioxidants are easily oxidized, so be on the lookout for any changes in color.
Bar soap
Up to three years.
Bath oil
One year.
Blush/Bronzer
18 months after first use
Body lotion
Two to three years, particularly if it’s in a pump container.
Concealer
12 months after first use
Creme eye shadow
6 months after first use
Creme blush
12 months after first use
Deodorant
Up to two years.
Eye and lip pencils
Three to five years. Sharpen them before each use as a way to preserve them and keep them clean.
Facial Moisturizer
12 months after first use
Foundation
About two years. Most bottles are designed to last that long. And if you don’t use it, chances are you didn’t love it to begin with.
Hairstyling products
Three to five years. Most are alcohol-based, which helps preserve the formula.
Lipstick and lip gloss
18 months after first use
Liquid eyeliner
3 months after first use
Liquid Foundation
6 months after first use
Mascara and liquid eyeliner
Three to four months. Make sure you’re diligent about replacing these items to prevent contamination and infections.
Nail polish
18 months after first use
Perfume
About two years. To get more mileage out of a perfume, resist the temptation to display a pretty bottle on your vanity. Instead, stash it away in a cool, dark place.
Shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel
About three years.
Shaving cream
About two years.
Skin care products
6 months after first use
Sunscreen
6 months after first use
Learn the Lingo of Expiration Dates
The actual term "Expiration Date" refers to the last date a food should be eaten or used. Last means last -- proceed at your own risk.
More commonly spotted terms are:
bullet
"Sell by" date. The labeling "sell by" tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the date expires. This is basically a guide for the retailer, so the store knows when to pull the item. This is not mandatory, so reach in back and get the freshest. The issue is quality of the item (freshness, taste, and consistency) rather than whether it is on the verge of spoiling. Paul VanLandingham, EdD, a senior faculty member at the Center for Food and Beverage Management of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., tells WebMD the "sell by" date is the last day the item is at its highest level of quality, but it will still be edible for some time after.
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"Best if used by (or before)" date. This refers strictly to quality, not safety. This date is recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date. Sour cream, for instance, is already sour, but can have a zippier, fresh taste when freshly sour (if that's not an oxymoron!)
bullet
"Born on" date. This is the date of manufacture and has been resurrected recently to date beer. Beer can go sub-par after three months. "It is affected by sun," VanLandingham says. The light can reactivate microorganisms in the beer. That's why you have to be especially careful with beer in clear bottles, as opposed to brown or green.
bullet
"Guaranteed fresh" date. This usually refers to bakery items. They will still be edible after the date, but will not be at peak freshness.
bullet
"Use by" date. This is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer of the product.
bullet
"Pack" date. You will find this one on canned or packaged goods, as a rule, but it's tricky. In fact, it may be in code. It can be month-day-year-MMDDYY. Or the manufacturer could revert to the Julian calendar. January would then be 001-0031 and December 334-365. It gets even weirder than that.
PROBLEM: Dmitry Orlov: Peak Oil Lessons From The Soviet Union
Bartering, Inflation, and Growing a Garden
Kevin Hayden, Truth Is Treason, Contributing Writer
Activist Post
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/02/bartering-inflation-and-growing-garden.html
Thanks to “just in time” inventory practices; America has an average of just three days of food on its grocery shelves. Inventories are kept extremely well managed and tight thanks to the amazing efficiency of modern-day transportation and manufacturing systems. Depending on your age, you might remember when grocery stores had excess stock and inventory in the “back room.” Those days are long gone. If the “just in time” trucks stop rolling for any reason, your local grocery store will be empty within days, and that’s even in good times!
If a disaster were to strike – natural or manmade – you could expect those shelves to be bare within hours. The recent blizzards and snowstorms blanketing the United States are a perfect example of why it pays to be prepared. When you watch the news and the weatherman says a life-threatening cold front is coming your direction with 15" of snow, or a hurricane is forming, do you:
a) rush to the grocery store to make sure you have enough beer, hotdogs and Doritos?
b) make a last minute stop on your way home from work to top off your supply of water, a few essentials and maybe some extra toilet paper?
c) rest easy knowing that you have several weeks worth of quality food, essential items, water and instead, spend that time getting fuel, securing cold rooms and windows and relaxing while everyone else is in a brawl at the grocery store, fighting over the last package of Oreos and Spam?
…or
d) You’ve never given it much thought and just figure that if it gets bad enough, someone else – such as the Government or Red Cross – will take care of you.
These are very real things to think about. It doesn’t take much to break that “supply chain” that we all take for granted. High diesel costs will bring those truckers to a grinding halt across the United States. In 2009, several national trucking companies went into bankruptcy and many more could barely afford the high fuel costs. What did they do? They told their drivers to park the truck, walk away and to find their own ride back home. Luckily, that was short lived and the larger companies pulled through, along with a lot of the independent owner/operators. But their profits took a beating and I wouldn’t count on them spending their own money just to get supplies to your local store everytime.
I’m sure most of us find ourselves somewhere in the middle of those choices outlined above, but why risk it? And furthermore, having supplies, food and the essentials ahead of time means that you’ll likely be spending less of your hard-earned paycheck.
If we were to experience a disaster on a national level, we would likely see sky-rocketing prices very quickly. Some of it will occur because of the actual cost but mostly because many humans are just greedy and fearful. They will exploit the free-market ideals and twist them in ways that make them feel better about their business practices. Sure, there is a valid argument for raising prices in times of limited supply, but many take advantage of this and the longer a disaster or supply problem exists, the higher the prices will go.
Enter Big Daddy Government, Stage Left
Most governments have price and wage control measures in place or waiting to go into effect at a moment’s notice. And whether you lean to the right or to the left, understand that with our current form of “division of labor” type economy, producers will stop producing if mandated price controls effect their bottom line hard enough. Let’s imagine you make a product – Widget X. This could be food items, clothing or even a service you provide. And suppose our economy starts to see some inflation, whether naturally or due to disaster. With the value of your dollar dropping by the day and items technically costing more and more to produce in dollar terms, what would you do if the Government informed you that the price was “locked in” on your Widget X and you couldn’t raise it? Period.
As the inflation or demand continues to rise, you find that your cost to produce the item at wholesale has risen above the retail price ”locked” on it. Would you continue producing your Widget X if it costs you more money to produce it than sell it? Of course not. This merely shows one example of the dangers of price and wage controls. The market – whether it’s the free market or the underground black market – will always dominate. It’s in our nature to seek out the best deal for our dollar. While some types of socialism or even communism might make us feel better about ourselves or paint a happy face on the global problem of poverty by sharing or redistributing wealth and resources, it can not succeed and maintain itself. The free market idea has its own problems, but it will inherently come out on top due to human nature.
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher
The Problem with Paper Money
An important issue that needs to be understood before disaster sets in is that you will not be able to buy your way out of it. A hurricane or similar short-term event? Sure. But after a few days, you’ll quickly realize that your dollar bills either don’t go nearly far enough or people will flat out refuse them. A fiat currency has no value in post-disaster realms. During Hurricane Katrina, I was a police officer in New Orleans and it showed me that particular side of the economy and humanity. It taught me a lot of lessons. Not many people in America can truly understand the mentality and atmosphere during a total societal collapse like that experienced in New Orleans.
Unless you had fuel, food, alcohol or ice, you couldn’t really engage in many business transactions. Several people were offering ammunition (due to their own ignorance, I suspect) but as often as we see the need for post-apocalyptic ammunition and hoards of firearms in movies and books, it just didn’t exist unless you were one of the people looking for trouble. Keep in mind, this was a short-term event with a light at the end of the tunnel. The same does not apply for national, long-term collapse.
During those few weeks, I saw an incredible demand for fuel (mainly for generators), alcohol and 12v pumps of various types; those that could pump fuel from gas station reserves or those that could pump water. Along those lines, five gallon gas cans were a hot commodity, as well. In the downtown area (near the bars), I discovered that several bags of ice could be traded for alcohol, which could then be traded for just about anything, especially food. I was amazed at how many National Guard soldiers would offer four or five cases of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) in exchange for one bottle of cheap booze. I could then trade that food to regular folk or contractors coming into town for any number of items that I needed, including more alcohol, toiletries or fuel.
In short-term events, your silver and gold will not go far and will be wasted. Most people do not understand the value of these metals, especially when they simply crave the basic essentials for another week or two. Obviously, you should hold both of these metals in your inventory, but their advantage comes into full effect when it’s a national or long-term incident, along with simply preserving your wealth as the fiat currency crumbles or is refused.
So what does all of this mean? Well, let’s get into some of the food-related items that I think would be valuable from a bartering standpoint in a long-term event, such as a full-blown economic meltdown, hyperinflation, domestic war, massive stock market crash, martial law, large scale natural disasters, and the like. An important note to remember when developing an “insurance plan” is that buying or acquiring most of these items when the event happens will be next to impossible. That’s why you need to start your insurance plan right now. If nothing else, look at it as an investment – I think we can all agree that food prices will continue to rise, at least another 10%-20% over the next 12 months. Leading economists and investment firms have told their clients to expect $5/gallon gasoline by the end of 2011 even if the world doesn’t erupt into conflict. The recent freeze in Mexico has destroyed the spring crop, pushing prices of simple items such as tomatoes to quadruple levels overnight. So, buying now will offer you at least a 10% return on your investment. See where I’m going with this?
Some of this information (and more!) can also be found in my article, ‘Get Out of the Dollar and Into Tangibles’ but that focuses on preserving your wealth and finances in a collapse as opposed to listing bartering items and what is needed in order to engage in an alternative economy, feed yourself and survive.
Food Storage (or Insurance Plan)
Having a good supply of food that you regularly eat is invaluable for short or long term events. This prevents you from having to barter or trade items of value for food. And with that food storage plan, comes knowledge about what will preserve and under what conditions, how to rotate foods, how to can meats and vegetables, along with growing a garden – including livestock and farm crops. A solid food plan is a large topic by itself, but there are some very simple things you can do right now to greatly increase your wealth, insurance against disaster and supply you with bartering items.
Canning, dehydrating and hunting food -
* Purchase canning and related supplies now, not the day before a disaster. There won’t be any left on the shelves “later.”
o This includes jars, lids, rings, quality pressure canner and the knowledge to operate it safely. A trustworthy and well-respected source for this knowledge and plenty of recipes is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
o Learn the art of dehydrating, including what types of meat and preparation is required, along with what fruits and vegetables make for good snacks.
* If you think you’ll simply go hunting when times get rough, you’re in for a surprise. Every other cubicle worker and blue collar citizen will have the same idea.
o If you own land and have game available, do you have the facilities or space to process it? And even if you are a weekend deer hunter, do you have the ability to preserve that meat without power or electricity?
o You can also preserve your meats by dehydrating them, turning them to jerky which will last a very long time.
o Do you have a way to defend or contain the game on your own lands when other hunters trespass? How far will you go to protect your hunting grounds?
o If you plan to hunt public lands or wherever you can find a target, in certain natural disasters, there might not be any animals. Just you and a dozen other people in a forest with the same idea and hungry. And armed.
* Dry goods and foods that store well are a key component in most “insurance plans.”
o Basic stocks such as rice, varieties of beans, sugar, pastas, spices, wheat and more can store very well for years with minimal effort.
We will protect your privacy...guaranteed!
o Peanut butter is a great item to include in your storage. It is protein-rich, has fatty oils and can be paired with a variety of foods. Obviously, this is not the healthiest thing, but in a time of disaster, you will expend a lot of calories and peanuts or peanut butter can replenish those quickly. It is also good to have on hand for people that have insulin and blood sugar problems.
o Pastas are a comfort food for many. Easy to cook and offering an almost limitless menu, pastas go well with vegetables, meats and even basic spices. It also stores very, very well and is cheap.
o Canned cat and dog food can save you a lot of money and stress, as well. Many people forget about preparing for their animals. During Katrina, I saved more poor, ‘left for dead’ animals than humans and it was sickening.
o Powdered milk and vitamins are also great bartering items and can help provide essential nutrients.
o Buying in bulk can save you even more money right now. Many chain stores and food manufacturers have already stated their prices will rise 5% – 15% this year.
o You can spend less than $20 per week and within a very, very short time you’ll have a sizable, albeit basic stock that can get you through losing a job, natural disaster or economic problems. It will also put you light years ahead of the majority of people in this country by providing you with a 30, 60 or even 90 day supply of food.
* Water supply is another major issue when it comes to a food storage plan. Without, life becomes extremely miserable.
o Average human consumption and needs for clean water comes in at around one gallon per day, per person. This is the minimum amount for cooking and drinking.
o Factor in washing dishes, flushing a toilet, extra drinking supplies, hygiene, and you’ve reached anywhere between 3 gallons per day up to 10 gallons per day.
o Are you watering crops? Even small rows and plants need a lot of water. Rain water collection can supplement this greatly, but depends on your region and collection methods.
o Quality filters can also help if you have access to a pond, lake, river, stream, or even contaminated city water. During Hurricane Katrina, I developed a severe infection from simply brushing my teeth with water I was told was safe. It even looked clean. Turns out it wasn’t. I then had to search for antibiotics in a city where there were no doctors, no hospitals and no emergency rooms. I was also forced to simply take the word of people who said they knew what type of antibiotic would treat the infection or what I should be looking for. Only because I was a police officer did I locate some and I’ll leave it at that.
o Dirty water brings a lot of dangers with it. Basic medical knowledge, however, can negate a lot of the dangers when it comes to poor food, dirty water and their related illnesses - but a quality filter is a must!
o These can be backpacking filters, a Berkey Filter or others. Check their ratings and filtering level. Also, extra filters are a good idea!
If you didn’t have any food storage, imagine what you would be faced with and how you would have to live, even for a short while. You will have become a refugee – wholly dependent on others for your most basic need – food and water. If you become a refugee, nothing else will matter anymore because you will spend your time searching for the basics and in doing so, will encounter many more dangers from all angles than someone who can relax in their home with 6 months worth of food.
Bartering Food Items -
By having a supply of food or a food-related service, you can then barter these for other goods that you need, such as fuel, entertainment, energy, etc. The knowledge and ability to create food is highly valuable in post-disaster situations. Having even a small vegetable garden can make you wealthy in terms of survival. But with this ability comes several things to consider;
* Gardens, seeds and how to grow them -
o Now is the time to practice. Now is the time to learn what grows well and how to care for it. Now is the time to supplement your kitchen with fresh vegetables and fruits. Waiting until the disaster is knocking on your front door will lead you to doom.
o Quality garden seeds, especially GMO-free seeds (non-genetically modified) are needed for nutrient dense crops. These are key to long-term post-disaster situations. Many genetically modified crops will not produce seed for the next season. This is very important to know and realize before planting and contaminating your soil. There are also many dangers associated with GMO crops, such as liver damage, cancer in lab mice, reproductive problems – especially in men, and much less nutritional value. Couple that with a gene modified to intentionally not reproduce and it can lead you to starvation or having nothing to barter. I recommend you check out the Patriot Seed Store – they offer heirloom, non-GMO seeds in a wide variety of crops. They even have a Seed Vault that contains 5,000 seeds in order to get you started with a very large garden. But learning this now is vital. Don’t buy a bucket of seeds and think you can plant them if the economy fails. You’re setting yourself up for disaster by doing that.
o Learning how to plant, nurture and grow basic crops now can also save you tremendous amounts of money. I don’t think I have to explain the benefit in that one.
o Region, soil types and rain levels will greatly effect your plants. Figuring this out now will return massive dividends later.
o Gardening is not rocket science. Some basic knowledge about different soil types, companion planting and how to naturally fertilize your plants will give you a garden, even in a small apartment or urban area.
o Gardening can also turn into a profitable venture when it comes to bartering. I know many gardeners and farmers who make an additional $5,000 or even $10,000 a year maintaining some very basic crops or animals.
o Sustainable (or permaculture) gardening practices can also increase benefits by nurturing other plants, trees, animals and more. Remember, at it’s very core, life is a cycle. The same goes for your backyard and garden!
Even as this article is being written, food crops in Mexico have been laid to waste due to freezing temperatures, your dollar has lost a little bit more of its value, the Federal Reserve has continued an unsustainable program of buying America’s debt, and another American just suffered a personal disaster by losing her job.
Are you going to wait until the storm is on the horizon to act?
Kevin Hayden is a former New Orleans police officer-turned-political activist. He endured Hurricane Katrina’s chaos and societal collapse in the days following and after 5 years in New Orleans, he moved to Oklahoma. Kevin currently runs www.TruthisTreason.net and works on local politics and education about our monetary, food and foreign policies while building an off-grid homestead and helping people become prepared. He can be contacted directly at Contact@TruthisTreason.net or by visiting his website, TruthisTreason.net
Peter Schiff – Prepare or Die
http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=4678
Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Communicate_if_Your_Government_Shuts_Off_Your_Internet
Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down
http://www.pcworld.com/article/218155/get_internet_access_when_your_government_shuts_it_down.html
No longer a voice in the wilderness:
- Dmitry Orlov
Are We Headed for a Soviet-Style Collapse?
Top 10 Survival Downloads You Should Have
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/12/top-10-survival-downloads-you-should.html
Modern Survival Online
There are tons of good downloads in the Survival Database Download section of this website. For this article – I have selected 10 that everyone should have either printed and put away, or placed on a USB drive – or better yet both.
So – let’s get to it:
#10. FM 4-25-11 First Aid (2002) - Military First Aid Manual. First aid information is a must – get training before you need it – use this manual for reference.
#9. Guide to Canning – Being able to preserve crops to be able to provide for yourself and your family long after the growing season is over is important. This guide will help with that.
#8. Rangers Handbook (2006) – Crammed with info on demolitions, booby traps, communications, patrolling, tactical movement, battle drills, combat intelligence and much more
#7. Where There is No Dentist - The author uses straightforward language and careful instructions to explain how to: examine patients; diagnose common dental problems; make and use dental equipment; use local anesthetics; place fillings; and remove teeth.
#6. NATO Emergency War Surgery – While this is certainly not a manual that would stand alone in most persons emergency/disaster library, it is an absolutely necessary resource if you expect to handle any type of trauma where immediate comprehensive medical care is not available.
#5. A Guide to Raised Bed Gardening – This is not an “all knowing” gardening book – however it provides a lot of information to the “urban gardener” before or after TSHTF. Best to get the experience and knowledge of gardening NOW rather than later.
#4. FM 3-06 Combined Arms Operations in Urban Terrain - Combat techniques covered in the manual which may be very valuable in a “Roadwarrior”-type world.
#3. 1881 Household Cyclopedia – A massive resource of information that much of it has been lost over the past 203 generations. From Angling to Knitting – its here.
#2. FM 21-76-1 Survival-Evasion-Recovery (1999) – Excellent manual geared towards the soldier that finds himself behind enemy lines
#1. FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual - From Amazon.com: This manual has been written to help you acquire survival skills. It tells you how to travel, find water and food, shelter yourself from the weather and care for yourself if you become sick or injured. This information is first treated generally and then applied specifically to such special areas as the Arctic, the desert, the jungle and the ocean.1970 Military Issue Manual. General Introduction and Individual and Group Survival Orientation Navigation, Finding Water In All Parts of The Globe. How To Obtain Food, Start a Fire and much more!
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5 Essential Make-from-Scratch Foods for your Health and Budget
homemade sourdough bread
hypertext:
http://simplemom.net/5-essential-make-from-scratch-foods-for-your-health-and-budget
by Katie on July 13, 2010
in food & drink
I’m on maternity leave from June 11 to July 16: The following is written by Simple Organic contributor Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship.
I never thought I would bake my own bread.
After my first passing attempt at homemade whole wheat bread years ago, I got reviews like, “Wow, that’s dense.” I happily submitted to the fact that bread-making wasn’t for me. I knew where all the bread outlets in my city were, so I had a frugal option for whole grain bread anyway. Why bother with all that work?
I am shaking my head in disbelief as I write this: I haven’t bought bread in months.
What changed?
I realized cooking from scratch isn’t exclusively for frugality, but also for health. Even if they won’t save me pennies (or dollars), there are some homemade foods that so far surpass any store bought variety in nutrition, I just have to make them myself.
I have transitioned to making an awful lot of things from scratch, but it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing endeavor.
When I analyze my homemade recipes for both nutrition and budget, five foods come out on top as those that I simply couldn’t compromise on.
1. Homemade Yogurt
Dollar value…
I make nearly a gallon of yogurt a week for my family of four, saving $250-300 a year over the 32 oz. tubs. If we bought the little cups, I shudder to think how much we might spend!
Nutrition…
As a cultured food, yogurt is filled with power-packed nutrition and probiotics that keep my family healthy. It makes just about every “super food” list you can find and deserves a place in any healthy kitchen.
Simplicity…
Making yogurt is also an essential because it’s so very simple to do. Homemade yogurt has two ingredients and takes about 15-20 minutes of active work time, spaced out in four sections:
1. Pour milk into jars; set in a pot of water to boil.
2. Set jars on counter to come down to 100-110 degrees F.
3. Mix in plain yogurt, 2 Tablespoons per quart jar. Place jars into cooler with pot of hot water and a towel; incubate (keep warm/ignore) 4-24 hours.
4. Take jars out and freeze for 1-2 hours, then store in refrigerator.
It’s really that simple, and I never ever have to get out my recipe. You may want a bit more detailed instruction for your first few times, which you can find at this homemade yogurt tutorial.
2. Chicken Stock
Homemade chicken stock is another sure winner: it’s fairly simple to accomplish, extremely good for you, and takes garbage and transforms it into food – clearly a frugal feat.
Simplicity…
I only buy chicken with bones now days, partly because quality meat is so expensive, but mostly so that I can keep my freezer stocked with stock (sometimes referred to as broth). Putting the bones in water with a splash of vinegar to draw out the minerals, boiling it overnight and then adding a few vegetables and parsley only takes about 5-10 minutes active work time.
Dollar value…
Straining the broth and freezing it might take another 15-30 minutes depending on the size of my batch, but since I can make two gallons of stock for mere pennies compared to 3/$2 for a 15 oz. can, I can’t help but gleam with frugal joy. Learn how to make traditional homemade chicken stock for yourself.
Nutrition…
When I learned that the fat in homemade chicken stock actually builds your immunities, I stopped skimming the fat and started making a conscious effort to include it in our family’s meal plans at least once a week. That was about the time my family started having a serious lack of colds and stomach bugs for an entire winter.
See more about the incredible health benefits of chicken stock and broth, including collagen, a truly rare food find.
3. Homemade Salad Dressings
I started making homemade dressing when I tried avoiding all white sugar one Lent. I had no idea there was so much sweetener in salad dressings!
Nutrition…
Now that I’ve learned about the high omega-6 content and frequent GMO status of soybean oil, the main fat in almost all purchased dressings, I’m committed to making my own with extra virgin olive oil. I go through about a gallon of EVOO every four months.
Dollar value?
It costs over $2.50 to make 16 oz., which is actually considerably more than a good deal on Kraft dressing. That stings, but I’m convinced that the nutrition is worth the premium price.
Simplicity…
Simple oil dressings like Italian or balsamic vinaigrette take almost no time at all. My favorites, homemade caesar and Asian toasted sesame dressing, take a bit longer but are well worth it.
When my homemade mayonnaise is available, I can whip up a pesto ranch in about a minute with equal parts mayo, sour cream and yogurt whisked with a dollop of thawed pesto from last summer’s farmer’s market basil.
An added bonus? The homemade versions taste incredible.
4. Homemade Tortillas
I feel like an elderly Mexican woman when I break out the rolling pin and make tortillas for taco night. This make-from-scratch food saves a bit of money and pumps up the nutrition considerably, but it is quite time-consuming. Mixing the dough takes five minutes, but rolling out 8-10 rounds is at least another ten.
Nutrition…
Here’s my sticking point: I can’t find tortillas without some sort of trans fat or questionable preservative in them. I avoid trans fat like the plague, and the corn tortillas I thought might be the answer had parabens in them, the same chemical I try to avoid in my shampoo.
Dollar Value…
Homemade tortillas cost about $1/batch of 8-12, so compared to whole wheat tortillas in a store, they are more frugal, to be sure (along with the health benefits). Our family loves my homemade whole wheat tortillas, and I get strong “pipes” from rolling them out!
5. Sourdough Bread
homemade sourdough bread
Not only do I regularly make the bread I thought I’d never, ever make from scratch, but I use a method that’s known for failures and requires added skill and patience. My homemade sourdough starter needs to be tended carefully and takes much longer to rise than conventional yeast bread, but the health benefits of real sourdough bread convinced me it was worth it.
Nutrition…
The sourdough process breaks down harmful substances like phytates, tannins, and even gluten, and it makes the grains exponentially more digestible than any other kind of food preparation. Wheat bran is particularly difficult for many people’s systems, so expensive whole grain bread may be doing as much harm as good.
Simplicity…
I could never pull off homemade bread, especially sourdough, if I had to to knead it myself. Manual may be better for my fitness, but I’d stress out and make bread worthy of a doorstop. My KitchenAid mixer’s dough hook makes it all possible, and I only have to spend 10-15 minutes of active time, broken into four parts over the course of 18 hours or so.
Dollar Value…
I feel deeply satisfied when I can feed my kids homemade, 100% whole grain, ultra-nutritious sourdough bread, risen with yeast I captured from the air myself, for free. And if you’re wondering, my loaves do cost less than the bread outlet anyway.
Their prices recently increased.
The Advantages Of Storing Dehydrated Foods
November 22, 2010 by Peggy Layton
The Advantages Of Storing Dehydrated Foods
The next step in our food storage plan is for you to make a list of the foods that your family eats on a regular basis and purchase enough food for a three-month supply. As we talked about in a previous article, Food Storage 101: Where do I begin?, one of the best ways to stockpile food is in the dried form. It is lightweight and can be reconstituted to its original form by adding water.
I tell people to start with everything to make soup and simple breads. My philosophy is that you can live on just soup and bread.
Soups are easy to make, and if you are in a time of stress you want something that is simple to prepare. Dehydrated vegetables are easy to use when making soup. Grains such as barley, quinoa and rice can also be added to soup to make it more filling. Dehydrated vegetables, bouillons and grains will store for a lot longer than wet pack soups.
Studies have been done on the shelf life of dehydrated foods and, surprisingly, the food has been lasting longer than originally expected, which was between five and 20 years. Wet pack foods only last two to three years after being canned.
A good rule of thumb is to rotate any dried dairy products within five to seven years. All dried fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes should be rotated within seven to 10 years and all grains within 20 to 30 years. Wheat will last the longest.
Dehydrated Foods
We use dehydrated foods every day, whether we know it or not. They are called “convenience foods,” and include things like Rice-A-Roni, Hamburger Helper, Bisquick®, macaroni and cheese, Pasta Roni®, Tuna Helper, potatoes au gratin, instant oatmeal, instant soups like Lipton Onion Soup and Cup of Noodles, powdered milk, gravy mixes and anything you “just add water” to.
Dehydrated foods are second only to fresh foods. They are processed under a high vacuum and low drying temperature that removes most of the water. The product is more brittle and hard rather than leathery like dried fruits such as raisins, figs, prunes, pineapple, apricots, etc.
Dehydrated foods, when harvested and preserved properly, will retain their vitamins, minerals and enzymes because the food has not been cooked or canned, processes that kill the enzymes that are so vital to the digestive process. So dehydrated food is “live food.”
Dehydrated food is lower in weight and is much easier to store than wet pack food. It fits in cans and buckets and when reconstituted will yield at least double or triple its weight. And dehydrated food is less expensive than wet pack food because you aren’t paying for all the water.
Food packed in No. 10 cans fit six cans per box and stack nicely on top of each other. If you label the boxes as to what is in them, you can see at a glance what you have.
Dehydrated food can be rehydrated to restore it to its natural state. The taste is still great and the food value is excellent. Dehydrated food stores well for long periods of time if properly canned. Most items keep for seven to 30 years.
Any product that has powdered milk or dried eggs in it has a shorter shelf life. Rotate these items before the expiration date is up. The suggested shelf life of dairy products is five to seven years.
I have been asked many times what the difference is between dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. Dehydrated foods are dried until the product is dry and leathery and most of the moisture is out of the food.
Freeze-dried foods are flash-frozen and then the water is extracted out of the product using a special evaporation process. It retains its original shape and is much lighter in weight.
Freeze-dried foods are ideal for backpacking. Freeze-dried foods are more expensive than dehydrated food, but the flavor is wonderful.
You may recognize the name Mountain House Foods®. These foods are already in a pouch and ready to eat. You just add water and let the mixture sit for a few minutes. They are nice to have in your 72-hour grab-and-go pack in case of emergency. However, the cost is prohibitive for use for extended periods of time, especially if you are on a budget and trying to get enough food storage to sustain your family for at least a 3-month period.
Reconstituting Guidelines
A good rule of thumb for reconstituting fruits, vegetables and meats is to add about three times the amount of boiling water to the product. Then let it set for at least 20 minutes. If cold water is used, the product must sit in the refrigerator for about four hours or overnight.
If you have added too much water, you can drain it and use it in cooking. If your food looks like it needs more water, then add more. To speed up the reconstitution process, add the dried product directly to soup and cook as usual.
Dehydration causes the cell walls of the food to collapse. Some products, like tomatoes, cannot be reconstituted to the texture that they were before. However, they can be used in seasonings or in recipes such as tomato sauce or soups. It’s very easy to reconstitute food; you just “add water.”
A company that I recommend for fast, easy, nutritious gourmet meals that will store for up to 15 years is eFoods Global. How does chicken veggie alfredo pasta, chili with cornmeal dumplings or white cheddar pasta shells sound? How about beef stroganoff, tortilla soup or, my favorite, cheesy chicken rice casserole.
Some of the features of eFoods Global are:
* Dehydrated from premium-grade fresh raw foods.
* No genetically modified foods (GMOs).
* No added MSG.
* No imports from countries using illegal fertilizers and insecticides.
* No hydrogenated oil.
This is a new concept in storable foods that are delicious, nutritious, affordable and convenient for daily use. If you would like to try the same six meals that I received, simply go to http://peggylayton.myefoods.com, watch the three-minute video and then click on the WIN button. After you receive your six meals for $9.95, you can order a shipment of food to be delivered to you once per month. This is more cost-effective, and over a few month’s time you will have enough good-tasting nutritious meals stored for an emergency.
On my website you can purchase many different varieties of dehydrated foods already packaged for long-term storage. They come in No. 10 gallon-sized cans. When the product is reconstituted it yields about three to four times the amount in the can.
These packs contain dehydrated fruits like apples, banana chips, pineapple, strawberries and peaches. They have dried vegetables like carrots, onions, corn, peas, bell pepper, tomato flakes and potato slices, dices, flakes and hash browns. They also contain powdered milk and dairy products like cheddar cheese powder, dried eggs, butter powder, buttermilk powder, plus shortening powder, meat substitutes, soup mixes, rice and other grains, popcorn, spaghetti and egg noodles, six- and nine-grain cereals, rolled oats and granola.
The beans include pinto, small red, white navy, split pea, lentils and refried. The packs also include drink mixes like peach and apple drink, as well as chocolate milk mix. There is salt, baking soda, sugar cookie mix and white bread mix.
The packs also include five-gallon buckets of wheat, flour, cornmeal and sugar. And you get one of my cookbooks for free.
There are premium year-supply packs that include entrees that are ready to eat. This includes some Mountain House freeze dried meals. Some of the meals are beef stew, beef stroganoff, beef teriyaki with rice, chicken ala-king, chicken and rice, chicken and noodles, spaghetti and meat sauce, vegetable stew, chili mac, lasagna with meat sauce, wild rice and mushroom pilaf and mac and cheese, fried rice, chili, scrambled eggs with ham or bacon and granola with blueberries.
These foods come in three-month, six-month and one-year variety packs. I have personally worked with all these foods and have chosen the ones that I recommend. If you are interested in any of these packs, you can go to my website and order them.
I also recommend my new, updated cookbook, Cookin’ With Home Storage. It has more than 550 recipes for using storable foods like dehydrated, freeze-dried and pantry food items. It also has charts on what food to store, how much food to store and how to store it. There are also historical tips and information on how the pioneers really lived.
This book teaches how to incorporate food storage into your everyday diet. It also contains Grandma’s home remedies, emergency baby food and recipes for pet food free of all the additives that are found in commercial baby food and pet food.
This is my No. 1 selling book.
The next best selling book I have is Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook.
These books, along with many others, including Food storage 101, “Where Do I Begin?” can be purchased on my website, www.peggylayton.com.
You can also contact me via email or by phone: 435-835-0311.
In my next article I will cover how to store bulk foods.
http://www.personalliberty.com/survival-and-self-sufficiency/the-advantages-of-storing-dehydrated-foods
do you have this video?
thankx toddao
The Government Has a Seed Bank Savings Account -- Why Shouldn't You?
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/08/government-has-seed-bank-savings.html
Ten Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and Ten Ways to Get There
Michael Edwards and Jeffrey Green
Activist Post
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/08/ten-reasons-to-become-self-sufficient.html#more
We are now three to five generations removed from the rural backbone that strengthened America. The world at large has undergone a similar transformation as the promise of easier work has created a migration to big cities. These mega-cities could be seen as an experiment gone awry, as general well-being has declined, with suicide rates increasing across the world. Crowded conditions and economic strife have led to rampant crime, pollution, corporate malfeasance, and a dog-eat-dog type of competition that can be described as a temporary insanity.
The economic crisis we are living through has been the final straw for many people, as promises of a better, easier, and more creative life seem to have been sold to us by carnival-style tricksters who are laughing all the way to (their) bank.
Here are the top reasons for becoming self-sufficient; these are based on fundamental, systemic concerns for why undertaking this life change will not be a fly-by-night fad, but rather a long-lasting means for personal independence.
10 Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient
1. Freedom from market manipulation - The traditional market-driven investment vehicles are more and more obviously controlled by traders and banking institutions. The debacle of the private Federal Reserve Bank is just the icing on the cake to a previous decade full of Ponzi-type schemes. Now, the institutionalized looting of retirement money is being planned.
2. Hedging against inflation - Have you noticed the price of goods lately? Even Wal-Mart is silently raising its prices. People might have a choice whether or not to buy stocks or gold, but people have to eat -- the current increases in basic goods portend hyperinflation, and will not ease anytime soon. Food shortages could make the problem exponentially worse.
3.
3. Increasing health and wellness - It has now been revealed that some "organic" items have been falsely labeled. In addition, a host of "GMO-free" brands have been exposed as deceptive. GMO food lacks the nutritional value of what can be grown in the average backyard. GMO mega-corporation, Monsanto, has a sordid history and has continuously trampled on our trust. It is time that we do the work ourselves.
4. Building community strength - We constantly hear people say, "I don't even see my neighbors, let alone know anything about them." Of course not: 80-hour workweeks and grabbing meals-to-go doesn't exactly promote community interaction. With such little time to interact with our immediate community, it is no wonder why many people report feeling disconnected. In these trying times, it is a local community that can offer the best support.
5. Working for yourself - Working hours are increasing, pay is often decreasing, and corporate executives are taking bigger bonuses than ever. This is leading to a prevailing disgust, as people are being forced to admit that they are living lives of near-indentured servitude. Even for those not working in corporations, working for someone else is rarely as satisfying as creating and working for something where every minute you spend is yours alone.
6. Having more free time - We have been taught to believe that life on a farm is arduous sun-up to sun-down drudgery where you collapse at the end of the day. This is not so much the case anymore. Sure, the setup of any farm or self-sufficient endeavor is often time-consuming and laborious, but new technologies and new skills of manufacturing food via permaculture and aquaponics are offering low-cost start up and minimal maintenance, as these techniques serve to create symbiotic systems that are remarkably self-governing.
7. Generating food and energy security - The planet is running out of food and traditional energy. Climate volatility, market forces, GM foods, and rising costs of harvesting and transporting food are all conspiring to create food shortages even in the First World. This trend will not reverse. And our oil-soaked way of life is being threatened by mounting evidence that the oil lifeline could be disconnecting rather soon. We should be looking to the air, sun, geothermal, and wave power to wean us from the energy grid.
8. Acquiring an appreciation for life - As one gets closer to life-giving forces, there is a natural appreciation for how things come into being. When you have created your garden, toiled there, selected the best for harvest, and have prepared that food for your family and community, the significance of what you have taken part in can be transformative.
9. Restoring balance - Nearly everything in our society is at a peak, or is drastically out of balance. The systems and governments to which we have looked for balance restoration are missing in action. We must take it upon ourselves to restore our own financial and environmental balance sheet. The best way to do that is to reduce our overconsumption.
10. Becoming a producer, not a consumer - This is the best way to reduce your cost of living and increase your self-sufficiency. In the U.S. over 70% of the economy is based on people buying things. This is a clear sign of imbalance and, by extension, it is not sustainable. Furthermore, we also have seen corporations race to the bottom to find low-cost production on the backs of desperate people. The exploitation of the Third World to clothe, feed, and entertain the First World is something that most people do not want to think about, but it is abominable. Again, new technologies are making it easier than ever to produce your own food, and even your own clothes.
As the cliche goes: Freedom is never free. But it sure beats the alternative.
10 Ways to Get to Self-Sufficiency
The global economic collapse has become an eye-opening experience for many people. The ongoing crisis continues to create more joblessness at a time when the cost of essential items like food and energy continue to rise.
Inflation is only expected to continue due to excessive printing of money to compensate for the bursting economic bubbles, which were arguably created by printing too much money with artificially low interest rates in the first place.
The 2008 price shocks in oil followed by the financial collapse have led many people to begin taking measures to become more self-sufficient. And recently the ominous signs of food shortages, the weakening dollar, and the rising price of oil all point to a similar atmosphere as 2008. Some have taken steps to conserve electricity, reduce spending and consumption, while others are planting kitchen gardens and installing solar panels on their homes. Even living off the grid is becoming a mainstream concept for those seeking independence.
Indeed, becoming more self-sufficient is proving to make common sense whether one anticipates more hardship to come or not. Sure, many of us would love to live completely off the grid without giving up everyday comforts, but this is not practical for most of us. However, there are many steps that can be taken to move towards self-sufficiency which can be relatively painless and quite rewarding.
The following are 10 suggestions that can lead to independent living:
1. Reduce your debt: Especially get your credit card debt under control, since it is entirely corrupt. Call your credit card companies and ask for a work out plan similar to what they received from the taxpayer bailout. If they don't cooperate to your satisfaction, there are some reasons not to pay at all.
2. Reduce your consumption: Evaluate your current budget and determine absolute necessity. Push your comfort level to find areas where you can scale back, and then identify comforts that you’re willing to sacrifice.
3. Reduce energy use: Change light bulbs, have entertainment systems plugged into a splitter that can be shut off completely to reduce phantom charges, etc. Carefully plan shopping trips and other transportation needs.
4. Store energy: Always have back-up propane storage and a large wood pile for a rainy day. Investing in a generator of some kind (even a solar generator) will be money well spent.
5. Invest in food storage: With a falling dollar and rising food prices, why not create a food savings account? Get some good books, dehydrators and vacuum sealers for storage methods. Best storable food items are grains (rice, beans, flour), canned goods, seeds, and some prepackaged items.
6. Produce your own food: Replace your lawn with a garden, fruit trees, and keep chickens. Go on hunting and gathering adventures for nuts, fish, and wild game. Store extra garden seeds!
7. Learn new skills: Surf the Internet, read books, and take courses in practical skills like gardening, cooking with whole foods, composting, carpentry, alternative energy, natural health and wellness etc.
8. Start a side business: Turn your passion or hobby into a small side business to make some supplemental income. Who knows, it may become your path to full financial independence.
9. Install alternative energy: Start with small installations like a solar hot water system, a solar freezer, a solar attic fan, or a wood stove etc. If you have limited funds, tip-toe your way to independence.
10. Suggest solutions for your community: Start or join a local cooperative for food, products, and services. Engage your local community in discussions to take steps for self-sufficiency. Share your story and build support.
These steps will save money as we move closer to the ultimate prize of independence. Each action we take to live more simply frees us from the control systems put in place to make our lives more complicated, more toxic, and less independent.
Related Articles:
Mimicking Nature to Feed the Masses
Dare to Prepare: Collapse of Civilization Now Guaranteed
Using Local Organic Cooperatives to Defeat Globalists
USDA Reports Food Shortages: Wall Street "Caught Off Guard" by Severity
Americans Won’t Back Attack on Iran
19. Aug, 2010
If Iran is attacked, a large percentage of Americans will have nothing to do with it.
By Tim King of Salem-News.Com
(SALEM, Ore.) – Want to see the end of the world as we know it? If you do, you are in luck, because your chance to see the future of your kids and grandkids go up in smoke is nearing, and if the republicans and Israelis’ have anything to say about it, the grand final act will be here before you know it.
What will cause this? Israel. Why? Because the leaders of Israel’s current political ambitions represent the dark forces of nature, that’s why. Illegal occupation, stealing of land, demeaning an entire population of indigenous people and murder, plenty of murder… that is why.
Whose fault will it be if it happens? The United States, Great Britain and Canada primarily, followed by several less significant nations which either abstained from entering the right vote, or voted in the UN not to investigate Israel for war crimes in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel was created by an act of deception. British, Russian and American forces defeated the Third Reich so people could return to their homes and live in peace.
Unfortunately, many Jewish people moved to Israel, and that is where the problems that choke the Middle East every day since, began.
People like Helen Thomas, who lived then, remember this. The idea that one of the most esteemed news professionals in the nation could be taken down over simply talking about it, creates the current picture. The Palestinians have paid the price for Hitler’s dirty deeds for over sixty years now.
The treatment Israel reserves for native Palestinians is something that Americans would never dole out, except by proxy. Murder, the attempt to wipe a whole culture off the map, ethnic and religious discrimination at epic levels; this is the reality of Israel. The consensus seems to be that anything Israel does is OK, even if it flies in the face of common human decency.
I predict that the issue will divide the United States into two permanent camps. It is interesting that the side that would root for Israel, are the neocons; American right wing Christians, so often associated with hypocrisy, warmongering, using false information to start wars, etc.
Israel and the US hold the keys to the world’s future. This matter is not in the hands of Iran. Their leaders have stated over and over that they do not have the desire or need to create nuclear weapons, and most of us believe they would be entitled to do so anyway. Israel has them, illegally, so what is the big deal?
If someone wanted to convince me that we have failed as a human race I would be an easy sell. As much as I want to see a bright future exist for my children, I have my doubts about their chances of actually seeing it.
Greed, greed, greed! That is the motivation of capitalists, and the Israelis represent the first religion willing to charge interest in financing, which the Bible clearly states should not take place. The Muslims held out, have always assisted each other without charging interest. I respect that very much. I guess maybe that explains why so many Muslim people are not in banking.
If the United States backs an attack on Iran, a large percentage of Americans will have nothing to do with it.
Protests and riots will begin and never stop. The US military will splinter and fall into factions. The US economy will collapse, more Americans will be sent to die in a needless war.
Terrorism, the kind Bush lied and preached about with his dire warnings that never came to pass, will become a daily reality. Ask people in other parts of the world what it is like to live that way. Ask the Iraqi people, they know a great deal about it, thanks to the United States’ death machine.
Attacking Iran, a nation with no history of aggression toward others, over the Israeli propaganda and lies, will be the final act. What a sick world and society we have. What a twisted and sad thing religion is.
Special Thanks to Tim King and Salem-News.com
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com’s Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.
Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation’s only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2010/08/americans-won%E2%80%99t-back-attack-on-iran/
46 smart uses for salt
By Melissa Breyer
More from Care2 Green Living blog
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/46-smart-uses-for-salt-2270681/
How many ways can you use salt? According to the Salt Institute, about 14,000! The salt website has tons of handy tips for using salt around the house, and the best of the bunch -- plus my additions -- are listed below.
I can't think of another more versatile mineral. Salt is the most common and readily available nonmetallic mineral in the world. In fact, the supply of salt is inexhaustible.
For thousands of years, salt (sodium chloride) has been used to preserve food and for cleaning, and people have continued to rely on it for all kinds of nifty tricks.
So with its nontoxic friendliness and status as an endlessly abundant resource, let's swap out some toxic solutions for ample, innocuous, and inexpensive salt.
There are a number of forms of salt produced for consumption (and by default, housekeeping!): unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. Kosher salt is sodium chloride processed to have flat crystals. And in case you're wondering, Epsom salt is an entirely different stuff: magnesium sulfate to be exact (which is a salt that I consider to be, essentially, miraculous).
Here are just a few of the many ways you can put salt to good use in your home:
In the Kitchen
Aside from all of the alchemy that salt performs in terms of baking chemistry and food flavor, salt has a number of other great applications in the kitchen.
Test egg freshness.
Put two teaspoons of salt in a cup of water and place an egg in it -- a fresh egg will sink, an older egg will float. Because the air cell in an egg increases as it ages, an older egg is more buoyant. This doesn't mean a floating egg is rotten, just more mature. Crack the egg into a bowl and examine it for any funky odor or appearance -- if it's rotten, your nose will tell you. (Bonus fact: if you have hard-boiled eggs that are difficult to peel, that means they are fresh!)
Set poached eggs.
Because salt increases the temperature of boiling water, it helps to set the whites more quickly when eggs are dropped into the water for poaching.
Prevent fruits from browning.
Most of us use lemon or vinegar to stop peeled apples and pears from browning, but you can also drop them in lightly salted water to help them keep their color.
Shell nuts more easily.
Soak pecans and walnuts in salt water for several hours before shelling to make it easier to remove the meat.
Prevent cake icing crystals.
A little salt added to cake icings prevents them from sugaring.
Remove odors from hands.
Oniony-garlicy fingers? I like soap and water, then rubbing them on anything made of stainless steel (it really works), but you can also rub your fingers with a salt and vinegar combo.
Reach high peaks.
Add a tiny pinch of salt when beating egg whites or whipping cream for quicker, higher peaks.
Extend cheese life.
Prevent mold on cheese by wrapping it in a cloth moistened with saltwater before refrigerating.
Save the bottom of your oven.
If a pie or casserole bubbles over in the oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spill. It won't smoke and smell, and it will bake into a crust that makes the baked-on mess much easier to clean when it has cooled.
[mosquitobite]
mosquitobite
Personal Care
Extend toothbrush life.
Soak toothbrushes in salt water before your first use; they'll last longer.
Clean teeth.
Use one part fine salt to two parts baking soda -- dip your toothbrush in the mix and brush as usual. You can also use the same mix dissolved in water for orthodontic appliances.
Rinse your mouth.
Mix equal parts salt and baking soda in water for a fresh and deodorizing mouth rinse.
Ease mouth problems.
For cankers, abscesses, and other mouth sores, rinse your mouth with a weak solution of warm saltwater several times a day.
Relieve bee-sting pain.
Ouch? Immediately dampen area and pack on a small pile of salt to reduce pain and swelling. More bee-sting tips here.
Treat mosquito bites.
A saltwater soak can do wonders for that special mosquito-bite itch -- a poultice of salt mixed with olive oil can help too.
Treat poison ivy.
Same method as for treating mosquito bites. (Salt doesn't seem to distinguish between itches.)
Have an exfoliating massage.
After bathing and while still wet give yourself a massage with dry salt. It freshens skin and boosts circulation.
Ease throat pain.
Mix salt and warm water, gargle to relieve a sore throat.
Around the House
Deter ants.
Sprinkle salt at doorways, window sills, and anywhere else ants sneak into your house. Ants don't like to walk on salt.
Extinguish grease fires.
Keep a box of salt near your stove and oven, and if a grease fire flares up, douse the flames with salt. (Never use water on grease fires; it will splatter the burning grease.) When salt is applied to fire, it acts like a heat sink and dissipates the heat from the fire -- it also forms an oxygen-excluding crust to smother the fire.
Drip-proof candles.
If you soak new candles in a strong salt solution for a few hours, then dry them well, they will not drip as much when you burn them.
Keep cut flowers fresh.
A dash of salt added to the water in a flower vase will keep cut flowers fresh longer. (You can also try an aspirin or a dash of sugar for the same effect.)
Arrange artificial flowers.
Artificial flowers can be held in place by pouring salt into the vase, adding a little cold water and then arranging the flowers. The salt become solid as it dries and holds the flowers in place.
Make play dough.
Use 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil, and 2 tablespoons cream of tartar. Stir together flour, cream of tartar, salt, and oil, and slowly add water. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until dough becomes stiff. Spread onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the dough with your hands until it reaches a good dough consistency. (Read about juice dyes here.)
Repair walls.
To fill nail holes, fix chips or other small dings in white sheet-rock or plaster walls, mix 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons cornstarch, then add enough water (about 5 teaspoons) to make a thick paste. Use the paste to fill the holes.
Deter patio weeds.
If weeds or grass grow between bricks or blocks in your patio, sidewalk, or driveway, carefully spread salt between the cracks, then sprinkle with water or wait for rain to wet it down.
Kill poison ivy.
Mix three pounds of salt with a gallon of soapy water (use a gentle dish soap) and apply to leaves and stems with a sprayer, avoiding any plant life that you want to keep.
De-ice sidewalks and driveways.
One of the oldest tricks in the book! Lightly sprinkle rock salt on walks and driveways to keep snow and ice from bonding to the pavement and allow for easier shoveling/scraping. But don't overdo it; use the salt sensibly to avoid damage to plants and paws.
Tame a wild barbecue.
Toss a bit of salt on flames from food dripping in barbecue grills to reduce the flames and calm the smoke without cooling the coals (like water does).
Cleaning
Salt works as an effective yet gentle scouring agent. Salt also serves as a catalyst for other ingredients, such as vinegar, to boost cleaning and deodorizing action. For a basic soft scrub, make a paste with lots of salt, baking soda and dish soap and use on appliances, enamel, porcelain, etc.
Clean sink drains.
Pour salt mixed with hot water down the kitchen sink regularly to deodorize and keep grease from building up.
Remove water rings.
Gently rub a thin paste of salt and vegetable oil on the white marks caused by beverage glasses and hot dishes on wooden tables.
Clean greasy pans.
Cast-iron skillets can be cleaned with a good sprinkling of salt and paper towels.
Clean stained cups.
Mix salt with a dab of dish soap to make a soft scrub for stubborn coffee and tea stains.
Clean refrigerators.
A mix of salt and soda water can be used to wipe out and deodorize the inside of your refrigerator, a nice way to keep chemical-y cleaners away from your food.
Clean brass or copper.
Mix equal parts of salt, flour, and vinegar to make a paste, and rub the paste on the metal. After letting it sit for an hour, clean with a soft cloth or brush and buff with a dry cloth.
Clean rust.
Mix salt and cream of tartar with just enough water to make a paste. Rub on rust, let dry, brush off and buff with a dry, soft cloth. You can also use the same method with a mix of salt and lemon.
Clean a glass coffee pot.
Every diner waitress' favorite tip: add salt and ice cubes to a coffee pot, swirl around vigorously, and rinse. The salt scours the bottom, and the ice helps to agitate it more for a better scrub.
[winestain]
winestain
Laundry
Attack wine spills.
If a tipsy guest tips wine on your cotton or linen tablecloth, blot up as much as possible and immediately cover the wine with a pile of salt, which will help pull the remaining wine away form the fiber. After dinner, soak the tablecloth in cold water for 30 minutes before laundering. (Also works on clothing.)
Quell oversudsing.
Since, of course, we are all very careful in how much detergent we use in our laundry, we never have too many suds. But if someone overfills ... you can eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.
Dry clothes in the winter.
Use salt in the final laundry rinse to prevent clothes from freezing if you use an outdoor clothes line in the winter.
Brighten colors.
Wash colored curtains or washable fiber rugs in a saltwater solution to brighten the colors. Brighten faded rugs and carpets by rubbing them briskly with a cloth that has been dipped in a strong saltwater solution and wrung out.
Remove perspiration stains.
Add four tablespoons of salt to one quart of hot water and sponge the fabric with the solution until stains fade.
Remove blood stains.
Soak the stained cloth in cold saltwater, then launder in warm, soapy water and boil after the wash. (Use only on cotton, linen, or other natural fibers that can take high heat.)
Tackle mildew or rust stains.
Moisten stained spots with a mixture of lemon juice and salt, then spread the item in the sun for bleaching -- then rinse and dry.
Clean a gunky iron bottom.
Sprinkle a little salt on a piece of paper and run the hot iron over it to remove rough, sticky spots.
Set color.
Salt is used commonly in the textile industry, but works at home too. If a dye isn't colorfast, soak the garment for an hour in 1/2 gallon of water to which you've added 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup salt, then rinse. If rinse water has any color in it, repeat. Use only on single-colored fabric or madras. If the item is multicolored, dry-clean it to avoid running all of the colors together.
USDA Reports Food Shortages: Wall Street 'Caught Off Guard' by Severity
Eric Blair
Activist Post
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/07/food-shortages-reported-wall-street.html
Several recent headlines indicate that food prices will continue their swift climb upward. These troubling new reports show that agriculture production and stored grains are critically low and experts are now predicting food shortages on a grand scale.
Look at a few mainstream headlines: Drought threatens global rice supply in the India Times; VA farmers say heat taking toll on crops, Associated Press; Severe food shortage follows lack of rainfall in Syria; and, finally, Corn prices bolt as USDA downsizes crop estimates, which states that, "Commodity professionals were caught off guard Wednesday by a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showing 1 million fewer acres of corn planted this year than earlier projected, and almost 300 million fewer bushels of corn in storage." And these articles don't begin to address crops being damaged by the toxic rain from the Gulf oil disaster.
We are back to recession economics and rapidly heading toward a deeper, longer “Third Depression.” With all recent economic indicators setting new record lows and deficits at record highs, this ship is only going one way folks, down, down to Chinatown. This WTC-Building 7-style-controlled-demolition of the U.S. economy has long been engineered by the borderless banksters and has been set in the same way to collapse at a free-fall rate. With all of the manufactured confusion it may be difficult to know where best to invest your limited assets, but it seems to be clear that Food is on the march.
There were several trend forecasters and financial firms predicting upwards of $200/barrel of oil before the Gulf oil gusher. The “analysts” said this would occur because of the perception of scarcity and a weakening dollar. The oil disaster and the subsequent outrage at Big Oil will surely take care of selling the perception of scarcity, while the Federal Reserve and Congress will surely take care of weakening the dollar.
We’ve seen this Beta test before when oil prices reached their peak of $147 in 2008 sending the price of food to the stratosphere. Food staples like rice nearly tripled in six months and at times increased 50% in just two weeks, primarily because of record oil prices and a weak dollar in 2008. During this run-up on prices, big box stores like Sam's Club and Costco were rationing the number of bags of rice customers could buy. You can bet that Food Crisis Beta 2.010 will be far more severe.
This third factor of actual Food Scarcity, coupled with high oil prices and a feeble dollar, will multiply the severity of increasing food prices. Whether this scarcity is being engineered to further cull the population or is a genuine imbalance in supply and demand is not important. The fact is that this reality is playing out in the matrix. Being aware of this triple-threat to food costs creates an opportunity to soften the recessionary blow, and perhaps offer some economic freedom from those who would like to reduce us all to serfdom.
You don’t have to be an End Times survivalist to believe that storing food is pragmatic. Everyone with expendable cash can and should design a good food storage and rotation system and buy bulk food as an investment -- in addition to creating self-sufficiency. Many rationalists are touting guns, ammo, and gold as good small-scale investments given the despicable agenda unfolding in our matrix. Certainly those are critical investments in an economy dwindling down to the rationing of necessity, but not everyone is into guns or can afford bundles of gold. And gold, at the end of the day, can only be traded for necessity.
These recent food alerts seem to indicate that food may be the best short-term investment for the “Average Joe.” It's simple: if the retail cost of rice doubles, as it did in 2008, then you (the investor) make 100% return in something that's immediately tangible and usable. It’s time to pay the tax penalty for cashing out your mediocre "I-bought-in-to-the-American-Dream" 401K and invest in Food!
INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING
Nuclear War Survival Skills
- ebook
- free download!
http://femalefaust.blogspot.com/2010/04/nuclear-war-survival-skills-ebook-free.html
Economic Collapse Survival
http://www.economiccollapsesurvival.com/
Gerald Celente is the Founder & Director of the Trends Research Institute. Gerald has been quoted and interviewed in media throughout the world such as, CNBC, Fox News, CBS This Morning, 48 Hours, ABC, NBC, BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Business Week, Financial Times, U.S. News and World Report, The Economist and more. In another impassioned interview Gerald discusses brand new update of “THE TRENDS JOURNAL” in which he discusses his being in Chile when the earthquake hit, how to prepare for new-survivalism, what to do in a crisis, a warning for listeners, the Federal Reserve as well as corruption, Goldman Sachs involvement in Greece and more.
Listen:
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/3/6_Gerald_Celente.html
Living Off The Grid: Privacy Through Resource Independence
by Bill Rounds J.D.
Comes with a vid:
http://www.howtovanish.com/2009/11/living-off-the-grid-privacy-through-resource-independence/?awt_l=Evnph&awt_m=1bDBRd.qSixNxm
Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes
Some people might equate living off the grid with living similar to how Olympic Skiier Bode Miller did growing up, no electricity, no water, in a remote cabin like its 1099 CE. For some, the idea is romantic, but there are few who are passionate enough about becoming energy independent, reducing their carbon footprint, saving money, or privacy to sacrifice that much of their life, and I don’t blame them. Although Les Stroud chose to go off the grid by purchasing a remote property and supplying it with what he needed, an idea appealing to many, others who wish to vanish in plain site can easily go off the grid as well. Going off the grid is becoming a much less intrusive process, even an average suburban home can go off the grid at the initial cost of a home renovation with no serious disruptions in their way of life. Not having to consume the products of the utility companies means not having to continuously disclose your location and compromise your privacy. Here are the main systems that you can replace.
Electricity
Producing all of the elecricity that you consume is a function of many factors. The climate you live in, the appliances you have, your own personal habits, state laws, local zoning ordinances, and more can all affect your decision about how to produce all of your own electricity. No matter where you live, you will probably use a combination of solar panels, wind turbines, battery power, and a standby generator. Another component may be to use propane tanks or propane powered generators or appliances. Different combinations of these items can create more than enough power for the average household. Although some like to sell their excess power back to the grid, where possible, if privacy is your goal, severing your connection to the grid altogether is preferred.
Water
Water is the most difficult modern service to produce more than your demand. Usually the best option to get your own water is to dig a well on your property. This can be expensive but, where possible, is a great way to be self sufficient in collecting water. This option is probably not even possible if you live in a suburban area. There is also the option of installing a rainwater harvesting system. The area of an average household in most of the US is sufficient to collect a significant amount of water. With a water tank to store the rainwater, you can take the rain that falls for a few months, weeks, or days per year, and make it last throughout the year. You might have to change the landscaping of your yard and install low flow fixtures to create a lower water demand, but the normal demands of a household can usually be met. In those areas that do not receive enough rain to supply your household with the water that it needs, a few deliveries per year from a bulk water delivery company to refill your tanks will probably suffice.
Sewer
Many homes and businesses use septic tanks rather than a connection to the sewer line. With a septic tank installed, you can hire a private service to pump it on a regular basis, rather than make regular payments to the city for sewer service.
Conclusion
It is no longer necessary to give up most of the creature comforts that we take for granted in order to go off the grid. Adopting a lifestyle that uses less water and energy can make the process cheaper, but like Survivorman, I like to plug in my guitar sometimes. Expectations and needs of a modern household can now be met while still maintaining privacy from utility companies by going off the grid.
What Privacy Issues Concern You?
I write articles based mostly on what I am thinking about and what I think other people would be interested in learning. I have also been spending some time putting these ideas down in a very detailed and organized way in a book so that I can present it as good resource for everyone. I have also been asked to write about some topics that answer some of the questions of readers for other websites. When those are published I will let you know, but I want to make sure that I am addressing all of the issues that you, the readers, are concerned about. Leave comments and emails about what privacy concerns you have and I will do my best to respond to your concerns.
Rice Prices Poised to Skyrocket, Disasters Destroy Global Crops
I question the veracity of a lot of this article...
http://standeyo.com/NEWS/09_Food_Water/091116.rice.shortage.html
It doesn’t take a genius to see we are in a real tight situation. —Dwight Roberts, president of U.S. Rice Producers Association, Houston
related: Rice Market ‘on Thin Ice’ as Record Prices May Return
Philippines Urges Global Rice Stockpiling
Typhoon Lupit May Spark Global Rice Shortage
India – World’s 2nd-largest Grower – May Import Rice, Fueling 'Panic,'
HOLLY NOTE: Rice crops around the world have taken huge hits. Some have succumbed to floods, mold and disease as seen the image below. In a single storm Typhoon Parma, wiped out rice field in northern Philippines. Conversely, an El Niño-drive drought has shriveled India's rice production. In America, a little more than 9,000 farms grow rice, mostly in these 6 states: Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. Five of the 6 are federally declared disaster areas. South America's rice producing area is suffering the same punishing drought as India. Globally, rice crops are in deep trouble.
Like wheat and corn, rice is found in many foods in addition to being a staple of entrees and side dishes. Cereals, the largest group, account for 44% of all rice eaten in America. Think Rice Krispies, Rice Chex, Rice Puffs.
Other processed foods containing rice include candy bars, soups, desserts, crackers, pasta, cooking oil, pet foods and livestock feed. Surprisingly, beer production uses another 17% of all rice supplies. People with wheat allergies often turn to rice milk, rice flour, rice noodles and rice cakes. So you see, this grain is more than a food all by itself.
As a result of globally hit rice crops, expect price hikes for many grocery items in the coming months. Stock up on these foods and pack for long term storage so you'll have them when they're needed – and at the best price! Understand manufacturers' secret dating codes for freshness (yes, nearly everything has a use-by or best-by date – paint, gasoline, cleaning products, 1st aid supplies, medicines, pet food, MREs – even toothpaste and lipstick!)
Learn food shelf lives and how to extend them so you know when to rotate everything and maximize your $avings!
November 16, 2009
Bloomberg
Rice prices have nowhere to go but up as drought in India and cyclones in the Philippines cripple harvests, according to the world’s biggest importer and the top exporter.
Rice may double to more than $1,000 a metric ton as dry El Niño weather shrinks output and the Philippines and India boost imports, said Sarunyu Jeamsinkul, the deputy managing director at Asia Golden Rice Ltd. in Thailand, the largest exporting nation. Prices won’t peak until March, said Rex Estoperez, a spokesman for the National Food Authority of the Philippines, the biggest importer. The agency issued a record tender for 600,000 tons last week and today called for bids for the same volume on Dec. 8 to secure grain before prices rise.
Global rice supplies are likely to be tighter than last year, when food shortages sparked riots from Haiti to Egypt, said Jeremy Zwinger, president of The Rice Trader, a brokerage and consulting company in Chico, California. Escalating food prices threaten to spark unrest in developing nations while increasing costs for beer brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos., the biggest U.S. rice buyer, and cereal maker Kellogg Co.
“The demand-supply situation will be extremely tight, with India coming in the market,” said Mamadou Ciss, a rice broker since 1984 and now chief executive officer of Hermes Investments Pte Ltd. in Singapore. The Thai benchmark export price will likely rise at least 20% to $650 to $700 a ton in the next three to five months, he said. “The market can even touch $2,000 a ton in the middle of 2010,” Ciss said.
Chicago Rally
The Thai price may soar to last year’s record of $1,038 a ton, according to the highest estimate in a survey last week of 10 importers, exporters and analysts in Vietnam, Thailand, India, Singapore and Pakistan. The median estimate was $700 and the lowest $600, compared with $542 today.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, home to futures for long-grain rough rice, prices jumped about 35% from this year’s low of $11.195 on March 16. Futures reached a record $25.07 in April 2008 as concern about supply shortages prompted India and Vietnam to cut exports. The contract was at $15.035 as of 4:19 p.m. Singapore time.
Rice for January delivery rose 1.6% to $15.10 per 100 pounds in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade at 3:02 p.m. Singapore time.
Crops Destroyed
India, the second most-populous nation, may become a net importer for the first time in two decades. The nation’s weakest monsoon since 1972 will cut domestic output 15% to 84 million tons in the marketing year that began Oct. 1, according to the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization. Consumption will be 89 million tons, according to Concepcion Calpe, a senior economist at the FAO.
The Philippines is accelerating imports for 2010 supplies after two storms destroyed about 1.3 million tons of rice. State-run National Food Authority plans to buy at least 1.45 million tons by December, including the scheduled purchases of a total 1.2 million tons in two record tenders on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, Romeo Jimenez, director of the state food buyer, said today.
Rice’s looming rally contrasts with sagging prices for other agricultural commodities. Wheat futures are down 7.5% this year in Chicago after global output jumped to a record. As of Nov. 13, corn is little changed this year as farmers in the U.S., the world’s biggest producer, neared completion of their second-largest crop ever.
‘Rice Crisis’
“There is a strong possibility we’ll see a rice crisis next year as India faces drought, and Indonesia may feel the pinch of El Niño weather,” Asia Golden Rice’s Sarunyu said in an interview Nov. 9. Prices may top $1,000 a ton should the Thai government decide to maintain its stockpiles rather than export them, he said.
An El Niño weather pattern is brewing, with sea surface temperatures at least 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above average across much of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific in the four weeks ending Nov. 7, according to a Nov. 9 report by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center.
The FAO is holding a world summit on food security starting in Rome today. Food prices in 31 poor countries remain “stubbornly high,” the organization’s Director General Jacques Diouf said in Rome on Nov. 11, and more than 1 billion people suffer from hunger.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks cereals, sugar, meat, oils and dairy, gained for a third month to 158 in October. The index peaked at 213.5 in June 2008 before plunging to 139 in February amid the global economic crisis.
‘Ripe’ Fundamentals
Rice production has lagged behind demand in four of the past eight years and rising consumption is expected to erode global stockpiles by 41% to 85.9 million tons in the 2009-2010 marketing year, down from a record 146.7 million tons in 2001-2002, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“If we start having problems, weather problems, production problems, the price of rice is going to skyrocket over the next decade,” Jim Rogers, the chairman of Rogers Holdings, said in an interview Oct. 12. “When it happens I don’t know. But I know that the fundamentals are ripe.” Rogers, based in Singapore, predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999 and is the author of books including “Investment Biker.”
Millennium-Ark Flashback
Riots and food protests have already hit many nations: South Africa, Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza, Kenya, Nicaragua, Mexico, Bahrain, the Emirates, Italy, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt in addition to Haiti, Cameroon, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Bolivia, Peru, Thailand, Somali, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Uzbekistan, Yemen, India, and the Philippines. After the Mexican tortillas riots 6 months ago, corn tortillas are going up another 18%.
Farmers are struggling to squeeze more crops from each acre while demand increases with a growing world population. Limited growth in per-acre yields is “a major reason for the imbalance between long-term demand and supply,” according to the Laguna, Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute. Average annual yield growth slowed to 1.4% from 1990 to 2005, down from 2.14% during the previous two decades, it said.
Food Riots
In March 2008, global food prices soared 57% from the previous year, the UN reported. Around 40 people died in riots in Cameroon and at least seven were killed in Haiti as violence erupted over food shortages. The FAO reported food- related violence in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. In the U.S., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Sam’s Club limited bulk rice sales.
Global rice harvests will drop 2.3% to 448.6 million tons in the 2009-2010 year from 459.1 million a year earlier because of the crop losses in India and the Philippines and cyclones, landslides, flooding and earthquakes that reduced production in Japan, Nepal, Pakistan and Taiwan, the FAO said in a report Nov. 10.
‘Tight Situation’
Rice fields in the Western Hemisphere are also suffering.
The U.S. crop has been “severely damaged” in the main growing area of the upper Mississippi River Delta, while drought cut plantings in South America’s largest producing region, the Mercosur, according to Dwight Roberts, president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association in Houston.
“It doesn’t take a genius to see we are in a real tight situation,” Roberts said.
As production suffers, demand will increase 1.2% to 451.3 million tons from 446 million tons a year earlier, according to the FAO.
The potential for lost production to send prices to records will be limited by a record wheat harvest and ample rice stockpiles, Calpe said in an interview Nov. 9.
Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, Michigan, declined to comment on its rice use. Last year, after wheat and rice prices jumped to records, the maker of Froot Loops and Rice Krispies announced at least three price increases for U.S. breakfast cereals because of rising energy and ingredient costs.
“While commodity costs have fallen as we expected, we’re still seeing overall cost of goods inflation versus last year,” Chief Executive Officer A.D. David Mackay said Oct. 29 during a conference call with analysts.
‘Huge’ Stockpiles
Thai rice inventories of as much as 6 million tons, triple the 2 million tons of last year, are “a huge amount, if you take into account that total trade is 30 million tons,” Calpe said. “I’m pretty sure they will have to release them soon.”
In addition, world wheat stockpiles swelled by 36% to 165 million tons this year from 121 million tons last year, according to the USDA. Consumers can turn to bread and wheat when rice prices jump.
“Do not extend what we saw in 2008 to the situation we have today,” Calpe said. “This is not a reason for concern today. If in the 2010 season we again face problems, then we will start worrying.”
Sales to India and the Philippines will determine how high prices go, Samarendu Mohanty, senior economist at the International Rice Research Institute, said Oct. 28.
Record Imports
The Philippines held its first tender for supplies a month earlier than usual and may boost imports 30% to a record 2.6 million tons, the USDA forecasts.
India’s reserves, normally about 20% of the country’s consumption, are plunging as output falls faster than demand, said The Rice Trader’s Zwinger.
The Indian harvest will drop 16%, shrinking stockpiles to about 9.9 million tons by October 2010 from 17 million a year earlier, according to the USDA. The country may buy as much as 3 million tons abroad next year, becoming a net importer for the first time in 21 years, Mohanty said.
“If India imports 3 million tons, they’d become the world’s biggest importer,” said Mark Welch, an agriculture economist at Texas A&M University in College Station. “Three million tons disrupts natural trade because they normally don’t import any.”
Three state-owned traders issued tenders for 30,000 tons in October. The response to offers hasn’t been announced, with one potential buyer, MMTC Ltd., saying last week it wouldn’t buy rice at “high prices.”
“A country like India, or China for that matter, they can absolutely not rely on a very thin market” for imports, Calpe said. “They are market makers. If they come to the market to buy, they will see the prices skyrocket.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aFF.MZySbDC8
Survivalism In The Suburbs
http://www.runtogold.com/2009/05/survivalism-in-the-suburbs/?awt_l=N7e2h&awt_m=1lVGA55yGrfdxm
by Trace Mayer, J.D. on May 26, 2009
Reading time: 8 – 14 minutes
Despite humanity surviving and thriving for thousands of years using commodity currencies the fiat currency proponents have effectively marshaled the press and academia to equate those in favor of a commodity currency with those counting down to Armageddon. When looking back through the corridors of history one lesson is clear from humanity’s experience: at all times and in all circumstances gold and silver remained money. After fiat currency debacles that resulted in self-inflicted financial and economic wounds it was the individuals with the foresight to store tangible assets that were able to provide the capital for humanity to do what they have always done: rebuild.
Therefore, those in favor of a commodity currency who store tangible assets are the optimists. Commodity currency advocates are neither ‘doom and gloomers’ nor vampiric fatalistic fiat currency disciples who will be vaporized by a rising golden sun. Those in favor of a commodity currency who store tangible assets realize that the earth rotates, the sun rises and the ages turn. As the night shifts to day life will go on with breakfast being cooked and eaten. The issue is who will do the cooking and who will do the eating.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Like most people I enjoyed the long weekend. With a bunch of pizza we watched Lebron James sink an amazing three-point winning shot with 1.0 second left on the clock. The following night I devoured a delicious coconut-banana smoothie with some friends while listening to a giant singing frog. Afterward Aaron Krowne, the founder of ML-Implode.com, and I decided to recap our intense financial and economic discussion which is now available as episode #37 of the RunToGold podcast.
STRATEGIC RELOCATION
Shortly before Memorial Day I received an interesting, if not unanswerable, question from a reader: ”Would you recommend a place to live in the Montana to Colorado area that will have minimal economical damage?”
The principle of human action holds that every individual derives utility according to their own preferences resulting in a subjective perception for determining value and price. I hate cold weather. Being trained in the law I am often accused of being cold-blooded but the reality is that I am just a desert rat.
While preparation expert Joel Skousen, author of Strategic Relocation, may consider Montana or Nebraska attractive locals I have about the same desire to live in Montana or Nebraska as I have for eating sauteed rats in South Korea. Nevertheless, I know people who love living in Montana and others who find sauteed rat a delicacy. Everyone has their own individual preferences based on their human action.
PREPARATION
A motto I have tried to implement is: Be prepared. Often the first step is to assess the environment and circumstances. There is an infinity of scenarios that can play out. The key is being able to assess what is possible and its probability of occurring.
Sure, a metorite could come hurling out of left field and destroy your car, or the earth for that matter, but the probability is extremely low. Even if I did purchase meteorite insurance I would still bear the counter-party risk. Therefore, I have chosen to forgo meteorite insurance. Nevertheless, I would not be surprised if a few of my extremely conservative readers did purchase meteorite insurance and maybe even additional reinsurance. Everyone has their subjective preferences.
MENTAL CALCULATIONS OF VALUE
The use of fiat currency has greatly retarded the ability of the general populace to performance mental calculations of value. These fiat currency illusions are like using the term ‘foot’ or ‘feet’ to perform mental calculations of distance when constructing a building but having either no definition of inches or conflicting definitions of inches.
Let us assume plans were drawn up for a building with a 7 foot door within a 10 foot wall. However, the definition of feet when used for the door was 24 inches per foot and when used for the wall it was 6 inches per foot. Can you imagine the resulting chaotic structure?
But that is precisely the problem most individuals and financial professionals have found themselves in. As a result most people can neither accurately appraise the economic environment nor make accurate assessments of the possible events and their probability of occurrence.
SUBURBAN SURVIVALISTS
Yahoo Finance! reported that a new trend is coming out of chaotic California: ’Crisis spurs spike in ’suburban survivalists’. ”Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn’t even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.”
I find Mr. Wiseman’s tale of ’spending roughly $20,000 since September on survival gear’ rather ironic on multiple levels. First is his name. Second is that he is a ‘fire protection contractor’ so it appears that he is in the risk management business. Third is how he has approached the performance of these mental calculations of value.
Surprisingly Professor Markman does hit on a key issue when he says, “We have no real causal understanding of the way our world works at all”.
COMPLEX SYSTEMS
A few years ago I was touring a Wal-Mart store with its general manager. He showed me all around, how the trucks were packed and explained the Just-In-Time computer system that automatically managed the inventory to make sure that just the right amount of goods arrived at the stores at just the right time. After all, this helped reduce inventory which freed up cash and made the company more profitable.
Also a few years ago at a lunch I had a discussion with Kevin Rollins, former President and CEO of Dell Computers, about inventory management. His statement still sticks in my mind about measuring inventory turnover not in days but hours.
Tremendous innovations in supply chain management have taken place over the last decade. Companies and their inventory are leaner than ever which conserves their cash and supposedly increases profitability. But sometimes a black swan flies in, disrupts the system and chaos in sues. Other times it is a gaggle of black swans.
SIMPLE PREPARATION
If Mr. Wiseman really needs his various preparations then what would the probability be that the area he is in is experiencing massive civil unrest, supply chain disruptions, gang warfare and a host of other undesirable effects?
Often when thinking of disaster preparation people get a little extreme, do not accurately assess the probability of events, focus on fairly immaterial questions like how to buy gold or silver and neglect the more important issues.
When considering physical preparation I think the best insurance is a three month supply of food and a 72 hour kit.
The kit should be extremely portable such as a backpack which may be quickly taken in the automobile should there be a need to evacuate. The food storage is a great hedge against inflation, insurance that you can eat which is not subject to counter-party risk, protection against potential supply chain disruptions such as the recent swine flu advertising campaign, and relatively cheap. Food storage is a form of savings and procuring a three month supply of food may cost only a few hundred FRN$s.
Many of the economic establishment has an insane belief that savings can be too high and often berate China for their high savings rate. The savings rate can never be too high.
For example, an individual can never have too much food. But many negative effects, such as death, result from having too little food. Therefore I would rather bear the risks from having too much food such as spoilage, etc. than any of the effects from having too little food. After all, the body measures food and water inventory in hours not days. To reduce the cost of having excess food therefore I follow the principle of storing what I eat and eating what I store.
Many, such as billionaires Eric Sprott and Richard Rainwater, find the Peak Oil theory persuasive and foresee a long emergency. Sure, there are additional preparations you can make such as opening a free GoldMoney account where you can begin using gold or silver in ordinary daily transactions, procuring a shotgun or Glock 9mm, storing a year or two of food, spending hundreds of thousands or millions of FRN$s on a ranch in a remote location, etc. For those interested, I address the principles for a comprehensive strategy in chapter 6 of The Great Credit Contraction for dealing with the current environment to protect, preserve and grow one’s wealth.
CONCLUSION
Using gold to perform mental calculations of value is extremely important in determining how to profitably allocate capital. The current worldwide monetary system is based on a rapidly evaporating illusion. The FRN$ system is facing intense pressure which is resulting in many undesirable consequences. Being able to assess possible events and discern their probability is becoming increasingly important.
Our current society functions because of complex systems and they can easily be disrupted. Preparation to hedge against these uncertainties can cost anywhere from a few hundred FRN$s or become a black hole for capital and time. Having a three month supply of food and a a 72 hour kit will provide protection against the vast majority of probable scenarios. The Great Credit Contraction has only begun and the landscape is changing at a rapid pace.
Are you prepared? You may even consider taking a survivalism course. To benefit other readers please leave you questions or suggestions in the comments.
Live Sovereign: How to Stockpile Food to
Prepare for the Unthinkable
http://www.sovereignsociety.com/2009ArchivesSecondHalf/082709LiveSovereignHowtoStockpileFoodto/tabid/5937/Default.aspx
Stroll down any aisle at your local grocery store on an average day and you’ll likely see thousands of items of all kinds made by any number of producers. Many times there are six or eight brands of the same item. And they come in all sizes.
But even though store shelves are currently full, there may soon come a time when that is not the case…
As the U.S. Federal deficit grows beyond the current historic levels there will come a time when a correction comes. A devaluing of the dollar has already begun. It will be followed by inflation that could become so severe that food and other necessities become unaffordable or unattainable.
It is happening right now in Latvia, where the government’s current budget deficit is estimated to be about 12 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), according to the International Heritage Tribune.
So as the Latvian government cuts wages and spending in order to bring down its deficit and qualify for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, “Austerity is rippling down the social hierarchy, as the affluent cancel vacations, middle-class people fret about social descent, and Dickensian scenes of destitution multiply,” the Tribune says.
Many of the people there can simply no longer afford to feed themselves.
Currently, the U.S. is running a budget deficit of about 13 percent of GDP and spending almost $2 for every $1 it takes in. It doesn’t take a Pythagoras to understand that math like that doesn’t add up.
So if you want to prepare yourself for Latvian-type circumstances and ensure your family has food to weather such a storm, you need to begin stockpiling food and water now. And even if you don’t believe things in the U.S. can get that bad, it’s a good idea to have some food and water stored in the event of a natural disaster that affects the food and water supply for a short time.
You should always keep on hand at least a three-day supply of food.
It’s easy to stockpile a few cans of meats, soups and vegetables, as well as some rice and grains, to get you through a short-term emergency. You can do this by buying a few extra things each time you go to the grocery store. Remember, canned foods have a shelf-life of about two years, so rotate your stock.
For longer-term situations, planning in advance can save you from tremendous hardship when catastrophe strikes. To prepare, you should have a good stockpile of both canned and freeze-dried foods. All canned soups, fruits, vegetables and meats should be kept in a dry, cool space.
Be smart with your planning and purchasing and you can accumulate food that will sustain you for a long time at very little cost. But, don’t gather things your family will not eat. Oatmeal, Ramen noodles and Bisquick are great things to have on hand in an emergency, and they aren’t expensive. Plus, don’t forget to add commonly used spices, which help to make any food more palatable.
Freeze-dried foods and military style Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) are convenient types of foods to have on hand for emergencies. They are available from outdoor supply stores, survivalist stores and via the Internet. There are various types of MREs that can be purchased in kits with quantities to feed families for up to a year.
Warehouse stores like Costco sell freeze-dried emergency food kits in plastic buckets with as many as 275 servings for about $85. That would be enough to feed a family of four for three weeks.
When buying these pre-packaged meal kits, be sure you compare the packages for list of meals and ingredients included before making your purchase. Some tend to scrimp on their offerings and provide just enough to survive but not enough for a hearty, filling meal.
How much food should I save?
You can never have too much food set aside for a crisis because you can’t know ahead of time what the crisis will be or how long it will last. Will a three-day supply be enough? One week? A month? Three? A year?
You hope it doesn’t have to last long, but you never know. So it’s best to start small and work from there. And start with a definite plan.
There are several things to consider. How many are in your family? How many additional people would you bring under your roof? What is the nature of the crisis – natural disaster, terrorist attack, economic collapse or fuel shortage?
Get started by securing a three-day supply. If you are feeding a family of four for three days you will need to plan on three breakfast meals, three lunches and three dinners.
The main point is to prepare. That way, if the U.S. should turn into a Latvia – or a 19th century London – you won’t find yourself on a diet of meager meals, scraping to get by.
Yours in Liberty,
Bob Livingston
Crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists'
Recession prompts fear of economic collapse, spurs breed of 'suburban survivalists'
Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer
On Monday May 25, 2009, 12:03 pm EDT
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Crisis-spurs-spike-in-apf-15339847.html?sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet.
Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.
Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as an increasing number of Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hardcore survivalists.
These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.
From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and widespread power failures that could make taps run dry.
For Wiseman, a fire protection contractor, that's meant spending roughly $20,000 since September on survival gear -- and trying to persuade others to do the same.
"The UPS guy drops things off and he sees my 4-by-8-by-6-foot pile of food and I say 'What are you doing to prepare, buddy?'" he said. "Because there won't be a thing left on any shelf of any supermarket in the country if people's confidence wavers."
The surge in interest in emergency stockpiling has been a bonanza for camping supply companies and military surplus vendors, some of whom report sales spikes of up to 50 percent. These companies usually cater to people preparing for earthquakes or hurricanes, but informal customer surveys now indicate the bump is from first-time shoppers who cite financial, not natural, disaster as their primary concern, they say.
Top sellers include 55-gallon water jugs, waterproof containers, freeze-dried foods, water filters, water purification tablets, glow sticks, lamp oil, thermal blankets, dust masks, first-aid kits and inexpensive tents.
Joe Branin, owner of the online emergency supply store Living Fresh, said he's seen a 700 percent increase in orders for water purification tablets in the past month and a similar increase in orders for sterile water pouches.
He is shipping meals ready to eat and food bars by the case to residential addresses nationwide.
"You're hearing from the people you will always hear from, who will build their own bunkers and stuff," he said. "But then you're hearing from people who usually wouldn't think about this, but now it's in their heads: 'What if something comes to the worst?'"
Online interest in survivalism has increased too. The niche Web site SurvivalBlog.com has seen its page views triple in the past 14 months to nearly 137,000 unique visitors a week. Jim Rawles, a self-described survivalist who runs the site, calls the newcomers "11th hour believers." He charges $100 an hour for phone consulting on emergency preparedness and says that business also has tripled.
"There's so many people who are concerned about the economy that there's a huge interest in preparedness, and it pretty much crosses all lines, social, economic, political and religious," he said. "There's a steep learning curve going on right now."
Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist, said he's not surprised by the reaction to the nation's financial woes -- even though it may seem irrational. In an increasingly global and automated society, most people are dependent on strangers and systems they don't understand -- and the human brain isn't programmed to work that way.
"We have no real causal understanding of the way our world works at all," said Markman, a professor at the University of Texas, Austin. "When times are good, you trust that things are working, but when times are bad you realize you don't have a clue what you would do if the supermarket didn't have goods on the shelves and that if the banks disappear, you have no idea where your money is."
Those preparing for the worst echo those thoughts and say learning to be self sufficient makes them feel more in control amid mounting uncertainty -- even if it seems crazy to their friends and families.
Chris Macera, a 29-year-old IT systems administrator, said he started buying extra food to take advantage of sales after he lost his job and he was rehired elsewhere for $30,000 less.
But Macera, who works in suburban Orange County, said that over several months his mentality began to shift from saving money to preparing for possible financial mayhem. He is motivated, too, by memories of the government paralysis that followed Hurricane Katrina.
He now buys 15 pounds of meat at a time and freezes it, and buys wheat in 50-pound bags, mills it into flour and uses it to bake bread. He checks survivalist Web sites for advice at least once a day and listens to survival podcasts.
"You kind of have to sift through the people with their hats on a little bit too tight," said Macera, who said his colleagues tease him about the grain mill. "But I see a lot of things (on the Web) and they're real common sense-type things."
"I don't want to be a slave to anybody," he said. "The more systems you're dependent on, the more likely things are going to go bad for you."
That's a philosophy shared by Vincent Springer, a newcomer to emergency preparedness from the Chicago area.
Springer, a high school social studies teacher, says he's most worried about energy shortages and an economic breakdown that could paralyze the just-in-time supply chain that grocery stores rely on.
In the past few months, Springer has stockpiled enough freeze-dried food for three months and bought 72-hour emergency supply kits for himself, his wife and two young children. The 39-year-old is also teaching himself to can food.
"I'm not looking for a retreat in northern Idaho or any of that stuff, but I think there's more people like me out there and I think those numbers are growing," he said.
What’s In Your Earthquake Kit?
By Julia Frey
May 24th, 2009 @ 4:15 PM Community, Earthquakes, SoCal
earhquakesuppliesIn 1994 I was single and living in a studio apartment in Santa Monica when the Northridge Earthquake hit. Santa Monica got hit pretty hard considering its distance from Northridge, many houses came off their foundations and one apartment building two blocks from me had a gas leak and explosion minutes after the earthquake struck. (Thankfully due to the MLK holiday, none of the tenants were home at the time.)
And how well prepared was I for the earthquake? I had one small maglight flashlight IN MY CAR. That’s it. So in the pitch dark — and you know what I mean by how dark it was at 4:30 in the morning with a lot of power out throughout the city — I found shoes and went to my car to get the flashlight. After that day I was only slightly better prepared: I kept water in my car and bought many more flashlights to keep around the apartments I lived in.
Since we got married 8 years ago, my husband and I have been keeping a fairly decent earthquake kit in our easy to get to storage area and after all the recent shaking we pulled it all out and refreshed it. The photo above is of the supply box and the small blue bin behind it has our foodstuffs. We wrote down a few more things we needed and I have been perusing Sean and Jason’s Urban Journal website for additional ideas.
I would love for you all to share things you have your kits, items you have in your cars, what you keep by your bedside. I would love recommendations on hand crank/solar flashlights and radios. Tell me what oddball things you keep in those boxes, just in case.
Click through the jump to see photos from Santa Monica damage in 94 as well as a sample of our foodstuffs and a more complete list of things in our supply box.
So you might think to yourself, “Well, how bad could it get, really? I mean, even if stuff is just all over the floor, I could still get in the house and find food.” This is how bad it very easily could get.
apartmentfire
Granted, if your kit was in there, that’s not good, which is why you keep a small one in the car and make sure you have backup plans with friends or family.
Also, your house may not have burned, but the foundation could look like this:
foundation
It may be hard to see (hey, my hands were still shaking!), but the house has moved about three feet off the foundation. Those are the walls buckling forward. With the very major aftershocks that happen after a significant earthquake, you would not be going back in there. (I hope.)
And this is just earthquakes I’m talking about here. If there is some other kind of major natural or man-made disaster, you have to know that the emergency responders probably won’t get to you and your neighborhood for days. DAYS.
Okay, enough with the stern lecturing because I’m not in any way a Nervous Nelly. The real reason I love to put an earthquake kit together? IT’S FUN! And it doesn’t have to be that expensive at all. I mean look at a sampling of our food choices here:
earthquakefood
These are cheap and filling items you find in the grocery store, just about all of these items are less than a dollar a can. Some are much less than that. And it’s hilarious in the comfort and safety of today (sans emergency) to decide what meals you might enjoy eating while looking at the stars, listening to the emergency broadcasts on your hand crank AM/FM radio. “Honey, do you want spagetti-os or chili tonight?”
So get yourselves a sturdy storage box, find a spot that is easy to get to, but out of the way (I suggest NOT in the attic!) and start getting it filled. Then put a big marker on the calendar for a year from when you put the kit together to go through and replace items that have expired. I hope you never have to use it. Ever.
A sampling of things in our supply box (there’s more, but this is what I remember off the top of my head):
flashlights/radio/batteries
hammer/hatchet
nylon and cotton rope
cotton towels
latex gloves (these will need replacing after a year)
first aid kit
toothbrush/toothpaste/lotion/chapstick/sunblock
baseball caps/work gloves
nylon tarp
plastic army men/playing cards
pens/pencils
cat food/cat litter/small litter pan
camping dishes/utensils/can opener/corkscrew(!!)
Ladies: sanitary pads! And if it’s not that time of the month, they do double as large wound dressing, if the need arises. And ideal for the job as they were designed to absorb blood after all.
Random selection of items in the food bin:
Dehydrated meals (requires hot or boiling water)
Canned meals (chef boyardee and chili and beans)
Canned veggies and fruit
Instant coffee (dude)
Salt/Pepper/Sugar
We are considering a camp stove, but we have a gas grill and have an extra bottle of propane always on standby. Thoughts?
Related posts:
1. Can’t Believe I Didn’t Feel that Earthquake Next Door
2. Marina Power Outage = Earthquake Dry Run
3. Senator Boxer on Earthquake Preparedness
4. Earthquake Insurance?
5. 7.8 Earthquake to strike Los Angeles in T minus 6 days…
1.
elise on May 24th, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Extra shoes. My husband will laugh that even for A earthquake kit I pack shoes. But in a bad earthquake you do not want to get caught barefoot.
.
http://la.metblogs.com/2009/05/24/whats-in-your-earthquake-kit/
We Are the 'Enemy of the State'
by Michael Gaddy
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy58.html
From its very infancy, our government has made a vital part of its existence the theft of property that belongs to others and the demonization of those who would resist, or those who see the state for what it really is. From the American Indian to the veterans who have fought the state’s illegal wars, resistance to, or speaking out against the criminality of the state will bring down the full force of the state’s wrath, up to and including elimination.
Henry Clay, whose protégé was Abraham Lincoln, said of the American Indian, " The Indians' disappearance from the human family will be no great loss to the world. I do not think them, as a race, worth preserving." Clay saw the Indian as an impediment to the desires of the state: acquisition of the lands possessed by the American Indian.
Clay’s beliefs and political goals led to the forced relocation of Cherokees from the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia to Oklahoma during the winter of 1838. Over 20,000 Cherokees were dragged from their homes, which were then plundered and burned. They were force marched, most of them barefooted, to Oklahoma during the dead of winter. Over 4,000 Cherokees died on this march. To the Cherokees it became known as the "Trail of Tears."
Abraham Lincoln would instigate, promote, and conduct a war that would consume the lives of more than 600,000 Americans. The purpose of the war was not to abolish slavery, as is claimed by idolaters of the state, but to secure the property of citizens of the South, a confiscatory seizure of their monies known as the Morrill Tariff. Lincoln would reveal his intention to invade the South to secure these monies and his lack of concern for slavery in his First Inaugural Address.
To accomplish this seizure of assets, the citizens of the South would have to be demonized; war criminal General William Tecumseh Sherman and his wife proved most adept at this: "Extermination, not of soldiers alone, that is the least part of the trouble, but the [Southern] people." His wife Ellen wrote back that her fondest wish was for a war "of extermination and that all [Southerners] would be driven like the Swine into the sea."
Professor Tom DiLorenzo superbly documents the Sherman family’s demonization of both Southerners and Indians here.
Another Lincoln war criminal, General John Pope, said of the Santee Sioux immediately before his campaign against them, "It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux. They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromise can be made." Ironically, Lincoln ordered Pope to subdue the Santee Sioux when they revolted in 1862. The revolt occurred when the government refused to pay the Sioux monies promised for the sale of millions of acres of their land.
General Pope once proclaimed that his "headquarters would always be in the saddle," to which Stonewall Jackson, responded, "His headquarters are where his hindquarters ought to be." This could certainly be said of the leadership of all government projects.
After the Sioux were subdued, trials of 303 captured males were immediately held. The trials of each lasted approximately 10 minutes and all were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.
In December of 1862, 38 Santee Sioux were hanged on the orders of President Abraham Lincoln, elsewhere known as the "Great Emancipator." This was the largest mass hanging in American History. The remaining Sioux were expelled from Minnesota. The Santee Sioux learned a brutal lesson about standing in the way of the state in its conquests of property that belongs to others, and believing the state to be honorable in its promises.
Repeatedly, throughout our history, the state has demonized, most often using its lapdogs in the media, those it intended to war against. From Red Savages; to Rebels; to Krauts; to Japs; to Slopes; to Dinks; to Towel Heads, a concentrated effort was introduced to dehumanize the state’s real or concocted opponents.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), The Missouri Militia Report and Virginia’s Homegrown Terrorism Report have unleashed an attack designed to demonize and dehumanize opponents of tyranny. The unclassified lists of those viewed as potential threats and terrorists includes opponents of abortion, groups opposed to illegal immigration, third-party political supporters, supporters of the Second Amendment, those stockpiling food, water, and ammunition, constitutionalists, veterans, critics of the United Nations and One World Government, and anyone fitting the "Right-Wing Extremist" profile.
Conspicuous in its absence in DHS’s report is any mention of Maoists, Marxists, Leninists, Stalinists, Trotskyites, or National Socialists as a terror threat. In short, our government exhibits no fear of socialism/fascism. It only fears those who would hold it accountable to the Constitution and rule of law.
What we know from the Department of Homeland Security and its Fusion Centers, now located in at least 25 states, concerning whom the state views as its enemies, is alarming indeed. What should be of even greater concern is what we don’t know that is contained in the classified section of their reports to LE agencies around the country. Information is classified to keep information from the enemy; why is the American public not allowed to see who else this government considers to be its enemy and how it intends to deal with the problem?
It is time to pay attention. We have been named as the state’s enemy. There undoubtedly is a plan in the works to deal with us. Are members of the mentioned groups already targeted for action? I have recently received information from California that some cities there have declared any member of a motorcycle club to be a gang member. What is the origin of this determination? I can assure you one of the strategies that will be employed by the state is "divide and conquer." It is absolutely imperative we unite on this issue. Note the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller are relevant today:
In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me –
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Kit, a dear friend and true Patriot, said to me recently, "We are going to be forced to bunch up if we are to survive." This is sage advice.
The economic wheels are about to run off the wagon called the state. Civil unrest and chaos will ensue. Patriots and Constitutionalists have been deemed the enemy. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.
May 19, 2009
Michael Gaddy [send him mail], an Army veteran of Vietnam, Grenada, and Beirut, lives in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest.
Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
One guy thinking: crash list:
http://www.woodgas-stove.com/
55 bucks or more or not even five bucks...you choose...they have the solar battery charger though...
And let us not forget:
SUN ALREADY ON FIRE.
http://solarcooking.org/plans/
Wood gas stove:
Jesus of Suburbia
Chock full of good info:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/JESUS-OF-SUBURBIA-by-Jim-Quinn-090513-119.html
PUA:
One year from now lull in the storm will be over...
Peak-Oil Prophet James Howard Kunstler on Food, Fuel and Why He Became an Almost Vegan
By Kerry Trueman, AlterNet
Posted on May 7, 2009, Printed on May 7, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/139877/
I grew up in Woodland Hills, Calif., a nominally pastoral, petrocentric Los Angeles suburb, so peak oil prognosticator James Howard Kunstler's dim view of our car-crazed culture really resonates with me.
Kunstler's relentless skewering of suburbia, and his penchant for apocalyptic predictions have landed him a reputation as a cranky Cassandra. But as Ben McGrath observed while strolling around Saratoga Springs with Kunstler for a recent New Yorker piece, "Far from the image of the stereotypical Chicken Little, he was more like an amiable town crier whom the citizenry regarded fondly, if a bit skeptically."
So, when a friend and I found ourselves headed to Kunstler's neck of the woods for a conference recently, we arranged to have dinner with Saratoga Springs' resident soothsayer. Contrary to his contrarian reputation, Kunstler proved to be an affable, upbeat guy.
We chatted about food, politics, urban planning, gardening and a dozen other topics, but I'm not much of a note-taker; I'd rather eat than tweet. So our dinner conversation was off the record, including, mercifully, his ribald remarks about Alice Waters and Martha Stewart, which decency should preclude me from even alluding to.
However, he graciously agreed to answer my questions via e-mail about his conversion from carnivore to (mostly) vegan and other foodish and fuelish topics.
Kerry Trueman: Let's get right to the meat of the matter -- or, rather, the lack thereof. You used to enjoy eating "lots of meat, duck fat, butter by the firkin." What made you decide to go more or less vegan in recent months? Was it hard to make the transition to a plant-based diet?
James Howard Kunstler: It was as simple as a trip to the doctor's office. My cholesterol and blood pressure were too high. I had to take some radical action. I've enjoyed the challenge of cooking with a very different range of ingredients. But I like cooking and am pretty good at it -- I worked in many restaurant kitchens when I was a starving bohemian -- and I figured a lot of things out.
For instance, that you can make stocks and sauces by braising onions and aromatics without oil or butter. The only thing I really miss is making really bravura dishes for company, like chicken pie with a butter-saturated crust, duck-and-sausage gumbo, brownies ... you get the picture. ... I'm still excited by the challenge of vegan (or nearly vegan -- I use skim milk) cookery.
There are some excellent cookbooks out there, by the way, like Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, The Accidental Vegan by Devra Gartenstein, and the Candle Cafe Cookbook by Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza.
KT: A study has just come out showing that although the French spend two hours eating each day -- roughly twice as long as we do -- they're among the slimmest of the 18 nations in the study. Americans were the fattest, with more than 1 in 3 Americans qualifying as obese. How would you explain this phenomenon? What compels Americans to eat so many of our meals in our cars?
JHK: Americans eat so many meals in cars because: 1) The infrastructure of daily life is engineered for extreme car dependency, and 2) because the paucity of decent quality public space and so-called third places (gathering places) for the working classes (and lower) -- and remember, it is the working classes and poor who are way disproportionately obese. The people portrayed in Vanity Fair magazine are not fat. I suspect that the amount of time Americans spend in their cars is roughly proportionate to the amount of time French people spend at the table.
Fast food is not a new phenomenon in the USA, however. Frances Trollope's sensational travel book of the 1830s, The Domestic Manners of the Americans dwells on the horrifying spectacle of our hotel dining rooms, where people bolted their food with disgusting manners. Americans have been in a tearing rush for 200 years.
KT: In The Long Emergency, published in 2005, you predicted with astounding accuracy how the subprime mortgage meltdown would unfold. Your latest novel, World Made By Hand, takes place in the near future after a massive flu outbreak that originated in Mexico. Um, what should we start worrying about next?
JHK: Worry about the "recovery" that never comes and the insidious collapse of our institutions and arrangements that will proceed from this. Worry about lost incomes and vocations that will never come back (e.g. marketing exec for Target, Inc.) and the need to find new ways to be useful to your fellow human beings (and incidentally perhaps earn a living). Worry about finding a community to live in that is cohesive enough to stave off anarchy at the local level. Worry about building the best garden you can and making good compost. Worry about how difficult it is to learn how to play a musical instrument at age 47.
KT: You recently wrote "there's no way we can continue the petro-agriculture system of farming and the Cheez Doodle and Pepsi Cola diet that it services. The public is absolutely zombified in the face of this problem -- perhaps a result of the diet itself." OK, so how will we stock our post-peak-oil pantries? Do we really need to start hoarding rice and beans?
JHK: Get some kind of a hand-cranked home grain mill. Personally, I think it is indeed a good idea to lay in a supply of beans, lentils, rice, oats, other grains and don't forget salt, boullion (soups can sustain us with any number of ingredients), dried onion flakes, spices (chilies and curries especially). Our just-in-time, three-day's-worth-of-inventory supermarket system is very susceptible to disruption. And we're very far from establishing workable local food networks in this country.
The fragility of petro-ag is being aggravated by the collapse of bank lending now. Farmers need borrowed money desperately. Capital is as important an "input" as methane-based fertilizers. I think we could see problems with food production and distribution anytime from here on.
KT: You're an avid gardener -- do you grow much of your own food? Do you worry that you'll have to guard your greens with a gun if our collapsing economy sends the mall rats outdoors to forage after the food courts run out of pretzel nuggets?
JHK: I don't grow any grains. I have successfully grown potatoes, but won't this year (I'm renting my current house and its accompanying property). This year, I'll be planting mostly leafy greens -- collards, kale, chard, lettuces, plus some peppers and tomatoes (pure frivolity). It is not hard to imagine that food theft will become a problem. The trouble, though, is that the sort of people liable to do the thieving are exactly those with the poorest skills in cooking. You have to know what to do with kale to make it worth stealing. It may be more like kitchen theft: "... what's that you got on the stove, pal?"
KT: You evidently enjoy cooking and entertaining. Who would your dream dinner guests be (limiting your guest list to those folks who are currently among the living)?
JHK: I have a pretty good revolving cast of characters among my friends locally who make regular visits to my table. This week, a farming couple who are renting 20 acres off a wealthy land-truster (and doing a great job of market gardening) are coming over, along with the Rolling Stone environmental reporter and his wife, who is writing a gardening book. I don't need no steenkin' outatown celebrities.
© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/139877/
Good articles: http://www.efoodsdirect.com/
Good prices on tasty food:
http://www.efoodsdirect.com/products.html
When camping in the crater or elsewhere "Mountain House" won the taste tests hands down. Just add hot water...
Note they also have seeds...
Did a little DD these guys seem to have good prices...if you find better please post...
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A Collection of articles and posts that prepare the gentle reader for the disruption that comes.
Pure Ugly Ahead. May as well make the best of it.
"When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic." ~ Dresden James
"Men think in herds, go mad in herds, but recover their senses one by one." ~ Charles Mackay
There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. ~ Henry David Thoreau
OF COURSE:
http://www.loompanics.com/
http://www.canningpantry.com/
This is must a read site, has a bit of everything:
http://www.endtimesreport.com/
You can spend days reading it. The other thing you can do to prepare is "spend a week with the Amish"....
100 Items to Disappear First
1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice - Beans - Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking.
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal)
29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many).
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk - Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST)
34. Coleman's Pump Repair Kit
35. Tuna Fish (in oil)
36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room)
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries (all sizes...buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates)
39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast & salt
42. Matches. {"Strike Anywhere" preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go first
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in Wintertime.)
45. Workboots, belts, Levis & durable shirts
46. Flashlights/LIGHTSTICKS & torches, "No. 76 Dietz" Lanterns
47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings, experience; Historic Times)
48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels)
49. Men's Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient)
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct Tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags
58. Garden tools & supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles...Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
67. Board Games, Cards, Dice
68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks)
71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soysauce, vinegar, bullions/gravy/soupbase
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. "Survival-in-a-Can"
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky
83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts
84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress's
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern Hangers
90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts
91. Teas
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens
From a Sarajevo War Survivor:
Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war - death of parents and
friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks.
1. Stockpiling helps. but you never no how long trouble will last, so locate
near renewable food sources.
2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden.
3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war
quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's.
4. If you had to go without one utility, lose electricity - it's the easiest to
do without (unless you're in a very nice climate with no need for heat.)
5. Canned foods are awesome, especially if their contents are tasty without
heating. One of the best things to stockpile is canned gravy - it makes a lot of
the dry unappetizing things you find to eat in war somewhat edible. Only needs
enough heat to "warm", not to cook. It's cheap too, especially if you buy it in
bulk.
6. Bring some books - escapist ones like romance or mysteries become more
valuable as the war continues. Sure, it's great to have a lot of survival
guides, but you'll figure most of that out on your own anyway - trust me, you'll
have a lot of time on your hands.
7. The feeling that you're human can fade pretty fast. I can't tell you how many
people I knew who would have traded a much needed meal for just a little bit of
toothpaste, rouge, soap or cologne. Not much point in fighting if you have to
lose your humanity. These things are morale-builders like nothing else.
8. Slow burning candles and matches, matches, matches
http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm
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