"Preppers"? Isn't that the same as survivalists? Those guys are nuts! (The truth about emergency preparedness)

In "my day" (meaning, before I turned into an old fogey), we called them survivalists. Nowadays, the more common term is, "prepper".

 The thing they have in common though, is that, for many people, the words bring to mind a rather specific sort of image - paranoid, grizzly, scary looking mountain men packing lots of automatic weapons and hiding out in underground bunkers or high security compounds, cults, crazy cult leaders and mass suicides/homicides, meekly cowering multiple wives, children, and child brides, all waiting expectantly for  society to collapse.

Recently, there has been a renewed interest in what is now known as "prepping", and I think this is mostly a good thing (with a few caveats).

More and more websites are popping up, catering more to the everyday citizen interested in being prepared for ... well, whatever. Again, a VERY good thing, IMO.

I never thought of myself as a survivalist, and I don't think of myself as a prepper now. I was just raised to always be prepared for anything. I've had a go bag and emergency supplies as long as I can remember. My parents taught me how to survive in the wilderness as well as at home without power, plumbing, transportation, etc. I learned a huge amount of what I know as a child, in Girl Scouts, Young Marines, and military school. I've been going out into the woods with only what I could carry on my person for a couple weeks at a time since I was 12. It was just normal.

I always thought the "survivalists" were just as crazy as most other people did, and was VERY clear all my life that I was NOT one of "those crazies", despite the fact that I had a lot in common with "them".  The fact of the matter is, I was then, and still am a "survivalist/prepper/whatever we're calling it this decade", and so are LOTS of perfectly sane, level headed, everyday people!

It's all about mindset...

There are all sorts of things that can and do go awry in day to day life. Those things run the gamut from mildly inconveniencing to big time catastrophic, but even just a few actions, taken now, can turn many catastrophes into inconveniences, or at the very least, survivable situations.  You don't have to buy property in the boonies or stock up on all the latest survival gear to be prepared for life's curve balls. Now, I will admit that once you start, it's very common to get more serious about it, and you'll likely find yourself taking more steps to ensure your and your family's survival, and even comfort during a crisis of any sort, but even small steps will give you an edge and make your life easier when things go wrong! 

You're probably already doing several things all the time for emergency preparedness that you haven't even thought about whilst reading this post.

Do you wear a seatbelt? Do you wear or have a PFD on hand when boating? Do you have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in your home? Do you carry a jacket, sweater, or umbrella when the forecast calls for the possibility of rain or cold? Do you have jumper cables in your car?

All of these things are "just in case" measures. We aren't expecting a car crash or fire every second of the day, but we prepare for them anyway. "Prepping" is no different! 

If you read this entire post, rather than simply blowing it off as more paranoid rantings, you're already ahead of more than half of the population. Now, why not do some searches on emergency preparedness and see what you find? Focus on the realistic stuff. Don't worry about the stuff that doesn't apply, because, well, it doesn't apply!

Updating preparedness for life's changes and using your brain

As I've mentioned in a few posts recently, I've been completely overhauling my go bag - updating it to account for the fact that, in addition to becoming disabled, I am also ageing, have changed size, and, whilst I've been mired in some of my Luddite-like ways, technology has been moving right along, and actually coming up with some pretty awesome innovations!

I had already given up my little bottle of iodine (which was in my kit since the early 80s) in favour of a Lifestraw, and changed out the old white gas pack stove for something even more lightweight and not dependent on special fuel some years ago, as well as a few other changes over the years, but the last couple months, I've really been re-evaluating my entire setup and making some more drastic changes to get with the times.

The fact is, I can no longer do a marathon type trek, hunt, or anything else which requires the sort of stamina that I had when I was younger and hadn't broken my back. I've been in denial, and hanging on to old ideas because I didn't want to admit to myself that there are a lot of things that I just can't do anymore. And that sort of bullshit can get me, as well as anyone who depends on me, killed! 

 Yes, if I absolutely HAVE to, I can still do a lot of the things I could before, but the price is extremely high, and not worth the payoff, when, just by changing some of my pack contents, I can have a shelter up and fire started much more quickly and with WAY less energy expended - energy that I can use for other things, rather than being useless for the next several hours because I used up all my spoons trying to be Rambo, rather than being smart!

So, think about it, especially if you've been doing this preparedness thing for a while...
When's the last time you took a good, hard look at your supplies, without letting your ego or what you wish were still true get in the way of things?

Yes, there may be abundant flint rock in your locale, and you can totally find enough supplies in the wild to build a shelter, fire bow & drill, boil water in a leaf, carve your own spoon, make your own tools, etc, and you can hunt, trap, fish, forage, etc to get some food in your belly, but is that really the best use of your energy when you're stranded in the middle of nowhere? 
Even if you ARE still physically able to do all that stuff, why waste precious time and energy doing it in an emergency situation if you don't have to?
The answer is that there is no good reason for that. Yes, it is a very good thing to have those skills in case you do need them - in case you end up in a situation where you literally have nothing, but that should be your very last resort, not your main plan. 

The time to impress your buddies with how well you can survive in the wilderness with nothing is on a planned wilderness trip, where you have some options and people know where the hell you are and when you're expected back, NOT when the shit has just hit the fan and everyone is cold, tired, hungry, and possibly scared and/or injured. Trust me, people will be FAR more impressed at that point with how fast you can have shelter, fire, water, food, and ways to get rescued in place!

Saving your frozen & perishable foods in a disaster (and why a full freezer is good preparation!)

I've encountered several posts around the web recently, which discourage having a large amount of frozen foods stored up.
Why? Because "when the shit hits the fan and you lose power, all your food will spoil". Invariably there are examples of how many people lost massive amounts of food to spoilage when [insert disaster here] struck.

Well, OK, I suppose there is some merit to that, but what about all the things that can go wrong where you DON'T lose power?

Here are just a few things which can cause you to be unable to get fresh foods from the store, which don't necessarily include power outages.

• Injury
• Illness
• Vehicle breakdown
•  Flooding
• Earthquakes
• Tornadoes/Hurricanes
• Severe weather
• Quarantine
• Major police activity (such as nearby hostage situations, prison escapes/manhunts, shootings, etc)
• Riots (they don't only happen in the "famous" big cities!)
• Road closures
• Loss of financial stability

And what about those of us who are just dirt poor and buy in bulk when things go on sale cheap?

Honestly, there are tons of reasons to keep your deep freezer full in preparation for the lean times or when you can't get out and about for whatever reason. For me, the argument of, "but if you lose power for days, all your food will SPOILLLLLL!!!", just doesn't hold water.

Canned and dehydrated foods are usually a LOT more expensive than fresh or frozen foods. They are also usually not as tasty or good for you, so only keeping those around just because your frozen stuff might go bad someday is, IMO, just as stupid as being unprepared in general.

If and when a disaster happens, or is imminent, if you have a freezer full of food, you are already several steps ahead of most!

If things are short term and/or you don't lose power at all, your food will be fine, and you will be enjoying fresher, more nutritional foods while everyone else is losing their minds, without even having to go beyond your porch or yard.

If the power is out, don't open your freezer more than once per day, and do it quickly, preferably in the coolest part of the day/night.

If you do this, things previously frozen at 0° in a packed  freezer should stay frozen for a couple days at least. A half full freezer will keep items frozen for about a day.
To maximise the time food will stay frozen,  place frozen foods as close together as possible. The less air space between items, the colder things will stay. Fill up empty space with newspaper, paper bags, clothing, blankets, or anything that will minimise air pockets. Cover freezers and refrigerators with heavy blankets to provide further insulation.

Eat dairy and other refrigerated, perishable food first.

If the power is out for the long haul, don't panic! You can still save all or most of your food, and avoid having to scavenge, hunt, etc for longer than everyone else. (Make sure you don't make it obvious that you've got food stores, and be prepared to defend your supplies.)

As soon as it becomes apparent that the lights aren't coming back on any time soon, get ready to start drying, smoking, cooking, and canning.

As food thaws, start cooking and/or drying or smoking it. 
Cooked food can be canned. Meats, as well as many fruits and vegetables can also be dried for longer term storage. You can dry fruits on top of the covered grill on screens, drying racks, in cloth or mesh bags suspended over the heat source.

Put as much food on the grill and over the fire at once as you can cook/smoke properly, to conserve fuel. If you have a smoker or smoker box insert, USE IT!  Smoked items, even if not completely dried, last longer than regularly cooked foods. Don't forget that you can dry foods anywhere there is air flow and at least some heat. You don't HAVE to use a fire for all of it, though it will make it faster.

If you don't have any way to keep things cold, you're going to need to dry or can everything that you won't be able to eat before it spoils in fairly short order, so be sure you learn the methods for doing so and make sure you have the supplies you'll need NOW.

There are several methods for drying/preserving food, and using a combination of them is probably your best bet. 

Since there are already tons of books, videos, and articles to be found, including many for free on the web, I'm not going to post the how to's on smoking, drying, and canning here. Just do a search and get to learning.

 Remember to practise your skills before you need them to survive!

Modifying a "survival knife" into a Survival Knife

I got a pretty cool knife last Yule from my daughter and her partner, but until now, it's just been hanging on my headboard with my other home defence blades, rather than being put in a Go bag, because it wasn't really up to par.

Here is what it looked like originally:

There are also pics on the Harbor Freight product page.

Better than nothing, and a great gift for someone new to "prepping", (especially accompanied by this blog post for a beginner level project) but by no means even near adequate for my pack!

SO...
First thing I did was wrap the handle with 12 feet of paracord.

As you can see, the snap no longer will fasten around it. 

That's not a problem though, as I prefer a heftier fastener that won't break out in the field anyway.

By the way, whenever modding/repairing any kind of gear that is meant to  be heavy duty, remember to use heavy duty thread!! I use this craft & button thread.

It's actually stronger than the "outdoor" stuff. In fact, it's the strongest stuff I can find. I tried to break it and ended up cutting my fingers on it instead! It's also mostly synthetic, so is better for all kinds of weather. I've used it for all manner of things, and the fabric has rotted away long before the thread even shows wear. Also great for leather work, and you can use it as fishing line too!

Next step - Adding & upgrading supplies

I wound as much F4 tape as would fit into the handle around a piece of paracord and wrapped it in a bit of plastic wrap to keep it from getting stuff stuck to it. Then I tied a longish loop of nylon cord on the paracord loop, so it's easy to pull out again.

 If you recall, the included matches weren't waterproof, and although the inside of the handle is meant to be water tight (and it does appear to be so), I don't like to take chances, so the next step was to fix that minor issue.

That's as easy as melting some wax and coating the matches - something I learned to do in Girl Scouts back when I was 6 years old!

Presto-chango: Waterproof matches!

Something's still missing though, that you can ALWAYS find a good use for. Duct tape!

 After I stuck the matches, sewing kit, fishing line & hook back in its little baggie, I wrapped a business card blank around the packet and wrapped as much duct tape around that as I could and still fit it back in the knife handle. I also tied a loop of nylon cord through my makeshift tape roll, again, to make the bundle easier to remove.

 That fit perfectly atop the F4 tape roll.

And there you have it, a much improved survival knife, ready to go in my pack and replace some gear that was taking up more space and weight!

What to do with Leftover Marinades

It's a common issue, perhaps more so in the warmer months...

We marinate meats (or other things) for the grill, but there's always some left.
You don't want to re-use it for the next batch, because it has juices from the previous, which can spoil the whole lot, but you don't want to just throw it out either. What a waste!

Here's what I do:
I stick the leftover bits in the freezer, in the same Ziplock freezer bags I used for the marinades (they are still labelled, of course). Then, I use them in soups, stews, or casseroles later, often in the crock pot. It's a great way to have an instant "flavour profile" for something which may otherwise be bland or unimaginative. You don't need a "recipe" to make a great meal - Just things from the basic food groups and some imagination!

As an example, a recent dinner was a soup made with the previous day's water from boiling corn on the cob, the leftover Cholula BBQ steak marinade (generous portion Cholula, a bit of whatever BBQ sauce you have lying around, minced garlic, and a bit of olive oil), a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, a can of chicken & rice soup, some leftover roasted chicken, a big can of green beans, a handful of rice, some dried, roasted red bell pepper, and dried mixed vegetables. Started in the slow cooker on low in the morning.

It made a delicious dinner, plus another couple of lunches!

The value of a well stocked larder (every day preps)

(Updated 2020.02.11)

 

Whether you live in a tiny apartment or trailer, a huge house, or anything in between, storing up food (and supplies) for the "lean times" is a big part of essential preparedness.

Being prepared isn't just about preparing for some major disaster and having to go into lockdown/bug in mode. It's also about being ready to deal with the hardships and unexpected wrinkles that occur in everyday life.
The trick is to expect anything, so you won't ever be taken by surprise when life throws you one of its little (or big) curve balls.

Let me tell you a little story...

As has always been my habit, I generally buy a bit more food and supplies than what is needed every time I go grocery shopping, and I purchase many things, including personal care and household sundries in bulk, especially when they are on sale cheap.
At one point, years ago, after I split with my ex husband, I ended up renting rooms in my house to 4 good friends, so I could still afford to live there. Of course, I had quite a bit of food stored up in the basement pantry and deep freezer, as well as extra bottles of shampoo and conditioner, bars of soap, toilet paper, diapers, baby wipes (my youngest was still a toddler), and other stuff that really needs to NOT run out, like, ever.
Even with all that extra food and supplies, I continued to do the regular shopping as though there was nothing, rotate out the older stuff and store away the new, and add more to the stockpile whenever I could.

The rest of my new household often scoffed at my habits, and told me I was totally going over the top. They shook their heads every time I got on anyone's case to not waste my food and supplies, or dig into the "excess" instead of buying their own, regular, monthly food and whatever, always refusing to accept any of the "but there is PLENTY" arguments.They had all kinds of funny quips at the ready, regarding my "crazy, survivalist" habits. It was all in good fun, but they weren't really joking. Neither was I.

Well, time came when we were all out of work for a couple months. Times were especially hard all over, and the food banks were pretty short on supplies too. Lots of people were living on half rotten potatoes, stale bagels, rice, beans, and not much else. People were willing to trade valuable (in better times) items for a couple bags of plain, white rice or dried beans, of which I already had more than enough, so could trade our share for all sorts of things that wouldn't go as far, but would add variety and more flavour and freshness to our diets. 
This era would later be known as "The Great Recession".

We did fine though. We had regular meals of good, healthy food every day. We didn't have to ration things, because there was enough to last a good 3-4 months before we hit the "mandatory rationing" cap. (for me, that is the point at which only 2 months of food/supplies remain without rationing). We didn't have to choose between paying for food and necessary items or housing and utility costs with what we could make doing day labour, because we were prepared.

Eventually, we all got back on our feet, and let me tell you; This time, when it was time to start replenishing the stores, EVERYONE was VERY much on board with my plans and system.

Anyone can fall on hard times for any number of reasons outside of their control!

How long will you be able to provide for yourself and your family if you suddenly lose your job, get injured and can't work, or some other unforeseen circumstance?

Don't guess! 

Take out the calculator (if you're reading this, you have one at your fingertips) and actually do the maths. Figure out how much food you need per day/week. Not just in terms of budget this time, but in terms of quantity. Now, start putting away extra food and supplies along with the money I hope you are putting away "just in case" (if you are able)!

Look for a future post with some tips on how to get that larder/pantry/storage shed, or whatever well stocked!

Here is one:

Kitchen/Pantry Bare Essentials ~ Where to Begin and How to Use Them (every day preps)

Valid reasons to change your clothes whilst camping

I've mentioned, MANY times, the value of packing light for camping trips, yet most people STILL feel the need to pack a change of clothing for every damn day!

So, because I am a kind and helpful sort, I have compiled a comprehensive list of reasons you may actually need to change into different clothing during your camping trip.

•  It got too hot

• It got too cold

• It started raining

• It started snowing

•  It stopped raining

• It stopped snowing

• You got something that stinks more than you can stand or that will unduly attract wildlife on your clothing and you need to go to the river and wash them

• You've been wearing your clothing so long they're physically uncomfortable or too stinky to stand and you need to go to the river and wash them

• You're going to bed and don't want to sleep fully clothed

• You just got up and need more clothing for outside of your sleeping bag/tent