Preppers' Twelve Days of Christmas

12/24/15 | Kartographer

[Kartographer]

An oldie, but a goodie!

[Mrs. B.S. Roberts]

ping

[PROCON]

Prepper Bump, on the way to the Range with daughter!

[Silentgypsy]

Back atcha, K!

[samiam1972]

I could use a refresher course, too. :0) My husband is adding an office to the basement so he has a place to hide and took out half my shelves to put the walls up. I get the shelves back but it’s going to be a bit more cramped. I am claiming the space under the stairs for paper products now. Just getting everything cleaned out and am noticing lots of places to store stuff. Out with the old, in with the new!

[Pollster1]

My initial prepping was a bunch of canned goods in 2009. I'm going to go through my stuff in January and toss stuff that is way past expiration and replace it with the freeze dried equivalent. After my initial prepping I did the long term stuff so I do have a lot of that, but I need to clean up my space for more.

I would suggest treating the stuff past expiration as research. Open it, and see what it smells like. Other than fish (tuna, sardines, etc), if it smells good, it won't harm you. I have been eating expired canned fruit quarterly for several years to see how long it tastes good, and it is fine even three years past date. The dates are a "best by" not a "toxic after", and, for example, expired pineapple has a slight metallic taste but it's only noticeable if pointed out.

Don't worry about eating expired tuna by mistake. I opened one of those a year past expiration, and no one could mistakenly eat it!

[Dacula]

You got that right. And that is my point... Out with the old and in with the new.

Does what I have on hand satisfy what I need going forward?

[Pollster1]

Prep categories:

Food
Clothing
Shelter
Water
Fire
Sanitation
Medical
Communications
Tools
Weapons
Entertainment
Reference material
Connections and networking

A lot can be said on each category, and the precise choices depend on what you are prepping for, but the categories above cover just about everything in life.

I think it’s more likely that disasters will be gradual, with days and perhaps months of warning, than that we will wake up to a post-EMP Mad Max world with total collapse of all government and all order. Actually, I worry that the transition, with a government indifferent to the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights and the Enumerated Powers, would be far worse than Mad Max. [ObamaWorld is pushing the boundaries there already in many respects.]

Most of the categories should be multi-tier.

I always have a two week supply of fresh food in the house (except milk and meat). Beyond that, there’s MREs, dehydrated, freeze-dried, long term storage cans, and lots of other options. I’m particularly partial to the LDS supplies, for price, quality, and in many cases a 30-year shelf-life. https://providentliving.lds.org/self-reliance/home-storage-centers?lang=eng

I keep 100+ gallons of fresh water, plus I have small and large filtering, purification tablets, rain collection options, and other choices, including a well option that does not require electricity.

Reference material strikes me as particularly important. I have many Bibles, and I will not give them up or leave them behind. I also keep several copies of the Constitution, and I will consider that an absolute for restoring society if things fall apart. We have a choice between a constitutional government that respects our God-given rights or a tyranny that is the enemy of decent people. There is no acceptable option without freedom of speech, the press, religion, assembly, the individual right to keep and bear arms, and the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Knowing how to use stuff is more important than having stuff. I’d rather have just a little less food in 30 year cans but cook from them every month so I know I like the food and how to prepare it. I’d rather start a fire weekly, filter some water monthly, and use my emergency radio monthly than have slightly more in supplies but wonder how everything works.

Knowing your neighbors is extremely important. I know who the Obama voters near my home are, and I assume they will be even more parasitic and dangerous in an emergency than they are today. They have chosen to be the enemies of civilization even without any pressure - in an emergency, they could be the first threats to my family.

Then there’s weapons and ammo. My only advice there, other than range time, is stay out of the FR Canoe Club. Its members tend to be particularly unlucky with firearms.

My big worry: What am I missing?

[DCBryan1]

Heh...forgot my 12 dayz of Crimmus;)

Merry Crimmus!

On the tenph day o' Kawanza, mah gummint done gave to me....

Ten mo lil chilluns'

Nine packs a skittles,


Eight big ole "spinnas",

Seven bags o weed,

Six pack uh "fotay's",

FIVE GOLDEN TOOFS!,
Fo’ ... struttin’ ... ho’s,
Three quarts of vodka,

Two stolen "gats",

and a Visio plasma TV!

Merry Crimmus MoFos!

[wku man]

Outstanding! Thanks a lot, Kart, and Merry CHRISTmas to you, too.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[Kartographer]

You fight mussies your way and I will fight them mine, but bacon is a weapon of mass destruction to them! ;-)

[gnarledmaw]

Wait til you see the carpet those 42 geese put down as they mow through your lettuce patch.

[MHGinTN]

Used to play golf at a place called ‘Goose Pond’. What a gaggle of geese can do to a gold green should be a crime! /// And if you wear plastic cleats, just be aware how slippery is goose poo!