[Kartographer]

To start things off if you live in an area that has Smith's grocery stores their case lot sale is on. Good deal on Dinty Moore stew, can soup , can vegetables......

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

[pops88]

Thanks! I’ve got a Smith’s close by, but I’m not there very often. I’ll make an effort to stop in.

[Iron Munro]

BJ's has a sale on the Augason Farms Emergency Food Storage All-In-One Pail, 30 Days, 1 Person.

Priced at $83.99 with free shipping.

http://www.bjs.com/augason-farms-emergency-food-storage-all-in-one-pail-30-days-1-person.product.217033?dimId=

Not a long term solution for the Apocalypse but a handy way to grab some basic survival necessities on the way out the door.

I bought one for my home and one for our son and DIL.

I think of it as a Bail Out Bucket.

In my area we have a lot of heavy rains, flooding and are in the hurricane belt.

Last month many homes in the county were isolated by the flooding due to the heavy rains and many were escaping in canoes and rowboats with just the clothes on their backs.

[mountainlion]

It might be good to stock up on some extra salt, garlic, pepper, and other things to make stuff taste better. There are some books out there on what plants to use for what and which to avoid.

[EternalHope]

All of us remember the financial meltdown of 2008. The entire financial system came very close to freezing up. The world financial system has gotten sicker between then and now, and it is showing signs we have entered another high risk period.

A financial crisis could degenerate all the way to SHTF.

For instance, our credit cards would have stopped working in 2008 if the financial system had frozen up (likewise for EBT cards). Supposedly we were within a few hours of that actually happening. If it had, then SHTF would have been right around the corner unless the problem was resolved very quickly.

We don’t know for sure that a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008 (or worse) is in our future, but it certainly could be. If it is, September and October of this year seem like a particularly high risk time (Shemitah?).

Personally, I think next summer is higher risk than this fall. But the risk right now in the global financial system certainly seems elevated.

[Iron Munro]

Tony's Tactical Surplus and Supplies ia an on line mil-surp store.

http://tonystactical.com/

He is going out of business and has some pretty good buys at close out prices.

Examples

- Genuine military surplus 1 Quart Canteen with cover (carrier pouch) only $2.95.

- Woodland Molle Double Mag Pouches - 4 pack for $3.99

I have dealt with him and am well satisfied with his products, prices and service.

[NormsRevenge]

A weekly peppers and a weekly preppers thread..

Wow has this place grown!

[JRandomFreeper]

I don't know if this is included in prep stuff, but I've got it under my prep budget.

I don't have the water or electricity setup for a standard washer/dryer config.

Since I live alone, and a regular water setup and 120VAC is easy here, I've got a washer/dryer combo for cheap, and it runs off easily available resources, I'll take it. I should have done this years ago.

Don't know if that counts for prep stuff, but with my situation, that is how I'm using it.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

As requested I have some information regarding the Three Sisters gardening methods. A quote from Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga):

” In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They’re not just plants - we call them 3 sisters. We plant them together, 3 kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as they are with us, we will never starve. The creator sends them to us each year...We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day.”

This planting was practiced by numerous Indian tribes native to North America. There are quite a few Indian stories related to the 3 sisters. There’s a legend from Eastern Canada, A legend from the Iroquois, The Bear, Coyote, and the Three sisters to name just a few.

This is actually a very good intercropping or companion planting method. It works well when the corn is planted first, and then beans are planted, and finally the squash.

The idea is to let the corn get a head start and the pole beans will use the corn stalk, so you don’t have to stake the plants or provide string for the beans to climb. The squash will spread to cover the ground giving a living mulch to conserve water.

The beans are able to “fix” nitrogen from the air and help with growth - corn is a heavy feeder. I’ll post some links below for those who may want to read more about this method:

http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm

http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html

http://fourstringfarm.com/2013/03/25/notes-on-three-sisters-gardening/

I am also looking into generators, I’d like to find some with not only propane or gasoline, but is there any thing out there that would be able to switch from fossil fuel to solar or wind power? Has anyone ran across anything like that?

[grumpygresh]

I have a few questions.

Does anyone know where one can buy freeze dried food in person retail (I don’t want to use credit card).

Anyone with experience with rain water systems?

I live in a northern state-WI. What about greenhouses? I have 5 acres, so space should be a problem.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve been concerned lately about preparedness for pets, and I wonder if there have been any threads about this.

I have two cats, who mainly eat dry food. (We give them canned stuff as a treat now and then, but they largely don’t like it. They are rescues, raised from weaning on dry food.) I know that cats can’t live for long on ‘people food’, so I’ve been trying to find out if I can vacuum pack the dry stuff for long-term storage, and how long it will last.

I also have two pigeons and a little sparrow. The sparrow eats dry cat food soaked in water (I’ve fed all my sparrow rescues on this, and they’ve lived phenomenally past their normal lifespans; so even though cat food is a little ‘high test’ for a bird, I’m not changing what has proven to work.)

The pigeons eat a typical pigeon or dove food, which actually comes vacuum packed; and I’m not too worried about the long-term storage of that.

Any thoughts as to how others are handling this would be greatly appreciated.

-JT

[outofsalt]

Window air conditioners go on sale this time of year and will be cheaper next month. They can save a marriage when power goes down. I have a 3000 watt construction generator which I used for ten days after a hurricane cut power in the midatlantic some years ago. I alternated the fridge and window AC and my wife didn’t leave me.

[mumblypeg]

Under Things Nobody Ever Thinks About:

My prepper philosophy is to think, what did people do before modern conveniences? I do that, with a few modern tweaks whenever possible.

Things like toilet paper, paper towels, disposable diapers are modern inventions. In a long term emergency, they WILL run out. Normalcy bias makes us assume we’ll always have these things. When we don’t, hygiene suffers. An inability to safely wipe our butts can be life threatening.

Washable, re-useable cloth backups are imperative, for yourself and for barter. Plus a way to wash and sterilize these cloths.

Wallyworld and Dollar stores sell bundles of terry cloth washcloths, about $4 for a pack of 20. Twenty dollars buys 100, which should last 1 person 2 or 3 weeks, being used in place of toilet paper, although washing should happen every day. I’ve got a few hundred stashed.
When washing, keep separate from those used as regular bath washcloths.
I’ll use the colored ones for bathing and save the plain white ones for t.p. substitutes. Understand, these are backups, not to be used UNLESS the supply of t.p. runs out.

A covered diaper pail placed in the outhouse, to hold the used cloths. The cloths can be washed right in the pail, using clean water and strong bleach, and air dried. More than one diaper pail is a good idea.

I have a old timey galvanized washtub for bathing self and washing clothes.

A clothesline and pins are necessary. If no outdoor clothesline is possible, a foldable wood rack costs about $12—$20. These items are absolutely necessary, lest you drape your clothes on shrubbery to dry. When the grid goes down, your electric dryer will not work.

I’ve purchased a few bundles of cloth diapers, pins, and rubber pants, in case of need, or for barter. Babies don’t wait until a disaster is over to be born. In Katrina, people were looting, killing and getting killed while searching for diapers. In the shelter in Baton Rouge I saw a mother coming in, holding a baby without any diaper, just poopy all over. Normalcy bias: people accustomed to disposable diapers hadn’t even thought of improvising by tying a t-shirt and plastic bag on the child’s bottom.

Bleach is needed to purify drinking water, but also to sterilize cloths and surfaces. Now is a good time to get in practice of making your own bleach by the gallon, using calcium hypochlorite.
Put 25%bleach/75% water in a spray bottle and get in the habit of using it everywhere, especially cooking surfaces. This is a money-saver anyway. Who needs $5 cleaning products that don’t even kill germs?

I’m also weaning myself from paper towels. I keep a few rolls, for now, but don’t even try to stockpile them. Too expensive. Instead, I’m buying bundles of cloth dishcloths, wrapping them in plastic bags, and storing them.

Stackable refillable 1-gallon Ozarka water bottles.
5-gallon Primo water bottles.
Both size bottles are easily transportable to a water source, even if on foot, and once filled, won’t be too heavy to transport back with wagon or wheelbarrow.
Several dolphin water pumps that fit the 5-gallon bottles.
Calcium hypochlorite.
The 5-gallon waters with pumps can be placed where needed, near cooking, washing, bathing areas in the house or camp.

A couple of Coleman solar camp showers. The galvanized tub goes underneath, outside. In winter, the tub comes inside and the water is heated in a kettle in the fireplace.
An Ov-glove (as seen on TV!) is good to grab the hot kettle.

Also, I’ve got at least a dozen hand-crank can openers.

Don’t forget to buy a good whetstone, to keep your knives and tools sharp.
Extra WD-40, gas stabilizer, and tire slime.
There is a 14-gallon gas container ON WHEELS with a hose and pump. Not cheap, but great to have.

I won’t pay $85 for a 30 day prepper bucket. Not enough food to last me 30 days; it’ll be et up in a week. I’ll get a lot more meals /calories for $85 if I fill my own bucket, but it still wouldn’t last 30 days. Think about it. When you buy groceries, does $85 buy 90 meals with coffee? And a bucket with lid?

The 5 gallon paint buckets from hardware stores are food grade plastic, if they are marked HDPE with 2 in a triangle. They only cost $3 or $4. The regular lids only cost a couple dollars more. The special airtight lids are about $10 each and can be ordered online. They fit on the $4 food-grade paint buckets from the hardware store.

[NTHockey]

Pathmark grocery stores (NJ, PA, DE, MD mostly) got bought by Acme. Everything was heavily discounted, starting at 40% at store in my area. Last 2 days, not much but 80% off. Filled the storage shelves and added some First Aid stuff. Picked up two disposable grills foe a buck each.

Store looks like Venezuela; but surprisingly, plenty of condoms left. Also had to check expiration dates; there was a lot of past due stuff.

[cherry]

Fred Meyer's has their 24 per case water sale....$2.50...also, I recently read that distilled water last longer than regular bottled water, and its actually slightly cheaper at FM's at least....

what's the rule....1gal/per day/per person?

[eXe]

Thats the best thing about living near a Smiths here, it reminds me every time they have the case sale, that I need to rotate stuff :) Comes in handy.

We went up yesterday and got a lot of canned goods, got home, and rotated out the old in the store room!

[mom3boys]

I’ve been learning how to grow microgreens. Can be grown indoors all year, need only ambient light and not even soil! Most take only 7-10 days until they’re ready to harvest. They’re 4-40 times more nutritious than their mature counterparts, so for fiber and vitamins I’m including them in my preps. My favorites are broccoli, pak choy and sunflower microgreens.