Posted on 12/07/2008 8:09:30 AM PST by Sen Jack S. Fogbound
I thought about cisterns but I’m in a swamp so that’s out. Water table is too high.
Swamp water is pretty icky. But, Katadyn filters are great and so is the Lifeguard for several gallons.
I’d still have to be out of water to drink it.
Walmart was low on eggs, bread and bottled water last week. It concerned me too. Maybe they just needed to restock after Thanksgiving.
You can simply save and reuse plastic containers.
For instance I usually, during the summer, drink 3 or 4 Gatorades a week.
Every single one of them gets rinsed out, filled with fresh tap water, and socked away.
I also rinse and refill things like laundry detergent plastic bottles and auto windshield washer bottles.
The basic rule is If it is in a container that originally had some foodstuff in it, I consider it potable, but if it’s in a a soap or bleach container, then it’s utility water for washing, etc.
Cuts down on your garbage too!
I need to get off my backside and move most of it out of my pantry and into my shed...
I noticed in the town I shop in when fuel was really high the grocery store was running out of things- many empty shelves. I think they cut down on their frequency of orders to save the high shipping cost. Seeing how fast they ran out of basic things was an eye opener though. Everything now is based on “just in time” so I bet grocery stores would be wiped out in just a couple days if anything caused the trucks to stop coming.
I live way out in the boonies and in the back of my mind I thought- well no terrorist or other country is going to attack here- it will be the big cities they hit. Problem is a lot of our food and all other supplies come from those cities. If something bad happens in the cities it will effect everyone no matter where you live.
I keep a pretty well stocked panty, but have been adding to it since I realized it wouldn’t take much to clean out the grocery stores.
Don’t forget to stock up on medical supplies both over the counter and any prescriptions or supplies you can’t do without.
Always have a 72 hour kit ready! If something bad happens you will be on your own for at least 72 hours. Be Ready! Have a battery operated radio. have flashlights with batteries, have food in cans and water in bottles as well as a good first aid kit. Be sure to include a can opener as well. A deck of cards and a chess set are good too. I have a Red Cross First aid book as well. Don’t be like the Katrina folks waiting around for Government help that may or may not show up—Frankly I don’t trust Mr. Obama with my safety or the safety of my family. A good firearm isn’t a bad idea, just know how to use it.
If you live in an urban area, keep in mind supermarkets have no more than 5 days food supply on hand. Urban areas are magnets for looters, microbes and maggots looking for a carcass. You will never be able to defend your stocks in such an environment. If you don’t believe me, see the videos following the New Orleans calamity. AS they say, head for the hills with all due haste and if you ain’t armed be prepared to give up your supplies at the muzzle of a gun.
If you have pets or livestock, you can check the farm supply store.
All farm supply stores have a wide variety of antibiotics and antiseptics you can buy without prescription.
But do it only if you have pets.
(Wink, wink...)
Excellent. Bookmarked for easy access.
Flour stores great in a freezer and won’t get weevils or attract mice or other critters. Instead of storing really large amounts of flour it is more practical to store wheat and get a hand wheat grinder.
Good idea. I keep a few extra cans of gasoline I rotate through every now and then, but I hadn't thought about propane (and maybe some inexpensive heating elements to connect to them).
I had a scare in September when Hurricane Ivan hit Ohio. Usually all that's left when one hits Ohio is a day of rain and 30 mph winds. Instead we got bright sun and 60 mph winds for about 12 hours. Our trees aren't built for that wind so most of the people here lost power. Mine was out for only a day, but some people's power was out for well over a week. I started making more disaster preparations, but I still need to do a lot more. It makes more sense to put money into that than a Chinese high-def television.
I have also added a few treats, M&M's and cookies. After eating canned stew for awhile a chips ahoy will be like heaven for the kiddies.
This is mostly for a power outage but it has other benefits year round.
A freezer will run on very little elec power if it is always full. As space in your freezer becomes available with removing food, fill that in with plastic jugs or bottles of clean water.
The freezer gets full in the fall/winter with garden produce/fruit and meat from butchering/hunting, but most tend to get low by spring/summer.
If your power goes out you will need both water to drink/wash, but you will need ice to keep the food in your fridge cold in coolers until it comes back on.
Those water jugs are now ice and will cover both needs.
You can let some thaw to drink/wash and the block/jug will keep your food in good shape.
Always remove the food from the fridge and put it in chest coolers, or even heavy cardboard boxes covered with a heavy layer of newspapers.
You can open them to get something out without all the cold falling out like it does with an upright fridge. ( this is why a chest freezer will run much cheaper than an upright)
As a bonus those jugs of ice and coolers work great for chilling early fall venison and a large catch of fish you may want to clean and store the next day.
Large blocks ( gal jugs) of ice will stay frozen far longer than the same amount of cube ice you might buy at the store.
Anyone that lives in a northern state, and lots of ambition, could even build a small ice house and freeze the clean jugs outside in winter and bury them in sawdust and always have ice year round without any elec power at all.
It takes lots of sawdust but you can get it free at many sawmills.
If possible build it of block( dirt floor, with deep hole for about 5-6 feet of sawdust in back) into a hillside with only the front exposed. It can double as a root cellar for your garden crops.
We also keep Coleman fuel. A gallon goes a very long time in a camping stove, and since it is almost identical to gasoline, it can power a vehicle or generator. Not having all the additives that pump gas does, it is very stable over time. I have been using it to fuel our lawnmower for over a year now. No problem. Low octane means it would probably ping like crazy in a car, but in an emergency...
I am constatnly amazed at how people don’t prepare for anything at all. I work at a store in a northern climate and every time there is snow, the hordes come in DURING the blizzard for milk, toilet paper and other essentials. They keep nothing on hand and always expect stores to be open and fully stocked. I pride myself on the fact that my family could live for at least 1 month (and am constantly working up toward more) without stepping foot in a store if we had to.
~”I keep a pretty well stocked panty...”~
Good to see there are still some of you around, Tammy8.
When I was a kid we were snowed in for 6 weeks, my mother was so prepared I don’t remember us doing without anything. There were messages on the radio to make signs with rocks if you needed food or medical attention or supplies. We didn’t need a thing, the only issue we had was our water line froze and we had to melt snow for water.
We lived north of Flagstaff, AZ and got over 80 inches of snow in 8 days! The total snowfall the winter of 1967 was like 150 inches. The government had an airlift going to the Navajos and Hopis that lived near us and they were dropping pallets of food and supplies from helicopters on the reservations. The ranch we were on used helicopters to drop hay to the cattle- it was amazing.
My mother was truly amazing- she grew up during the depression and she was always prepared for anything. It sure paid off that winter. We were snowed in nearly all of December and part of January but she had already bought all the presents so even Christmas was still awesome.
It's one thing to sit around unwashed in front of the tv or computer for hours on end. But when disaster happens, there'll be no electricity! Imagine having to sit around unwashed without electronic gadgets to distract you! The horror!
Just kidding,folks. Great article BTTT
Yup.
You see much the same thing when the power goes out.
People running to the store for batteries and candles and generators.
Heck, a few years back at some store around me the lights were out for a few days and a couple guys got in a fistfight at a store over a generator.
Oh yeah and we have a great vet that helps us out on what can be used for what...one time he came out and we all had a horrible flu- he mixed up some concoction and he wrote on the bottle label “sick puppy medicine” I have no idea what it was but we all got well ASAP.
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