Posted on 05/12/2012 2:48:24 PM PDT by blam
I have been talking about prepping since the financial collapse of 2008. Only now I have one sister who is getting around to the potential financial disaster and my older brother is starting to wonder. All my friends only one is starting prepping (he was from Russia) and one living in Baltimore is concern about the Martin trial and possibility the black community may invade the nice white/tourist/rich area if Martin is found innocent. My advice is to store enough food and etc to support immediate family members and another 10 or so people for six months to a year. Biggest hurdle to my prepping efforts is my unbelieving spouse.
In the third world, electicity for an hour a day beats the hell out of no electricity at all.
/johnny
“...waste water for washing your behind is still an option.”
What type of wastewater are you talking about?
The very last thing you want to invite during a crisis is an infection “down there” or anywhere, for that matter.
A second point to ponder. Have you priced TP and paper products lately? Around here it has nearly doubled in price this past year. It’s not ALL about prepping for a SHTF scenario, it’s a matter of saving money. We’re still using TP from the three cases we bought last year when it was on sale.
Same with food. I almost passed out last week when shopping at Walmart. Last year at this time JIF peanut butter in the large size ‘double-pack’ was $7.88. Last week it was $12.78. We were forced to buy Walmart’s “Great-Value” brand.
Mrs. panax and I have a saying around here...”buy two today ‘cause it’s only gonna be more expensive tomorrow”. 99% of the time that proves true. Few food items are dropping in price.
I agree that some good folks out there are taking this ‘prepping thing’ to the extreme, but common sense says that buying an extra item now and then isn’t going to hurt you.
Here’s an example. My neighbor drives to town every few days just to buy a single gallon of milk. It’s 15 miles to the nearest store. That’s a gallon of gas one way in his truck. With gas at $4.00 and him using 2 gallons round trip, he’s paying $10-$11 for a gallon of milk! Why he doesn’t buy two gallons at a time, I’ll never know.
The way I look at it is that anybody that has a savings account at the bank is a ‘prepper’ of sorts. Preparing for rough or possible lean times is smart.
Rambled long enough....
I appreciate the advise.
No more dried beans for us - or dried rice.
I’m expecting plenty of culinary disasters in a survival situation.
Hopefully, we can integrate with a group that has one such as yourself to make our lives a bit brighter.
I’ll take the tip on dry bean cooking.
thx
That’s why I own a pistol, a revolver, a shotgun, a hunting rifle, and am working towards a semi-auto, as well as stocking plenty of ammo.
Is pouring human waste into sewers an option for disposing of it?
Small town surrounded by farms are the best. Large cities and packed suburbs will fall apart quickly. Rural developments or isolated homes will be targets of crime and gangs. Small towns on the other hand are small enough so people are aware of events, and enough people will come to the aid of neighbors.
Bulk buying disguised as co-ops?
Dried beans only have a two year shelf life and you don’t know how old they were when they hit the store. They also need water and fuel. Canned beans last longer unopened, can be eaten cold and don’t take up water.
We have both and the means to crack or grind any old dried beans that won’t become tender. Also, a big mess of beans will feed a lot of folks, but if refrigeration is out or limited and there aren’t a lot of mouths to feed, they will go bad. So, you can make the case for either form or stock both.
Exactly right.
The big cities will have problems, though.
They will have problems but even they will suprise us with their ability to pull together and get things patched up and working at some basic level.
My spouse and I went through a similar thing the beginning of this year. No income whatsoever.
But we had some savings, and lots of preps.
Sailed right through it.
ONLY because we were prepared.
As long as we/I am able bodied, I will never be without preps.
Some knowledge about cuts etc. is helpful. Stitches are not always needed.
Our ‘investments’ no longer goes to someone we don’t see as in 401k where wall streeters use it to gamble(why would we believe someone else would take better care of our money, than we would?)...it goes into preps.
Books. Or a fully-stuffed E-reader, with several SD-Cards full of OTHER books. And at least 2 solar chargers for the Ebooks. . . .
Hand-tools. A manually-driven hand drill (the old crank-type) will be invaluable, as will good screwdrivers, a good socket set (both English and Metric), and a multi-tip screwdriver with a good set of various bits. Bunch of Vice-Grips. Good handsaws and hacksaws. Hatchet, full-size Axe, and a Splitting Maul. Shovels. Pick.
I could go on. . . .
/johnny
Any sourdough advice? I have a lovely starter and have no problems maintaining it, but I can’t make bread to save my life.
So don't prep. Just buy in bulk what you normally buy when stuff is on sale. ;) You can eventually save 10-20% on your food budget if you do that a lot.
It's not prepping, it's saving money.
/johnny
How do you properly dose humans with fish antibiotics? Do you give the same number of milliliters of fish antibiotics as you would an oral human dose?
If I may... POST OF THE CENTURY! Preppers are apocalyptics who believe there work will grant them an earthly salvation so they can spend their time looking down on the lost souls who will be wailing and gnashing their teeth in regret.
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You have no idea what preppers think.
You only know what you have been told to think.
Preppers are cool with your choices, so be cool about ours and STFU.
And Texas generates as much power as it consumes, so there are local refineries and wells to keep it all going as long as power and gas aren’t sent out of the state.
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