[1985 4runner]

I hope this thread will encourage those of you preparing to do so in earnest...

I feel like in easy times, those are the times to prepare for a "rainy day, Hurricane, SHTF, pick you poison, etc"... Just like in the old fable of the Ant & the Grasshopper, I am trying to be the Ant.

So in that spirit, I hope to do a little something every few days to better prepare myself & post it here. I hope those of you who want to join me will do so. We can all benefit from the ideas of others and can help each other in our own areas of expertise & experience.

Today I did three things. I bought another food grade water barrel (30gal) to add to my water supply & purchased a handful of 1oz Engelhard silver bars for safekeeping. I finally topped off the tank in the truck before gas hits the $4.00 a gallon mark.

So, what have you done today to prepare? :thumbup:

 

[sidroski]

Talked with my son (in the army, going back to the sand x3). He said he had 85 meals for he, his wife and infant daughter that wouldn't even fill a day pack. He said he was going to freeze dry food or vacuum seal it to go along with that. He hasn't had much time to research, what is a good way to store food other than canning (think the glass adds too much weight)? Those vacuum seal bag machine, who makes a good one of those?
Good question 4Runner. I did buy some powder in Cap't's group buy to answer your question and found a guy who's going to get me some lead if SGF don't come slinking in and get it. (No, I ain't telling where) but if it's a great bit, I'll give some away to some of the guys who've spent time teaching me. Did get in an order for some of those filtered straws that will work up to 20 gallons.
Got to get me a better medical kit, I have one the size of a medium suitcase. If you haven't, letting us know what we need and what is fluff would be a great thread coming from a guy with your expierence 4Runner.

 

[Kevin346]

I wish my personal situation was better because I do want to start stocking up and saving. However because of the job I am working right now and some other personal issues I have to watch my money. Between rent, bills, groceries and gas I barely have enough left over to do anything with it. Hopefully soon though things are going to get better job wise and I will be able to sort some other personal things out.
The one thing I am happy that I did is that while I was still living in Vicksburg and had a good money flowing in that I bought the guns that I did and bought all of the ammo that I did. Otherwise now I would not have what I do have available to me.
We still own the house in Vicksburg and the thought crosses my mind about moving back because of all of the uncertain times we are in right now. We own the house so I would not have to pay rent or a mortgage which would free up funds to stock up on things.
However to be totally honest with you I still for some reason really just cannot comprehend the fact that this country is in as bad of shape as it is. I know that gas prices are ridiculous, grocery prices are crazy, and the unemployment rate is horrible. But for some silly reason I just can’t get it into my head that the country that I love is in as bad a shape as it is.
Growing up in school I was always taught that the USA was the land of opportunity, that you could become anything you want to be. I was taught that the USA is the land where everyone else who lives in another country wants to come to because it is the best country in the world. I was taught that the USA was the richest and most powerful country in the world. We learned about men like George Washington and the founding fathers, how we won our independence, how the country was built on morals and principles and men and women honored the law, God, and their country. Now if you act patriotic or say you love God in public people start looking at you funny.
A good video for you guys to watch is a video for the video for the song “America Again” by the gospel singer Carmen. It is an old video but it talks about how the American people’s standards have fallen since the time of our founding fathers.

 

[sidroski]

Kevin, it is for those that want it bad enough. Living rent/mortgage free in V'burg for a few years should get you well fast.
Good Luck, which is nothing more than opportunity meeting the prepared mind.

 

[Kevin346]

Kevin, it is for those that want it bad enough. Living rent/mortgage free in V'burg for a few years should get you well fast.
Good Luck, which is nothing more than opportunity meeting the prepared mind.

Your right and I am seriously considering it. The only thing I would feel bad about is that we have since rented our house out to people and I would hate to kick them out so I can move back. But I guess you have to do what you have to do.

Sorry for hijacking the post, back to the original topic…….

 

[1985 4runner]

Sid- I am planning on doing a "how-to" thread on long term food storage with mylar bags/oxygen absorbers in 5 gallon buckets with pics in the next week or so.

On the flip side, I could lean a LOT about canning/gardening. As of now I have never canned a single thing largely due to my lack of gardening/time skills but I need to learn ASAP.

I will look into what I have as our own personal medical kit (I have a few for different purposes) & be happy to share what info I can. I am also hoping to get a friend of mine to join the forum, (Paramedic) who is very knowledgeable in that area & a fellow gun owner as well.

 

[1985 4runner]

Kevin- Hang in there, you have a house paid off & you realize the Country is going in the wrong direction- so that is a good thing!

Preparing isn't a competition or a race. To me it's an individual statement of what you are willing to do for yourself, your family & hopefully, your fellow man.
It's a mindset, (at least in my case it is). There are going to be times to prepare & times when you may just need to use those preparations you've made, which is exactly why we do this.

 

[Rw]

I'd be very interested in reading anything you post about long term food storage. We do have a paramedic on the forum, my old boss and friend mrparamedicdawson.. He could ad some insight on med kits I'm sure.
So far about all the real survival prep I have done us plenty of ammo for what guns I have.

 

[RIVERBILLY]

bought few rounds ammo,rice,spagheti,12 pds of frosted flakes, canned tomatoes and sauce,,,I use a food saver,,this spring starting a under ground cellar then a cold smoke house

 

[kowen1971]

Not today but over the last few weeks I've gotten more serious about being prepared. Stocked my first 10 gallons of water, bought more canned and dry goods for storage, and picked up 100 more rounds for each gun I have. I also got serious about a first aid kit and a survival kit. Purchased about 300.00 + dollars worth of OTC meds at the end of 2010 since obummer won't let me use my med card on OTC anymore. This week I stocked up on waterproof matches, emergency blankets, rain gear (walmart had disposable ponchos for .50 cents each), and light sticks. Lights sticks seem a cheap alternative to useing up all my batteries for some things.

 

[Scharfschütze]

Ordered a pack of light sticks (green) from cheaperthandirt.com. Salvaged a brand-new set of rechargeable Cobra walkie-talkies from w*rk that were going to be discarded. I try to make purchases whenever I get paid (random for translation, monthly from w*rk), and do PM (preventive maintenance) on SOMETHING once a week. This weekend will run the generator, change oil & plugs.

 

[fastback65]

The wife and I canned 4 gallons of Red Beans and sausage. Rotated some cans and ordered some new MREs for the BOB.

 

[BuildingMyArk]

Well, this week and last week we were able to check a few more things off of our never-ending TO DO list... We finally installed the hand pump on our water well, added a solar panel to our entry gate and planted some grapes, muscadine and blue berry bushes. I've been working on some trellises for them also. I ordered a holster and have read several survival fiction stories.

 

[miker84]

Picked out a spot for my DIY water well.

 

[Fireman104]

Im new to the preparedness scene but realize that now' more than ever, is the time to start. What would be the ultimate first thing to buy to start my stockpile in yalls opinion?

 

[Roosty]

Miker84,

Let us know how your DIY water well turns out...been thinking about doing one myself..

4runner - do you have a local source for your food grade water barrels?

Roosty

 

[BuildingMyArk]

We get those blue plastic 50 gallon barrels from the co-op. They were used for apple cider vinegar or other food products previously and cost about $25 last time we purchased them. We have not done this yet, but I think that there's a way to convert them to catch, filter and dispense rain water as well. Of course, they would be so heavy they would have to stay in place.

 

[1985 4runner]

Miker84,

Let us know how your DIY water well turns out...been thinking about doing one myself..

4runner - do you have a local source for your food grade water barrels?

Roosty

I got my 15 gallon ones from a friend, they held industrial 6% bleach solution originally, so once rinsed thoroughly they are essentially sterile.

The 30 gal one I got from a shop on Hwy 90 in Gautier MS that sells barrells & trailers, can't remember the name. He sells the 15gal for $15, 30gal for $18 and 55gal for $20.

 

[titleiiredneck]

We have enough mre's to last quite some time and water supply is free flowing here and have enough diesel to run the home genny for 700+/- hours. I did however load 500 more 300/221 rounds today along with vaccum sealing them and bought 2k more 9mm and 5k more match 22lr yesterday. Going to send a can "silencer" off to liberty suppressors to be converted to the monolithic stainless baffle for easy take down next week. Looking for a decent 22lr bolt gun for the wife as we speak to be threaded and worked on a bit for her to have a decent and accurate/reliable take down rifle.

 

[sidroski]

We have enough mre's to last quite some time and water supply is free flowing here and have enough diesel to run the home genny for 700+/- hours. I did however load 500 more 300/221 rounds today along with vaccum sealing them and bought 2k more 9mm and 5k more match 22lr yesterday. Going to send a can "silencer" off to liberty suppressors to be converted to the monolithic stainless baffle for easy take down next week. Looking for a decent 22lr bolt gun for the wife as we speak to be threaded and worked on a bit for her to have a decent and accurate/reliable take down rifle.

What brand/model vacuum sealer you have? Can you vacuum seal cooked meat or do you need to dehydrate it first?