How Much Is Enough?

I have seen this question posed on many blogs and forums about preparedness.
How much _________ is enough?
The blank can be filled in with many items:
Food
Water
Guns
Ammo
Fuel (gas or diesel)
First Aid Supplies
Pet Food
Tools
Etc....

It is really a hard question for many of us. How much IS *enough*.? Is there ever really *enough*?
I have seen people that (I thought ) were a bit ridiculous about their preps.
Usually when the person has food storage enough to feed a small army for 2 years, they are seriously lacking in another area, such as guns & ammo, first aid supplies, etc.
We have all seen the guy with 40 guns and 10 thousand rounds of ammo for each...and in his pantry are just a couple of bags of beans.
I have seen people with first aid supplies that would rival a decent sized emergency room that didn't own a single gun and their pantry was filled with mainly microwave meals.

I think the best way to be *prepped* is to approach it thoughtfully and in a balanced manner.

First all, THE most important *prep* is:

KNOWLEDGE

What good are 40 buckets of wheat if you have no clue how to prepare it? It was great that your friend at the hospital *hooked you up* with some *premo* first aid supplies, but if you have no knowledge on how to use them, you will be a danger to anyone you try to assist.Having guns and ammo is a great idea---unless you don't practice!
Study is a bad word to some folks, but a delightful one to me. I study cookbooks as I were cramming for the SATs! I experiment with recipes. "What if I didn't have THIS ingredient? What would I substitute?" I have studied yeast as if my life depended on it. The care and feeding of, how to *capture* wild yeast for baking, etc. Why? Because someday I may not have easy access to yeast for baking and , darnit, I like bread!
I study first aid manuals with the same intensity. Why? Because someday my life or someone else's may be dependent upon my knowledge. Same goes for medicinal herbs.
So the VERY first thing you want in your *preps* is KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS.
You can NEVER have *enough* of  Knowledge and Skills!

Next, you want:
TOOLS
Tools can be categorized as items that will allow you to make the best use of your *preps*. A decent wheat grinder, reloading equipment, food dehydrator, canning jars, garden rakes, etc. These are all tools.
Yes, you can eat that wheat without grinding it, but after a while, that would be pretty boring!

Lastly, you need the actual:
PREPS
I suggest to everyone that asks me about getting started to do it one month at a time. Work your budget out for that month and figure out how much money you have left for groceries. Include one 50 pound bag of rice and a 20 pound bag of pinto beans on your grocery list. Not that expensive!
I know storage may be an issue.
Currently, because of a shopping trip my fella made today, we have this on the washer:

That's a total of 200 pounds of rice and 80 pounds of pinto beans.
NOT effective storage, but tomorrow I will fix that.
Here is how you can store a massive amount of beans and rice in a fairly small space:

 Yes, those are soda bottles, 2 and 3 liter soda bottles. I scald them out, dry them out completely and add a couple of bay leaves to each bottle. If I have space in my freezer, I also freeze each bottle overnight to make sure no insects are present. The bay leaves keep any insect eggs that may be present from hatching. You can also do this with flour and just about any grain.
The bottles you see above are in a very tiny closet in my laundry room that has six shelves. You can also store them under your bed or in any other nooks and crannies you have around the house.

If you can afford more than one bag of each, get two of each. Maybe get a bucket of wheat. A lot of Wal-Marts and Costco's and Sam's Club locations now carry *prep* supplies, including wheat, dehydrated vegetables and fruit, etc. Buy what you can afford.

Remember to rotate what you buy for preps. I eat rice, and so does the rest of the family. We have rice curries, home-made rice cakes, rice & kim-chi, etc., a rice based dish at least twice a week!

When you have a three month supply of food, start looking into other preps...guns, first aid, etc.
And DON'T FORGET WATER!!!
If you do not have a well/spring of your own, bottle your own water (easy to do in 2 liter bottles) and squirrel that away, too!

Two and three liter bottles are easily obtained, even if you do not drink soda. Get friends and family to save them for you, check your local recycling center to see if they will give you some, etc.

With ALL your preps, try to take 3 month *bites*. It is less intimidating that way. Watch for sales of prep items. Remember to rotate your supplies and always pay attention to expiration dates, especially on first aid supplies!
My basic philosophy is to have 1 year's worth of supplies.
If I had one years worth of supplies, would I stop *prepping*?
No...because I am always adding to my knowledge and skills base in order to use all my preps more effectively.
How much is enough for you?

Things to Worry About, the Basics

Yes, there are things to worry about.
Sometimes it depends on where you live.
In some areas, you worry about earthquakes. In others, tornadoes.
Some worry about a family members health--or their own, or making the mortgage or rent payment.
Some folks worry about paying the utility bills or getting enough groceries to get to the next paycheck.
We all have worries, whether they are big or small.

The thing you have to do is have a thought out plan of action for when one of your worries becomes a reality.

Have a bug out bag readily accessible for each member of your family for natural (or man made) disasters.
Not too far from where I live, over in New Mexico, they have had wildfires. People had to evacuate their homes in a hurry.
In NC and Va., they have had tornadoes and flooding. Again, people had to evacuate in a hurry or seek shelter in a hurry.
Even if you live somewhere where natural disasters are few and far between, you have to think of man-made events. Train derailments and chemical spills. A car flying off the road and hitting your house.
Incidents like that can make it imperative for you to evacuate your home.
Get a bug out bag together. You may never use it, but it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

If you have a family member in your households with ongoing medical issues, plan ahead. If they have prescriptions, find out the effective shelf life of each one, and, if possible, get the doctor to write 90 day prescriptions. Let the doctor know that you intend to stockpile a bit of the prescription in case of emergencies. Most doctors will cooperate.
Same goes if you or a loved one has a need for specific medical devices, such as oxygen, test strips for a glucose meter, etc. When you can, stockpile a little as you can afford it.


When it comes to regular, ongoing bills, such as rent or mortgage, try to get ahead a month or two (or more!) and make sure you hang on to the receipts!  I talked to someone recently that was worried about their next rent payment and the short hours they were currently getting at work. I asked about the tax refund they had told me about in February. "Oh, we bought a new t.v. and some other goodies for the house. Felt like we deserved them" I asked how many months rent they could have paid with that refund. Two months. They could have been TWO MONTHS ahead on their rent!
Look, I am not saying to go without all the little luxuries that may make life more enjoyable, what I am saying is plan ahead. Some utility bills you can pay ahead as well. Internet sevice or cable t.v., phone, some electric/gas/water companies let you pay ahead on your bills as well.
It can be a huge relief on your stress burden if there is a shortage of income, yet you know that essential bills are paid ahead.

As for groceries, well...anyone that has read this blog knows I am a huge advocate of Long Term Food Storage. It has been a life saver for me in the past! I have gone for two months without grocery shopping. My diet wasn't wildly varied and I supplemented with such things as foraged dandelion greens and wild herbs, but I was well fed and ate healthy.
Also, garden and can/dry/preserve the excess from your garden. Raise livestock if you can where you live.

Remember, too, to have Cash On Hand. Not in a bank. ATM machines don't always work! I learned that the hard way after Hurricane Ike! And because merchants may run out of change quickly, try to have varied bills and coin denominations.
The Cash On Hand can also be tapped for emergencies you just didn't see coming...like when one of the kids informs you of a class trip the night before they have to show up with the signed form and 35 bucks!

I know all of this is common sense to a lot of my readers. But I also know there are new readers out there and folks new to self-sufficiency that don't have a good grasp of the basics yet.

Did YOU Prepare For Winter Storms?

The whole country is in the grip of Ol' Man Winter and I see news story after news story about folks getting stranded in their cars, leaving freezing homes to shelter at centers set up by their city, etc.

 Pictures of grocery store cleaned out by people desperately trying to buy supplies at the last minute are all over the 'Net.

What did your local grocery store look like?

I didn't go to the store...had plenty of food and water here and had plenty of things to do before the storm hit.
I am in El Paso and we have had black-outs, water mains bursting and natural gas shortages here, along with pipes freezing, fires, etc. to keep the city busy.
None of the above has affected my household yet and I am holding onto hope that we won't be affected.
BUT...before the storm hit, I prepared.
First and foremost, actually listen to your local weather report or look it up online. Forewarned is fore-armed for whatever comes your way!
Two days before the cold front hit, I washed and dried all the extra blankets we had in storage and placed them in the various bedrooms for easy access.
I put a flashlight beside everyones bed on the night stands.
I placed candles around the house in locations I thought would be appropriate.I put a pack of matches in each location as well!
I put extra straw in the goat pens and chicken coop so the livestock could stay warm.
I did buy a couple of extra bags of charcoal for the grill and positioned the grill on the back patio just in case we ended up having to cook on it.
Although we have plenty of stored water, I bottled up more---just in case.
In case the power went out, I put a cooler on the back patio near the door so I could put frozen foods or refrigerated food in it if need be.
Baked some bread and cookies in case we lost our gas.
Made sure all household members had ample sweaters, sweatshirts and long sleeved shirts clean and ready. Ditto for gloves and hats and socks.

By the time the snow started to fall here, I felt that I had done everything I could with my resources to prepare. We have stayed warm and well fed, as has our livestock.

Look at the word PREPARE.
PRE means "in advance of"....
We should all PREpare for situations we are forewarned about.
The economy is bad, so we should all PREpare for the possibility of losing employment by paying off debt and saving a *safety cushion* of funds "just in case".
A storm is coming so we should all PREpare for the possibility that we may lose electricity, gas and water.
If you have minimal resources, prepare as best you can...even some preparation is better than none!
Stay warm!

The Age Old Question.....

How much toilet paper should I store?
I see that again and again on blogs, survival sites, prepper sites, heck, even FEMA mentions it on their site.
GET REAL, PEOPLE!
If the crap hits the fan, whether you have stockpiled enough toilet paper or not will be the LEAST of your worries!
Face it, toilet paper is a relatively new invention.
Leaves, moss, cloth, corn cobs, etc were used for a long time before Charmin rolled off the assembly line.
I (personally) think that spending limited *prep* funds on 4000 rolls of "quilted softness" is a waste of money.
You can't eat it, use it as ammo (unless you are t-p-ing someones house), or use it for much anything other than...well, toilet paper.
I have lived in situations where I used an outhouse or a crude outdoor latrine. I rarely had the extra funds for a luxury such as toilet paper.
(I hear you saying   "Ewwwwwwwwwwww"...bear with me, there are solutions!)

My solution has always been cloth, usually terry cloth.
When towels get worn to the point they are pretty much useless as towels, I cut them up in washcloth sized squares. Two buckets with lids (diaper pails are great for this)
The clean bucket contains the clean *wipes*. I always moistened mine and wrung them out really good. The *dirty* bucket contains water, Borax and/or bleach and some laundry powder.
You get a clean one, wipe and then deposit it in the *dirty* bucket. Put the lid back on, please!
At the end of the day, or every other day (depends on the size of your household), drain the dirty bucket and dump the dirty wipes in the washer. Wash and dry. TAAA-DAAA!
You could also buy some inexpensive bundles of wash cloths at Family Dollar or elsewhere and squirrel them away in your long term storage.
I am not advocating going to this method RIGHT DAMN NOW (as my dad used to say), what I am saying is that it is an eco-friendly and sanitary alternative to hordeing toilet paper for the *what if* situations in the future.
It doesn't hurt to keep a few rolls of toilet paper stocked, but I do think it is foolish to spend money on massive amounts of  that rather than a few extra cans of wheat or honey.
Maybe to you, it is worth it to be hungry for a few days as long as you can wipe your bum with 3 ply softness.
It isn't to me.
As they say online...YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)

Saturday Joys

I am having a lovely time today. I decided some time ago to redecorate my room, but never got around to it, due to all the BS I have to deal with here.
SO..got my paint, brushes, rollers, etc.

I finally decided on a color scheme.
My walls are going to be a soft gray (called *Silver Sword*), my trim will be bright white and I am painting the fireplace (non-working) jet black. My shelves and such will be jet black as well.
I am going to pick an accent color...maybe spring green for pillows and such, but that will come later.

Nothing really *prepper* about this...except that I will be rearranging my storage here in my room and trying to be more efficient in my use of space.

I think, also, that having your major living areas painted and decorated in a manner that is comfortable to you helps with prepping. You are more relaxed and can focus more on tasks at hand, rather than being distracted by an uncomfortable room.
Also, you can practice skills that will help you later on.
In my case, I will be constructing a closet. I currently do not have one, so this is important to me. I need a safe place to store my firearms, so the closet will have to be sturdy and have a lock.

This also provides me an opportunity to inventory the preps that I keep in my room. I have already discovered I have WAY more flashlights than I thought I did.
Whoops.
Fortunately, I also discovered I have a major league stash of batteries for them...and two battery rechargers.
Still, I need to get all this in my inventory binder, so I do not waste monies buying stuff I already have.
So...I'll be painting for the next couple of days, and then...recipes...recently came across some terrific food prep recipes that I just gotta share!

Long time between posts

Reason for the long hiatus was Hurricane Ike, various work related things and I lost my blasted account info

Hurricane Ike was interesting. I watched with interest the weather reports and warnings leading up to it. I saw people nail plywood up to their windows and dash out of town. And I saw people that really didn't seem to care.
Well, Hurricane Ike blew into town and left it powerless.
Actually, left a damn huge area of South East Texas powerless.

So, we were here without power, no water (the surge contaminated our treatment plant) and limited police protection.
Never fear...I was prepared (of course!)
Approximately 150 gallons of water, properly stored. (2 liter bottles, rinsed out with scalding water, filled with cool water and 5 drops of bleach in each).
BBQ grill and 4 bags of charcoal and 2 bottles of charcoal lighter.
Food, much of it freeze dried or dry canned, plus canned meats.
My nice new shotgun and plenty of ammo.

First things first, I turned off or unplugged all light switches, radios, t.v.s, anything electric.
Then I turned off all the breakers. (More about that later)
Then we proceeded to remove all limbs and branches from the lines behind the house and clean all debris out of the yard.
Then we began on the neighbors yard (he evacuated).
I put a local radio station on to keep track of *official announcements* and whatnot.
Fired up the grill, had a lunch of chicken fajita's.
Dinner that night was hamburgers.
We had a good dinner EVERY night. Good lunches, too.(Pork bbq, steak and baked potatos, ribs, beef stew...some of our menu)
I even managed to bake bread on the grill.
Because the water was bad, even my dogs got bottled water.
I did run out of dog food, but made dog food for the assorted critters that they seemed to like.
The first grocery store to reopen was Mercados (a local hispanic grocery)
I had some cash (memo to self, need to have more cash stashed for emergencies)
Every day I would walk over (it is less than a mile away) and buy just enough for the meal that night. Sort of European style!
We got our power back on the fifth day.
Finding a working ATM or a gas station was almost impossible.The radio was taking calls from people and someone would call in with a breathless report that such-and-such gas station was open...within 5 minutes there would be a line 2 miles long.
So, I walked as much as possible to conserve fuel.
When I did find an open gas station, I got fueled up and went home and didn't tell a soul about it.
I figured I'd let someone else think they discovered that little gem.
The radio reported SEVERAL house fires due to the power coming back on and the sudden power surge overloaded circuits.
Generators caused several fires as well. One caused the death of a 19 year old girl. She and her boyfriend had bought one, it was dark by the time they decided to fill it and get it going. Because of a bit of rain, they decided to take it into their house to fill it. As the boyfriend started to fill the generator tank, they decided it was too dark in the house to do so safely. So, the girl lit a candle. The flash fire killed her, she was DOA at a local hospital. The young man has severe burns, but will recover.
.
I found that I went into some sort of *hyper-vigilant* state where I could not sleep over 2 hours at a time. I wasn't tired through all of it, though. When everything was mostly over, I slept a full 8 hours without trouble.

When the power came back on, I saw the neighbors lights go on, so I turned on the main breakers and then each individual breaker, one at a time.
Yeah, I am that cautious.

When all was said and done, I had gone through:
3 bags of charcoal, 1 and a half bottles of lighter.
100 gallons of water.
8 pounds of flour (for bread, flatbread and tortillas)
10 emergency candles.
8 *C* batteries (for the radio)
1 roll of Rolaids.(I get heartburn and usually combat it with a small glass of milk at bedtime, no milk, so I relied on Rolaids)

The other things I noticed;
Despite the fancy cars in my area and the nice houses and the women with the *big hair*, this area of Texas came across as a Third World country during the days after Ike. Very thin veneer of civilization glossing over the whole mess. There were more reports of neighbors robbing neighbors than of neighbors helping neighbors. People turned all their pets out in the streets to fend for themselves. Some people took the opportunity to settle old scores. When FEMA did show up, the lines were 3 to 4 HOURS long to get some water and ice. Fights broke out as people tried to cut in line. Some people got in line EVEN THOUGH THEY DID NOT NEED THE SUPPLIES!
I constantly heard cries of "FEMA needs to do this or FEMA needs to do that", or "The government KNEW this was coming, why didn't they prepare better?"
WHAT!?
Everyone that lives in this area, everyone who watched the news, listened to a radio, picked up a paper or talked to another human being in the entire country KNEW Ike was coming and it was going to be bad!
Why didn't people in the areas about to be hit prepare themselves?
My first answers as to why they didn't: Laziness, *welfare mentality*, conditioned response due to being raised by a *nanny state*.

Here's something to think about...I drove past that line of cars that were waiting for FEMA supplies...what I saw in line...Loads of fancy SUVs, sweet little BMWs, newer Cadillacs, gorgeous new pick-ups....so don't DARE tell me these people cannot afford to put back some water and food for emergencies.
You know who I did NOT see in line?
Damn few Mexicans or Hispanics, for the most part. No members of the large Vietnamese community we have here were in that line, either. The faces I saw were about 70% black, 25% white and 5% other (if you live in Texas, you know what I mean...you just can't identify a few folks here). The 5% looked probably Hispanic, but most of them were loaded up in the same vehicles as blacks or whites.
The Hispanic community and the Vietnamese community took care of their own for the most part.

All in all, I was disgusted with the *gimme* mentality of the majority of people that I encountered...and am still running into.

So...I have replenished my water storage, bought a couple bags of charcoal and tucked it away in the tool shed and cleaned up most of the damage done during the storm. I view my experiences as lessons learned about the practical and about the nature of people.

What storm supplies should YOU have?
You need different things in different geographic areas.
If I were in Montana instead of Texas, I would put more emphasis on supplies to keep me warm.
Extra blankets, battery operated hand and foot warmers with mucho extra batteries. Hats, gloves, etc would all be major components of my emergency *bug in* kit.
Of course, water is my first priority--always!
If you do not have a wood stove, look into emergency kerosene heaters (some of which you can cook on) to add to your emergency supplies.
So, in colder climes, first priority--water, followed very closely by warmth, then food. I am assuming you already have shelter. If you do not, invest in a tent. Not a China-Mart cheapie, a decent tent that will actually withstand your local weather variables.

I will be doing, at the very least, a weekly post from here on out.

Major Things To Take Care Of

I wonder, as I read blogs and forums, about those "survivalist" types that have tons of dried foods, thousands of rounds of ammo and water filters and tools stored away for any upcoming apocalyptic event, what have they forgotten?
Recent events in my own life brought this to the forefront...
I had a dental abscess two years ago that traveled to my heart and almost killed me.
Major antibiotics for an extended period of time finally brought me back from the edge, but the doctors told me I HAD to have my teeth removed to forestall a recurrence of the situation.

Being rather poverty stricken at that time, I could not get the dental surgery done. Last month, I had my last twenty teeth removed and got dentures. While recovering, I watched an account on an educational show about an ancient Egyptian tomb that was excavated. The mummy was of some female royal personage. They decided to examine the mummy to determine cause of death.
Turned out, it was an abscessed tooth.
This mummy was once a member of the ruling royal family. She had storehouses of grain and flocks and orchards at her disposal. Slaves fanned her brow, washed her clothing, cleaned her home and waited on her hand and foot. Soldiers protected her at the risk of their own lives and priests prayed and sacrificed for her.
All for naught, because of one infected tooth.
The doctors and archaeologists examining the mummy talked long about how painful her death must have been.
I felt for the long dead lady.
But I also felt a wondering about how many of the *preppers* out there have overlooked significant details in their preparations.

I no longer have to concern myself with an abscess tooth killing me. I knew I had bad teeth and was, thankfully, able to get something done about it.
But if TSHTF (The Shit Hits The Fan in survivalist acronym language), how many survivalists, huddled in their bunkers are prepared for such a thing?
Current antibiotics have limited shelf lives. Some may even turn deadly during extended storage.
Look, if you have bad teeth and you are hanging on to them due to vanity, lose the fantasy and take some of your money to a dentist and get them pulled out. Get an inexpensive set of dentures, wait until your mouth has healed well (about 6 months to one year) and get better dentures or even implant-type permanent dentures. Save your cheap dentures for spares.
In fact, two or three spare sets may be advisable. (TSHTF, I doubt you will be able to scoot down to a local dental lab for replacements)
Remember spare eyeglasses, too, if you wear them. You can buy spare pairs of eyeglasses very cheaply (20 bucks a pair!) online.

Let's address your appendix while we are at it. Still have yours? What would happen if you had appendicitis? No doctor, no hospital. Going to have a a fellow survivalist read instructions from a medical textbook so they can figure it out?
Yeah, scary thought.
I have recently read where some folks are having their appendix removed as an elective procedure. Smart folks.

As soon as you can afford it, go to a doctor and request a full physical. Pay close attention to what the doctor tells you to do, be it losing weight, gaining weight, lowering your cholesterol, lowering your blood sugar, whatever. Write it down and work on it.
And ASK your doctor about your appendix, your tonsils, bad teeth and any other conditions or situations that may imperil your life in a no doctor available situation.
You can tell him you are thinking of joining the Peace Corps and will probably far from a competent medical facility for two years and you just want to make sure there is nothing that may cause you distress in said situation.
Get everything done that you can as soon as you reasonably can.
Put off getting that new Mossberg SPX and pay for the dental work.
Forget the Unimog for right now and get your appendix out during your vacation.
Skimp on your next wheat order and get a few spare pairs of glasses.

A full larder and scads of ammo will do you little good if you die of a simple problem that could have been treated NOW.
Remember the mummy, entombed with her riches...