*Experts* and Preppers

Patrice Lewis over at Rural Revolution posted a link to this article: Doomsday Preppers Are Socially Selfish .
Read it...pay attention to what this *trained professional in the field of emergency management* has to say about preppers in general and the Doomsday Preppers specifically.

A few quotes, emphasis is mine:
"And guess what!  You can get your very own Prepper score!  The survey asks how much food and water you have stored away, AND whether you have a renewable food or water supply. Do you have a bunker, can you generate your own electricity, how many firearms do you own, do you have items for bartering – they recommend silver as the more tradable commodity. (Based on their criteria, I could only survive 1-2 weeks on my own with no outside help – and without helping anyone else.)"
So a TRAINED PROFESSIONAL only has 1 to 2 weeks of food and water stored?
The mind boggles.
She goes on:
"You might wonder why someone like me, who has been in the business of encouraging disaster preparedness for a very long time, is so critical of people who are doing just that. It’s because they are being socially selfish – preparing themselves and the hell with everyone else.  Instead of spending time and energy making changes that would benefit the larger community, in their very narrow focus of loyalty they are more concerned about themselves."

What!? Did she even WATCH the show? The majority of the preppers profiled involve friends, family, neighbors and many even strive to educate the general public on the benefits of preparedness!
Kellene Bishop, the preparedness *foodie* runs her own website, makes videos, gives self defense classes for women, firearm training for women and teaches classes (in her locality) on food storage and cooking with food storage.
Other preppers profiled have youtube channels, blogs, websites, books, etc.
Not good enough, apparently, for this *trained professional*.
So what does SHE do?
Her little blurb of a resume:
I am an emergency management 'practitioner' on a university campus. I want to say that right up front so as not to confuse this blog with the 'academic' side of higher education that Jayne Abraham will be blogging about. She'll tell you all about how to get an emergency management education; I'll tell you about practicing emergency management on campus. I think what I do is a lot more fun. (sorry, Jayne!)

Higher education campuses are a hotbed of activity these days. No longer are they just cloistered halls of academia!

The number of campus emergency managers is exploding - many of them are arriving with a "formal" education instead of years in field response. Higher education campuses are the venues that embrace new ideas and technology. This is where social networking evolved and changes almost daily. This is where students pass around the H1N1 influenza virus playing 'beer pong'.

Getting my stats out of the way: I have been in emergency management for almost 20 years with local government, a national lab and for the past four years with the University of California at Davis. Not too much field response experience, but I do have a lot of letters after my name (MS, CEM, CBCP). I have publications, training, conference workshops, offices and all that on my resume. If you are really, really, truly interested, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Meanwhile - I have lots and lots of opinions that I am more than willing to share. This should be fun. :-) 
So....she hasn't actually had to manage an emergency, she just knows how to by virtue of her education.
R-i-g-h-t............
That's like all those people that have never had kids telling parents how to best raise their children!

Look, I know two people that are *experts* in Emergency Management and have educations comparable or exceeding the person that wrote that article.
One has about a months worth of food and water, no bug out bags, lives in area ripe for social breakdown and chaos and near military targets in a non-sustainable home. A two day power outage sends this person to the nearest hotel with power and room service. This person coordinates emergency management response on a FEDERAL level. They get to disaster areas AFTER a disaster has occurred.

The other was a prepper BEFORE getting degrees in emergency management. They have a gun and ammo collection that puts any other prepper (including the ones seen on t.v.) to shame. They have several bug out bags, cached in different locations and always, but ALWAYS has one with them. If the power goes out, they can live for months, if not YEARS without it. This person also has combat experience, self-defense training and is an avid hunter. They own a *bug out location* in a remote area and have equipped it with everything they will need for a minimum of 5 years. This person does emergency management planning for cities, counties, hospitals, universities and localities in disaster prone areas as a private consultant. They have lived through many of the major disasters in the US in the past 10 years (including Katrina).

Which expert do you think has been of most benefit to their clients/employer(s)?
The one working the federal level decides who gets what AFTER the hurricane, the flood, the blizzard, the earthquake, etc.They decide (sometimes weeks or months later) who gets the funds, donations, medical supplies, housing (emergency or otherwise) allocated to their particular agency.
The one on local level teaches the people in those localities what to do BEFORE a disaster strikes, what to do DURING the event and what to do IMMEDIATELY afterward to preserve human life and protect property.

There is NO substitute for experience, is there?

Back to the original article...
I do not think I have ever met a prepper that was not willing to share their knowledge and/or expertise and experience with someone else. Consider all those folks that violated the first rule of OPSEC to share their knowledge and techniques on Doomsday Preppers!
I, personally, want the general public more aware. I want everyone to have preps and be as self-sufficient as possible.
The more people that are prepared means fewer people suffering, fewer people dying, fewer people getting desperate and stealing, etc.
I share here on my blog, but I also try to educate my friends, family and neighbors.
I feel sad for the lady that wrote the article. She really has No Clue.

So....We Went To The Feedstore....

Yup, that dangerous place. The last few months visits to the feedstore and animal emporium have gone pretty smoothly.
But, we needed a rooster. The feed store wanted to charge 30 bucks for one and there was NO WAY I was going to pay that much. So, I told the Darlin' Man that *I* would do the negotiating this time.
We needed feed for the peafowl anyway, so we had reason to be there.
And I went to the back where they keep the critters and saw him:

How gorgeous is he!? Black and grey leghorn...just so pretty! The hens were mightily impressed! So impressed, in fact, that within 20 minutes of his arrival, 3 hens laid eggs! Maybe it was the shock of seeing such a beautiful rooster in their midst. He has a beautiful crow, too. Very musical, as crows go. We named him *Cab* after Cab Calloway, because he looks so dapper and has that musical crow. He rode home in my lap, not fussing at all and he lets me pick him up and pet him without protest.
Cab has taken matters well under his wing in the chicken coop. The hens have started laying again, after a bit of a dry spell. After weeks of only an egg now and again, they laid a total of 4 eggs yesterday and 5 eggs so far today! And Ugly Betty is TOTALLY entranced by the *new man* in her life. She stays as close to him as possible and cuddled up to him last night on the roost.
So, a very warm Frippery Farm welcome to Cab!

Cab was not our only purchase (of course). The Darlin' Man spotted something back in the animal pens that caught his attention, so we brought them home as well...
Meet Daphne and Drake:

Heloise does a photobomb!

Daphne is the white duck with the fluffy *hair style*. She is some sort of cross between a white crested duck and a harlequin duck, while drake is almost solid black with dark beetle green plumage on his head, so we are not sure what kind of mix he is. They have settled in with Xander and Heloise, the geese, although there was a bit of a quarrel over swimming rights to the pool in their pen, but they seem to have worked that out.

So, one rooster and two ducks....AND, I negotiated and got all three for $40.00.
I know, a bit higher than other parts of the country, but darn good here!
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Okay, now a bit of a question for any readers out there that know about sheep.
This is our first go-round raising sheep.
We have Corizon, Selene and Remus the ram.
Can anyone identify the specific breed of sheep they are for me?
We bought them off of Roy the animal guy and he said the ewes were Navajo sheep and the ram...he wasn't sure (massive eye roll on that, ya know).
Here are some pics of  Remus (the ewes are in the background on one pic):

I know that they shed their wool naturally, no shearing required, but other than that, not too sure about them. Any help with this question appreciated!

Toilet Paper and The Apocalypse

I like watching "Doomsday Preppers" Yes, sometimes I find myself giggling at some of the things people are doing to prepare, but a lot of the time I am taking note of some preps I may have not thought of.
One thing that confounds me, though, is the amount of toilet paper some of those folks store!
I mean, Holy Cow!, a FOUR YEARS supply of toilet paper? My mind boggles at the thought of the expense and the storage space required for that much TP.
Price some washcloths down at Family Dollar or Dollar General. They sell stacks of them for $5.00. 10 or 15 to a bundle, I think. Or take old towels and cut them into washcloths. Seal them up with your food saver (5 or 10 to a bag when the air is vacuumed out) or just put them into ziplock bags and store them all in a 5 gallon bucket. You can put a lot of washcloths in one 5 gallon bucket! After the SHTF or whatever, use them for bathroom hygiene and wash them, then reuse. Easier and more compact to store and much less expense!
A few rolls of toilet paper for traveling and/other emergencies would be prudent, but for day to
 day living and use after the Apocalypse, I'd rather have the washcloths!
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Which brings me to other paper products that so many in modern society depend on.
Paper towels...really? REALLY? What ever happened to sponges, mops, dish towels, dish cloths and cleaning rags?
Tissues....get handkerchiefs for everyone in the family. Right now, around Christmas, is a good time to buy them as it is the only time of the year you see them in the stores...Mothers Day and Fathers Day stores carry them as well, just not as many.You can buy them already monogrammed with the persons initial or embroider on a pretty design or initial. Not talented at embroidery? Inexpensive fabric paint will work just as well!
Napkins....again, cloth napkins are readily available, or you can cut up an old tablecloth to make them.
Some napkins I designed on my zazzle store.
Paper Placemats....no brainer here! There are so many pretty placemats out there that can be wiped clean or tossed into the wash, it is ridiculous to buy the paper ones!
Kotex/Tampons/Menstrual Pads....Yes, you can save money here, too! Get cloth menstrual pads! Many good companies make them and they are actually healthier than using the paper ones...the paper ones are laden with chemicals and increase the chance of yeast infections and rashes.
One source of cloth menstrual pads.

So MANY chemicals are used in the production of paper products. Drive through any town that has a paper mill sometime. Roll down the windows, inhale.
Pretty bad, isn't it? Beside the air pollution, the water pollution is even worse.
Some paper products are currently necessary....cardboard for boxes to ship things in, writing paper, newspaper, paper to print books on.
But paper products that are created and intended for one use and then disposal into our already over burdened landfills....not really necessary.
Think about decreasing your use of paper products and increasing your use of cloth products that can be washed and reused.