BASIC SURVIVAL INFO-NEEDFUL THINGS
Because of the many post at RMN exposing the truth about our economy, balance of payments, the possible coming crash of the realty market, possible crash of the stock market, American job losses, factory losses, rising prices at the gas pump with shortages possible in the future, and skyrocketing food prices plus the threat of major natural disasters, this post may prove to be helpful to all RMN readers. When disaster strikes and you are not prepared, it is too late! You all have seen the mad rush to the stores just before a hurricane or snowstorm hits. Imagine a disaster that last for weeks and weeks. The stores would be empty almost immediately if they were even able to open. The time to prepare is now.
SURVIVAL INFO
This post will hopefully spell out in simple terms things everyone can do in order to prepare for ANY EMERGENCY that should come your way no matter your income. These are basic inexpensive, for the most part, steps to make sure you live in the event of an emergency from an earthquake, volcano, hurricane, snow or ice storm cutting off power for days, or any other emergency situation you find your self in. I hope this helps all of you.
WATER
As we have just witnessed by the torturing to death of Terri Schiavo, water is the most important thing we need to live. All the food in the world is useless without water. Clorox is a must to purify water and your supplies should be rotated every six months or so to always have a fresh gallon or two around. Eight drops per gallon is normally sufficient to purify most water and let set for one half an hour shaking a few times. Another good choice for purifying water and medicinal use is Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide, H2O2. You will have to go on line to find the proper mixture depending on the actual percentage of the H2O2 you have. There are also a lot of medicinal uses listed on the info pages about H2O2 as well.
NOTE: Some water can be totally unusable. TIP; your hot water tank depending on size will normally have 30 to 50 gallons in it. You can also fill your bathtub for general use. One and two litter soft drink bottles can be used to store water for drinking, it is food grade storage quality and is easily cleaned out with simple washing. Under normal cool circumstances water in these bottles should last a month. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE MILK CONTAINERS TO STORE WATER YOU PLAN TO DRINK. You can never get all the milk out and the water will turn rancid quickly.It is a good idea to store clean and ready to use a lot of empty soft drink bottles and you may even want to keep them filled and change water every month or so. I live in the woods and was without power for a week a couple years ago due to an ice storm and thanks to being prepared and having a wood stove, a small generator we hardly used, and solar battery charger we never missed a lick.
Another method that will cost in the neighborhood of $40.00 up is a water purification device. These can be found at various places on line, some hunting supply stores, some Military Surplus Stores, and Outdoors/ Camping type stores. I have one that will purify 2000 gallons plus an extra filter and can be carried in a backpack.
FOOD
If you have the money, the best bet is to order a three, six, or year’s supply of prepackaged survival foods from one of the many businesses you will find on line. That however is expensive and not all of us can afford spending that much money now.
Next option is buying some, repeat, some camping type freezedried or dehydrated packs of various foods from camping stores or best…discount stores. They are just to supplement what comes next or to mix with the items listed below to add a new flavor or variety. Soup mixes are great because you can add rice, pasta, or beans to stretch the meal. Most such meals are from three to five dollars each.
DRIED FOODS
The most inexpensive way to store large amounts of food is buying in bulk. Some areas have a “Farmers Market” or warehouse where you can buy dried items in large bags. They will need to be repackaged which we will deal with later. You can find reasonable prices in supermarkets on dried rice, beans of all sorts, and pastas. (You can also sprout any beans for fresh veggies.) They store easily and last a long time. One thing though, ALL foods like that have bug eggs in them and sooner or later will hatch if not stored in either nitrogen, CO2, or vacuum wrapped. Vacuum wrappers are expensive! You can find dried corn in bulk from local farmers, markets, and some farm seed supply businesses. You can also find wheat in 50 pound bags already packed in nitrogen on line. The cost is reasonable and a local feed store can order it for you. The last bags of wheat I bought were $8.00, they may be more now.
You will need salt and pepper for cooking as well as preserving meats. There is much info on line about curing meats and I will not go into that in this article. Sugar is also a handy time as well as coffee, tea, and other soft drink beverages like Kool Aid and hot coco for children. Hard candies are good, especially if on the move because they give quick energy and store well.
Military MRE’s (meals ready to eat) are good to have but usually expensive and heavy to carry. A case or two would be handy for the short term and can be found at gun shows and military surplus stores.
Storage And Use
For the money, which means free, I highly recommend one, two, and three liter soft drink bottles or bottles juices come in because they are food storage grade plastic which is important. The soft drink bottles are the best because it is almost impossible for rodents to chew through them and they can be easily buried with posthole diggers. If hard times come, you may have to hide your food in caches to keep it. If someone is hungry enough, they will kill over food.
When packing the bottles, tap the product down as much as possible before sealing. It is also good insurance to coat the threads with a sealing compound like caulking but make sure not to contaminate the foods. Any dry foods, sugar, salt, and pepper can be stored in these type containers. Over time unless the food is vacuum packed, compressed, or a gas such as CO2 or Nitrogen is used, bug eggs will hatch out. Deal with it, it is protein too…but if you do have critters in the dry food, simply put in water and the critters will float to the top for easy removal.
A good bet for long term is to purchase a portable “grist mill” to grind such grains as corn, wheat, buckwheat, and even acorns into flour for bread. Remember to soak the acorns in water, then rinse three times before use. Cattail roots can also be dried and ground into flour. A hand grinder is also useful for grinding meat into burger.
CANNED FOODS
They are good and will last from 18 months to 2 years before the value starts to decrease, Never use a can that has expanded, it may kill you.
DRYING FOODS
You can find an air dryer for making jerky, drying fruits, and veggies like tomatoes really cheep at some health food and related stores or on line.
FIRST AID
Get a good first aid kit and I mean a good one. Gun Shows, survival expos, military surplus stores, and the internet are good places to find them. A good over the counter antibiotic ointment and hydrocortisone cream for insect bites is a must for any first aid kit. Also recommended is activated charcoal for food poisoning that you can find in bulk at health food stores or in capsules in the herbal sections of stores. Another must is capsules of red cayenne pepper also in the herbal sections to stop excessive bleeding. It stings like heck but works instantly even for deep puncture wounds or cuts and is also an antibiotic as well. Extra iodine, alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide is also a must.
ODDS AND ENDS
Good sleeping bags or extra blankets are a must in winter if your power fails and you have no way to heat your home. Backpacks and canteens are good should you have to leave the area you are in for safety purposes. Rechargeable batteries and a solar recharger are good to have. An AM, FM, Short Wave radio is a must and you can find a good one for around a hundred, maybe less on sale. Remember the solar charger and rechargeable batteries as well. You may want an extra gas tank or two for your grill, charcoal, or some kind of camping stove to cook with in event you are without power. Do not use these devices inside! Kerosene lamps and candles are also a must. If you store gas for long periods you will need to add a preservative you can find at most auto stores. Some people have gas mask and extra filters but that is a personal choice. Space blankets are cheep and found in most outdoors shops. You can get a good generator for around $500,00 up and they are good to have if you have extra fuel. Some you can switch over to the same gas your grill uses and that is a good idea to keep in mind.
This is not a complete list to cover everything, but rather just the basics to survive what may come your way. You can keep adding “needful things” until you have thousands in survival gear and I highly recommend at least a three months supply of dried foods, a year if you can and it is easy to do a few dollars a week. You can find dehydrated milk, butter, and cheese to complement your other stores but they are not cheep. You may want to do an internet search on survival and pick up some more ideas.
Should you decide to make these preparations keep a good check on your recourses to make sure they are good.
Finally we get to protection. Folks, if things get bad the only one you will be able to rely on to protect your family is YOU! You need a shotgun and rifle for protection. Forget a handgun unless you intend on spending a lot of time and money learning to shoot it accurately. A rifle and a shotgun are much easier to learn and will stop a criminal quicker and the presence of a firearm stops hundred of thousands of crime each year no matter what the controlled news media says.
Hope this article is helpful.
GWM
