I’ve discussed the importance of walking and having quality hiking boots several times, but I’ve never gone over caring for leather boots. Since joining the USMC at 18 years old, polishing boots has been a part of my life. But I realize most people don’t have this habit; even current military people – those new tan boots don’t even require polish (what do you do in boot camp with your ‘spare time’ if you don’t have to polish boots?!?) To polish my leather boots I use Lincoln Shoe Polish, but any quality brand will work; I’m not a purist. At least once a month I thoroughly clean–using saddle soap if necessary–and polish my boots. Think of leather boots like your skin, when it loses its moisture it becomes dried out and can even crack. While living skin has natural occurring lubricants and protectants, leather doesn’t. So it’s essential to regularly clean and polish your leather boots to ensure they will last for many years. After cleaning, and letting them dry, I use a dauber, or a soft cloth, to work the polish into the leather. Then I use a soft brush to buff them out, effectively sealing the boots with the polish (I used to buff them for appearance and function, now it’s just function). You paid a lot of money for your quality boots, take good care of them.
Also on the topic of walking I came across a great ‘white board’ video this week by Dr. Mike Evans: 23 and 1/2 hours. He discusses the health benefits of spending half hour a day walking – then you can do whatever you’d like with the remaining 23 1/2 hours. He talks about how exercise, mostly just walking, half an hour a day will significantly reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, dementia, and diabetes. It will reduce anxiety, depression, and fatigue. It will even help you live longer and improve your quality of life. He clearly shows how “low cardio-respiratory fitness” (aka not enough exercise) is the number one preventable cause of early death. He quotes Hippocrates (the Father of Medicine) “Walking is man’s best medicine.” And concludes the presentation with, “Can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 1/2 hours a day?” We’re preppers, we’re doing so much to try to be prepared – take half an hour a day to prepare and care for your body also.
Another month, another trip to Costco. We restocked some canned goods we’ve used (you’re rotating your SWYE foods right?), got some more OTC allergy meds (on sale), more ibuprofen, and more Vitamin C (on sale), extra toothpaste (not crucial in a collapse, but nice to have), toilet paper was on sale, added more charcoal to our preps (on sale), and batteries were on sale (which was nice because we rotated batteries in prep items this month). Plus we got Sarah a new office chair so she has somewhere comfortable to sit while she’s helping me edit my blog.
The other big thing was that we finally did our annual BOB inspection and rotation. We brought all three BOBs (we keep one in each vehicle) into the house. We opened them up, changed out batteries, replaced most food items, replaced the bleach (it’s only good for a year), changed out the water, added dog food (we didn’t have Kate last year), and packed them back up. Not much more to say, but we’re glad it’s all done.
What did you do?
(Monday: Gun Show Review*)
*Gun show this weekend at the fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA (March 24-25), I’ll be going Sunday. It’s put on by the Washington Arms Collectors and open to all. They, of course, have a wide selection of guns, ammo, and related equipment, but also a good variety of prepper items and books.
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This may be a bit long winded, but I knocked quite a few little things off of my checklist.
The top of my list is that I worked out 4 times-2 cardio and 2 weights. As a prepper, it’s my opinion that I’m useless if I’m not fit enough to carry a pack or even do the simplest tasks that require a reasonably fit body. As the weather gets nicer, I think I might start putting Cole in the baby backpack we have and cart him up to the park.
I read more of Tom Brown’s Field Guide to City and Suburban Survival. I’m finding a lot of great information in this book and I’ve generated a lot of good ideas based on what I’ve read. After reading the “Shelter” chapter, Barb and I had a great discussion on some simple things we can do around the house. First, we talked about crumpling up newspaper into some garbage bags and stuffing them up in our skylights. It defeats the purpose of the incoming light, but it does provide great insulation in a location that is prone to heat loss. Second, we talked about installing heavy curtains over the windows in our bonus room, living room, and dining room. The bonus room is where we spend a majority of our waking hours during the year. We’ll probably install them in such a way that the bottom can be tucked into the windowsill to eliminate cold drafts from entering the space. Third, we talked about installing heavy curtains in the open doorways (no doors) from our kitchen to the dining room and front hall to the living room. This will have the effect of isolating that portion of the house and lowering the need to heat that space. The overall effect of these items is that it creates 2 shelters in the house if we need them. The bonus room has a wood burning fireplace insert to provide heat and the living room/dining room area has a gas fireplace. Now we have 2 alternatives to effectively weather a power outage in the dead of winter.
After reading the chapter on “Water”, I recalled some training I received when I was doing summer camps in ROTC. Tom talks about recovery of water from the ground by simply digging a hole in a sunny location, putting a bucket in the bottom of it, running surgical tubing out of the hole, covering the hole in clean, clear plastic that has a rock located in the center. This should take advantage of the heat evaporating water out of the soil, collecting on the plastic, and running down into the bucket. The surgical tubing can then be used to draw the water out of the bucket without removing the plastic. The water is purified, so no further steps for purification are required. I’m adding this to my list of things to try this summer-yes I intend to dig a big hole in the backyard.
Barb and I sat down and took the time to re-familiarize ourselves with the contents of our secondary bug out bags from the car. I was adding the new Gerber EAB’s, their refill’s, and tea candles to all of the BOB’s, so I figured this was a good time to remember exactly what we are keeping in the cars. For a good explanation of the Gerber EAB, go here: http://tracemypreps.xyz2012/01/09/product-review-gerber-eab-lite-utility-knife/. For a good explanation of tea candles, go here: http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/2012/02/simple-survival-gear-tactical-tealights.html.
I added emergency cash to both Barb’s wallet and my wallet, as well as the secondary BOB’s located in each of the cars. This was prompted by a discussion between Trace, Sarah, Barb, and I last Saturday night. It was pointed out to me that we need to keep cash on hand for something as simple as a power outage, where, for instance gas pumps might be on emergency power, but the credit card machine may not be. I’m pretty much solely a credit card user. I pay off the card every month, but use the charges to generate cash back based on the types of cards we used. Now Barb and I will have enough cash on hand to fill up the car with a tank of gas, get a motel room, and buy some dinner, without the need of a credit card.
I started keeping a “Task List” of all the preps I’d like to make as I think of them. I use this to organize my list in terms of priority, cost, and need. My list will never be completely resolved, but it seems like a good idea to me to keep everything in one place for quick reference.
Keep up the great work Mike! I expect to hear back from you each week.
On the sheltering in place concept of decreasing the size of the space you have to heat, an alternate to the heavy curtains over the open doorways is heavy plastic. We’ve pre-cut plastic to cover ours and keep it stored with painters tape (that will easily remove when done). Also, though I’ve never tried it, I’ve heard space blankets over windows help hold in heat, but still allow light to pass through.
I’m glad you added cash too. In the mist of a crisis (big or small) cash will be king.
A task list is invaluable to help you keep focused and on target. I’d love to see yours both to get ideas and if you’d like a second pair of eyes on it.
Thanks!
Heavy plastic would work well too, but we’re planning on using this as a normal winter time configuration. That being the case, aesthetics are going to matter. This is a case of form over function ;p,
There is a funny scene in “Dies the Fire” that reminds me about the cash. As I recall, they used cash to buy a bunch of seeds and cart from somebody, knowing that the cash was pretty much going to be worthless, but the seeds and cart invaluable. I also think of Fallout 3, where the currency is bottle caps. Too funny!
Right now I have the task list on my Google Calendar. I’m planning on transferring that into a spreadsheet (damn engineer) for better organization. I’ll send you a copy once that’s done.
(what do you do in boot camp with your ‘spare time’ if you don’t have to polish boots?!?) I love that line. In the Coast Guard we had 1/2 a day on Sunday. That was prime boot shinning day.
This week I signed up for Survive in Place, 12 week online training. I am looking forward to it.
Do you recommend any certain type of shoe?
I really like Danner boots, I’ve worn them for over 20 years. All are not created equal though, and especially here quality is proportional to price. Read the reviews. I recently bought the Rain Forest™ Mens/Womens Plain Toe Work Boots (http://www.danner.com/boots/rain-foresttm-mens-womens-work-boots.html). I highly recommend them, though they are pricey (but I’ll have them 10+ years from now). My wife has Georgia Mountain boots and really likes them. Keep in mind both are heavy hiking boots and will require a break-in period.
I Have some amazing Merrel boots! Love them and even got them on sale!
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