Author Archives: Trace Adams

Book Review: The Prepper Next Door

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The Prepper Next Door: A Practical Guide For Disaster And Emergency Planning, by Charlie Palmer, covers about every topic a beginning prepper would need. But the book isn’t just for novices, there are many things a seasoned prepper will learn (there are many things I learned).

Charlie Palmer is a prepper. He writes as a prepper for preppers. His advice goes through his prepper filter, i.e. “From a pure prepping standpoint, I probably wouldn’t spend the money…”

He begins each chapter with the basics–clearly defining terms–then delves to a level that covers the topic well, with good insight and understanding. I was pleased with how much I learned in each chapter. Then I really like how he ends his chapters with an action paragraph, i.e. “what’s the minimum a prepper should do with regard to . . . ?”, presenting a good summation of initial goals to reached.

Unlike some instructional prepper books this one was easy to read, and even includes some humorous insights and comments (more than once I laughed out loud)–Charlie definitely doesn’t take himself too seriously.

I appreciate that he recommends specific brands. Sure we can all “Google” things ourselves, but it’s nice to have personal recommendations that the author likes and uses. I also like that there are things he recommends, but admits that he doesn’t use — but would if he could (or needed to). And I completely agree when he stresses, a “…general rule of prepping, whenever possible, test your preparations. Things don’t always work out as you’d expect.”

However there are things I didn’t agree with him on. For example, he believes you should only store a small amount of fuel for a generator and/or bug out vehicle, for safety reasons. I think you should do the math, figuring out how long you’d like to run your generator and/or how far you’d need to drive your bug out vehicle, then store that amount of fuel and have an established system to rotate it so it doesn’t go bad.

I also didn’t agree with some of his first aid chapter; but that is, in part, because I worked as a paramedic and have different insights and skill-sets. For example I disagree about not using pet antibiotics. I also think that his information about clotting agents, and his statement discouraging the use of tourniquets, are outdated. He breezed over topics I would have covered more, but he’s not a medical professional and he does recommend several resources for the layman. But I strongly agree with his statement that, “learning first aid isn’t something you can easily do on your own.” It’s a tough skill-set to learn without practice, and it’s hard for the non-professional to get that practice.

Recommendation

I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie’s book. Sure I didn’t agree with everything, but when an author goes into so much depth and detail about so many subjective topics there’s no way everyone will agree. I also don’t agree with all of his opinions, advice, or recommendations but I was pleased that he was willing to make them, that he defended them well, and gave so many sources of additional information. He also doesn’t hesitate to give the opinions of others he respects, and he by no means implies that he knows all or that there isn’t a different–even better–way to do things.

I would strongly recommend The Prepper Next Door it to anyone interested in prepping. This isn’t just a reference book but one that can, and should, be read cover to cover. I think people will be surprised with how much they learn — even (especially) if they think of themselves as a veteran prepper.

In fact, I got so many good ideas from Charlie’s book that next Monday my post will be entitled: What I Learned From Charlie In The Prepper Next Door.

(Wednesday: Momma Bear)

What We Did This Week To Prep 8/17/12

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After I discovered the ease and convenience of recharging batteries, with our Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel and Guide 10 Power Pack, I decided we needed to expand out into the world of rechargeable batteries. This was a new thing for me, the rechargeable batteries that I was used to were the old fashioned kind that were expensive, didn’t last long, developed memories, and over-all not worth the hassle. The new kind can be charged over 1500 times and developing memory is no longer an issue.

I also recently learned about this topic on The Survival Podcast when Jack interviewed Steven Harris on Dealing with a Large Scale Blackout. Steven discussed how people could have been better prepared for the recent east coast power outage, and of course any future power outages, in some very simple ways with some very straight-forward products.

Steven Harris is a guru of all things ‘energy’. Yea he’s slightly goofy and tends to ramble a bit, but his knowledge and ability to easily explain the complex world of energy is incredible.

The products that he recommended–not his products, just ones he’s thoroughly tested and provided links to on his site: SOLAR1234.com–that we chose to order were:

  • Powerex Eight Cell Smart Charger (MH-C800S). An 8 AA or AAA battery charger that charges in one to two hours; it also has a large LCD screen showing the status of each battery. This will give us an easy, relatively low energy draw, way to have an almost infinite supply of battery power.
  • Sanyo 1500 eneloop 8 pack AA, and AAA, NiHM Precharged Rechargeable Batteries. (For use with the above charger.) We ordered one of each, Costco also carries these and we can get more there after we test them out. These can also be recharged with our Goal Zero Solar Panel and Power Pack.
  • Duracell 800 Watt DC to AC Digital Power Inverter (813-0807). It runs at 150 watts through your car’s cigarette lighter, or 800 watts when clamped directly to your car’s battery (comes with cables for each method). It has a display that shows: voltage in, voltage out, and watts (power) that you are currently drawing. With this your car becomes an improvised generator and power is stored in your car’s battery (800 watts is enough to power your refrigerator).

And the item we’re most excited about:

  • Trent iTorch IMP52D 52mAh External Battery Charger (for ANYTHING USB). It’s a portable rechargeable lithium battery that holds enough energy to completely charge a dead iPhone 3.5 times! We ordered one for both Sarah and I (and Sarah’s Dad, who happened to be here at the time). We’ve been searching for a product like this to add to our get-home bags (GHB) and this one comes very highly recommended. I plan on thoroughly testing, then reviewing the iTorch.

On another topic, we had to find a way to keep our rabbits cool this week. While I know we won’t get much sympathy from the rest of the country, it actually got hot here in Western Washington. We had temperatures in the mid-90s, which is really hot for us (keep in mind hardly anyone here has air-conditioned homes). To put that temperature in local perspective, I had a co-worker who would say, “Any time it gets above 80 degrees it’s god’s way of showing me what hell would be like.” Yes, the Pacific Northwest is temperate. Anyway with the “hot” temperatures we had to find a way to keep our (Western Washington, not used to the heat) rabbits cool. Sarah did some research and found one of the easiest ways is to put a frozen 2-liter water bottle into each of their hutches and they can lean against it if they get hot. It seemed to work well, the rabbits looked less agitated and seemed to be panting less.

What did you do?

 

Product Review: Nomad 7 Solar Panel and Guide 10 Plus Battery Pack

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Yesterday I took the first step into the solar power world. It was a small step, but for the first time I harnessed energy from the sun.

I did it with a Goal Zero Portable Solar Power Pack Kit that we bought from Costco. The kit came with a Nomad 7 Solar Panel and a Guide 10 Plus Battery Pack (also included: Luna LED light stick, 12V car adapter port, and a set each of AA and AAA rechargeable batteries) and cost about $100.

We all know “buying stuff is easy”; so it was time to get everything out, read the directions, and actually used it.

Both the Solar Panel and the Battery Pack appear to be solidly built with good construction and design; a nice zip pocket is built into the back of the Solar Panel that can carry all the accessories including the Battery Pack. Both products are stated, and appear, to be “weather-resistant.”

The Solar Panel can be used independently to charge devices; but it’s more efficiently used in conjunction with the Battery Pack.

Solar Panel
The Nomad 7 Solar Panel is designed to be backpack portable (including being used, open and charging, attached to a pack while hiking). It folds up small: 9 inches wide x 6.5 inches long x 1 inch thick; open it is still small: 9 inches wide x 17 inches long x 0.1 inch thick, and weighs only 0.8 pounds. It’s rated at 7W with a monocrystalline cell type and a converting efficiency of 17-18%. Goal Zero states this “delivers more power per square inch than any other solar technology on the market.”

Attached to the back of the Solar Panel is the Solar Ports junction box, with: a USB port, a Battery Pack port, and a 12V output port for a car charger adapter.

The Solar Panel’s directions are simple, essentially: open, angle toward the sun, then plug your device into the appropriate charging port. I plugged my iPhone 4 into the Solar Ports junction box USB port and positioned the panel toward the sun. The literature said it should charge a smart phone in 2 – 4 hours. My phone started at 50% battery capacity. At one hour it was at 85%, and it was fully charged at an hour and a half. So for my phone, with full sunlight, about 35% charge per hour — not bad at all.

The Solar Panel can charge “most hand-held USB devices, like: cell phone, smart phone, GPS, MP3 player, Goal Zero products”.

Battery Pack
The Guide 10 Plus Battery Pack is designed to charge AA or AAA NiHM batteries (comes with a AAA adapter). The most efficient way to charge a smart phone is to plug the Battery Pack (with batteries in it) into the Solar Panel and then plug the phone into the USB port on the Battery Back. This way the batteries are charging the phone and the Solar Panel is charging the batteries. The device has a standard USB and a mini-USB port. It also has a small built-in LED flashlight that puts out “100+ hours of light per charge”; kind of a neat little bonus — not that you’d be setting up your Solar Panel in the dark, but it is designed for camping and an extra flashlight never hurts. And it’s easy to carry around at only 0.4 pounds (plus battery weight).

The Battery Pack holds four AA or AAA batteries. All four batteries must be charged at the same time, but not all batteries need to be empty (I believe this is standard with rechargeable batteries). The literature states “three hours expected charge times in good sun”; so I put discharged batteries in the charger, positioned the solar panel, and came back three hours later to fully charged batteries. Once you have charged batteries, the Battery Pack USB ports can be used to charge your devices without the Battery Pack being connected to the Solar Panel. So I then charged my iPhone from the (disconnected) Battery Pack without any issues. In summary, charge the batteries up when there is sun and use the energy stored in the batteries when needed.

Recommendation

It’s a pretty cool, compact, affordable system. It seems to work very well and couldn’t be much simpler. It looks rugged and practical enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to throw it in (or on) a pack and take it with me anywhere.

As a prepper–trying to be prepared in case of emergencies or disasters–communication is very important. Sure the cell network can go down, but if it’s up and available it’d suck if you couldn’t access it just because your phone’s battery is dead. This is a product that can help prevent that from happening.

I’d definitely recommend the Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel and Guide 10 Plus Battery Pack. Not only would it be great for hiking/camping, it would be a big asset to keep you more prepared in case of a disaster.

Here’s a short video by Goal Zero that shows their devices being used (I’ve discussed their small Battery Pack, they also have a medium and large Battery Pack that are shown in the video.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-pgoafc_bk&feature=player_embedded

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

What We Did This Week To Prep 8/10/12

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Prior to leaving on our vacation to Colorado last month, Ryan and I tried to get an automatic watering system for the rabbits in place. While I had never worked with PVC piping before it didn’t seem like it would be too difficult. The concept was easy enough but we didn’t take enough time to ensure everything was properly glued and that led to it leaking. We reverted back to the water bottles for a couple of weeks until we could get it fixed/redone. This week, with the benefit of our previous experience (isn’t everything easier the second time around?), we re-did the project using new PVC, better glue, and clamping the spouts in place while they dried; this time everything worked flawlessly. The project still isn’t done, I plan on putting “gutters” on top of the rabbitry roof to collect rain water, and eventually extend it to the lower level (when we add a second row of hutches). But the rabbits now have plenty of water and the 5-gallon bucket will only have to be refilled every week or so.

Ryan also made two more “pasturing hutches”. Essentially the same thing as the hutches they live in, but these were made without bottoms so the rabbits have access the grass, clover, and other assorted things growing in the back lawn. Previously we only had one so I’d get each rabbit out, one at a time for an hour each, to let them each graze. It was a bit of a hassle because I pastured them each day before I’d give them their store-bought feed (so they’d wake up hungry and maximize their opportunity to eat fresh greens), so I had to be around and move along each morning to get them all out and fed. Now I can just take all three of them out and let the eat at the same time. Much easier and smoother.

Per Momma Bear’s recommendation we ordered a new prepper book: Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation.

Amazon describes it, in part, as:

Typical books about preserving garden produce nearly always assume that modern “kitchen gardeners” will boil or freeze their vegetables and fruits. Yet here is a book that goes back to the future—celebrating traditional but little-known French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor and nutrition. . . this book deliberately ignores freezing and high-temperature canning in favor of methods that are superior because they are less costly and more energy-efficient. . . says in his foreword, “Food preservation techniques can be divided into two categories: the modern scientific methods that remove the life from food, and the natural ‘poetic’ methods that maintain or enhance the life in food. The poetic techniques produce… foods that have been celebrated for centuries and are considered gourmet delights today.” . . . offers more than 250 easy and enjoyable recipes featuring locally grown and minimally refined ingredients.

For those of you, okay mostly us, that were worried that we wouldn’t get tomatoes this year — we finally have a bunch of green tomatoes on our vines! We’re pretty excited about it and keep telling ourselves that our patience – in our temperate growing region – will pay off. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we’ll be eating fresh tomatoes and maybe even canning the extras!

What did you do?

 

Sarah’s View: Rules vs Principles

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Seattle recently passed a bag law, well actually a bag ban. This rule PROHIBITS stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags. In addition, it REQUIRES stores to charge a minimum of $0.05 for paper bags (stores can’t choose to absorb the cost, they MUST pass it along). However, it wasn’t until I walked by The Gap Store today that I realized they would no longer be allowed to provide their signature (plastic) drawstring bags. It hadn’t occurred to me that the ban included clothing and retail stores. Yes, I know the law states retailers, but in the news we only heard about it affecting grocery stores. Now, suddenly, I find myself irritated and frustrated with the city and unlikely to do much shopping downtown.

I can understand and appreciate the motivation behind the law. But, what if the city had simply asked each retailer to put up a sign that said “We, along with the City of Seattle, support reducing waste. Please think about combining purchases into one bag or reusing the one we provide you. Here are some ideas: . . .”? Seattleites are already very good when it comes to recycling and reducing waste.

But, what about the tourists? Instead of leaving frustrated and without purchasing anything (because they don’t have a ‘reusable bag’ with them and, without a bag it’s difficult to get it back to their hotel), they would leave the store thinking “huh, what a great idea”.

I think something positive, that encourages individuals to act on a principle (in this case reducing waste), would go far in influencing their long-term behavior.

Rules vs Principles

The problem I see with rules is they must cover every detail. We’ve all experienced that feeling of being told something is not allowed, and suddenly that is all we want to do. A rule can be broken. A principle doesn’t break. A principle offers flexibility and choice; it provides the opportunity for a society to govern itself from a position of what works for them, at that time, in that situation.

When a rule is broken the perpetrator must be punished. But if the group operates by principles, there is room for consensus, for understanding, for situational consequences.

What on earth does this have to do with prepping?

In a collapse the law of the land will change. While some groups will try to continue to live by the rules of the pre-collapse society, I believe those that adapt and learn to live by principles will be much more successful. When forming a post-collapse community, principles such as Safety, Respect, and Autonomy will be more useful than trying to get a group to agree on a list of rules. For example, perhaps an individual wants to ban the wearing of orange clothing because it’s too bright and attracts attention. Instead of making a rule banning orange, the principle of Safety could come into play: there may be times when orange should not be worn (moving through an area at night) but there may be times when orange promotes safety (hunting in a group) .

Not only that, but by living within a system that promotes consequences for behavior as it relates to each situation, I honestly feel like people would be more likely to think through what they are doing. Instead of trying to break a rule to get what they want, they could collaborate with friends and neighbors to obtain it in a manner consistent with the group goals. Instead of “this rule is stupid for this situation, I’ll break it and see if anyone notices”, we would have, “I would like to get this done, I wonder what is the best way to make it happen”.

It’s unlikely we could ever live exclusively by principles, but consider starting with that goal; then adding rules only when absolutely necessary.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

Sharpening Knives, Part 2: Actually Doing It

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Last week I wrote Sharpening Knives, Part 1: Choosing The Right Sharpener. As I stated, “what makes it easier to sharpen a knife is to have the right sharpener”. Now that you have a good ‘whetstone’, how do you get a good edge on your knife?

“Knife Sharpening is the process of making a knife or similar tool sharp by grinding against a hard, rough surface, typically stone”.

Assuming you have a DMT folding sharpening stone (like I prefer/recommended) start by holding the stone in your non-dominant hand and holding the knife in your dominant hand. If your blade is dull start sharpening it on the coarse side of the stone; if it has a decent edge maybe you can start off with the finer side. As you sharpen the knife you don’t need to apply much pressure, just a gentle firm push/pull across. As you work the blade across the stone some people like to imagine that they’re trying to shave off a very slim piece of the stones surface.

When you’re sharpening a knife the most difficult part is finding, then maintaining, the correct angle. You want to position the knife at approximately 20 degrees (or about the angle that is already visible on the blade’s edge) against the stone. It takes practice to develop a “feel” for the correct angle. There are sharpening guides available that hold the knife at the proper angle–but as a prepper I believe it’s worth taking the time to learn the skill. The smaller the angle the sharper the knife will become, but the less strength the edge itself will have and it will bend much easier (e.g. a straight razor has a much smaller angle to produce the razor edge, it is then stropped each time to make sure the edge is straight and polished). Practice. You’ll get it, then you’ll get faster.

Both sides of the blade need to be sharpened equally, when you’re working on the coarser side of the stone it’s easier if you do about half-dozen on one side before you turn it over and do the other side. Make sure to do the same number of strokes, maintaining the same angle, holding the same amount of pressure, over the entire surface of the blade’s edge. Once the knife is noticeably sharper, switch to the finer side of the stone and this time alternate strokes one on each side of the knife.

The knife is sharp when you think it is. You’re not going for a razor edge, unless you’re sharpening a razor. For most knives sharp enough is good enough. As you practice it’ll become smoother, faster, and more natural. As you develop the habit of keeping up the edge you’ll find you just need to do a few strokes across a fine stone to keep it ready.

Here’s a good, how-to, knife sharpening video that sums all this up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJMEWck3WI&feature=relmfu

(Wednesday: Sarah’s View)

 

 

 

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 8/3/12

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Still not a lot of success in the garden, though our raspberries and snap peas are doing great. The tomato plants never got very big, but finally have a lot of buds on them and a few even have small green tomatoes. The sunflowers are doing well–though we didn’t plant sunflowers–we have several of them in the back corner;  I can only guess they made the “leap” from the neighbor’s garden (they had them against the adjoining fence last year). The squash plants also have buds and a few small squash growing, but they still have a ways to go also. I try not to compare our garden to the ones I read about in other parts of the country, summer here really doesn’t start until the first week of July and typically continues through the end of September. So we’re only a month into our “summer”.  I’m still hoping for some good things from the garden.

After I butchered rabbits with Rob, he gave me some meat to take home. We do a lot of cooking in the crock pot and decided we’d try rabbit stew. We put the whole butchered rabbit into the crock pot, bones and all (per the recipe), and added fresh vegetables and let it stew. Dinner was tasty and we were pleased with the results. Once we start breeding rabbits, we’ll average about 60 rabbits a year; so we need to find good, varied ways to prepare them. I had thought about grilling it, but Rob mentioned it dries out easily. He offered to have us over for dinner and show me how he cooks it.

Having helped Rob butcher the rabbits, and sharing his skinning knives, I decided I needed to get a set of my own. I picked up a 3-piece set made by Buck that has a light-weight knife, a heavier knife, and a guthook. They come in a durable, washable soft case. I probably won’t use the guthook for the rabbits, but it’ll be there in the future for larger game.

We made our monthly trip to Costco. After being sick last week I was motivated to continue stocking up on OTC meds and vitamins. We got guaifenesin (cough expectorant), multi-vitamins, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. (I later picked up some Sudafed at another pharmacy.) Costco also had a good price on a 50-foot ,12-gauge extension cord for $20.

What did you do?

(Monday: Sharpening Knives, Part 2)

Sharpening Knives, Part 1: Choosing The Right Sharpener

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My grandfather gave me my first pocket knife at 8 years old and taught me to sharpen it. Each time he’d visit he’d check the edge, if it wasn’t sharp he wouldn’t say anything but he’d take it, sharpen it, and return it to me. He used to say the only thing a dull knife was good for was spreading butter.

It took me a long time to get good at sharpening. I believe what makes it easier to sharpen a knife is to have the right sharpener. Many years ago I went on a ‘quest’ to find the best knife sharper.

There are many styles out there. The traditional whetstone is the standard. Incidentally “whet” means to sharpen a blade (not wet as in a reference to using it lubricated). Natural whetstones have long been used throughout history, but because of their rarity have become more expensive, and their grain is inconsistent. Today most are artificially made, resulting in a less expensive product, with a consistent grain. Many now are double-sided with a coarser side* and a finer side. Whetstones can be used dry, or wetted with oil or water which reduces resistance for a finer edge. My grandfather always had a large fine whetstone sitting on his desk and another coarser one with the tools (and frequently a smaller one in his pocket). The disadvantage of a whetstone is that the lower density material gets shaved off, over time, during sharpening; this causes the stone to become misshapen, or curved instead of flat. When this happens, it must be reshaped so it can again correctly sharpen a blade.

As I said, I’ve tried many of the sharpening stones/systems/tools out there. There are types that you mount the blade into and then the blade is kept at exactly the right angle; I don’t like them much, I’ve never had trouble holding the knife at the right angle and all the mounting stuff takes time and extra space and equipment. I also don’t care much for the ceramic rods sharpening system.; again they require setup and space and create the “exact” sharpening angle. There are also electrical sharpeners which are expensive but sharpen well and can even sharpen serrated knives. Also, there are relatively inexpensive ‘V’ style sharpeners that work fine. But using either of these last two, you never “learn” to sharpen a knife, which is an important skill-set for a prepper.

So what I use, and recommend, is a diamond plated stone. The surface is impregnated with diamond dust particles, which act as an abrasive to grind metal. They come in various sizes and grades of grit. They tend to be more expensive than artificial whetstones, but never become misshapen.

My favorite brand, though there are others, is DMT. I particularly like their folding models which are lightweight and compact (closed 5 inches long). They have a double-sided version that comes with a coarser side and a finer side (I buy the one that’s red: fine, and green: extra fine) they cost about $30. I also have one of their bench stones which is larger and is designed to be used with it sitting on a solid surface.

It’s also important to have a good honing steel (also referred to as a sharpening rod), especially for your kitchen knives. Honing re-aligns the blade whereas sharpening on a stone actually scrapes off a little of it, so you hone more often than sharpen (but honing does no good if the edge is blunt, because it removes no material). If you have a good set of kitchen knives that you use frequently you’d probably sharpen them on a stone every couple of months, but you should probably hone** them on a steel before each use.

Monday (8/6/12) I’ll post Sharpening Knives, Part 2: Techniques and Tips For Sharpening

*A coarser grit is used to remove larger amounts of metal more rapidly, such as when forming an edge or restoring a damaged edge. A finer grit is used to refine an edge.

**Honing steels are more effective on knives with softer steel blades that sharpen quickly but where the edge can easily deform. A harder steel knife blade deforms very little and instead just needs to be touched up regularly on a whetstone.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

When I Was Sick, An Introspection

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We’re (I’m) Not Superman
– –
I want to preface this by saying, I don’t get sick. Because of genetics, lifestyle choices, and dumb luck I’ve lived a healthy and active life. But last week I was sick. I had gastroenteritis, an unspecific medical diagnosis, commonly known as stomach flu. Maybe it was food poisoning (though both Sarah and I ate pretty much the same things), who knows. What matters is that it sucked. Really sucked.

Gastroenteritis is defined as “a medical condition characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that involves both the stomach and the small intestine, resulting in some combination of diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain and cramping.” And I had it all. For over 24 hours I was miserable. Most of the time–when I wasn’t in the bathroom–all I could do was sit quietly on the couch; for a time I laid on the floor with my knees pulled up. It passed. Of course I lived. But I also learned.

I mention this because it made me realize that no matter how much we (including me, or as my wife would say “especially” me) view ourselves as superman, sometimes we’re not — we can’t be. Sometimes no matter how much desire there is to get up and do the job or even defend the home; physically there’s no way it’s going to happen. That afternoon, lying in an almost fetal position wishing the pain would stop, the most I might have been able to do would have been to crawl a short distance to get out of the way. I wanted to write about this soon after the incident because already my brain is starting to revise history, to minimize how bad I felt, and trying to justify that if I would have had to, I could have. But I can still remember how I felt laying there sweating, my gut spasming in intense pain, just trying to breathe.

I learned that we need to have redundancies built into our preparations, and not with stuff this time but with skills. If you can’t do it, who can? You don’t even have to be sick or hurt, maybe you’re just not there. Have you taught your spouse, partner, or children the skills that need to be done? Is there a family member, friend, or neighbor that has the knowledge and ability, and would be willing to help? Hopefully this person is nearby because maybe someone driving to your home isn’t an option (time or opportunity).

To be truly prepared for a disaster, or especially a collapse, we must have strong social support systems. We can’t survive on our own. Humans are social creatures. We’re meant to live in supporting communities to learn from, teach to, share with, barter with, care for, and protect each other.

Momma Bear’s July Preps

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The end of June brought northern Virginia and lower Maryland a serious, and very sudden, storm that resulted in more than a week without power to over a million homes. While we were not personally without power, there were food and ice shortages at some neighborhood stores as supply chains were rerouted or disrupted. It was a great opportunity to talk to our family about heat related illnesses and to review what we would have done for more than a week without A/C in 100+ degree weather. While we have a fireplace to stay warm during cold weather power outages, staying cool in the summer is much harder without power. We are now considering getting a generator, in part, to run a small window A/C unit. We’re also considering some solar battery chargers to power electronic devices. The least expensive option, which we will probably do first, is to get an inverter for our automobile outlets so that we could charge our cell phones and laptops. I think we are going to plan a “power outage drill” weekend in the fall. It will be an opportunity to see if our planning is really living up to our needs.

The biggest weakness we found in our preparations was that simple drinking water is not always enough when the emergency/disaster is during a heat wave. In a long-term, high heat situation–especially during strenuous activity–a Gatorade-type drink is recommended to replace the electrolytes that are lost. So we have added that to our LTS list (diluting it to half strength which is a better ratio for the body, and helps avoid stomach aches and cramping). You can make your own electrolyte oral rehydration solution. Into a quart/liter of water add: 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon table salt and 1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (bought as salt substitute, e.g. Morton Salt Substitute or Nu-salt) (note: if you don’t have access to potassium chloride double the amount of table salt to 1 teaspoon). Overall though our home is pretty well prepared for a week or more without power. We continue to stock up on alternative cooking fuels (charcoal, propane, butane, and sterno), as well as foods that require minimal cooking, and comfort foods.

After six years out of the country, we have recently purchased fishing gear and licenses (still searching for the perfect boat though). Although none of us are overly experienced fishermen we have begun/resumed fishing — though at this point it’s catch and release. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, the types of fish we have here are quite a bit different from what we are used to so it’s all about practice. Bass and catfish are the most common and they require larger hooks and stronger line than what we use for trout back home. We are fortunate to live near a number of lakes, and the Potomac River, so there is ample opportunity to practice.

My tomatoes are also growing like gangbusters; I picked one yesterday that is over a pound. This past weekend I canned my first batch of ketchup. It is a little on the gourmet side for flavor (meaning the grownups like it but the kids don’t). Next up for canning is fire roasted tomato salsa. My husband, who is quite the city boy, has been blown away by the idea that we are storing food that we actually grew ourselves, and from which I have harvested seeds for next year’s garden. Like Sarah, I have kept a garden journal to keep track of what is and isn’t working. We are already looking forward to next year to try a few different vegetables and probably more containers since our sunny spots are not necessarily gardenable otherwise. We are working as best we can with what we have.

How is your summer going? What are you canning or storing?

(Monday: Building In Redundancies In Case You Aren’t Available)