Category Archives: What I Did This Week To Prep

What I Did This Week To Prep 10/14/11

Posted on by
4
Emily, Brynn, & Ryan & jam

The wild blackberries here in Western Washington have finally ripened. Ryan, Brynn, Emily, and I dressed in long pants, long sleeves and gloves, headed out to pick blackberries. We picked for an hour and ended up with about half a large bucket of them. The next day we made blackberry jam. Keep in mind, I’ve never made jam (or anything canned) before and I sure wish my mom lived closer. I read how to do it and got some guidance from a friend (thanks Rick). The three older kids and I formed sort of an assembly line system and made some jam. It turned out well, the flavor was good, and all of the jars properly sealed. We ended up with 20 half-pint jars to add to our SWYE shelves. We’ve all had a chance to sample the jam throughout the week and have an extra appreciation for how good it tastes.

Brynn had to do a demonstration of a skill for a class at school, so she asked me to review with her how to apply a tourniquet. A couple of months ago I had a fairly in-depth wound treatment / controlling bleeding class with the kids, including having all of them apply a pressure dressing. I showed them how to apply an easy, effective tourniquet, but didn’t have them do it themselves (I didn’t want to try to teach too much at one time). Brynn wanted to learn how to apply the tourniquet for her class demo. We reviewed how to control bleeding and when to responsibly apply a tourniquet. I put one on her so she could feel it and see the effectiveness; I then had her put one on me, practicing several times including going over her verbal instructions. Afterward she said her class paid attention and her presentation went well.

In the early fall, one of the things I enjoy is sharing the harvest. Since we kept our garden pretty small this year, planted several perennials that won’t produce until next year, and had only limited success – we didn’t have much extra. But I’ve had friends at work bring me tomatoes, greens, and cucumbers to share. One good friend (who reads my blog) responded, when I thanked him for sharing, “That’s what we preppers do”. All I could do was smile.

As mentioned, we didn’t get many ripe of tomatoes this year (the remaining green ones will end up as green salsa, hopefully this weekend) which made the ones we were able to pick taste that much better. So, for Sunday dinner, the BLTs with tomatoes from our garden were extra good and appreciated by all.

Ryan and I replaced the alternator in our ’84 Jeep CJ. This is significant because I’ve never been very mechanically inclined, and had never done anything like that before. While this isn’t really a traditional prepper skill, it is important because we were developing a new skill set – this time in a mechanical realm. The advantage of our older Jeep is that it has an engine that can be worked on without having to plug in the onboard diagnostic computer (there isn’t one). So we learned more about our vehicle’s engine and electrical system, and we saved money.

What did you do? (Feel free to share in the comments section)

(Monday: Buying Stuff Is Easy)

(10/9/11)

What I Did This Week To Prep 10/7/11

Posted on by
4

There’s some irony that the biggest thing I do to prep these days is write a prepper blog –  and it takes a lot more time than I would have thought. But the focus and direction it provides in my life are invaluable (I keep telling myself that, over and over…)

My son, Ryan, & our new rain barrel

The rain barrel project was successful this time. Originally I had bought an inline all-in-one downspout adapter; it didn’t end up being what I wanted (or one I thought would last). So Ryan and I made another trip to the hardware store. Combining PVC pipe, downspout elbows, and a couple more hours of effort, we now have two functioning 55 gallon rain barrels. Just in time for the rainy Washington fall (and winter and spring).

I have a prepper friend, Rick, who is a HVAC/R technician. Earlier this summer he helped me develop and build a backup battery bank (more in a future post). This week I was able to repay the favor by teaching him first aid. We looked at, and discussed, his first aid kit (FAK) and mine. Then we did some ‘how to control bleeding’ hands-on training – you can’t learn first aid from just talking. It’s nice having a like-minded friend with a different skill set, who is both willing to teach and learn.

Rick also showed me a bacon grease candle. Simple concept, filtered animal fats to make tallow have long been used for making candles. My daughter, Brynn, and I tried it ourselves with a used tuna can. It worked, but needs a bit more enhancement. We also tried making an olive oil lamp, but so far that hasn’t been successful.

A friend gave us a used bread maker this week. I had recently heard Bread From Gasoline by Steve Harris, and thought it was an interesting concept I’d like to learn more about. I also plan to learn to make bread from scratch. Bread is great to use with SWYE preps; and in a tough time freshly baked bread makes almost everything a little bit better.

What did you do?

(Monday: When Others Are In The Dark)

(10/2/11)

What I Did This Week To Prep (An Intro) 9/30/11

Posted on by
5

There is an analogy that life is like walking up a ‘down’ escalator. If you just stand there – you go backward. If you walk at an even pace – you maintain. If you walk faster and push yourself harder – you go forward. I believe that, to a great extent, this sums up a self-reliant lifestyle. So writing this each week will help me remember to continue moving forward. Most of the things I do, I’ll just briefly mention here; many of them will probably turn into full posts later (if you see something you’re especially interested in be sure and mention it in the comments).

My wife (who is my biggest supporter) asked, “Are you sure you want to commit to writing this each week?” “What if you don’t do anything?” “What happens when we’re done?” Then in a slightly hesitant voice she asks, “We will be done eventually, right?”

I believe that prepping is a habit, a lifestyle, a defining characteristic. Once you start, once you take “the red pill”* it’s difficult to return to “the blissful ignorance”. Jack (on TSP) says, “Everything you do to prepare . . . should be blended into your life in a way that improves your life even if nothing disastrous ever occurs.” (TSP Modern Survivalist Philosophy).

“Hope for the best. Plan for the worst.” I plan for a possible disaster(s), but I also plan for success. ‘What I Did This Week To Prep’ could therefore–hopefully–also be worded as ‘how I prepared this week to make my life better and more fulfilling for my family and myself’.

So, this week Sarah and I made our monthly Costco trip. Costco is a preppers playground: lots of stuff you need, lots of stuff you want, good prices, in big quantities. We used their coupons for AAA batteries and Kirkland brand vitamins (multi and C – I don’t take vitamins on a regular basis, but I do believe it’s appropriate to have in your preps). We bought the normal stuff we get in bulk and/or to back fill our SWYE shelves. We also got a Coleman LED 8 D-cell battery lantern (we have flashlights, headlamps, and oil lanterns, but figured this would fill a convenience/safety gap that we had).

The garden continues to come along (spring here was late and set everything back). Tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. Our fall back position for those that don’t ripen is to make and can green salsa. The herb garden is doing well; we’re using fresh herbs regularly and drying the surplus (we’ve tried both hanging them and putting them in the dehydrator, hanging was more efficient). We want to find a good way to continue to grow fresh herbs inside the house throughout the winter.

Ryan and I had set-up two 55-gallon rain barrels in mid-July and, believe it or not, we didn’t have enough rain to test them until last weekend (yes in Washington) when we determined they didn’t really work as planned/hoped. So we’re going to rebuild them. Our goal, in an emergency, is to use the rain water to flush the toilets and clean with, and filter if necessary. (We already have two additional barrels of drinking water.)

What did you do?

(Monday: Location, Location, Location)

*The term red pill and its opposite, blue pill, are pop culture terms that have become a common symbol for the choice between the blissful ignorance of illusion (blue) and embracing the sometimes painful truth of reality (red). The terms were popularized in science fiction culture via the 1999 film The Matrix. In the movie, the main character is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill, with the red pill leading to his “escape” from the Matrix, a fictional computer-generated world, while the blue pill would allow him to remain in the world with no knowledge that anything is wrong. -‘Red pill and blue pill’, Wikipedia

(9/25/11)