Backup Power You Can Carry With You – A Review

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Trace Adams

As a prepper, I like things that are rechargeable. It minimizes the gear I have to store and carry. I especially like rechargeable batteries, with very little pre-planning you could continue charging and using them for a long period of time — even during a collapse.

One of the primary rechargeable devices that I–and everyone else–carry is my phone. Most of the time keeping my iPhone 5S charged isn’t a big deal, I keep it plugged in if I’m in the car, at work, or in bed; in between those times it typically has plenty of battery life. But for the times I’m not around a standard outlet, I like to have a portable charger. Previously I used a New Trent i-Torch External Battery, but recently–after testing and evaluating–I’ve changed to Portable Power Solutions M110 External Battery.

External Battery compared to iPhone 5

The M110 External Battery is ruggedly built, it feels like I could drop it and it really wouldn’t care. It’s not much bigger than a deck of playing cards at 4″ x 2.8″ x 1″, weighing 10 ounces (a deck of cards is 3.5″ x 2.5″ x 5/8″). It nicely fits into a convenient pocket on my EDC bag (it even fits in my back pants pocket). It has enough power to completely recharge my iPhone, even if the phone’s dead, four times. The External Battery has an USB outlet so it’s easy to recharge; to completely recharge it takes about 10 hours.

Portable Power Solutions also has a 7W Foldable Solar Panel that pairs nicely with their External Battery. But the Solar Panel can also provide enough power to charge your cell phone, or even tablet, directly from the sun. It folds down to a convenient 7.5″ x 7.5″ x 1″ with a rugged cover that includes a pocket to store accessories. When in use, it folds out to 15 inches long and can easily be attached to your pack (it has eyelets for this purpose), or set down angled toward the sun.

Portable Power Solutions’s final product is a 10K Solar Charger. It has the same lithium battery storage capacity as the M110 External Battery, and is about the same size (5.2″ x 3″ 0.8″, weighing 6.2 ounces). It’s a highbred, meaning it can both store power and be recharged by the sun — but it doesn’t do either thing as well as the two individual ones above. It has a small solar charger so it takes a long time to charge (36 hours). And though they still try to make it rugged, it does have a solar panel on it and needs to be handled with much more care. But it can, and does, do both jobs to the best of it’s capability.

Portable Power Solutions is veteran owed, and they’ve “been there”. All of their products are built to be heavy duty, durable, and weather resistant — they’re designed primarily for military guys to take to the field (who are notoriously hard on gear). I like the products and the company, and it’s definitely earned a spot in my everyday carry (EDC) and my Get Home Bag.

A Smaller, Lighter MRE ?

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Trace Adams

A couple years ago, I reviewed Meal Kit Supply’s MREs. Meal Kit Supply offers quality, U.S. made MREs that contain 100% military MRE components. Our family stocks them for emergencies, and I recommend them to friends.

So when Meal Kit Supply came out with a new product, a 2-course meal (as opposed to their traditional 3-course meal), I was interested in seeing it.

	(new) 2-Course Meal	(traditional) 3-Course Meal
contains	entrée, dessert	entrée, cracker/bread w spread, dessert
weight	approx 11 oz (310 g)	approx 20 oz (560 g)
calories	approx 600	approx 1200
per case	6	12
cost	$44.95 (free shipping)	$129.95 (free shipping)

Both also contain: electrolyte drink mix, spoon, napkin, and flameless heater. The 3-Course Meal also includes instant coffee and condiments.

I’ve been asked: Why not just take a standard MRE and break it down, throwing away all the excess packing (weight and size), and then taping it up — like we did when we were in the military? My answer: That was fine if you knew you were going to eat the meal in the next day or two. But these meals are factory packaged: water proof, hermetically sealed (to keep out pests), with a five year shelf life!

I like them. They’re a smaller, lighter meal with all the quality you’ve come to expect from Meal Kit Supply, and military grade MREs in general. Adding one (or two) to your every day carry kit adds very little weight or bulk, but a lot of piece of mind.

Post Script (10/7/14):

People have asked about how they tasted. They have the same good flavor/texture/taste as the other Meal Kit Supply MREs we reviewed before. But our family (five of us, Ryan was living in Moab at the time) did eat, evaluate, recorded comments, and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=terrible, 3=not bad at all, 5=pretty darn good). So of the random three we ate, here’s our menus, comments and average scores:

Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Grape Electrolyte Beverage Powder (EBP): “really good” / “tastes like real ravioli” / “a little dry/chalky” — SCORE: entrée 4.0 / cookie 4.0
Vegetarian Ratatouille, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Lemon Lime EBP: “good texture” / “plenty of flavor” / “a little metallic taste” / “tastes like meat” / “mushy vegetables” — SCORE: entrée 3.8 / cookie 3.5
Spaghetti w Meat Sauce, Oatmeal Cookie, Orange EBP: “texture was like real spaghetti” / “noodles were soft” / “tastes like elementary school spaghetti” — SCORE: entrée 3.4 / cookie 4.0

On a side note, the kids are getting much more proficient using the heaters now that they’ve had some practice.

Momma Bear: Back-Up Cooking Systems & a Review of the Jetboil Zip Stove

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Trace Adams

the kids with their hobo stoves

Redundancy is key in good prepping. We live in the D.C. area and I worry about another Snowmageddon that could result in multiple days without power. We have a nice propane fireplace, so we would have heat for quite a while without electricity, but cooking can really be a chore in the cold. We can always use our BBQ grill, but who really wants to go outside if it’s THAT cold? Therefore, here at our suburban fortress I keep multiple cooking systems in reserve for just such an emergency. I divide my cooking into two categories: home cooking and field cooking. While many of you probably have the exact same home cooking systems.

My first line of defense, for heating things up at home, is a case of sterno I picked up at Costco (for less than $20). I have two different sterno cooking setups: one is a fondue set, and the other is actually a hot beverage urn holder. Sterno is also super easy for the kids to use! Our second and third lines of ‘electricity-free cooking’ are my small cooking stoves, one uses propane and the other butane. The butane comes in a giant can that looks like a big can of hairspray. You don’t tend to see butane stoves as much as the propane ones, but we have had ours for some time and it’s a pretty compact piece of equipment. Typically I have each stove packed in a bug-out kit in the garage. Last, for the home cooking, I keep two of the small portable grills for better fuel economy in an emergency.

When it comes to field cooking, we have a small variety of hobo stoves that we have in our bug-out bags. These have been great for the kids to get hands on fire making experience. But my husband, Mr. Marine, likes something a little bit quicker when he is in the field so I thought you would enjoy my husband’s review of his new Jetboil Zip Stove. Since he goes to the field so often, we have recently invested in the Jetboil Zip Stove. This is a smaller version of the original Jetboil and cost about $70 online. The big plus here for him is that it is a self-contained non-stick stove and coffee mug/cook pot all in one, with a coozie, handle, bowl and even a sipper lid. The pot even serves as the holder for the stove and fuel. The compactness is awesome for field use. Please note, we bought the one without the igniter so ours requires a lighter or matches to start. The cook system gets its name based on the extreme flame it puts off, which looks very much like a jet engine burning!

After recently spending a week in the field with his new stove, Mr. Marine said he was boiling 16 oz. of water in about 3-4 minutes, half of which would be used for his meal and the other for his instant coffee. A Jetboil fuel canister costs about $5, and in a week of light usage he still had fuel. Compared to a number of past field stoves, from years of deployments, he found this one to be far superior, primarily because of its compactness, simplicity and rapid cooking speed. The biggest downsides are you have to buy the Jetfuel pre-filled fuel canisters, and he mentioned that the pot gets extremely hot. The sippy lid and coozie are there to protect from the hot metal, so make sure you use it. You won’t forget after the first time you burn your lip!

We intend to eventually buy a couple more and stick them in the bug-out bags. I could also see putting one in the vehicle if I was taking any sort of winter driving trip where we could encounter serious weather. For anyone who preps, camps, hunts, or hikes regularly, the Jetboil Zip is a great stove.

The Importance of Community

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Trace Adams

“You Can’t Do It Alone”

I consider myself, and our family, to be pretty well prepared for most eventualities. I’ve evaluated our needs and tried to plan our preps accordingly, including building in redundancies. I’ve also considered the emergencies/disasters, big and small, that we may have to deal with and tried to plan for them. Not only have we acquired much of the proper equipment we’d need, but we’ve also developed many of the required skill-sets, and mental attitudes.

But on Thanksgiving day The Universe took the time to clearly teach me:

1. YOU CAN NOT BE PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING
2. YOU CAN NOT THINK OF EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR
(and most importantly)
3. YOU WILL NEED HELP FROM OTHERS

In an accidental incident–that even though I know how I did it, I’m still not sure how I did it–I got my car stuck between a rock and a hard place. Literally.

Ryan and I were in my Hyundai Accent, driving to meet with family in West Seattle (Sarah had gone up earlier). The house is in an older neighborhood and difficult to find, so we were following the iPhone mapping directions. We were almost there and the map showed that the road we were on went through, when in fact it didn’t. We turned where we thought we were supposed to, driving up a very steep, narrow road (that ended up being a paved driveway). When we got to the top we realized our error, and I began backing down.

It was kind of slippery from the recent rain and wet leaves. There was an angled turn-off and decided to use it to turn around and drive down correctly. The angle of the turnout was more than I expected, and it was also steeper; as I backed up the tires began to spin on the wet pavement and leaves. I decided I had gone far enough, put it in 1st gear and tried to turn down the hill. Not enough yet, so reverse again, tires slipping, not much progress. I cranked the wheel hard to the left, back into 1st gear and, inadvertently, drove over the side of the turnout — there was the associated grinding and scraping as I went over the large rocks that bordered the driveway. The car was now almost perpendicular across the driveway with the front of the car against the fence (fortunately a 6×6 fence post). Back into reverse, to straighten the car out out, and…nothing? Tires spinning. What? We got out and discovered that the rear of the car was hanging by the bumper on the large rocks and the back tires were about four inches off the ground.

Ryan and I stood back to survey the scene. The front of the car was wedged against the fence post, and the back of the car was stuck on top of, and against, these large rocks. I was sort of stunned, I felt incredibly stupid, wished there was some way I could blame Ryan, and really wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this.

We opened the back, which contains our car bug out bag (BOB), a large crowbar, a wool blanket, and a scissor jack — those are the tools we had to work with. I pulled out the crowbar and looked around, there was no way to pry or lift or anything, I put it back. I got out the jack to see if there was anyway I could lift the car up off the rocks — but I couldn’t see anyway to do it safely that wouldn’t cause more damage to the car (and likely us).

Ryan and I tried to see if we could lift up the rear end (it’s a sub-compact), but all we did was raise up the shocks. I really had no idea what to do, I knew I should call Sarah and let her know what had happened but I really wanted a to come up with a solution before I did. I considered a tow truck, but knew since it was a holiday it would take forever, and I wasn’t sure what even a tow truck could do.

I called Sarah and she send down her brother (David) and cousin’s husband (Chason). They got there soon after, evaluated the situation, and we debated. We decided, with the additional help, to again try and lift up the back of the car off the rocks and swing it around to the correct angle. The four of us lifted, and still no luck, but it looked like the idea had potential. Chason went back to get more help and David (helpfully) suggested it as a topic for the blog.

Soon afterward all the able bodied men from the Thanksgiving gathering were there to help. We positioned ourselves around the back end of the car, being as safe and careful as possible, and were able to lift the car off the rocks and move it into the needed position. Fortunately there was almost no damage to the car, and the fence would only need very minor repairs (we left a note on the residence explaining what happened).

Once successful, and with everyone chuckling about what had happened, we all went up to enjoy a Thanksgiving day with family. My place in the family Thanksgiving lore had been ensured.

Take Away Lesson
I could not have handled this alone. I had never considered this situation happening, and had no preparations in place to deal with it. Had this been during a disaster when emergency services wouldn’t be available the only way this could have been done is with the help from others. Without that help the only option would have been to abandon the car and walk, which in bad weather or with people unable to walk far, could be dangerous or even life-threatening.

Develop community around you. Develop strong relationships with your family and friends. Get to know you neighbors around you so you can ask for, and provide, help for them.

No one can do it alone — that plan will fail.

What We Did This Week To Prep 11/9/12

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Trace Adams

Since we’ve added a Ford F350 truck to our household we needed to get a bug out bag (BOB) in it. We’ve got top-notch ones in each of our two primary, daily use, vehicles; then a pretty good one in the Jeep CJ-7. We took the one from the Jeep and put it in the truck. Now Ryan (my 18 y/o son), who is now the primary driver of the Jeep, is in the process of building his own BOB. He has a Maxpedition Vulture II pack and we’ve gathered some stuff for his kit; he’s got a decent start and has made a list of items to round it out. It’ll be good for him to build his own BOB so that when he goes off on his own he’ll have his kit that he knows and has confidence in.

It was interesting seeing all the views of my blog during and after Hurricane Sandy. It got double the hits in that week than I get in an average month. It’s ironic how being prepared all of a sudden becomes “common sense” when a disaster is on the way (or after it has already struck…). It’s also interesting to see which posts people are searching/reading. In the near future I’m going to add a new page that has a list of all of the top viewed posts that people seem to find the most valuable. By far the most popular post during this time was How To Wire Your Gas Furnace To A Generator by guest contributor Rick Brodersen; it received hundreds of views daily. Plus Rick has been a great resource, he has personally answered each of the comments in the section and has been directly responsible for several people being able to heat their homes when their power was out.

Last spring Momma Bear wrote a post entitled Home-Made Reusable Sanitary Napkins. It was a valuable topic that may, one day, be very relevant to almost half of our population. Recently “Kate” wrote in the comments section of that post about menstrual cups. Her knowledge and experience were quite extensive and she wrote a great summary. I contacted her and asked her if she’d be willing to write it as a blog post for us and she pleasantly agreed. So Monday (10/12) I’ll post the first of her two-part article on menstrual cups; first-hand knowledge is always invaluable.

Well the time for having baby rabbits came and went. Apparently, despite some maternal indications, Clover was not pregnant. She did gain weight (though we fed her more thinking she was pregnant) and she did go through a nesting phase, but no babies. Apparently it’s not that easy to tell when a rabbit is pregnant, and determining it mostly comes down to experience and knowledge (neither which we have yet). So this weekend we’ll try breeding our other doe, Artemis. I’ve done some additional reading and feel more confident about how to maximize our chances of fertilization. Who ever thought breeding rabbits would be hard??

What did you do?

Product Review: Meal Kit Supply MREs

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Trace Adams

After Momma Bear’s post on MREs (meals ready to eat) we decided we wanted to add more MREs to our preps. We have a couple of cases but, with a family of six, those would go quickly. We decided that we should have one case for each person — eating two MREs a day, this would last six days.

The ones we currently have I bought from a military surplus store. They were already a couple of years old, I have no idea what conditions (temperatures) they had been stored at, and they cost $70 a case. So I was looking for another source when, coincidentally, I was contacted by Meal Kit Supply (after they saw Momma Bear’s post), and asked if I would consider reviewing their product. I said that I would, and a few days later a case of MREs arrived in the mail.

Like Momma Bear said, MREs have improved substantially over the years. My first MRE was in USMC boot camp in February 1986, and if you were starving (and we were) they were…okay. When I went back into the National Guard in 1996, it was obvious they’d done some work to improve them — and they were better. (The last MRE I ate was in 1999.)

When we opened the case from Meal Kit Supply the first thing I noticed is that they were packaged in clear, heavy-duty, plastic bags (instead of the tan military ones). That was kind of cool.

I wanted to get the whole family in on the sampling/reviewing. I wanted them to be familiar with the meals, including how to use the Flameless Ration Heater. So we randomly grabbed six out of the case (case of 12). Instead of trying to explain to them how to use the Heaters I chose to let them watch the video on the Meal Kit Supply website and then see how easy it was to follow the instructions.

Then, in the kitchen, we each opened an MRE. I explained that each had an entrée, side dish, dessert, bread/cracker, spread, beverage, spoon, and condiment packet, and I had everyone identify what they got in their meals. We then, without any issues, activated our Flameless Ration Heater to heat our entrée and then set it aside (it takes about 10 minutes to warm up). We sampled, and then let everyone else try, our bread or crackers with the included peanut butter, jelly, or cheese spread. Once the meals were warm we each went around and allowed everyone else to sample our entrée and side dishes so we each tried everything.

Now I need to mention that my kids (ages 18, 15, 13, 11) aren’t that picky when it comes to eating; they know if it’s put in front of them that’s what’s for dinner and there’s no “I’m not eating this” nonsense. But, overall, Sarah and the kids liked them, and were pleased with the diversity and flavors. Personally I was very impressed with the freshness and overall quality of the food and flavors. Maybe it was the years since I’d last had one, but I remembered them being much less flavorful and more stale tasting.

Once we were done eating we discussed each of them, recorded comments, and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=terrible, 3=not bad at all, 5=pretty darn good). So of the random six we had eaten, here’s our menus (menus may vary), comments and average scores:

Spaghetti, Potatoes Au Gratin, Carrot Pound Cake, Cracker, Cheese Spread, Grape Electrolyte Drink Powder (EDP), Cocoa Beverage Powder (CBP): “Spaghetti wasn’t bad, but noodles were kind of mushy” / “Cheesy potatoes were pretty dang good” — SCORE: 3.58
Chicken with Noodles, Fried Rice, Vanilla Pudding, Cracker, Peanut Butter, Grape (EDP), CBP: “Not bad” / “Chicken tastes normal” / “Chicken was really good” / “Rice was flavorless and mushy” / “Vanilla pudding was pretty darn good” / “Grape beverage was very good” — SCORE: 3.67
Vegetable Lasagna, Applesauce, Fudge Brownie, Wheat Snack Bread, Cheese Spread, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Slightly disappointed with the lasagna” / “Lasagna didn’t quite taste right” / “Need to add flavor to lasagna” / “Brownie wasn’t bad” / “Brownie was pretty tasty” — SCORE: 3.25
Chicken with Feta, Potato Cheddar Soup, Chocolate Pudding, Cracker, Peanut Butter, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Chicken with feta was really good” / “Chicken entree was very good” / “Soup was very good, yea very good” / “Pudding was yuck” / “Pudding wasn’t great, but would be better warmed up” / “I like the juice” — SCORE: 4.08
Pork Sausage Patty, Hash Browns with Bacon, Strawberry Toaster Pastry, Wheat Snack Bread, Peanut Butter, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Pork was too sweet” / “Pork tasted like real sausage” / “Bacon was nice in the hash browns” / “It’d be a nice breakfast.” — SCORE: 3.58
Apple Maple Rolled Oats, Hash Browns with Bacon, Nut Raisin Mix with Chocolate Chips, Wheat Bread Snack, Blackberry Jam, Fruit Punch (EDP), CBP: “Oatmeal had good flavor” / “Mixing in the nuts and stuff in the oatmeal was a good idea” / “Oatmeal was mushy” / “It’d be an odd dinner” / “Blackberry jam was good” — SCORE: 3.33

So Chicken with Feta was the top score and the Vegetable Lasagna was the bottom. But nothing was below 3.25 which is in the “not bad at all” range. Everyone commented that there was nothing they wouldn’t eat, and with some time and creativity they’d be even better.

Pet Approved!

There are many sources for MREs. My only hesitation about Meal Kit Supply’s is that they are a little bit more expensive than some others, at $124.95 for a case of 12 (though that price does include shipping the 22 pound case). But their MREs are guaranteed to be fresh, they are built to military standards but use premium components. And they actually make them themselves overseeing each step of the process, they’re not just the distributors.

MREs are the perfect ‘Week 1 Food’ in a disaster: they’re pre-cooked, mobile, and ready to eat. Meal Kit Supply MREs are 100% U.S. Military food components — the same as the military uses. Now I suppose you could say that’s good or bad, but at least there is a consistent base to compare them to. I was happy with Meal Kit Supply’s service, their MRE’s taste, and was very pleased with the freshness.

Momma Bear: MRE’s For Your Preps?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Trace Adams

‘Meals Refused by Everyone’ is a not-so-affectionate term for Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). MREs are the field rations that our military eats whenever they are out training or on military operations. Though some preppers have chosen to stock up on cases of MREs, there are many who have avoided MREs due to their mystery and the stereotype of bad military food. Having grown up with a step-dad who served in Vietnam (and into the 1980’s), I was pretty familiar with the old school military C-Rations, which came in cans and required the use of a small personal can opener. The only redeeming quality found in those early rations was the cardboard like caffeine-laden chocolate bar that I loved. But today’s MREs are not only much better tasting, but have a better variety of foods, and meet a rigorous nutritional standard.

An MRE is made up of roughly 1300 calories: 169 grams of carbs, 41 grams of protein, and 50 grams of fat. Yes, that is a LOT of carbs and fat! But remember that this nutritional standard was designed for our military, classified as ultra-athletes, “exercising” in a combat environment. A typical MRE is made up of a: main course, side dish (fruit/vegetable usually), bread or snack item (pound cake, tortillas, crackers, candy, peanut butter, jelly, etc.), beverage of some sort (coffee, tea, kool-aid, an electrolyte-type drink, and/or hot cocoa), matches, gum, condiments, and a spoon.

They come in a sealed plastic package and weigh 1.5 pounds. They also contain a “flameless ration heater”, a chemical pouch that heats up when activated with water, to heat your main course. The average service member only consumes about one or two of these a day, because they are just too dense to eat as three square meals. Also, most service members “field strip” their MREs down to the parts they know they are going to use to reduce their bulk.

There are 24 MRE menus. The meals come in two case lots: menus 1-12 and 13-24 (and include specific vegetarian and religious meals). MREs are considered to be shelf stable for six months at 100 degrees and three years at 80 degrees (see side bar chart). There are two ways that packaging dates are listed on MRE cases: 1) A standard pack date (as shown in the photo of a military issued case) and 2) A numeric date, listing the last digit of the year followed by the Julian date of packaging (so my husband’s same box is: 0200, meaning it was packed on the 200^th day of 2010). Currently, the military uses three manufacturers for production of MREs: Wornick Company, SOPAKCO, and AmeriQual; I mention this because there are a lot of pseudo-MREs out there.

My husband unofficially rates MRE’s in three categories: good, okay and nasty. His “goods” include: chili with beans, beef ravioli, chicken with noodles, chili & macaroni, spicy penne pasta w vegetarian sausage. His “okays”: meatballs with marinara, cheese tortellini, beef patty, spaghetti with meat sauce. And his “nastys”: beef brisket and beef stew. These are his ratings, I’ll ask around in the next few months for some reviews by my husband’s troops. Personally, I find the spicy types of MREs to cause killer heartburn, and I wouldn’t want to be in the field without a good antacid! Though the meals claim to be balanced in the fiber department they need to be consumed with sufficient water, or they will literally leave you in a “bind”. But overall–as long as you are not eating more than two a day–they are a good, handy meal that certainly has a place in most preppers’ food storage and Bug-Out Bags.

Also of mention, the MRE heavy plastic pouch itself is extremely durable and can be used for holding/carrying water. While the packaging is not currently being recycled or made from recycled materials, the package does certainly have multiple uses that are only limited by the imagination. While serving in Somalia, my husband reported that the local children would salvage the packages out of the trash to be used as shingles on their homes.

The Operational Rations of the Department of Defense provides a pdf file that gives the entire background on MREs, and includes the complete menus for 2011 and 2012.

Momma Bear’s August Preps

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Trace Adams

August has been madhouse crazy for us with plenty of work and personal commitments. We have not done as much prepping as I would like. BUT, when we are too busy for physical preps I can always use the time to learn new things. This month’s field of study focused on EMP’s. I found two sites to be particularly informative. The first, The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, includes two reports that describe the recommendations for how we should prepare for an EMP strike. It is interesting to read, because you quickly grasp that this report was essentially poo-poo’d by our government and we remain ridiculously unprepared for such an attack. The second is a website that talks about home-made faraday cages designed to protect small electronic devices. After reading this, my son and I built a small faraday cage out of an old microwave; then placed our small shortwave radio inside.

This month we also made a few purchases. Following Trace and Sarah’s lead, we ordered the Duracell 813-0807 800 Watt DC to AC Digital Power Inverter. For the time being, we have opted not to buy a generator and this will be our interim solution. With three vehicles, we can surely spare one to power some things here at home. My second purchase was a ham radio. We are absolute beginners with ham radios and are not really looking to broadcast (just to receive information from a distance in an emergency), so we opted for a small, inexpensive hand-held model. We ordered the BaoFeng UV-5R 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band DTMF CTCSS DCS FM Ham Two Way Radio, for less than $60. There is a more basic model available, but after reading some reviews we felt this one was a better choice. All that said, even this basic model is a complex item that is going to take some research to understand. Thankfully, there is always the internet and YouTube to answer our questions. And, of course, once we get this thing mastered it will also be going into the faraday cage. Our goal is that eventually all the BOB’s will have either shortwave or ham radios in them as well. I will report back next month on how the ham radio learning is going!

Last for this month, I continue to harvest tomatoes as they ripen and can them as tomatoes, salsa or ketchup. We have finally gotten over the real HEAT of the summer here so the garden isn’t quite so “needy” any more. We currently have green onions, cilantro, and baby spinach coming up in containers. These are probably our most eaten/purchased vegetables so we are really enjoying the fruits of our labor at the moment!

How did your month go, and how’s your garden growing?

(Monday: September is National Preparedness Month)

Momma Bear: Our Favorite Military Things

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Trace Adams

Just to clarify (again), being in the military is NOT synonymous with being a prepper. But, it does give you an edge on preparedness. So, I thought I would highlight some of our family’s favorite military items that we use and have in our GOOD (Get Out of Dodge*) bags and/or car kits.

Military boots have come a LONG way since Vietnam and even Desert Storm. There are a number of “military-approved manufacturers” these days and the boots come in a variety of styles to fit the working conditions. Gone are the days of just “steel toe” or “no steel toe”. There are quality boots for hot weather, cold weather, ultra lightweight, steel toe, and everything in between. The least expensive cost about $100. My husband’s favorites (and mind you, shoes/boots are a very personal choice) are the Bates Durashocks Hot Weather boot, which run about $140. These are a medium weight, suede boot in a natural leather color. He wears these even in cold weather because he says the cold weather boots make your feet sweat unless temperatures constantly stay below 35 degrees. Around military bases there are still shoe repair places (cobblers), so it is common to have your favorite boots resoled and repaired rather than buying new ones.

When it comes to staying warm and dry, layering is the best method. Two invaluable items, in the military, for this are: Gore-Tex and liners. Gore-Tex is a high-end trademarked fabric used for making outer apparel water-proof and breathable. Most commonly you will see these as big, hooded camo jackets with matching pants. These can be expensive when purchased for personal use, but can be found used and are truly worth their weight in gold. The second component, which you can also find used–and these are inexpensive–are the jacket and pants liners. These are made of a ‘poofy’, olive drab, quilted fabric very similar to a parachute. They are very light weight, easy to compress, and excellent for layering under coats. We purchased a 10-pack of used jacket liners for about $35, including shipping, from eBay. I personally am terrible about NOT wearing coats, even in the winter, so I keep a couple of these stashed in my kit in the trunk of my car.

The last thing I will mention is the military poncho liner, affectionately known in the military as a “wooby”. It is made from the same parachute type quilted fabric as the jacket/pants liners. It is also easy to compress and pack along. BUT, in my opinion, it’s greatest strength is that things don’t stick to it. That means I can use it in sand or dirt, then just pick it up and shake it off. Even pet fur tends to just slide right off. Also it will not only keep you warm, but when used in a warm climate it feels cool against your skin (you won’t sweat up against it). Since the military changed to a digital camo pattern, there are plenty of these for sale in the outdated “woodland” camo pattern. They can be found online from about $10-30. Our family owns several, keeps them in our GOOD Bags, and also packs them along whenever we travel.

All of these items are easy to find online through military supply sites, or eBay. Most of them originally came from military sources; when the military discontinues items, they put them up at bulk auctions and people buy them in large lots (for example “400 mixed size jacket liners”). Dealers will buy these large quantities and then resell them in smaller lots or even individually, thus giving you access to genuine military-issue gear.

Building a good GOOD kit/BOB doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, even when it comes to things to keep you warm and dry. You can get some pretty good deals using old military surplus items. Imagine, your very own veteran wooby could be just a mouse click away!

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

*A complete list of acronyms used can be found in the ‘Check Here…‘ tab at the top of the page.

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/20/12

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Trace Adams

Packing For The Trip

Not much happened this week, prepping-wise, because we were in Colorado visiting family for a chunk of it. Sarah and I went down for five days with the kids, and the kids are staying another week with their grandparents and cousins.

When I was packing for this trip–as I did for our Las Vegas trip last month–I pondered what I could bring to help me be as prepared as possible while traveling. Obviously on any trip like this you can’t prepare for a major disaster (if you think there is likely to be a major disaster maybe it’d be better to just stay home); you can be more prepared for minor problems though, and minor problems are far more likely to happen. We try to avoid checking bags, both because it’s a hassle and most of the time costs extra; so we’re more limited to what we can bring. Since we were going to be staying with my parents I wondered if I really needed to bring much of anything. Then I remembered that we were going to be renting a vehicle and doing a lot of driving around, and of course there wouldn’t be anything extra in a rental vehicle.

So I started with our ‘five basic needs’.

Food: I kept the four power bars in my bag, but on a trip like this going without food isn’t too big of a risk.
Water: I have a 3-liter CamelBak and a 750 ml water bottle in my pack (redundant). Enough for a day trip for myself and to share as needed. The kids each had their own water bottles.
Shelter: It’s summer so I took out the fleece jacket, rain jacket, and warm gloves, but I left in the thermal shirt and stocking cap. I also had leather work gloves and a small tarp.
Security: Again with just carry-on luggage you’re very limited: no knives, no pepper spray, no firearms. I do carry a heavy chain with my pack to secure luggage as needed, it could be used as a weapon if necessary.
Energy: I have a flashlight and a headlamp in my pack, both use AAA batteries; I also have extra AAA batteries and a cell phone charger. I took my fire starting kit out, but left in a couple of lighters.
Medical (6th basic need?): I have my personal trauma kit and then a back-up first aid kit with extra supplies. Excessive? Maybe. But I do have the knowledge and training to take care for those around me and I’m the one everyone will come to. I also carry a sampling of OTC meds.
Hygiene: I always have a towel (per Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), a ziplock bag of wet ones, and some antibacterial wipes.
Miscellaneous: I have a few basic hand tools, zip ties, some duct tape, para cord, paper and pens, and a couple carabiners.

My bag is always checked VERY closely by the TSA, but it’s now been vetted in the Seattle, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs airports. And yes, in addition to this I did fit my clothes. After years in the military, and long motorcycle trips, I have learned to pack lightly and very compactly. I can fit most of my clothes in an Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube which fits nicely in my pack’s main pocket.

Also this week, the hand washing laundry stuff we ordered arrived. We are now proud owners of a Rub-Lite Glass Washboard and a Rapid Washer. Next month we’ll get a couple of wash tubs and probably a hand wringer. Then we’ll be ready to start learning that skill set.