Any SHTF'ers in the house?

[A2theK]

Another worthless tip, you may not need to store so much water if you buy a good water purifier. 3 min without air, 3 days without water, three weeks without food and you have flunked the test of life.

jj

No, JustJim is right. Unless you live in a desert. Iodine works fine too or Clorox, but you'll get sick off it after a few weeks.

I use MIOX for water and the best thing is my Night Vision runs off the same batteries. Just keep plenty of CR123s on hand and rock salt. The MIOX ones (by MSR) rock. No pumps - no filters to backflush and a nice fresh taste. SF uses them and people I know who work for Dyncorp.

 

[Sun195]

Another worthless tip, you may not need to store so much water if you buy a good water purifier. 3 min without air, 3 days without water, three weeks without food and you have flunked the test of life.

jj

I have a water filter and a creek running through my property. Still, I like to have enough water on hand. Never know what's running down through the creek - there's a dead raccoon up in a ditch that feeds into another creek by our house (and it don't look fresh, so no using it for chow).

I spent six weeks living out in the the "bush" doing some trail work. We had to filter water for a group of eight & haul it up to our campsite. Filtering water every day is a lot of work; hauling it is even more. I'll rely on my filter if I have to, but would rather not.

Also, filters tend to go t*ts-up at the least opportune time. My last filter decided to die on me during a hike in Eastern Washington in the summer.

 

[Ryan]

man this thread really makes me realize that I don't have a clue......

 

[ch139]

Hopefully I can lay low enough long enough that nobody will see me as a prize to capture before things start normalizing again.

That's about my speed too. Wife and I can bug-out if we have to, but staying in place would make much more sense if our little barrio is safe enough to stay in. We usually have plenty of food and supplies around anyway (it bugs us both to have shelves that are barren, so at least a months worth of everything we normally live off of, sometimes more. There's also extra stuff hidden away that I keep "stealing and stashing" so it's outta sight, outta mind. Got a good supply of TP under the couch already.

Curious what everybody intends to do with the propane they're saving up?

 

[Sun195]

That's been darn scarce for the last 20 years! I even contacted his widow and she couldn't help. Old copies last about 5 minutes at gunshows around here. Check garage sales by shooters widows or places like Powell's (I already check there...zip, nada).

www.abebooks.com has several listed. However, they ain't cheap - ranging in price from $65 to $175 (!)

 

[stitchclimber]

Curious what everybody intends to do with the propane they’re saving up?

Propane grill, propane heater, propane lamps.

I also have plans to purchase a propane generator.

 

[Sun195]

Curious what everybody intends to do with the propane they’re saving up?

Run the BBQ (gotta cook them squirrels somehow) and a few other cooking devices. I already use them for my BBQ, so I just rotate them through for that. Would like to get a 2-burner Coleman stove & adapter. If I had to, I'm pretty sure I could connect one into my existing gas system and run our gas stove & hot water heater.

 

[markw76]

Run the BBQ (gotta cook them squirrels somehow) and a few other cooking devices. I already use them for my BBQ, so I just rotate them through for that. Would like to get a 2-burner Coleman stove & adapter. If I had to, I'm pretty sure I could connect one into my existing gas system and run our gas stove & hot water heater.

Check with a propane dealer or the gas company, the orifices for NG and propane are different sizes.

 

[AGCR]

A friend of mine who does her own garage AK builds formerly called her Kalashnikovs the SHTF backup. Now she's gotten into black powder so she can manufacture pretty much every component on her own as the ultimate SHTF weapon.

 

[markw76]

A friend of mine who does her own garage AK builds formerly called her Kalashnikovs the SHTF backup. Now she's gotten into black powder so she can manufacture pretty much every component on her own as the ultimate SHTF weapon.

Don't let that one get away!

 

[korntera]

I have been meaning to prepare a little better, currently I have around 1k AR and AK rounds loaded and ready to go and a lot more in reserve, one magazine with armor peircing rounds just in case there are some well prepared looters too but as of yet only 5 gallons of gas and no food or water for more than a day or two :-(

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Curious what everybody intends to do with the propane they’re saving up?

You mean like later after the squrrel-zombies are all dispatched? I have a two-burner prop. stove and a catalytic heater, both run off the little green bombs.

Every time some thing happens such as big ice storm or power out in close communities I'll pick up a couple more and add 'em to the stockpile.

I wonder what the shelf life of the things are?

Another good area to be prepared in is manually operated utinsils such as can openers, coffee grinders, and the like.

Some time ago during one power outage I realized there was no decent way to convert the coffee from whole beans to make coffee. Even when you're being thoughtful there's nothing like actually getting out and relying on the gear to find out how it works and what's missing.

 

[stitchclimber]

Shelf life of propane is nearly indefinite. The tanks can't be refiled if they are more than 10 years old.

 

[Sea_Chicken]

Soon as I move back to WA I plan on stocking up to have a couple months of food water and ammo for peace of mind.

 

[Just Jim]

Myself and some of the other oldtimers were talking on the way home from the gunshow. The topic of conversation was about people being prepared and the main question was, with all the people around now what happens when their preparations run out?? Food for thought.

jj

 

[stitchclimber]

I think the hope is that a SHTF scenario only lasts a short time.

 

[Just Jim]

History of a depression like you are about to go through tells us that they will last a long time. Especialy since our government has acheived such a high state of corruption. SHTF is here and most people don't even see it yet.

jj

 

[PeakResources]

The hope is that SHTF is a temporary period. Either services are restored, or order rises out of the chaos even without traditional government and private services. Since I live in an urban environment, I expect one of the two above items would happen within a couple months. If power isn't back on and traditional order restored, I expect someone (perhaps even myself) would start organizing for safety & security, helping get local food & heat supplies going, etc. It's a bit optimistic to think these things would be up and running productively even within a year, but you gotta try.

For me, I have a big berkey water filter for water, some (not enough) food, and some weapons. I'm trying to stock up on bulk foods that store well. I also believe my family could keep reasonably warm in our home if the power went out. I also like to have printed books on hand for knowledge, propane and long-lasting LED lights, a propane stove, etc. If things get really bad, I have a diesel SUV (with no electronics) we could jump in and try to bug out, but I think that's a poor option compared to staying put.

The Northwest has it pretty good IMO. We have plentiful water supplies (i.e. rain / rivers), good power via hydroelectric, good farmland that is watered well from the aforementioned rain, and a not-too-dense population. We also have many survival conscious people around who could possibly teach us how to change our lifestyles if we sustained a major energy shock or natural disaster that lasted longer than a couple weeks.

BTW, this thread has been useful for me. I'm going to pick up a manual coffee grinder per the previous post, and am looking into the Mountain Home foods. Keep the good practical advice coming.

 

[Just Jim]

Problem with being a survivalist is people see you as a doom and gloom type person and they don't want to think about what it will take to survive. It is a natural thing to shoot the messenger when he brings bad news.

Long ago people were talking about what is happening today with our economy and those people started changeing their lifestyles to adapt to what they knew was comming. The rest of the world laughed and said it could never happen back then and used events like the turn of the century to make survivalist look foolish.

Today as we slip into the deepest depresion this country has ever seen people still call survivalist "fear mongers" and such but quietly they build their own stockpiles.

It can all be stopped real quick but the corruption won't allow it. Watch it before your eyes and see what is going to happen...

Just the first to fall, go to http://www.drudgereport.com/ and read about it...

Iceland's senior minister resigns as government becomes first global political casualty of the credit crunch.

You are going to get a first hand SHTF in your lifetime, be happy you are smart enough to arm yourself to protect your family.

Sorry for the bleak picture but in my opinion it's pretty grim right now.

jj

 

[Sun195]

I have been meaning to prepare a little better, currently I have around 1k AR and AK rounds loaded and ready to go and a lot more in reserve, one magazine with armor peircing rounds just in case there are some well prepared looters too but as of yet only 5 gallons of gas and no food or water for more than a day or two :-(

I think there are two good ways to get started: first, buy some extra food every time you go to the grocery store. If pasta sauce is 2/$5, then buy two of em and stick one of them in the far-back of the pantry. You'll build up a supply of extra food in no time and it'll be stuff you like to eat.

The other way is to buy one of those <broken link removed> that the Red Cross (and others) sell. These have a food bar, water and various other handy items in them. You won't be living large, but at least you'll be living. These are good for the car or to have at work.

Beyond that, I actually like the SOS-type food bars and water packets. These things last for five years, are durable and compact, and don't taste all that bad. They typically come in 2400- and 3600-calorie sizes. This should keep you going for a day at a time. Also makes it simple to figure out how many you need (X bars for Y people over Z days...) and probably makes rationing easier since one bar = one day for one person. While I have calorie counts for my bulk freeze dried food, I can imagine it'd be easy to blow through lots of food in times of stress w/o thinking about eating just what I need. The water packets, while small, are also easy to transport and share with people. I think it prudent to rotate non-treated water stockpiles every 6~ months (which is a pain) - these packets last for five years, so you always have "some" water handy.

Going further, I like the Mountain Housing #10 cans as these last for 25-30 years. Just buy a case, shove it in your garage, and chances are it'll be ready for you when you need it. Also, I'm already used to Mountain House foods as this is what I eat when I go hiking - no surprises on what they'll taste like. Downside is that you will need water to reconstitute and a heat source to cook.

I haven't gotten to the point of storing wheat, honey, dried milk and salt - another approach. These items also store for a long time in bulk and can be turned into almost anything. I've read about this approach and am interested in exploring it, but right now, I feel comfortable with my SOS/Mountain House/MRE stockpile.

Speaking of MREs, this is another approach to take. Given the right conditions, they'll last close to 10 years. They also make rationing and distribution easy as one packet = one (large) meal. I have these, but I'm a little apprehensive about this approach as I don't eat a lot of MREs normally and not sure about how I'll like them. Although, push-comes-to-shove, I'm sure they'd be fine.

You'll notice that I've mentioned expirations and rotating of supplies. I believe this is an important thing for your emergency prep supplies. I know that some folks will let a can of whatever go for 10+ years and be fine eating it. However, I'm not willing to risk my food/water going bad - if SHTF, I'll have other things to worry about and don't want to wonder whether my food is still edible. I just don't want to risk it; others are more comfortable with this risk. YMMV.

Another issue is medical supplies. If you depend on certain medicines, try to stockpile some extra (if possible). For example, I rely on insulin and I've had my doctor prescribe a bit extra. I'm good about refilling on-time, so I've got a bit of a stockpile now. You'll also want first-aid supplies. I don't think the box-o-band-aids is sufficient for things you might encounter in an emergency. I like to have more trauma-type dressings available. I think <broken link removed> make a nice trauma kit that will supplement your standard first aid kid. I also think it prudent to have medicines for diarrhea, upset stomach, pain and whatever else ails you.

Sanitation is another thing to consider. The poor folks in the Katrina disaster were wandering around in who-knows-what kind of water. I think having a way to clean-up is important. Purell is a good thing to have on hand. Bleach is also helpful.