Any other "preppers"?

[mamabearCali]

Don't forget even on the 3 day to 2 weeks situation there are some skills that you should pick up along the way in addition to some cans of food. #1 Do you know how to cook over a fire? #2 Do you know how to cook at all (many people can't so much as make a tortilla on their own)? #3 Do you know how to wash dishes by hand (stupid question, but some people don't) #4 Do you know how to make a light source. Nights get very lonely without some light and after a few days your candles may run out and your flashlight may die. There is a very simple way to make an oil lamp from used olive oil, a piece of denim, a wire, and a wide mouth jar. It burns clean and bright and uses very little oil. I burned one for 3 hours this summer during a thunderstorm and use like 1/16 of a cup of oil. #5 Do you know some basic first aid? #6 Do you know how to control a camp fire? There are more but I digress.

So by all means set aside some canned goods and some easy mac. But don't skrimp on the skills. They are important in difficult times as well.

[SQLGeek]

I think anyone living on the gulf coast should be prepared to take care of themselves from 3 days to 2 weeks with out any outside help, and I'm not talking about eating spam and beenie weenies for 2 weeks, with a little effort of buying double what you normally buy when it's on sale and adding it to your pantry rotation, buying another bottle of propane for the gas grill, little things add up..

Absolutely. TS Don opened our eyes to how much we still needed. We went shopping on Saturday to stock up a bin with food and supplies. A few more things and we will have a rounded out in place hurricane kit.

Fortunately I ate least had plenty of 9mm and 12 GA shells to keep out the riff raff.

[USA1]

Lets talk water. You can go for a while with little or no food, but having enough water is essential for survival.

Ideally you should have plenty of fresh drinking water stored, but more importantly you should know methods of water purification. Some things that will prove invaluable to have are water purification tablets, coffee filters, and a hand operated ceramic water filtering pump.

Chemical tablets: Water purification tablets employ chemicals, usually iodine, to kill harmful bacteria. Tablets are easy, inexpensive, and quick, but can affect the taste of the water. Tablets also have a limited shelf life — six months once the bottle is opened.

Filters: With a filter, you simply pump or pour water from the source into a container. The filter mechanically removes protozoa and bacteria, and you are usually good to go. If the filter also has an iodine system built-in, it will kill viruses too.

Hand operated ceramic water filtering pump: This filter's purpose is to strain out microscopic contaminants, rendering water clear and somewhat pure, depending on the size of the filter's pores — what manufacturers call pore-size efficiency. A filter with a rating of one micron or smaller will remove protozoa like giardia and cryptosporidium, as well as parasitic eggs and larvae, but it takes a pore-size efficiency of less than 0.4 microns to remove bacteria. (A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter — you can't see it with the naked eye.)

This type of filter weighs less than 20 ounces and is easy to grasp, simple to use, and a snap to clean and maintain. At the very least, buy one that removes protozoa and bacteria. (A number of cheap, pocket-sized filters remove only giardia and cryptosporidium, so buying one of these is risking your health to save money.) Consider the filter's flow rate, too: A liter per minute won't leave you dying for a drink.

Then there’s boiling and UV methods. (Boiling is self explanatory). One UV method is the SODIS method.
The SODIS method is very easy to apply: In short, a transparent PET bottle is cleaned with soap. Then, the bottle is filled with water and placed in full sunlight for at least 6 hours. The water has then been disinfected and can be safely consumed.

[mamabearCali]

I had heard, but have not tried this myself, that clorox bleach can be in minute amounts (16 drops per gallon of water) to disinfect water of biological contaminants. That does not do anything for sediment/chemical contaminants but it is a start.

So say you had a water barrel that collected water off the roof of your home (shingles roof). If you clean said water of living contaminants is that water now safe to consume?

[USA1]

I had heard, but have not tried this myself, that clorox bleach can be in minute amounts (16 drops per gallon of water) to disinfect water of biological contaminants.

That's right. Here's the recommended ratios :

2 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per quart of water
8 drops of Regular Clorox Bleach per gallon of water
1/2 teaspoon Regular Clorox Bleach per five gallons of water
If water is cloudy, double the recommended dosages of Clorox Bleach.
Let stand for a while before drinking.

If you think about it, regular tap water contains a relatively large amount of chlorine, so adding bleach in the right dosage is not as crazy as it sounds.

So say you had a water barrel that collected water off the roof of your home (shingles roof). If you clean said water of living contaminants is that water now safe to consume?

Yes, (except after a nuclear or biological event), rain water is naturally pure. But if it sits for any period of time it would need to be purified and sanitized.

[fulano]

This is an interesting site and program. Record a few episodes and you'll get some real insight.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/e ... -6202/blog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[texanron]

Due to the limited amount of storage space at my house I have come up with another way of being a "prepper". I have compiled detailed maps of all the large box stores in my area so when the lights go out I can find everything I need in the dark.

[fulano]

Due to the limited amount of storage space at my house I have come up with another way of being a "prepper". I have compiled detailed maps of all the large box stores in my area so when the lights go out I can find everything I need in the dark.

an apocalyptic 'Wally Walk' ??

[USA1]

Due to the limited amount of storage space at my house I have come up with another way of being a "prepper". I have compiled detailed maps of all the large box stores in my area so when the lights go out I can find everything I need in the dark.

an apocalyptic 'Wally Walk' ??

There's a first time for everything.

[cheezit]

interesting reading for sure. I am not by any real means a true prepper. however after being threw the Northride earthqauake and living outside for a week tring to get life back together far enugh to move back in to a house with in excess of 80k worth of damage tought me a lot, and quickly.
to this day I keep all my camping gear in one spot in the house. among this is 2 makeshift cooking grills, homemade sterno, pots,pans, etc.
I always have canned food in the pantry. enugh for one to two weeks. just the way I live, being just me and the wife. I try to keep an extra 50 lbs bag of dog food too.
My house has 100 gallons of worth of water between both hot water heaters.

I try to keep my fuel tank as full as possible too. that 120 gallons of diesel fuel That can get me between 1800-2200 miles or a few days worth of oil to burn if needed. being that I drive an oil burner fuel is all over the place everything from atf to kerosen to used engine oil if done right.
I also try to keep my small torch tanks full as well. its a great thing to have if you know how to use them. every thing form starting a fire to fixing pipes.

[Dave2]

I try to keep my fuel tank as full as possible too. that 120 gallons of diesel fuel That can get me between 1800-2200 miles

If you don't mind me asking, what do you drive? My car has only has a 20 gallon tank... without the "1" in front of it...

[cheezit]

f250 with a 90 gallon added tank in the bed...

[txjim42]

Just getting started myself, mostly as a function of time and money or lack thereof.

1. Loss of employment - How do I keep the roof overhead and family fed? This mostly involves financial diligence and personal development. Save what I can, don't spend more than I have, keep job skills current and relevant. Lifestyle, work on this now/everyday...

2. Tornado/fire - Living in tornado alley and fire are likely risks. Can't fit 6 people, dog, cat and whatever in the mattress-covered bath-tub. Small house so "safe-room and shelters" will be difficult... Bigger house/property would be nice, but not feasible at this time. Basement would be cool, but not likely in Texas. Figuring out how to keep a few days/weeks worth of critical supplies, meds, food, papers, etc nailed down/available in the space I have, whatever might be needed to recover from the house being in the "path." Considering low-profile water resistant/proof tool/lock-boxes of some sort attached to foundation with the critical stuff locked within. Perhaps somewhere least likely to blow-away, get crushed, melt or get water-logged by fire-hoses. Work in progress...

3. End of world/social break-down, return of Mad-Max etc... TBD.

Did see an interesting thread once on using pool-shock to make chlorine for mass water purification. Box of Calcium Hypochlorite for $20 or something would make 600+ gallons of bleach or something to that effect. -Calcium-, not Sodium.

[Jules]

When I started prepping the first thing I did was get together a first aid kit, and not a store bought kit. Then I raided the travel size area of wally world for my bug out bag. I put together a list of things that I would need/want for three days at minimum to 5 days maximum.

Once I got my bug out bag situated I made another one for my wife. Then I basically multiplied it by ten, that way I would have a months worth of things stored. Well apparently multiplying it by ten wasn't enough for me, I now have a minimum of four months worth of fuel, food, water and other necessities in my prepping/gun/hunting room. At first it was a little overwhelming looking at the financial burden of getting everything I wanted. I put 100$ a week towards it at first, after a couple months I couldn't believe all I had. Now I just pick up things that I think of when I go to the store, or order little things from cheaper than dirt when I see a good deal on something.

I would say the first step of prepping would be making a good list. The second thing I would do, would be to include your significant other. My wife lived on Galveston when Ike hit so she was easy to convince that we needed lots of supplies. After I thought I had a good B.O.B we went camping and only took the BOB's. All I have to say is I was way under prepared and went back to the drawing boards.

I've been prepping since last November and could probably survive 4-6 months before I began to run out. If I was to bug out to the family farm I could take everything I have in one pickup truck load, granted we are both 23 and only "kid" we have is my pit bull. I don't have three kids and 2 dogs like a lot of people so my preparations were a little easier and cheaper to prepare.

[mamabearCali]

Having kids adds a whole other dimension to the situation.