Home » Preparedness » Page 17
Most Recent Posts
Don’t consider yourself a prepper? You might just be more prepared than you think. Quite a while ago in CheaperThanDirt.com’s Survival and Preparedness forum, we started a topic about everyday items that could possibly save your life. I suspect surprise from readers by Survivalist Bear Grylls’ suggestions of typical items found in a women’s purse that could come in handy during an emergency. The following list includes some common items women carry in their purses, including a few extra odds and ends from my own purse that will come in handy during an emergency.
Liquor has its place in a post apocalyptic world even if you are a teetotaler. Stock up on cheap, high-content alcohol and add it to your long-term food and gear storage. The best liquor for its many different purposes is Everclear. Everclear made by Luxco is pure grain alcohol. You can purchase Everclear in 95 percent alcohol content or 75.5 percent. The higher alcohol content is more popular and more effective for survival use. Here are my 45 suggestions on survival uses of alcohol.
Statics show the number of kids getting outdoors has been on the decrease for several decades. The good news is it is never too late to let your kids experience the outdoors.
Summertime is the perfect time to introduce a child to the outdoors because kids are out of school and many are desperately looking for ways to combat their boredom. Plus, by mid-summer most parents are seeking inexpensive ways to keep the kiddos entertained. A few backyard survival games maybe just the ticket.
Most survival or prepping blogs and websites—FEMA and CDC included—recommend storing a three day supply of non-perishable food items for emergencies. But what is a three-day supply exactly? Does that mean you need to store three meals a day for each person in your household or does that mean you need to buy three cans of food per person per day? Neither is necessarily correct. Stockpiling a three-day supply of food is a little more complicated than that. To help you get started, Mountain House provides a four-day meal planner. Based on a 3,000 calorie a day diet for one person, Mountain House’s meal planner suggests using a 40:30:30 ratio—a close variation of the recommended percentage mixture of our total needs of carbs, fats and proteins. The meal planner has simple instructions how to plan your meals.
Getting started building a food supply is not difficult, neither is staying on budget, especially if you know what steps to follow. The old saying “the best way to the top of the mountain is to take one small step at a time” is sound advice especially regarding the task of building a supply of food.
The image of a Dutch oven is often associated with camping trips or even chuck wagon cattle drives from days gone by, but the truth is Dutch ovens are still being used by many folks today. In a nutshell, the Dutch oven is a timeless alternative for cooking delicious homemade meals without using electricity and is a perfect tool for the home prepper.
On the night of Wednesday, May 15, 2013, an EF-4 tornado ripped through the North Texas town of Granbury, killing six people and injuring many more. That same night, I was driving home from running errands 72 miles away in Dallas. As I was entering downtown Dallas, my riding partner exclaimed, “Look at that weird car! What is that?” I glanced over to see a car pulling off the highway that appeared to be the Tornado Intercept Vehicle from Discovery Channel’s television show Storm Chasers. Being fully aware these professional guys know more about tornados and severe weather than I do, should I have pulled over as well or kept driving? What are you supposed to do when on the road and a tornado is approaching? Can you outrun a tornado?
Can you pack a 72-hour bug out survival kit in such a small area? You sure can. Working with a small space means you eliminate heavy and unnecessary items. When you gotta get outta Dodge quickly food, water and shelter are your main priorities. These three essentials, plus a few extras all fit in a .50 caliber ammo can. Why an ammo can? Ammo cans take up little space, can be stored virtually anywhere and are stackable. I have seen ammo cans used as center consoles in vehicles and as alternative to saddlebags on motorcycles. An ammo can, be it metal or plastic can withstand temperature extremes and have water-resistant O-ring and gasket seals. So storing them in basements, attics, crawl spaces, and even buried underground means the gear inside stays dry. Metal military surplus ammo cans are durable, while new plastic ammo cans are untraceable to metal detectors—in case you want to cache your gear.
All cicadas are nutritious and tasty. With the emergence of Brood II magicicadas, there will millions of tasty critters ready to be harvest and cooked. Here are some tips for people who have never eaten cicada before. Being able to live off the land is a valuable skill no matter what your situation. When you’re out all day working the fields or stalking dinner through the woods, a couple of fresh cicadas will give you the protein boost that you need to keep on keeping on. And if dinner doesn’t come easy, those cicadas might be your best bet for a decent meal, so you should start trying recipes today in preparation for the future.
Throughout history, people have returned to the barter system when money has become scarce or lost its value. During the Great Depression and a long recession during the 1980s, Americans returned to a system in which people traded goods and services without the exchange of currency. Many Americans are losing faith in the American dollar and believe economic collapse is inevitable. Only time will tell if that will happen, but David A. Stockman, former Republican Congressman and President Ronald Reagan’s budget director has said, “The future is bleak.” If our paper money becomes meaningless do you know how and what to barter?
