Another Great Giveaway!!

Check out the great giveaway, and other informative postings, at Preparedness Pantry : http://preparednesspantry.blogspot.com/ or to get right to the giveaway page, use the button on this blog!

Their great new Mexican Food combo is the featured item-- a full case of fiesta goodness, including rice, refritos, beans, onion, corn and a delicious TVP taco filling! Even if you don't win, this high-protein combo is a bargain for long-term storage at this price.

Cache O'Le

The recent scenes of tornado devastation reminded me of a past post at survivalblog. There are other posts on the web as well that provide information about packaging preparedness supplies and burying them in a location that allows you to find them when you need them. In tornado country, that could be as simple as your back yard.

You need to be a bit inventive about how to find them again if all the local landmarks, including trees, are blown away. In addition to a waterproof and vermin-proof container, you will probably need to have them in a shallow spot in some sort of non-degradable mesh bag (like a big bag from oranges or a large nylon mesh laundrybag) that will allow you to find the mesh with only hand digging, then pull the bag, with the container inside, up to the surface. Hey, it's your yard so put a couple of stepping stones over it to hide the disturbed soil and call it done!

Imagine if you find yourself with absolutely nothing but the concrete foundation of your home (Oohh!! landmark!). Many people in the southeast and mid-west US have had this experience in the last month or two. Wouldn't it be lovely to have easy access to your recycled bakery 5-gallon bucket (with the water-tight screw-on Gamma seal lid) containing a change of clothes and shoes, toiletries, freeze dried food, a water filter and collapsible container, and $200 in cash! It doesn't need to be quite as fancy as the one described in the post, and the contents could be enough to give you the strength you need to persevere.

Institutional food, Yes or No?

We don't have the big warehouse stores around here, like Costco or Sam's, but one of the local chains has an aisle with #10 cans of 'institutional' food, like beans, fruit, spaghetti sauce, strawberry gelatin mix, beef chunks -- you get the idea. Depending on your situation, a few of these may be a reasonable option for your preparedness stores.
These provide several benefits. They are usually ready to eat, provided you don't mind them at room temp. There is usually no need to re-hydrate or cook unless it is a dessert or gravy mix. Two immediate downsides arise: 1. they are heavy and 2. You will probably need to eat the contents of a #10 can of ready-to-eat food -- possibly as much as 6 pounds -- within a few hours, as refrigeration may not be an option.

If you anticipate that 'shelter-in place' is a likely scenario, and you have a large family or a neighborhood preparation group that would share the meal, ready-to-use institutional canned food may be a good low-cost option.

Another great item I've found on the institutional aisle: 1 lb yeast bricks. These are compressed and vacuum-packed. They cost about $4. I can cross the street and buy a 4 ounce jar of the same stuff for $7 or more at the unnamed chain grocery. The brick store well at room temp for a year or more if the vacuum is in tact. Once I open a brick, I empty the package into a glass or plastic container, label it, and stick it in the fridge. It will last a long time in there-- again, probably up to a year. Every couple of months, proof it in warm water with a sprinkle of white sugar or flour. If it bubbles up in a few minutes, it's still good for bread.

What did you do to prepare this week?

Hmmm... What did I do to prepare this week??

My preparations this week were at work. I had a sudden realization that I spend 8+ hours every day away from home and had not reviewed my desk kit in at least a year. In that year, my work group grew from 3 to 6 people. Sure, I have some supplies in my car, but what if we are confined to the building due to some emergency? What if none of the others have a desk kit?

I went through the proper procedures to have my employer pay for enough bottled water (in 5 gallon bottles) for each employee in the building to have 2 gallons of water available. These were placed in a secure area with a sign on them that they were for emergencies only. I took enough space blankets in so that each of my employees could have one if needed. I got these as inexpensive 4-packs from Sierra Trading Post. I also took in a box of freeze-dried food, also from STP on clearance, that would provide at least one meal for each of the 13 of us in the building.

I will put in a plug for Sierra Trading Post here. They carry good stuff and send out e-mails with additional discounts once you purchase from them. I get everything from Austin Reed business suits (at about a 70% discount) to bug-out bag necessities from them. Their inventory changes often, and their clearance prices are impressive. They also have brick and mortar stores, primarily in the northwestern US. Whether you use STP, Wal-Mart or get free stuff at home and garden shows (I got a free mini-flashlight at my employer's safety fair this week!), try not to pay full retail for your preparedness supplies and never go into debt for your basic 72-hour kit.

Re-purposing what you have

If you are preparing on a shoestring, and you have a 'shelter-in-place" plan in addition to your GO! plan, then re-purposing what you have may accelerate your feelings of being ready for an emergency. I'll share some of mine-- most are no-brainers, like using an old gymbag or craft-supply box for your first aid kit. Others a little more subtle and took me a while to have the light bulb come on.

The easiest of all is your hot water heater. If you are without power or water and have a tank-style water heater, there's 40 to 50 gallons of ready water storage. Most tanks have a spigot near the bottom, so just fill your pitcher or kettle from there. I advise that you save this for drinking and potable use. There are some other sources for your non-potable.

Things to carry your water in half to several gallons abound. The 2-liter soda pop bottles are great. If you have room in your freezer, put a couple in there with the top on loosely (upright at first) and freeze them. Screw the tops on tightly once the water inside is frozen. If the power goes out, you will have a few extra hours to decide what to do with your freezer contents! Back to water storage -- Well-rinsed Clorox bottles work. My Dad's hobby was fishing. As long as I can remember, the water bottles he carried in the boat were always rinsed Clorox bottles. Despite the scary stories we hear every day about chlorine, he died at 88 after a brief period of ill health, so I don't think that's what got him!

Of course your BBQ grill, even an inexpensive hibachi, can be your outdoor cook stove in an emergency, just keep some dead wood or charcoal around in an area where it won't get wet. You can probably boil water or cook things in pans over junk mail and newspapers. The trick there is to roll them tightly and wrap with a wire -- even if you save the little twist ties from bread bags and string a few together. By rolling them, you help them burn more slowly. You can make some other fire starters or primary fire sources from re-purposed things like cardboard egg cartons, shredded newspaper, dryer lint and candle ends. Fill the empty cups of the egg carton with dryer lint and shredded or finely torn newspaper. Melt the candle ends in a metal bowl over a pan of hot water and pour over the egg cups of the carton, trying to saturate all that absorbent paper and lint. Leave several of the tips of the paper or lint sticking up out of the wax so you have at least 2 wicks in each. Use kitchen scissors to cut them apart after the wax has cooled and store them in a Tupperware or plastic bag.

If you do it right, you can boil a small pan of water over two of the egg cups. To help, re-purpose a tomato can, preferably the 28 ounce size. After using the contents, rinse the can and remove the label. Using an old-fashioned can opener (the type that leaves a triangular hole), open three or four holes on the side of the can near the bottom. DO NOT OPEN THE HOLES ON THE BOTTOM OR REMOVE THE BOTTOM OF THE CAN!! Then open three or four similar holes on the side of the can near the opened top. Now you have a little stove that will concentrate their heat. Put a couple of the wax cups in the bottom of the can and place it in your BBQ grill. Light the lint cups and let them get started. Put your small to medium sauce pan with about 16 ounces of water on top of the can. It should be boiling before the wax cups are burned out!

What are some of your preparedness re-purposing favorites?

Denial, not just a river in Africa

After my recent planning post, I really thought about what would prevent someone with a week's notice from getting ready to GO. What came to me is the mental roadblock called DENIAL. Getting out of denial requires some work , but luckily it costs very little because your plan should be based on your available resources.

What is denial and how do we win our own mental battle against it? Denial is the voice in our heads that wants desperately to keep the status quo. Our society rewards denial -- you are an odd ball if you think about and plan for emergencies or "let the government handle it, they'll take care of us," etc..

Starting to prepare is the first step out of waking from denial. Planning how to evacuate is another step. There are more things you must do, however, to break through the heavy layer of denial that could get you and your family killed.

Next, you should start to identify the 'triggers' that tell you to put the plan into effect. Example plan with triggers: the news is covered with reports of record flooding 200 miles north of you and you live in the floodplain of the same river. Your plan indicates that this is a trigger to start packing the car and PRACTICE your emergency communications plan because your area will be flooded within the next 36 hours. When the flooding reaches 100 miles north of you, according to plan, you LEAVE and go to your emergency location outside the flood area. Why so soon? Because your research indicated that as soon as the flooding is 50 miles away, the roads you need to travel will be jammed and flooded and you will be STUCK.

You are still not at a point that your denial is manageable. To get there, you must PRACTICE your plan. Make it serious but fun. We pack the car in 2 hours and head for a mini-vacation weekend at our alternate location. We use the routes on the plan, and divert for 'unexpected road outages' along the way. We teach the children how to look out and talk about what they see. By doing this twice or more a year, denial is replaced by preparedness. Fear is replaced with routine. There can be fringe benefits, such as when grandma's is the alternative location, she will be thrilled to see you more often and you may get your favorite home-cooked meal!

The only down side is that you won't get your 5 minutes of fame on Fox news as another one of the victims!

Do you have a plan?

Last night, there was a clip on TV from a resident in the area of the Mississippi spillway that was just opened for the first time in 40 years. The point made by the 'victim' was that there was no notice that the Corps of Engineers was actually going to (and did) open the spillway, so they had no time to prepare. The statement is really telling: record flooding has been moving down the river for more than a week. Someone who has lived in the flood plain for years was surprised and considers himself a victim. Likely, he is a victim only of his own failure to plan and pay attention -- even way out west, I heard about the fact that the Corps was considering opening the spillway 12 hours before they did. Given the week's notice of record flooding moving down the Mississippi, the resident could have had the car packed and a communication plan in effect so his family could rapidly evacuate together.

What is your plan to communicate, regroup and (if necessary) evacuate in case of emergency? If emergency or disaster strike when you and your family are at work and school, where are your rally points? Rally points are where you meet when you can't get home. You should have multiple, which should include at least two physical locations and two call-in locations. Of course, part of your plan is to select speople for call-ins who live outside your immediate area and you have prepared them to knows to be available by phone if the news features an emergency in your area. You may even want to include a free e-mail box that all share, like gmail or yahoo.

Why multiples -- isn't that confusing? What if your only rally point is now in the middle of a flood? If your cell phone or electronic devices works, if you don't have a system, you are still chasing your tail. What if the electronic devices don't work either? Sure would be nice to have an alternate rally point, or two more with some priority order attached.

Don't make it too complicated -- If we can't get to rally point #1, go to #2. Call grandma at 510-555-1313 if both are blocked. If you can get to a library, go to the yahoo account and check the DRAFT e-mails AND leave a draft with your location.

If you have a plan, review and update it. It will be difficult to move out --possibly until it is too late -- if you are worried because you can't contact your loved ones. If you don't have a plan, NOW is a good time to make one -- even involve all affected by the plan, as they may have skills or info that will make it SIMPLE!!