Taking Account [Preparedness / Self-Sufficiency]

OK, I'm getting tired of all these "weird feelings" I've been having, and the way myself and my husband have both been having these strange dreams where it has totally hit the fan and we're drastically under prepared for the situation. I decided to get off my butt and do something about it, and try to get back to some level of preparedness for any potential disaster situation. (No, I'm not paranoid, not a bit). The sad thing is I used to be pretty well on top of things, but in our years of living together we've both gotten very complacent, and we had to dip into quite a few of my emergency supplies during the winter storms of the last couple years, and because of financial hardships (see - there are other reasons to stock up on 8 months worth of food!). I've got the standard BOB & hit the woods type plan, but I figure our best bet in most situations will be to keep my butt and home and make sure the house is well supplied & defensible. This is just rambling, but I'm trying to figure out what I've got, what I need, and what I need to work on.

Any advice or comments are more than welcome (especially if it's from real-life experience).


Water

We've got well water, which is good (especially since our well supposedly taps into an artesian well). Our well pump is run off grid-supplied power, which is bad. We don't have a generator yet, which is real bad. Right now, a main priority is going to be rigging up a solar well pump. A generator would be OK, but that's wasting a lot of power that could be diverted to the freezer or other necessaries. Of course, a generator & a solar pump would be great.

We also have a natural spring which is coming up in the ditch near our house, which is great, but the previous owners of the place used to ditch as a place to throw their trash, so it's full of junk, brush, and honeysuckle vines. One of our plans for spring/summer (or fall, if the snakes get too bad before we're done) is to dig out around it and clean up the area. If it's feasible (meaning cheap!), we've considered hooking up some sort of storage tank or cistern, and maybe even a hose connection to it so that water can be used for our animals and for the garden, and we won't have so much to carry from the house. We only have one hose connection, and even 150 ft won't reach to our dog kennels & will barely reach the garden spot. There's a small creek at the back border of our land, but it tends to go dry a lot & is downstream from too many animals (cows, horses, & goats, as well as dogs), for me to consider it as anything but a last ditch water source, especially with better sources nearby.

We do have a bunch of water storage containers, which is good, and I'm making sure they all get rotated out within the next month and refilled with fresh and bleach-treated, water (they were filled in January or February, but fresher is better, and we've had plenty of rain so no worries about replacing it). Picked up a few bottles of iodine tablets & some iodine neutralizer (yeah, I'm one of those wimps who uses the neutralizer). Also got another case of Clorox. Now, I just need to remember that these are for emergency water decontamination & sanitation, not for cleaning the bathroom/kitchen or doing laundry! I'm wanting to get one of those large Katadyn water filters, but will probably rig up the well pump first, since we do have some of the smaller backpack size filters.


Food - Home-Grown

I've given up on the idea of raised vegetable beds, which my husband has been promising to build for the last couple years. I bought some seeds today, and am going to be starting a small vegetable garden, as well as an herb garden, just to see what will grow good in this soil. We're borrowing his dad's tiller, so I won’t have to do it all by hand, so I think at least a small garden will be good. When we find out what grows well, I'll be expanding it & possibly putting up some raised beds then. For now, I'll be planting corn, potatoes, peas, beans, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, & broccoli. I'll probably also be planting some squash and sweet potatoes, and whatever else we see that looks interesting. For the herb garden, I've got basil, cilantro, parsley, & oregano. That'll also be growing, as I want to add a section for medicinal herbs, as well as cooking herbs (well definitely be getting some ginseng root & an aloe plant, too).

I've heard rice will grow here, but irrigation is a problem (although there is a Vietnamese family a few miles away who grow their own rice in their backyard, so it may be something to try in the future). I have no idea how well wheat or other grains would do here, but I plan to find out. My husband also mentioned building a greenhouse later on, but I won't count on that until I either see it or build it myself. In either case, I have rice & wheat stored & a hand-crank wheat meal, although I need to get used to using it and cooking with grains and such again (so I'll probably cheat & get an electric grain mill before too long).

As far as actual preparation, I'm going to start canning as much as possible. I did a little when I was younger, but will basically be learning again (my mother in law offered to let me come over and teach me, so I can help her). May get a dehydrator too, but since most are electric, it's fairly far down the list ( I want things that will work both now and in an actual TEOTWAWKI situation, or at least a power outage). I am also teaching myself to make various homemade breads. Made some unleavened bread (looked like tortillas, lol) for Passover & it wasn't too hard, but I haven't tried the yeasty, fluffy stuff yet. That should be interesting in itself. I also wanna learn to make cheese, but that seems like something I'm gonna try to find someone to teach me instead of try by myself ( unless I get adventurous & impatient, which I probably will).

My husband says there's a local woman who teaches which plants grow here in the wild, and what can be used for different medicines. We're going to take some of her classes, because I want to learn to identify more wild plants in the area, for medicinal uses, and for food. I really need to learn more about what plants grow up here & be able to identify them and know their properties. I'm also reading up on wild foods & ways of cooking them, and trying to incorporate them into our diet. I had a nice salad with wild onions & dandelion in it today. :)


Food - On The Hoof

We've got enough land for a few animals, once I get my work schedule normal enough that I can tend to them. I almost didn't include this, because these are probably well into the future plans (several months to a year or two), but I'm looking at various options now, so that's doing a little. Am definitely considering goats for milk & cheese making, and possibly for meat. Also thinking about a few free-range chickens, for eggs and meat. A friend suggested rabbits, but I'm gonna have to look into that more, as far as the costs and effort required, and to see if I like the meat. Of course, I'm also gonna keep leaving out corn and apples for the local deer & squirrels and bread for the birds and raccoon. The more cute wildlife that keeps coming to our yard, the more that will still come into our yard when we may need game to supplement our food stock.

I'm also going to start hunting again, after not going at all last year, and very sparingly the year before, and I'm going to try to get my husband to go with me some. We both need to practice our shooting & tracking skills, and get off our butts and out in the woods more, and game is just tasty. Also, it'll get him more used to having to kill & butcher the meat ourselves, & to eating game. And, hunting is a skill itself, where practice when not necessary will make it a lot easier if it ever becomes necessary. I haven't ever bow hunted before, but some of the guys at work go, and I may ask if one of them will teach me how to shoot a bow, and maybe ask to tag along and hunt with them after I get it down good. A bow would be pretty practical when ammo is hard to find, or if/when guns are outlawed.


Heat/Light

Did I mention that I need a decent generator or solar power setup already? We really do need an alternate energy source, and I'm still trying to figure out a way to buy or make one that's somewhat affordable. Too bad I haven't found one yet. :( We're wanting to build a house in the not to distant future (10 years or so), so I don't want to throw a ton into solar, but it would be nice to at least have a backup power source for the freezers & essentials (and maybe comforts like air conditioning & the computer - did I mention I'm spoiled?). For now, we've got a kerosene heater or two, and my husband's thinking about putting in a Monitor heater or gas logs. We need to stock up on more kerosene, but that can wait until winter. For lights, we've got kerosene lamps & flashlights, as well as a ton of candles & holders. We need more flashlight batteries, but I have a couple packs. Am thinking about getting some of those lights you just shake to charge up - could be useful.


Medical

This is an area I really need to focus on. I'm First Aid & CPR certified, and have read through the First Responder Course materials, but not taken the course. I'm pretty comfortable with the basics, and some intermediate level skills, and have a decent basic medical kit (a deluxe EMT bag for the house & large EMT bag in my vehicle, as well as smaller kits in our other vehicles, backpacks, & BOBS). Funny thing, but I've found that placing my "feminine hygiene items" in the top of my med bags and kits tends to keep my husband from scrounging around in them for stuff we already have in the medicine cabinet. I need to stock up on non-OTC medication (antibiotics, etc), and will be looking into farm and vet supply stores to do this. (It would be nice to have stronger stuff, but the potential legal risks are too high to try to get and major painkillers or sedatives - will have to see what the closest legal substitutes are & pray I will be able to get, or not need, the strong stuff once the pharmacies are no longer operating). I would like to get my First Responder certification this year (short term goal - get in the classes), and eventually work up to EMT or Paramedic level training. In the meantime, I'm learning what I can through reading, online, & video, but I realize that theory & book knowledge is nowhere close to hands-on training and experience.


Vehicles/Commuting

I have a reliable 4WD SUV, and I keep it stocked fairly well (My husband has another 4WD, with some supplies, and most of mine can be transferred to his in a matter of minutes). I usually carry about a week's worth of food, plenty of water, sleeping bag, small tent, BOB, blankets, a pillow, tool kit, extra oil & fluids, medical kit, extra clothes, boots & tennis shoes, shampoo & hygiene items, etc. I also carry a pistol & a few boxes of ammo most've the time (have a permit to carry them to work). When I'm going on longer trips, I add more, and also carry a shotgun or rifle, and additional clothing and water/food. I need to add some more things to the car like a small air compressor & tire repair kit, and also a few more spare parts (belts, etc). While I'd still be in a lot more trouble if caught out in the road during trouble, I've got enough to handle most minor things, and have "camped out" quite comfortably in my car for 2-3 days. Like any other newer car, I'd be in trouble if something knocked out the electronics, and I've considered getting one of those small folding bicycles to add a little more mobility in that situation.

I also have a motorcycle('04 Harley Sportster). I need saddle bags and such to be able to carry any gear on it, but it may be a good choice if the roads are really congested or blocked, or I need a vehicle I can stash. I've considered getting a dual sport (motorcycle that can be ridden off-road & on the street) to outfit as a sort of "bug out bike" for quick off road transportation, but it's not a main priority and it'll be a long time before I could afford it. In most situations, my plan will still be to stay at home where my stuff is, and where I'm familiar with the area. I'm not sure on the mechanics, and I assume motorcycles will not have the same problems from EMPs that cars would, but I wonder if the ignition would still be affected on the Sportster or if I could pop the clutch and start it anyway.


Defense

My main problem in the area of defense is physical fitness. I've been working on getting back into shape for the last several months, and am finally seeing results. I still need to build up my endurance more though, because I tend to get short of breath and a lot of "burn" in my calves when doing a lot of walking or hiking in the mountains. The good thing here is that training in general will help me get in shape, and hiking, weight lifting, swimming, and Aikido, which I'm doing to get in shape, will also be good in any sort of wilderness survival or bug out scenario.

I need to practice shooting more. I spend too much time standing still shooting at paper, and am trying to come up with some more realistic drills and things like that. I also need to practice shooting on the move, from varying heights/angles, and using cover more effectively. I've gotten good at shooting with my "weak" hand, although it's still awkward with a shotgun, and am finally getting good at one handed shooting with some of the larger pistols. I still need to work on transitioning from a handgun to a long gun and back, and keeping control of both during the switch.

I'm thinking about getting into reloading, to save some money. My husband says you can buy a lot of the basic equipment at the flea markets and stuff around here, so I'll be checking those out. This is another of those areas where I'm more inclined to find someone who knows what they're doing and ask them to teach me than to just read about it and try to wing it.


Communications

As much as I love to gab, real communications are a serious weak spot. I don't even carry a cell phone anymore, but that changes come the first week of May (Happy birthday to me!). I also dug out my old short-wave receiver, and have found some of the "good" channels again. Put a CB back in my Explorer, and am getting Billy to hook his back up in his trucks, so that'll give us cell phones, CBs, and some cheap 2 way radios. I also ordered a book to study for my HAM license, and found a local HAM club for my area, and that's something I'm going to be getting into. (How come all this stuff costs so much???) I guess it'll be better than nothing, but we till need to get a better form of communication going between all the people in our local area.


Other Supplies

There's all kinds of stuff I want, still trying to hone it down to the ones I need. Solar/alt power source is a big one. Water filtration is too. I should probably place the water first, but we have something there that will do in a pinch, so I'm more concerned with getting the water out of the ground than I am with a filter for other water right now. I'm also realizing the many uses for propane (I love grilling when the power goes out), and for bleach. I also have a pretty huge library, which can serve as entertainment, education, or, God forbid, fire-starting material. Lots of paper & pencils too, cause I'm always writing, drawing, and making lists. I also have a habit of stashing weird random things which may come in useful - twine, paper clips, safety pins, duct tape, razor blades, etc. And, yes, I have enough toilet paper to build another house with. I figure it'll be a big barter item in the short term, as will coffee, liquor, cigarettes, tampons & pads (which have multiple uses, but would be replaced in a survival situation by something like the Keeper or DivaCup), and candy. Stuff I need more off is distilled water (for batteries), batteries themselves, seeds, tools, trade items (how useful will gold/silver really be?), and comfort type things.


Other Skills

I need to learn a lot of basic household stuff - plumbing, electricity, mechanics, etc. I'm working on a lot more stuff around the house, or helping my husband do it so he'll teach me, in order to learn about them. I'm also starting to do a lot more of the maintenance and work on my car and bikes, instead of just taking them to the shop. A little inconvenient, but it's cheaper, and I'm learning stuff I didn't know. I would love to learn gunsmithing, but I'm keeping it simple now, because I don't want to mess anything up. My husband knew an old man who died last year - he was a gunsmith for years and offered to teach him- he didn't take him up on it, and I never asked if he'd teach me, so much of what he knew died with him. I'm learning to quilt, and also to sew, which is pretty funny in itself (the results at least, though they're getting better). I also want to learn more about leather, metal, & wood working, and get back into wood & leather work again. There are just so many things I don't know that I feel like I need to know, it's hard to pick one or two areas to focus on first. The more I learn, the less it seems like I know.