Prepper Dashboard

Prepping Tape

2013-05-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a little space saving tip for your BOB. We all know we love duct tape. However the roll takes up too much space. What I do is to unwind the roll an re-wrap it on to a card…etc. As you can see in my picture. I had some one tell me to just smash the roll flat. I tried this but could not get it as flat as I wanted. Therefore, I will keep on wrapping…

Night Vision Prepping

2013-05-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

One item that is hit and miss with preppers is “Night Vision”. Is it worth a good chunk of your prepping budget to buy? I can’t answer that. Just remember, with night vision, you “Own the night”. Use to get around. See people coming before they see you. Check your traps easier. There are several types of night vision. I use a gen II plus monocular. The only drawback is that it takes special batteries that I have to stock up on. However, if you look hard enough, you can find Night Vision units that take good old AA batteries. If you had some rechargeables, and a solar charger, you would be in pretty good shape. Here is a good breakdown of the different classes of Night Vision. Be aware of this when purchasing…

"Myth vs. Fact: Generation 4
Some say that generation (Gen) 4 is the most advanced night vision you can buy. This is not the case. To dispel this myth, let's start with the basics. There are four Generations of night vision; however, they are Gen 0-3, not Gen 1-4. Historically, the U.S. Army has defined each Generation of night vision. In the late 90's the Army did define Gen 4 as the removal of the ion barrier film creating a "filmless" tube. This new advancement was to reduce halos while increasing sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and resolution, for overall improved performance. While performance was improved, the lack of an ion barrier in Gen 4 tubes led to high failure rates, ultimately leading the U.S. Army to recant the existence of Gen 4 definition. Recognizing the high failure rates of Gen 4 tubes, ITT chose to improve upon the existing Gen 3 technology and create a "thin-filmed" tube. By keeping the protective ion barrier, but greatly reducing its thickness, ITT was able to maintain the reliability of Gen 3 while—at the same time—delivering on the Army's performance requirements intended for Gen 4. This innovation resulted in the production of the Gen 3 thin-filmed tube, which is now the highest performing Gen 3 tube available."

Definition taken from…

MOROVISION

AWESOME Free Survival Book

2013-05-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

W.O.W.

Preppers, here is a free survival book that you can download from another site. This book is really great. I am not associated with them at all. I just wanted to share this. Save it, and print it. It just may save your life.

Doom Survival Guide

SPAM Me...

2013-05-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you have enough SPAM to live on for about 200 years! Here is a pretty cool recipe that I found at SPAM Recipe Link Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 12-ounce can SPAM Hickory Smoked cut into cubes
1 10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups thawed frozen diced potatoes
1/4 cup Italian herbs cooking cream
3 tablespoons ranch seasoning mix
1 16-ounce can refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch baking dish.
In large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add SPAM® Hickory Smoked and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until golden brown.
In large bowl, combine potatoes, sour cream, ranch seasoning, soup, cheese and cooking cream. Add SPAM® mixture; stir to combine. Spoon mixture into baking dish.
Cut each biscuit into 6 wedges. Place over SPAM mixture with points facing upward. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through and golden brown.

Pine Needle Tea For Vitamin C

2013-05-12T02:30:00.000-07:00

Pine Needle Tea For Vitamin C

Also high in vitamin A. Good Antioxidant, good for your heart, good for asthma. Pretty darn easy to make too. Keep this in mind post SHTF.

Recipe

1. Choose the right pine tree. There are some which can be poisonous. The white pine is considered to be the best choice for this.

2. Choose pine needles which are fresh and slightly greener than the others.

3. Get hold of these and wash them thoroughly to get rid of all the dirt.

4. Chop them till you have about ½ - ¾ cup.

5. Now keep some water for boiling and add the pine to it.

6. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and take it down from the stove.

7. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.

8. The more you boil it, the stronger it'll be. So if you want a mild taste, bring it down after 5 minutes.

9. After steeping it, strain the leaves (they can get quite sharp) and you'll be left with a reddish liquid that mild and a little tangy to taste.

Lovin' Gloves

2013-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

W.O.W

One Prepping item that I cannot stress enough to have, is gloves. Different types too. You will need Latex for doing “Gross” jobs like “Zombie Body Removal”. Good leather gloves for wood chopping and general labor. Maybe some cotton gloves for farming/gardening. And one that I like, some tactical gloves. These are the hard plastic knuckle gloves. Good for protecting your hands when scavenging and great to remove teeth of a potential threat. Why different gloves? A, they may be hard to get post SHTF. B, extras are good bartering items. C, search tetanus. Nasty disease that can kill you in a very short time. Especially without doctors or antibiotics. Get some gloves and stash them away. One thing for sure. They don’t have an expiration date!

Fishicillin For Preppers

2013-05-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

As anyone in the USA knows, antibiotics are hard to stock up. I have a little trick that you can use. By Fish Mox. It is penicillin for fish. However it can be used in a pinch, and you can get it on line. It comes in 250 and 500 mg. Kind of a lot of MGs for a guppy. But just right for a teenager or adult. BTW these are made in the same factory as Human medicine! Take at your own risk, but I prepp it!

Fish Mox

Ramen Recipes

2013-05-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you have enough Ramen Noodles stashed to build a bunker. A bullet proof bunker. If you have ever eaten Ramen Noodles for a long period of time, they get to be a little boring. Here is something that you probably don’t know. There is a website that is dedicated to Ramen Noodle recipes. Check it out (link below). You might want to get some of the additional ingredients for when you are hunkered-down. Add a little zip, to your noodle brick!

Ramen Recipes

S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L.

2013-04-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

W.O.W. (Words Of Wisdom)

Here is a little snippet to help you when the chips are down and you need to get your feces together.

Keep this on you at all times like your Paracord Bracelet!

Preppers' Soap

2013-04-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

W.O.W.

The recipe for making a basic survival soap is 2 parts grease to 1 part pot ash.

To make Grease: Take the fat from an animal and cut it in to small pieces. Cook in a pot or can over a fire with just enough water in it to keep it from sticking. Pour this grease in to another can / pot and let harden.

To make Potash: Take ashes from your wood fire. Put in a small can that you have a hole punctured in the side. Pour in water and mixture that comes out of the hole is Potash (Lye).

Mix these ingredients together (2 to 1) in a pot over a fire. Keep stirring until it thickens. Pour it in to a pan / pot let it cool. It will harden. Cut in to squares and then wash your dirty Prepping, behind!

Hardtack

2013-04-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

W.O.W.

Hardtack. Also known as "Tooth Dullers". This stuff lasts a LONG time. Good for a traveling Prepper. Here is how you make it...

Ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 cup water
1 tbsp salt

1) Mix all ingredients well.

2) Knead dough and roll out until it is about 1/2 inch thick.
Cut dough into 4x4 squares, and poke holes throughout (like a cracker).

3) Preheat oven to 425° degrees until done and lightly golden brown.
Keep them dry or they will mold. Penicillin biscuits won't be good for you...

Survival Seed Saving

2013-04-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

One trick that Preppers should know, for the long haul, is how to save seeds. How many different parent seeds do you need to save to create a health crop next year? If you don’t know that answer, or even what it means, please check out a website that I use when I have questions. Answers here may just save you and your family’s life in an extended SHTF situation…

How To Save Seeds

Keep Yer Powder Dry

2013-04-25T01:05:00.000-07:00

Keep Your Powder Dry

If you are new or seasoned Prepper, the above adage applies to you. All of us, really. In the times we are in now (Prepping, that is), we need to stock-up and protect our stash. One thing that you are going to need is ammo for your weapons/guns. If you are not doing this now, then you have one expensive club. The point of this snippet is to protect your ammo for the coming years. Hopefully we never get to a SHTF situation. However, if we do, you are going to want to make sure that your bullets go “Bang” when you squeeze the trigger. Therefore, seal them, and store them in a cool dry place. Out of direct sunlight, too. I use military ammo cans, with good rubber seals, and store bought ammo cant as well. However you could just as easily store them in a bucket if the lid seals with a gasket. Ammo will stay good for MANY decades in this manner. If you haven’t started putting your ammo up in this manner, it is time!

Lint. A Prepping Item?

2013-04-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

A free Prepping item that all Preppers should collect is Lint. Yep, from your dryer. This stuff is an excellent fire starter. You can compress this A LOT. I put the collected lint in baggies and keep them tucked away. Think of how much of this you throw away every year.

Tarps For Prepping

2013-04-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia

One item that you definitely need in your prepping supplies is at least 1 good Tarp. The more the merrier. Tarps can be used for so many things I cannot possibly list them all. Here are a few that come to mind.

1) A Tent.
2) Bottom of your tent for extra protection.
3) A Hammock.
4) Firewood cover to keep it dry.
5) Making a solar still to make drinking water.
6) Patching holes in your damaged shelter.
7) Wrapping a body before burial.
8) On…and…on…and…on

One suggestion. Get the thicker tarp. Your life may depend on it and you don’t want it too thin and easily ripped.

Medicinal Sassafras

2013-04-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

As you know, I like to share any natural plants that have medicinal purposes. When it all falls down, the local pharmacy will be the first thing looted. Tips like this just may save you (or a loved one). Sassafras tea is made from the root bark. An Infusion is used to treat gastrointestinal complaints, colds, liver and kidney ailments, rheumatism, and skin eruptions. The oil from the root bark is used as an antiseptic and anodyne in dentistry. A sassafras tree repels mosquitoes and other insects. Which is good to know, post SHTF.

Tracking Groundhogs

2013-04-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Know your dinner. One of the most plentiful wild game in my area is “Groundhog”. Woodchuck. Whatever you want to call them. Being a skilled hunter is to know your prey. I have included a picture of the tracks made by a Groundhog. Study it, know it, use it. These animals make burrows in the ground. About 10 to 12 inches in diameter. They like to eat all sorts of plant life. Look for the tracks around natural watering holes or creeks. They are easy to trap. I would do a snare set around their natural paths and near water. If you are hunting them, let’s just say they are not the Einstein of the animal world. If you see one and it scurries away, just freeze. Wait a minute and make a sucking sound softly, with your lips. Like you are kissing the air. Groundhogs will stand up on their back legs to see over the grass. Curious of the noise you made. Then pull the trigger….meat on the table.

DIY Firestarter

2013-04-16T04:48:00.000-07:00

Cotton Ball and Vasoline Tinder Starter

A little trick that some of you may, or may not know is that you can use a cotton ball mixed with petroleum jelly to easily start fires. What I do is tear a cotton ball in half. Pull the fibers and spread it flat like a pancake. I put an eraser sized ball of Petroleum Jelly in the center. I then wrap the cotton fibers around this ball so that it is in the center. I do this to cut down on the mess that PJ makes. When it is time to light, I smash the PJ in to the cotton ball, light and insert in to my tinder bundle. Move the bundle to the fire once lit and you are in business. One side note, wrap several of these in Wax Paper instead of a baggie. Petroleum Jelly will dissolve the plastic.

SHTF Garden Plan

2013-04-15T14:43:00.002-07:00

Even if SHTF does not happen this year, you NEED to make sure you have a vegetable garden! I have heard rumors of skyrocketing food prices this year! So get your garden started. Here are a few tips.

1)    Learn how to, and use, composts.
2)    Make your garden as big as you can sustain. Make sure you can water it, or have an alternate way to water.
3)    Layout your garden on paper. Determine what types of plants will grow better in shade vs sunlight.
4)    Have an alternate way to cultivate. If you don’t have a cultivator, get hoes, hand weed pullers, shovels,…etc. If it runs on gas, don’t depend on it.
5)    Fence and/or protect your garden area.
6)    Grow only the types of food that you and your family will eat.
7)    Be ready to can and or store your food. If you can’t keep it good, no sense in growing it.
8)    If you have room for a garden, you have room for an herb garden. Take one of your flower beds and make it an herb garden. Grow food taste enhancers (ie..basil), and medicinal herbs. Get on the net and learn more!
9)    Grow roses in your flower beds. Rose Hips are edible!
10) Tell no one what you are doing. Op Sec is key to not having thievery.
11) If you don’t have room for a large garden, then learn micro gardening, and bucket gardening. Grow in buckets the plants that produce year round. Take them inside in the winter.

Your Friend Vitamin C

2013-04-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

One thing that ALL Preppers must stash (in my opinion) is Vitamin C. If it is Pine Needle Tea, “Tang” or Vitamin C tabs, you cannot go wrong in using this wonderful vitamin. 7 benefits of Vitamin C are:Immunity, Common Cold, Antioxidant, Hypertension, Blood Vessels, Lead Toxicity, and Cataracts.

The breakdown of each of these can be found in this article…

Health Diaries

Ghetto Faraday Cage

2013-04-11T15:02:00.004-07:00

I know people spend a lot of money making Faraday Cages. These are metal containers that negate the effect of an EMP event (either natural, or man-made). Before you spend the kids’ college fund, here are a few ideas that are very cheap, and easy to do.

1)    An old microwave (cut off the cord, and metal line the door)
2)    An old dishwasher. (again, cut the cord, keep your electronics from touching the metal. A glass shelf or stack of foam)
3)    An old Oven… (Cut the cord)
4)    An old Washer / Dryer
5)    My favorite, a metal trash can.

Anyhow, just a few ideas for your Ghetto Faraday Cage…

SHTF Downtime

2013-04-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

One thing that I do not hear a lot about, concerning post SHTF, is how to occupy your down time. You won’t be working 24/7. (If you have Prepped properly that is.) How will you and your family cope with this. What we have are some simple games put up. Decks of cards, books that we haven’t read. That kind of stuff. I can see the winter offering more downtime when not cutting wood, or hunting. I would like to have thing to keep my kids busy as well. So my suggestion is get some of what I have listed above and prep these as well. Another thing that you can do is put a bunch of books on a Kindle, Nook, etc. A solar charger can be purchased and give you hours of escape from the madness.

Quivers

2013-04-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Bow hunters! Crossbow hunters too. What are your Quiver preferences, and why.

Back Quiver - This is the one like you would see Robin Hood use. Strapped to your back

Belt Quiver - This one obviously goes right on your belt. It hangs at your side for easy access.

Bow Quiver - This is a quiver that is attached directly to your bow / crossbow.

My preference (now) is the bow quiver. When I was younger I used to use the belt quiver. Easy to reload the bow. The problem is that it is always in the way. Hard to clime with and if you tilt too much, your arrows fall out. What are your thoughts?

2 Liter Bottle Food Storage

2013-04-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a little Food Prepping Tip. Reuse your 2 Liter Soda bottles to store noodles. This can be done by:

1) Rid the Pop contents.
2) Rinse it out thoroughly.
3) Put a table spoon of bleach, and 2 table spoons of water in the bottle.
4) Swish it all over the inside and the cap to sterilize.
5) Rinse again
6) Let it Air dry COMPLETELY
7) Fill with Macaroni Noodles, Spaghetti Noodles,…etc.
8) Place the lid on tightly.
9) Store in a cool dry place. Should be good for OVER 2 years!

Wheat Facts

2013-04-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Wheat. Our Prepping friend for making bread. Here are some wheat facts...

ü Wheat is grown in 42 states in the United States.
ü Six classes bring order to about 30 thousand varieties of wheat. They are: Hard Red Winter, Hard Red Spring, Soft Red Winter, Durum, Hard White and Soft White.
ü More foods are made with wheat than any other cereal grain.
ü In the United States, one acre of wheat (depending on wheat class and where grown)yields an average 42 bushels of wheat.
ü About half of the wheat grown in the United States is used domestically. (Source: USDA)
ü The state of Kansas is the largest wheat producer in the United States with North Dakota a close second.
ü One bushel of wheat contains approximately one million individual kernels.
ü One bushel of wheat weighs approximately 60 pounds.
ü One bushel of wheat yields approximately 42 pounds of white flour.
ü One bushel of wheat yields approximately 60 pounds of whole-wheat flour.
ü A bushel of wheat yields 42 commercial loaves of white bread (one-and-a-half pound loaves).
ü A bushel of wheat makes about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread.
ü Spaghetti was the number one pasta sold in the United States in 1998 with elbow macaroni coming in second.
ü Ninety-three percent of Americans eat AT LEAST one pizza per month. (Source: Bolla Wines.)
ü Approximately 3 billion pizzas are sold in the United States each year.
ü The graham cracker was named for its inventor, Sylvester Graham, a 19th-century American clergyman and nutrition advocate.
ü Crackers main ingredient is unbleached flour from soft red or soft white wheat.