As a new resident near the Gulf, I have much to learn about fishing and crabbing and many other disciplines that the Locals here have come to master.  While I am learning, I thought it responsible to improve my stash of survival gear with a couple of useful items.  For around $30, I purchased two tools that even a Newbie like me could use to procure food.  Note:  these items would also come in handy in freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, etc …  Just make sure to check State and Local laws before using them recreationally!

1.  Seine Nets – These nets are meant to be drug through the water between two people and are often used to catch bait, though they can also be used to procure fish that are large enough to eat.

2.  Trotlines – A trotline is little more than than long strand  with multiple baited fishing hooks attached at intervals by means of branch lines, called “snoods.”  The ends of a trot line can be secured near the shore, for example by tying to a tree, or can be converted into a “dropline” by tying a weight to one end.  Once a trotline is in place, it can be left unattended and “run” periodically (the Locals around here don’t “check” a trotline, they “run” it.)

Next up on my list – crab traps!  What experiences have you had with these types of gear?

© 2012, John A. Heatherly. All rights reserved.

image by laura_h_knight

This weekend some very good friends of ours spent several hours at our house.  At one point over dinner, the husband, James, began asking about food storage.  How did I know what to store?  How long would it last?  His wife, Dawn, had questions of her own and I began making a simple list of how to start with preparedness.

I asked them both what their concerns were.  Dawn mentioned the news about the solar flares that might cause problems with electronics on Earth and James said his main concern was a war developing in the Middle East.  Since we had never talked about preparedness before, I was surprised that those concerns were on their radars.  Previously, we had just chatted about work schedules, homeschooling, and whether or not our kids should go to church camp this summer.

After James and Dawn left, I started writing out a list of the most simple steps we had talked about and then decided to post them here.  If you are new to the  idea of preparing for an emergency or worst-case scenario, here’s where you can start!  I’ll be posting additional lists throughout the year, all titled, “How basic can you get?”

Here is List #1.

1. Start saving empty soda bottles. Eventually, you’ll need 28 of them for a water supply lasting a family of four for one week.  That’s about one gallon of water per person, per day.  If you live in a hot and/or humid climate, add another gallon per person.  Clean out the bottles and run the caps through the dishwasher.  Refill with water.  You can add 1 drop of bleach if you wish.  Cap tightly and store these in out of the way places.  Put 3-4 in your vehicle, underneath the back seat.  This car water is back-up water, something you’ll only use and drink in a dire emergency.  This step will give you enough water for one week for a family of four.  Continue adding to this supply until you have at least a month’s worth. TIP:  Do NOT use empty milk jugs or fruit juice containers.
2. Continue saving and cleaning soda bottles to use for food and water storage.
3. Begin looking for cheap rice, pinto beans, lentils and other legumes.  As you buy them, pour them into clean soda bottles and cap tightly.  Once 25 or more of these are filled, you’ll put one 100 cc oxygen absorber in each bottle.
4. Set aside an hour or more with your spouse or significant other, and list everything you’re worried about that could affect your family’s, “life as we know it.”  Solar flares?  Massive earthquake?  Banking crisis?  Riots?  Civil war?  Include every concern and then discuss the likelihood of each.  Finally, select the top 4 or 5 that have the greatest likelihood of occurring as your preparedness focal points.

That’s all.  With these four steps, you’ll have a good start on water storage, a supply of free food storage containers, the beginnings of a dried goods storage, and a specific idea of what you’re preparing for.  Watch for List #2 in the next few days.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Photo by Naomi Ibuki

Pine trees are beautiful and abundant, while they offer the following three valuable gifts:

Pine Needle Tea – green pine needles can make a tasty tea that will warm your family’s spirits on a cold day while providing much more Vitamin C than most citrus fruits.  To make the tea: simply clean a few handfuls of green pine needles; break them into pieces; simmer for 10 minutes or so; and let the tea steep for another few minutes.  Simple, nutritious, and flavorsome!

Edible Cambium – the light colored inner bark of pines is called the cambium layer.  It rests underneath outer bark and just above the harder interior of the tree.  Cambium can be harvested by cutting a square shape in the side of a tree (please don’t damage standing trees frivolously – this is a survival skill!) with a knife then peeling away the layers.  The cambium can be peeled or scraped into strips like bacon, then fried or roasted for consumption.

Nuts – Pine nuts can be harvested in the Fall and provide great taste and a lot of protein.  It is best to gather them using a ladder while wearing gloves (the cones that contain the seeds are sticky.)  Store the cones in a sack, and place the sack in the sun for a few days so that the cones will dry out and open up.  It helps to rotate the sack daily.  Cones can also be roasted by a fire or even in an oven.  Once dry they will open to reveal the nuts.

Does anyone have any special experience or alternative uses to offer that involve these delicacies?

© 2012, John A. Heatherly. All rights reserved.

image by busyPrinting

In this crazy world of ours, I can’t help but wonder, what if our home was ever raided for food and the pantry emptied?  What would we do?  How long could we live without food?

This thought led me to a pretty creative idea.  What if I squirreled away ingredients to make umpteen batches of soup and hid them in a secret compartment?  I’m not thinking of doing this with tons of food, just enough to keep me and my family going for a few weeks.

First, what would I need?  My preference is #10 cans and we have the extra room to store them, but if you live in a smaller space, store as many smaller #2.5 cans as you will need.  By the way, we buy most of our food for storage from Shelf Reliance*, Freeze Dry Guy*, and Honeyville.  My wife loves the chicken bouillon from Shirley J.

Here’s the list that I came up with for making several dozen batches of soup:

1. #10 can chicken bouillon
2. #10 can tomato powder (for tomato based soups)
3. #10 can beef bouillon
4. #2.5 can salt
5. smaller packets/bottles of seasonings

Those three #10 cans will give me enough soup base to make an awful lot of soup.  Even plain hot chicken broth is nutritious and comforting.  A can of sour cream powder and/or instant milk will make creamier soups, if we get tired of the same-old, same-old.

Next on my list are the vegetables to give my soups plenty of  nutrients.  Note: these are all either freeze-dried or dehydrated.

1. #10 can carrots
2. #10 can celery (freeze-dried is better)
3. #10 can corn
4. #10 can onions
5. #10 can diced potatoes
6. Other veggies we like: green beans, peas, mixed vegetables, mushrooms.

Protein is next, and I prefer freeze-dried meats over TVP for their flavor, but TVP is much less expensive.   There are quite a few options in this category:

1. Multi-bean soup mix
2. #10 cans of individual bean varieties (instant beans are a fairly new option on the market)
3. #10 can freeze-dried chicken
4. #10 can freeze-dried ground beef
5. #10 cans of other proteins: freeze-dried turkey, various flavors of TVP

Finally, to make the soups even heartier, I want to include a few grains and pasta:

1. #10 can barley (My wife likes this more than I do.)
2. #10 can rice
3. #10 can elbow macaroni
4. #10 cans of other grains and pasta, such as quinoa (again, the wife) or egg noodles
5. #10 can of ABC soup mix (has both pasta and legumes)

I haven’t forgotten water!  Without water, there’s no soup, right?  I don’t think that “hoarding” water will ever be an issue, but we do keep a number of water bottles in various places around the house and a couple of large water barrels are outside.

In all, I would have about 14-15 #10 cans to make up my secret stash of soup.  The next step is storing these containers in an area that will not be easily found.  In most homes, hiding several #10 cans is pretty easy.  I’m pretty handy with construction and carpentry, so I’ve been looking around for places to build false walls.

Since these ingredients will be stored in locations that won’t often be checked on, #10 cans will be a better barrier against pests but it’s important that they are not stored anywhere damp.  Heavy duty 1-gallon PETE containers would be acceptable and even clean, dry 2-liter soda bottles are acceptable for storing food.

Usually, a big bowl of soup is enough to keep me going for several hours, but also hiding ingredients to make 40-50 loaves of bread would help your meals be even more filling and nutritious.   This is easy, since a single 5-gallon bucket of wheat will generally make about that many loaves of bread.  If you don’t have room to hide a large bucket, wheat can also be purchased in #10 cans.  Add 1 large packet of yeast (do check on this for expiration dates, since yeast doesn’t last forever), a #2.5 can of salt, and small containers of instant milk, sugar, honey, or other ingredients for your preferred bread recipe.

Finally, what to do about breakfast?  Either leftovers or hot cereals with a mix-in or two is the way to go.  Rolled oats and germade/farina provide warm, filling breakfasts.  These grains can be purchased in large 50 pound bags or #10 cans.  If you buy the bags, make sure to re-package the food in smaller containers, such as the PETE or soda bottles mentioned above. A couple of #2.5 or larger cans of apple or banana chips are good mix-ins that my kids like.  Again, I only want to hide enough food to last for a maybe a month or so as a fall-back.

Is it paranoid to think that marauders, desperate  neighbors or even government agents with orders to confiscate food from “hoarders” might show up at your door?  Well, it’s happened before.  Hiding a percentage of your food may not be paranoid.  It may be the smartest thing you’ll ever do.

*My wife has an affiliate relationship with these two companies.

The Paranoid Dad is married to The Survival Mom.  Together, they have a pretty balanced approach to survival and preparedness, in spite of what their kids might think.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: I am not associated with MedCallAssist in any way, nor do I receive commissions on purchases or ad revenues.  They provided me with a kit for this review.

It’s no coincidence that people in third world countries have shorter life spans, higher infant mortality rates, and poorer health in general.  Top-notch, timely health care is a luxury for the wealthy and for most of us living in first world countries.  However, if you believe, as I do, that treacherous and uncertain times lie ahead for America, then you’ll be glad to know about the MedCallAssist Kit.  This medical kit, along with the 24/7 medical consultation included, may be just what you or a loved one needs someday in the future when medical care is hard to come by.

MedCallAssist is a company that started out with the goal of providing fully equipped medical kits to people and companies who do business far from any sort of medical care, such as commercial fishermen, loggers and adventure travelers.  Recently, they’ve seen the need of branching out and making the kits available to people in the survival and preparedness community.

Bottom line:  On January 1, the kit prices will be $350 for the contents only and $375 for the contents and a sturdy canvas bag.  However, when you use coupon code survivalmom on checkout, you’ll receive a discount of $100 per kit.  This discount is exclusive to Survival Mom readers and is good through January 31, 2012.

Now, on to my review.

Beyond “just” first aid

The MedCallAssist Kit is far more than just a first aid kit.  Although it contains a supply of products typically found in the average first aid kit, it goes far beyond those basics.  (See complete list of contents here.)  Because the kit comes with an assortment of prescription medications, I asked a nurse friend to review it with me.  Patrice spent many years as a nurse in a California emergency room and now has a business teaching first aid, wilderness first aid, and CPR.

A nurse’s review

image by Lower Columbia College

Patrice was pleasantly surprised by the assortment of antibiotics and other drugs that are included in the kit.  You’ll find azithromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, loperamide, cimetidine, ciprofloxacin, cephalexin, and epinephrine, among others.  Worried that you won’t know what to use and when?  With the purchase of a kit, you’ll have access to medical advice 24/7, along with an impressive instruction booklet that comes with the kit.  Patrice was very impressed by the information in the book and the color photos.

She liked the quality of the medical non-latex gloves that are included and the disposable skin stapler to use in lieu of suturing a wound.  She recommends Lidocaine to numb any area that needs a suture/staple.  Lidocaine is available through MedCallAssist as an add-on to the kit.

The kit also contains loads of OTC (over the counter) products and tools such as scissors and tweezers.

Patrice noticed the brand names of the different supplies and mentioned that she buys hers’ from the same source.  Overall, she gave the kit a big thumbs up and has been telling others about it.  At the Survival Mom discounted price, $250/275, it’s a great deal.

Is there anything to add?

Some injuries will require large amounts of bandaging supplies, and Patrice recommended adding many more rolls of gauze and other trauma dressings.  From her experiences in ER, she knows what she’s talking about!  She also recommended adding saline to flush out wounds, and I suggest adding packets of rehydrating solution for cases of diarrhea and vomiting.

MedCallAssist offers additional products, such as a defibrillator, oximeter (to measure the oxygen level in the body), splints, and a blood pressure cuff.  You can read the entire list of add-ons at the bottom of this page.

The future of medicine in America?

image by Jose Goulao

Already Americans are feeling the effects of changes that have been made in our system of medical care and insurance.  Companies are dropping health care as a benefit or increasing the amount of money employees must contribute.  Insurance companies are raising rates, and everyone is waiting for the other thousand or so shoes to drop if/when “Obamacare” goes into full effect.  What will medical care look like ten years from now?  The answer is, no one knows.

The MedCallAssist Kit can be an important stopgap between hoping something goes away because the funds aren’t available for a doctor’s appointment and a trip to the hospital because a condition has become life-threatening.  Many preppers, homesteaders, and survivalists live long distances from medical care.  This kit fills a need for these families as well.  Even hunters would be smart to have something this well-equipped.

With the availability of medical advice on a 24/7 phone line, a medical professional will be able to advise you if the medications and supplies in the kit are enough for a particular situation or if a face-to-face visit with a doctor is required.  Either way, the kit and phone service will provide a lot of peace of mind.

Q&A

I thought you might have more questions about the MedCallAssist Kit and the company, so I asked some of them for you!  Jathan Nalls, one of the medical professionals with the company answered them.

Survival Mom:  The kit comes with prescription medicines.  How is that possible without a prescription?

Jathan:  Our company is headed by an emergency physician and there are three more on staff.  Each kit is “prescribed” to an individual or family based on their medical history, anticipated needs, and other factors that we take into consideration.  Our kits do not contain any controlled medications nor will we prescribe them.  Additional meds are available upon consultation, on a case-by-case basis.

Survival Mom:  Will this kit take the place of actual visits to a doctor or hospital?

Jathan:  We want this service to be helpful to clients who want to control healthcare costs and get quality medical consultation and access to treatment during difficult times.  However, we definitely do not want to take the place of their local physician.  If a family has a sick child in the middle of the night and the nearest ER is an hour away, we’ll talk with the family and advise them how they should proceed.  If our physician feels that an ER visit is warranted, that will be advised.  As you know, nothing compares to a face-to-face visit with a physician who can do a hands-on exam and order more testing.

Again, the bottom line

Even at $350 and $375, these kits are well-priced.  Add to that, the availability of a 24/7 phone line for medical consultation, and it’s a pretty awesome package.  Currently, the MedCallAssist website lists kit prices of $250/275, but these are scheduled to increase on January 1.  As a Survival Mom reader, your price will continue to be $250/275 if you use coupon code survivalmom upon checkout through January 31, 2012.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by derekGarvey

Last week’s Action Step was a recommendation to find a good source of wheat and stock up.  A reader made the comment that buying wheat from feed stores was a bad idea because of pesticides.  I wanted to check that out for myself, so first, I made a few calls to local feed stores.  Surprisingly, only two carried “feed wheat”, and neither could say for sure that it was pesticide-free.  One store went so far as to check with their supplier to see if I could get “organic” wheat, but t wasn’t available.

My next step was to talk with an actual wheat farmer in Idaho.  I’ve purchased a couple hundred pounds of wheat directly from him and wanted to hear what he had to say about the use of pesticides and the storage of feed wheat.  Turns out, he was quite talkative!

Not surprisingly, he said that farmers will only use pesticides when it’s absolutely necessary.  It’s an additional cost that cuts into their profit margin.   He told me about an incident a few years ago when grasshoppers invaded his farm, consuming 20 square feet of wheat every day for weeks.  His only choice was to use a pesticide, which he limited to only the perimeter of his fields, hoping to kill any new grasshoppers intent on eating the ripening wheat.  Ultimately, the insects consumed 40% of his crop.

He mentioned that some neighboring farmers chose to spray their entire fields with pesticides.

image by Roger Smith

I asked about the use of fungicides, and again, this is an expense farmers want to avoid but often can’t.  Apparently, there was a problem with wheat leaf frost last year that required many farmers to spray fungicide over their fields.  However, typically a fungicide is sprayed early in the season, before the head of the wheat has had a chance to ripen.  Once the wheat is ripe, any traces of the chemical is undetectable.

According to this farmer, the cost of cleaning wheat properly is very expensive.  The equipment he owns cost more than $75,000.  Not only is the equipment expensive, but the cleaning process takes a lot of time.  Again, farmers have to be mindful of the costs involved with producing their wheat, so unless the wheat has to be thoroughly cleaned, it won’t be.  Feed wheat, that is, wheat sold as animal feed, isn’t cleaned nearly as well as wheat intended for human consumption.

Actually, cleaning feed wheat can be counter-productive because there are things like chaff that are actually good for animals.  Some cleaning is necessary, of course, because dirt, insects, and insect parts must be removed before the wheat is shipped and sold.  Cleaning the wheat at any level, however, doesn’t remove herbicides or pesticides.

image by Scott Butner

The question still remained, is it smart to buy feed wheat for food storage?  This farmer stated, “People who do that are nuts!”  Here’s his explanation.

Not only is feed wheat not cleaned nearly as well as wheat for human consumption, it is also likely to be a combination of wheats from many different farms.  It’s possible that a grain silo might contain a hundred or more different varieties of wheat.  When it comes to actually using the wheat for food, there’s no way to guarantee what the make-up will be or how much protein or gluten the “blended wheat” contains.  This is his pet peeve.  He said that at least half of the companies who sell wheat in buckets and bags sell “blended wheat” and to look for that phrase on their labels.

So?  What is a prepper to do when it comes to buying feed wheat?  One suggestion from this farmer is to talk with the feed store owners and find out as much as possible about where their wheat comes from, how it’s treated and how it’s cleaned.  There will probably be no guarantee that it’s pesticide-free unless it’s from a certified organic farm.  Azure Standard is one such source, and you’ll find others online with a simple Google search for “organic wheat”.  You won’t be paying $15 for 50 pounds, however.

As with anything else we do, be guided by common sense and reliable information.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by JD Hancock

Prep & Pantry is an iPhone app that lets you keep track of all your preps and everything in your pantry. It really is a great little app, and worth the money, but there is a free “lite” version if you want to try before you buy.

This app has a lot of good features.  It scans barcodes if your iPhone is new enough (mine isn’t) and downloads the information. However, because it automatically searches for information when you scan an item, if you are somewhere with no cell coverage, such as a basement, it doesn’t help.

When you start up the app, you get a Prep & Pantry title screen and it automatically continues to a prompt to enter a barcode. If you don’t want to enter a new item, such as a can of food, you can select a magnifying glass in the upper right corner to go to “Find Inventory Item” which has a search bar. If you select “List” from the bottom of the screen, you can list items alphabetically, by expiration, or by location. “List” will also warn you if you have expired items. While you are on the “Scan” page, you can swipe your finger to the left and the background will change from green (add item) to red (remove items) and you can remove items; there are also buttons to change between the two screens.

image by Tony Buser

If you go to “Find Inventory Item” from the remove items screen, it will remove items instead of adding them.  For example, if I go to the item Mandarin Oranges from “Remove items”, I can remove items by clicking a button but if I go there from add items, I can only add items. Every time you add to the quantity you have of an item, you need to enter the location, quantity, and expiration date. It took me a few minutes because the app allows you to put things in more than one place.

The barcode is the entire code, including the smaller numbers on either side, just outside the actual bars. If you have cell coverage, it then scans for the information and downloads whatever it finds – IF you have that feature enabled. I disabled it while I was working with it in the basement to save on battery life, and then was annoyed when my Dole Mandarin Oranges wouldn’t come up when I entered them in an area with cell coverage. Oopsie! My bad. It worked just fine once I enabled it again by going into “Settings” with the button at the bottom of the screen. The only information it pulled in was the name, Mandarin Oranges, but it was still a help. If you don’t have coverage or it can’t find the item, it then prompts you to enter information, starting with the name.

Qm is essentially the quantity you want to have, your goal amount. There is also a grocery shopping list option. You can note items you have coupons for, email the shopping list to yourself, and even add a thumbnail. If you go into settings, there are even more choices, including a database backup.

Prep & Pantry sells for $4.99 and can be downloaded from your phone, of course, as well as the website, Prep & Pantry.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by bonacheladas

I lived!!!

As anybody who doesn’t live in a cave probably knows, the Seattle Pacific Northwest this week was hammered by winter storms, knocking out juice to what amounted, at the high point, to over 300,000 households, which affected around 1.2 million people!

In this case, it was actually predicted that there could be scattered power outages.  News on Wednesday evening had stories about people stocking up in stores. IN A NUMBER OF CASES, THE STORES WERE ALREADY SOLD OUT OF THE DESIRED ITEMS!!!!

Flashlights, batteries, generators, stuff like that were already either unavailable or a premium item.

The snow started falling late Tuesday evening, and continued into early Wednesday morning. Local news was predicting a wide variety of amounts.  Seattle has a lot of microweather because some areas are closer to the Sound which is warmer, and some areas are at much higher elevations, which, usually, but not this time!, are colder.

I made no advance preparations right then with the exception of digging out some small propane bottles and my little Century Primus single mantle lights. I also made sure that my flashlights were out in the open in readily available places.

Now, I say I made no advance preparations, but in a way, I lied because over the years, I have accumulated many necessities, some because of immediate need, some as a planned activity in cxse of a SHTF scenario.

image by John Mundy

I have two generators, a Champion 3500 watter (quite new) and a Coleman 1800 watter. Every summer I move them to the front of the shed they are stored in and fire them up. I also make sure the oil is clean and full and put a bit of a load on them and let them run until they are warm just to make sure they are well-lubed.  After that, I hit them with a touch of carb cleaner. Just general small engine maintenance things.

I also have LOTS of extension cords, not just household type cords, but serious shop type cords. And power strips.

I also have stocked up on plenty of food and coffee. One of the things people were stocking up on were ingredients for soup. Soup is good food. In an emergency, soup can warm you and keep you alive!

Having been up almost all Tuesday night, with it still snowing, Wednesday morning I slept.

The storm worsens

Later on Wednesday evening, it started getting worse, according to the news. I am at 600 feet, and only had about 6 inches of snowfall.  Now, every single year we have at least one storm that dumps way more than 6 inches, so I was not overly concerned.  That night I heard a few branches fall, but not many.

About 10 p.m., my lights flickered and went out. I started my propane lights and turned on my BATTERY POWERED!!!! radio.   I have about three of these, but rarely need to use them.

I didn’t start the generator right away because it didn’t seem so bad and my house was still warm.  I had had the foresight to make a pot of coffee beforehand and put it into my thermos.  Our juice goes out often enough that I’ve learned to do that, and if the juice stays on, I just pour the coffee from the thermos and it doesn’t go to waste.

A click and a ping and the power came back on about 2:00 a.m.  So I went on my porch to take a look.  Air temp was about 28 degrees. And it was raining.

That was when I got scared because I knew this meant a major ice storm was coming.   I already had 6-8 inches of snow on my roof and didn’t need what might end up being an 8 ton block of ice up there!  Plus, I have at least 5 Douglas firs over 100 feet tall within about 25 feet of my house.  With the weight of enough snow, they could easily topple

Power was on, my heat was on, so I had a drink and went to sleep for a bit.

Life without power

image by Jacked01

Awake at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, I went on the porch and was astounded. A lilac tree near my porch was covered with ice and bent over my porch. A cherry tree that grows nearby had it’s limbs almost touching my porch. It was still pre-dawn, and I had a cup of coffee and a smoke when suddenly there was a big blue flash, and my lights flickered. They came back on, but with a second blue flash, they went out.  They came back on once more but a final blue flash killed ‘em for good. It really was spectacular standing on my porch and watching the flashes in the distance. And there was almost a roar with the sounds of tree limbs and even whole trees coming down.

Now, I’m not the greatest housekeeper in the world, and I soon realized that you do not want to have a lot of clutter lying around when you are in anything like a survival mode! So keep the paths to your important items and resources clear, if possible.

My house was still warm so I didn’t worry about the generator, but I could tell then that this was going to be an extended event.

About ten in the morning I got one of my shop extension cords and a power strip and headed out to start it. I looked at the road and just did a general look of the neighborhood and saw no lights, heard no generators, not even a car engine. Everything was coated in ice.

I tried to start the small generator first, even gave it a shot of starter fluid, but no dice. It was cold out. It is no secret that when you are cold to the point of being uncomfortable, you RAPIDLY lose your effectiveness. So I came back in, got gloves and a hat, and went back out. Didn’t want to waste time, so I moved the small generator towards the back and rolled the other one up (the Champion), gave it a shot of starter fluid, and yanked on it.

First pull, it started.

I plugged in the extension cord, came back inside and plugged the power stip in. From there I hooked up various items starting with my pellet stove to try to keep the place warm.

One of the lessons learned: Over the next few days I used 4 shop type extensions cords (two of them 50 footers), two power strips, and about five household type extension cords. Better to have too much than not enough.

My power finally came on 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, making for 60 hours without juice.

I lost my internet connection. The phone worked for a while, but after about 6 hours, there was no dial tone, just white noise.  The phone system totally powered down about 3 in the afternoon. I concluded that many of the small phone substations you see around are running off of UPS’s and if the local juice goes, they can only last for so long.

I was unable to get out in my vehicle because the snow was so bad I couldn’t get my chains on. Next time, if I know or hear about this in advance, my chains are going on BEFORE it happens.

Everything was OK though because I had plenty of food, coffee and propane for my lights (when the generator was off). My routine was to run the generator for about 8 hours, warm my place up good, then cycle it down and let it cool off. Wait (sleep) for 5 hours or so, gas up the generator and restart it for another 8 hours.

It was Thursday afternoon before I heard anybody else running a generator, about 4:30, right before dark. After dark fell, it was totally obvious who was prepared and who was not!

image by crabchick

Fewer than one out of six had a generator, most places were completely dark, or very dimly lit as if by candles.

Temps in my house would get up to about 63 degrees with the pellet stove, but after 5 or 6 hours when the generator was off, it would fall to about 55 degrees. I quickly learned that SOCKS ARE GOOD FRIENDS!!

I have a small propane cooking setup so was able to feast on scrambled eggs and ham. Carbs will give you short term energy, but if you are going to do heavy work while trying to stay warm, you need something more substantial.

Over the years when it gets cold, and it has gotten to zero in the Seattle area, I will fill up plastic bottles (like Gatorade bottles) with hot water from my faucet and put them at the foot of my bed. This worked very well for me this time, it’s important to be warm when you sleep and not fight the cold.  You will be much more rested and ready for the next day when you wake up.

So I used this approach. It’s kind of a toss up because by the end of the second day I really, really, really, really wanted a shower from all the messing around with gasoline, oil, my tire chains, snow shovel, etc.

I was scared I wouldn’t have enough hot water left, but turned it on and in a minute or so it was steaming. I relished what might have been the last shower I could ever take!

Some were prepared, some were not

By Saturday morning it had warmed significantly, and I was finally able to get the chains on my truck. I was approached by a neighbor who asked if I could charge her cell phone.  Hey, no big deal, so I brought it inside and put it on the charger. At this time, the power was still out and there were estimates that some limited areas might not have power until mid-week.

Talking to people on Friday I heard rumors of people being around the neighborhood who basically didn’t live here or belong here. So starting on Saturday when I went outside, I carried a small .22 mag revolver I have.  I want to stress, however, that I didn’t hear of any break-ins or gunshots or anything like that, but I have ZERO doubt that if the situation had continued for another three days or so, that would have changed. Desperate people do whatever it takes.

Now at one point in time in the past I had told someone I had two generators. I bumped into him walking around, and he WANTED that generator! I’m not really sure what the solution to that problem would have been if the outage had been more long-term.

Another lesson: KEEP YOUR LIPS ZIPPED ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE!

One thing that struck me is that if there was a general SHTF power outage type event, do you know who would be the richest man in town? The guy who owns a LAUNDROMAT!!

Gas was already becoming an issue after just three days.  A fellow I know has a 4K generator and he told me he would be out of gas today. Now does it make any sense at all to spend many hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a generator and run OUT OF GAS on Day 3?

Power came on here at 6:30 PM Saturday. Didn’t hear any shouts or yells but I am sure everybody was relieved. I had a fairly daunting task of just cleaning things up (still need to wash the dishes I let pile up).

If somebody asked me what the most important thing was that I learned, I would say “Keep it simple”. Simple things like propane lights, canned foods that need little prep, stuff like that won’t make you feel like you’re at the Waldorf Astoria, but it might keep you from getting so frustrated that you go out and start shooting from your front porch!

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by TimmyGUNZ

What can people do to prepare if they do not have a medical background?  Find someone who does!  Try to make connections with people in the medical field now while there is still time.  Go learn as much as you can about how to take care of each other.  I’ll be hosting occasional, “Outback Medicine” Conferences.  (Teaching medical skills is the focus and passion of this ole’ doc!)

The level of knowledge needed to treat other humans in crisis is quite astounding!  Yet, in a collapse situation, there won’t be much choice as to how much training your present “caretaker” will have.

In our present modern society, it’s one of the things that frustrates good Doctors everywhere, the fact we see lesser informed “providers” all around us, treating patients so cavalierly and wrongly!  We literally have to “clean up their mistakes” (which can be fatal at worst!) and see the bad results of these “wrong treatment” situations right here in our emergency room!

This is one of the reasons many doctors who are aware of the coming collapse wish to provide for lay persons the skills and knowledge of how to care for others, using properly taught medical care and skills.  At least whatever we can teach others, will be a jump ahead if the world does collapse.  However, due to our licenses and necessary alignments with today’s government, along with its’ regulators who will take away medical licenses if we speak out on issues like this today, literally, providing training and information is something doctors can’t speak out about it!

The point is, you should be able to learn as much as possible now about how to care for each other if a time comes when there is no Doctor around to provide the best care.

Suggestions:

• Take an EMT class from a community college.
• Acquire basic medical books as listed here (#5 on the list).
• Take a wilderness first aid and wilderness first responder course.
• Research the chronic illnesses and diseases your own family suffer from and begin acquiring the medicines and equipment for treatment, if possible.

Related articles:

• Thoughts on Medical Training for TEOTWAWKI
• Medical Planning and Training for Uncertain Times
• Book review: The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by ines saraiva

Just a quick note to let you know about The American Preparedness Radio Net site.  It’s has a lot of great information, much of it fun to read, actually.  You’ll find a chat room, “For Ham Newbies”,  “How to articles”, plus a lot more.

If you have your license or are on your way, this might be a good resource as well as a connecting point with other preppers who are also amateur radio operators.  That’s a great combination!

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.