Anybody doing any Prepping??

[48Rob]

I'm not very well prepared at all but I guess I am ok in the firearm and ammo dept. What i really need and have been putting off is a generator. A few years back we had a really nasty ice storm and about half of the city lost power for several days. I have a kerosene heater and that kept us warm but it sure would've been nice to have lights and a means to use our electric stove and microwave. If it ever gets road warrior bad well I guess were all doomed. at least about 95% of us.

Larry

Generators are nice, but the first priority should be water, then heat, then food.
A deep cycle battery or two can run an inverter if you only needed lights.
Microwaves and electric stoves are huge power hogs...but they are nice to have!

Rob

[CliffinGA]

Rob thats great advice, if all else fails here we can get by for several weeks with what we have in the house. I picked up at the gun show today to emergency water containers, you open them up and put in your tubs and fill and hold around 100 gallons of water. I have 2 Mr buddy propane heaters, safe for indoor use, that we used a couple of years ago during ice storms here that knocked out power. We just moved into the smaller bedroom and stayed in there with the dogs and we were fine for the week the power was out. At the time i had a propane cook stove we used to cook on and now I have 3 white fuel stoves also and now have 2 propane lanterns,4 white fuel and several kerosen lanterns and battery powered lights. This morning I also picked up alot of staple can good from Aldi's grocery store and got a lot for a low price. Since this is christmas and my wife finally got all of her decorations out of my room, yes we have seperate guest rooms with our personal collectibles stuff in them, I was able to move a utility cabinet I had laying in the garage to use as a food storage cabinet. Not a lot but it is a start anyway!

Cliff

Oh thanks for all the responses and good ideas!!

[8ball_99]

Exactly. I'm not really one planning for the end of the world or anything. Or that whole mind set of rebuilding the world after. I just think its smart to have enough supplies to get buy for atleast a few weeks to a month. It would not take that major of an event to to have a major impact on a given area. Again nothing wrong with neighbors helping each other out. But I don't think most people realize how much just a family of four needs just to get by for a week. Talking food, water heating, ect. Most are not prepared for even short term. If you have 10 neighbors chances are 7 of them will be standing with their hands out with in a couple of days. Most people that are considered "Preppers" would not have enough to supply that many house holds with supplies for even a week. Like someone else mentioned even the nicest sweetest person will do what they have to when they or their family are hungry and thirsty. If more people would take basic precautions it would be much less of an issue. Just watch all the people in a disaster area and its easy to see most don't have even a basic stock of supplies.

The looting aspect is also pretty real.. All the emergency personal are busy. The bad guys know it. Like others I live out in the country so I'm not really concerned with that. Heck my drive way is 100 yards long and my property is fenced in. People that live in the city or just in a populated area should give it some thought. Heck watch video of areas hit by katrina. There were people looting walking around with flat screens and other stupid useless crap given what was going on.. When people think they can get away with anything they tend to do crazy stuff..

[coop74]

just a helpful tip that many dont think of when they need it... If you have a home water heater you probably have 40 to 80 gallons of potable water sitting in a corner or basement. Additionally any water found in the back of the tank of your toilet is potable as well...

Just saying, If the power and water goes out I would shut off the water in supply to your water heater if you want to keep it in good shape as the first water that comes back into the supply system after an extended outage is likely to be suspect.

BTW 2 in a pinch dried and and canned pet foods will keep you alive for a long time and for the most part are suitable for human consumption. Again with my 22 I will be going for the million squirrels in the park next door before I do the dog food supply.

I have a pretty good deal of specialized survival training if you have questions. If you do nothing else look up and learn how to make a solar still for water.

Big Coop

[Vedette]

So how many guns and cans of tomato soup do we need to come up with for this thread to end??
Brian

[CARS]

So how many guns and cans of tomato soup do we need to come up with for this thread to end??
Brian

All of them?

[8ball_99]

I don't know I think its kind of interesting to see what the average person says.. The show has extreme cases on it. So would any online forum on the subject I'm sure. This is a Camping forum so you would kind of think people on here might be a little more prepared.. But then again its mainly teardrop campers so most on here only camp for a day or two. Even then though I'm sure people have noticed how much supplies it takes just for a few days in the woods. With that you would think a little prepping at home would kick in... So far we have people on all ends of the spectrum, some with a very stocked up supply, some saying they don't have the will to deal with a major event, others thinking they will relay on their neighbors and pool resources, and some with no means to stock up on anything.

[jstrubberg]

I don't see a thing wrong with prepping for disasters common in your area. I bet Slow is prepared for the odd power outage. Around here we stay prepped for tornadoes and severe storms. I'd expect someone living in coastal Florida to be ready for a storm surge.

Prepping for doomsday? Silly. Look at the hundreds of millions of people involved in keeing our society moving. Your eally think that one day they are all going to throw their hands up and quit? Just give it up, all at once? History says it ain't gonna happen.

I keep some bottled water, some long-lived snacks and blankets with a radio and a battery pack in our storm shelter. If the house blew over, I'd be OK for a few days. The doomsday stuff I just shake my head at.

[indycamper]

My job title is "Emergency Preparedness Coordinator", so the idea of "prepping" is one that I work with regularly. Not the "life as we know it is going to end" type of preparations, but "life is uncertain and we need to be ready for anything that comes along" type! To that end, there are some really great resources on the web: http://www.ready.gov/ and http://www.redcross.org/prepare/locatio ... ly/get-kit are two great websites with information about what one should have available. And, in an earlier post, Sharon had some excellent advice!

[campmaster-k]

Last summer a PG&E crew broke a gas main near my house. The fire chief told me to go in the house and grab a few things and get out . He told me if the windows are open leave them open, if closed leave them closed. When I got to the house my son was inside, windows were closed, the smell of gas was crazy outside.

It would have been good if we would have had grab and go bags. Just a small backpack with one change of cloths and some small food items and a flashlight.

We did no know if we would be gone one day or never be back.

So now we have just that , a bag we can just grab and go.

[48Rob]

We did no know if we would be gone one day or never be back.

So now we have just that , a bag we can just grab and go.

Being prepared...not so silly is it!

Rob

[CARS]

We did no know if we would be gone one day or never be back.

So now we have just that , a bag we can just grab and go.

Being prepared...not so silly is it!

Rob

Silly? No! But what are we preparing for?? The end of time like the Mian's (sp??)??? Or a week off the grid???

Am I going to spend a year's salary on a fully equipped bunker for a year?? Heck no! But I do have provisions for a while. Biggest problem is how to convert that 1/2 of beef in the freezer I just bought (don't ask how much that cost now days, but as long as the grid holds out, I have frozen food!) into canned food asap. I can can, but I guess I better stock up on jars, lids, rings, and always keep a couple small cylinders around to keep the turkey frier fired up!

Maybe I should do more prep.... just don't see me digging out a shelter anytime soon.

[CliffinGA]

This thread was not meant as an end of times type of thread but as a way to get ideas of what other people are doing to be prepared for just anything they feel the need to be prepared for. I for one have gotten some great ideas on stuff to do make me better prepared for any disaster that might happen.

A few things I don't think were mentioned are:

1. First aid kit, I have three a first responders kit, a kit in my work van and a camping first aid kit.

2. Medications, I have a 3 months supply on my meds on hand and easyly stored so can be a quick grab.

3. Food for pets, we buy a 44lbs bag of dog food a month and so we keep an extra bag in the garage in case there is a need.

4. small battery powered radio, if you lose pwer phones die and cord radios don't work

Thanks for all the ideas,

Cliff

[LDK]

Cliff

You have a really good thread goin here. Lots of good ideas. Not like that packin thread that I started. I wish I never started that thread now.

[48Rob]

Silly? No! But what are we preparing for?? The end of time like the Mian's (sp??)??? Or a week off the grid???

Chris,

I can't speak for other people of course, but my idea, and what I try to be prepared for is pretty much everything, except the end of the world kind of things that seem to be popular these days.

If my power and heat goes out because of an ice storm or blizzard for a couple weeks, I want to stay warm.
If an earthquake or other natural disaster trashes the water mains, I want to have water to drink until repairs are made.

If that same earthquake, etc, takes out a few bridges that the food delivery network relies on, I don't want to be hungry.

It can be easy to sit back and ridicule those who are a bit "colorful" like the characters on the TV shows, but there is always a bit of reality to be found under all the showmanship.

I agree it is a silly name, and way overblown as presented, but the general message "be prepared and able to care for yourself for at least a few weeks" is valid.

Robert