Prepardness 101

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Preparedness 101

I get complacent in my preparedness efforts from time to time.  I am always aware of the necessity of being prepared but sometimes I talk about it more than I do it.  And then a news article, book, weather abnormality or just a random thought will put me back on the straight and narrow.  The latest "nudge" toward even greater self-sufficiency came in the the combined form of Patrice's 2019 Predictions  blog entry and re-reading James Wesley, Rawles "PATRIOTS, A novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse".  Talk about making my agent orange act up!  So, here are some things we are doing to gear up....

First, my husband is systematically reinforcing our reloading supplies.  Powder, primers, bullets, you name it - he is stocking up.  I am taking stock of our stored foods and trying to fill in the gaps.  I am utilizing a large quantity of 4 gallons pails to store things like yeast, canning lids, spices, tea, coffee, powdered eggs and other necessities.  We are picking up a few extra 50 gallon barrels to fill with turbinado sugar, powdered milk and popcorn.  Other things on my short "want" list are 5 gallons of corn syrup, 1 gallon of maple flavoring, more oil (both Canola and Olive), shortening, lard, nuts (pecans, walnuts and peanuts) and canned convenience foods like chili, clam chowder, cheese and bacon.  I am also getting washcloths (15 per person x 7) for use as tp after our tp stock is used up, bag balm, bread bags, zip lock bags, bleach, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

We already have quite a supply of wheat (hard red, hard white, soft white, spring, kamut, spelt), dehydrated corn, beans, lentils, sugar, rice, flour, dehydrated potatoes, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, lard, olive oil, oats, and canned goods too numerous to mention.  We also buy medical supplies in bulk from a supplier that caters to ambulance companies and fire departments.

Some areas that we are re-evaluating (although we have made significant preparations) are food storage, canning, defense, personal hygiene, charity, lighting, laundry, alternative energy, water, medical, childbirth, communications, heirloom gardening, clothing and entertainment.  In the next few weeks, I will address each of these areas individually and tell you what we have done to prepare.

In order to accomplish our preparedness goals, we are tightening our belts.  We are spending nothing at the grocery store in between paydays.  We are not renting movies, going to dinner (which we really don't do anyway) or driving more than is necessary.  I am having my husband do my shopping in town so that I don't have to make a special trip.  We are selling everything we don't think we need and investing that money in our preparedness stores.

TEOWAKI, here we come!