September 2016 Corridor Article
“Be Prepared” – Boy Scout motto
Are you prepared? Prepared
for job loss, car breakdowns, or power outages?
Since this is Oklahoma we also need to be prepared for tornadoes, ice
storms, earthquakes, wildfires, and floods (often in the same week). “Am I prepared” is a question that, for a
long time, I was scared to even ask myself!
For many, “preppers” brings about the thought of people living in
bunkers preparing for the end of the world.
After some reading, a lot of research, visiting with others, and having
discussions with my husband, we realized that, like many things, “prepping” was
a wise thing to do. . .just maybe not to the extent some Reality TeeVee
preppers go. We simply wanted to give us
the best reasonable chance to take care of ourselves in as many unpleasant
situations as possible.
The first consideration is water.
Our well messed up some time back and we were without water for several
hours. We could not do anything; bathroom
breaks were not recommended, a cool drink of well water was out of the
question, forget about doing laundry. Thankfully
I did have a case of water for drinking but the other things were not doable,
which got me to thinking. What would we
do in a real crisis if we were without water for several days or months? First, I decided to buy a case of bottled
water at least every other time I go grocery shopping. Bottled water is inexpensive. I usually pay around $3 for a case of 24, and
it lasts a really long time. Since I drink quite a bit of bottled water it is
easy to rotate it, which is important for food and water preps. We have also started storing a few barrels of
rain water for non-potable water for things like flushing toilets or, in a
pinch, washing laundry.
If you find yourself in a situation where the only water available
is dirty it is recommended that you bring the water to a rolling boil and hold
that boil for one minute to purify it and kill as much gross stuff as
possible. Another inexpensive and space
saving solution for water is a water filter.
You can buy small filters for around twenty dollars and they will purify
thousands of gallons of water. Obviously
the more you spend the better quality and more gallons per filter you can get,
but something is better than nothing.
Second, you need to eat.
Currently an average American consumes close to two thousand pounds of
food per year! That’s crazy to think
about, but you can survive on about half that amount of food. Rice and beans may not be the tastiest, but
during a crisis we will be thankful for any morsel of food we can get! If you do the work yourself, you can store
one thousand pounds of food for less than $400.
That food won’t, however, be cookies and potato chips! You can get a 25 or 50 pound bags of rice,
beans, flour, and sugar at most grocery stores.
Many people use Mylar bags and O2 absorbers bought online and
seal the full bags using a clothes iron.
Roughly 5 pounds of food (depending on the food) will fit in each bag
with a couple O2 absorbers.
It takes a week or so for the O2 absorbers to do their job
but once they do the bags are sucked down like a vacuum seal. Any critters that did manage to make it into
the bags before sealing will expire from lack of oxygen rather than ruin the
entire bag! Beware using O2 absorbers
in the sugar or salt because it will turn them into bricks! We save 2-liter bottles and small water
bottles for the sugar and use small zip top bags for the salt. We use 5 gallon buckets to store our food in
and on the outside we list the contents of the.
I try to change things up for a little variety. An example of what might have in a bucket is:
5 pounds each of all-purpose flour, white rice, and brown beans, a 2-liter
bottle of sugar, 1 pound of salt in a zip top bag, a couple bottles of cheap
seasonings, like chili powder, paprika, pepper, and a box of matches. If there is room I will throw various other
things inside such as baking soda, a small box of .22 ammo, cheap well vacuum
sealed coffee, drink mixes, vanilla, popcorn, or oats. You want to use things that have a very very long shelf life and are in good
packaging. There are tons of web sites
dedicated just to food storage, it is fun to do research and see what the shelf
life really is for food products. I
believe white rice has a 30 year shelf life!
There are also a lot of products on the market now that provide a week
or month worth of food for one person in a freeze dried set up in a 5 gallon
bucket. That’s all well and good but
they are expensive and I’m cheap so it’s easier for me to do the work myself
and save a few bucks! The first step in
getting “prepared” is the hardest but start small. Next time you go grocery shopping throw a 1
pound bag of beans and rice in your basket, it’ll only set you back a few bucks
but it will get you on the right path of taking care of yourself and your
family in the unfortunate event of a crisis.
Medical supplies and a way to protect yourself and your family are
other things you need to think about and prepare for but for some can be a bit
on the harder side. First of all, if you
are only preparing for a small crisis, like a job loss or an ice storm, these
will not be as big of an issue. It is
always a good idea to keep at least a 30-day supply of any prescription
medicines on hand. If you tell your doctor
what you are doing, they will likely write you a prescription so that you can
do this. Do not let your prescriptions
go empty. Refill them as often as
possible. If you are preparing for the
“grid down” crisis, these are defiantly some things you need to think
about. Will there be medical help
available? If we are in a “grid down”
crisis it is very possible you will be totally on your own. It is a good idea to do some research, and
know some rudimentary first aid. Also,
during your research stage, figure out what you’ll need for medical supplies
and get them! The same goes for
protection of yourself and your family: decide what kind of crisis you want to
prepare for and research and start your purchases.
The last thing I want to mention, especially in light of the
resent disaster in Louisiana that has stranded several motorists on the
highways with nowhere to go, is a “Get Home Bag”. A get
home bag can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it. Who should have a “get home bag”? Everyone!
I have a friend who is sending a son off to college and she was very
concerned about getting him a bag for his vehicle so that he had the best
ability available to make it home in case of a disaster. Also, plan bags based on who is normally in
your vehicle, so if your kids are with you make sure to keep them in mind when
packing a bag. You can buy a special
back pack for a long walk or use an old pack from your kids closet. The main thing is what you put in it. When I packed my “get home bag” for my car I
figured the furthest away from home I would ever be, unless it was a planned
trip, is about 60 miles. If I have to
walk home I could do it in 3 or 4 days.
So, my bag holds enough water and food to get me 3 days. A few
examples of the food I have are pouch tuna, raisins, and granola bars, and I
try to rotate those things out to keep them fresh. MREs are great but on the expensive side for
me. Yes, I’ll be hungry when I get home
but at least I’ll have a little nutrition, and I can always hope for a generous
neighbor or unexpected forage along the way.
On the comfort/clothing side my bag holds a change of clothes, a pair of
walking shoes, extra socks, a pair of heavy duty work gloves, and rain
gear. The socks and walking shoes are
probably the most important, because at any given time I could be wearing dress
shoes or flip flops, and if I had to walk any distance I would be in pain! I also have fire starting equipment, a
recycled bottle with some cotton balls, matches, and lighter. There are many other things in my bag but you
will have to evaluate your needs based on your own situation. I try to go through my bag a couple times a
year and reevaluate what I have inside and take out or add things I’ve thought
of.
There are many books and online resources to use these days on the
subject of prepping, but my advice is take the first step: just do it. Start small and build from there. You can make it a fun family activity. Talk to your spouse and kids about what
you’re doing and why, and make sure you can take care of your own in a crisis, no
matter the size.
The following is not in my article for The Corridor but an added bonus ;-) And if the article goes over good I may try to do a bit more writing on the subject here on my blog. I had to keep the article short and generic but could have filled the whole magazine with ideas and suggestions and thoughts..... Please feel free to share, comment good or bad or with suggestions. I am still learning about the whole "prepping" scene but it is something I'm enjoying. I just wish I had a whole bunch more money to spend getting prepared. My thought on the whole thing is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
*** a few fiction books I've read that might give you some good ideas, make you think, and get you on the ball to "prepping" and also a couple forums that have some good stuff on them.....
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