Thoughts on preparedness….

Hey Rourke,

          I enjoyed the article by Viper117.  Gold Bond (Gotta get that), Wipes (Got those), Maxi-Pads (Gotta get that) but I think I will stick with Deep Woods and mosquito coils.

          I’m going to take a little different tact here.  Like many Preppers’ I have guns, ammo, not a year’s supply of food but much more than most and a decent first aid kit since my wife is a retired nurse.  My concern is “what do I do when my food supply runs out”?  I have seeds but you can’t grow much in the winter even here in the middle south.  My long term solution is a Walipini; go here for 26 page .pdf file http://www.bensoninstitute.org/Publication/Manuals/Walipini.pdf.  The obvious advantage is you do not need any artificial heat like required in an above ground greenhouse.  Building a Walipini is a lot of work, which I have no intention of doing right now.  However, the only item I need to store is the plastic for the roof and 200 sandbags.  Since I do not have a south facing hillside I will use the sandbags to support the berm located in the rear of the structure.  I live in a wooded area so I access to material for the roof structure.  To supplement my access to “greens” I store lots of sprouting seeds which can be sprouted indoors or even planted outdoors, weather permitting.

          Being of German decent I love my bread.  Now you can freeze bread but it is pretty bulky and besides if you are without power, as in a grid down situation, we all know a freezer is useless.  To make bread you need the ingredients of course, of which wheat is ingredient number one.  If you store hard red wheat like I do you of course need a good electric/manual grinder.  With all the ingredients assembled you need a way to bake it. A few ways come to mind like the sun oven or the Dutch oven.  The advantage to both of these is that they are somewhat portable and I plan on using my Dutch oven as a backup.  My first choice is the Adobe Oven; go here for complete plans http://www.sunset.com/garden/how-to-sunset-classic-adobe-oven-00400000040017/. Even in a SHTF situation most of the items needed to construct this oven are widely available.  However, the thirty-gallon fiber drum may not so I have that on hand plus the Portland Cement double sealed in plastic bags. God knows there is plenty of red clay around here.

          From an OSPEC perspective I don’t recall seeing the suggestion to stock Camo paint.  I personally store several spray cans of the flat black, tan and green along with camo tarps.  There are lots of Youtube video’s on how to paint your weapon or vehicle should the need arise.

          Finally, I urge everyone to know your blood type.  For those who have served, this is a given, it’s on each person’s dog tags.  For those who do not know their blood type be sure to request this information the next time you have blood work done during your annual physical.

 

 

    Well, that’s my contribution and I look forward to learning more from the vast amount of knowledge out there.  Now if I could learn how to grow bananas I would be set.

Bunker Billy

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