What have you done to prep today?

[justoneguy]

Then into a wide mouth canning jar, to be pressure cooked for 90 minutes.
Jalepenos are in the background, those just got a hot water bath.

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[Treetop]

Nice justoneguy! how does bacon turn out after being canned like that? Do you put any liquid in with them?

[justoneguy]

No. I did not add any water to the jars.
They come out with about an inch of water [juice], and an inch and a half of grease in each jar.
1 of 12 jars did not seal, so I was able to sample it right away.
It came out looking raw, and i had to fry it up, to get a decent crunch
It seems to have lost just a little of it's flavor, but i did not use any of the liquid then.
I will use everything in with some beans next sampling.

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[OneBiteAtATime]

15 gallons water, multitool, flashlight, first aid kit, whistle, masks, latex gloves and bleach squirrelled away in the ready spot.

WaterBob ordered, 4 extra canteens, some idodine tabs, KiO3 tablets ordered.

Also ordered a 60 meal entree pack from Wise. That's won't get squirrelled away, though. It will probably get eaten.

[Rosco]

Still filling Juice jugs washed then rinsed an two drops of bleach

Also reading Survival podcast and Steven Harris.

Attended Prep Fair Oct -20 in Oregon City at a LDS church Don't think I will join Cert
Main Speaker was great not Doom an Gloom but prep for most likely and build from that Demos on several ways to cook an store food, Radio net,different water filter system. ? Worth the trip 210 miles round trip not sure, as not enough new info to get Wife on board above the food we are stocking on now She did not go up

[Nickelless]

Still filling Juice jugs washed then rinsed an two drops of bleach

Also reading Survival podcast and Steven Harris.

Attended Prep Fair Oct -20 in Oregon City at a LDS church Don't think I will join Cert
Main Speaker was great not Doom an Gloom but prep for most likely and build from that Demos on several ways to cook an store food, Radio net,different water filter system. ? Worth the trip 210 miles round trip not sure, as not enough new info to get Wife on board above the food we are stocking on now She did not go up

Give her time, Rosco. I've been slowly working around the edges to get my fiancee to realize that NOT prepping beyond food is an unwise move. Look at the huge crisis on the ground in NY and NJ since Sandy hit. The biggest issue besides food is security. I pointed out to Laura last night that thinking that stuff can't happen where we are ignores the fact that I was mugged three years ago--even though up to that time I thought it couldn't happen to me. Given enough time and enough interaction with other people, stuff can happen that will make everything you're doing seem relevant and necessary. I've been working on this point of view with my fiancee for more than four years, and she's just now starting to see the light on some things. Be patient but gently persistent with your wife and she'll come around eventually, IMO.

[Mossy]

Still filling Juice jugs washed then rinsed an two drops of bleach

I've had juice bottles give up from rough handling, but they stack nicely.

Pop bottles are also good. A friend in construction told of intentionally dropping his water bottle from the 3rd floor to see if it would burst. Nope.

You pay's your nickel, you takes your choice.

Attended Prep Fair Oct -20 in Oregon City at a LDS church Don't think I will join Cert
Main Speaker was great not Doom an Gloom but prep for most likely and build from that Demos on several ways to cook an store food, Radio net,different water filter system. ? Worth the trip 210 miles round trip not sure, as not enough new info to get Wife on board above the food we are stocking on now She did not go up

Don't emphasize prep, emphasize frugality and savings. Consumers save by buying in bulk. (Merchants save/make more with JIT purchasing, minimal stock on hand.)

[Mossy]

I pointed out to Laura last night that thinking that stuff can't happen where we are ...

Darn. Thought I had a link to a global, cumulative tropical cyclone map showing several hurricanes that had gone up the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Lots of rain, lots of floods.

Maybe a little poking around on this link will help:

http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/summary.html

And, a TEOTWAWKI event can be very personal, like a car wreck or house fire. No need for a global problem to make having extra stuff on hand a good idea.

[Nickelless]

I picked up another 250 pounds of rice today at Sam's Club--filled up 10 5-gallon mylar bags inside buckets, sealed 'em up and added them to my deep pantry!

[eventurer]

Great thread - thanks for sharing all this info.

Seems I have a lot of work to do...

[Merwanseth]

Bringing Survivalism into the mainstream? An interesting article...

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food ... _sell.html

[68Camaro]

Bringing Survivalism into the mainstream? An interesting article...

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food ... _sell.html

The tone from article's author largely makes fun of the whole thing. Which for me is fine in a way because if people are making fun of this then that means they are still unaware there is an issue, which gives me more time to prepare for my family. If the MSM really started to take these warnings at face value and communciated that, and people believed it, then we would be - at most - weeks away from a major panic and collapse.

As far as the objections.,,

There is an optimum balance to everything, and a best way to approach things. Buying survival products from a paid coordinator, without plan or thought or advance testing, is like buying gold from Goldline or Universal - it's simply insane. There is are best ways to do this that avoids almost all (if not all) of the objections that have been provided.

[justoneguy]

as a follow up to my first time canning bacon,
I found this article at survivalsherpa that suggests cooking the bacon [limp],
before putting it thru the canning process.
My canned bacon was kinda limp and falling apart.
this seems to do a better job, I'm going to try it .
http://survivalsherpa.wordpress.com/201 ... the-world/

[Engineer]

A few days ago I picked up a case of the little propane bottles while my wife rolled her eyes asking what I needed THAT for.

Tonight a falling tree took out the neighbor's power, and I headed over with some flashlights and a propane lantern with a couple bottles of fuel to help keep their house warm and bright. While she was carrying the bottles over, she admitted she was wrong!

[68Camaro]

"Sorry I was wr..." "wrrr..." "wrrrooo..." "wrrrooonnnn.." "wrroonngg..."

[Rosco]

"Sorry I was wr..." "wrrr..." "wrrrooo..." "wrrrooonnnn.." "wrroonngg..."

Wife an I say that just that way

Now down in Sun for 3 months is small Motor Home tough to prep when you have very limited Storage

[Nickelless]

A few days ago I picked up a case of the little propane bottles while my wife rolled her eyes asking what I needed THAT for.

Tonight a falling tree took out the neighbor's power, and I headed over with some flashlights and a propane lantern with a couple bottles of fuel to help keep their house warm and bright. While she was carrying the bottles over, she admitted she was wrong!

I used to get comments like this from various family members when I encouraged them to stock up on food, medicine, different tools, etc. I don't hear comments like this much anymore. Keep on stocking up and don't worry about what others think!

[John_doe]

http://now.msn.com/end-of-world-fears-s ... -in-russia

good to see my moonshine comment wasnt too far off base.

[68Camaro]

Went to the spring extravaganza flea market with the wife today. Not a lot of "bargins", everything seemed high, but did pick up a "Dazey Sharpit model 900", which is a hand-crank geared stone sharpener which would be excellent for machetes and the like. Paid $10.

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Appears to be selling for $25 and up plus shipping on the bay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAZEY-SHARPIT-P ... 0910765791

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-DAZEY-C ... vi-content

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sharpit ... vi-content

[OneBiteAtATime]

LCS had .223! Steel-case, but still! Grabbed 100 rounds - all I had cash for. (I don't own the correct tool, but hopefully someone who does would like to trade some of their .22 or 30-30 or 30-06.

[OneBiteAtATime]

Future egg-producers. Then, future dinner.

[Treetop]

That is sweet onebiteatatime! I did chickens last year and a few are still here but I think Im going to try ducks this next year so the roosters dont annoy the neighbors. I never had better eggs! So much richer and tastier! Are you going to let yours freerange a bit?

[OneBiteAtATime]

That is sweet onebiteatatime! I did chickens last year and a few are still here but I think Im going to try ducks this next year so the roosters dont annoy the neighbors. I never had better eggs! So much richer and tastier! Are you going to let yours freerange a bit?

They're city chicks, so I'm going to build them a chicken tractor so they can have some fun with the yard-bugs, they'll have a permanent run attached to the coop. If they don't try to fly away, when we're outdoors, we can let them run - we only have a 4' chain link fence right now though... have to play it by ear.

[Treetop]

dont forget cats! Most likely the chickens would stay in a yard such as you describe but they might not if you give them the option. cats are a definite potential problem though for many who raise them in such areas. Chicken tractors are great if you have a good design, Ive seen some poorly made ones that dont hold up well.

Ever consider rabbits? More efficient to raise and deal with if meat is the goal rather then eggs. Meat is similar to chicken. Even many places that dont allow chickens allow them also which is great. Might also point out its very easy to breed them in a grid down situation with just things you can collect no one else is likely to want.

[OneBiteAtATime]

dont forget cats!

The coop is sound. (Back of my garage.) We don't get a lot of visitors during the day. They will be locked in during the night. Been doing a lot of reading on this, but this is our first attempt at urban chicks.

Ever consider rabbits?

Considered, but haven't done it yet. Gonna try this for a year and see how we do. If the egg-layers go well, we may consider meat-birds in a couple months. My wife had rabbits when she was a kid. This is as much for the children to get involved with their food as it is for prep.