planning

now browsing by category

 

Posted by: | on February 6, 2013

Starting Your Ark….Prepper List Part Three

Prepper List Part #3 (see Part #2  - http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/?p=3057)

by MsKYprepper, Editor-at-Large

Starting Your Ark

 

If Noah had waited for the rain to start building the ark, the world would be very different today.

Don’t get caught in the rain; get moving with this short list of To-Do’s to quickly get your arc in shape.

 

  1. Earthquake proof your home and food storage shelving.  See this post at Prepared LDS Family for some great ideas and be sure to scroll down into the comment section as well.
  2. Get in your food storage room and do an inventory or some organizing
  3. Protect your electronics with your own homemade metal trash can faraday cage.
  4. In a multi-car family, one vehicle will probably sit during a crisis.  Consider long-term storage (longer than 6 months) and determine your auto’s needs:
    Committing to reading one homesteading or self-sufficiency type book each month for the next year.  Search for free books on Amazon.com for Kindle“Camp out” in your backyard with your family.  No matter what the weather, deal with it.  Pitch the tent, sleep in sleeping bags, eat from can foods.  Find out what you don’t know about living off the grid for 1 weekend.Harden the garage door with reinforced tracks.  Supplement glass with Lexan, Plexiglas or security film mounted inside.

    • Decide where is best to park the un-needed vehicle – in the garage?  Used as a barrier on the property?  Hidden and camouflaged?
    • Check oil and coolant. Drain or add anti freeze to windshield wash Remove anything that will mold, rot or mildew.  Anything that will attract rodents to nest.
    • Jack it up or sit it on concrete blocks to keep tires from developing flat spots.
    • Disconnect the fuel pump and run the car until it quits to drain fuels from the engine lines. Insert steel wool in the tailpipe to prevent rodents from nesting in the exhaust system. Place several rodent traps in the engine compartment.
    • Do not engage parking brake as the pads may become fused. Remove battery and cover
  5. Plant prickly bushes under windows to deter vandalism.  Consider other ways to use landscaping to your security advantage.
  6. Power tools don’t operate without electricity, pre-cut ¾” plywood to cover all first floor windows.  Especially in hurricane/tornado areas.  Pre-drill holes so that you can install plywood easily.  I was more worried about looters so I chose to make chain-link panels for my windows.  They store flat, and can be handled/installed by one person.  I can see out the window and it protects my window from a Molotov cocktail.  Sure, there are better options, but this is cheap and you can accomplish it immediately while you research other options
  7. Find 10 recipes that your family likes – 10 breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  Ingredients must be all shelf-stable foods.  Stockpile enough ingredients to make each recipe 3 times and you have 30 days of food storage.

Posted in planning | 19 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted by: | on January 30, 2013

Prepper List Part Two

Prepper List Part #2 

by MsKYprepper, Editor-at-Large

 

See Part One ….http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/?p=3049

How does your gut feel?  Sometimes “Gut Feelings” are God’s way to get us moving.  If you are feeling unsettled, like you should be doing something – but don’t know where to start, here is a short list to get you moving.  Most are low cost, some only require that you spend time.  

Most can be done in a few hours.

 
  1. Prepare a “Car” 72-hour emergency bag.  Think Shelter, Water, Fire, & Food.  Pack into a backpack.  Store it in your car.  Revise it with the change in seasons.
  2. Look at this recipe for homemade survival bars.  Read through the comments to find alternatives.  Store in your emergency bags.
  3. Catch up on immunizations, dental and medical procedures.  Invest in your family’s health.
  4. Learn to shut off your home’s electric, natural gas and water.  Teach your spouse and children.
  5. Replace those exterior door hinge screws with 3” screws, reinforce the door jamb and add deadbolts with at least a 1” throw.  Add pins to casement windows.
  6. Update exterior lighting around your home, garage and out buildings.  These should be solar, motion-detected security lights.  Mount high up so that vandals can’t reach.  Stock extra light bulbs.
  7. Check the status of your fire extinguisher, fire alarms and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered) with each spring time change.  Stockpile 1 extra battery for each alarm
  8. Buy and mount an axe in your attic.  In the flood plains, if you retreat to your attic, you need a way to cut through your roof as a means to escape.
  9. Get on the other side of the law by joining your local Sherriff’s auxiliary, search and rescue, joining your local CERT (Civilian Emergency Response Team), or getting licensed for Armed Private Security in your state. None of these are guaranteed to give you a pass when you’re dealing with an Orwellian law enforcement official, but they will improve your odds considerably
  10. Make some dryer lint fire starters.
  11. Build a heater out of a candle and some terra cotta pots.
  12. Make a candle from a tub of Crisco.

 

Posted in planning | 5 Comments »
Tags: , , ,

Posted by: | on January 23, 2013

Prepper List Part One

Prepper List Part #1

by MsKYprepper, Editor-at-Large

 

Need help with New Year’s Prep Resolutions?  Make 2013 the year you get better prepared.  Here are 10 projects to launch you into action.  Each is low budget; some require nothing more than your time.  Most require no more than a weekend to complete. 

 

  1. Get organized!  Begin a 3-ring binder to organize notes; this will be your Emergency Binder.  Use it to consolidate your preparations notes and lists in one place. 
  2. Research on Google Earth the area around your house.  Get to know your danger areas.  Where are the “choke points” for escape via automobile?  Where are the natural water supplies?  Where are the risks?  Make notes for your Emergency Binder.
  3. Using Google Earth, find three different routes from work to home, from home to your safe place and other places you may need to travel.  (pick up children from school, etc.)  Identify possible problem areas.  Update your Binder
  4. Buy a detailed laminated paper map of your city and county. Store in your Binder.
  5. Begin to accumulate $200 in 1-dollar bills.  Store in your waterproof, fireproof, secret compartment place in your home.  When able, increase to $500.
  6. Scan your personal documents and copy to a thumb drive.  Store the thumbdrive in a save place.  Include social security cards, passports, birth, driver’s license, marriage, divorce decrees, insurance and title documents, deeds and contracts, bank account numbers and charge cards, (including lost or stolen notification numbers), stocks and bonds, wills, medical information, prescriptions, etc.
  7. Scan head-and-shoulder photos of each family member.  Save to your thumb drive.  Print a copy for your Emergency Binder.  If family becomes separated, a recent photo may help.
  8. Video or scan still photos of your home contents.  When disaster strikes, having a home inventory will help with insurance claims.  Copy to your thumbdrive.
  9. Start saving plastic 2-liter pop bottles (not milk jugs, they decompose).  Sanitize and fill 1 with ¾ with water.  Use it to fill any empty space in your freezer.  If your electric fails, this ice jug will help keep food preserved in the freezer as well as being a source of drinking water.  If space permits, have a least 1 2-liter bottle in the freezer per person.
  10. Ask friends and family members to save soda bottles for you.  Lie about your intentions, (tell them it’s a school project for little Johnny).  Sanitize the bottle, lid and threads.  Fill with tap water.  Your goal is to accumulate 30 bottles per family member and large pet. Store them easily with a DIY bottle rack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuJNQdE3tro
  11. This one is for you – now that I’ve got you thinking about low-cost prep’s you have probably already thought of something else you want to do.  Go for it!

 

Posted in planning | 12 Comments »
Tags: , , ,

Posted by: | on December 11, 2012

Car alarms for defense……..

Car_Alarm_System

Car Alarms as defense, offense and for personal safety.

Quote of the Day

“Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.”
Abraham Lincoln
*****

 

 

Take Your Car Keys to Bed with You

By Bev Sandlin

Way back when, before there were car alarms, 3 blasts of a vehicle horn on the homestead meant “Come a runnin’! EMERGENCY.”  It could be animals out or wounded, you crawled back to the vehicle with a sprained ankle and needed help, stuck in a snow bank (again), fire, whatever. But you had to be able to get to the vehicle first.

This showed up in my email box and made so much sense that I have to share it with you!

 

“Put your car keys beside your bed at night.Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr’s office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.
If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won’t stick around. After a few seconds, all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

P.S. I am sending this to everyone I know because I think it is fantastic. Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can’t reach a phone. My Mom has suggested to my Dad that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn’t hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she’ll know there’s a problem.”

Isn’t this a fantastic idea!

 

There are so many great emails that get forwarded, if you have one that you think is appropriate for SCP readers, PLEASE forward it to scprepper(at)outlook.com .

 

SHARE!

 

 


*****

Ha Ha

A smile for you…

Military Common Sense Rules

A lot of life’s problems can be explained by the U.S. Military and its applications of common sense…

1. “Sometimes I think war is God’s way of teaching us geography.”
(Paul Rodriguez)

2. “A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what’s left of your unit.”
(Army’s magazine of preventive maintenance).

3. “Aim towards the Enemy.”
(Instruction printed on US M79 Rocket Launcher)

4. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
(U.S. Marine Corps)

5. Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs always hit the ground.
(U.S. Air Force)

6. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
(Infantry Journal)

7. It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.
(US Air Force Manual)

8. Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.
(Gen. MacArthur)

9. Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo.
(Infantry Journal)

10. You, you, and you . . . Panic. The rest of you, come with me.
(Marine Gunnery Sergeant)

11. Tracers work both ways.
(US Army Ordnance)

12. Five second fuses only last three seconds.
(Infantry Journal)

13. Don’t ever be the first, don’t ever be the last, and don’t ever volunteer to do anything.
(US Navy Seaman)

14. Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.
(David Hackworth)

15. If your attack is going too well, you have walked into an ambush.
(Infantry Journal)

16. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
(Joe Gay)

17. Any ship can be a minesweeper… once.
(Admiral Hornblower)

18. Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.
(Unknown Marine Recruit)

19. Don’t draw fire; it irritates the people around you.
(Your Buddies)

20. Mines are equal opportunity weapons.
(Army Platoon Sergeant)

21. If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.
(David Hackworth)

22. Your job is to kill the other person before they kill you so that your national leaders can negotiate a peace that will last as long as it takes the ink to dry.
(Drill Instructor)

23. In the Navy, the Chief is always right.
(Written on the door into the Chiefs quarters)

 

 

Posted in planning | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted by: | on May 2, 2012

Planning for Preparedness

notebook

One of the most valuable tools in your preparedness system is not what you might think. It is a notebook and a pen or pencil.

You see, planning is very valuable when it comes to preparedness. Sitting down and answering a few questions on paper can quickly put into focus what priorities must be had.

Here are a few questions:

  • What am I preparing for?
  • Will the electricity be out? If so for how long?
  • Will the food supply be interrupted (stores closed)? If so, for how long?
  • Will medical services be interrupted? If so, for how long?
  • Will communication methods be interrupted? If so, for how long?
  • Would you expect lawlessness? If so, for how long?
  • How much food do you have currently in days? Be realistic.
  • Do you have back up power? Do you have emergency lighting methods?
  • Do you have several alternate methods to cook?
  • How much water do you have?
  • Would sanitation be effected? Washing clothes? Washing yourself? Washing dishes? Disposing of trash? Going to the bathroom?
  • Do you have a method of defensing yourself?

There are many more questions to be answered and possibilities to be considered. Putting them all together and then prioritizing a list of things to do/get to gradually or rapidly improve your readiness is what this is all about.

Got some paper?

Rourke

Posted in planning | Comments Off
Tags: ,