SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

4 Tips to Prepare Your Homestead for Winter

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The Weather Channel is predicting colder than average temperatures through January for the Plains states and the area from southeast Texas to the Florida panhandle. Whether you live in a major metropolitan area or have a ranch covering several acres, winter preparedness is fairly similar for just about every home. You need to keep everybody safe and warm and take all the necessary precautions to prevent extreme weather from damaging your home.

These four tips cover the most important items.

1. Drain Sprinkler System

The first freeze of the year can mean large repair bills for homeowners who have neglected to address their irrigation systems and exposed pipes beforehand. This is particularly the case with PVC pipes, but polyethylene pipes can also be damaged, despite their elasticity.

Most sprinkler systems can be drained manually. The valve is typically located at the bottom of the mainline. Make sure to wear eye protection and release all pressure from the line before draining to prevent injury. The blow-out method, using compressed air to clear the pipes, is the only way to 100 percent guarantee no water is left inside. You can do this on your own, but due to the inherent dangers, it’s better to hire a professional.

All pipes in unheated areas of your home (garage, attic, etc.) should be insulated with pipe-wrapping material that can be found at any hardware store.

2. Close the Pool

There are different methods for winterizing in-ground and above-ground pools, but the end result is similar. Use granular chlorine to lower the overall chlorine level of the water and save your cover from being damaged. After a thorough cleaning, lower the water level to about one foot below the tile for mesh covers and about six inches for floating covers. Buy a winter closing kit that comes with everything you’ll need, including instructions. Cleaning methods for filters and lines will vary by pool, so follow the manufacturers instructions carefully.

3. Clean Gutters

Gutter cleaning is not glamorous, and it can be dangerous if the proper precautions are not exercised. The two most important factors for safe gutter cleaning are a dry roof and a ladder long enough to extend beyond the roof. To prevent slips and falls, do not climb on the roof if it has rained in the past 24 hours. Leaf blowers are effective for cleaning long gutter sections, but its best to watch a professional do it once before attempting this yourself.

4. Save Yourself Money With These Simple Upgrades

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that heating costs were higher for 90 percent of Americans homes last year than the winter of 2012-13. This was mostly due to higher costs for natural gas and propane.

A great way to cut energy bills is to invest in heated bedding. The Electric Blanket Institute (yes, this really exists) estimates a typical household can save up to $40 per month on heating costs by turning down the thermostat 10 degrees while sleeping. Make certain the electric blankets you choose are marked with Underwriters Laboratories safety approval (UL #964). A winterized home also has all gaps wider than a nickel between door and windows frames chalked to keep the warm air in and cold air out.

Every home has unique features, so winterization steps will vary. But completing all of the above are steps in the right direction.

Plan Ahead for Hot & Cold Environments

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When it comes to prepping for a major disaster, not all plans are created equally. While you will definitely need a solid supply of food, water and survival equipment; no matter where you end up, factors like the weather will also determine what you should have ready to bring along. In a perfect scenario, you and your family will bug out in a temperate climate that is free of harsh conditions like the searing sun or frigid temperatures. But as you know quite well, this perfect world does not exist, so you have to do what you can to prepare for the worst weather possible.

Surviving the Blazing Sun

Another tough bug out situation involves surviving in the desert, or in a home without power in a very hot location.

The heat can quickly dehydrate you and members of your family, and it can be dangerous to be mobile during the heat of the day. While adults are typically advised to drink 64 ounces of water a day in extreme heat you will need to consume a lot more than that.

Remember that although you can survive for weeks without any food, you will perish after just three to four days without any H2O. In order to avoid getting water stressed, stock up on as much water as possible as well as water purification tablets. In addition, check out the area around your home as well as a potential bug out location for a source of water. Common sources include even a dried up riverbed, dew on plants, rain water that you can catch in a barrel and even the insides of cacti.

As for finding extra sources of food, most cactus fruit is safe and rich in nutrients and liquid, and if you must go out on foot, try to walk as much as you can at night and rest during the day.

You should also be sure to dress for the elements, which in the heat involves covering up enough to avoid sunburn but not being so warm as to induce sunstroke. A great source to check out is the Camo Pattern Buyer’s Guide on the Cabela’s website. The guide lists which types of camouflage clothing is best for which types of weather and surrounding trees and brush; this way, you can choose light enough clothing that will still help to keep you hidden from marauders.

There are also a lot of folks that can teach you how to put together a redneck air conditioner, which works like a swamp cooler (with evaporative cooling), and uses a simple fan and a 5 gallon bucket.

Planning for the Harsh Cold

Surviving the apocalypse in the dead of winter is probably the worst case scenario. But if you live in a colder area of the country that is known for getting three feet of snow in the winter, you have to take extra precautions to prepare for the cold. Freezing temperatures can drain your energy and put an incredible amount of stress on your body. While a typical day will burn up about 2,000 calories, to survive in the cold will use up around 6,000 calories in just 24 hours.

In addition, traveling in the snow and cold can be extremely taxing, and roads that you might have planned to take may become impassable.

In order to survive bugging out in an outside location or even holing up in your home—which may no longer have a reliable source of power—you should make smart use of layering your clothing, and stocking up on as much calorie dense food as possible. This is not the time to think about stashing away cookies and soda, but rather protein rich choices like canned meats and chili, jerky, whole grain low sugar granola bars and wheat crackers. The Prepper Journal recommends using a JetBoil Flash. It’s a terrific tool to keep on hand, in addition to lots of spare fuel cans—this will allow you to heat up your meals which will help you to stay warm.

Also, decide how much wood you’ll need to make it through a harsh winter, and then add a significant amount to it. Chances are good that you will need a much larger amount of wood and other fuel sources to stay warm on those long cold nights than you realize.

Recipe for “Flu Soup”

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No, we don’t have any colds or flu, but I usually make up several quarts of my “Flu Soup” just to keep on hand. It’s worked so good for years to relieve any type of sinus/cold/flu or congestion etc. Be sure to add your honey and lemon.  This recipe usually makes 4 1/2 quarts, and I add more water to the cooked veggies, add more ginger & cinnamon and boil it down again for 2 or 3 more quarts. The 2nd batch isn’t as strong, but still useful.

You Will Need

  • 1 large head of cabbage, coarsely chopped
  • 5-6 large carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, whole
  • 8-10 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 small container of ginger root (I buy from Mennonite store) or you can slice a whole root.
  • 2 Tablespoons of course black pepper
  • 5-6 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
  • 3 or 4 small onions, coarsely chopped

Directions

  1. Add enough hot tap water to cover all the “stuff”.
  2. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 3 or 4 hours.
  3. Stain into another smaller stock pot
  4. Pour into your canning jars, quarts are my preference. I use “self-seal” lids, but you can process them with your canner according to carrots etc.

Flu Soup

You can also just jar it up & keep it in your fridge. I keep a jar or two in there.

Do we have the flu? Nope…but it’s there for colds, sniffles, sinus problems, whatever you want to use it for.

Survival Biscuits?

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This post was previously published here on SCP. Figured many of you have not seen it as it is buried deep within the archives. To see it in its original form click HERE.

Food is my major concern when looking at my preps. I feel like I could just never have enough. At this point I have a large variety of types of food including common grocery store items as well as dehydrated, Mountain House meals and freeze dried. The best survival food is always up for debate. 

I stopped by a local Sunbeam Bread Outlet store and saw a display of different bread mixes. What caught my eye was these were “Just add water“.

I picked up a few for $1.29 each and just tried the Country Biscuit Mix Sunday morning. Super simple to make. Like I said – “just add water” and then cook.

For the prepper this is a simple food prep that can be put back inexpensively requiring few supplies to prepare. The expiration date listed on the package was March of 2013. Like most things – the true date which the product could not be eaten is likely well beyond that date.

Anyways – the biscuits turned out great. My wife cut the dough a little thin but they tasted very good.

There are many simple and cheap preps out there that can make a world of difference when the time comes.

Rourke

Gearing Up For Just in Case Emergencies

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This past couple of weeks we geared up for a trial run “just in case”…and found some areas we needed to shore up.

After my first husband passed, a friend who quilts, took all of his dress shirts and made me a beautiful biscuit quilt and then two small throw quilts. When MrWE2 and I took our 11 day Thanksgiving trip to the Texas coast and back, we seldom used the furnace in the travel trailer, just wore our insulated underwear and climbed under a thermal blanket with the quilt on top and was warm as toast!

My sis also made us a beautiful “wedding” quilt with pillow shams…no stuffing, just stitched in various patterns. Thin but very heavy :-) You can also crochet/knit blankets and place them between a fleece blanket etc., and they are extremely warming.

Finished getting blankets and fleece throws washed up last night & folded. Wanted to have them ready if we need them to keep warmer than what we are. May need to turn down the temp if heating bills get too high with a colder winter being forecast :-)

Also noticed we could use more vinegar so I need to pick up more (I buy the small bottles because once it’s opened it may lose some of its strength.

Also noticed with all this gearing up, that we could use more liquid bleach. I have some of the bleach tablets stored but want more of the liquid. For the liquid I also buy the smaller jugs of the concentrated strength Clorox for storage. The liquid has a shorter shelf life and perhaps the smaller jugs of the concentrated strength will prevent me from losing a gallon if one should go bad. I buy the gallon jugs for daily use now.

Gearing up for “trial runs” is good…lets me test the soundness of not only the pantry but other areas also. Also want to pick up a few more rolls of the silver insulated bubble wrap and some of the 4×8 sheets of foam board. MrWE2 wants to be able to build a “warm room” inside our bedroom and the pantry room at the Roost if we needed to have a warm place. The 4×8 sheets would allow him to quickly put it together with tape etc., and still be easily taken down and not damaged too much.

You’ve probably read it here or somewhere, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones to make use of them, but at your local Dollar Tree stores you can buy the tall religious (?) candles that burn for many hours for $1. We stocked up on them big time. Not long ago our power went out and we were able to give a couple to our neighbors who had a small boy who was afraid because of all the darkness.

We also bought lots and lots of T-lights and votive candles (and still do) every time we catch them on sale. You can put one in the bottom of a canning jar and they give off a pretty good light, and not nearly as hazardous for dripping wax. On the votive type candles, when they burn down I just pull out the wick, set the jar aside to cool, and then place the next candle right on top. Why? Never know when I might need some wax to seal something :-)

We also stocked up on a lot of LED lights including the solar stick-in lights.

We have a small amount of meats from Honeyville that I used some to make up my meals in a bag. We don’t store MRE type foods from other manufacturers. Last year I canned up quit a bit of my own meats when I caught them on sale. They taste soooo much better!

As for the bacon, Yoder’s is WAY too expensive for us. I follow the method of just sticking my raw bacon into my canning jars and canning it according to altitude etc., and when I need it, open the jar, put it in a skillet and fry it myself :-) I can buy lots of bacon for what I’d pay for one small tin of Yoder’s :-)

The one thing I do always keep an eye open for is shelf stable milk when it’s on sale. I also store canned evaporated milk. May not tase like “store bought gallons” but if in a crisis, you’ll be mighty glad to have not only lots of Nido powdered milk, Sanalac powdered milk, but some shelf stable that’s already got the water added.

Anything I can store that I DO NOT have to add water to is a good deal for us. Water is a life saver as is our fuel sources, and I don’t want to have to use it up trying to cook (especially rice & beans) … not to mention the length of time I have to use my fuel source.

Even though we do have a lot of bulk rice, oats, corn, wheat stored, we also stock a lot of instant rice. Perhaps not nutritious by itself but quick to cook. Stick it in a canning jar add some dehydrated veggies, some boiling water, put the lid on and set it aside for a later meal. Same with oats, corn mush, ground wheat etc. I have a solar oven and it’s wonderful too, but you’d be surprised how quickly the sun can heat up a canning jar with food inside it :-)

Just wanted to share some of the things we found we wanted to shore up on, when gearing up :)

Originally posted by the WE2’s

2-Way Radio Communications WITHOUT a HAM Radio License

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We get many questions from those that are just starting to plan their emergency communications.  Most are simply looking for a way to keep in touch with each other when one or more are out of sight but still nearby. Many that want or need to use 2-way radios don’t have the desire to get an Amateur Radio License. And, fortunately, communicating nearby or across town doesn’t require a ham license! Whatever your specific needs may be, you need to know your options and what you can realistically expect. “Range” is the probably the most asked question. And the simple answer is that a radios “range” is dependent on terrain. A radio can “talk” further on flat deserted land than it can in a valley or in a city. Keep in mind that these are strictly for close-range communications and there is really no reliable alternative for long range communications without obtaining an Amateur Radio license. Additionally, since these are considered “Citizen’s Bands” the odds are good that you and your group will not be the only ones using them. Below is a summary of the most common alternatives to HAM radios along with realistic distances.

1. Citizens Band Radios (CB):

CB radios are most likely to be the least expensive option for a group to set-up and use. CB radios and accessories are very common and can be found at truck stops and garage sales. FCC regulations:
  • No license required.
  • 40 specific frequencies between 26.900 and 27.400 MHz.
  • 4 watts maximum output.
  • Base, mobile and handheld stations allowed.
  • Amplifiers not allowed.
  • Repeaters not allowed
  • Side Band OK
  • Realistic range up to 10 miles with an elevated antenna

2. FRS (Family Radio Service)

This service is limited to 1/2 watt output. It uses frequencies in the UHF band near 462 MHz. There used to be several brands of radios that were FRS only. Nowadays, it’s hard to find an FRS-only radio. They are GMRS radios that share some of their frequencies with FRS and automatically reduce power when using an FRS frequency (or channel). All FRS radios are handheld. FCC regulations:
  • No license required.
  • 1/2 watt maximum
  • External antennas not allowed
  • Amplifiers not allowed
  • Repeaters not allowed
  • Realistic range up to 1/2 mile.

3) GMRS General Mobile Radio Service

This service picks up where FRS leaves off. GMRS uses UHF frequencies near 462 MHz and 467 MHz There are 2 classes of GMRS radio: a) Consumer grade handhelds like Midland, Uniden and Cobra. Most of these radios exaggerate their range and power. Typically, the best consumer radio is actually pushing about 3 watts and has a realistic range of about 2 miles in most environments. b) Commercial grade equipment from Vertex or Icom etc. This equipment is built using the same quality chassis as ham and public service equipment. Very good range, depending on the equipment and terrain. FCC regs:
  • A “No Test” license is required. ($80 for 5 years)
  • Up to 50 watts allowed
  • External antenna OK
  • Base, mobile or handheld OK
  • Repeater OK on specific frequencies

4) MURS Multi-Use Radio Service

This is a low-power service that uses 5 specific frequencies in the VHF band near 150 MHz. It is extremely popular due to the no-license feature, and inexpensive radios. FCC regs:
  • No license required.
  • 2 watts maximum
  • External antenna OK
  • Handheld, mobile or base station OK
  • No repeaters
  • Realistic range: 1 mile with handhelds, 5-8 miles with an elevated antenna.
The FCC regulations shown above are to be used as a general guideline so it’s best to research before you buy. There have been several changes made concerning radio equipment performance in the last decade, so stay away from older radios and radios that have been modified. Don’t just buy a radio and put it on the shelf, there’s more to it than that. It’s best to check and use your “system” as often as possible to be sure it will function when it’s really needed. Monthly practice drills are ideal, especially with base radios. You’ll be able to find any weather related problems. It may be tempting to purchase a radio system that is illegally modified or intended to be used by a licensed user or business. But realistically, there’s no way to practice with that type of equipment since:
  • You’re not licensed to use it.
  • You may be seriously interrupting lawful communications every time you key the microphone.
  • You WILL get a fine when they find out where the interference is coming from.
Remember, no matter what types of 2-way communications you choose, there’s always room for a basic survival radio to get the weather, scanners, and news updates.