SCP Survival

How to Build a Walipini Greenhouse

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

To prepare for a natural or man-made disaster, many survivalists are busy stocking up on shelf-stable food and water. While this is definitely a good idea, one can only eat so much beef jerky and canned peaches before getting a hankering for some fresh produce.

Part of what should be on your survival food list is produce, and a great way to provide your family with fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables is to construct a safe and secure underground greenhouse. As a bonus, a survival garden is usable year-round and is fairly easy on the budget.

Here is some advice as well as tips on how to construct your own underground Walipini greenhouse:

Walipinis Came From the South Americans

The word “Walipini” is the Aymara Indian word meaning “place of warmth,” according to Tree Hugger. The structure debuted two decades ago and enables residents of South America’s mountainous regions to grow fresh food all year, regardless of weather conditions.

Also known as a pit, the Walipini uses passive solar heating for warmth as well as the earth itself for shelter and protection. Most Walipinis are simple in construction. They are usually around 20-by-74 feet (dug 6-8 feet in the ground) and then covered by plastic sheeting. When digging the hole, make the longest side of the rectangle face the south, which will expose it to the greatest amount of winter sun and warmth.

How a Walipini Greenhouse Works

The sun’s energy and light get into the underground greenhouse by passing through the plastic covering on top of the hole, where they are then absorbed throughout the Walipini, according to Natural News. By using plastic sheeting instead of glass as the roof, specific light rays that actually prevent plants from growing well cannot get through.

The sun not only provides needed light for plants to perform photosynthesis, it also gives off heat that is stored inside the structure, giving plants ideal growing conditions.

Easy and Economical to Build

The average cost of building a 20-by-74 foot walipini is around $250 to $300. The structure is built using fairly inexpensive but sturdy building materials like PVC pipes and UV plastic sheeting. Of course, digging a hole of this size will take more than just a shovel or two and asking a few neighbors to help.

To make the process as easy and fast as possible, consider renting some digging equipment. Most rental companies have compaction equipment rentals like electric hammers that are great for breaking through brick, concrete or hard earth, as well as saws that can help remove trees and brush.

Enjoy the Bounty

Once the Walipini is built, survivalists can begin to use it immediately to grow crops all year long. Growing seasons will no longer be an issue, and warm weather fruits and vegetables can be harvested in the middle of winter. Some common greenhouse crops, according to MPR News, include green vegetables like kale and lettuce, as well as a host of other delicious and healthy selections.

DIY Chicken Doctor Wound Care Tips

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

Trust me, a chicken and any other poultry are not worth a vet bill. But whether you are raising chicks or have a a sick hen, there are some basic things you can do that may save their lives. Although I’m writing this for chickens, most of this is also applicable to turkeys, ducks and geese.

Chicken Breeds And Different Types of Birds

So, what kind of chickens do you have (or will you be getting)? Maybe we should have a word here about breeds of chickens and personalities. The breed of birds that you keep has a lot to do with their requirements, as well as the care and potential health issues involved.

Chicken Fryers and Meat Birds

From hatch to the table in 6 weeks as a fryer. Personally, I take them to 8 to 12 weeks and go for roasting as I have made the investment of almost $4 a chick and the more meat I can get, the better.

These birds go under a variety of names, the last ones I purchased were something like Hy5s. White, ugly and all they do is eat, drink and poop (a little animal husbandry tip here, put the food on one side of the pen and the water on the other side, so they at least have to get up and move to do one or the other). It also helps if you order in a few other breed chicks at the same time to keep these creatures moving.

The problem with these birds is their legs. They are absolutely notorious for their legs going on them and now you have just lost not only your investment in the chick, but also everything they have eaten to date – did I say they EAT! These are the birds you are eating at KFC and from almost all grocery stores.

Not suited to organic raising as they need those antibiotics and medicated feed. However, you can raise a winter’s worth of chicken over just two months in the summer. They are suited to warm weather.

The Egg Layers

Leghorns are the factory farm white egg laying chicken – they can have them! They start laying early at 4 to 6 months and usually killed at their first molt when they stop laying. Very aggressive hens and roosters – as a breed; individuals can be just fine. This is the reason that every hen is kept in her own cage and the roosters are just butchered.

The brown egg layers, like say the Red Stars, are usually a bit more docile personality wise, but still quite aggressive. Aggressive – what does that mean? They are prone to attacking their flock mates and even you!

Usually minimum chick orders are 25 birds. Many people, me included, don’t want 25 birds of just one breed, so we order a mix. The egg layers will be the dominants in that mix. They will kill more docile (almost everyone else) chickens by pecking them to death.

Egg layer breeds are suited to different climates as they are meant to live 1 to 3 years. FYI, the average chicken can live up to 30 years.

The Heavies and More Versatile Breeds

I see these as the homestead breeds as you will find one or more that you will fall in love with. These birds are bred by caring breeders for the most part who cull the mean ones. This is not to say that you won’t still have problems – they are small dinosaurs after all – but far fewer problems.

Lots and lots of breeds from the heritage breeds like the Dominikers that traveled with the settlers across the plains in Conestoga wagons (Barred Rocks are descendants of these hardy chickens.) to the heavies that are suited to cold climates and laying eggs for several years and being an excellent roasting or stewing hen after that like the Austolorp and Cochin *feathered legs, anything, to the half-naked hot weather breeds (read about them but I’m in Minnesota) to the Easter Eggers that lay blue and green eggs sometimes termed Americunas.

The Fancies

Oh, are there fancy breeds of chickens! Any color or look you can imagine including the Polish Top Hats! These birds are usually gentle but flighty. DON’T expect meat or eggs from them.

Banties

Banties are basically miniature chickens of every breed. What banties are really noted for are being very good mothers. Put your fertile eggs under your banties! FYI, of all the chickens banties are noted for doing very well on their own and often roost in the trees. Excellent to have under horses to keep them (the horses) from being flighty when a grouse or turkey flies up in front of them. Super for picking out worms from the manure. A few banties running wild around the farm is what every homestead needs – IMHO. :)

So, the bottom line is that the breed of chicken you choose will often determine how many problems you will have with your flock.

Care for Baby Chicks

So, you order in or buy some baby chicks and one or more start looking sickly.

Here is your basic checklist:

Are they warm enough? Huddled together and they are too cold. When the light is on and they are at the outside of their box or pen, it is too hot. Baby chicks should be kept draft free as much as possible. A cardboard box in the house, a child’s pool in the basement or even a spot in the greenhouse could be good places to put chicks. DEFINITELY go for a child’s pool or plastic liner for ducks and geese.
These need plenty of water and will literally spurt water out of the back of their beaks as they drink. DO NOT however, put a little pool in with them when young as they need mother’s wing oil for babies to be waterproof and will drown if in “deep” water without it.
Have an isolation cage/container handy. That could be a single cardboard box off to the side, perhaps a cat carrier, etc. Preferably it should be able to be safely rigged with a clip on light (incandescent so that it throws off heat) or some source of heat. A simple heating pad can often do wonders. Why an isolation cage? Because chickens are notorious for being cannibalistic and just plain running over the weaker one(s) until it does die.
Sugar water or corn syrup added to warm water can be the instant boost of energy that will save a chick’s life. You may have to gently hold the chick and dip its beak into the water a few times and very gently stroke its throat to get it to swallow – BE GENTLE. I always give sugar water to chicks I have just ordered in for the first day or so because of the stress of the trip.
A hard boiled egg chopped finely is the most compatible high protein food you can give an ailing chick. I just make a practice of boiling up some eggs and feeding them to the chicks for the first day or so when ordered in.

Chickens That Have Poopy Butts

Yes, between day 3 and 10 you will likely have some chicks with a poopy butt – manure stuck to its anus blocking any more excretions. This is certain death for a chick.

Grab a shallow pan and fill it with warm slightly soapy water – think of water suitable for bathing a baby. Gently hold the afflicted chick in the pan for several minutes, sometimes that is all that is needed to GENTLY pry off the manure.

Sometimes you need to add a little drop of liquid soap to your finger and massage it into the manure and attempt to pick pieces of it off. Sometimes you need a long soak and baby oil.

Wet a wash cloth in warm water, rub baby oil over the afflicted area and either sit with the chick for 20 minutes or so or figure out a way to keep it from moving out of the wash cloth, perhaps wrap another cloth around it with the head exposed or even prop it between stuffed animals or give it to a child to hold. I have never seen this NOT work.

Sore butt? Gently massage it with baby oil. You can also use your favorite diaper rash lotion if you have some around. Preparation H on a raw butt can really help. ISOLATE any chick that doesn’t seem perky after this treatment (or group of chicks). Be sure not to allow them to catch a chill after being wet.

Remember, Keep Baby Chicks With Their Mom

If your chicks, ducklings or goslings are running with their mother outside, remember that she can’t count. A chick that isn’t keeping up is left behind and will die before morning without her protection. Usually you will be walking along and hear the “distress call” and go over and investigate.

Sometimes the baby is trapped, sometimes cold or sick, or sometimes it is wet. If it looks healthy and fine put it back with mama and hope for the best. However, I have saved many a wet duckling or cold chick just by putting it in my bra – head sticking out forward – and carried it around while I am doing chores until it dried off and/or warmed up and then put it back with mom. Or carried it home to an isolation cage and kept it warm and dry overnight.

Note: Never feed medicated chick feed to baby ducks or goslings, it will often kill them.

Tips on Raising Adolescent Chickens and Pullets

Chicks are sooo fun! I just love watching them. And once you’ve kept them alive and well for the first 5 days you generally have a break for two weeks to just enjoy them.

The chicks strike me as adolescents once the true feathers start appearing. Depending upon the breed you have purchased they will “mature” in anywhere from 6 weeks to a year – meaning that they are ready to eat or the hens will start laying as pullets defined by the breed you have chosen and then there are the versatile breeds raised for eggs and meat, and the fancy’s are a whole ‘nother game.

Within a few days however, give or take depending on the breed, of two weeks they start feathering out. That simply means they start to get their “real” feathers and go into adolescent behavior.

Three things I should give you a heads up on at this point:

Provide a place for them to roost – get up off the ground.
Chickens can’t swim! Okay, you may think, “Duh, why is this important?” Because I have lost a lot of chicks (and chickens) to drowning. There is a reason chicken/chick waterers are made the way they are. If you just put down a bowl or a pan, for sure the chicks will fall in and get wet and drown. FYI, a water trough for horses, cows, sheep or goats is also a death trap for adult chickens. Trying to provide a family group with a fresh water pond is a mistake – the babies will fall in and drown. Raising them with ducklings and geese who need a lot of water is also a mistake. Just let them get a little larger or provide a beach that they can climb out on.
Provide them with a way to start dusting themselves. Sand works, but if you heat with wood, try wood ashes as they prevent lice.

Pecking Order Is a Serious Thing – Manage It Carefully

What defines adolescence? Personalities begin to emerge and bullying. Just what you expect from teenagers – they are bullying and picking/pecking (literally) on one another. In chickens, this is called “pecking order”.

Here is a hen they are pecking at, but just a glob of grease on the head should keep off the insects and stop them from continuing to peck her – note that I said glob and not dab. You want enough on there so that when the first 2 or 3 hens go after her they get a good beak full of the grease. Just watch then, they didn’t expect that and will work at trying to get that nasty grease out of their beaks. A couple of days of grease on her head (or whatever you have chosen to put on it) and she should be doing okay.

Pecking is an exercise in dominance. One or more chicks will begin pecking each other and especially the weaker/less dominant chicks. They will literally peck them to death. They are even cannibalistic and will eat the dead ones – and yes they can have plenty of food and water and a balanced diet and do this.

Pecking often comes on suddenly. Morning chores and everything is fine; evening chores and you have a bloody chick. Put it in the isolation cage now!

What if you experience an all-out pecking epidemic? It happens! Six out of 25 are being pecked in various areas of the body. Can’t isolate them all. They will just start pecking each other!

I strongly recommend any kind of mechanical grease – some even have antibiotic properties if you read the labels. Petroleum jelly will work. It kind of depends on how bad it has gotten and how much time you have. Yes, you can lose 6 chicks in 24 hours to pecking if you are not watching closely.

Husbandry is critical here. You can stop most problems quickly just by observation and intervention. But hey, if you are doing chores once a day, working full time and have a family too boot, It can get away from you in 24 hours and then you are playing catchup – much less if you actually go camping for a weekend.

All through adolescence into the pullets (young hens ready to lay) your biggest problem with confined chickens will be pecking.

What can you do to help/mitigate the pecking?

A pecked vent is the worst, because it is so hard to keep clean. You may want to soak this hen in the sink in warm water with just a dab of soap in it. Antibiotic ointment. ISOLATON! Don’t use pine tar on this wound, just grease on top of the antibiotic ointment.

Raise your chicks with their moms: Pecking is normal behavior for confined chickens, but chicks raised with their mothers (hens) normally do not go through this (and they don’t have poopy butts either!).
Keep your flock to birds of the same breed: Mixed breed flocks have more problems with pecking than single breed flocks. Single breed chicks all raised together will peck less. That said, I dislike single breed flocks and I like to drag home hens of different breeds that I run into at poultry swaps and rummage sales. Hence, I have had a lot of pecking problems.
Free range or tractor your chickens: Free ranging them will help decrease the pecking, and a chicken tractor will too.
Make sure they don’t have worms: Wormy chickens are more likely to peck and be agitated and mean. Chicken worming medication is usually put into the water. If you have a flock of mixed ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens you will need to isolate the chickens as the wormer will often kill the other poultry.
Provide a brushy “getaway” area: Providing some open brush area in the corner of the pen is a good idea in that it allows a place for the pecks hens to go get away from the flock. Depending upon how you have your pen set up, roosts both inside and outside of the house are a good idea too.
Limit the number of new birds you introduce to the flock: Introducing new birds into the flock almost always means more pecking, especially of the new birds. Again, have an area where they can get away from the rest of the flock if needed – that is not to say that an especially aggressive hen or rooster will not chase them even with brush provided, but it is a slight deterrent.
You can try nipping the beaks: You can nip the end of the top beak on an aggressive hen with a wire nippers back about an eighth to a quarter of an inch (depends on age and breed) to help with the pecking. Does it work? Sometimes, sometimes not.
Isolation: For chickens with bad enough wounds, separate them from the rest of the flock and let them recover
Peroxide/antibiotic ointment: You can use almost anything that you would use on a human, for wounds that are bad enough. This will help with infection and insects.
Apply pine tar or a blob of mechanical grease to pecked areas: The traditional solution is PINE TAR. Dab a bit of pine tar on any pecked spots. Antibiotic properties and the other chickens don’t like the taste. As mentioned above, mechanical grease and lubricant works awesome too.

While there are certainly better and worse ways to handle pecking, nothing seems to stop it until the flock grows up and settles into their “pecking order”.

Cautions With Roosters

I will relate a little of what I have seen. A good rooster will protect the hens and stop a lot of the pecking. The hens will be happier. A happy hen “sings” a beautiful little cooing tune.

Bad roosters (and these are the majority) will rape and kill young chicks – I had one that would rape day old chicks, snap their necks and throw them to the side and go onto another, there was nothing the hen could do to stop him. His head got chopped off real quick! They will focus on one hen and do her to death. They will join in with the other hens and peck another chicken to death and then proceed to eat it. Too many roosters and you will have “cock fights” and they will kill one another, and you will have gang rapes.

How To Manage Chickens Pecking Each Other — You will see this both from other hens pecking but also from a rooster/roosters riding a hen. Roosters seem to pick out their favorite hens and too much attention can actually kill a hen. Glob the grease or pine tar or whatever on her and if it is roosters, butcher a couple of them.

An older rooster usually has more “sense” than a younger one and is not as “sexed up”. Chickens can live to be 30 years old and the best rooster I ever had was over the age of 10 and lived to 18 when he died due to an ‘possum raid on the hen house where the ‘possum just wantonly killed all the chickens – so much for wild things only killing what they need! Ask around, someone will probably give you an older rooster they respect who needs a good home – no one wants inbreeding.

Adult Chickens

Now let’s talk about the adult bird, one plus years old, and some of the issues and ailments to watch out for.

Here is a picture of a sick hen with all of the things that you should look for:

Tail droopy
Messy bottom
Droopy wings
Lethargic
“Sleepy” sick, in pain, eyes
Sometimes their combs and/or wattle will pale.
First, are you practicing good chicken husbandry?
Clean, fresh water
Clean, dry feed (not moldy)
Free choice oyster shells and grit
Clean housing facilities
Wormed (garlic and diatemacious earth will do that organically)
De-loused (ashes will do that organically)

What To Do If a Chicken is “Egg Bound”

Most of the time with a hen that is sick out of the blue, it is caused by being egg bound. This is especially common in prolific egg layers like Red Stars and/or the fancy breeds.

Try to get some liquid calcium down her. No liquid calcium? Ladies, do you have a calcium tablet in the medicine cabinet? Pulverize it, make it into a liquid, take a syringe without the needle and gently get it into her mouth and stroke her neck so that she swallows.

Next, give her a relaxing bath in your sink. Water should be akin to bathing a baby. Add soap and if you have them, Epsom Salts. Gently hold her, massage her belly and rear. Perhaps you can feel the egg and by relaxing her in this bath it will work its way out. We are talking a relaxing spa for the hen, 20 to 30 minutes of warmth, water and massage. FYI, to show a chicken in 4-H you must bathe it. Show chickens get baths.

Now dry her in a towel. Yes, you can blow dry her, but an nice warm air dry is better. Soothing music and dim lights are all good. Lavender scented candles may help – you want her to relax. And you might as well too. :-) If you care about your hen, this is stressful for both of you.

Do not attempt to break the egg. Some people will tell you that if you can see the egg (it is crowning) you can take a needle and syringe and try to extract the yolk to make it more manageable to pass. I’ve never had an egg bound hen crown an egg without passing it, so I don’t know. Massaging the vent with baby oil may help.

She will die within 24 to 72 hours if she does not pass the egg and it is usually a 50% death rate. Some things just happen, but you will have no guilt if you do everything you can to help her.

Chickens Can Still Die of Old Age

Sometimes a hen just gets sick and slowly dies – my Red Star hen just did that, which is what got this whole Chicken Doctorin’ series going. She stopped laying two weeks before but looked okay. One day she didn’t come when called and looked very poorly. I did everything I could. After 3 days of isolation she seemed to be getting better and was fine in the flock. Then, one morning, she was just dead. Who knows…

To heal most cuts on animals, and people, and stop pecking – Gun (as in lube grease often comes for a gun – not a shooting type gun) Grease. Keeps the insects off and has antibiotic properties and tastes bad to other chickens. This one tip can save you hundreds even thousands of dollars on vet and medical bills – it works.

Separation/Isolation

Roosts are sufficiently above the ground. FYI a rat can eat a chicken’s feet right off while it is on a roost in the dark and the chicken will not move. There is no way to totally prevent rats and mice around chickens, but a high roost sure helps.

Is she the only one in the flock that is sick? Isolate her immediately. The isolation is for her benefit, so that she doesn’t have to fend off the rest of the flock and can rest and recover in peace.

I have an old fox cage for isolation. Fresh water, fresh food and a nest box or pail.

Other Issues

Broken legs you can set with popsicle sticks and vet wrap and isolate the bird and/or put it in a sling. They actually heal very fast.

Any attack that the bird lives through (Dog, cat, hawk, ‘possum, ‘coon, whatever – she got away alive.) can usually be dealt with by cleaning the wound, some antibiotic salve and isolation. If it is really bad, don’t let her suffer – just butcher her and eat her, preferably without announcing to the family that they are eating “Goldie” tonight. :-) DO NOT eat a bird that is obviously sick from an unknown source!

So, You Want To Be a Chicken Farmer?

There are obviously thousands of other issues and ailments out there, but these are the more common ones that I have dealt with in my 50 years of experience.

Please keep this in mind, what you are raising are small descendants of the dinosaurs. It ain’t always pretty, but it is real, animal behavior. If you only keep a few chickens, there is a good chance that you won’t deal with a lot of this, but if you do, it’s nice to have a reference point to come back to for ideas.

Remember, that whether on a large scale or small, part of raising chickens is about getting your hands dirty. There aren’t always perfect solutions to every situation, but you will begin to at least get familiar with birds that seem healthy, birds that don’t, and a handful of things that you can try. If you grew up in the city, a lot of this will seem foreign at first, but soon enough, you will be wrangling your birds without a second thought.

And remember, if you are dependent on your own resources for survival, chicken eggs provide so much protein that losing a bird can be threatening to your family’s survival.

Instafire Review

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

I was sent several packets of Instafire to see what I thought of the product. The information said that it would even start and burn on snow, so I just had to try it. Below is a picture of the snow bank that was at the back of my house this spring Instafire burning away.

This is a granular product that says it will burn for 10 to 15 minutes so that you can catch your kindling on fire. My experience with it indicated less than 10 minutes, but plenty long enough to catch even damp kindling on fire.

It comes in both “single” packages (supposedly 4 starts per package) and buckets.

You definitely want to use a BBQ lighter as opposed to a cigarette lighter.

All in all a good product. Having a few packages of this around to guarantee a fire would be a good preparedness plan.

Campers As A Bug Out Vehicle

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

To us, having our travel trailer is a must. Not only do we love to travel and camp, it just sort of “feels good” to know we pretty much will always have a roof over our heads and the taxes are cheap since it’s taxed as personal property rather than real estate.

We also believe it’s important to know the “how to” of off grid traveling/camping before you need to do it. We’ve seen a few travel trailers, 5th wheels etc., turned on their side because of rough terrain, winds, overloading, slick roads, and high speeds. We try to never pull in those conditions nor at night but nevertheless, it may be necessary if it’s a bug out situation and knowing how to do it as safely as you can just might make the difference in whether you’re on your side along a highway or road or safely tucked into your bug out location.

We’re hoping this article isn’t “information overload” but again… we just want to share what we do and why. Take what you need.

There’s sooooo much one can do to “live” outside very comfortably if needed. It’s called “boondocking” or “dry camping” for those who may not know the terminology :-)

Boondocking or dry camping simply means you’re not “plugged in” at a campground etc.

One important thing to remember is the weight capacity of your travel trailer as well as the towing capacity of your truck/SUV etc. Overloading can quickly wear out your tires and cause big problems with the transmission of your tow vehicle… not to mention your capability to STOP. Which brings up your need for a “sway bar and weight distribution hitch” for your trailer and tow vehicle.

You’ll also want to have wheel chocks and leveling squares (all can be purchased at most camping/rv stores… we love Camping World) that are lightweight and will keep your travel trailer from rocking & rolling while you’re camped, as well as keeping it level, so your refrigerator won’t be harmed by not being level. Nobody would want to watch their home on wheels rolling someplace it’s not supposed to go.

Make sure ALL the hoses that you intend to drink from are RV water safe white hoses! They’re manufactured for water. You might want to keep an extra one that you can fill with water, plug off the ends and drape it across the top of your trailer or truck, in the sun to create some warm, if not hot, water. You can also fill a “shower bag” water, lay them on the top of your vehicle or trailer, and create some pretty warm water. Keep the cheap garden hoses for flushing your black water tank.

Now… for those who may be new to holding tanks… the biggest tank is your “fresh water” tank. You fill it with your city water to be used for flushing your toilet, dishwashing and if you want for your drinking water. A preference for us is bottled water and our Berkey. Remember… everything you run through your faucets goes into your grey or black water tanks! The “grey” water tank is the tank that contains the water from your shower & sinks. The “black” water tank is where your toilet flushes to. We also have invested in a large capacity auxiliary black water tank with a tongue that can be hitched to our truck and pulled to either a dump station or “somewhere” to relieve our travel trailer’s black tank from being full. If you’re on your own land, you might want to tow it to a compost site.

MrWE2 also insulated our pass through compartment and put up peg board, custom cut, to hang tools and other necessary items within easy reach. We also keep a container of Clorox wipes to sanitize any faucets that we might hook up to as well as our fresh water hose connection when we disconnect it to be put back into it’s plastic zippy bag. If you’ve ever noticed, sometimes at a campground dogs like to “mark” water connections. We all know the importance of water and it’s safety; this doesn’t change just because you’re camping or having to bug out.

Having a small step ladder is also an item you’ll want to keep handy whether it’s in the back of your tow vehicle or somewhere in your travel trailer. Accidents can happen & a roof can spring a leak causing you to have to tarp over your roof or “gorilla” caulk for short term, and you’d need to have a way to get up there… and don’t forget an emergency tarp somewhere in your gear. If you are tucked away someplace safe, there is the possibility that a tree limb might come down on the top of your travel trailer and cause some damages that may not show up immediately, but they “will” show up. Keeping your travel trailer dry is just as important as keeping your stick home dry.

To some all these preparations may seem unnecessary, but it you’ve even been caught with your britches down you’ll learn really quick the importance of having what you need when you need it and being as comfortable as possible in your “home on wheels”.

We’ve added a lot of our own touches to our travel trailer to accommodate our needs both as a camping vehicle but also as a bugout vehicle.

Again, if we’re going to need it as a sanctuary, we need to have it functional for our needs when/if we need it. Every family will have their own needs.

More than once we’ve had to bail out tent campers when sudden thunderstorms rained their tents out. It’s been quite an experience to see wet soggy tent campers huddled in our warm, dry travel trailer with a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate and watch a DVD (if we’re plugged into shore power) until things could be dried out. Once we even moved our EZ UP (pic included and more explanation later) over the top of a family’s tent to keep them dry.

Telling a funny story… once we noticed a couple of “newbie” campers setting up and were horrified to see her climb on the back of her guy to reach up to grab an awning. We knew them, so immediately went back to our campsite and fetched a small wooden ladder we had, took it back to them and felt they’d be safer. Later, they shared with us that she was inside their camper and pulled open a cabinet door under their bed and noticed a ladder “just like WE2’s” in the cabinet. She proudly announced to her guy “We don’t need WE2’s ladder, we have our own!” When she pulled it out, he informed her that it was “WE2’s ladder”! Apparently their pass through also had an entry door from inside their camper! LOL

Now, onto some other stuff:

Under most travel trailer beds is a large platform (depending on size/type of bed) that you can put stock LOTS of canned foods. Canned, so you don’t worry about breaking etc.

One new modification we’ll be doing shortly is running a propane gas hose from our outside propane grill to the inside of our travel trailer, so we can hook up a Big Buddy Heater and use 30# tanks (or one of our larger 100# tanks) which will set outside the travel trailer, instead of the small propane canisters. It’s our plan to save our propane for heating and use other ways to cook…like our Solar Oven, Coleman Oven that can sit on top of an outside fire pit, charcoal and a single burner butane stove.

Under most dinette “benches” you’ll also find LOTS of storage for vacuum-sealed Mylar bags of foods which can be stashed in the plastic shoe boxes that we find at $Tree stores. They can easily be pulled out without having to dig around, and can also be labeled on the ends for quick identification. You can also have your fire safe bolted into the floor of your travel trailer to protect your valuables. Place it as far back into a cabinet as you can and then store your shoe boxes in front of it. Yes, it difficult to get to the safe but that’s the purpose of it.

We keep all our “gear” as lightweight as possible. Paper plates, paper bowls, paper cups etc. to spare the use of our water and as fodder for a fire if necessary. We do have graniteware plates, cups, coffee pot & cookware…just in case. It’s lightweight and can easily adapt to being used outside over a camp stove or fire pit.

There was a large space between the closet & the drawers on both sides of our queen sized bed. We found wire racks at Menards that fit perfectly under each of these closets and were able to turn that empty space into “drawers” that we just slide forward or backward to provide a lot of additional space. There was also a clothes hamper lid that opened up to the pass through compartment that MrWE2 insulated & sealed up to block cold as well as to provide additional space in the pass through compartment.

Another added touch was to build a small spice rack over the top of the frig. as well as a very nice “book shelf” at the head of the bed (no window by choice) that we keep our books, Big Ben clock & DVD’s etc. on. It’s got a “cleat” across the front so nothing falls off.

In our bath, we added a medicine chest on the wall to the side of the existing mirror, to clear up space in the cabinetry. We also found a small space (about 12″) from the floor to the ceiling, between the wall and walk-in shower that we converted to a place to tuck rolls of toilet paper & paper towels. If you squash the toilet paper rolls in half you can fit ALOT of them in a very small space. Then just squish them back when you put them on your roller.

MrWE2 removed all those dumb “valance” thingies that wifey hated, and hung regular dowel-type curtain rods & used large heavy duty bath towels (with edges folded down & clipped with curtain rings) for curtains…eliminating the flimsy plastic shades and giving wifey curtains that can be quickly & easily taken down for washing etc., as well as a quick slide to let sunlight in. Again, leaving us room over the top of the rods for a future small shelf to put condiments etc., on at our dinette.

Then MRWE2 built a nice “lift up” table/shelf at the end of a counter to give more workspace for toaster & coffee pot when needed. When not needed, down it goes, appliances cleaned and put away.

Over EVERY cabinet door we put the stainless steel “hooks” (Available at all RV stores… we love Camping World!) so paper towels are off the counter, hand towels are off the counter, night clothes etc., are out of the way & not taking up interior closet space, and swimwear etc., can be hung inside the shower to dry etc. We keep our clothes hamper in the shower until we need to use the shower.

For additional living space, we also purchased what is called an EZ-Up type canopy from WM, along with all the solid panels and the screened panels. We’re able to put it up over a picnic table or at the end our RV canopy to provide our “outdoor” living room. Screens for nice bug free weather & solid panels for cooler/wet weather. It’s also a terrific place to hang wet clothing etc. to dry.

We also have a Wonder Wash that will do our laundry and a rolling pin on a picnic table or ??? to squish out excess water so hanging them where the wind can blow makes drying quicker.

When we purchased our home on wheels we planned for it to be both a recreational vehicle and a full-time home, and fully self-contained, so we had two “house batteries” installed (deep cycle/marine type) so we’re able to “hold a lot of juice”. We also converted the lights to LED’s to save our battery-energy, and we’ve got a lot of “puck” lights (pic attached) that we can hang wherever we need them – LED’s last a lot longer than other bulbs. We have the solar-type rope lights that charge during the day and can lay on the ground around our front door for light or roped around under our canopy at night for us. We also have solar stick in lights, that charge during the day and we can take inside if we need to, or keep small batteries charging and ready for use. Wifey has a project for MrWE2 to use a 2×4 about a foot or so long, with holes cut out for the stick in solar lights (taking off the stems) to rest in so she can place it on a picnic table for evening “ambience” LOL

As a fact, the concept for the “aquarium heater” wifey had was to have her own little “fireplace” sitting on the work counter in the evening, to provide both a bit of light and a bit of heat… she’s a romantic  After putting a DVD of a crackling fireplace into our TV on a chilly Thanksgiving camping trip, the idea surfaced.

For the past five years we’ve camped out for an extended Thanksgiving holiday. One year we actually ended up on the coast of Texas before we came on home to snow 10 days later! So… we always keep a gallon of RV anti-freeze in our pass though compartment. This is usually a storage area from one side of your travel trailer to the other and can be accessed by either side.

We’ve learned what types of clothing wear the best and longest if you’re out camping. Which often means spending a little more, but we’ve found lots of really good stuff at upper-end thrift stores, consignment clothing stores, REI sales, BassPro sales, Cabela sales and lots of other places. We’ve also learned that it takes a lot longer for cotton to dry.

We try to bug out several times during the warmer months, and will have our first taste of 2014 probably around April or so. If it’s very cold, we just keep our travel trailer winterized, take plenty of jugs of water that we put in our shower to keep them warm, and use it for sailor-baths, washing a few dishes (wifey stocks up on paper plates etc. to avoid using water & filling up our holding tanks anyway) etc. We heat the water with our “hot pot” IF we’re plugged in to electricity, but if not we use our large graniteware coffee pot on the stove using propane (or over a camp fire or fire pit).

For a quick face wash etc., we simply wet our facecloth, tuck it into the microwave for a few seconds to get warm and we have a refreshing face wash etc.! We also own two gas powered generators that we could use if we wanted to.

Our refrigerator and water heater run on electricity or propane, and the furnace is propane as is most newer models of travel trailers. However, your furnace will draw a lot of electricity so we have a “cube” ceramic heater that we place at the end of the hallway, and it heats our travel trailer perfectly… and if we’re paying for a campsite’s electricity why use our propane? Another idea Wifey has in mind for MrWE2 is to build a couple of 3×3 square wood panels covered with silver reflective material that can be laid outside to set items on that need to be warmed up.

We also installed what’s called a “fantastic” fan over our bed, so that if we don’t want to use our air conditioning (which requires 110) we can open the vent in our bathroom, turn on the fantastic fan (which runs off our house batteries) and have quite a nice “draft” from one end of the travel trailer to the other. Knowing that it’s running off our house batteries is important so we don’t drain them! We also intend to supplement our system with solar panels to enhance the capacities of our travel trailer.

We were blessed in that we were campers from day one (which is one of many things that drew us to one another as well as ballroom-type dancing) and were able to purchase our supplies while we were both employed part-time even though retired, and used that part-time money to prepare ourselves to live the life of RV’ers and to do it debt free. We did without a lot of things sometimes to get our BOV ready for a lovely camping trip if needed or a sanctuary in a crisis situation. The newer units are much better built, better insulated with heated “belly pans”, and are a lot easier to keep warm and comfy.

Ours is a 24′ AeroLite, which is plenty big enough for us, especially with our “outside living room” , so we’re able to pull it very easily and very quickly, and go where those “big guys” only dream of going.

We camp at a lot of the Corps of Engineer campgrounds, because if you’re 62 or over you can get a lifetime “pass” from the national park service (about $10?), and it only costs $10 a night to camp with electricity, pretty much throughout the USA plus you get free passes to many national parks & national museums etc.

Nearly all Wal-Mart stores will let you spend a night in their parking lot if you just ask, and don’t “camp” by putting out all your gear outside etc., as well as Camping World, Cabelas, BassPro, and even some city parks etc. For Moose members, there’s free or reduced camping also, if they have a parking lot big enough. The Moose club here even has a pedestal for it’s visitors who may need or want electricity. We also keep our membership with Good Sam Club active by keeping our Camping World President’s Club active (it comes free with CWP) as well as Passport America (which gives you 50% off) for campgrounds that participate… which are many.

We believe it’s important to KNOW YOUR DESTINATION as well as how to safely get there. We plan to locate a parcel of land away from the Roost and build a cabin there. But until then, we have a location picked out to drag to … “guerilla camping” one might say? We’ve entertained the idea of a common location that could be established as a destination point for other like-minded campers to meet at, and establish a “sanctuary” of campers.

Other possible places you might find sanctuary are not only Corps of Engineer campgrounds, national forest and state parks, but BLM (Bureau of Land Management), and if you aren’t afraid of the population and it’s an only choice… beaches. But, the best place of all… will be your own private land.

We all know that during a crisis situation when we have to bug out for our own safety, we want to “disappear”. That’s why another of our “future” purchases will be spray paints of various camouflage colors that we could (if need be) quickly camouflage paint our vehicles. We also plan to browse around Army surplus stores for camouflage nets etc.

We’ve also invested in three, 20 gallon blue water barrels that we’re going to “adapt” (including pressure relief mechanisms) so we can put them in the back of our tow vehicle, fill with gas, and go-go-go-go for a long ways, stopping only to put the “siphon” into our tow vehicle and never visit a gas station to refuel. We’ve been able to save back a valuable stash of both gasoline and propane for this reason. We’ll fill red gasoline tanks, add stabilizer and then put them into the big blue tanks since stations won’t let you fill them there. Plan, plan, plan!

Even if you don’t have to bug out, camping is a wonderful way to just get out of dodge and enjoy the world. It’s also a great way to meet some great people and see some of God’s wonderful earth… and not spend tons of money on over-priced motel/hotel rooms that wifey won’t sleep in unless she “previews” the room & inspects the bedding (which always pleases the motel clerks). MrWE2 finally figured out that a travel trailer was best. When Wifey’s happy MrWE2’s happy. Now, the WE2’s “know who’s been sleeping in our bed”  Camping isn’t always for everyone, but if you’re wanting to have “a place to shelter” away from a dangerous home… a travel trailer is (in our opinion) the way to go.

We chose the travel trailer because it’s a “two piece unit” and if the tow vehicle has to be repaired etc., you’re not “stuck” without place to shelter etc. We also believe that if we’d have to leave even our travel trailer, we’d need a separate vehicle. It’s also less expensive to purchase a smaller travel trailer than the “mega units” with all the bells and whistles. We also did not choose a 5th wheel type because we didn’t want to be climbing up to the bedroom area, even though it offers a lot of additional space. We also chose a travel trailer “without” a slide out because we didn’t want to have to rely on our house batteries etc., to slide them in and out if we’re boondocking etc., as well as we didn’t want to have to hand crank them in or out if the mechanism should fail. We’re lazy too; we didn’t want to worry about clearing leaves etc., off the top before we had to haul them in 

Just thought we’d share our love of the outdoors, how we do it, and some of the reasons why we use our travel trailer for pleasure, but also as a possible sanctuary in a bug out situation.

The WE2’s and their lab-brat.

Yes, there’s room for her too in a 24′ travel trailer. She’s learned to “live little” too.

Reviewed: Best Indoor Rocket Stove [Deadwood Stove]

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

After viewing many videos on YouTube, I decided to purchase the Deadwood Stove. Seemed like the best value for the money. And I can say that I am not disappointed! It arrived promptly and I was totally impressed with the quality, construction and good leather gloves that were included.

I like these stoves so much, that now I even have two Deadwood Stoves! These are, to my mind, mini-wood stoves that are so well built they will be passed down for generations.

I’m old and disabled, so weight is a concern for me. The Deadwood Stove is 18 lbs. Not light, but for the quality of construction it is made for durability—5 year warranty. This is a mini-woodstove–I’m guessing 50 years plus. The Deadwood Stove is something you can pass onto the kids. This makes the $250 I spent on my gas grill look like money ill-spent as that, even though it is stainless steel, is already rusting (1 year old!).

6 Month Update on The Deadwood

I’ve had my Deadwood Stove for about six months now. I’m thrilled! Here are a few of the high notes:

With dry sticks and pinecones it boils a quart of water within 10 minutes.
I keep one (Yes, I actually have two now!) on top of a table on the patio so I don’t have to bend over.
It has removable legs, so it is perfect on a tabletop.
The legs have a slight adjustability
Roasted marshmallows within three minutes!
You can grill a steak (or tinfoil anything) to perfection directly on top of the built-in grill just by adjusting how many sticks you feed into the front of the stove.
Wind blowing the wrong way? Just turn it! Works best facing the sticks into the wind—no smoke!

I put wood chips in a tin foil pan in my propane grill to get that delicious wood smoke flavor… Turn the Deadwood Stove slightly angled to the wind and you don’t need to add smoke! Actually, I’ve been contemplating how I can use a Deadwood to create a smoker. I’m sure it can be done; I just have to figure it out.

With two Deadwood Stoves you can pretty much do a meal. My two Deadwood Stoves have almost made the propane grill obsolete! And between we use them camping and the kids also using them, the savings in not buying firewood at state parks has already paid for both in one summer!

Deadwood Stove Used Indoors — *Deadwood Stove being used with alcohol-soaked cotton balls inside of a can*

Only problem… The kids! Expect that they will borrow one for every camping expedition. The son even uses it on his pontoon boat! And my husband takes it with him on his Harley when camping! And if two of the kids go camping at one time, well, you are sans your Deadwood Stoves. Not good if you get the grandkids.

My son even sidled up and asked who was going to inherit the Deadwood’s (He already has dibs on the 12 gauge and .38)! Not cheap, but they are definitely worth the money.

Can You Use The Deadwood As an Indoor Rocket Stove?

With the bitter cold winter we have had this year and the electricity going on and off, I got to thinking about the Deadwood for interior cooking as well. Sorry, but I am not going to feed sticks into a rocket stove outside to cook when it is -20 with wind chills of -50.

It IS Minnesota!

WOW, am I impressed! For cooking all I did was clean out a spaghetti sauce can, tear off the label, stick it upside down inside the Deadwood for height, then I took a cleaned soup can with label torn off, put 10 cotton balls in it, poured maybe a half a cup of rubbing alcohol over that, let it soak-in good for about 15 minutes, lit it with a BBQ lighter and I had water too hot to touch with steam rising within 5 minutes!

Plenty good enough to cook on!

The Deadwood cooked okay with just a common candle too. But I think that a three wick survival candle would work a lot better. I also tried putting one of those pocket stoves in it with a fuel tablet and that worked great!

The legs on the Deadwood are positioned to make the stove easy to cook on just sitting on a chair. Remove the legs and you have a counter top or table top stove where you can easily stand and cook.

Below the grate the Deadwood is a bit less than 5”x5” , so Sterno fuel, camp heat, survival candles, fuel tablets, nearly any kind of solid camping fuel, can be used with it when you are indoors (and of course sticks for outside).

The only thing you have to be careful of if you are cooking indoors, is not to put too big of a pot on it that snuffs out the fire. And that may not be a problem because it can draw oxygen from below it also.

This is a very versatile, indoor-capable rocket stove!

Deadwood Is Also Awesome for Outdoor Cooking

We like to grill on the back deck. I like my propane grill, but it doesn’t have a burner. And the more I grill, the more I would like an extra burner for boiling corn-on-the-cob, sautéing mushrooms and onions, whatever.

The grandkids come over and want to make s’mores. Even though I have a fire ring down by the creek it is a chore to start up a campfire for 10 minutes of roasted marshmallows and then they are off to something else.

We have lots of tree–maple, birch and various spruce trees. We have branches come down in every storm and a lifetime supply of pine cones! So I have been looking at rocket stoves using biomass (sticks and pine cones), for perhaps two years now. Weighing the pros and cons and trying to decide what I really want from it.

Did I say money was tight? Everything I purchase has to work for multiple purposes.

Awesome Stove for Emergencies, Grilling, or Camping

If the power goes out and no natural gas is available, how am I going to cook? The propane grill will only work for so long and only for so much, so the Deadwood could come in handy there.

But what if nothing ever happens? How can I use a rocket stove to justify the purchase? I NEED at least one extra burner on the deck near the grill. I could satisfy the grandkids with their s’mores and hotdogs without creating a bonfire, and the kids could gather the twigs needed to fire it—yard cleanup.

It would definitely be handy for our camping excursions and would save us money by not having to buy firewood at the site (Minnesota is currently under a ban for unauthorized firewood being brought into parks due to an emerald ash borer infestation threat). And…. the kids could borrow it.

Bug Out Cart vs Bug Out Bag

March 8, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

I am not ashamed to say that I am 63 years old. I have been a prepping since I have been 17 years old. This is a long time before “Prepping” was fashionable. I was in the U.S. Military, Law Enforcement and worked for a number of years as an E.M.T.

Until two (2) years ago, my bug out bag was a large back pack loaded with everything I thought would be useful in case I needed to bug out in an emergency. My bug out back pack weighed a little more than 74 pounds. Then I had a series of medical emergencies that changed everything.

I had a heart attack and now have a heart condition called “A. Fib.” About six (6) months after that I fell and blew out my entire left shoulder. I now have more screws, pins and plates in my left shoulder than I have in my tool box. The strength and range of motion, in my left shoulder, is greatly reduced.

I tried to put on my bug out bag and learned quickly that it was NOT going to happen. Also I doubt that I could carry it very far.

I then tried a large black duffle bag. When I placed all of the gear that I had in my Bug Out back pack in the black duffel bag, I could not lift it and carry it for very long. I had to find another solution.

Inception of the Rolling”Bug Out Cart” Idea

One day, I went to pick up a friend of mine at the airport. While waiting for him to arrive I observed the solution to my dilemma, a large, wheeled, soft sided piece of luggage. I could put whatever I wanted in the piece of luggage, no matter what the weight. I could then wheel it to my truck and put it in the bed of my truck for transport. If I had to evacuate by foot, for whatever reason, or abandon my truck, I could pull it on its wheels wherever I needed to go.

I have purposely not hung anything on the outside of the roller bug out bag so it looks just like a piece of luggage and not a bug out bag. This is very important so you do not make yourself more of target than you have to. What is nice is that I have even placed my M-4 rifle, disassembled in two (2) pieces, upper and lower halves and the ammo and magazines for it, in this wheeled bag. I can walk down the street pulling it and I look like a tourist.

So now I have everything that I would normally have in a bug out backpack plus extra firepower.

Other Bug Out Bag Ideas

Upon seeing this idea, many of the commenters to the original article I wrote have given some great ideas on other options to utilize. Here are some of them:

Deer Cart
Use several smaller bags and pack them inside the larger roller luggage bag. This way if there was a problem with the larger roller luggage bag, you could take out the smaller bags and continue on.
collapsible, folding, luggage hand truck
golf bag cart
yard cart
Storm Case with wheels
how about a rickshaw

My$30 Shopping Cart Turned Survival Cart

Here’s what I was thinking: One of the most important things that you should do during an actual Bug Out, should you be unfortunate to have to leave on foot for whatever reason, is NOT to stand out. You should blend in with the other people that are also leaving.

You should become one of the invisible people in our society.

If you plan on dressing in your BDUs and looking like G.I. Joe, pulling an expensive cart with a lot of items that other people need and/or want; you are making yourself a BIG target. You are going to stand out. You will even have the police stopping you and checking you out.

As far as what to wear if you have to Bug Out on foot. Just look around at the homeless people in your area. What do they wear? This is how you want to dress. You DO NOT want to stand out.

Shopping Cart For Bugging Out — *I found this metal grocery cart on e-bay for $30.00 (and yes, I know there are other ways of obtaining a grocery cart).*

What type of reliable cart should you push/pull if you cannot get out in some type of vehicle? What type of cart do the homeless people use in your area?

Here in New Orleans, the only type of cart that I see the invisible, homeless, people use is the one that “Patriot One” suggests. The grocery cart!

The grocery cart is very durable. It can carry a lot of weight. You can tie and/or hang things from the sides of the grocery cart. You are pushing the grocery cart so your property is in front of you. If you pull some type of a cart, the items that you’re carrying in it are in back of you. That makes those items easier to steal without you noticing it. Also, if something falls out of the cart that you are pulling, you will probably not realize that it is missing for a while.

Another advantage that the grocery cart has is that you can put some of your weight on the handle to help steady yourself in case you have bad knees or if you need assistance in walking. Think of when you go to the grocery store!

When you think about packing whatever you decide to take with you, try dividing up your food, water, clothes, etc. into numerous bundles of equal size and then placing those bundles in plastic trash bags in the grocery cart. By doing so those small bundles become more manageable and pack easier.

In addition, by placing them in plastic trash bags your items will stay dryer if it should rain. The plastic bags also keep the dust in the air off of the items that you have packed. Also people watching you cannot tell what you are transporting. If someone should run up to your cart and grab one of your bags and run away, you have not lost everything. Another advantage to using the plastic garbage bags is that you can reuse those bags numerous other ways, if need be.

You can even secure a pistol holster into the child’s seat area of the grocery cart. Then place some lightweight object over the handgun to conceal it. Your handgun would be almost immediately accessible if you need it, and always in sight.

The one drawback of the grocery cart is the same one that the roller suitcase has. It is not built to go off of the street or sidewalk. However, how many of you senior citizens will be going deep into the woods? Or, would you just be trying to get out of whatever major city you are in, any way you can.

The larger pull carts, such as the deer cart or garden wagon, are great ideas and maybe the answer for you. But if you are a senior citizen, like me, with bad knees and a heart problem and decide you have to attempt to walk out of a TEOTWAWKI situation, a grocery cart seems more the ideal solution to my problem. How far will I get? I do not know but at least it gives me an option other than Bugging In!

I must admit that I do like the yard cart. If you have small children or grandchildren, the yard cart would be something to consider. You could place two small children and the items need to take care of them in the yard cart. This beats hand carrying them in your arms. In addition, I think the yard cart would be easier to go off road and possibly take into the woods. If you decide that the garden cart is right for you, be sure to take a can of “Fix A Flat” and a bicycle air pump. These carts have inflatable tires. Again, remember “Murphy’s Law”!

A question came up that you should not plan on leaving wherever you are on foot. My thinking on this is just another option. You should ALWAYS keep all of your options open. Besides, if you are planning on using a car, motorcycle, or ANY other type of gasoline or diesel motor vehicle in a major prolonged national disaster, you are going to have a problem. Gasoline and diesel fuel are a finite resource. In other words, sooner or later you are going to run out of whatever fuel that is required to run your motor vehicle. So, some type of wheeled cart should be a requirement in you Bug Out plans.

Contributed by: The Coach