SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

Cold Weather Clothing Layers

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It is no secret that wearing layers of clothing is a very sensible idea, especially if you are going to be exposed to the elements. It can also be a great benefit if you are going to be going from warm to cold and all points in between in a short space of time because it provides you with the flexibility to be comfortable by adding or removing clothing.

There is no getting away from the fact that layers of clothing are crucial for anyone who will be out in the wild for a bit of time but the most important layer of clothing is likely to be the one next to the skin.

This is referred to as a base layer and you will likely have come across these items of clothing. Some people may take one look at these items and think that they are not the style for them but the look isn’t the most important matter, after all, this layer is meant to be worn under other layers. The real benefits of base layers and why people who take exercise seriously should be considering is of the benefits they bring.

Find the body temperature that is right for you

It has already been discussed how layers can help people to obtain the right body temperature for wherever they are. However if the layer next to the skin has a special focus on retaining heat or removing sweat from the body, it is possible to make a marked improvement over how a person feels. Whether you are running, working out or just looking to enjoy a casual day out in the wild, this sort of clothing item can make a big difference to your enjoyment levels.

Another major benefit that comes to people from wearing this style of clothing comes with the fact that certain muscles and muscle groups will be compressed. This can help to improve the flow of blood around the body and it can help to prevent the build-up of lactic acid. This may be a small thing but if it helps people to get more from their exercise session, it can help in the long run to provide better results and help people to get fitter.

As the saying goes “every little helps” and anything which helps to boost someone who is working out to work out for longer or harder has to be a good thing. It is not as if wearing this style of clothing is going to magically transform someone into a super-fit athlete but it can definitely have a positive impact on how a person performs.

If nothing else, this style of clothing can help to reduce the problems of chaffing, which can blight anyone that works out seriously or enjoys long walks. If you want to give yourself the best chance of being fit and enjoying your training sessions, make sure you have the right equipment.

Water and Hydration Preparedness for Disasters

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Drinking water is the single most consistently found item in every survival kit, be it short-term or long-term.  We can survive for extended periods without food and even with limited shelter.  But we are living on numbered hours if we are without a reliable water source.

So it’s well established that we should maintain a good supply of drinking water for disasters.  But there are several problems with storing water.

First, it’s bulky.  A gallon of water occupies 231 cubic inches, so supplying a gallon per person, per day for a family of four would gobble up almost eight cubic feet, based on two weeks’ worth of water.  The bigger the family and the longer the disaster, the more of your home is used up with water. There are solutions such as the Water Bob, that allows you to store water in a bathtub, but you need a few minutes notice in order to really take advantage of it (like a hurricane situation for instance).

Second, it does get stagnant.  Store water for up to six months before replacing it.  Even in clean containers and with a slight treatment of bleach, water can become bacteria-laden and unsafe.

So here you are, aware that there’s no city water available and having to come up with four gallons of potable water every day.  What are your options for other sources?

There are options for using water from dehumidifiers or from the condensate pump that keeps your HVAC dry and happy.  But these sources are limited and can be difficult to sanitize.  You’ll certainly want those two devices in your home to maintain proper humidity, but they’re not geared for drinking water use.

It’s actually fairly easy to establish a grid-independent water source.  The expense of a well or cistern can be prohibitive, but capturing rainwater, runoff, or water from a stream or pond can provide a source of water that will continue to exist just as long as rain can be had.

The best way to avoid the fluctuations of nature’s provision is to do your own version of what municipalities do.  Many city water systems don’t rely on a flowing water source alone.  They instead stockpile it in a reservoir or lake so that there is a backup supply if precipitation ceases.

So creating a pond, even a fairly small one, can provide a surprising amount of water for you.  Ponds are generally measured in acre-feet, a unit that denotes enough water to cover a one-acre area to a depth of one foot.  That’s 43,560 cubic feet of water, or 325,000 gallons.  So even on a small scale–perhaps even a swimming pool–that’s a phenomenal amount of water.

The major provision you need for this type of water supply is pumping capability, plus power for the pump.  There are a variety of pumps available out there, including some that can draw water down to a very low level.

And most likely, you’ve already included a generator in your plans.  It will require only small amounts of electricity, on an infrequent basis, to keep your water flowing.

So with a good plumbing job, you can shut off the water meter and backflush through an outdoor spigot to pressurize your home’s pipes with no off-site water.  That means water in all the usual places with no reliance on your municipality.

Water is critical for life.  Don’t be content with shelves full of old milk jugs brimming with stockpiled city water.  Create a sustainable source that keeps your home functional.

Raised Bed Garden Hoops

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raised bed fourxfour crossovers

Last year I raided a dumpster when I saw a bunch of stiff waterline thrown into it. I used them to create hoops in my raised beds to help extend the season by covering them with plastic last year. I didn’t scavenge enough to complete the project, so I purchased some 1 inch PVC to complete the project. raised bed long

I drilled through them and used cable ties to connect them.

These work like mini-greenhouses when plastic is put over them in spring and fall. In the summer, a light fiberglass screen can be used to shade the plants and keep off bugs. I also use bird netting over them to protect the strawberry beds.

raised bed ties In the long beds I often use a piece of cattle or hog panel in the middle to provide climbing area for peas and other plants that can go up. Those long ones aren’t nearly as sturdy as the hoops in the 4 x 4 beds!

Note: I used vinyl deck planking for my raised beds. I put screws in every foot and left the heads up so that I could tie string off them to create a square foot grid pattern for planting.

How To Grow Potatoes in Buckets

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Well, several different people have encouraged me to try potatoes in a bucket. I researched Gardening By The Square Foot and found some information, but it really wasn’t detailed enough from my perspective. So I’m going to show you what I’m doing and maybe you can help! :) potatoe bucket

Square buckets were recommended. I bought these off of Craigslist for $1 each. They originally held strawberry syrup. Then I drilled a hole on each side and one in the middle of the bottom.

potatoe seeds Here are the seed potatoes. Cut and dried for 24 hours (that is how we do it in the North Country). I use russets because they are an indeterminate and will continue to set potatoes as they grow up.

SFG said to put an inch of pure compost in the bottom and set the potatoes in each corner. Did that and covered with the equivalent of “Mel’s Mix”.

 

potato buckets in row

I set the buckets along a fence line, so that I can tie the foliage against the fence as it grows.

So, this is my latest grand experiment! Wish me luck!

Simple Pallet Garden Ideas (Plus Growing in Buckets)

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That’s my shadow waving at you! Shadow is such a showoff!
We’ve had so much rain in the Deep South. Our back yard is “stepped”; the upper level does fine, as it drains well –right into the lower level! The bottom part of the back yard, the lower level, has stayed wet since January, and, it is still wet. Yep. You guessed it. More rain coming. Woo. Hoo.
I was sinking in two inches of muck every time I walked across the lower level of the back yard. It was very difficult, and very frustrating, to try to work my gardens. Guess what? The solution was FREE! Yep. Free. Sturdy wooden crates from the garden center and some given to me by the guys replacing roofs from that awful hail storm last month.  But, hey! It works. And it was free. It doesn’t get any better than that!

How To Build a DIY Pallet Compost Bin

Here’s my compost bin, made from FREE oak pallets. They’ve been in use for three (3) years now, and still going strong. Simply lashed them together, 4 to make a “box”. We always have a good assortment of “critters”, including big, juicy earth worms. We keep it moist, but not wet; we feed it with kitchen scraps (all but raw eggs, any meat, or dairy foods) and yard cuttings (chemical free), plus leaves every Fall. Yes, some of the compost material “escapes”; I just pitchfork it back in every now and then. The screens help hold it in place, and the cover on top is held in place by an old tire because the raccoons were able to lift the 3’ long 2×6 board we were using to hold the cover in place! Tires were “free” in the sense that we took them off a car when we had new ones put on. Fiberglas cover was leftover from a greenhouse build project in another part of the yard. The black plastic box above is our first compost bin; it did not hold up well ($50), especially as it filled up; we have plugged the openings from the inside with more of our window screens picked up in a yard sale for seventy cents each, and we keep twigs and starter wood in it now. EVERYTHING can be repurposed. There is rarely any reason to put anything in the land fill, y’all. But our wood pallet system? It works well; it holds tons of compost, and it was free! So then I used the contents to mulch my newly-planted raised gardens; it makes beautiful mulch. The gray grid-like things (back – hard to see) are refrigerator parts I “rescued” from the dump; my cucumbers like to grow across the tops. The DS brought home something from work the other day that will work great for our melons to climb up and then rest across the top as the melons ripen; and it was FREE! (My favorite 4-letter word!). It’s in place in the garden, though you can’t see it here – a two-story, very sturdy powder-coated metal “cage” display thing that, otherwise, would be in the landfill now.

Planting and Growing Potatoes in Buckets

Potato Bucket with Screen And then there’s my potato bucket. I bought this container at Lowe’s last year for $5.00; DH drilled holes in the bottom; I put in a layer of stones for drainage, and I can’t keep a fresh layer of growing soil on these ‘taters fast enough! They are popping up like crazy. I bought SMALL red seed potatoes, because I did not have time to cut and cure the seed potatoes for two weeks, so I planted them whole. Man, are they growing! And, another one of my seventy cent yard sale screens at work here. So, this is my garden, such as it is. Cucumbers, squash, tomatoes (4 varieties!), and concord grapes (out front). The lower level contains brassicas and beans, but, not showing them off just yet. I will be filling in all those “holes” in cinder blocks and growing companion plants; I have done this before and it worked out very well; so, these small raised gardens CAN produce a tremendous amount, if we utilize every available space for growing in them. I am so very happy when gardening! After a few days of sun, I’m finally able to walk in my lower yard without walking across the sturdy oak pallets, my “free wooden walkway”. The sun warmed us to over 90 deg. F yesterday, and the skies were blue, but with it comes the heavy humidity that is the bane of the Deep South. Container plants and young seedlings are in need of watering twice a day, very carefully, of course. I have dozens of “volunteer” tomato plants that popped up after using my compost for mulch; normally, I wouldn’t try to grow from compost volunteers, but, I know a family much in need of food supply who likes tomatoes, so, we will be growing them. I originally had about 50 green bean babies; the slugs and snails devoured all but about 20, some of them down to nothing but stalks. By setting the beer traps AND covering them at dusk with glass or plastic jars, they’ve grown new leaves and they are going to make it! I also added a tiny bit of veggie fertilizer, which helped them recover, I do believe. I save every glass jar and plastic jar I can; I love to recycle things and keep things out of the landfill; I’m grateful that I had plenty of glass/plastic jars from peanuts, fruits, pickles, etc. I have plenty of canning jars I could use, but, I save those for canning – they’re precious to me. But I just cover my green bean babies in the evening with a jar, gently twisting it into the soil a bit to hold it in place, and remove them early the next morning; as hot as it is getting now, leaving these on for long would result in a cooked green bean baby, so, do keep that in mind. The potatoes in a container are beautiful! This is the first time I’ve tried this method, and I could not be happier. Here are two pics of my potato bin on day 1 and another pic on day 25: Starting Potatoes in a Bucket Potatoes Growing in Buckets

Top 20 Items to Have In a 72 Hour Survival Kit for The Home

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I have an inexpensive box that I keep ready as my 3 Day Survival Kit. I keep 2 gallons of water per person beside it, for us that is 12 gallons.

  1. Water and/or an individual water filter like a LifeStraw—we have a creek that borders the property.
  2. Two flashlights, with batteries beside them (no potential for corrosion and there for failure when needed). One headlamp for chores—my job.
  3. Waterproof matches and lighters.
  4. Four good quality Mylar emergency blankets. These are tough and reusable! You can sleep in your own bed with one on top and one on the bottom.
  5. Single serving bags of coffee, tea, propel zero and Mio to add to water.
  6. Three days of canned food, so I don’t have to cook, just warm up and serve—even if warming is with a candle, grill, or on our Deadwood Stoves!
  7. A good quality manual can opener.
  8. Paper plates, cups and utensils.
  9. Garbage bags for personal sanitation and more!
  10. Baby Wipes for personal sanitation and cleanliness.
  11. A bottle of hand sanitizer.
  12. Two rolls of TP.
  13. A roll of paper towels.
  14. A roll of heavy duty aluminum foil, mostly for cooking.
  15. Candles, for light and heat, and because they are always handy!
  16. Hard peppermint candy and hard chocolate candies.
  17. Two deck of cards!
  18. Two emergency radios, because one just never seems to work! #3 is the car radio!
  19. A survival whistle. Need to signal anyone? Low tech; high impact!
  20. Pepper spray! Yes! Inexpensive, simple and effective!