2010 Preps in Review and 2011 Goals

I can't believe how quickly 2010 went by. I thought it would be interesting to evaluate my prepping progress over five areas.

INFORMATION:

• I probably made the most progress in this area. I had zero knowledge of or interest in preparedness at the start of the year. Now I have read on the subject extensively and I feel comfortable with many of the most important preparedness areas. I feel confident in my knowledge of food storage, but not so much in areas like defense and alternative energy.
• I made efforts to preserve my newly gained information. I have an enormous preparedness binder with lots of information printed off and organized. I collected numerous food storage and garden vegetable recipes and have another binder for that.  
• Hubby Dear backed up our computer on SOS Online Backup. We also have several flashdrives with important items copied onto them.
• I made an emergency binder with essential documents for our bug out bags (BOBs).

Speaking of bugging out...

SURVIVAL ESSENTIALS:

• Because of our location, it would take something extraordinary for us to bug-out, but now we are prepared to do so. We have BOBs packed and ready to go.
• Our vehicles are always equipped with emergency supplies.
• We have a couple of ways to start fires and a large stash of dryer lint (tinder!).
• We have emergency lighting ready to go.
• If we had to, we could shelter-in-place during a chemical or biological threat. We have potassium iodide tablets in case of a nuclear incident. (Even the federal government thinks you should shelter-in-place during a nuke event.)

WATER AND FOOD:

• I came up with three months' worth of menus of shelf-stable, normal meals and a plan to get 1 year's worth of food.
• I have between 2 and 4 weeks worth of water stored at home. 
• According to Emergency Essentials' Food Storage Analyzer, we have about 151 days of food currently stored.
• To help us rotate our storage, I invested in smaller food storage containers and some can organizers.
• I bought a hand-crank grain mill and learned how to use whole wheat berries to make bread.
• I learned how to use a pressure canner in addition to my water bath canner. I've canned a variety of items from pickles to ground beef to applesauce.

FIRST AID/HEALTH AND HYGIENE:

• We have first aid kits in several different places, from my purse to our BOBs.
• We stocked up on items useful in a pandemic, such as N-95 masks and nitrile gloves. I've already been very glad to have the gloves on hand (no pun intended) during our family's bout with stomach flu over Christmas.
• We've begun to stockpile toilet paper and OTC medications.

That's quite a bit accomplished in seven short months.

My Goals for 2011:

1. Get a full year's worth of food storage.
2. Buy an electric grain mill (finally).
3. Continue to develop our gardening skills. We're converting our vegetable garden to a square foot garden. Hopefully we'll get enough cherries, raspberries, and blackberries to can and freeze this year.
4. Can a wide variety of garden produce.
5. Further develop our water storage and purification abilities. This could include: getting a Berkey filter, storing pool shock, mapping out nearby natural water sources, and installing rain barrels.
6. Deepen our store of first aid/medical supplies.
7. Lose weight and get in shape - both Hubby Dear and I.

And finally...

    8.    Start saving towards our home renovation that will include the installation of a woodstove.

Whew! That sounds like a lot. Hopefully we can accomplish all of these.

How have your preps come along in 2010? Do you have any big plans for 2011?  

Let There Be Light

Although food storage is my first love, I do realize that there are many more aspects to prepping. It's just hard for me to focus on them when they are so far out of my comfort zone. Alternative power systems and firearms? I just don't have the knowledge base for preps in those areas, so I'm putting those off for now.

One area I do feel comfortable making some decisions in is lighting. If the electricity goes out, it is important to have a backup form of lighting. For one thing, it's a safety issue. You don't want to be stumbling around in the dark. For another, it can be a morale issue. Imagine being trapped inside your house during a blizzard or ice storm. The electricity goes off and your family huddles together for warmth. Darkness comes early but thankfully you have an old lamp and plenty of lamp oil. Suddenly the situation doesn't seem so scary. The "Blizzard of '10" may even become a cherished family memory.

First of all, everyone should have a supply of flashlights. You really cannot have too many of these. We have one by our bed, in our BOBs, in our vehicle kits, storm shelter, garage, and probably some other places I've forgotten.

You also need to have a large supply of batteries. We buy bulk packages of batteries from my favorite store, Sam's Club, and keep them organized by size.

We also have a couple of LED wind-up flashlights. No batteries needed for these.

Dusty but still functional

If you were in long term power down situation, you would really want to have some additional lighting options. A flashlight isn't so great to read, play a board game, cook, or eat by. For this, we're relying on an old solution - the oil lamp.

I already had an antique table lamp. Oil lamps like these can be picked up very cheaply in antique stores. My mother owns an antique store in our area and she actually doesn't stock these kinds of oil lamps. There is too great of a supply out there, so they don't sell very well. If you can't find a vintage one, you can buy new ones from Lehman's. If you don't have a copy of Lehman's catalog, be sure and order one. Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog is chock full of goodies for preppers and other self-sufficient types.



Who is the maid ? She should be fired!



I also already had this Dietz lantern which I did purchase at my mom's antique store. I'll admit it - I bought it a few years ago because I thought it was cute. Recently it crossed my mind that I should take a closer look at it and see if it is still functional. It needs a bit of cleaning - ok, maybe a lot - and a new wick and it should be ready to go. My Dietz "Little Giant" lantern was made sometime between the 1920s and 1950s and holds enough fuel to burn continuously for 70 hours. Again, this is something you can find cheaply at an auction or antique store (mine was $10 before the "family discount") or buy new from Lehman's.

Obviously when you have an oil lamp, you need to have oil to burn in it. There are three basic fuels to choose from:

1) Liquid Paraffin - This easy to find in places like Wal-Mart this time of year. Basically, it's a liquid candle. The good thing about it is that it doesn't smell or smoke when it burns.  Some people think it can clog the large, flat wicks that most oil lamps have. My mom has burned this stuff in her oil lamps for years and not had any problems, though.

2) Kerosene - Cheap and it burns well. Most oil lamps/lanterns will work well with it. It is a bit smelly when it burns.

3) KleanHeat - Think of this as a cross between options one and two. It doesn't smell or smoke and it won't clog your wick. You can use it in a wide variety of lamps and lanterns.

I went ahead and decided to go with option three, KleanHeat. I felt that it would be the best item to store since it was so versatile. You can buy KleanHeat here.

I also stocked up on lamp wicks. Check what size wick your lamp/s take before you buy!

When the lights go out, we'll be ready. What have you stocked up on for your lighting needs?

Month Five in Review and Month Six Preps

I achieved all of my Month Five Preps with the exception of #6 - the exercise component. I still need to work on being better with that. But I have more cash in my BOBs and vehicles, food storage containers, lots of new additions to my food storage, and more matches and toilet paper stocked.

Month six of my Prepping Plan is going to be fun. I'm feeling flush since Hubby Dear suggested we increase our prepping budget by about 40%. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he told me that. Not that he actually believes in this stuff. Nope, he doesn't think this is necessary even after reading One Second After. We're debt-free now and he is proud that I was able to stick to my prepping budget for five months so we could get there. Gotta love him! :)

So, this is what I'm thinking of for November:

1. More cash for our BoBs.
2. Stock up on oil and wicks for my oil lamps.
3. Buy a box of exam gloves for potential medical emergencies
4. Buy a quality hand grain mill. This one I'm really excited about.
5. Buy a case of dry milk. I've been putting this one off for a while.  
6. Pick up some freeze-dried and dehydrated odds and ends for food storage and bread making.
7. Exercise at least three times per week.