Real things to do to save the planet...

Mercury filled lightbulbs, electric cars, windmills and solar panels... all are bunk and silly.  But while bumbling around in my life I found some smart people in Denmark (amazingly enough) had actually put together a list of things to do that would improve the planet.  Of course being the anti green guy I am since most of it is snake oil and alarmists trying to buy nice 9 million dollar beachouses, I wanted to read it for the laugh factor I get from reading greenie stuff. 

Imagine my frustration when it made sense and it was not at all funny but a great list.... check it out yourselves and see if you agree.

Copenhagen Consensus

Change is scary...

My wife and I are planning some major changes that will happen in the next couple weeks.  They are big changes for us but minor in comparison with any type of emergency.  We hope that we are making the right choices but at least we control if and when we make the choice and it is not forced upon us against our will, by events or persons.

In some ways I like change its an adventure.  If everything works out perfect we will be in a better position, if everything does not work out we will be in a better location.  So all in all the pros are bigger than the cons.

Bread and yeast

My wife tends to make bread often, its wonderfull.  She can and has made it all by hand from time to time but we have a cool bread machine that does most of the hard work.  The other day she ran out of yeast (well we found some and so we got to have some nice warm bread)

I was a bit worried that we would not have nice fluffy bread to eat if we ran out of Yeast for a long period of time.

So I found the following and we will soon be trying it.

Step 1: Capture the Yeast

 

This method is dependent on how much wild yeast is circulating in the air in your kitchen at any given time. Baking frequently adds yeast to the air, so trying to capture the yeast soon after baking bread will help ensure success.

 

 

 

1.Combine in a bowl:

• 2 cups of warm water
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 cups of flour 

2.Cover the bowl with cheesecloth and place in a warm area in your kitchen.

3.Stir the mixture once a day.

4.It will begin to bubble when you have captured yeast.

 5.Allow the mixture to continue to sit for 3-4 days after you first notice the bubbles.

 

Step 2: Dry the Yeast

 

1.Spread the liquid mixture out on plastic wrap or waxed paper to dry.

2.Break the dried yeast into chunks.

3.Grind it into small particles in the food processor.

4.Freeze the yeast in an airtight container for long term storage

Rolling with the punches

In the Marine Corps there is a saying "improvise, adapt and overcome".  This applies to so many things in life and makes you a much more happy person.  This weekend was my 12th wedding anniversary.  My wife and I had some nice plans that included driving over four hours to see a show.  The show was canceled but we had not been informed, as you can imagine there were dozens of people there, we were about two hours early to the box office, who were very angry, and I am talking screaming at the poor box office employees who had done nothing to cancel the show and get paid almost nothing to sit there and be assaulted by angry patrons.

My wife and I went to the beach and had a fantastic time looking at the huge navy ships and did some nice shopping.  We also found a very nice restaurant to have a wonderful dinner.  We were disappointed and I think my wife will start becoming pretty angry at the correct people today if we do not yet have a refund.  But all in all it was a fantastic trip and I got to spend more than 8 hours alone with my best friend in the whole world.

What I am trying to say is life is what happens when you are making other plans.  Starting over is an adventure and I for one love an adventure.  The websters definition of adventure is

ad·ven·ture (ad-ven-chur)
noun.
1. Being cold wet and exhausted normally in an extreme amount of pain.

Ok that is my definition, but cold wet and exhausted can be a ton of fun.  You have to roll with the punches and those who make the best of a situation are the ones who come out of the situation with the least amount of scars.  Learning to deal with the little issues like your show being canceled helps when it comes to the big things.

BOB (Draft always in progress)

Today is bug out bag.  I have been working on this list/kit for days now trying to get it to my liking.  No luck yet but I have gotten my Daily Carry and my Go Bag to something I like.  This all came from the weekend project of trying to put together my boys BOB's.  Now I know that I am putting together a mishmash of Daily Carry and Go bags for them.  Everyone should go over their lists and dump out what they do have in their bags and practice at least verbally an emergency and what you would need.  Better yet go on a camping trip with just your kit. 

I have settled on the idea that the BOB will be several kits some that are repeated for each member of the family and some that are not.  So far I have only cobbled together a mish mash of kits and tried to order them.  I of course will keep working on the lists and kits and hopefully sometimes soon will have something I like put together.

All lists are in PDF format on a link at the upper part of the blog
For now here is my current BOB list:
Bug Out Bag (BOB a list of kits)

BOB Hydro Kit
 Water Filter
 Bleach or Water purification tablets
 2 1 liter water bottles
 2 5 gal watter bladder
 7 to 14 gal of water

Sleep System
 Sleeping Bag Multi System
 Sleeping Pad
 1 Wool Blanket
 2 10 X 10 Tarps or Larger

BOB Shelter Kit
 2 or 4 Man Tent
 2 Tarps 20' X 20 or larger
 300' 550 paracord
 20 Tent Stakes

BOB Light Kit
 Flashlight
 Lantern
 Head Lamp
 AA and AAA Battery Charger
 Rechargable Batteries AA and AAA
 Pack of Candles

4 to 11 days of food
Basic 2000 Calories Food Pack (Sample)

 1 1gal Ziplock bag
 2 cups of rice (2.4 lbs)
 4 tbsp of powdered butter
 2 packets of oatmeal
 2 pouches of tuna
 2 protein bars
 2 single serving instant coffee
 4 packets of salt
 Hard Candy
 Seasonings

Basic Long Term Clothing
 2 pr Socks Cotton
 2 pr Socks Wool
 2 pr Underwear
 2 pr Tactical Pants
 1 pr Shorts / swim suit
 2 T-Shirts
 1 lightweight long sleeve shirt
 1 Full Brim Hat
 1 Wind breaker
 Walking Shoes
 Boots Hiking
 Shower Sandals

Winter Weather Clothing
 1 pr thermal underwear Bottoms
 1 pr thermal underwear shirt
 1 flanel shirt
 1 warm wool sweater
 1 pr Winter Boots
 1 pr wool glove liners
 1 pr water proof gloves/Mittens
 1 poly scarf
 1 wool cap
 1 pr winter tactical pants
 1 winter jacket-Parka /w hood

Mess Kit
 Plate
 Bowl
 Spork
 Cup
 Small Cooking Pot
 Small Frying Pan

Large Hygene kit
 Large tube of toothpaste
 Extra toothbrush
 1 Roll of TP
 2 Bars of Soap
 Deoderant
 Wash Cloth
 Beach Towel
 Camp Shower / Pump
 5 gal bucket
 Hygene Seat

BOB Basic Tool Kit
 Hatchet
 Machette
 Small Shovel
 Small Saw
 Claw Hammer
 Screwdriver set
 Open End Wrench Set
 Hack Saw
 Measuring Tape 25'

Repair Supply Kit
 Rubber bands
 Safety Pins
 Duct Tape
 Wire
 Epoxy
 Collection of various fasteners
 Box of 1gal Ziplock bags
 Box of ziplock sandwich bags
 Box of Garbage Bags
 Bungie Cords

Navigation Kit
 Quality Compass
 Area Maps
 Portable GPS

Comunications and Information Kit
 usb or DVD Disk with Books and info
 Laptop
 Portable Emergency Radio
 Portable Emergency Scanner
 Portable Ham Radio
 Portable CB /w SSB

Camp Kitchen kit
 Portable Stove
 Package of lighters
 Magnisium Fire Starter
 Box of strike anywhere matches
 2 Weeks Fuel for Stove

Utensils
 Cooking Fork Long Handle
 Cooking Spoon Long Handle
 Cooking Spoon Sloted Long Handle
 Ladle
 Long Tongs
 Spatula Long Handle
 Wire Whip
 Basting Brush
 Cutting Board
 Measuring Cups
 Measuring Spoons
 Mixing Bowl
 Can opener
 Pot holders

Cookware
 Dutch Oven
 Iron Griddle
 Iron Frying Pan
 Iron Griddle
 Large Pot
 Sauce Pan
 Coffee Pot

Knifes
 Butcher Knife
 Pairing Knife
 Bread Knife
 Peeler

Comprehensive Medical kit
 1 Medic Pack
 mirror with handle
 10 Tongue blades
 10 Gloves (sterile)
Sutures (1 of each)
 4-0 Dexon
 5-0 Dexon
 4-0 Nylon
 5-0 Nylon
 6-0 Nylon
 3-0 Silk ties
 4-0 Chromic
(Needles)
 2 18 g (2)
 2 20 g (2)
 4 Syringe: 3 cc
 1 Razor handle
 5 Razor blades for handle
 Safety pins (25 in assorted sizes)
 Insect repellent (REI Jungle Juice)
 Sun Screen
 Aloe Sunburn Ointment
 Oil of clove
Instruments
 Needle holder
 3 Hemostat (straight)
 3 Hemostat (angled)
 1 Scissors Straight Mayo
 1 Scissors Paramedic
 2 Pickups without teeth
 1 Scalpel handle
Scalpel blades
 5 #15
 5 #11
 5 #10
Prep
 Alcohol Rubbing 8oz
 H2O2 8oz
 Betadine solution (4 oz)
 4 Betadine wipes
 6 Betadine ointment
 10 Neosporin ointment
 4 Alcohol wipes
 Liquid soap (Campsuds) (2 oz)
Dressings
 100 Assorted Band-Aids
 100 Butterfly Closures
 Field dressing (4) (battle dressings, Carlyle pressure dressings)
 Grease gauze
 1 Vaseline
 1 Adaptic
 4 Medical Sponges
 Tape Roll 1"
 Triangle bandage (54" hypotenuse)
Drugs
 1 Benadryl 50 mg/cc Antihistamine
 2 Epinephrine 1:1000 Adrenaline (RX only)
 5 Atropine 0.4 mg/cc Anti Chemical (RX only)
 100 Tylenol (adult)
 50 Electrolyte tablets
 100 Excedrin Migraine
 50 Imodium
 100 Antacid

The Survialist Blog by M.D. Contest

M.D. Creekmore over at the The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a Go Berkey Water Filter System (a $139.00 value)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

Buying junk silver

I am not sure if buying junk silver is a good idea or a bad idea.  My track record with investments is worse than my gambling record and I fail at gambling.  I have a friend who is pretty savvy with investments, and he says that metals are perfectly set for bubble and then like all bubbles it will pop.  Add that view to hyperinflation and metals do not seem like such a great idea.

But silver, gold, copper and other metals will still be worth what they are worth so as far as keeping value you can not do better than metal.  So here is some info for buying junk silver.

http://www.2-clicks-coins.com/article/junk-silver-coins.html


Determining Junk Silver Prices
If you have a junk silver piece at hand, here’s a quick guide to determine your junk silver coin’s price.

Take note that all silver values are pegged at $10 per ounce of silver. So to determine the actual value, the silver weight is multiplied by the current spot price of silver.

Coin Silver                             Content Silver Weight    Face Value Silver Value
1942-1945     War Nickels                 35%   0.05626 oz. $0.05      $0.56
1916-1945     Mercury Dimes            90%   0.07234 oz.  $0.10      $0.72
1946-1964     Roosevelt Dimes          90%   0.07234 oz   $0.10       $0.72
1932-1964     Washington Quarters   90%   0.18084 oz.   $0.25       $1.81
1916-1947     Walking Liberty Half   90%    0.36169 oz.   $0.50       $3.62
1948-1963     Franklin Half               90%    0.36169 oz.   $0.50       $3.62
1964              Kennedy Half              90%    0.36169 oz.   $0.50       $3.62
1965-1970     Kennedy Half             40%     0.1479 oz      $0.50      $1.48
1878-1921     Morgan Dollar            90%     0.77344 oz.   $1.00      $7.73
1921-1935     Peace Dollar               90%     0.77344 oz.   $1.00      $7.73
1971-1976-S Eisenhower Dollar       40%     0.3161 oz.     $1.00      $3.16

So when the price of silver goes up by ten cents, a bag of 90% junk silver coins will rise by at least $70.

The Go Bag

I agree with many that the BOB is too limiting.  The multi tiered system is easier to manage.  Yesterday I went over my keyring kit and my Daily Carry, today I will go over what I have put together for my Go Bag. 

 

Each system builds on the other.  Adding the ability to go longer and do more things with each addition to the system.  Keys and Daily Carry should always be with you or within reach (such as in your car).  One day of food in the Daily Carry helps you if you need a quick snack and allows more room in your GO BAG, where only two days of food are stored.  This leaves only 10 days of food needed in the BOB.  I have left firearms out of the system since this is a personal choice and also depends on your abilities such as having a CCW or not.  If you own firearms you will know what and where they belong in the system.

 

PREP SYSTEM Concept:

KEY RING KIT (On your keyring)

 

The very basic of tools should always be on you.

 

DAILY CARRY (Small pouch, purse, Lumbar Pack, and in your pockets)

These items should be on you at all times and should get you to your car or safety, or protect you in a dire emergency.

 

GO BAG (Day Pack)

This should allow you to stay in most places away from home for 3 days when combined with the previous kits suffering only minor discomfort, unless conditions are very extreme, and even in that situation you should come out pretty much intact.

 

BUG OUT BAG (Backpack or Duffle Bags)

Allows for 2 weeks when combined with the previous kits of semi comfortable living away from home in almost all conditions. And allow for at least 1 week of multi person food and indefinite shelter.  Very much like planning for an extended camping trip that you can carry on your back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The GO BAG should be near you at all times such as in your car.  This bag allows you to reach your home or BOB.  It is made from several kits that may change during the seasons.

 

Here are what I have come up with for my GO BAG:

 GO BAG

• Water Bladder (3 Liter)
• Water Filter or Water purification tablets
• Flashlight
• Head Lamp
• Radio
• Small Binoculars
• 1 Deck of Cards
• 1 Pair of dice
• Pen and Notepad
• Sun glasses (safety glasses)
• 1 Saw
• 2 Large Garbage Bags
• 2 1 Gal ziplock bags
• 4 Ziplock sandwich bags
• 50' Steel Cable encased in plastic
• 50' Snare wire
• 1 Roll of duct tape
• 1 Roll of electrical Tape
• Lighter
• Matches
• Fire Steel

• 24 to 72 hours of food 6000 calories in 1 to 3 1 gal ziplock bags
• 1 1gal Ziplock bag
• 2 cups of rice (2.4 lbs)
• 4 tbsp of powdered butter
• 2 packets of oatmeal
• 2 pouches of tuna
• 2 protein bars
• 2 single serving instant coffee
• 4 packets of salt
• Hard Candy
• Seasonings
• Basic Outdoors Kit
• 1 Sleeping bag liner Fleece
• Emergency Bivvy Space Blanket
• 1 Tarp
• 10 heaters
• 1 Hammock
• Basic Mess Kit
• Spork
• Metal Cup
• Thermos 16oz
• Folding Stove
• 9 Fuel pellets
• Sewing Kit
• 10 Safety Pins
• 100' unbreakable thread
• 3 needles
• 1 Mini seam ripper
• 10 pins
• Hygiene Kit
• Sleeping bag liner
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Washcloth
• Towel
• Soap
• Razor
• Mirror
• TP in Small Ziplock Bag
• Fishing Kit
• 5 hooks
• 100' black nylon line
• Snap Swivels
• Lures
• Lead Weights
• Water Balloons (for bobbers)
• Fishing Knot instructions
• Base Clothing
• 1 Poncho
• 1 Full brim foldable Hat (boonie)
• 1 Pair Cotton Socks
• 1 Pair Wool Socks
• 1 Pair Underwear
• 2 Bandannas
• Clothing
• 1 lightweight sweater poly
• 1 windbreaker lightweight
• 1 pr tactical pants
• 1 Tshirt
• Warm Weather Clothing
• 1 Tshirt
• 1 pr Shorts (swim trunks)
• 1 Pr Underwear
• 1 Pr Cotton Socks
• Cold Weather Clothing
• 1 pr Wool Socks
• 1 pr thermal pants
• 1 thermal shirt
• 1 wool watch cap
• 1 poly scarf
• 1 pr wool gloves
• 1 hvy poncho
• Personal First Aid kit
• 1 TRIAGE/EMERGENCY CARE HANDBOOK 191 pages 7" x 9"
• 10 Cotton swabs
• 1 Fever Thermometer
• 1 "Kling" rolled gauze 4" X 5 yards
• 20 assorted strip and spot band-aids
• 10 Butterfly closures
• 2 pr. disposable gloves
• 1 Wet-proof adhesive tape 1/2" X 10 yards
• 1 Paper adhesive tape 1/2" 5 yards
• 3 2" X 3" pads
• 4 2" X 3" adhesive pads
• 5 4" X 4" pads
• 1 Mole Skin
• 1 Ace Bandage
• 5 Cotton Balls
• 2 1 gal. zip-loc bags
• 4 Sandwich zip-loc bags
• 1 Cold compress, crush to activate type
• 1 Pump style snake venom remover
• 1 small tweezers
• 1 EMT Scissors
• 1 small Disposable Scalpel
• 1 Tube of Sunscreen
• 1 Tube of insect Repellent
• 1 30ml dropper bottle of Alcohol
• 1 30ml dropper bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide
• 1 30ml dropper bottle of Witch Hazel
• 1 Neosporin (antibiotic cream)
• 1 small petroleum jelly
• 1 Coagulant Pack
• 10 Electrolyte tablets
• 1 Iodine
• 10 Excedrin
• 10 Advil
• 10 Benadryl
• 10 Caffeine
• 10 Antacid
• 10 Imodium
• 1 Lip Balm
• 1 Oil of clove 1 dram 

Weekend BOB workshop

This weekend the boys and I got together to go over our BOB's.  The boys each have a small day pack that we use when walking.  They are missing most of the gear involved in a BOB.  We are trying to get them pieced together so I tried to use my list of lists and it failed.  So I am working on a some simple lists to assemble various levels of gear needed on ones person.

First thing is that each boy needs some personal gear that they always tend to carry.  So we will deal with the keyring kit and Daily Cary bag.

Keyring Kit (On a Keyring)

• Whistle
• 20' 550 paracord (Knotted into a lanyard)
• Tiny Razor Knife
• P38 can opener
• Tiny multi tool
• 3 Safty pins
• Small keyring carbine
• Tiny Flashlight

DAILY CARRY (Wallet-Purse-Small Pouch I use a Lumbar Pack I got a Disney World)

• Cash $200
• Quarters $2.00
• Identification
• List of Phone Numbers
• Cell Phone / Camera
• Pre Paid Credit Card /w $1000 (I don't even have this but it is a great idea)
• Cheap emergency poncho
• Pen and Paper
• Mirror
• First Aid / Hygiene
• Band aids
• OTC Pain Killer
• Imodium
• Benadryl
• Lip Balm
• Comb
• Mini pre pasted toothbrush
• Disposable razor
• TP in a ziplock bag
• Lighter
• Windproof Fireproof Matches
• Food (In a ziplock sandwich bag)
• Tuna Pouch 6.4 oz in oil
• 2 Oatmeal packets
• One 500 calorie protein bar
• 5 Salt Packets
• Tiny roll of duct tape Flattened
• Electrical Tape
• 50' 550 Cord
• Sewing Kit (On a piece of cardboard or plastic)
• 5 Safety pins
• 50' unbreakable thread
• 1 needle
• Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Boyscout Huntsman
• Small Knife (I prefer the Skeletool CX with bits)
• Multitool with pliers
• Compass
• Small Flashlight
• Wire Saw
• Two small chemical heaters
• Cheap emergency blanket

 My list will be updated with the above kits since the boys had a very hard time following my outdated lists.

A little bit every day...

I started Ferfals book last night.  So far it has an amazing amount of information.

All week I have been taking the stairs in the morning, so even this little bit of work out helps its only 6 flights but at least I start the morning with some blood pumping in my system.  This weekend I will try and go for some walks with the boss.  I have some paperwork to finish up for the Arizona plan, I may go over that sometime in some other blog.

Amazing wheat...

Unlike many I am blessed with a wife who believes in prepping wholeheartedly.  When I arrived home after a long hard day at work for the most evil of evils, I was greeted at the door by a wonderful smell, although I could no place it.  As I entered the kitchen I saw my lovely wife busy with a knife smashing and chopping cloves of garlic.  She quickly dumped the tiny fragments of the seasoning into the crock pot full of refried beans and motioned me over while holding a spoon so sample what she called and often calls her cooking, the concoction. 

After having me sample the tasty beans she asked me what it needed, I mentioned that it could use a tiny bit of salt and she quickly added a couple dashes of salt and dipped the large wooden spoon back into the bubbling culinary mass, a sampled a taste.  She then with a big grin offered me the spoon and the beans were perfect.

The boys at this point were somehow pried away from their computer games and stalked around the kitchen, with the old beagle Pookie and the new beagle puppy Lucy in tow.  Literally Lucy jaws locked tight on my middle sons shorts growling and tugging at some unknown offence that the shorts had given.  The pack of boys and dogs hid just around the corner of the kitchen waiting for their moment to sample the beans.

My curiosity just a little peaked I asked her how come we had to add salt to the beans, since most canned beans have far to much salt in them, and we do have several dozen cans of refried beans in the pantry.  My soul mate then smiled slyly and said, "These beans are from scratch, I did not think they would be done so soon but I started soaking them this morning with the crock pot on warm".  At this point she motioned to a tray of yummy white disks on top of the microwave, all of slightly irregular shape and thickness, and said, "There are home made tortillas too!"

We have tried to make tortillas from scratch before and have failed several times, but this time as we all scarfed down with great abandoned, it was obvious that this time it was a total success.  She said that she had used the bread machine to knead the dough.  She had to make more tortillas since I ate all that she had left for our daughter, none went to waste.

She wants to plant some of the pinto beans in our kiddie pool planters to see if we can get them to grow.  I think we should sprout them first and maybe try a little green house action to get them started.  All in all it was a super test of survival cooking, although she used Crisco not lard for the both the beans and tortillas, and storing oils is very hard. 

She used flour, salt, Crisco, pinto beans, onion, garlic, (and we added cheese). 

Lessons learned:  We need a good wheat grinder, more salt, some way to store oils.

Death of a four footed friend

Monday one of our family members lost her battle for life.  She had been with us 8 years and we will miss her greatly.

Sierra Rhodesian Ridgeback 2002-2010

Family...

I am very lucky that my spouse (the boss) supports me 100% in our prep work.  I think that it would be very hard if not impossible to move forward with prep work without that support.  My children (all adults now) also are very supportive of our work and often inspire me and keep me going.  For example my youngest really wants to try making hardtack out of some of our stored flour.

My oldest sister has a blog of her own and she works hard on her prep work in spite of her recent financial issues.  My other sister has an amazing retreat where she, her husband and their young children have been living for the last few years.

I am lucky to be surrounded by such supportive people.

Food, food and more food...

As you may have heard the DOW did a record dip of over 900 points in just a few min.  I happened to be watching the news at the time.  It was scary to watch lucky for us it was a typo by some trader but if the system is that weak what happens when it is not a typo?

It just proves to me that nothing will be as valuable as food if some bad thing does happen.  Water is more important but easier to get here in Virginia.  But food is worth more than all the gold in the world if you need it.  I am thinking I will increase my supply up to 3 years for 5 or 6 people.  Most of it will be bulk food such as rice, beans and sugar.  On that note we put 50 lbs of rice and 50 lbs of flower into plastic buckets yesterday.  It was pretty easy and we did not spill much.  This food will be used as quickly as possible since we did not do any prep on the buckets, they are just buckets of flower and rice.  The Boss is going to start baking more bread and other flower stuff.

 

I am now looking out for bags of beans and I think I will buy more 5gal buckets.  Just FYI 50 lbs of flower just fits in two five gallon buckets and 50lbs of rice fills about one and a half buckets.  I think I also need sprouting seeds.  I have always liked sprouts but hesitated to eat them due to the greenie attachment of sprouting.

Physical Fitness

My boys have started a business, it is landscaping.  Unfortunately they can not drive so I have to haul them around to each of their clients (two now) where they mow and clean up yards.  I also to keep from being bored to death help mow for free (such a deal for them).  So I have been sweating my butt off helping them with their venture into capitalism.  So far it has cost me a bundle as I have gotten them new equipment and hauled them around.  But it is cheaper than a Gym and a better workout.

Food food and more food, according to many people and I happen to agree, you can never have to much food stored up.  The lack of food has been the biggest reason for mass death forever.

Making Fire

Fire and the skills to make it are essensial.  The boys and I attempted to make fire using various techniqies.  We had fire steel strikers, steel wool and a nine volt battery.  We were able to make fire with all these but the number one item that makes fire instantly was a simple cotton ball drenched in petrolium jelly.  We found that using the cotton ball method is easy and quick.  After practicing for several hours using various techiquies we are now pretty confident in our skills to make fire.  Soon we will try out some standard resipies like Bannock bread.

In Survival Mom's blog yesterday she had some very good points to make.  I have posted them below.

14

Store 14 2-liter bottles filled with clean water. This is enough water for one person for one week. Continue adding water storage as needed for additional family members.

10

Set aside $10 each week to go toward buying junk silver. “Junk silver” is the term used for dimes and quarters dated prior to 1965. These coins don’t have any value for collectors but do contain enough silver to give them intrinsic value.

4
List four simple dinners your family enjoys eating. Stock up on the ingredients you need to make those four dinners, and you’ll be ready to make that meal one night per month for one month.

30
Becoming better informed is one of the most important steps you can take toward preparedness and self-reliance. Spend 30 minutes each day researching topics that are highest on your list of priorities, such as gardening, raising livestock, storing fuel, etc. Your priorities will change as you become better informed and better prepared.

1
Take one training class that will help you become better prepared. Check out CERT classes, first aid, wilderness first aid, sewing, master gardening, and CPR. Stocking up on food and supplies is all well and good, but education and knowledge are priceless.

20
If two cans of tuna equals one lunch in your family, stock up on 20 cans of tuna. Those, along with some mayo, pickle relish, and bread will make ten lunches.


15
Schedule a monthly 15-minute fire drill with your family. Explain the procedure before-hand, practice, and then once a month, without any warning, sound the alarm. You can find tips here.

Weekend testing

This weekend we went to a park close to the house that has nice forest coverage.  We had gone there to get some nice green sticks to try cooking Bannock bread on over an open fire.  Our first hurdle was that the forest is full of deer ticks!  It was horrible, they covered our boots and pants.  We had used tick repellent and they were still crawling all over us.  This would be a serious issue in a GOOD situation, and one I had not put much thought into.  So far the only natural repellent I have found uses hard to find ingredients.  I will keep looking.  For now I will stock up on commercial repellent.  In no little way has this pointed out that there are lots of issues out there that you will never think of unless you go out and test ideas.

The second issue was cutting the green branches.  I had my Skeletool CX as our only cutting tool.  Other than the real danger of slicing our bodies it worked poorly at cutting down the saplings we choose.  We need a real cutting tool that is portable and slightly less dangerous to our well being.  Fortunately no one was injured by the process of cutting "walking sticks".  We choose sticks about four feet long and one inch in diameter.  They were easy to find and only took about ten to fifteen minutes to cut down with the leatherman.

We continued the walk and pointed out good places to make camps and how we would construct the shelters, always with the tick problem on our minds.  As far as game to eat we only saw a couple squirrels.  We decided to see if our skills were good enough to hunt one.  Not wanting to kill any squirrels since not one of us was willing to eat one, McDonald's was just to close, less messy, and likely more tasty.  I have never eaten a squirrel.  We set up one of our empty plastic water bottles on a log about 10 yards away and unpacked our wrist rocket style sling shots.  We used steel bearings that are sold as slingshot ammo as our projectiles, these are about the size of a 00 buck pellet.  Only my youngest son was able to even hit the bottle at that range and only after dozen of shots.  We also decided that it is unlikely that the projectile would have killed a squirrel or done it serious damage, not that we could have ever hit one.  We saw no squirrels that close to us and it was mostly luck that the bottle was hit.  Also the pellets did no perceivable damage to the bottle at point blank range and no damage to the log that we set the bottle on.  I do not think slingshot hunting would work.

Lessons learned:  Stock up on insect repellent and learn to make it, Slingshots do not work.  We plan on trying some pump pellet pistols in the future., Find and carry a small saw for cutting small trees.