What did you do to prepare today?

silentrust · 03-05-2013 7:33pm

bonniebede wrote: »

emmm... they are some lovely looking bags. I bought one for 8 yoyos in dunnes, just a small haversack.

Because, firstly i can't afford anything else.
SEcondly what money i do have i would rather spend on vital equipment than a bag to put it in. After that i will worry about quality carry bags.

Ok I know some people are going to point out that a bag is essential, but..
My bob's are to sit on the floor at home and in my car. They won't get high usage that way, so FOR THE MOMENT a cheap bag is an ok option.

I have a sturdier day bag for hill walking.

If it hits the fan, then i expect my bob to get one use only, like to get me home or away to the country. THen I'll be staying put, not roaming around playing commando. And if I do have to take cover then my smallest daybag will be a better carry than a big huge camping item.

So thats where i'm at at the moment.

Still trying to work out what scenarios I am really preparing for. Like rabbit snares are nice to have, but I am probably going to find a spare change or a wind up phone charger more use

My strategies are based on...get home safely, get to rural bug out place safely, hunker down and eat stored food for a year, have the resources to become a self sufficient small holder safely and defensively,with a network of likeminded individuals.

Long periods of living off the land scenarios don't seem that likely to me.
Why be a hunter gatherer when you can be a farmer, at least in the long term.

however I do want to have skils and equipment enough to forage until the harvest is ready and to supplement what can be grown.

Yes, the difficulty I have with the idea of living off the land is that no matter how skilled a hunter a person believes they are, they won't be the only person to have that idea, so they'll probably scare off all the wildlife after a short time - as well as the fact that we've already mentioned where people set up a cabin in the woods replete with hunts, traps, a wide variety of knives and imaginative weapons only to find this has been overrun too.

You're absolutely right in saying that any "bug out" plan has to focus on getting back to your home base and staying put. Everyone imagines themselves as the lone survivor, spearing pigs Rambo style in the forest but we know that it won't be like that - growing and maintaining your own food now is the key!

silentrust · 03-05-2013 7:38pm

What my girlfriend and I did today to prepare:

- Dug up weeds from garden in order to sow radishes and onions, checked soil alkalinity.
- Ordered another rain butt to be able to collect fresh water.
- Added some more bleach to our food supply stored under our bed to purify water.
- Mapped out plans for rooftop garden.

What we have not done:

- Raved on about how pointy our knives are.
- Started customising some armoured vehicle as there'll be nowhere to go safely and no fuel to get it there in the kind of scenario we envisaged.
- Deluded ourselves that under the circumstances there will be a way for millions of people to "live off the land".

Tabnabs · 03-05-2013 7:48pm

silentrust wrote: »

Toyed with the idea of getting a diesel generator but I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to fix it if anything went wrong, the noise would draw too much unwanted attention and there'd be no way to fuel it - something that doesn't seem to have occurred to those people in the Zombie Survival threads jocularly imagining what kind of vehicle they'll be driving!

Depending on where you're located, you could do a small boat engine maintenance course. They cover small petrol and diesel engines and there really isn't a world of difference between them all.

silentrust · 03-05-2013 7:54pm

Tabnabs wrote: »

Depending on where you're located, you could do a small boat engine maintenance course. They cover small petrol and diesel engines and there really isn't a world of difference between them all.

An interesting idea Tabnabs, thanks, I'll make a note of it! One of my prepper buddies actually does have a boat and whenever the subject of TEOTWAWKI comes up he looks at me meaningfully and says, "I know where I'm headed." - his entire preparedness plan revolves around beginning a life at sea.

If his diesel engine fails him I hope he packs some oars. What he'll do for fresh drinking water and vitamin C is anyone's guess too!

Deise Musashi · 03-05-2013 10:26pm

What he'll do for fresh drinking water and vitamin C is anyone's guess too!

What I'd (hopefully) do is make a solar still and sail to Spain!

silentrust · 03-05-2013 10:46pm

Deise Musashi wrote: »

What I'd (hopefully) do is make a solar still and sail to Spain!

Let me know when you head out, I'll join you with a raft of oranges! :-)

ShadowFox · 04-05-2013 1:37am

Finally moved back home after 3 months slowly unpacking everything (nightmare) while we were out of the house we used up all our survival supplies (5lt water, canned food, etc) think we may have caused some panic buying in aldi lidi and tesco last week when we went to restock :eek: Got my so called mate to do the electrics in the house asked him to put extra sockets in the sitting room and kitchen he put 25 in the sitting room and 50 in the kitchen most were fake but he wouldnt tell me which was which so had to check them all (revenge will be mine) As soon as I get unpacked I plan on sorting out bug out bags, Bug in bag (small just what i might need in a hurry) and resorting my home security/defense

Dr Silly Bollox MD · 04-05-2013 1:42am

You were flooded out of it???

ShadowFox · 04-05-2013 1:43am

silentrust wrote: »

Thanks Shadowfox, I love hearing these kind of stories - although naturally I'm not happy you were inconvenienced in this way! It helps people get into a survival mindset and also illustrates that it doesn't take flesh eating zombies for your kind of skills to come in handy!

I am hoping to move towards solar power as time goes on but to be realistic think my home will have to stay "on the grid" power wise for the foreseeable future.

Toyed with the idea of getting a diesel generator but I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to fix it if anything went wrong, the noise would draw too much unwanted attention and there'd be no way to fuel it - something that doesn't seem to have occurred to those people in the Zombie Survival threads jocularly imagining what kind of vehicle they'll be driving!

Ive been looking at solar panels and batteries to power a fridge and chest freezer 1400 watts but start up on them would be 2650 watts and with the sun light in general in my area id need to panel the whole estate to charge the batteries within a 24/36 hour period so ill be looking into wind turbines next but in a built up area it could be a bad idea

ShadowFox · 04-05-2013 1:46am

Dr Silly Bollox MD wrote: »

You were flooded out of it???

No building a new extension getting the house rewired and and some other bits

C.K Dexter Haven · 04-05-2013 1:52am

I purchased some music-Bruch's Violin Concerto to be precise - and before you report my post, I suggest you read up on Shackleton and his North Pole expedition- it may tell you a thing or two about how to survive as a team in difficult situations.

Tabnabs · 04-05-2013 8:28am

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

I purchased some music-Bruch's Violin Concerto to be precise - and before you report my post, I suggest you read up on Shackleton and his North Pole expedition- it may tell you a thing or two about how to survive as a team in difficult situations.

I think you compass is off, Shacleton went to Antartica, not the Arctic (other than some time in Northern Norway and Russia).

Can you explain how the music helped him survive? It's not the first time music, post SHTF, has been discussed BTW, so it's not off topic.

Khannie · 04-05-2013 9:50am

I would imagine music and books are powerful stuff if all other entertainment were gone. I was seriously considering the power requirements of my nook (for books), phone (for music), HTPC and TV before.

A human hooked up to a bike could buy you enough time to watch a movie once a week in a pinch. That could buy a lot of people a lot of happiness. Fortunately I think that was just for the mulling. I don't see us ever getting to that state.

silentrust · 04-05-2013 4:28pm

ShadowFox wrote: »

Ive been looking at solar panels and batteries to power a fridge and chest freezer 1400 watts but start up on them would be 2650 watts and with the sun light in general in my area id need to panel the whole estate to charge the batteries within a 24/36 hour period so ill be looking into wind turbines next but in a built up area it could be a bad idea

Yes, it can be a drag as I think fridges/freezers are the number one appliance for draining electricity. The solution posited by most homesteaders I've spoken to is to find other ways to preserve your food. Indeed there seems to be a whole branch of homesteading devoted to this - perhaps we should start a thread on this?

Although salting meat can make it very unhealthy, it will keep for much longer.

Canning can be costly in terms of food and fuel as it requires you to sterilise jars first and some can take up to several hours to boil but naturally if you do it in these times of plenty it's not such a big deal. I have done this before with vegetable chutneys.

Dehydration and/or vacuum sealing seems to me to provide the best payoff in terms of food storage but I confess I've never done this. Perhaps this is something we could all delve into further, swap some tips? :-)

silentrust · 04-05-2013 4:31pm

Khannie wrote: »

I would imagine music and books are powerful stuff if all other entertainment were gone. I was seriously considering the power requirements of my nook (for books), phone (for music), HTPC and TV before. A human hooked up to a bike could buy you enough time to watch a movie once a week in a pinch. That could buy a lot of people a lot of happiness. Fortunately I think that was just for the mulling. I don't see us ever getting to that state.

Absolutely, it's astonishing how little this is discussed in a SHTF scenario. One of the must haves is some board games, a deck of cards, and books (perhaps one on different card games?) - surely no one thinks that they'll want to spend the long summer evenings disassembling and polishing their rifles day in, day out?

silentrust · 04-05-2013 4:38pm

ShadowFox wrote: »

Ive been looking at solar panels and batteries to power a fridge and chest freezer 1400 watts but start up on them would be 2650 watts and with the sun light in general in my area id need to panel the whole estate to charge the batteries within a 24/36 hour period so ill be looking into wind turbines next but in a built up area it could be a bad idea

One of my fellow preppers has asked if you thought about getting a propane powered fridge of the kind they use in caravans? Long term you'd only be prolonging the inevitable but it would certainly get you through a power-cut. Am I right in thinking these are fairly common in Ireland? I only got here 6 months ago and have had 3!

ShadowFox · 04-05-2013 11:55pm

My area seems to be prone to power cuts we get 2 or 3 a year this is why i want to set up a fridge chest freezer on another power source so no need to salt meat just yet The freezer will hold for a week without power so the manual says but i dont believe everything i read until its proven to my own eyes I may end up going for a generator silent running ones can be got be very expensive
For the moment ill keep trying different things and see what i come up with

silentrust · 05-05-2013 12:43am

ShadowFox wrote: »

My area seems to be prone to power cuts we get 2 or 3 a year this is why i want to set up a fridge chest freezer on another power source so no need to salt meat just yet The freezer will hold for a week without power so the manual says but i dont believe everything i read until its proven to my own eyes I may end up going for a generator silent running ones can be got be very expensive
For the moment ill keep trying different things and see what i come up with

Good stuff, no harm in being prepared. I rent my property so can't install a wind turbine but would be interested in hearing your experiments with this. Would you buy a prefab one or build your own? I'd prefer something I'd made myself as I imagine it'd be easier to repair but of course it's easier said than done!

http://www.buildyourownwindturbine.com/index.php/turbine-database

ShadowFox · 05-05-2013 2:49am

silentrust wrote: »

Good stuff, no harm in being prepared. I rent my property so can't install a wind turbine but would be interested in hearing your experiments with this. Would you buy a prefab one or build your own? I'd prefer something I'd made myself as I imagine it'd be easier to repair but of course it's easier said than done!

http://www.buildyourownwindturbine.com/index.php/turbine-database

Ill start off small with a ready made one and charge a 6 volt battery off of it they are cheap enough then work out how big i can go or will need to go to get the power i need. So loads of bad language and electric shocks in my future :P

mawk · 05-05-2013 11:37am

silentrust wrote: »

Dehydration and/or vacuum sealing seems to me to provide the best payoff in terms of food storage but I confess I've never done this. Perhaps this is something we could all delve into further, swap some tips? :-)

About a year ago I built a dehydrator from scrap parts and dehydrated a bunch of food. Meat and garden herbs mostly, but some fruit too.

I posted a step by step guide on how I built it. Should be ready to search

silentrust · 05-05-2013 1:09pm

mawk wrote: »

About a year ago I built a dehydrator from scrap parts and dehydrated a bunch of food. Meat and garden herbs mostly, but some fruit too.

I posted a step by step guide on how I built it. Should be ready to search

Thanks Mawk, I've been looking at a few designs on Instructables - was one of these yours? How do you find they work under the searing rays of the Irish sun? :-)

C.K Dexter Haven · 05-05-2013 8:04pm

Tabnabs wrote: »

I think you compass is off, Shacleton went to Antartica, not the Arctic (other than some time in Northern Norway and Russia).

Can you explain how the music helped him survive? It's not the first time music, post SHTF, has been discussed BTW, so it's not off topic.

Sorry, yes, I got my poles mixed up :P

Khannie wrote: »

I would imagine music and books are powerful stuff if all other entertainment were gone.

It was about keeping spirits up when they were making the journey to South Georgia, after they abanded Endurance. When the men were only permitted 2 pounds of personal items, Shackleton insisted that one of his men, Hussey, took his banjo along- it certainly wouldn't be the first thing to think of under such conditions but I imagine morale is everything in times like that.

Deerhound · 05-05-2013 8:27pm

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

It was about keeping spirits up when they were making the journey to South Georgia, after they abanded Endurance. When the men were only permitted 2 pounds of personal items, Shackleton insisted that one of his men, Hussey, took his banjo along- it certainly wouldn't be the first thing to think of under such conditions but I imagine morale is everything in times like that.

Keeping the "spirits" up is a good way of putting it, when the people restoring the hut at Shackletons base station took up the floorboards they found nine bottles of scotch frozen in the ice.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Ernest-Shackletons-102-year-old-whiskey-returned-to-its-Antarctic-home---distillers-aim-to-recreate-the-brew--187861341.html

waterfordham · 06-05-2013 1:58am

Did a 4h (approx) hike in the Comeraghs with roughly the weight of my GHB in my rucksack, bit windy up on top, but a nice day other than that.

mawk · 06-05-2013 9:49am

silentrust wrote: »

Thanks Mawk, I've been looking at a few designs on Instructables - was one of these yours? How do you find they work under the searing rays of the Irish sun? :-)

No I never got around to doing an i'ble. I didn't use the sun for mine. I used a 60w lightbulb with is possibly brighter and warmer than 90% of our weather

Tabnabs · 06-05-2013 7:53pm

Woodies are selling 210L waterbutts and kits for €40. So I bought another one...

mawk · 09-05-2013 11:24am

Continued my rampage of buying hand tools and got some more meths for good measure. Can't build or repair anything without a stack of tools floating around.

Can't own enough screwdrivers and pliers' in every size and shape

Markcheese · 09-05-2013 8:18pm

mawk wrote: »

Continued my rampage of buying hand tools and got some more meths for good measure. Can't build or repair anything without a stack of tools floating around.

Can't own enough screwdrivers and pliers' in every size and shape

Never even thought about that , no power tools without a genny

silentrust · 09-05-2013 8:56pm

Markcheese wrote: »

Never even thought about that , no power tools without a genny

Well said, I try to have a few of everything. Even if you think you have too many you can always trade your spares for something more useful post collapse...

silentrust · 09-05-2013 8:58pm

mawk wrote: »

No I never got around to doing an i'ble. I didn't use the sun for mine. I used a 60w lightbulb with is possibly brighter and warmer than 90% of our weather

Sounds ideal, hope you can share your plans sometime.

What did you do to prepare today?

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