Stockpiling paper??

DoozerT6

Hi guys,

I'm a bit of an 'armchair' prepper, and while thinking about useful items that one could stockpile, I thought of paper. Ordinary writing paper. In a SHTF scenario, there may be no electricity, no phone coverage, basically no electronic means of communication. In this case, we would have to return to hand-written notes to communicate with each other - if you returned home from a hard days zombie-hunting to find your partner and kids unexpectedly gone, how would you know where the heck they were unless they left you a note? They could have been kidnapped by a marauding gang unless there's a little piece of paper left on the table saying 'gone to the woods to pick off a squirrel for tea. Back before sundown. Love you xxx'

Ok, that's a pretty tongue in cheek example - but I think a good supply of writing paper, pens, pencils and sharpeners might be a good addition to the preppers home. (In addition, a blackboard/whiteboard with chalk/whiteboard pens would save paper usage in the home and keep paper and pens for emergency use, or possibly for trading).

Do any of you guys stockpile paper or have some in your BOB's?

Deerhound

The one type of paper that I stockpile and have in my BOB is toilet paper.

I understand the though process behind the idea, but you could scribble a note on any scrap piece of paper. Or use a pencil, and extend the life of the paper you're using to write notes.

Druss.

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eirator

One problem with paper is that other than writing on and the other all to obvious use it also burns well so writing is perhaps the a 3rd place use for it, but once much if it has been used up wiping bums and lighting fires I suspect it might be a handy item to have in store. At that stage even 10 yo copies of the local rag will be of value.

Misty Moon

And as with so many things, learning to make your own out of scraps would probably come in handy, too. I had a tutorial bookmarked years ago but never got around to trying it out. It's still on my list of things it might one day be very useful to be able to do. I'll get to it sometime.

wolfeye

No harm in having some waterproof paper in the B.O.B.
Nothing worse than to see directions/coordinates or important imformation end up in a soggy lump and disintegrate before ones eyes as you try to unravel it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Web-tex-Waterproof-Notepad/dp/B002687TB2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367254847&sr=8-4&keywords=waterproof+paper

eirator

wolfeye wrote: »

No harm in having some waterproof paper in the B.O.B.
Nothing worse than to see directions/coordinates or important imformation end up in a soggy lump and disintegrate before ones eyes as you try to unravel it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Web-tex-Waterproof-Notepad/dp/B002687TB2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367254847&sr=8-4&keywords=waterproof+paper

I'd go the other way and go for a waterproof marker, ordinary pencil is good but a chinagraph pencil will mark on almost any flat surface inclding a wet one, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Premium-Chinagraph-China-Marker-Pencils/dp/B004915A6U/. If you have a see through plastic map case you can use it to mark locations and routes on the plastic itself (if the map slides around in the case a bit just shake it to the same corner each time before reading off the marked infromation, better still fold it so it doesn't move).

Edit> Interesting review here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Chinagraph-Pencil-Black-Pack/dp/B000WF373U/ where the reviewer is using the chinagraph pencil to write on plant labels made from yoghurt pots.

wolfeye

eirator wrote: »

I'd go the other way and go for a waterproof marker, ordinary pencil is good but a chinagraph pencil will mark on almost any flat surface inclding a wet one, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Premium-Chinagraph-China-Marker-Pencils/dp/B004915A6U/. If you have a see through plastic map case you can use it to mark locations and routes on the plastic itself (if the map slides around in the case a bit just shake it to the same corner each time before reading off the marked infromation, better still fold it so it doesn't move).

Edit> Interesting review here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Chinagraph-Pencil-Black-Pack/dp/B000WF373U/ where the reviewer is using the chinagraph pencil to write on plant labels made from yoghurt pots.

Nice pencil.
But i'd rather a pen with a presssurised ink cartilage,such as the Fisher Space Pen.

"It works in extreme cold. (Down to minus 45 Celsius). It works in extreme heat. (Up to 120 Celsius). It works underwater. Over grease. Upside down. In fact, it flawlessly performs in some of the harshest environments so far explored by man. Precision stainless steel tungsten carbide ball points, powered by a fully pressure ink cartridge enable this design classic to write longer, cleaner and more consistently than almost any other pen. And, with the complete elimination of leaks and evaporation, it will happily sit at your desk for a century"

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000095K9D/ref=s9_simh_gw_p229_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0W81QRG3JTS0ABS8BHCH&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=358549767&pf_rd_i=468294

eirator

I'm just old fashioned

wolfeye

eirator wrote: »

I'm just old fashioned

Your not that old fashioned.
Sure this is a photo i took of myself last night

silentrust

DoozerT6 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm a bit of an 'armchair' prepper, and while thinking about useful items that one could stockpile, I thought of paper. Ordinary writing paper. In a SHTF scenario, there may be no electricity, no phone coverage, basically no electronic means of communication. In this case, we would have to return to hand-written notes to communicate with each other - if you returned home from a hard days zombie-hunting to find your partner and kids unexpectedly gone, how would you know where the heck they were unless they left you a note? They could have been kidnapped by a marauding gang unless there's a little piece of paper left on the table saying 'gone to the woods to pick off a squirrel for tea. Back before sundown. Love you xxx'

Ok, that's a pretty tongue in cheek example - but I think a good supply of writing paper, pens, pencils and sharpeners might be a good addition to the preppers home. (In addition, a blackboard/whiteboard with chalk/whiteboard pens would save paper usage in the home and keep paper and pens for emergency use, or possibly for trading).

Do any of you guys stockpile paper or have some in your BOB's?

Hi Doozer,

Thanks for your post. What I like about your way of thinking is that you're thinking beyond the immediate term - you're siphoning water off from the local stream, you've got your chicken coop to one side and your pumpkins are cropping up nicely, now what?

Obviously the ability to hold and impart information in written format is very handy and someone has paper and an adequate supply of writing materials will be mightily useful.

What you might want to think about is investing in an old fashioned mimeograph as in a SHTF scenario, the ability to copy pieces of paper e.g flyers, community notices and so on, might actually be more useful than the ability to write a letter.

These were a precusor to the modern day photocopier which have been phased out but are actually more robust and simpler to use -most importantly they don't need nearly as much juice electricity wise. (Indeed most of the earlier models are operated manually via a hand crank).

If in a post apocalyptic scenario if you had one of these and were able to mass produce written notices for example, it could be an extremely marketable skill, which you could trade for items you needed - smart thinking! :-)

Stovepipe

the Fisher Space pen is junk. I bought one, thinking it'd be the right job to have. It's too short, it's cap doesn't fit very well over the top and it does leak. Which is why Russian cosmonauts use pencils.

regards
Stovepipe

ShadowFox

Stovepipe wrote: »

the Fisher Space pen is junk. I bought one, thinking it'd be the right job to have. It's too short, it's cap doesn't fit very well over the top and it does leak. Which is why Russian cosmonauts use pencils.

regards
Stovepipe

You must have got a bad one ive been carrying and using (new refills) the same fisher space pen for about 10 years and never had a problem My better half has been carrying one for about 8 years and the same never a problem

wolfeye

Stovepipe wrote: »

the Fisher Space pen is junk. I bought one, thinking it'd be the right job to have. It's too short, it's cap doesn't fit very well over the top and it does leak. Which is why Russian cosmonauts use pencils.

regards
Stovepipe

NASA astronauts began using the Space Pen on Apollo 7 in 1968. By 1969, both the American and Soviet space programs had Fisher Space Pens in space

http://mentalfloss.com/article/13103/russians-didnt-just-use-pencils-space

silentrust

Stovepipe wrote: »

the Fisher Space pen is junk. I bought one, thinking it'd be the right job to have. It's too short, it's cap doesn't fit very well over the top and it does leak. Which is why Russian cosmonauts use pencils.

regards
Stovepipe

In Soviet Russia, pen writes you! :-)

Dr Silly Bollox MD

DoozerT6 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm a bit of an 'armchair' prepper, and while thinking about useful items that one could stockpile, I thought of paper. Ordinary writing paper. In a SHTF scenario, there may be no electricity, no phone coverage, basically no electronic means of communication. In this case, we would have to return to hand-written notes to communicate with each other - if you returned home from a hard days zombie-hunting to find your partner and kids unexpectedly gone, how would you know where the heck they were unless they left you a note? They could have been kidnapped by a marauding gang unless there's a little piece of paper left on the table saying 'gone to the woods to pick off a squirrel for tea. Back before sundown. Love you xxx'

I'd rather be dead.

DoozerT6

Dr Silly Bollox MD wrote: »

I'd rather be dead.

Fair enough so. Get out of me bunker!

silentrust

To return to sanity for a moment, yes paper could be a valuable commodity provided you have a sufficient quantity of pens to match it.

Thinking in the long term perhaps the ability to make your own paper could be good skill to trade in addition to having a handy mimeograph to mass produce notices etc. as already mentioned.

BeerSteakBirds

DoozerT6 wrote: »

if you returned home from a hard days zombie-hunting to find your partner and kids unexpectedly gone, how would you know where the heck they were unless they left you a note?

Excluding scratching a message on a piece of wood etc Ogham/secret code style

You just need a Magnadoodle for long term reusable simple messages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Doodle

silentrust

BeerSteakBirds wrote: »

Excluding scratching a message on a piece of wood etc Ogham/secret code style

You just need a Magnadoodle for long term reusable simple messages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Doodle

If anyone decides to do this, suggest you buy plenty of them as Magna Doodles do wear out over time, this poster says her son would go through one a year:

janiek13.hubpages.com/hub/Magna-Doodles-Do-Wear-Out

ShadowFox

Why not just use black board and chalk it worked for years Most plasterboard can also be used as chalk

silentrust

ShadowFox wrote: »

Why not just use black board and chalk it worked for years Most plasterboard can also be used as chalk

An excellent idea Shadowfox, in Pat Frank's post-apocalyptic epic Alas Babylon the family make use of a chalkboard and bulletin board to assign daily chores.

Having said this, some paper might come in handy too in order to pass messages and instructions for instance. The reason I suggested a hand operated mimeograph is that if there are some handy reference books to hand it could be useful for copying useful instructions e.g how to to purify water. This needn't be for purely altruistic reasons - could be a nice little cottage industry post-collapse! :-)

ShadowFox

silentrust wrote: »

An excellent idea Shadowfox, in Pat Frank's post-apocalyptic epic Alas Babylon the family make use of a chalkboard and bulletin board to assign daily chores.

Having said this, some paper might come in handy too in order to pass messages and instructions for instance. The reason I suggested a hand operated mimeograph is that if there are some handy reference books to hand it could be useful for copying useful instructions e.g how to to purify water. This needn't be for purely altruistic reasons - could be a nice little cottage industry post-collapse! :-)

At the moment im taking notes from the many survival books i have
Water purifying , Knot tying, Fire making, Shelter building, and so on and i plan to buy a laser printer and rite in the rain paper to print out a basic but full survival manual for my kids and a what to do in case of section with emergency contacts and locations in case they are away from me if something ever does happen. It will be one book I hope they only ever have to use for a camping trip reference

silentrust

ShadowFox wrote: »

At the moment im taking notes from the many survival books i have
Water purifying , Knot tying, Fire making, Shelter building, and so on and i plan to buy a laser printer and rite in the rain paper to print out a basic but full survival manual for my kids and a what to do in case of section with emergency contacts and locations in case they are away from me if something ever does happen. It will be one book I hope they only ever have to use for a camping trip reference

Good plan - at the risk of veering off topic there was another thread I saw wherein users were being asked what they would do if a family came to their door asking for help.

I think your bushcraft manual would probably be the kindest thing you could give them because even if you ladened them with your own precious supplies, they would run out eventually.

Perhaps once you've finished it you could consider self publiShing via a site like Lulu? I fully plan to bug in but would be very interested in reading what you have to say.

ShadowFox

silentrust wrote: »

Good plan - at the risk of veering off topic there was another thread I saw wherein users were being asked what they would do if a family came to their door asking for help.

I think your bushcraft manual would probably be the kindest thing you could give them because even if you ladened them with your own precious supplies, they would run out eventually.

Perhaps once you've finished it you could consider self publiShing via a site like Lulu? I fully plan to bug in but would be very interested in reading what you have to say.

Bugging in is what I plan to do also but its nice to have a back up plan on bugging out too just in case

Regards family showing up at my door my views are on the other thread

As for publishing a manual not for me at the moment.

silentrust

ShadowFox wrote: »

Bugging in is what I plan to do also but its nice to have a back up plan on bugging out too just in case

Regards family showing up at my door my views are on the other thread

As for publishing a manual not for me at the moment.

Well, I only hope that none of us has to get out of dodge. I am never sure when speaking to people about their Bug Out Vehicles and Bug Out Bags where they plan to go and how they'll survive once they're there - even if you've a cabin in the woods, I think there would be a high risk in getting there and a real chance it would be overrun in your absence.

The Survivalist Blog posted an article by a prepper who suggested your BOB should become a GHB (get home bag) which sounds a lot more palatable.

Returning to the topic at hand, my darling giRlfriend has also pointed out to me that paper and copying facilities are useful for maps - though I don't know how much use these would be post collapse if there wasn't a safe way to travel by road or a reliable means of transport.

eirator

silentrust wrote: »

Well, I only hope that none of us has to get out of dodge. I am never sure when speaking to people about their Bug Out Vehicles and Bug Out Bags where they plan to go and how they'll survive once they're there - even if you've a cabin in the woods, I think there would be a high risk in getting there and a real chance it would be overrun in your absence.

The Survivalist Blog posted an article by a prepper who suggested your BOB should become a GHB (get home bag) which sounds a lot more palatable.

Returning to the topic at hand, my darling giRlfriend has also pointed out to me that paper and copying facilities are useful for maps - though I don't know how much use these would be post collapse if there wasn't a safe way to travel by road or a reliable means of transport.

Maps? Hmmmm survival porn Hills and valleys don't don't move, pretty big apocalypse if they have. I think as a minimum everyone should have the OSi Discovery Series map (or maps doesn't everyone live on the edge of the map?) for their area. Get online to the OSi and you'll find good satellite pictures and old maps of your area which can provide very useful information you might otherwise miss. Obviously print out what you need now before any SHTF.

silentrust

eirator wrote: »

Maps? Hmmmm survival porn Hills and valleys don't don't move, pretty big apocalypse if they have. I think as a minimum everyone should have the OSi Discovery Series map (or maps doesn't everyone live on the edge of the map?) for their area. Get online to the OSi and you'll find good satellite pictures and old maps of your area which can provide very useful information you might otherwise miss. Obviously print out what you need now before any SHTF.

Good thinking chief, time to break out the laminator methinks... :-D

Cork boy 55

Birch tree bark

Birch bark manuscripts are documents written on pieces of the inner layer of birch bark, which was commonly used for writing before the advent of mass production of paper. Evidence of birch bark for writing goes back many centuries and in various cultures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch_bark_document


A birch bark inscription excavated from Novgorod, circa 1240–1260
Birch-bark letter no. 202 contains spelling lessons and drawings made by a boy named Onfim; based on draftsmanship, experts estimate his age as between 6 and 7 at the time.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch

Cork boy 55

I have a number of sliver birch trees growing out back
Just peel off the bark and makes perfect paper for notes and stuff
They are a great tree for gardens as they don't grow too tall
Magpies tear off the paper/bark to get to insects underneath.
Also Native to Ireland


Ton of other uses very handy tree I don't think the seeds are edible thou
check out "Uses" section here at wiki link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch