Protecting your Preparations: Keep Quiet, part I.

As you begin to plan your strategy for protecting your preparations, the first (and most basic) option is to keep quiet.  For the purposes of our discussion, keeping quiet includes three options: hiding your stuff at your home, hiding your stuff outside your home, and hiding your stuff by not talking about it.  Today we’ll go over some of the general considerations for hiding stuff, and next time we’ll talk about specific strategies for hiding things.

Remember: You will probably want to use a combination of strategies, because some ideas will work for some things but not others.  For my family’s preparation, we do a combination of all of the options that I listed above.

The Challenges of Hiding Stuff

As you think about hiding your preparations (at home or outside of your home), you’ll face some of the same challenges over and over again.

1. Large objects can be difficult to conceal.
2. Some items may require controlled temperatures.
3. Metal items may be discoverable with a metal detector.

Each of those challenges will limit your ability to hide things, or if you wish to be successful with hiding things, you will have to address these challenges creatively.

The “Hiding Stuff” Interview

This week, you can begin your preparation protection plan by answering the following questions:

1. What preparations should I hide?  Another goal may be to prevent burglars from taking your preparations.  If you’ve been following Rock’s advice and acquiring precious metals, keeping them out of view may not be enough.  If your silver rounds are “hidden” under your mattress or in your underwear drawer, although they will be out of view, the first time anyone tries to rob your home, they will definitely wipe out your whole collection.
2. How hidden do I need my preparations to be? Or, how valuable and how scarce are the things that I am hiding?  Value and scarcity will influence your decisions about hiding things.  If I only have a small amount of space to hide food, I’m going to hide my more valuable food (in my case, freeze dried fruits and vegetables) before I hide my bulky, inexpensive buckets of wheat.  We only have one generator and we don’t want to buy another one, so that is something that is better hidden. 
3. How often will I need to access whatever I am hiding?  Frankly, hiding stuff often makes it more difficult to access.  This can be a good thing; if your preparations are harder to access, they will also be harder for a burglar to steal.  But, if you’re trying to rotate your food storage, it should be relatively easy to access or it won’t be worth the hassle to access it.  On the other hand, if you’re hiding things that you only need to access in the event of a prolonged emergency, you may choose a less accessible hiding place.
4. How will my potential hiding places affect practical use of whatever I am hiding?  If you’re “hiding” 55 gallon drums of water storage, try to choose a hiding place where they can be filled and drained in their hiding place.  If you’re hiding guns, you probably want them to be well-concealed (to prevent theft and use by the “bad guys”), but quick and easy for you to access.
5. What is my budget for hiding preparations?  What you are able to spend will influence your decisions about hiding or storing your preparations.  Even on a tight budget there are free options for concealing your preparations—and really, if you’re on a tight budget, you probably can’t afford to have them stolen, so you’ll want to do what you can to hide them.  If you are able to spend more, you’ll have more options available.
6. Who do I trust?  Whether you’re thinking of hiding items in your home or outside your home, you’ll need to decide which people (or facilities) are trustworthy.

After you’ve answered these questions you’re ready to make a plan for actually hiding the items on your list.  Hang onto your answers, because you’ll want to have them handy next time.

Protecting your Preparations: Keep Quiet, part I.

As you begin to plan your strategy for protecting your preparations, the first (and most basic) option is to keep quiet.  For the purposes of our discussion, keeping quiet includes three options: hiding your stuff at your home, hiding your stuff outside your home, and hiding your stuff by not talking about it.  Today we’ll go over some of the general considerations for hiding stuff, and next time we’ll talk about specific strategies for hiding things.

Remember: You will probably want to use a combination of strategies, because some ideas will work for some things but not others.  For my family’s preparation, we do a combination of all of the options that I listed above.

The Challenges of Hiding Stuff

As you think about hiding your preparations (at home or outside of your home), you’ll face some of the same challenges over and over again.

1. Large objects can be difficult to conceal.
2. Some items may require controlled temperatures.
3. Metal items may be discoverable with a metal detector.

Each of those challenges will limit your ability to hide things, or if you wish to be successful with hiding things, you will have to address these challenges creatively.

The “Hiding Stuff” Interview

This week, you can begin your preparation protection plan by answering the following questions:

1. What preparations should I hide?  Another goal may be to prevent burglars from taking your preparations.  If you’ve been following Rock’s advice and acquiring precious metals, keeping them out of view may not be enough.  If your silver rounds are “hidden” under your mattress or in your underwear drawer, although they will be out of view, the first time anyone tries to rob your home, they will definitely wipe out your whole collection.
2. How hidden do I need my preparations to be? Or, how valuable and how scarce are the things that I am hiding?  Value and scarcity will influence your decisions about hiding things.  If I only have a small amount of space to hide food, I’m going to hide my more valuable food (in my case, freeze dried fruits and vegetables) before I hide my bulky, inexpensive buckets of wheat.  We only have one generator and we don’t want to buy another one, so that is something that is better hidden. 
3. How often will I need to access whatever I am hiding?  Frankly, hiding stuff often makes it more difficult to access.  This can be a good thing; if your preparations are harder to access, they will also be harder for a burglar to steal.  But, if you’re trying to rotate your food storage, it should be relatively easy to access or it won’t be worth the hassle to access it.  On the other hand, if you’re hiding things that you only need to access in the event of a prolonged emergency, you may choose a less accessible hiding place.
4. How will my potential hiding places affect practical use of whatever I am hiding?  If you’re “hiding” 55 gallon drums of water storage, try to choose a hiding place where they can be filled and drained in their hiding place.  If you’re hiding guns, you probably want them to be well-concealed (to prevent theft and use by the “bad guys”), but quick and easy for you to access.
5. What is my budget for hiding preparations?  What you are able to spend will influence your decisions about hiding or storing your preparations.  Even on a tight budget there are free options for concealing your preparations—and really, if you’re on a tight budget, you probably can’t afford to have them stolen, so you’ll want to do what you can to hide them.  If you are able to spend more, you’ll have more options available.
6. Who do I trust?  Whether you’re thinking of hiding items in your home or outside your home, you’ll need to decide which people (or facilities) are trustworthy.

After you’ve answered these questions you’re ready to make a plan for actually hiding the items on your list.  Hang onto your answers, because you’ll want to have them handy next time.

Starvation in Children

When you tuck your children in bed tonight, consider the following:

• In America, over 16 million children struggle with hunger.
• Since 2000, the number of children living in poverty in the U.S. is up nearly 20 percent.
• Nearly half of the 44 million Americans on food stamps today are children.
• One-fourth of all U.S. children are enrolled in the food stamp program.
• 10.5 million kids eligible for free or reduced-price school breakfast do not get it.

Most of us think of children starving as an issue “over there.” We equate it with children with distended bellies in a third-world country, suffering the effects of a civil war, drought, or famine. While this is part of the picture, we need to open our eyes and see what is happening in our own neighborhoods.

While the recent economic collapse didn’t start the problem, it certainly has expedited it. With higher unemployment, inflation, and home foreclosures, more and more families are living at or below the poverty line and children—through no fault of their own—are caught in the middle of a fiscal mess with damaging repercussions.

You see, a child going hungry isn’t just a moral issue. A hungry child is placed in a distinct disadvantage. A hungry child’s body doesn’t develop as it should without proper nutrition. A hungry child is sick more often, recovers more slowly, and is more likely to be hospitalized. A hungry child is more susceptible to obesity as an adult.

A hungry child’s ability to concentrate and learn in the classroom is hindered. A hungry child has significantly higher levels of behavioral problems such as increased aggressiveness and anxiety. A hungry child is more likely to be suspended from school and has increased difficulty getting along with other kids. In fact, scientific evidence suggests that a hungry child is less likely to grow-up and become a productive citizen.

And with the summer approaching things get worse. With school out of session, the one square meal that many children count on to get them through the day will be gone even though there are summer programs to help. Unfortunately, 6 out of 7 eligible kids do not get free summer meals.

We are mortgaging our country’s future and the ones that suffer the most can’t do anything about it.

Despite reports that the U.S. economy is recovering, the number of people relying on food assistance continues to increase. Right now, the average American spends approximately 23 percent of his or her income on food and gas. As inflation continues to take hold, that number will continue to rise.

Families continue to work hard to make something better for themselves, but their dollars just don’t go far enough. It’s critical to make you aware of the problem in America and I encourage you to do your part to protect your family by building a food supply so when you do tuck your children in at night they truly are “safe and sound.”

Starvation in Children

When you tuck your children in bed tonight, consider the following:

• In America, over 16 million children struggle with hunger.
• Since 2000, the number of children living in poverty in the U.S. is up nearly 20 percent.
• Nearly half of the 44 million Americans on food stamps today are children.
• One-fourth of all U.S. children are enrolled in the food stamp program.
• 10.5 million kids eligible for free or reduced-price school breakfast do not get it.

Most of us think of children starving as an issue “over there.” We equate it with children with distended bellies in a third-world country, suffering the effects of a civil war, drought, or famine. While this is part of the picture, we need to open our eyes and see what is happening in our own neighborhoods.

While the recent economic collapse didn’t start the problem, it certainly has expedited it. With higher unemployment, inflation, and home foreclosures, more and more families are living at or below the poverty line and children—through no fault of their own—are caught in the middle of a fiscal mess with damaging repercussions.

You see, a child going hungry isn’t just a moral issue. A hungry child is placed in a distinct disadvantage. A hungry child’s body doesn’t develop as it should without proper nutrition. A hungry child is sick more often, recovers more slowly, and is more likely to be hospitalized. A hungry child is more susceptible to obesity as an adult.

A hungry child’s ability to concentrate and learn in the classroom is hindered. A hungry child has significantly higher levels of behavioral problems such as increased aggressiveness and anxiety. A hungry child is more likely to be suspended from school and has increased difficulty getting along with other kids. In fact, scientific evidence suggests that a hungry child is less likely to grow-up and become a productive citizen.

And with the summer approaching things get worse. With school out of session, the one square meal that many children count on to get them through the day will be gone even though there are summer programs to help. Unfortunately, 6 out of 7 eligible kids do not get free summer meals.

We are mortgaging our country’s future and the ones that suffer the most can’t do anything about it.

Despite reports that the U.S. economy is recovering, the number of people relying on food assistance continues to increase. Right now, the average American spends approximately 23 percent of his or her income on food and gas. As inflation continues to take hold, that number will continue to rise.

Families continue to work hard to make something better for themselves, but their dollars just don’t go far enough. It’s critical to make you aware of the problem in America and I encourage you to do your part to protect your family by building a food supply so when you do tuck your children in at night they truly are “safe and sound.”

What to do in a Car Emergency: Car Stops on the Road

So you have your Emergency Car Kit all ready to go. But what is the protocol in an actual “car emergency”? Some of you who have been there – so feel free to share! Here are a few suggestions if you find yourself in the middle of the road with a vehicle that won’t move.

Whether it is something mechanical, you’re out of gas, or you have a flat tire. The first thing you need to do is….

Get your car out of the road: A car stopped in the road can cause a major accident. Not to mention you’re directly in harms way. So. Get out of the way…..hopefully you have some helpful passengers, or some friendly passersby that can help you get your car out of the way of traffic.

Make sure other’s can see your vehicle: Even if you manage to get your car off to the side of the road, it can still be a hazard and dangerous for your safety. So hazard lights, cones, flares, all of those handy little safety objects we talked about earlier…..now is a good time to bust those out.

Get some help: Once you’re out of harm’s way, now is a proper time to call for help. Sometimes an emergency vehicle passing by can be faster than the one you’ve already called. So make sure others driving by know you’re in need of assistance. Keep those hazard lights on, raise you’re hood, use your flares, etc. Anything that can attract some help is great.

Above all – be safe: Staying out of harm’s way should be your #1 priority. Hopefully you’re not far from help, and you won’t have to break open that emergency pack after all.

What to do in a Car Emergency: Car Stops on the Road

So you have your Emergency Car Kit all ready to go. But what is the protocol in an actual “car emergency”? Some of you who have been there – so feel free to share! Here are a few suggestions if you find yourself in the middle of the road with a vehicle that won’t move.

Whether it is something mechanical, you’re out of gas, or you have a flat tire. The first thing you need to do is….

Get your car out of the road: A car stopped in the road can cause a major accident. Not to mention you’re directly in harm’s way. So. Get out of the way…..hopefully you have some helpful passengers, or some friendly passersby that can help you get your car out of the way of traffic.

Make sure other’s can see your vehicle: Even if you manage to get your car off to the side of the road, it can still be a hazard and dangerous for your safety. So hazard lights, cones, flares, all of those handy little safety objects we talked about earlier…..now is a good time to bust those out.

Get some help: Once you’re out of harm’s way, now is a proper time to call for help. Sometimes an emergency vehicle passing by can be faster than the one you’ve already called. So make sure others driving by know you’re in need of assistance. Keep those hazard lights on, raise you’re hood, use your flares, etc. Anything that can attract some help is great.

Above all – be safe: Staying out of harm’s way should be your #1 priority. Hopefully you’re not far from help, and you won’t have to break open that emergency pack after all.

What to do in a Car Emergency: Car Stops on the Road

So you have your Emergency Car Kit all ready to go. But what is the protocol in an actual “car emergency”? Some of you who have been there – so feel free to share! Here are a few suggestions if you find yourself in the middle of the road with a vehicle that won’t move.

Whether it is something mechanical, you’re out of gas, or you have a flat tire. The first thing you need to do is….

Get your car out of the road: A car stopped in the road can cause a major accident. Not to mention you’re directly in harm’s way. So. Get out of the way…..hopefully you have some helpful passengers, or some friendly passersby that can help you get your car out of the way of traffic.

Make sure other’s can see your vehicle: Even if you manage to get your car off to the side of the road, it can still be a hazard and dangerous for your safety. So hazard lights, cones, flares, all of those handy little safety objects we talked about earlier…..now is a good time to bust those out.

Get some help: Once you’re out of harm’s way, now is a proper time to call for help. Sometimes an emergency vehicle passing by can be faster than the one you’ve already called. So make sure others driving by know you’re in need of assistance. Keep those hazard lights on, raise you’re hood, use your flares, etc. Anything that can attract some help is great.

Above all – be safe: Staying out of harm’s way should be your #1 priority. Hopefully you’re not far from help, and you won’t have to break open that emergency pack after all.

The Baby Emergency Kit

If you have a baby, are expecting a baby, or could possibly have a baby in the future, you’ll want to stock up on baby-specific items and include them in your emergency supplies.

Babies seem too need so much, so it can often be overwhelming to think about what to stock for your baby emergency kit. Don’t worry. We can take this down to the basics of what you really need that may not already be covered in your standard emergency supplies.

Cloth Diapers and Covers: Cloth can be reused, so you can stock fewer diapers. In addition, cloth diapers can be folder in different ways, allowing you to use them as your baby grows, unlike disposable diapers which come in specific sizes.

Washcloths: Purchase inexpensive wash cloths from the dollar store to use as homemade baby wipes. Thin ones work well or this. Also purchase thicker wash clothes for general cleaning and bathing. Clean washcloths can be dampened and frozen for soothing teething gums.

Hand powered breast pump: Get a good quality hand pump for use in emergencies.

Formula: While breast feeding is best, especially in the event of a disaster, having some back up formula on hand is important in case mom is ill or unavailable or if stress reduces the milk supply. Because of possible allergies, you want to stock regular and soy-based formula. Don’t forget a couple of bottles with natural designed nipples. Mom will need extra water to keep up the milk supply or to mx with powdered formula.

Baby Sling: Purchase a good quality sling or two to make baby safe and very portable, while keeping your hands free. Go for the convertible slings that can also used with a toddler.

Extra clothing: stock various sizes since babies grow quickly, and keep the clothing simple. Items that can snap instead of being put over the head are easiest. Don’t forget lots of socks and also some shoes for walking when baby gets older.

Toys and books: A few colorful toys and board books to stimulate and occupy your baby are good. Include ones that have teething elements on them.

Children’s Band-Aids: The colorful characters and smaller sizes will be a benefit.

Have I left anything out? Please share your thoughts.

You might also be interested in reading:

How to Select Emergency Food Supplies for Kids

The Baby Emergency Kit

If you have a baby, are expecting a baby, or could possibly have a baby in the future, you’ll want to stock up on baby-specific items and include them in your emergency supplies.

Babies seem too need so much, so it can often be overwhelming to think about what to stock for your baby emergency kit. Don’t worry. We can take this down to the basics of what you really need that may not already be covered in your standard emergency supplies.

Cloth Diapers and Covers: Cloth can be reused, so you can stock fewer diapers. In addition, cloth diapers can be folder in different ways, allowing you to use them as your baby grows, unlike disposable diapers which come in specific sizes.

Washcloths: Purchase inexpensive wash cloths from the dollar store to use as homemade baby wipes. Thin ones work well or this. Also purchase thicker wash clothes for general cleaning and bathing. Clean washcloths can be dampened and frozen for soothing teething gums.

Hand powered breast pump: Get a good quality hand pump for use in emergencies.

Formula: While breast feeding is best, especially in the event of a disaster, having some back up formula on hand is important in case mom is ill or unavailable or if stress reduces the milk supply. Because of possible allergies, you want to stock regular and soy-based formula. Don’t forget a couple of bottles with natural designed nipples. Mom will need extra water to keep up the milk supply or to mx with powdered formula.

Baby Sling: Purchase a good quality sling or two to make baby safe and very portable, while keeping your hands free. Go for the convertible slings that can also used with a toddler.

Extra clothing: stock various sizes since babies grow quickly, and keep the clothing simple. Items that can snap instead of being put over the head are easiest. Don’t forget lots of socks and also some shoes for walking when baby gets older.

Toys and books: A few colorful toys and board books to stimulate and occupy your baby are good. Include ones that have teething elements on them.

Children’s Band-Aids: The colorful characters and smaller sizes will be a benefit.

Have I left anything out? Please share your thoughts.

You might also be interested in reading:

How to Select Emergency Food Supplies for Kids

Preparedness Q and A #5

Darcy from Roswell asked: I’ve been preparing my food stores for TEOTWAWNI for about a year now.  I read some of your past articles on food stores and I was wondering what types of proteins should I store?

When it comes to proteins, it is very important to remember store foods that yield complete proteins.  For example:  If you just ate beans, grains, rice and/or vegetables (known as vegetable proteins), you would starve to death regardless of how much you ate.  These vegetable proteins totally lack the essential amino acids for proper digestion and nutrition.

On the other hand, animal proteins (cheese, chicken, eggs, fish, meat, milk, etc.) are categorized as complete proteins.  They contain adequate amino acids for proper digestion and nutrition.

So when planning for your food stores, just remember the varieties of foods that have complete proteins and the combinations of like beans and rice.

Connie from L.A. asked:  I’ve lived in California all my life and been preppen for about a year now.  Every night I hear sirens every hour and the local news is all about the gang activity, so how safe is California when the SHTF?  And if I have to move, where would you recommend?

Well Ms Connie, my advice would be to “Get Out of Dodge Now”.  Out of all the states to be in when the SHTF, California is the worse, especially southern California with the very dense population and all the gang activity.

Also with a very large illegal immigration population, it just makes it that much more worse.  Read this article I wrote several months ago on “Safe Areas”, it should help you make a decision on where to move to.

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/safe-areas/

Gideon from Clarksville, TN asked:  I’m new to prepping and would like to know what are the best foods to stock up on?

Well Gideon, I would recommend a minimum of a one year supply (the more, the better) of food of canned foods, meals ready to eat (MRE’s) and dehydrated foods in the can like E-Foods Direct has to offer.

Canned foods have anywhere from a one to three year shelf life on average.  MRE’s can last for years the cooler you store them.  And dehydrated foods can have a shelf life up to thirty years depending on how and where they are stored.

Next, you need to have variety from all the basic food groups to keep a balanced diet under adverse survival conditions.  Just remember the food triangle.

Jasper from Rapid City asked:  Yonis, great information on your blogs, thanks.  I was wondering on what information you had on starting a survival group?  I have the land and water and was thinking of charging $10,000 a couple and $15,000 a family to join my group but so far no takers.  What’s your opinion?

It is a strong misconception that folks have MONEY to join a group with the way things are.  It is very obvious that with the U.S. economy going down the toilet, people losing their homes and with unemployment over 15% and rising that you have no takers.  At least 90% of Americans have no extra money to put into to join a survival retreat.  However, folks do have “Knowledge and Skills” (K&S) that would be a great asset to any group.

I would approach your group from a new angle.  Have couples and families join your group that have the knowledge and skills that would benefit the group to survive TEOTWAWKI for your particular area and region.  And if these folks are preppers, they will be bringing their own food, supplies, guns & ammo with them which will help even more, not counting the extra guns for security.  Read this article I wrote a while back on “Survival Groups”.

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/basic-survival-skills-101-13-survival-groups/

Also, the types of K&S you want to look for in potential new members to your group would be some, if not all of the following:

• Blacksmith / Carpenter
• Canner / Butcher
• Doctor / Nurse / Dentist
• Farmer / Hunter / Fisherman
• Gunsmith / Reloader
• Herbalist / Naturalist
• Leatherman / Tanner
• Martial Arts instructor
• Mechanic (Older model veh.)
• Paramedic / EMT / Midwife
• Seamstress
• Soldier / Marine / Combat Vet
• Survival instructor
• Teachers

These are the types of folks you will want to have in your survival group.  You would be basically sharing/trading the use of your land for knowledge, skills and security to survive a very uncertain future.

Well folks, keep those questions coming…

Preparedness Q and A #5

Darcy from Roswell asked: I’ve been preparing my food stores for TEOTWAWNI for about a year now.  I read some of your past articles on food stores and I was wondering what types of proteins should I store?

When it comes to proteins, it is very important to remember store foods that yield complete proteins.  For example:  If you just ate beans, grains, rice and/or vegetables (known as vegetable proteins), you would starve to death regardless of how much you ate.  These vegetable proteins totally lack the essential amino acids for proper digestion and nutrition.

On the other hand, animal proteins (cheese, chicken, eggs, fish, meat, milk, etc.) are categorized as complete proteins.  They contain adequate amino acids for proper digestion and nutrition.

So when planning for your food stores, just remember the varieties of foods that have complete proteins and the combinations of like beans and rice.

Connie from L.A. asked:  I’ve lived in California all my life and been preppen for about a year now.  Every night I hear sirens every hour and the local news is all about the gang activity, so how safe is California when the SHTF?  And if I have to move, where would you recommend?

Well Ms Connie, my advice would be to “Get Out of Dodge Now”.  Out of all the states to be in when the SHTF, California is the worse, especially southern California with the very dense population and all the gang activity.

Also with a very large illegal immigration population, it just makes it that much more worse.  Read this article I wrote several months ago on “Safe Areas”, it should help you make a decision on where to move to.

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/safe-areas/

Gideon from Clarksville, TN asked:  I’m new to prepping and would like to know what are the best foods to stock up on?

Well Gideon, I would recommend a minimum of a one year supply (the more, the better) of food of canned foods, meals ready to eat (MRE’s) and dehydrated foods in the can like E-Foods Direct has to offer.

Canned foods have anywhere from a one to three year shelf life on average.  MRE’s can last for years the cooler you store them.  And dehydrated foods can have a shelf life up to thirty years depending on how and where they are stored.

Next, you need to have variety from all the basic food groups to keep a balanced diet under adverse survival conditions.  Just remember the food triangle.

 

Jasper from Rapid City asked:  Yonis, great information on your blogs, thanks.  I was wondering on what information you had on starting a survival group?  I have the land and water and was thinking of charging $10,000 a couple and $15,000 a family to join my group but so far no takers.  What’s your opinion?

It is a strong misconception that folks have MONEY to join a group with the way things are.  It is very obvious that with the U.S. economy going down the toilet, people losing their homes and with unemployment over 15% and rising that you have no takers.  At least 90% of Americans have no extra money to put into to join a survival retreat.  However, folks do have “Knowledge and Skills” (K&S) that would be a great asset to any group.

I would approach your group from a new angle.  Have couples and families join your group that have the knowledge and skills that would benefit the group to survive TEOTWAWKI for your particular area and region.  And if these folks are preppers, they will be bringing their own food, supplies, guns & ammo with them which will help even more, not counting the extra guns for security.  Read this article I wrote a while back on “Survival Groups”.

 http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/basic-survival-skills-101-13-survival-groups/

Also, the types of K&S you want to look for in potential new members to your group would be some, if not all of the following:

• Blacksmith / Carpenter
• Canner / Butcher
• Doctor / Nurse / Dentist
• Farmer / Hunter / Fisherman
• Gunsmith / Reloader
• Herbalist / Naturalist
• Leatherman / Tanner
• Martial Arts instructor
• Mechanic (Older model veh.)
• Paramedic / EMT / Midwife
• Seamstress
• Soldier / Marine / Combat Vet
• Survival instructor
• Teachers

These are the types of folks you will want to have in your survival group.  You would be basically sharing/trading the use of your land for knowledge, skills and security to survive a very uncertain future.

Well folks, keep those questions coming…

Hang On To Your Nickels

Last month I discussed the wisdom of holding on to any pennies you may have around the house that were minted prior to 1982 because the copper content of those pennies is now close to three and a half cents per penny, and expected to rise.  But what about saving nickels? Don’t they contain copper also?

Yes they do, and they also contain enough of the metal nickel to make them worth hanging on to.  But it is the copper content in nickels where the real value lies.

There is little question that nickels will take up much less storage space than pennies, so if you are inclined to invest in copper, a one hundred dollar box of nickels will take up a lot less space than four $25.00 boxes of pennies.  And with any pennies you buy from the bank, you’ll have to go through all those rolls first and separate the copper ones from the zinc that were minted after 1982.  Some people don’t mind going to all that bother to find a bit of treasure, but I’m not one of those people. As I wrote previously, there seems to be only 18-23 percent of copper pennies still in circulation, so the chances are pretty good that most of the pennies you buy from the bank will be mostly zinc.

Right now the melt value of the metals in a nickel is just a tiny bit more than five cents, so whether hoarding nickels is a good idea or not depends upon whether you think both copper and nickel will rise against the dollar.  Many people believe it will, including me.

Metal markets are as volatile as any other, so it wasn’t that long ago that a nickel was worth much more than it currently is.   Last year nickel was selling for $11.00 a pound, while right now the price has dropped to around $7.60. (That’s the price of the raw metal nickel, not the five cent piece in your pocket, which is made up mostly of copper with a nickel coating.)

Let’s look at the value of that nickel in your pocket right now.  As it happens, today (May 16, 2012), the combined value of both the copper and the nickel in that one nickel happen to add up to almost exactly five cents.  (There is roughly three cents worth of copper in a nickel, and about two cents worth of nickel at today’s prices.)  So while any time is a good time to buy nickel coins at face value, now is not the time to try to sell them for their metal content.

My own opinion is that if you’re going to keep cash around the house, better coins than paper.  A nickel will always be spendable at face value, and may very well exceed that in time, while paper money has no intrinsic value.  How long you would have to store those nickels before they are worth twice their face value or more, I couldn’t say.

Since metals are weighed and sold by the pound, not by the coin, here’s how the value breaks down: my scale tells me it takes $4.55 in modern nickels to make a pound of nickels.  Right now the metal content in a pound of those nickel coins is about $2.65 for the copper content and about $1.91 for the nickel, bringing the total melt value of a pound of nickels to a grand total of $4.56.  That means your $$4.55  in nickels is currently worth just one cent over face.  Not exactly a seller’s market at the moment, but that does not discourage those who expect the intrinsic value of both metals in nickels to eventually go back up, and even higher than before.

A nickel itself will always be worth five cents in the marketplace, even if the value of the metal contained within it drops.  So you can’t lose money by investing in nickels (although because of the continuing devaluation of the dollar, all U.S. coins are subject to losing purchasing power, of course).

Let’s compare a pound of pennies to that pound of nickels. A pound of pennies (approximately $1.50 face value) contains enough copper to make it worth $3.49.  An equivalent weight of nickels (face value: $4.55)  contains enough copper and nickel to be worth $4.60.  So pound for pound, it makes more sense to store nickels than pennies.  If you are inclined to store common coins, as some people are.  The reason many people are buying nickels now is that eventually the U.S. mint is going to have to stop using copper in nickels and when it does, today’s nickels will be more valuable than future nickels. As the value of the metals copper and nickel rises, the mint will probably replace today’s nickel with something made up of a combination of zinc and steel.

I myself have not gotten swept up in nickel fever. I favor using what little money I have for investing by going to the coin store once a month and buying a handful of pre-1965 silver dimes and quarters.  That’s the way I have chosen to save money. But I’m also not about to part with the pennies and nickels I receive in change, because I do believe they will increase in value as copper and nickel rises against the dollar.  I may even go down to the bank one of these days and buy a $100.00 box of rolled nickels to supplement my silver savings.  Why not? If I run short of cash one month I can always dip into those nickels and spend them at face value.

(It’s worth noting again that it is currently illegal to actually melt U.S. coins.  But you shouldn’t have to.  “Melt value” is a determination of the actual metal content in a coin.  You will never have to melt down your pennies and nickels some day in order to realize a profit from them, anymore than you have to melt your silver dimes and quarters today.  When the value of the metal content in a coin rises past its face value, buyers will be willing to pay for the metal content in a coin as-is.)

The advantage of saving nickels is you don’t have to sort through them by date as you do with pennies.  Although only pennies minted before 1982 have any copper in them, every nickel from 1946 until today contains the same amount of copper vs nickel, so every nickel you can get your hands on is worth holding onto against the day when the government starts minting nickels using cheaper content.  Right now you don’t have to sort through each nickel separately to know it’s value. That’s the advantage to hoarding nickels over pennies: just set them aside and wait for the value to go up.

 

Protecting your Preparations: Your Plan

All of our careful efforts to store water, food, and other supplies could be for nothing if we are unable to hang onto them when we actually need them!  People have a variety of reasons for choosing to prepare; the fact is, preparation is an investment.  It is only worth our time and money to prepare because we are convinced that it is worthwhile—we want to survive (or thrive) in poor conditions by having what we need when we need it.  Unfortunately, whether you’re preparing for economic collapse, political instability, or natural disasters, the same things you’re preparing for will almost certainly be a threat to your preparations.

There are three main ways to protect your preparations, and they are:

hide them,

share them, or

defend them.

In my upcoming blog posts I’ll be discussing each of these strategies in much greater detail, including various options and considerations that you will make as you decide how to prepare to stay prepared.

As you decide how to protect your preparations, you’ll face some of the same challenges over and over again:

1. Size/bulkiness.
2. Temperature control.
3. Personal safety while protecting your preparations.
4. Expense.
5. Accessibility.

Of course, different solutions address these challenges in different ways.

You’ll have to choose a strategy that will work for you.  You will probably choose a combination of strategies.

As we begin this discussion, there are five guiding principles that you’ll want to keep in mind:

1. Some items may be more protected than others.  For instance, you may have your week supply of food storage out (for accessibility), but keep your year supply hidden.  If you have a lot of food and someone steals a case of it, it isn’t as big of a deal as if you were to lose everything, and the risk of having other people know that you have a week supply may be worth the increased accessibility.  You may be more proactive about defending items that have more value (eg, precious metals), or items that would be harder to replace in an emergency (eg, a can opener).
2. You will probably use overall strategies and individual strategies.  For example, as an overall strategy, you may have lots of armed people around, and then you might hide individual items.
3. The types of disasters you’re preparing for will influence the strategies you use.  For example, if you are most concerned about a physical disaster (such as a fire), it will make a lot of sense to keep your items at various locations, without the same concern for trusting other people.  If your home is burned, there will be no reason to worry that your friend will keep your stuff, or that the bank will not let you access a safety deposit box.  On the other hand, if you’re preparing for a major economic collapse, there may be no real reason to be especially prepared for a fire, and having everything within your immediate control may be more valuable than having it in various locations to diversify.  (Or, you may not choose that, because you could worry about looting.)
4. The more strategies you use, the better prepared you will be.
5. Preparation is a process.  You don’t have to do everything all at once.  You can start by using some strategies, and add in others as you’re able to.

For now, think about what you have done to prepare so far.  What could threaten your preparations?  What are you already doing to make sure that you’ll be able to hang onto your preparations when you need them?  What ideas do you have for making your preparations more secure?

In my next blog post, we’ll get started with a discussion on hiding preparations: how, where, and why (or why not).

The Consequences of Obama’s Executive Order

With President Obama’s recent National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order, some have been quick to dismiss the consequences of the order and others have struggled to understand how it actually affects them.

President Obama, by seizing the power to control all the energy, health resources, transportation, and private property along with the sources of our potable water and food, the very nature of his action has taken a precious freedom out of the hands of the American public. That simple fact, by itself, is hard for most Americans to comprehend. How can the President seize this power without so much as a single vote or debate in Congress?

With no cries of alarm from the media, many Americans have dismissed what they’ve been made aware of (assuming they were aware of it at all). Still others think that it’s a blessing that the U.S. Government will assume responsibility for deciding how and where precious resources will be distributed. They think not worrying about what is happening and having to form an opinion on what is transpiring is one less item to worry about in their already stressful lives. What they fail to realize is that this head-in-the-sand approach eventually will leave them in a situation where it will eventually become too late to act.

What we all need to understand is that millions of Americans are already living on government assistance. When the Government takes over the distribution of food supply sources, they will choose who gets the distribution of food and when. The first choice will go to those already in the government supply lines. They will get preferential treatment for they are the ones that have placed these officials in office and retaining their votes will be of utmost importance.

Your ability to provide food for your family by earning your own money will be made unnecessary by the Government’s controlled distribution and the Government’s “breadline” will become the great equalizer of the entire socioeconomic structure. The rich, the hard-working, the thrifty, the struggling, the casualties of the economy, those on fixed income, the disabled, the retired, and the lazy and unwilling welfare generations will all stand shoulder to shoulder in the government breadline hoping for their daily ration before the food runs out.

Food will then have become the medium of exchange in our economy and there will be an absolute monopoly on food. The liberty to control one’s destiny is then lost to everyone. At that day, we will have a new twist to the cynic’s perspective of the “Golden Rule.” The cynic says, “he who has the gold makes the rules.” The new “Breadline Rule” will simply be, “He that controls the food owns all the gold and makes the rules.”
We will see the biblical prediction of the book of Ecclesiastes come to pass.

“And they shall cast their coins (Silver) into the streets, and their gold shall be for naught (will be worthless) and their bowels will not be filled (they will have no food).”

Do your part as a concerned American, by continuing to share this urgent message with everyone you can. Help yourself and this country by preparing to take care of your food needs. Save and store what you can so you’re not subject to the food rationing breadlines to come.

Remember, “it isn’t a matter of whether but when.”

Emergency Car Kits: Special Medical Conditions and Medications.

If you’re someone like me that needs an “emergency medication”, you’d better keep one in your car kit. An “emergency medication” is something you’d need to save your life in a matter of minutes. Examples – Blood pressure medication, insulin, asthma inhaler, or as in my case, an Epi-pen for sever allergies. Most likely if you fall into that category, you already have your meds stashed in multiple locations, including your car. But if you haven’t thought about it – now is the time to get an extra prescription filled and store it in your car. Be aware of its expiration date, and if it needs specific temperatures to keep it active. If it is temperature sensitive, consider carrying on your person or in a purse, so if you do road trip it, you’re sure to have it.

Another word to the wise is to have some sort of info about your condition in a car kit so medical professionals or other motorists are aware. For example, if you’re a diabetic, and you are found unconscious, your condition may help others treat you more efficiently. Or you can wear a medical bracelet, so if you are in an accident and cannot communicate, those helping you will be aware of your condition and any medications you may already have in your system.

There are other life threatening medical conditions that don’t necessarily require medication, but may affect your driving or how care is offered to you in an accident. Epilepsy and Narcolepsy are examples of conditions that can become very problematic while driving.

A coworker of my husband’s has hemophilia – his blood does not clot. So if he has a cut, or something worse, extreme measures have to be taken in order to save his life. This information is imperative for those caring for him if he’s in an accident.

These are all just food for thought. I know there are many, many other severe conditions out there that should be taken into consideration. Think about yourself, and the people who frequent your car and any special needs they may have.

The Importance of Paper Books in Emergency Preparation

My family knows that I just hate clutter. They have learned to check the donation box frequently to make sure that I don’t get rid of something that they deem essential and I don’t, such as the old outdated printer or mysterious and unused kitchen gadgets.

So when my husband gave me an e-reader for my birthday last year, you would think that my inner obsessive would delight in the thought that I might be able to do something about the overcrowded bookshelves in our home. I hesitate, however, to get rid of too many paper books.

There is good reason that you should have real paper books in your home, and a decent amount of them. Imagine if you couldn’t use your electronic devices for an extended period of time. A massive solar flare could do it, knock out our electronic devices and turn them to mush. These devices could also simply not be worth the power, if electricity becomes harder to come by.

Books have served society for thousands of years, and they will continue to do so even after a major disaster, as long as people exist. Books can educate, inform and entertain. To be fully prepared for a doomsday event, make sure that your family is stocked with the following types of paper books.

How to Books

Having valuable survival information on hand is absolutely essential after a doomsday event. Culturally, most of us have lost the basic skills that our ancestors mastered, such as how to dig a well, make our own shoes or build a shelter using only hand tools. While you should do what you can now to learn new skills, having this type of information on hand as a reference makes good sense.

Think about the types of things you may need or want to do, such as forage for wild food, cook without electricity or even a fire, sew up a wound, craft your own snow shoes, or turn a car battery into a usable power source. Stock the books that will help you do these things.

Cookbooks and Recipe Books

If you aren’t a natural chef, having some basic recipes on hand in a physical form will help you out. Make sure that you have at least one book that lists substitutions. Good cookbooks for emergency preppers include ones that contain recipes from the depression, when home chefs had to ration and supplement their diets with everything from dandelions to possum.

Also make sure that you have a number of general cooking books that can impart basic food preparation skills.

Textbooks and Work Books

Having various school books on hand will allow you to home school your children and keep them educated. Not only will this benefit your own family, but having educated citizens is essential to the positive rebuilding of society.

You’ll need both text books and work books for multiple grades.

Novels and Entertainment

Finally, you might think that novels or other books for entertainment might be superfluous after a major disaster or doomsday event. Escaping through a well-told tale can be relaxing and decrease your stress levels, which is important for your health. Plus, these books will probably be in high demand, since no one thought to stock up on them, giving you a luxury resource that can be traded for other goods.

Go for classic books that will hold up under multiple readings and well as popular favorites.

 

 

Preparedness Q and A #4

Max from Utah asked:  Will there really be Mad Max Gangs after a major disaster?

Well Max, unfortunately yes.  In every disaster I have worked around the world and here in the US, there is ALWAYS someone that wants to be “El Supremo” and take what they want free of charge.  And then there are the followers who are willing to do their bidding to include killing, raping, stealing, torturing, pillaging, burning, etc, doing whatever they want with no law to stop them.

The largest cities are where these “Mad Max” gangs will start to organize during the early days of the disaster.  The devastated cities will offer the greatest opportunities for these types of gangs.  The larger the city, the more gangs there will be.  These gangs will be ruthless, merciless and kill and rape just for the fun of it.

These gangs will be continuously searching through building after building for what they consider to be the most precious commodities: abandon homes and vehicles, canned foods, fuel, gold & silver, people they can enslave (women) and weapons.  Abandoned / deserted cities and towns will be these gangs’ property and source of amusement.  The sparsely occupied countryside really has nothing to offer.  Very few assets are not really worth it for these Mad Max gangs until much later (a year or so) when they start to run out of food / supplies.  At this time, the ones that have not been killed or died off will have to venture out in search of food and supplies.  They will roam from cities to towns, pillaging as the go.  There will come a time when some of these gangs will turn to cannibalism when they run out of food.

Stacy from Little Rock asked:  What kind of a disaster would kill the majority of the population and what can I do to survive?

Well Ms Stacy, with our current political climate, a devastating man-made disaster would be an EMP attack (EMP – Electro-Magnetic Pulse).  With natural disasters, a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) from the sun would almost me an Earth Level Extinction (ELE) event.  With the EMP striking the U.S., between 70% to 90% of the population would be dead within the first year.  With a CME, 70% to 90% of the world population would be dead within six months due to solar radiation.

I wrote a series of articles (Thinking the Unthinkable) that covered what would happen during an EMP attack and how to prepare for that.  Check out the following link for the series:

http://www.efoodsdirect.com/Blog/thinking-the-unthinkable/

This series should answer a lot of your questions.

And last, Kathy and Robin from Las Vegas asked:  We are two sisters that were wondering what type of gun to get for home protection?

Well ladies, the best all around home defense gun would be a good semi-automatic or pump shotgun.  The main reason for this would be for the very wide variety of ammo a shotgun can use:  Slugs, Buck shot, Bird shot and specialty ammo.  For home defense, I would recommend #3 or #4 birdshot.  The main reason for this is you DO NOT want over penetration with lead pellets going through the bad guy and continuing through a wall and hitting someone else.

Besides having a shotgun, I would also get a good magazine fed pistol at least a .38 caliber or larger (.40 or .45) loaded with hollow points for stopping power.

SAFETY NOTE:  It is extremely important that anyone that has never shot a gun before (Rifle, Pistol or Shotgun), first take a gun familiarization class, then a gun safety class before going out and purchasing a gun for home defense.  Everyone in the home, age ten plus should attend these classes.

Well folks, until next time, keep the questions coming…

What To Do Before You’re Dead

Six days ago we had a bit of excitement at our place. My wife Connie collapsed onto the floor in a catatonic stupor.  I could neither lift her back up, nor communicate my need for her to assist me in pushing with her legs.  Not that her legs would hold her for a moment anyway, since they had turned to rubber as she slipped from my arms and hit the floor.

I called my grown daughter to come over and help me, and with neither of us having any idea what was happening or what to do next, I finally called 911.  Once I described the symptoms to the dispatcher, an ambulance arrived sirens blaring, and faster than I had ever known an ambulance to arrive before.

On the way to the hospital, Connie stopped breathing.  A tube that must have been two feet long and as wide as a roll of quarters was violently shoved down her throat.  Needles were jammed into her arms and side.  Success! Connie’s life had been saved!

Which is precisely what Connie did not want.

For the past twenty years or more, my sweet wife has been in chronic pain and physical agony at times so intense that even the strongest medications have not been able to alleviate her suffering.  Having already experienced death three times already, Connie knows there is nothing to dread from passing to the other side.  She certainly does not have a death wish, and is anything but suicidal; Connie loves the experiences this life has given her. But she also understands that crossing to the other side is an event not to be feared, but embraced. Therefore the desperate lengths people on this side go through in order to avoid that glorious experience as if it were the worst thing imaginable -well, those fears just seem beyond silly to my wife.  So Connie determined long ago that if she ever had the opportunity to leave this crippled body behind and begin the next great adventure, she didn’t want anyone throwing cold water on that.  If it is her time go, kindly step out of the way and let her through.

So to that end, some years ago Connie drew up a Do Not Resuscitate order so that if she ever found herself in a coma or her heart had stopped, medical personnel would know not to struggle valiantly to save her.  No defibrillators. No electric paddles.  No awful breathing tubes.

But guess who wasn’t prepared for this particular emergency?  Me.

No matter how many times Connie reminded me where she kept her DNR papers, as she was being loaded unconscious into the ambulance, I couldn’t for the life of me remember where she last told me they were.  My first instinct was to ask her, as I normally would, but that was suddenly and plainly ridiculous and out of the question.

So, without an authorized directive from Connie herself, the EMTs did what EMTs do: they desperately began working at saving her life.  Not having any instructions from the patient to the contrary, they ambulance attendants did everything they could think of to keep her in that body.

Connie was immediately placed in the intensive care unit at a nearby hospital where she stayed for the next five days, and where I stayed with her as the doctors and staff tried to figure out where Connie’s mind had gone and what could be done to bring it back into alignment with her.

As Connie’s husband, I have durable power of attorney when she is incapable of acting for herself, so I had the authority to request the hospital pull the plug on her if it was one day determined she had lapsed into an irreversible coma. But I did not have the right to speak for her and order staff to allow her to simply die if her heart stopped suddenly.  I could not order the doctors to stand down.  Only Connie could give those instructions, and she currently wasn’t barking orders on her own behalf.  If I wanted to convey Connie’s true wishes, I should have had that DNR at hand and ready when it was needed.

Make Your Wishes Known Now

Not everyone feels this way, but if given the chance to shuffle off this mortal coil in the event the alternative meant remaining on the earth in a state of perpetual misery, many would opt to leave.  A good number of people have made clear such desires to their loved ones.  But none of that matters if the people whose job it is to save lives are not given the message in clear and no uncertain terms by the patient.  That’s why, if you do not want to be resuscitated, you need to have a Do Not Resuscitate order prepared well ahead of time.

You can find examples of DNRs online, but you want to make sure the document you create is legally binding in your state. Sometimes a simple bracelet with those three words on it will suffice.  Some people have had the words “Do Not Resuscitate” tattooed right on their chests, which I imagine would give pause to any kind-hearted stranger about to apply CPR to his fellow man.  Your doctor may already have something on hand he can give you called an Advance Health Care Directive Form that allows you to specify under what conditions you wish to be allowed to go in peace, and what conditions you want them to keep working on you.

But as Connie and I learned from this recent experience, it isn’t enough to have had the document drawn up.  It’s also important that family members know exactly where it is and be able to easily lay their hands on it.  One of the reasons for my own confusion as to the whereabouts of Connie’s DNR was that over time she had selected a number of different places to keep it safe, and now that I was under stress I could no longer recall where that last place was.  For some reason it had never occurred to either of us to have multiple copies on hand kept in different places in the home.  All we had was that one original, so when I couldn’t find that, I had nothing else to fall back on.

Monday afternoon, like magic, Connie snapped back to her cogent and lucid self, and yesterday I was permitted to bring her home from the hospital.  So it looks like she’ll have to transition from this cruel plane of existence at some future date. I, of course, couldn’t be happier to have her still with me. As for what had caused her odd mental departure, that is one of those medical mysteries the doctors on staff are still scratching their heads about, but Connie has long been a medical anomaly, often defying the conventional wisdom.  In this latest puzzler, Connie seemed to be in a state of temporary Dementia that she snapped out of as suddenly and inexplicably as she had entered into it.

For Connie and I, it was a wake up call to the realization that we were not as prepared as we thought we were for this contingency.  Since Connie has been home, even she was surprised to learn that her DNR wasn’t in the place she had thought it would be.  We’re still looking for it.

When we find it, I’m making at least three photocopies and placing them in number 10 envelopes marked “DNR” in bold magic marker.  One envelope will remain in her purse, while another will be prominently taped to the wall by the door so that in an emergency it will be in plain sight. I’ll have a third copy in the glove compartment of the car.

Get It In Writing

Connie long ago gave me specific instructions that I was never to call 911 if it appeared she might be dying.  If she was going to pass on, she wanted to be left at home to go in peace.  But in this particular instance it didn’t appear to Amy and I that Connie might be dying; she was just oddly semi-conscious and unresponsive, and prior to that, she had been asleep for some sixteen hours.  My main concern had been that if I didn’t get her to the bathroom soon, she was likely to wet the bed for sure.  It was as I was trying to get her on her feet and to the bathroom that she slipped from my grasp and hit her head on the floor. Hard.

But in all this agreement Connie and I had of not calling 911 or refusing to be taken to a hospital emergency room, we had overlooked one important caveat.  If you and your spouse have a similar understanding, you would do well to consider this: in that hypothetical situation where you allowed your spouse to die at home, you could be criminally charged for failing to call 911 and preventing that death. Not everyone will consider you a loving and devoted caregiver.  Some people might assume your neglect was deliberate and that through that neglect you let your loved one die because you wanted her out of the way.  Make no mistake about it; this country is crawling with ambitious prosecutors.

That’s why, in addition to having a DNR prominently available and appropriately signed, it is imperative that your spouse also make out a hand-written letter affirming that you are under instructions never to call for emergency services if you see him or her under physical stress. You have to do this to protect yourself.

It is not enough that you know your spouses’ wishes.  You had better make certain the whole world knows too. We have only to recall the Terry Schiavo case of a few years back.  Terry collapsed in her home of full cardiac arrest, which eventually left her in a vegetative state. Her husband claimed that in conversations they had engaged in over the course of their marriage, Terry had made it clear that if her life were ever determined to be untenable, she would not want it prolonged by artificial means.

Unfortunately, Terry had never had these conversations with her own parents, who fought vigorously against the husband’s right to allow Terry’s life support be discontinued.  Eventually state and federal legislators were intervening where they had no authority. It seemed the whole country was taking sides in a debate that should have been the quiet decision of the husband alone.  Some nasty gossips insisted that Michael Schiavo just wanted his wife dead so he could marry his new girlfriend.

If you have no desire to drag your spouse through unnecessary hell while trying to carry out your own last wishes, make sure you make those wishes known in writing. Don’t put it off.