Mr. Rawles:
I am writing a brief letter with a few points that may be helpful for your readers, who like myself, find your blog site a valuable resource, one well worth supporting financially. The value of your blog, and advice, is multiplied many times over by the extremely well informed readership you have. There are a few thoughts I could offer that others may find of use:
1. I lived through an ice storm that hit in the late nineties. As many have mentioned, when a calamity hits is not the time to start preparing. I was caught totally unprepared, and living out in the country without heat, ended up driving to my brother’s house, where there was a wood stove. On the way, I saw an Amish man, simply going about his chores, without a worry. Right then, I resolved not to let this happen to me again.
Incidentally, the Amish in our area sell 50-lb bags of potatoes in the fall for $10 a bag. These are Kennebec winter storage potatoes. I’ve taken to buying a couple bags and storing them not for eating, but planting in the spring given an emergency. Cheap insurance.
2. Within 24 hours, every store in the country had been cleaned out of bread, milk, and size D or AA batteries. I saw some people merrily loading up their shopping carts with beer. (I am not kidding.) However, if you’ve got your long-term storage items taken care, what crowds did not bother with were things that would be of great value such as cooking oil, bisquick, flour, powdered milk etc. These things are hard to store enough of, because the shelf life is shorter, so in a calamity, I would try stocking up on these items. They may be overlooked in the initial rush.
3. Concerning the use of barrier plants to discourage looters, the unduly curious etc. I would consider species roses, such as briar and rugosa roses. A rose known as the Scotch Double White is very hardy, grows to about six feet and is as bad as razor wire to get through. Planted in a zigzag pattern with about six foot spacing, in four to five years it would be near impenetrable. Harison’s Yellow (one “r”) is another briar rose about seven feet tall that would also do the job. Avoid anything called a “living fence” or “multiflora” unless you want a useless mess.
Also extremely useful are rugosa roses. Go for the simple species rugosa. These are hardy and have the particular value of rose hips with one of the highest naturally occurring sources of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). The hips are the size of a small walnut, bright red. Let them stay on the plant until after the first hard frost which will turn them orange. Pick and dry. A country lady near me made them into a nice jelly. The leathery covering of the hip is good in stews also. The leathery covering can simply be eaten as a vitamin source.
3. You have received some really good postings from readers on medicines and antibiotics. I was vexed because my own doctor is not interested in providing me with scrips for emergency meds and it’s hard to find another doctor in rural areas. So, after much searching, I can suggest two alternatives. One is to google “fish antibiotics”and “fish cipro.” Another is to consider off shore pharmacies which will supply meds, as long as they are not controlled substances, without a script. I have built up a good store of cipro, cephalexin, augmentin, etc., plus three meds for chronic conditions (my wife and I are in our sixties).
I have no intention of using these meds unless I have absolutely no choice. I can complain about the government all I want. I still want my pills FDA approved. Call me a hypocrite.
4. I have had a really good experience with Walton Feeds. They shipped items across the country and all arrived in good shape. Not the case without another vendor.
5. I live in the Northeast, and one of the values of your advice is that I’ve started thinking hard about my situation in various stages of a societal collapse. I live in the country, on a former farm, with lots of nearby water, and excellent neighbors who are handy with shotguns and deer rifles. There however is a nearby city with more than a few lowlifes, and a nearby prison. So….fun for a while. Winter on the Canadian border however has a way of trimming out the unprepared.
6. Another value of your web site is forcing a person to confront the state of one’s preparations. I’ve been collecting emergency stuff for a decade without any overall plan. A recent power outage, and I couldn’t even find my box of candles. Enough said. Now I’m organizing, and putting a list of what I have in a steno book, with each item’s location.
Thank you for your blog and your books. – Northeast Fellow
JWR Replies: Thanks for your observations and suggestions. As for human use of veterinary meds, all the “use only in dire emergency” provisos that have been repeatedly posted in SurvivalBlog apply! I’ve heard from several readers that a good source for veterinary antibiotics is Jeffer’s. I’ve also heard from other readers that allivet.com, revivalanimal.com and vetamerica.com provided good service. (The latter sells cipro.) Some readers have also reported using online pharmacies located in India and Mexico without a hitch, including inhousepharmacy.com and medsmex.com. (But one must wonder about both the authenticity of the drugs–are they the genuine USP item?–not to mention the security of credit card numbers!)