E-Mail 'Apartment Dweller Prepping- Part 2, by AKM295' To A Friend

17 Comments

1. A great article, and thank you for having us look through your eyes. I agree it is easy to get lost in the information overload on just about everything related to prepping. I, and others, wish you well on your long journey.

2. After a power outage, open the fridge once and take a photo. It will shorten the time the door is,opened the next number of times it’s opened. A small solar array with connectivity to your phone will keep you charged up. Good luck!

   1. THIS!!! That is simply brilliant! Never would have thought of that it’s so simple, I just overlooked the idea thank you

3. In a grid down for unknown time you will have to have a firearm. Bad people will overcome a bat or pepper spray. You will not be able to defend yourself against multiple antagonists, don’t fool yourself. And if you try to barter yourself out of the situation they will probably take all you have.

4. Part 1 & 2 well done. Thanks

5. 1) I had assumed from your reference to Hurricane Sandy that you were in New York City –which strongly restricts firearms,esp handguns.
   2) But if legal, a concealable Glock is certainly valuable in urban areas
   3)However, one firearm that most places will accept is a lever action rifle like the old cowboy Winchester. Esp if you have a state hunting license.
   4) The lever action rifle is not a bad weapon for self-defense,esp in urban areas with strong firearm controls imposed on the population. It holds several rounds — the 44 magnum versions hold more than the 30 30 versions — and its magazine can be constantly topped off/reloaded rapidly while behind cover. Jeff Cooper noted its virtues.
   5) The lever action Has much greater range/accuracy than handguns although some people have pointed out that it is kinda hard to claim self-defense in today’s world if you shoot someone who’s 150 yards away–even when the situation justifies it.
   6) If your revolver is a 357 magnum then a lever action in the same caliber lets you use common ammo. Not an approach necessarily favored by people in the West with the long sight lines and limited cover –but not a bad setup in the NYC area.
   7) Some of Marlin’s lever action rifles use their Microgrove rifling. My understanding is that the traditional rifling –with its deeper cuts — is better for lead cast bullets. This could be a virtue if you can only store a limited ammo supply and would need to reload ammo with lead bullets from molds later (I believe wheel weights from auto tires have the antimony to harden lead bullets but double check on that.)
   8) Lever action rifles , of course, will work with cartridges reloaded with (the weaker) homemade gunpowder, unlike the semi-autos.

6. On saving up cash, try this. Save up 20 of each denomination of bills. Start with $1’s, $5’s and $10’s. Then when those are done, exchange them for larger bills, and start over. Once your collection is complete, you now have $3720. Best to have 2 sets. One for disaster, and one as an ATM fund for life’s surprises.

   Another thing I do is keep 2 $100 bills hidden in my wallet as a “Get Home” fund. I learned that the hard way at 18. I got stranded in an ice storm, only had $20 in the wallet, and had to get a room for the night. Had to call home to get a credit card number to pay for the room. NEVER AGAIN! If I need this fund, it gets replaced immediately. Never go out without that fund being intact.

   1. Totally agree with this comment. In my nylon wallet I have one slot with my mainly-used credit card, a second slot with other secondary cards like health insurance, Costco, BlockBuster, etc. (Just kidding on BB). The third slot has my rarely pulled out permit to carry plus 2 $100 bills. You might you need the big cash for a hotel room like Nemo. But sometimes a big bill can help you. Remember cash does talk. If you’re in a situation where you REALLY need an item or service, and the seller balks at the $20 price, ask if they’ll take a $100 bill, hold it up. You’ve seen it in the movies where the hero offers $200 to the cab driver to get them somewhere fast. Never know, you may need that cash, better to have it and not need it, than the other way around.

7. Good on you for being independent and responsible! Your article is a good counter to those folks who say…”I live in an apartment so I cannot store any emergency items.”

8. For women, I think keeping a pair of walking shoes and socks in your go-bag or in the car is a good idea. Having the perfectly prepared BOB doesn’t help much if you’re wearing heels or flip flops.

   1. Heck, I throw boots in the car or truck when I am dressed for work meaning loafers or wingtips. The pack goes in when the destination is beyond 30 minutes drive time. Beyond an hour the extra food bag goes in too.

9. good article, parts 1&2.
   K-tor makes a couple of hand crank generators, large and small, they work very well and are moderately priced. The small ones can almost fit in your pocket an is strictly hand crank, while the large can fold down and fit in your pack and can either be hand cranked or foot cranked. Both are very durable and well worth the money. if you have the know how during your next big city blackout you could possibly hook up a inverter to a car battery and as days go by use the large model to recharge the battery and get a little exercise and beat off some boredom all at the same time. Also Goal Zero has large assortment of different size solar panels some almost small enough to fit in your pocket to some as large as 3’x3′ and most can be daisy chained for more power. Good luck with your big city preps.

10. I highly recommend the small bills as emergency cash. You will be in position of strength in the ability to make change or buy something for exact cash.

    I like the idea of two “C” notes for the big ticket items.

    I agree that having serious cash is the best option in emergencies.

    Now when I vacation I take one ounce of Au just in case. I have found that even the smallest towns have a coin shop

11. Enjoyed the perspective of apartment preparation. You have put in alot of thought. A couple of suggestions. Having something for self defense is wise. But make sure you know and have practiced using it safely. One thing I do in case of power outage is have a large bottle (1/2 gal or bigger) of water frozen in the freezer. When the power goes out move it to the refregerator(then take the picture as suggested by Iggy above). It will help keep food cool for several days longer than otherwise. Great article!

12. And Plan C – have a destination in mind already figured out if you have to bug out. Because clear thought on where to go and routes demand prior planning too.

    Great pair of articles – thank you for writing them.

13. A small safe bolted down(fill the holes when you leave) foryour valuables,a old(throwaway) 12 ga double barreled or pump shotgun would pass in any jurisdiction(jury trial). A crank powered flashlight with a usb port can recharge your phone(make sure you keep the cord with it,if you get a double ended cord you can get someone else to turn the crank to charge both phones). Life straw or 1 liter sawyer bottle and a couple of coffee filters for water. If you need to buy something and they can’t make change a group buy(2-3 people in line) can get it purchased and split the change. A good pair of properly broken in boots some beef jerky,granola bars or trailmix and you can survive most anything or exfil to bug out location.

14. A small solar panel, deep cycle battery and a small inverter (about 60 watts) will provide power for 120v LED lights and most have a USB port to charge a phone or tablet from. Items to be powered up should be selected for minimum current draw.

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