Lessons Learned the Hard Way About Food Storage, by The Northern Prep

This is our fourth year of prepping, and we are planning to make a full-time move to our retreat location by spring. We believe the Lord is compelling us to move now, and we are working diligently to get there as soon as possible. By the way, if you have been paying attention, the world looks really bad. This weekend was a significant eye-opener, as we cleaned and inventoried our pantry for the move. I would like to share the experience. However, before we do so, you need to have a bit of our background for a full understanding, so please have a little patience.

In early 2010, we purchased an old farm for recreational purposes. It would be hard to find a couple with more predisposition to be preppers than my wife and I. Both of us have a healthy concern for the government; we home school our children; we tend to cook for ourselves when we can; we enjoy the outdoors (hunting, fishing and gardening); and I could go on about how it was a very natural fit. However, both of us did not really have a clue, until I stumbled upon JWR’s book Patriots, which opened our eyes and encouraged several positive life changes. I will also add that it is a major plus to have both of us– my wife and I– engaged in this endeavor. We may not always agree, but we continually support and remind each other of our goals and have been making steady progress. Even with all this positive momentum, it is a difficult but rewarding journey.

In late 2010 when we started our food pantry, we took what I would call a “hodge-podge” approach. We read different articles and made lists of what we used and did not use but was recommended by the various publications. There is a tremendous amount of information, and this was a new endeavor for us. So our list would take the following into consideration: rotation of meals; caloric intake/nutritional value; pleasure value (is it something we enjoy i.e. pancakes vs. oatmeal); and last but not least, cost. Before we bought, we went to an Amish bulk store and Costco to look and compare prices versus what was available on the Internet. We have children, and when we started this endeavor we were a fairly typical suburban family. We tended to lean toward home cooked whole food meals. (My wife and I argued this point a bit as “home cooked meals” has come to mean something very different now.) We also favored organic, but we did not turn completely away from fast food and processed boxed meals. We had a small garden to grow vegetables and a small raspberry patch. Still, we also would eat out at restaurants, buy bleached flour, and buy convenience meals, such as frozen pizzas, boxed pasta, and canned sauce. Considering this background, we urgently started on our pantry as priority number one. We just discovered prepping and felt that we were completely unprepared.

We have been diligent about rotating our stock and using what we have, but we have also made some serious errors. As indicated, we are relocating to our retreat full-time, and this weekend we did a complete assessment of our pantry. It was very disappointing. We actually had to throw away food, which I feel is a great sin, and I hope I can prevent some of you from making the same painful mistakes.

The most profound realization that we had is that whatever you are planning for today, especially if you are just starting out, your habits will change. This is probably more so with food, as it is one of our primary concerns. In general, food has become extraordinarily distorted by society and corporations. To give you an idea of how much change occurs, I will share examples from my own family.

In 2010, we assumed we were doing well if we baked a loaf of homemade bread or other baked items. Typically, cookies were baked regularly (maybe once a month), and breads and cakes baked a bit less (once a quarter); all were a treat or dessert. Homemade bread in 2010 consisted of store bought flour (typically bleached) and white sugar. Fast forward to 2014. We now make 70 to 80 percent of our own bread, buns, tortillas, and so forth. Some of it is easy, but others are a true art form. Probably about 50% of the flour we use is our own home-ground from wheat berries or other grains. We continually try to improve, and, if we buy flour, it is stone-ground, whole wheat flour that is as close to wheat berries as possible. All of our grinding has been manual to date. We have been working to substitute honey for sugar, where possible, since honey is readily available. Our reasoning behind this is two-fold– to be better prepared so we do not feel a shock if things change and our belief that it is a much healthier lifestyle. While we have had very little grains go to waste, our understanding of wheat berries had gone from “what the heck are these?” to a household staple. Still, most of my extended family and friends give me a blank look when the term “wheat berries” enters a conversation. In 2010, when we purchased wheat berries, we did so because it was “on the list”, and we had a general understanding that they could be rendered to flour or mush. Now we use them regularly. In hindsight, more wheat berries (easy to move and long-term storage value) would have been a better bet, along with similar grains. However, in 2010, I would never have come to this conclusion.

In 2010, our children were smaller, and fruit is an important part of the diet. Although fresh fruit is what we all prefer, it would not be readily available in the winter in a TEOTWAWKI situation since we live in the Midwest. We purchased canned fruit and fruit in plastic cups with a peel off lid. The children would eat these now and again as a treat, and so we stocked up. As indicated, we purchased a small farm. It has maybe ten apple trees, a good row of grapes, and wild blackberry bushes. This year we canned (a skill we learned over the last three years) enough applesauce to last a year and grape jelly for a good portion of the year. We also purchased peach preserves from a neighborhood co-op. Annually we are putting out more trees and learning as we go. Our children (and nephews) prefer the home-canned fruit to store bought canned fruit. It is good for eating directly, baking, and gifts. We also purchased blueberries from a local farm and froze them into smaller packages. We now have two freezers in addition to the typical one you have in your kitchen. The freezer is filled with frozen green beans (after being quickly blanched), tomato sauce (instead of canned), venison, and pork (which we bought directly from a farmer). Aside from what we grow, we visit local farmers and farmer markets to supplement and set away, so we can understand and learn how much we need. This weekend, I found two packages of expired fruit cups. These are clear plastic, and while some canned items can go past their expiration date, the fruit that was once colorful and eye-appealing was just varying shades of brown. This we had to discard. We also had a good chunk of canned fruit that we had purchased in our initial splurge. These had expiration dates from late 2013 to over the next six to eighteen months. We took those that had expired and we made definite plans to use them, first checking each carefully when opened. Those with future dates are going to food pantries, which I will discuss further.

In 2010, we had at most a month worth of food on hand, and we were suddenly enlightened. We were always thrifty and tried to buy in bulk. With a limited budget, we made purchases from a fear and affordability perspective (i.e. tactical), rather than a strategic perspective. For example, our local store had a sale on canned soup. We purchased four flats of various types– chicken noodle, tomato, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken. We did the same with chicken stock, buying six cases. You can always use chicken stock. As the dates are expiring or expired, we found that we used up most of the chicken noodle and tomato, but have almost all of the cream soups still sitting in our pantry. We have a lot of chicken stock left. Why? We based our purchases on actual meals, but our meals changed. In 2010, we would use a cream soup as a base with rice and meat to make a cheap and easy meal. Now we cook from scratch using real cream. We have always turned our chicken bones into stock and broth, we just did not take it into consideration when we purchased the other broth, and now we have quite a bit remaining.

We also purchased food in bulk. As members of the local Costco and with a family of four, there are cost-saving opportunities to buy in bulk. Peanut butter, packaged with two jars in a unit, at a discount price is very beneficial, but we also bought impulse emergency items, like a large five-gallon container of soy oil. Oil does not have a long shelf life, and while we used oil, we never made the effort to break this five-gallon container into more accessible containers because it was deemed “for an emergency.” This weekend we found that it was over two years past its expiration and will have to be discarded.

So, what are the lessons learned:

  1. Invest in the long term, strategic storage not tactical. Anything that you purchase for long-term use with a good shelf life can always be consumed as needed. Short-term items will expire, so only stock up on what you plan on actually using. If you are not sure about buying something, save your money. Spend it when you are confident.
  2. Have a strong rotational system. This is very simple, but it is key and is necessary for both your long-term strategic reserves and your day-to-day items. Without a good rotation system, you will definitely have waste.
  3. Keep a two-tiered pantry system. Keep long-term (strategic) items separate from short term (tactical) items, and you will be less likely to misplace items or overbuy on regular day-to-day goods. With the prepper mindset, we have a tendency to think “more is better”. It is not. Quality and long-term durability is ideal for setting up a solid prepper pantry. I believe that keeping the longer term strategic items aside simplifies the situation. Of course, we have wheat berries and rice in our short-term, but we refill the stock from the long-term storage. My view is that the long-term strategic stores require us to be more thoughtful and considerate. How much do you want on hand should there be problems? A year, three years, or five years? Whatever is in the short-term pantry is an additional buffer. The short-term tactical stores are a common pantry that we refresh routinely. Both need to be minded, but they have differing purposes.
  4. Keep a side area for items that are recently purchased and need to be rotated in. Designate this area, so it is not used. People can be lazy, and there is not always time to rotate stores. Having a designated area prevents you from accidentally taking something and using it when it needed to go to the back of the storage rotation.
  5. Buy items that are multipurpose versus single purpose. Take wheat berries for example. They can be eaten by being cooked soft, used as a base for a dish, or ground into flour. Flour equals bread, pasta, pastries, and more. Why store flour and pasta? Wheat berries and a grinder are much more flexible.
  6. Consider new skills and life changes, such as gardening, canning, hunting, fishing, and so forth. This is a more difficult endeavor, as we often over- or under-estimate our capabilities and potential for change. My 2010 self would be very surprised at all the new skills and abilities that our family accomplished in such a short period. It is also important to realize that as you seek these skills, they change your mind set. We prefer home baked, home ground bread versus store bought. It has a very different taste, and as a result our eating habits have changed. It is also more rewarding, and you think about your food instead of simply ingesting. In 2014 we plan on expanding our garden and getting our first animals (chickens most likely). We will be educated on canning other produce, thus changing our pantry once again. Also, we had purchased several number 10 cans of freeze-dried eggs, as it was a concern. The concern will be minimized with our own egg production. Still, I am unsure how the expanded garden and chickens will ultimately impact our eating habits and needs in a year or so. Last but not least, gardening can vary dramatically year-to-year. Last year, the drought really impacted every harvest, and we had less canned items. This year the harvest was much better. These are good life lessons should we need to depend upon this food.
  7. Eat what you buy. As part of our panicked buying, we purchased some MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). When we go camping or exploring, we will plan these for a meal one night. Some of them are good, and the children enjoy the novelty. On a rare occasion, they become our quick meal instead of fast food. While it doesn’t fully fit our philosophy of what we are working toward with food, it is like an insurance policy that you hope you never need to use. So, we still buy some occasionally, and we are now more educated consumers.
  8. Buy what you eat. It may sound the same, but it is very different. My kids like broccoli, green beans, and corn. These are our go-to vegetables. We are always adding a bag of frozen vegetables in our cart when we shop, and it is easy to lose track of how much your family consumes. If we are cooking dinner and we ask them what they would like for vegetables, this is what they ask for. The green beans we froze have disappeared by Christmas. So next year we will grow and buy more, as room permits. Frozen peas, spinach, and brussel sprouts are eaten when it is specifically planned or when there is nothing else. While we want our children and ourselves to have a variety, it is perfectly acceptable to have multiiple times more broccoli or green beans than peas. The only exception is when we find that something grows better in our garden than others, but gardening is not buying.
  9. Make an annual inventory at a minimum. Inventories can be varied by long-term strategic storage and short-term tactical storage. The long-term inventory should only vary mildly as you utilize and replace. The short-term will alter every time you go to the grocery store. Again, with a prepper mindset, it is easy to purchase something on sale or on a whim or get extra of something you use regularly. I know I bought several cans of Spam, thinking that if we did not have meat it would be nice for variety and keep us alive. An annual inventory does two things. It allows you to understand what you have, and it prevents you from making more tactical purchases. It also allows you to see what you have used and what needs to be used before the expiration date. If you have not historically used an item, figure out how to, or give it away to someone who will. I am going to suggest to my wife that we do it around the Thanksgiving holiday period, as there are food pantries always in need at that time. It also reminds me of how thankful that I am to have a deep larder.
  10. Buy in bulk. It is more cost-effective. If possible, when replacing your long-term storage, try to buy additional at that time. The long-term storage rotation is in five-gallon buckets and other large storage objects. It is easier to do the rotation all at once.
  11. Check expiration dates when you buy an item. This was something we were really good at initially, and it has paid off. While we may have waited a bit too long to use them, it does help extend the life of the food that you buy.
  12. Storage practices are important. Rodents and insects are drawn to stored food, no matter where you live. We have cats and traps, and we still find the occasional mouse. Food that was left in cardboard boxes or plastic bags and left for any amount of time was compromised. We like to store items, like a bag of sugar or flour, in larger plastic totes with locking lids. This provided adequate protection as far as we could tell. Vacuum sealers are also wonderful inventions and have helped greatly with our storage abilities. Ultimately, I would prefer a metal container with the vacuumed packed good inside it.
  13. A second note on storage practices. One of our decisions was to keep items of like-kind in boxes for easier storage, but as we were not at our retreat location, we needed the ability for easy removal in an emergency (should there be time to take extra food). While this helped in storage, it made the rotation a bit more difficult. Keeping items in plain sight does help usage and rotation and allows you to quickly see what you have and what you do not. If you still plan on keeping items stored in boxes, use large labels or even labels off the item itself to help mentally remind you.
  14. We have also had some philosophical changes. We are much more aware of our food and simply distrust the corporations and governments that tell us everything is healthy and fine. While I would say we were always mindful, we have become increasing alarmed at the penetration of GMO’s, products made in China, seafood from the Pacific near Japan or Gulf of Mexico, foods grown with chemicals (non-organics), anything provided by Monsanto; and highly processed foods. Most of you may not realize that Subway (a place I think of as somewhat healthy) just removed a plastic stabilizer from their bread recipe. Items we purchased in 2010 with no concern are not as appealing to us now, and we realize we will not eat these items unless there are no other choices.
  15. Focus. We have learned to focus on our long-term goals but also keep it immediate. This means we are looking to ensure we have enough for our immediate family. While it is nice to consider others, there is no doubt if this is really needed, they will show at the door. It is impractical to plan for this scenario. Instead of planning for friends and family members who have ignored your warnings and show up with their hat in hand, plan additional years for your family. Plan for you. Early on we got caught up in “what if so and so arrives”? What about this other person? The best advice I can give is if they are important to you, tell them to be prepared. Otherwise, you may purchase items not intended for you and your family.
  16. Balance pantry purchases with food tools. Items that should be considered are home grain grinders (powered or manual), canning equipment, storage equipment, et cetera. Again, there are tons of information on the Internet, but if you plan to hunt game, investigate getting a sausage press (average cost of $150) versus having a butcher do it for you. It is more work, but once you find a recipe you like, the sausage is much tastier. Plus, you know exactly what meat and ingredients are contained within. Being economical, I have bought a lot of items second hand at garage and estate sales. Some of it is better than modern day; other times, as we learn and get better, we purchase something that fits our needs more appropriately. Appropriate equipment allows you to get greater variety out of basic foods.

    As an aside, since the weekend we went through our pantry, our Kitchen Aid mixer died. The comparable mixer model to my grandmother’s, which lasted forever, is the professional Kitchen Aid, which runs approximately $700. This is a clear example of inflation. The average models are good for cakes but not for bread, especially hand-ground flour, which is a bit tougher. We are looking at Bosch, Swedish DLX, or possibly a second hand floor model industrial Hobart. Our needs change as we do more ourselves, but in the meantime, my family is getting an additional workout kneading dough.

  17. While JWR does not like recommendations that you have not done, this one is not a life and death matter. I think it would be a good idea to keep a food log and track what we really eat, including what is wasted or discarded. However, with everything we have going on this is ultimately too time-consuming for us right now. However, if things settle down, tracking exactly what we eat would help us improve our pantry. Still, planning a strategic pantry requires you to consider years ahead. Neither of my children are teenagers yet, so I fully anticipate them to eat more and differently as they age. However, certain basics should be able to be identified. The longer a food log would be kept, the greater the understanding of eating habits and needs.

At the end of the day, we threw away about $100 dollars worth of food. We have $150 in food that we will not eat before expiration, which we have donated to charity. There is another $100 dollars that we are searching for a home; it is expired but still good. Many food pantries do not accepted canned goods that have expired and with good reason. While canned food should last past their expiration, the canning process is not the same as it once was. When we open the expired food, some of it has gone bad, and so we are very careful not to make ourselves ill at the expense of saving a few dollars. While I am comfortable with giving these canned goods away, I want a charity that understands that some of the dates have expired and not create extra work for them. At this point though, while I have read of charities on the Internet that accepted expired canned goods, I have not found one nearby.

This is really only a minor setback. If we were not planning to move, it could have become worse. Additionally, it aggravates me as I could have several more 5-gallon buckets of wheat berries or a decent ammo reloading station instead. Experience is a great teacher, which is why I am sharing with all of you.

One additional alternative that we cannot take advantage of is utilizing the expired food to supplement as animal feed. If we had pigs or chickens, we could supplement their food, with restrictions of course. While I prefer to give it to those who are needy, this is a potential use for those who have the opportunity. It prevents completely wasting it, if there are no nearby charities. If we were at our retreat, a good majority that had gone bad would have been composted.

Of the food that we are giving to charity, we are very careful about OPSEC. I do not want to arrive at a food bank with a trunk load of canned goods of varying types, from various stores, all about to expire in the next six months. To me that would announce that this is someone who takes great efforts to manage their pantry, which implies that it is well-stocked. To minimize our presence, we have broken the items down into local grocery store shopping bags (which are less obvious and more common than boxes). Our plan is to take a bag or two to our church pantry every weekend, not all at once. If we need to get rid of it quicker, due to our move, I would take them to different pantries since most churches do have a food pantry. If I had issues with a large bucket of wheat berries that I needed to give away, I would most likely drive a bit away to donate to ensure nobody recognizes me and make it difficult to identify my home location. A donation of wheat berries would be a key identifier as someone who has a deep pantry. As food scarcity increases, make plans on how to be charitable without being obvious.

The thought of having to experiment with canned food to determine if it is safe is unappealing. It makes me think of Mad Max eating dog food. There are many articles about how long food can last in cans, and I am not going to go into detail, since it is readily available on the Internet. However, the expiration dates are designed to protect the company, not you. After these dates, the company who produced the item is basically telling you to eat at your own risk in order to protect them from lawsuits, which have occurred. Otherwise, there would be no dates. Food poisoning is common, and every time we eat food with an expired date, we make a judgment call. This would be much harder in a TEOTWAWKI situation, when you have to make a choice to starve or possibly poison yourself, without any medical treatment available.

To close, I want to leave you with some last thoughts. To sum up the experience, the biggest mistake we made is trying to buy security. We are financially stable and spent our money in an attempt to secure our family and build a deep larder, dependent on the current food processing system. Everybody eats. A loaf of bread is a common staple. Prepping is more than just having extra flour on hand to make bread. Prepping is a lifestyle choice; it’s a philosophy of understanding how and practicing to take a wheat seed and cultivate a field, winnow, and mill into flour, and bake a loaf of bread, and share alike with family, friends, and strangers, and have enough left over to do it again next year. There is a great amount of satisfaction when the food on your table is wrought from your own hands. The food is tastier and healthier, and there is a whole lot less waste. Once you can accomplish this feat, you no longer worry what your children will eat. You no longer make panicked or spur of the moment purchases to stock your pantry. Your choices become simpler,and when you do buy food at the grocery store, you consider first what it would take to make it yourself and how, exactly, did it get here. Our family is not quite there yet, but we are getting closer. After looking back over the last four years, I am hopeful to see what we discover in the next four. Good luck and good prepping.

Letter Re: Tulving Post Mortem

Dear SurvivalBlog,

I will be making a stop at my local coin store tomorrow for a pre-64 dollar’s worth of pre-64 coins.

I’m going to pay my bet off to you in style, because you went above and beyond in posting it. – J.N.

o o o

Hello,

With regard to the recent discussion on taking delivery on precious metal orders. Over the past several years I have purchased junk silver coins and some gold coins at local coin auctions. In some instances I have been able to obtain silver coins at less than spot market prices. This may not be an option for those residing in remote locations, but it has worked well for me. – W.W.

HJL Replies: Auctions can be a “gold mine” when it comes to all sorts of items, especially estate auctions. It does seem that more and more are aware of potential value, and good deals are harder to come by though.

Letter Re: Five Stages of Survival Grief

Hugh,

Regarding the article The Five Stages of Survival Grief , Dr Bob may be at “acceptance” at what he disclosed in his opening paragraph, but I am still at “anger” and don’t know if that will change any time soon.

First a hearty welcome back to the good doctor! We have missed your valued contributions to this blog. I only know Doctor from this blog and having purchased some of his products previously advertised here. I presume it was the sale of those products that got him in hot water with the regulators. It “irks” me no end that this man was more “forward thinking” than the vast majority of his peers and surely all of the “regulators” that he would provide access to products that can save lives and spare needless suffering, and for that he got “hauled off” and stripped of his livelihood. It’s disgusting actually and, folks, yet another example of how this country is not “fixable”. – B.J.

Hugh Replies: It is good to hear from Dr Bob again, and we will certainly keep both him and his family in our prayers. Grief is often a subject that we just don’t think about until we are experiencing it, and this article was spot on. I fear that his story will become more common with the advent of the (un)Affordable Health Care Act.

Economics and Investing:

Does a 100 Trillion Debt Total Matter? – B.B.

More Than 500 Economists Slam Minimum Wage Hike As A Jobs Killer

Items from The Economatrix:

Gold Falls From Six-Month High on Job, Retail-Sales Gains

Is “Dr. Copper” Foreshadowing A Stock Market Crash Just Like It Did In 2008?

Two charts that throw cold water on Dr. Copper’s influence

The perpetually depressed American consumer: Stock market high and bounce in real estate does not assist in boosting consumer confidence. 57 percent of Americans think economic outlook is getting worse.

Odds ‘n Sods:

So what happens when you chamber and shoot a .300 BLK in a .223? Just because it fits, doesn’t mean if fits. – Mike Williamson (Survivablog’s Editor-At-Large)

o o o

Also from Mike Williamson- How to survive a nuclear bomb: An update on “Duck and Cover”

o o o

Time ran an article showing that the entire U.S. powergrid could be taken down with as few as nine substation attacks. – D.T.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this exposure. There are many claiming that Time was irresponsible in reporting this weakness, but I tend to fall in the other camp. Having dealt with software most of my career, I am keenly aware how little organizations will do to fix known vulnerabilities when they remain hidden. As the saying goes, security by obfuscation is not real security.

o o o

The CIA Reminds Us Who’s Boss– G.P.

It seems Feinstein really likes the CIA, except when they are spying on her.

o o o

This idea seems to have possibilities: DIY carbon tape Taser-proof jacket – MKP

Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand,
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589.
  3. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  4. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  8. EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles, is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.

Round 51 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

PLAN B: When The Long-term Is No Longer An Option, by LDM

I’ve contributed several articles outlining my journey through preparedness. I have outlined how, as a rookie, I started my journey with no support from my family. I shared how I brought my family into the fold, how we picked out a retreat/retirement home, and what I’ve done to make it my own personal bastion.

One thing I have never considered is: What happens if life throws a curveball, and my own personal, long term needs and plans are irrelevant? Or more accurately, what do I do with all this stuff and all these plans, if I’m not around to make “it” happen?

You see, I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer.

It’s hard to explain how surprised I was by this, since I’m an “ancient”, only forty-two years old. To say that I’ve been taken aback is an understatement. Still, life is what life is, and there’s no sense crying over it when there’s fighting to be done. That’s another story.

So, I re-pose the question: What do I do with all of this stuff?

As I’ve said, my family has been brought into the fold, but they are not as “hard-core” as I am. Mostly, I think my wife humors me and will continue to do so as long as it doesn’t negatively impact our lives. I don’t understand how being prepared could ever negatively affect anyone, so I guess I’m good.

However, now that I have about a fifty percent chance of being alive five years from now, I have to take into consideration everything that I’ve accomplished and how it can be protected, preserved, and propagated by the people I love, without causing them undue stress. I’ve been putting some serious thought into this, and I’m going to break it down as best as I can.

Things That Go Boom. Anyone, who may have read any of my previous submissions, might also recall that I live in New York. I’m not in the city, but well over an hour north of it. My retreat home is in the mountains of the northern part of the state where like-minded people are plentiful. The problem is that sixty percent of the state’s population lives in the bottom twenty percent of the real estate, and so people hundreds of miles from my home have too much say in my life, with no understanding of how I live it.

That said, a New Yorker without a pistol permit is prohibited by “law” from so much as touching a pistol, let alone owning one. At this time, I am the only person in my house with a permit. My son, as of now, is just a bit too young to apply for one and my wife, who was raised and indoctrinated in the New York City school system, has no interest in getting one.

This leaves me in a bit of a pickle. I believe that my long guns are safe, and I have taken measures to conceal my non-SAFE ACT-compliant firearms. My family is familiar with my bolt-actions, plinkers, and shotguns, which currently do not require a permit to own. Though, what do I do with my pistols, and who’s to say that if the Sheriff comes to confiscate my pistols after I die that they’ll stop there?

Not once did I consider that this might be a problem. I simply assumed that when my son became of age for a permit, he could register (as co-owner of) my collection of pistols, thus insuring his inheritance. Now we face the prospect of confiscation after my death.

If you live in a “free state”, this is not likely an issue for you. Those of you out there living in oppressive leftist environments need to consider the provisions of your states firearm laws. I do not wish illness or hardship on anybody, but this is an aspect of preparedness one should consider to avoid being in my quandary.

Additionally, I have taken great pains to acquaint my son in the various aspects of improvised munitions. I am confident that were I to have an inventory of ingredients scattered around the property of my retirement/retreat home, my son could safely manage it. If you have an inventory of such items, do your “heirs” have a working knowledge of them that will contribute to their safety, in the event something happens to you?

Food Stores. I have managed to set aside well over a year supply of food for my family as well as my sister and her children. Rice, beans, oats, and TVP by the bucketful, as well as canned goods in a scheduled rotation and a root cellar full of items grown in my garden are in abundance. If we were to marginally limit our intake, there is enough food for two years for eight people.

I have involved my son in the rotation schedule, and taught him how to preserve and maintain the stores of dried goods. My sister has a knack for gardening and enjoys canning, so I imagine that they’ll be fine with those tasks. Have you involved your children, spouses, or group members? Did you store foods that they will eat? If not, what will happen to this food?

The food pantry near my house will not accept food that is not in its original packaging. If you needed to disperse, share, or otherwise discard some of your stores, this could be an issue. I’m not sure why you would need to “get rid” of food, but if you were called upon to help your fellow man by sharing your food, you might not be able to use a pantry as an intermediary, which I believe is crucial to preserving your operational security. After all, there’s no sense in risking your safety in an effort to try to help others in a crisis.

Garden and livestock. Over the last several years I have cultivated two rather large gardens– one vegetable and one herbal (medicinal as well as cooking). It took years of trial and error to cultivate my soil and heirloom the plants, so that I have the best crop I can harvest. My sister, nieces, and nephews have helped with this, but neither my wife nor my son have a “green thumb”; rather, they each have a plaqued thumb. Thankfully, my sister and my wife have a good relationship and will help each other long after I am gone. Who can and will maintain your crops?

Do you have animals? I have over a dozen chickens that provide me with enough eggs and meat (to a lesser extent) to feed my family with enough remaining to sell. What other member of your family or group have the knowledge required to not just maintain, but promote a healthy life among your flock or herd?

I have been derelict in sharing my duties here and must take corrective action immediately.

To bug or not to bug? I have never been entirely confident about my ability to determine when the time to run to the hills came. As a matter of course, I watch and listen to multiple sources of news, and I watch the market and pay attention to global events that may have a direct effect on things here at home. Still, no matter how much information I gather, there is no great big neon sign that will tell me: “Go now!”

As a result, I’ve had to come up with several scenarios that have corresponding plans. As we used to say way back when, writing computer programs was easy, “If then go to…” or, as my scoutmaster was fond of saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

I am rather happy with the knowledge that the adults and teens in my family are familiar with the various routes they can take to get to our retreat location. But will they know when to go, when I admittedly do not (with any degree of certainty)?

What if the best course of action is to stay put? Does your family have the knowledge and ability to defend your home? Do they know how to locate the supplies you’ve stored and how to properly utilize them? Does your “bug in” plan include drilling, so that your family can function without you? Even if you aren’t facing your own mortality, there is a possibility that you may not be able to make it home in the event of a large-scale event, as happened to many people during Katrina.

Make sure that your plans include a written procedure and that it is familiar and available to all members of your family/group.

I think that overall, redundant redundancy is critical, not just with supplies but with skill-sets. Every person involved in your plans should be able to cross cover at least one other person when it comes to specialized skills. When it comes to general skills, such as gardening and day-to-day livestock management, everyone should know what to do.

The most important prep. As I sit here typing, I am forced to consider my fate. There is a strong chance I will be gone in the relatively near future. This is not to say that I couldn’t get killed in an accident on my way to work, but it’s different when there’s a timeframe attached to you.

I look back at my life and see so many places where a different decision would have positively changed an outcome, but I see not one single place where I would’ve done anything different, based on the information I had at the time. I have no regrets.

I also look back at the single most important reason that I face this challenge without fear for myself. It’s because of the single most important prep I have at my disposal– I’m right with the Lord.

I have tried to live His word, while walking the path of honor and duty. If you can look in the mirror and say the same thing, then you have everything you need to face the uncertainty of the future, or a certainty that is fearful.

Good luck, my friends. I pray we never need to use our knowledge, skills, and stores, but it always pays to be vigilant. With God’s graces and some luck, maybe I’ll be able to post again. Be well.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

Letter Re: Tulving Post Mortem

You guys printed the post mortem report on Tulving today, I read your site almost every day and have never seen any caution note about Tulving posted.

I specifically wrote you a fact based email with dates about my dealings with Tulving and requested you warn your readers.

SHAME ON YOU for any of your readers that lost money since I sent you that article.

Before you respond with “we have given notice to only deal with reputable online dealers”, note in the article you posted today that Tulving had a stellar reputation for 10 years.

I would bet a dollar you won’t print this, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for not getting the warning out two months ago.

You’ve lost a ton of credibility in my eyes by printing an “after action” report, when you could have been helping shout the problem out earlier.

I bet somewhere someone who reads survivalblog has some of the purported 30 to 40 million dollars that is said to be “missing” in this saga.

Personally it appears I was extremely lucky as we took delivery only after filing complaints and our delivery was only 2 months before the operations cease. sincerely – J.N.

JWR Replies: I regularly get reports of delayed shipments at precious metals dealers, usually quite irate, often alarmist, and usually assuaged just a few days or weeks later, when orders are properly filled. It is a constant barrage of “CRYING WOLF.” I have received dozens of e-mails, like your first one, about Tulving, since I started the blog in 2005. Only two of the precious metals firms that were mentioned in those e-mails went bankrupt. (And I blew the whistle on one of them, at the first opportunity.) So this begs the question, on how many of those e-mails should I have raised the alarm? The correct answer: Hardly any of them. Why? Because most them came from just one source. In the intelligence world, we call that “single source intelligence”, and it is notoriously unreliable.

Yes, there were some red flags about Tulving (your e-mail, and one other), but nothing that unmistakably jumped out at me and led me to believe that they were about to go under.

If Tulving were one of my advertisers (past or present–and FWIW, they never have been), then I would have had cause for a some due diligence.

The fact is I’m not omniscient, and up until two months ago, I was a one-man operation, without a lot of time to delve into investigative reporting.

There is one other factor that you may not have considered: These days, small publications are regularly sued out of existence in libel cases. I can’t go shooting from the lip. As a “shallow pockets” small businessman, I simply cannot afford to.

Please walk a mile in my shoes. God bless.

HJL Adds: There are industry analysts that work full time to provide that information to investors. It is unreasonable to expect that level of evaluation from an online blog whose focus is much broader than just investments in PMs. SurvivalBlog endeavors to get information like this into the hands of readers as soon as possible and, in fact, the article was posted in less than 24 hours from when we received it. We also simultaneously received this warning from a SurvivalBlog reader:

“…In my case, at least, they did so after gladly accepting my wire transfer, without telling me they could not deliver as promised. I foolishly failed to update my research on them because I had successfully performed multiple transactions with them over the last eight years. Had I done so I would have quickly discovered their formerly good reputation began to deteriorate quickly last year, including numerous Better Business Bureau complaints. Please let my expensive lesson be an example to others – Always do your research even with a history of successful transactions. Obviously for my next purchase my first contact will be with a dealer who CURRENTLY advertises with Survivalblog – I have only had excellent experiences with them. – Pablo

That would be the first warning I had of Tulving in the two months I have been at SurvivalBlog. It is vital that each customer verify the supplier each time they enter into a major financial transaction with a vendor. SurvivalBlog continues to verify information of those companies that advertise with us, because we have intertwined interests, but even then, it is possible for the vendor to hide things. As JWR stated, Tulving, while mentioned in the blog several times over a period of years, has never been an advertiser in SurvivalBlog. We will continue bringing warnings to the readership if they are valid, but it must be more than a single-sourced complaint. Anything else is libelous.

Letter Re: 41 Camping Hacks

On the article about the 41 camping hacks, the Mt. Dew + baking soda + peroxide chemlight idea is a hoax!

I tried this and it doesn’t work! It did sound vaguely familiar as what I remember from the ingredients of a chem light. Chem lights contain Luminol, potassium ferricyanide, sodium hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide, if I remember correctly. In the Dew light, we have the hydrogen peroxide and sodium bicarbonate, which are acid and base like we see in the chem light. So it sounded plausible. The only question was does Mt. Dew have chemical substitutes for the Luminol and potassium ferricyanide? Answer: No. I checked with Snopes, and they have it as a hoax as well. So don’t waste your time or Dew on this! And shoot down anyone spreading this fertilizer!

HJL Replies: I appreciate the verification of that hack. I was suspicious of some of those hacks and posted the YMMV warning as a result. Glow sticks are so cheap nowadays, I’m not sure why anyone would waste a perfectly drinkable Mt. Dew on such an endeavor anyway. Some of the other hacks are more trouble than they are worth, but there were a few good ones on that page, and some may make fun projects with the kids.

Economics and Investing:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10687708/Top-German-body-calls-for-QE-blitz-to-avert-deflation-trap-in-Europe.html

Items from The Economatrix:

Oklahoma Senate Passes Bill to Authorize Gold and Silver as Legal Tender, 37-4

We Are In FAR Worse Shape Than We Were Just Prior To The Last Great Financial Crisis

Why Americans Are Dumping Their US Citizenship: 5 Case Studies

How Long Does This Go On Before There’s A Currency Crisis?

Odds ‘n Sods:

An excellent read on birthing and caring for goats: Copper’s Babies & Other Goat Lore

o o o

Making Cop-Worship Mandatory – RBS. While I don’t necessarily agree with the premise that being prostrated by a cop is tantamount to worshiping them, law enforcement is way out-of-control when it comes to overbearing force and intimidation, especially when the person to whom the force is applied has committed neither a crime, nor is the subject of the cop’s warrant/search.

o o o

Doctors asked to help spot terrorists in new ‘inappropriate’ NHS policy – G.G.

o o o

This video clip from “Downfall” (2004) has been dubbed and used for many rants on the Internet, but this must be one of the best I have seen: Hitler’s Rant on Connecticut Gun Registration. – B.R.

o o o

So, when TEOTWAWKI happens, who will they sue? – Passengers on crippled Carnival ship seeking $5,000 a month for life

Notes from HJL:

Michael Z. Williamson (Survivalblog’s Editor-at-Large) is a science fiction and adventure fiction author with fifteen books in print. His first novel, “Freehold,” first released in 2004, is being re-released in a signed, hardcover edition. This is a one-time run, and there will only be about 1,000 of them printed.

If you are interested, please order today to both ensure your copy and boost the Amazon sales rank.

Parents should note the book contains violence, adult language, and situations. Please keep this in mind if ordering or sharing with young readers.

o o o

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand,
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589.
  3. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  4. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  8. EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles, is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.

Round 51 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Five Stages of Survival Grief, by Dr. Bob

(In writing this submission after quite a long hiatus, I am hoping to bring awareness to the issue and help people be better prepared. After having to go through this cycle of grief myself in regards to the State and their overreach in professional licensing and control of physicians, I have reached acceptance and have emerged willing to try once again to help others. Acceptance of the fact that ANY one of us can be hauled off by the State now for “infractions” is a tough thing, but as Doc’s wife says often: “It is only through faith in God that the State can’t control people, which is why they try so hard to eliminate faith”. While all of us, Christians, would indeed agree that this is true, it is a tough thing to have faith that you don’t need a paycheck!)

The five stages of grief have long been defined and established by medical and psychology circles. Since the late 1960’s, the Kubler-Ross cycle of grief has been defined as having five separate stages, with no set timeline for movement through those stages. One person can progress within moments to acceptance, while others can get mired in denial for their entire lives. These stages will be familiar to you and are as follows:

  • Denial
  • Anger
  • Bargaining
  • Depression
  • Acceptance

In regard to these stages and survival issues in a collapse, there are three populations of people to address. The first is the masses– those who will not, and often cannot, cope with the idea that a collapse is even possible. There are plenty of debates about what will happen to this group of folks, but surely the outcome is not good for them. If they do face a collapse, surely many will be stuck even before denial in the “shock” stage, which often leads to indecision, inability, and apathy to the situation. Surely these folks are venerable to State control, dependence, and early death in violent situations. They may get to denial and then progress very quickly to anger at “the government” that they see as responsible for “letting this happen”. As many preppers are very aware, these folks usually have less than three days worth of food and provisions available in any type of disaster. After denial and anger, they nearly must progress to bargaining within a few days to avoid dehydration and starvation. They are likely, in the bargaining stage, to willingly give up any and all prior rights in order to eat or even be provided with water. They may be willing to be State soldiers if necessary for their meals or their family’s meals. This will lead to depression in varying degrees and then finally acceptance– WILLING acceptance. This is why the rest of us in the other two groups are and need to be armed.

This group of people will be completely helpless without State control. If there is a complete collapse of law and order without the State controlling millions quickly and efficiently, these folks will have to go through the stages of grief as they starve and die off. This would also make them extremely dangerous. Many will surely die in the denial stage as others progress to the anger stage of their process. Violence inevitably and very quickly increases as angry people don’t have water and food. Those in denial will be likely to never progress beyond it as they fall victim to angry people. Those that get to anger will vent that anger somewhere and in some way. Again, those they blame will be prone to danger, injury, and death.

In the bargaining stage, folks will be willing to do ANYTHING to survive. If the State does not swoop in and offer an option to people in need immediately, there are many folks out there more than willing to take advantage of these “bargainers” to further their own power towards survival. The bargaining stage will consolidate power in those that have and are willing to provide “favor” for something in exchange. If that is the State, then the State will gain power over those it controls and others that it may want to control. If that is the local gangsters, then they will become warlords themselves and those that are willing to bargain for those provisions that they control. Gangs will grow quickly and organize with warlords of power getting more powerful. This is the inevitable nature of humanity. History has proven this innumerable times, if you require proof.

Depression will be rampant in those stuck in those bargained positions, whether State-controlled or gangster-controlled. Many will be depressed enough for suicide as an escape. Suicides will be numerous, in the depressed seeing no way out, in varied situations. Many others would fail in their situations and either starve or be killed because of their failure. It would be a rough time indeed. As many progress to acceptance, a natural state of conflict will exist between those in power and those that have bargained for survival. This state of acceptance is very prone to volatility, and the usual rebellions (both local and regional) will occasionally cycle through. It would be in your best interest to avoid this group of folks altogether. Anyone that reads this blog will obviously say, “Well, duh.”

Once a person reaches acceptance, it is surely not locked down and static. Often those in horrible situations have to wake every day and progress through the stages of grief just to get up and dressed, and they are at risk daily for stage regression and miring. This is a very important fact about grief processing that is essential to remember: The stages are not 1,2,3,4,5 in order but can be a yo-yo within moments, days, weeks, months, or years. It can go 1,2,3,5,3,5,1,4,5,1,5 and take a lifetime to process. For others, it can progress in order, without deviation, and all within minutes. Some people can skip stages altogether and never have to actually process a stage. The essential fact for survival is to know and follow your own process and the process of others around you to improve your chances. To deny mental health issues and avoid their discussion increases your failure risk in any collapse situation.

For the second group of folks, the stages are the same, but the process is very different. This group includes most of the readers of this fine blog– those who did some preparation and are not surprised by the collapse, but feel that they were caught “not finished” with their ideal preps. Almost all preppers would be in this group of those wishing they had done more and had a little more time (myself included). For these people, denial will likely be minimal. Anger will most-likely be self-directed. Bargaining will most-likely be with those friends and family that were not prepared, urging them to quickly do what they can to help their own survival. Depression about those “lost” will be very real. If communication is quickly difficult or impossible, the unknown status of loved ones will bear down on us all. Depression about our state of being in a collapse environment is serious and also inevitable. Denying this fact is very dangerous indeed. Depending on the situation of the individual, the group, and the larger society, depression will eventually give way to acceptance, if you live long enough. It will be a tough time though for preppers too, not just the unprepared. While the unprepared masses will immediately feel overwhelmed and give up their control to others, the prepper will have to go through this cycle over and over about countless things putting them at risk for stage regression and miring.

Think about the things over the years that you have prepared for that you suddenly “light-bulbed” in terms of your preps. There are so many things that you could have missed that will become front and center in a collapse situation. Every time you run out of something that you wish you had stored more of, every time you wish you had something that you feel like you should have remembered, every time someone complains about some inconvenience and you know that ultimately it was up to you as the “survival nut that read that blog all the time”, and when you run out of toilet paper, you have to go through the grief cycle. When you have no more gasoline, it will be time for the grief cycle. When you run out of propane, batteries, ammo, sunblock, bug spray, tape, shoes, it will be time for the grief cycle. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance– that’s just the reality of how it works inside our brains.

When you think about the hunting or camping trip you had when you were a kid, you know the grief cycle. “Don’t tell me we forgot (BLANK)?!?!?!”. “Oh no, we forgot (BLANK)!”. “How could we forget (BLANK)??? Are you sure?” “Son of bleepity bleep bleep bleepity (depending on your relations), I can’t deal with this trip without (BLANK)!!!” “Maybe the neighbors have (BLANK) and will trade for cash”. “At least we have beer…(let the drinking to cope with (BLANK)-missing begin).” “Oh well, the trip will go on, and we can cope without (BLANK).” In my family, as long as (BLANK) wasn’t the beer, that was usually the conversation. It won’t be a camping trip or a hunting weekend though, so the magnitude and severity of the stages of grief will be much greater.

Finally, the group that you want to be in and hope to achieve is that of the fully prepared. Those lucky few are the hardcores– those that practiced living without power when they had it to see their prepping holes, those that ran drills and practiced security and safety, and those that forced their kids (adult or otherwise) to do what most families do not do– really prepare. Even these lovable nuts will have to go through the stages of grief. Denial, check. (It’s over on the news that there is the hint of collapse.) Anger, none, except perhaps venting to God and family. “I told them all!!! Why did they not listen! How could they be so stupid? R17.5 trillion. What did they think would happen?!!!” Bargaining is likely to be minimal, except internally, worrying about what is coming to them for challenges. Most of this will be directed at God, in the form of prayers or pleas. “Get us through today, and I will venture out and try to help people tomorrow” type of stuff. Depending on the nature and severity of the suffering around, these fully-prepared folks may find their Christian nature starts in on them, and they wonder if they are being “too selfish” or should be “making more of an effort” to help others than “just themselves”. Depression is a reality for the fully prepared, too. Minds are a tricky thing in crisis, and to deny this is to deny our humanity. Acceptance is much more likely in this group to be reached faster than the other groups and with more permanence.

Interacting with others will be more effective and safer if you can quickly and easily recognize that they may be in a different stage of grief than you and yours. It will not be easy to turn away a known family that are dangerously ill-prepared, even with the food and preps you were just willing to give them to try to help. It would especially not be easy to turn them away at the point of a gun when they again returned to you for help, desperate and bargaining for their lives. How would you deal with them if it was your blood family or a best friend of if they want to leave their three-year-old so that the child might live? These are horrible, difficult grief cycle issues that may be more reality than any of us might like in a collapse. Just because you are well prepared does not protect you from the grief cycle.

So, how does this help your preparations? What can we do about this now, during, and after a collapse to help survival? There are some concrete things to do. First, acknowledge that the stages of grief are indeed real, and talk about the grief cycle now. Think through your own “preparation grief stages” and how you might deal with various scenarios. For those of us in the middle group of preppers, realize that immediately progressing through denial and using the anger that you have for constructive action can save your life and the lives of others. Waiting a day in a dollar collapse may be too long. Have a plan for yourself and your group for collapse day. What happens if you are wrong? So, you have more dog food and gas that you might need that month, big deal. You may also find something that your “24-hour list” might be missing. We have a “24-hour list” that has many helpful survival items that we have thought about buying in quantities and without worry of cost in the event of collapse, as recommended by many prior articles and books on the subject. We have moved past the denial of ever needing it to have it ready. If you have not, perhaps it is time.

Second, realize that sometimes it is the little things that get to us more than the bigger ones. “So there has been a complete collapse, oh well. But we ran out of (BLANK)?!!?!?!?! That’s it, time for a complete freakout!!!” This is more real than you can possibly imagine. People in real-world survival situations have found this to be the real-world manifestation of people in grief stages. We have all been upset about something unrelated and taken our anger out on the dog or other loved one. Minimize these risks now. Have everyone in the family make a “top ten things I would not want to not have in a collapse” list. Many of the items may surprise you. While brownies seem like hardly a survival necessity to me, it might be the #3 on both my daughter’s and Doc’s wife’s list. Time to get some “just add water” survival brownies. For $20, we may have avoided a double freakout and have increased the time my family has to progress to acceptance of the bigger situation…well worth it. My own list was a challenge, at first full of foods and other niceties that later seemed petty and selfish. Later, the list had more practical items and retained some of the niceties, just because.

Lastly, realize that you may have a better grasp on your mental thread than others in your family or group. Talking about it openly now may prevent serious problems later. For us, we really don’t want to see how my daughter truly reacts and behaves when the grid goes down. She doesn’t like thinking, talking, or preparing for even a power outage. We force her to talk about it occasionally, and she does at least relate her thoughts that she knows we have prepared for her, and she appreciates the idea in the back of her mind. It would be the front of her mind that we would worry about when you take her Starbucks away! She is certainly the biggest risk for denial and anger. She would be likely to quickly progress past bargaining when she got there because she would be bargaining with us, so easy solution there. However, when depression hit her, it would likely be hard and smothering. It is up to me, as our family leader, to watch all my people closely, continuing to talk about how they are really doing and if they are progressing through the stages appropriately. Just talking about it helps people process that it is happening. Reminding them of how they denied an issue, then got angry, then pleaded for a bargain helps to reassure them that their current depression is NORMAL and will eventually pass.

So, to recap, before any collapse, talk and talk and talk and better prepare as a group. During a collapse, avoid denial quicksand and turn anger into action with a 24-hour list and a plan. After a collapse, continue to help lead people in their grief as well as the other areas of your strength. Perhaps there is a person in your group that is best suited for this, and you are not. That person should spend some time studying the grief stages and how people progress more quickly and effectively. Perhaps purchasing a book to help for the survival shelves might help if your group is poorly psychologically-gifted. There is the original text and there are more modern versions

There is also a more challenging modern grief “textbook” that is regarded by many in therapy circles to be a must-read if you are into the “current theory” grief idea.