Survival Seeds-Plan Your Survival Garden Now, by Jennifer A.

Let’s say that the SHTF scenario you prepared for has happened.  You are in your bug-out location or somewhere with a bit of land and you envision a return to a normal society will take a few months or years.  You know you need to grow food and fast to prevent depletion of your stores and for a well-rounded diet.
You’ve got your survival seed bank, but now what? Hopefully in your survival seed bank you’ve given some thought to the order and priority in which you will plant, tend, grow and harvest those fruits and vegetables.

My first recommendation on seed saving is to find varieties of open pollinated or heirloom vegetables and plan to sow them continuously to enjoy an evenly spaced harvest.  This can work with many styles of gardening, from a square foot garden concept, to row gardening, and even guerilla gardening.  Basically, what you’re looking to accomplish here is to have food available continuously and not have everything ripen and need harvesting at once.  There are several reasons for this:
1.       You want to eat a variety of foods everyday for the most balance to your diet.  Proper nutrition in SHTF scenario will be difficult and fresh veggies can supply a large number of needs.
2.       Preparing the ground for and planting a large number of seeds is back-breaking labor and especially at the beginning of a TEOTWAWKI situation it’s likely you’ll be consumed with safety, shelter and other high-priority items.  It can be overwhelming to envision planting a successful 1 acre survival garden but planting a 16 square foot area daily is manageable, and for a family of four that’s about what you would need to complete on a daily basis.
3.       If pestilence, disease, excessive rain, or drought, cause damage to your crop you most likely won’t lose your entire crop.
4.       Harvesting a large amount of any crop takes many hours of daylight which you may need for other tasks.
5.       If your garden is discovered by non-friendly two-legged varmints and they steal from your survival garden, they will not be able to steal your entire crop.

So what do you plant first?  There are many factors you should take into consideration such as the availability of sunshine, water and good soil.  However, even more important to sunshine, water and soil, you should have prepped for is the time of year.  If you are in a temperate climate such as Southern California, then consider yourself extra blessed as you can successfully grow most anything year-round.  If you are in an area where the temperatures are more extreme you may not be able to grow year-round. If the SHTF in the dead of winter, you should have sprouting seeds in your survival kit and plan to sprout those and to also start seedlings indoors until they can be transplanted safely outside. If the SHTF in the middle of August then you will have a difficult time keeping seedlings watered and hydrated without wilting or scorching.

 
For this prep let’s consider two seasons: cool season and warm season.  In cool season the types of seeds you are looking to grow are grown for either their leaves or what happens below ground.  My personal list of top seven seeds you should consider for cool season survival is listed in order of their planting priority:
1.       Turnips
2.       Arugula
3.       Radish
4.       Kale
5.       Beets
6.       Rutabagas
7.       Onions

Obviously if you can store more varieties of seed in your survival seed bank, that’s great, but there’s a method to the madness above, so let’s examine my top seven cool season crops more closely:.

Turnips-Purchasing a bulk quantity of high quality turnip seeds is very inexpensive.  You can get a half pound of seeds for around $7.00.  That’s a million turnip seeds, which is plenty to plant for yourself or barter.  Additionally, you can eat the root bulb of a turnip as well as the leaves.  If left in ground, they go to seed very easily and will readily self-sow more turnips for you in the same area.  They also grow very quickly.  Some heirloom varieties grow in as few as 42 days.  Variety recommended: Purple Top Turnip.

Arugula-The Rocket variety of Arugula again grows very quickly, leaving you with an ample amount of peppery leaves that are full of vitamins and minerals. These are a great choice for guerilla gardening because they look like a weed when growing and flowering.  You can eat the leaves as soon as they start appearing and the plant will keep producing.  And just like turnips if you leave a few plants in ground they will eventually grow a flower and re-seed themselves.  In temperate climates you’ll end up with more arugula then you could ever want. Variety recommended: Rocket Arugula.

Radish-Radishes require very little space and dirt, 3-4 inches of soil depth and 25-30 days of growth will yield you mature radishes.  So again, this grows quickly and will re-seed if left alone.  This is a great choice for guerilla gardening and most pests leave it alone.  Variety recommended: Cherry Belle Radish or French White Finger Radish.

Kale-This is a well-known super-food full of Vitamin A, C and it has a ton of fiber.  It takes a little longer to grow, around 55 days, but is much hardier than a lettuce and can take more extreme temperature changes without bolting or dying.  Curly Kale especially will blend into a guerrilla gardening environment.  You can eat the leaves in any size, just harvest from the outside of each plant and let it keep growing. Kale will also readily self-sow. Variety recommended: Dwarf Blue Curled Kale.

Beets- As you can see the varieties on the bottom of the list take longer to grow.  Beets take between 55-80 days, are full of vitamins and minerals and can you can consume both their root and their leaves.  Beets are also a good item for canning or long term storage. Variety Recommended: Detroit Dark Red Beet

Rutabagas-Another root crop suitable for long term storage, Rutabagas can be eaten raw or cooked.  When cooked they resemble mashed potatoes, but they can be boiled, mashed, fried or eaten raw. They take about 90 days to mature, and are a very forgiving crop to grow. Give them a little sunshine and water and they are happy. Variety Recommended: American Purpletop Rutabaga.

Onions-When gardening in a SHTF scenario you’ll probably not spend a whole lot of time spraying pesticides or handling insect invasions, so onions are your secret weapon.  Planted around the perimeter or your vegetable garden, they will help with naturally deterring many pests from invading!  Onions are also fantastic for flavoring foods, lowering fevers and blood pressure naturally and are very suitable for long term storage if harvested correctly.  They’re also a very easy crop.  They will grow small when placed fairly close together or large if spaced out further.  Either way you get an edible onion.  You can harvest parts of the green tops as the plant is growing to use immediately without harming the plant. Varieties typically take between 90 and 180 days so this is a long term commitment in the garden. Varieties recommended include: Walla Walla and White Bunching Onion (but I haven’t met an onion seed that didn’t easily grow, so as long as it is a non-hybrid you’re good to go.)

In general, warm season crops are grown for what happens above ground or for their fruit.  You’re not growing for their leaves.  Leaf crops, like lettuce, cannot stand high temperatures and will not last for any sort of time either growing or once harvested.  Also during the height of summer, you can expect to be harvesting constantly and watering quite often.  In my experience warm season growing is more labor intensive than cool season crops.
My personal list of top 7 seeds you should consider for warm season survival are listed in order of their planting priority:
1.       Tomatoes
2.       Beans
3.       Squash
4.       Pumpkin
5.       Cucumber
6.       Watermelon
7.       Winter Squash
Let’s examine my top seven warm season crops more closely:

Tomatoes-Tomatoes can grow in almost any soil type given proper sun and water.  Tomatoes also can be sown indoors utilizing window spaces etc to get them started.  What you’re looking for here is to have a good 10-12 weeks of indoor growth, sown continuously and hardened off for use in the vegetable garden.  In this way your plant will be stronger and you will end up with ripe tomatoes several weeks earlier. There are two main types of tomato plants: determinate and indeterminate.  Select a variety of these types of seeds to store.  Tomatoes are useful to can, dehydrate and preserve for use throughout the cool season so plant as many tomato plants as you have room for.  Tomatoes also need to be staked and they’re not particular about how, just about anything will work to keep their leaves off the ground so tomatoes are a perfect post SHTF crop.  Also because I view tomatoes as such an important survival food item, I include several varieties in my seed bank including hybrids to plant.  (Top) Varieties recommended: Sweet 100 Hybrid Cherry Tomato, Russian Tula Heirloom, Yellow Pear Heirloom, Green Zebra Heirloom, Roma Heirloom, and Mortgage Lifter Heirloom.  Again, having multiple types of tomato seeds is important and there are hundreds of heirlooms out there .  The varieties recommended have all done well in my garden in multiple situations so I can heartily endorse them. I would have on hand a small tomato like the cherry tomato, a paste tomato (Roma) and any variety of the larger tomatoes.

Beans-The top reason to plant beans is the protein, followed closely by their ease of growth.  Now beans are very easy to grow but you need to plant many rows and feet of beans to get a decent amount to eat, and to dry and store for cool season.  So here’s my advice on beans.  Have at least 3 varietals in your survival seed bank and have at least one pound of each varietal to plant.  That may seem like overkill but trust me, even in a small home garden most gardeners are planting 40-50 beans to get back 1000 bean pods in harvest.  Keep the 1:20 ratio in mind and you can calculate just how many beans you need to plant.  Varieties Recommended: Blue Kentucky Runner Bean.

Squash-There are many varieties of squash out there but the Heirloom variety called Black Beauty Zucchini is a productive and very vigorous plant.  From a seed in the ground to food on your plate in 55 days, squash can’t be beat in the survival garden. You can eat squash when it is teensy tiny for a tender melt in your mouth vegetable or squash can double in size overnight during the warmest parts of the year so if you’re really hungry and can wait another day you will have a lot more food to bring to the table.  One squash plant in a home setting can produce enough squash to make you sick of it, so just imagine if you planted a few dozen in a survival garden.  You can grate zucchini and mix it with flour to make a bread, you can eat it raw, fry it, bake it, stuff it, dehydrate it, etc.  One other note is that in the event that the bees have died off severely it is easy to hand-pollinate a squash blossom, so this is a plant in my view that is a super prep. Variety recommended: Black Beauty Heirloom Zucchini Squash.

Pumpkin-The only reason you would grow pumpkin during the warmer months is for cool season storage.  Pumpkins require a large amount of space and time (around 120 days) to grow so if space is at a premium you won’t get very much food for the space but you will get food that can store through winter without any special process. Variety Recommended: Sugar Pumpkin Heirloom for a small variety and Connecticut Field Pumpkin Heirloom for tasty pies as well.

Cucumber-Cucumbers are great for eating fresh but they also turn into pickles.  Over the years I have grown many varieties and some varieties tend to get bitter if left on the vine too long.  The clear winner in my opinion for the best variety of cucumber in the survival garden is the National Pickling Cucumber. You can pick it when it is small but let it mature to its full size and it still doesn’t get bitter like other varieties.  It is a squat looking cucumber so it is less appealing visually but this is for survival and function over form wins hands down. At only 52 days from seed to your plate it is a vigorous addition to the survival garden. Harvesting cucumbers is easy and the more you harvest the more productive the plant is, so for that reason cucumber is not as viable in a guerilla style survival garden but if it will be tended daily then it is an excellent choice. Variety Recommended: National Pickling Cucumber.

Watermelon-Many survival seed banks out there include watermelon in their product line and I recommend it in my top seven list but only for experienced growers.  Growing a watermelon to a size of 50-100 pounds is easy, knowing when to harvest it is not.  One of the toughest parts of growing watermelon is to indeed know when the inside has ripened, and take it from someone who has gotten it wrong multiple times while learning, if you think it is ripe, it’s not.  Wait a week and come back to harvest it.  There are a few things to look for when harvesting your watermelon.  First, have enough days passed for the melon to possibly be ripe.  Keep records of when you planted the seed and do not even attempt to harvest it until those days have passed.  Has the vine started wilting around the watermelon and has the yellow spot under the melon become more white than yellow?  These are all signs the watermelon is ripe.  Watermelon will not ripen off the vine, so if you can’t practice this prep now, watch a few You Tube videos or ask someone who gardens to show you their technique.  Another thing about watermelon is that it loves heat so planting the watermelon seeds near a slab of concrete or asphalt and letting the plant vine over the concrete or asphalt will help your plant grow more vigorously and in a situation where garden space is at a premium this can ideally take up very little garden room, not to mention you don’t have to weed concrete!  Variety recommended: Black Beauty Heirloom Watermelon for large watermelon or Crimson Sweet Heirloom for a medium size watermelon.

Winter Squash-Growing a butternut squash or an acorn winter squash is also done with cool season eating in mind.  Growing a winter squash is easy; they are a vining plant and can be grown in the same technique described for watermelon above if space is at a premium.  Harvesting is simple but it does take a bit of space and you can only expect to get 3-4 squash from each plant so plan accordingly.  I have had a home grown butternut squash last for a year in a cool cupboard so once grown these can easily be stored for winter eating.  Varieties recommended: Butternut Squash Heirloom and Acorn Squash Heirloom.

Corn -Before you think I’ve forgotten about corn as being an important crop or something that you can grow with beans and a vining squash in the 3 sisters technique, just note that this is my top 7 list
but corn would make it on a top 10 list.  The reason why I did not include it in the top 7 is that it is a wind-pollinated crop that requires a very large minimum amount to be planted bunched together in hopes of successful pollination.  If that doesn’t occur then you won’t have any corn to harvest.  I find it too risky. Even with disease and pests the other vegetables in my list are always at least marginally successful and I have tried for years in a home garden various amounts of corn and it seems best suited for large field growth rather than home growing or a survival garden.  If you plan on planting an acre in corn, you’re probably going to be just fine but anything less than that seems high risk for a survival garden.

Preparing Seeds for Planting
In a survival situation preparing seeds for planting is very important, more so than in a typical day to day scenario where you can run to the store and buy extra seeds. 

Soak Seeds
Before you put a seed in the ground prepare the seed for planting by soaking it in water or in a diluted fertilizer, preferably a weak compost or manure tea.  You should soak small seeds with a soft coat for 1-4 hours and seeds with a hard coat or larger seeds can be soaked overnight.  Soaking seeds will greatly increase the rate of germination and is a small step that is made more important in a TEOTWAWKI situation.

Plant Spacing
Don’t pay attention to the seed packet space planting instructions.  Think about what size the plant will become and space the seeds according to the mature plant size and do not plant more than one seed per hole. 

Planting Depth
In a TEOTWAWKI situation you may be given or barter for additional seeds to plant that do not come with planting depth or other instructions. In this scenario, follow the rule of thumb that a seed should be planted at the depth that is 2-4 times the size of the seed.  An example would be pumpkin seeds which are very large and can be planted up 1-2 inches deep whereas a tomato seed is small and can be planted 1/4-1/2  inch deep.

Soil Preparation
Prepare the soil by tilling in compost or manure if available.  If not available break the soil up to a depth of 6 inches at a minimum and remove any large stones, wood debris, etc.  I do not plan to till the soil to any further depth than 6 inches in an area that has not been utilized for vegetable gardening because doing so can bring up more weed seeds that have been long dormant in the soil.

Protect Your Seedlings
As your seedlings begin to germinate and grow protect them by doing a few simple tricks.  Crushed eggshells around the seedling will keep soft body insects away. As the plant grows larger and develops more leaves, strip the lower leaves off the plant to remove any insect ‘on-ramps’.  You should also plant onions around your vegetable garden to deter insects.  It is very important in a survival garden to avoid mulching your seedlings.  Wait until you have a large and healthy plant then consider mulching to conserve moisture.  Adding shredded leaves, bark, straw will help conserve moisture and keep weeds at bay, but it can also harbor insects that will eat your tender seedlings.

Water
In general, seeds need to be kept moist until the second set of leaves appear, also called the ‘true leaves’.   Do your best in the given situation to keep seeds evenly moist.  As the plant matures you can reduce watering dependent upon your soil and growing conditions.  My plan will be to put a small water bottle with pinholes in the bottom down next to each seedling and pour the water directly in there.  In that way it will slowly percolate into the soil to keep the seedling evenly moist even while I am away.  However, procuring enough (100’s) of small water bottles may be difficult so a water filled zip lock bag with small pin holes would also work.  For guerilla gardening, it would appear to be trash and not bring attention to the area which is another advantage.
 
Now that you know what seeds to store and what order to plant them and why, create your own plan for your survival garden and start growing today if you can!  Practice makes perfect!

Letter Re: Ballistic Clipboards

Hello Mr. Rawles,
I don’t like to bother you, but I would like it if you could let your readers know that if they are wanting to do something to help protect kids/ teachers in schools that don’t allow weapons, a gift of a ballistic clip board (from one of SurvivalBlog’s advertisers) would be a small step. I have a female teacher friend that accepted the gift to her. I know she’s not pro gun, but also know she’s pro kid, so I figure this is a fairly inexpensive way to allow some sort of capability of protection in a ‘gun free’ zone, without having to debate/preach the necessity of using weapons.
Just a thought, and thank you for your time. – Earl

Two Letters Re: Observations On Bugging Out By Foot

JWR:
“Observations On Bugging Out By Foot” was a great article by J. Smith.  Like him, we use the Military Modular Seep System.   It can be purchased new on eBay for $120 to $150.  We keep them in our bug out bags here in cold country.
 
Another item we have tested and found to be very useful is the Solo Stove wood gas stove.  It only weighs 9 ounces and you can cook a meal with just twigs.  It has an alcohol stove option that fits inside and only weighs a few ounces.  You can get both stoves as a kit for about $90 on Amazon.
 
Lastly, I should mention that the stove works well with the Esbit Fuel Tabs.  You then have three fuel options to cook with in a very compact, lightweight package.
 
Keep up the great work, – PED

 

James,
I appreciated the article ‘Observations on Bugging Out By Foot, by J. Smith’. As a ‘seasoned’ citizen I would like to offer this suggestion. In my youth I did 15 – 20 miles with a 45 pound pack with no problem. However, now in my mid sixties, I may well be able to walk extended distances, but I could not do so with a full pack. Even if I was able to, I can assure that my wife could not. Consider also the younger family man with a couple of kids. The extra food, water and supplies could very well overwhelm dad’s ability to carry all that was needed. Yet, the need may still arise. My solution to this problem is the ‘deer cart.’ They are easily portable, highly mobile and rugged enough to carry a heavy load.

Side note: If you were going to bug out on a bike, you could consider a bike trailer! – Fred K.

Economics and Investing:

The most educated and indebted generation ever – Average student debt has tripled since 1990 while earnings have gone stagnant for college graduates.

Social Security Ran $47.8 Billion Deficit in FY 2012; Disabled Workers Hit. (Thanks to SurvivalBlog’s G.G. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Say Good-bye To The Good Life

US Retailers Scramble After Lackluster Holiday Sales

Home Prices Rose In 9th Straight Month

Odds ‘n Sods:

Jim S. sent: Don’t Fear That Expired Food

   o o o

Reader W.C.P. suggested a piece by LTC Dave Grossman: The Enemy is Denial

   o o o

The fledgling C.R.O.S.S. missionary organization is looking for a volunteer publicist. In essence, they need someone to schedule interviews and to help write press releases. This is a way that you can help out that requires no cash outlay whatsoever. This position is not geographically bound. (You can live anywhere that there is a reliable Internet connection.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint." – Alexander Hamilton, 1787

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.

Planning for Double Duty, By Lane C.






Doing “Double Duty” is a concept that I was first introduced to during my first enlistment in the US Army.   It is a term that simply implies that an item or material (or person) could be utilized to fulfill an additional purpose besides the one that it was specifically designed or trained for.  As a young soldier in an infantry company, I quickly learned the value of being able to “get creative” with my equipment and supplies in order to increase their versatility and make them go farther. 

Chances are that this idea is not new to you.  With our economy in the US getting further and further out of control, many Americans have already changed their buying habits and now consider the versatility of a product to be an important buying point.  It just makes good practical sense.  During normal circumstances, planning for double duty is relatively easy to do.  Matter of fact, you’re probably already doing it.   But planning for double duty in preparation for unusual or emergency situations is considerably more difficult. 

In this article, we will discuss why planning for double duty is a good idea, how to plan for double duty both at home and in preparation for a “bug out” scenario, and finally some common items that can perform double duty; at home and on the trail.

Why
Probably the best answer to why is, “to make better use of your resources”.  Most of us have limited income, limited space, and limited time to spend on preparedness.  Therefore, we need to make the most out of what we have and make it go as far as we can.  Double Duty Planning is a tool that can not only help us to be better prepared in the event of a disaster or emergency, but can also serve to make our daily lives more efficient and simple.

Limited Income                 
In order for your income to be of any benefit to your survival, you need to invest in those things that will be of most use to you and your family.  And it has to be done before you need them.  During a disaster, TEOTWAWKI, or other calamitous event, it’s a good chance that your money will be worth far less than it is now. 

When making purchases, we have all been conditioned by mainstream media to look for and identify what marketers call the “USP” or “Unique Selling Point”.  The USP is that one quality or characteristic that supposedly makes the product “the best” at doing one specific thing.  Chances are that our cabinets are full of products that specialize in one specific thing.  Bleach for example is a product which meets a specific need; to keep whites white.  No other product on the market enjoys bleach’s popularity in the market for this one purpose.  But what about the other uses for bleach?  Most people would be hard pressed to name any other uses.  But that is exactly where double duty planning or dual purposing comes in!  Bleach does much more than just whiten whites.
If I could show you how you could save hundreds of dollars a year on groceries and other household goods; would you be interested?  Well, even though it may sound like a sales hook and too good to be true, planning for double duty can potentially save you hundreds of dollars per year.   The way that this is accomplished is by eliminating those products that we purchase that only serve one specific purpose and replacing them with products that have multiple uses.  If you look in your cleaning cabinet or closet, how many different cleaning products do you have?  Do you have two, three, four, or more?  Or do you use a multi-purpose cleaner?  How much money would you save if instead of buying glass cleaner, floor cleaner, stove and countertop cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, shower, tub and tile cleaner, pot and pan cleaner, etc; you could buy one product that did it all?  Better yet, what if the product or products that you replaced all of these with had other uses as well?  You could save a lot of money in cleaning supplies alone.

Limited Space
The issue of limited space is often resolved by our attempts at saving money.  This is natural in that as we consolidate the various kinds of products that we purchase, we need less room to store the replacements.   As we replace single duty products with double duty products, we will not need as much space to store them.  This is space that could be better used for storing additional food and medical supplies; or ammo.

Space becomes a lot more crucial when considering a bug out situation.  We will be limited to what we can carry with us or cache along the way.  The size, shape, and weight of survival gear become chief concerns when a bug out scenario becomes likely.  But, as within the home, dual purposing our gear can save us a lot of space.  I’ll use my own personal experiences in the Army as an example.  In the movie Platoon, the new soldiers were preparing to go out on their first patrol when their platoon sergeant went through and battle stripped them; leaving them with only what they needed to survive.  I went through a similar event before going out on my first patrol.  My rucksack was whittled down from a hefty 65 pounds to about 40 pounds.  I had packed many tools and items that were unnecessary because I had other items that could do multiple jobs.  Not to mention that I now had the space to carry more crucial supplies like water, food and ammunition.  It took an experienced platoon sergeant to teach me the value of versatility.  Years later, I became a platoon sergeant and made it a point of teaching my soldiers how to pack with double duty in mind.
One of the purposes of a cache is to serve as a resupply point.  Many people’s philosophy on caching is, “more is better”, but this is not always true.  The larger that you make a cache, the harder it is to hide.  Cache size is also limited by the geography of an area or route.  Space in a cache can be limited as well and could therefore benefit from the optimization that double duty items can provide.  During egress, BOBs and caches kind of go hand in hand; the more stuff that you can cache along your egress route, the more space you have for other items in your BOB. 

Limited Time
Time is a variable resource in that we will have more of it during one situation than we will during another.  When at home during normal life, time may be easy to manage.  But during the beginning of a TEOTWAWKI sort of event, time will be in short supply.   The more we prepare now, the less we struggle later.  So, how can planning for double duty save us time?  Ultimately it boils down to choices.  When you go to the grocery store and are confronted with buying dog food.  How do you decide which one to buy; price, your dog’s favorite, nice packaging?  You only have twelve different brands, seven flavors, three sizes, and twenty prices to choose from.  We can save a lot of time if we know beforehand what we’re going to buy.  Go there, get it, and leave!  The more choices that we have to make, the more time it takes.  Make your choices while time is plentiful. 

Another Reason                 
Have you ever been in line in the grocery store behind someone who was into Extreme Couponing?  It’s amazing to watch as they unload buggy after buggy at the checkout.  You can literally feel their excitement and dread building as the total rises ever higher.  As their coupons are tallied, we experience the suspense and danger of failure that this great adventure offers!  Then we get to see the glorious sense of jubilation that the shopper feels when their once high total is reduced to mere pennies!  All of the long hours spent searching, cutting, and planning have culminated in one flawless victory! Marvelous!  This is what makes the adventure worthwhile!  If it were simply about saving money, it would not have been worth the cost.  It’s about the victory!

Planning for double duty is a similar endeavor; it’s not only about saving money and stretching resources.  It’s about the victory!  It’s about being able to use what you have planned for in a pinch when it is needed most!
                 

How
To find out how requires the most growth on our parts.  This is the step that requires us to do our homework.  The process that I am going to layout in this article is what I view as being the most simple and is the process that I use.

At Home
First of all, I created an inventory of what I had on hand.  Then, out beside of each item, I noted its use or uses.  If the item only had one specific use, then I placed a star beside that item signifying that it needed closer review.  My next pass on the list, I’m looking specifically at those items that have more than one use and whether they can take on the additional duty of those items that I marked with a star.  If they can, I put a mark through the item with the star that can be eliminated.  Next, I investigate to find out if there is a product which I don’t currently have that would assume multiple uses on my list.  Finally, I look over my list again to determine if those items have other uses.  I have included my cleaning supplies list for reference.

Cleaning Item List   Uses
Windex Window Cleaner     Glass
Comet Abrasive Cleanser   Sinks, tubs, toilet, showers, pots, pans, tile
Pinesol Surfaces, sinks, tubs, toilet, floors
Orange Degreaser       Surfaces
Carpet Fresh        Carpets/rugs
409 Multipurpose         Surfaces
Ammonia      Surfaces, floors

At this point, I have identified how other items on my list can perform the same duties as those that can only perform one.  The next step is to investigate to see if there is a product out there to replace those items still on my list. 

                  Baking Soda – can directly replace Comet Cleanser and Carpet Fresh.
                  White Vinegar – can directly replace the 409 Multipurpose cleaner, Pinesol, and the Ammonia.

Here is what my truncated cleaning supplies list looks like now.

Cleaning Item List   Uses
White Vinegar       Glass, surfaces, floors
Baking Soda  Sinks, tubs, toilets, showers, tile, carpet, rugs, pots, pans

Baking soda and vinegar both have additional uses in food preparation and in medicine. And both tend to be relatively inexpensive and environmentally safe compared to many other name brand cleaners.  Baking soda and vinegar mixed together also make a nifty science project for kids and is great for cleaning drains.   
I’m not telling you to go through your cleaning supplies and throw out everything and replace it with vinegar and baking soda.  I’m just saying that you could if you chose to.  Or, if by necessity, you had to.  This same process will work for other areas of home and survival preparedness as well.  The main question that you want to ask yourself is, “how many different ways can I use _______?” 

On The Trail
For those of us that hike and camp recreationally; and I mean survivalist type camping without a camper or grill, packing light is always a priority.  If I can consolidate the items that I need to take with me from 30 down to 8, that’s a big advantage for me so long as I know how to utilize what I brought for more than one purpose.  Let’s look at tools.  When I go camping, I know that there are certain tasks that I may need to perform.  I will need to cut brush and vines, chop down small trees, construct shelter, cut/chop food, defend myself from animals/people, and maybe skin and or butcher game.  So, is there one tool that I can take that will allow me to do all of these tasks?  If I inventory my tools the same way that I inventoried my cleaning supplies, the process will work the same.

Camping/Survival Tool List  Uses
Hatchet  Chopping wood
Machete     Clearing brush & vines, chopping food, Butchering, chopping wood, protection
Mallet   Driving tent stakes, hammering
Utility Knife Chopping food, skinning, butchering, general use, protection
Shovel/Spade    Digging
Saw   Sawing tree limbs, roots

Naturally, we can’t carry all of this stuff with us on a hike, so it’s in our best interest to consolidate.  The machete can accomplish everything that the hatchet can.  The addition of a military E-tool would eliminate the need for the shovel, the saw, and the mallet.  Taking an idea from the Russian Spetsnaz (Russian Special Forces), I could sharpen one edge of my E-tool to a knife’s edge and could use it as a bladed weapon and to skin animals.  As a result, my new list may look like this.

Camping/Survival Tool List Uses
Machete   Clearing brush & vines, chopping wood, chopping food, butchering, protection
Military E-tool  Digging, sawing, driving tent stakes, hammering, protection, skinning
Utility Knife       Chopping food, skinning, butchering, general use, protection

Notice that there is still some overlapping of duties.  It is important to remember here that consolidation of supplies and tools can be taken too far.  You can reach a point where you end up compromising your preparedness.  Some ascribe to the “Rule of Three”; as in that you need to have at least three ways of fulfilling a need or completing a task.  Although you can take it to extremes and purchase three of everything, the point of the rule is to stress the importance of having a back-up plan.  In the above refined list, if I lost or broke any one of my tools, I could probably make due with what I had left.  They may not fit the bill perfectly, but they’ll get the job done.                 
                 

Double Duty Items & Supplies
The following list is simply a starting point.  But there are plenty of good web sites where you can increase your knowledge.  Matter of fact, there are probably many more that you know about that I don’t.  If so, please write an article so that we can all learn from your experiences. 
Rather than create a list for “At Home” items and then also for “Survival/Bug Out” items, I’ll leave it up to you to decide how these best fit your needs.

Item Use/Purpose
Baking Soda  Cleaner, deodorizer, cooking, toothpaste, medical
White Vinegar  Surface cleaner, clothes whitener, food, medicine, preservative
Bleach  (Plain, Calcium Hypochlorite)       Clothes whitener, water treatment, surface cleaner
Hydrogen Peroxide     Disinfectant, water treatment
Salt     Preservative, food prep, antiseptic
Pure Vanilla             Antiseptic, mild local anesthetic, flavoring
Olive Oil Cooking, skin moisturizer, lubricant, lamp oil, burn treatment
Chap-stick       Soothes chapped lips, zipper lubricant, seam waterproofing
Multi-tool (Gerber, Leatherman, etc.)  Knife, screwdrivers, saw, file, bottle opener, scissors, pliers
Entrenching Tool, Folding (“E-Tool”) Shovel, saw, mallet, weapon, food preparation
Machete   Clearing brush, chopping wood, food prep, weapon
Tomahawk              Chopping wood, food prep, mallet, weapon
Rope/Cord/String      Climbing, tying, binding, pulling, trapping, fishing

I will not go into dual purpose firearms in this article mainly because that is a subject that has already been covered exhaustively by others far more knowledgeable than me. 

Let your imagination be your guide.  But I would also advise you to not take my word for it because what works for me may not work for you.  Take the information in this article and customize it to your specific needs.  Then put your strategy to the test.  I recommend that everyone take a voluntary “bug out” to test yourself and your preps.  It will undoubtedly show you where your weaknesses are.

Letter Re: Origin of the “13% of People are Leaders in a Crisis” Statistic?

Captain Rawles,
I have seen this statistic of “13% of people are leaders, 74% are followers, and 13% shut down during a crisis”. I have seen this stat mentioned on Dr. Koelker’s blog, on your blog, and it was even mentioned on a NBC Dateline program covering the Costa Concordia cruise ship accident. Despite seeing this stat mentioned in a variety of places I have yet to see who created the stat. I have never once seen where it was cited from and I can not seem to find any citation of it on the internet. Have you ever come across the origin of this data?

Please Advise, – Arthur K.

JWR Replies: Reader Kris N. reminded me: “In the book, “The Survivors Club” by Ben Sherwood , in chapter two, he tells of the studies of John Leach. Mr. Leach was curious about why so many people died when the “Herald of Free Enterprise” ferry capsized outside the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium in March of 1987. His subsequent Theory of 10-80-10 was the result of examining this as well as many other disasters. It states that roughly 10% of people will handle a crisis in a relatively calm and rational state of mind. Under duress, they will pull themselves together quickly. They assess situations clearly and their decision making is sharp and focused. The majority of people however will be stunned and bewildered with significantly impaired reasoning who will behave in a reflexive, almost automatic or mechanical manner, such as the commuters in the King’s Cross fire who trudged forward with their routines despite the smoke. The other 10% will just simply do the wrong thing in the crisis.”

Economics and Investing:

It’s Not a “Fiscal Cliff” … It’s the Descent Into Lawlessness

Post-Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe Welcomes The Holidays With 80% Unemployment, Empty ATMs And Paralyzed Transport. (Thanks to Jim W for the link.)

American Vehicle Miles Driven Haven’t Been This Low Since The 1990s

Items from The Economatrix:

Chinese Rating Agency Puts US On Negative Watch

Geithner Warns Lawmakers Debt Standoff Risks US Default

A Horrific Economic Collapse Is On The Way: Bond Market Is Imploding, Debt Ceiling Will Be Breached Next Monday, Homeowners Now Foreclosing On Banks, And America Is Rapidly Becoming A Nation Of Takers

Odds ‘n Sods:

Feinstein’s ‘assault weapon’ ban would be tantamount to confiscation. (A hat tip to Jim W. for the link.) Here is a summary in Feinstein’s own words about how she plans to “perfect” renewal of the 1994 to 2004 ban. The law would be worded so that you semi-auto rifles could not be passed on to your heirs. When you die, your guns would have to be turned in for destruction! Please contact your senators and congressmen and urge them to vigorously oppose any new restrictions on guns and full capacity magazines.

   o o o

Reader Vince W. alerted me to an anti-preparedness hatchet piece in the leftist The New Republic: From “Walking Dead” to “Doomsday Preppers,” What’s Behind TV’s Post-Apocalypse Fantasies? It was authored by “James Berger”. (I suspect that this is a pen name for one of the magazine’s senior editors, since it is the first time his byline has appeared in the magazine.) This grossly irresponsible and intellectually vacant editorial attempts to smear those who prepare as psychos craving violence and somehow insufficiently represented by minorities. By extension, it tars us with the brush of xenophobic, antiemetic redneck bigots who can’t wait for the excuse to shoot neighbors with darker skin. The truth is that “James Berger” needn’t worry about his well-prepared neighbors. Rather, it is wholly un-provisioned neighbors who are suddenly ravenous and out of drugs that pose the more likely threat. When an actual disaster strikes, I have no doubt that Mr. Berger will come crying like a little girl to the doorstep of his prepper neighbors, seeking: A.) Sustenance (since he bought a BMW 7-Series F02 instead of storage food and a water filter) and B.) Protection from the predations of his neighbors (because he thought that guns were “evil” and he fell for the lie that self defense is encapsulated in dialing 911.)

   o o o

Fast and Furious and Profitable, Too! Pistol purchased by ATF agent found at alleged cartel crime scene in Mexico

   o o o

Reader R.B.S. suggested this by Dr. Gary North: In Defense of the Second Amendment

   o o o

The term “high capacity clip” presently being bandied about by the politicos and television talking heads aggravates me. The term is a specious political creation. The fact is that a 30 round magazine is standard capacity for an AR or an AK, and anything less than that is a reduced capacity magazine. It is fine to say “full capacity” or “standard capacity” but calling 30 rounds “high capacity” is nothing but demonization and political grandstanding. Get your terminology straight and don’t fall for semantics traps!

Oh, and FYI, at present, here are the bans in effect at the state level (some with grandfather clauses–be sure to research your state and local laws):

States prohibiting magazines over 10 rounds: California, Hawaii*, Massachusetts, and New York. (The latter only if a magazine is post-9/1994 production)
States prohibiting magazines over 12 rounds: Washington, DC
States prohibiting magazines over 15 rounds: New Jersey
States prohibiting magazines over 20 rounds: Maryland
States prohibiting magazines over 31 rounds: Ohio

* The Hawaii Rifle Association web site notes: “Hawaii state law prohibits greater than 10 round detachable pistol magazines (including rifle magazines capable of use in any pistol, such as the AR-15/M16, M1 Carbine, H&K carbine, Thompson, AKs, and aftermarket Ruger .22 magazines) unless blocked to hold 10 rounds or less and “not readily restorable”. Possession of illegal magazines [by themselves] is a misdemeanor, and possession of a handgun with even an empty one inserted is a Class C felony. “

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The complexity of social organization does not change. Our technologically sophisticated industrial society is more complex than the agrarian society of America in the eighteenth century. In this regard, that was ‘a simpler world.’ But the complexities of politics (politics here meaning the science of governing) do not change much. The basic political problems confronting the Framers of our Constitution were as complex as our political problems today—perhaps more so, because they were striking off into the dangerous unknown, whereas all we need do is return to the fine highway we were once on.” – Congressman Larry McDonald

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.

A Widow’s View of Preparedness, by Catherine T.

I am a widow of over three years whose youngest son was serving our country in the Middle East when my husband’s death happened.  My husband lost his job and was forced into early retirement before his death.  I will not go into the details of all the turmoil then and of having a child home with injuries of war.  In a SHTF situation there will be many people with war injuries in our own neighborhoods.  My other children and I are so glad he is still alive.  My income dropped further not long after this.   It was the end of the world as I knew it mixed in the downward spiraling economy. I cannot move from this area.  I live in the country near cities.  I have grandchildren and children who will no doubt come here if cities rapidly become uninhabitable.  For several it is within walking distance if they must walk, about 13 miles. I can only think of how living in a heavily populated area can work to my advantage.  Buying and storing bulk foods is not an option.  Here is how I am surviving and preparing for a future on a fixed income.

I will be doubling the size of my garden this coming spring.  Weather from the drought literally scorched the ground this past summer.  I planted lettuce over and over never to see it raise from the ground. That is just one example of what the drought did to my garden. I am sixty years old today and have never seen anything like the weather this past summer.  Horrible and truly scary but now I only see it as a lesson for future gardening and for the times when my garden may be raided. I have to think outside the box. I now have a simple irrigation system to help through another drought. My garden is located on the back of my property so I may plow for another garden closer to my house.  Two better than one.  Though I have plenty of seed for my garden needs, I will be buying extra seed for barter and trying to save more heirloom seeds than I do now.  I am using a hoe for weeding instead of a tiller.  I can plant more this way and keep in shape at the same time.  Gardening is the best summer gym!  I can barter fresh produce. For now, winter is just a stone’s throw away yet I can walk to my garden and pick greens I planted late in summer when the drought was over.  Asian greens, an onion, pepper, mushrooms with other vegetables and a chicken breast cooked in a stir fry over organic brown rice is a cheap and healthy meal, especially if the veggies come from the garden.  A chicken breast from the grocer can be replaced by a squirrel.

I have two grain mills I purchased since my husband’s passing.  One mill is a used hand mill I paid ten dollars for and the other a small electric Blendtec I purchased from Amazon.com.  Since I live in an area of corn, grain and soybean fields I hope I will be able to bargain {barter} with local farmers for grains to use in my mills.  I ordered a large bag of organic wheat from a local health food store a while back and the bread is delicious made with fresh milled grain. Trading fresh bread or produce for grains will be an option. 
 I have two woodstoves.  I heat my home with the one in the basement and the other is in my garage/workshop. Most of my 8 acres is wooded so I will not be cold in winter.   I could barter extra wood for food, gas etc.  I pile brush from cut trees to attract quail that are coming back into this area.

I can cook over a fire when I run out of fuel for Coleman Cook Stove during blackouts.  I keep two Coleman outdoor stoves plus one of their ovens to place on top the burners for baking. Coleman ovens can be purchased for around forty bucks.  Once I thought of outdoor stoves only for camping.  Several years ago the tail winds of Hurricane Ike helped me prepare for days of no electric.  That hurricane was a true wake up call!

Many homeowners in my area have ponds.  I can barter for fresh fish.  I really need to have a pond built on my place.  That is something to think about for the future.  I advise anyone with the acreage to build a pond.  There will be no fresh or frozen fish if electric is out for weeks.  A pond will provide fresh bluegill, bass, crappie, catfish etc.
I do not have chickens.  I buy eggs from a couple neighbors when they have extra eggs.  Again, I can barter for eggs. 

This area is abundant with deer.  I have deer in the freezer.   Deer would be scarce in a collapsed society but I would still have a few around my property plus other wildlife.   Again, think barter.
Double coupon for groceries and other products.  It is a pain to categorize coupons cut from newspapers but it is a must when economizing.  I use envelopes for coupons in a small folder.  My canned section of the folder has envelopes for canned soup, veggies, condiments, meats, salad dressings etc.  The health section has individual envelopes for cold medicines, band aids and salve section of drug store, shampoos, etc.  The list goes on for dairy products, frozen foods, cereal brands, ethic foods such as Italian, Chinese etc.  Sometimes you can buy food for little or it may be free after couponing. 
 Catch the sales.  Since most of the garden burned this summer I purchased canned veggies at 25 cents per can early this fall.  There was no limit so was I able to store over 200 cans in my basement until the garden comes in next summer.  By Thanksgiving canned vegetables were more than twice that price when on sale.  A vegetable stand in a nearby city sells 50 pound boxes of potatoes at half the price of 10 pound bags in the local produce section of big chain grocers.  They will store well in the garage until zero weather hits then I will bring them into the basement. 

I have a lot of designer clothes in my closet from Goodwill [thrift] stores.  I constantly receive compliments on clothes I pay little for.  I try to buy when there is a half price sale.  My hiking boots are a name brand I purchased at a Goodwill Store still in their box.  I have a juicer, DVD/VHS player, steam canner, cook books and much more at a fraction of the new price purchased from Goodwill, Salvation Army and other second hand stores.  I do not make special trips to town for shopping.  When I go to work in town I always run several errands to keep from wasting gas.  An extra trip to town for a single item is unaffordable.

Eating out is a definite no, if possible.  If I do, I use coupons or use the dollar menu at a drive-thru.  I keep snacks in my desk at work.  I make 24 pizzas at a time using a #12 can of pizza sauce, bread flour from a 25 lb bag from GFS, two 5 lb. bags of cheese, salt, yeast purchased in bulk at GFS and olive oil.  I mix the dough in four used bread machines purchased for few dollars each.  Add ingredients such as pepperoni on top before placing in oven.  Grandkids and guests love the pizzas made for less than two bucks.  It is hard work for one half day but worth it.   Three pizzas can be made with one small jar of pizza sauce if you are not up to making 24 at one time.  Beats paying fifteen bucks for a single deluxe pizza.

One of the grocers where I shop gives discounts on gas at the pump.  Some months I can save up to 30 cents per gallon.  I sold a vehicle I loved for one that is more economical to drive.  The increase in mileage per gallon has saved me.  I paid cash $3,500 for the vehicle.  This way I will not have to make payments that would amount to several hundred dollars per month for a vehicle to drive.  If I have to sell my present vehicle and drop down to a $1,000 vehicle it can be done if need be.  There are good deals out there for good used cars that have former owners with a good track record taking care of their vehicles.  It took a while for me to find one and drove my granddaughter’s car a couple weeks before finding my deal.  I borrowed her car before she got her license. 

Most important are personal relationships.  My neighbors and I have never held a meeting as a survival group.  I have been lucky through our conversations that many of us are like minded and we will be there for one another when needed.  I am a private person for the most part and so are my neighbors or we would not be living where we live.  I know by their lifestyles I can barter with them.  I have skills, they have skills.  We can complement each other.  Further on relationships, as a widow I chose not to pursue a relationship with a man.  I decided if God chose to send someone my way it would happen.  I went about my life with all its problems and I have had many the past years.  Well, God did send someone in my life most unexpectedly.  He is a widower who hunts, can fix nearly anything, has grandchildren and has not run when problems in my family have seemed overwhelming for me as when two of my children were sick.  That is important.  When a person’s world falls apart, patience for any type situation must be in order or a relationship will not survive. I was not progressing past my husband’s death as I should have.   I am healing and the new man in my life has been a big part of that process.  Again, if you find yourself single for any reason please take your time getting into a new relationship with one of the opposite sex.  You need the breathing time to catch up with knowing yourself again as single and go from there.  I would certainly have sabotaged a relationship had I started dating too soon after losing my spouse.

I also want to point out that we live in a society that falls apart after a few days without electricity.  Other traumatic events will spur post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD )in the best of us.  Part of my survival experience the past three years is with a person with PTSD in my life.  In a world spinning out of control all of us need to become well read understanding what war and a society falling apart does to the human psyche.   Please read and find out all you can about the emotional fallouts caused against individuals before, during and after war and societal unrest.  It may mean the survival of a child, grandchild or a dear friend.
Two of my grandchildren cannot play outside their condo in a nearby city because of crime.  Crime is everywhere, even in the countryside where I live but children can play on my land.  I keep a swing set, plenty of toys, bikes, games, a pool table in my basement, scissors, paper and more for children.  If I can eventually afford an above ground pool I will have one for grandchildren to enjoy.  Such things relieve stress in children and is good exercise.   There is always a small pile of brush needed burning for marshmallow roasting on my place.  I have been purchasing VHS tape movies for 50 cents to a dollar and stocking up.  Games for children help too.  I dedicated a room in my basement to sewing and crafts.  Small things costing little mean a lot to small children during times as these.

I have guns and ammo in a safe.   My family has lived in this area a long time and most around here know I have guns.  I am left alone as far as thefts go, so far.  My safe is tied into the floor joists of my house.  Presently it would take a chain saw to remove it in less than an hour’s time, not within the five or so minute time frame of local thieves.  At my husband’s death my oldest son drove in from Colorado and picked up my youngest son at the airport.  They bought the safe on their way home from the airport and installed it.  My own sons and daughters have helped me make it to today.  I do not know what I would have done without them.  Sure, we have our problems and disagreements from time to time but we are tight, regardless.

As you can see my preparedness is quite cheap and simple.  I would love to have solar panels for electric and more for the future but economics limits the extremes I would love to go with.  My small generator would run my freezer long enough to can frozen meat over a gas grill burner.  Would not want to do that but I could if need be.  Boundaries as lack of funds keep me thinking outside the box.
The best preparing is letting God be in control.  It is unbelievable at the situations I have found myself in to come up with funds to pay bills.  One time a check came in the mail within minutes I urgently needed to pay bill.  I have been humbled many times by the grace of God these past years.  No one is perfect and all of us make mistakes, some quite terrible but God is there regardless if we let him in our lives.  He helps us prepare if we let him.

Years before my husband’s death we took an extreme cut in income.  I was upset and could not understand why God was letting this happen to us.  Little did I know we were being prepared for a further loss of income.  When an economic fire storm hit the area we lived in we were a great deal more prepared to face the music than most because we had already had to live through that loss.  So the problems you have today may be God’s way of preparing you for the future. 

I have been watching the evening news more often as of late.  It is unbelievable the amount of shootings, stabbings, robberies and home invasions taking place in the area I live.  It will continue in this direction for many years to come.  I cannot move as I stated once before.  For economic and family reasons I will remain here and sit it out.  I search the web and stores like Goodwill for items that can be purchased at prices I can afford to make life more comfortable the coming years.  I know the fire storm is coming.  One of my grandfathers of many generations past was one of the first white men to come down the Ohio River to the lands of Kentucky.  I love reading the history of our country and I know we are headed for rough waters.  It cannot be stopped at this point regardless of who is in charge in Washington.  It is too late. We may remain the United States of America but it will be an entirely different landscape.  Practice preparing. Prepare as best possible with what you have, even if it is only a tomato plant in an Earth Box on your condo patio.

Letter Re: The Case for Stockpiling Gauze

Dear Mr. Rawles,

I was recently treated for an abscess in my foot and was reminded of the importance of stockpiling large amounts of everything, gauze in particular. The good news is that a nasty staph infection is treatable in a TEOTWAWKI situation. The bad news is that you need to have antibiotics and gauze, and lots of it.

A few weeks ago I went to see my doctor after developing a large and painful abscess that didn’t look like pimples I’ve experienced before. It was deep under the skin, large and painful, so I thought it should be checked out by a professional. My doctor diagnosed it as a potential MRSA infection because of its appearance and the speed with which it had developed (it went from zero to the size and consistency of a cherry pit in 48 hours). Normally MRSA is diagnosed in the laboratory, but the doctor recommended treating it immediately because it could have gotten worse while waiting for the lab results.

Do a web search for “abscess,” “MRSA,” and “staphylococcus aureus” to get more information about what I was dealing with.

The treatment program was first, the doctor wiped down the area with hydrogen peroxide, injected the area with novocaine and then punctured and drained the abscess using a sterile knife. He then packed the wound with iodoform packing gauze (basically a string with powdered iodine embedded in it), covered the wound with ordinary gauze and taped it down with medical tape.

I came back to his office the next day to have the gauze replaced, and the day after that to have the second piece of gauze removed from the wound.

The program of treatment with antibiotics was as follows: injections of rifampicin once a day for 3 days, plus cephalexin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole taken orally twice a day for 10 days. In addition, I had to replace the gauze twice a day for 2 weeks and apply topical mupirocin every time.

Disclaimer: This treatment program worked for me, but I am not a doctor and I am not claiming that this is the best course of treatment for you. Your doctor may disagree with mine, or may prescribe a different course of treatment for the type of abscess you might have, or to work around any allergies or other individual issues you might have. If the world has not ended yet, please see a professional for any semi-serious condition you have and do not rely on what some guy (in this case, me) writes on the internet.

Now, let’s do some math: 3 injections of rifampicin, 20 trimehoprim/sulfamethoxazole pills, 20 cephalexin pills, and about half a tube of mupirocin ointment. In addition, every time I changed the gauze, I needed to use one piece of gauze soaked in hydrogen peroxide to clean the skin around the wound and then another fresh piece of gauze to apply to the wound. That was twice a day for 14 days, so I went through a total of 56 medium-sized (2″ x 2″) gauze pads. Most boxes of gauze you might buy at the drug store contain 10 or 12 pads.

All of that for a single wound that was smaller than a dime. Imagine what you’d need if you had a larger injury, say a big gash in your thigh from sawing wood.

Now, I have to ask the other readers out there, how much gauze do you have in your first-aid kit? How much do you have stockpiled? I’ll admit that before I developed the abscess, each of my 3 first aid kits (home, car and BOB) only had 3-4 medium-sized (2″ x 2″) gauze pads and 1 large (5″ x 9″) gauze pad. After this experience, I went out and bought 100 medium-sized gauze pads for home, another 100 for the car, and a dozen large gauze pads for each. Because of space limitations, I only added 10 medium-sized gauze pads and two large ones to my BOB. I’m not fully squared away yet, but it’s a start.

I’m going to acquire more sterile gauze in the future, and I’m also going to think about ways to stockpile recyclable gauze, i.e. sterilize and store cloth rags, which seems to be the only long-term solution.

The general rule for prepping is to figure out how much you need and then double it. In this case, what I found out I actually needed was more than I thought I needed by at least a factor of ten. I hope my experience is useful to some of your readers. Many thanks for maintaining this great blog!

Best, – Ted from Maine