To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
This week has been hectic. In addition to catching up on my blog writing, I’ve been quite busy cataloging the new inventory for Elk Creek Company. Because almost everything I sell is in “used” condition, I feel obligated to take photos and to write detailed descriptions. This gobbles up a lot of my available time.
I’ve also been helping one of my consulting clients, by working up a detailed retreat stocking plan. In the Army we were fond of saying: “The logistics are daunting.” The Army’s solution was to try to cram everyone into a “One Size Fits All” logistics solution. And we never had to match a “budget” for anything except space and weight. Well, stocking a civilian retreat for a large extended family to provide for a period of five+ years is a true logistical challenge. You can’t just place one big order, based on National Stock Numbers (NSNs). Each product and vendor must be evaluated. The constraints of time (and shelf-life), space, and budget necessitate some trade-offs. And there are umpteen variables, some of which are colored by the local climate, ages of the family members, dietary restrictions, and in this case one older individual with physical infirmities. Further complicating things are the current pandemic-induced supply chain difficulties. Have you tried to buy a 1,000-round case of 5.56mm ball ammo or a propane chest freezer, recently? “Daunting”, indeed!
I did take the time to go for a hike with my wife Avalanche Lily, to see where a recent Mountain Lion visitor had been padding around in the snow, here at The Rawles Ranch. I’ll let Lily describe that.
