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. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
I only did one prepping project at the ranch this week: Building extensions for a couple of raised beds in our greenhouse with Lily. This raised them 6 inches, allowing them to be covered with salvaged window panes. (We’ll probably get that glass from the Habitat For Humanity salvaged building materials store.) This should provide a better “greenhouse within a greenhouse” effect than we achieved last winter. Thankfully, rough cut red cedar is very inexpensive in our region, so I generally keep a pile of it stacked in random lengths and widths, for various projects around the ranch. In this case, that lumber pile saved me a trip to town. To paraphrase: “Two is one, One is none. But a stack really comes in handy.”
So that I’ll be ready to launch my Internet-based business in 2020, I’ve been busy buying antique guns, some ammunition, and a few accessories. I’m also doing the preliminary work of searching for a gun-friendly credit card processor, buying a domain name, and creating a web site. This has consumed a lot of my available time. Creating the new business — Elk Creek Company — is already a large undertaking. Just finding quality pre-1899 cartridge guns that meet my standards is time-consuming and difficult. This is because less than 1% of the guns in circulation are Federally antique. In fact, most of the advertised “antique” guns on the market are better described as simply “old”, but not true pre-1899 antiques. So searching through online auction listings is often frustrating, and again, time consuming. In essence, I’m looking for a few needles in a haystack. There have been some busy days when I’ve scarcely had time to keep the wood box full, and conduct our regular weekday family Bible studies.
This weekend, I’m attending a gun show in Lewiston, Idaho. I’ll be lucky if I return to the ranch with two or three nice antiques for the Elk Creek Company inventory. Oh, by the way, if any of you readers have any antiques that you’d be willing to sell or trade, then please e-mail me. Note that with some models, I’m willing to buy restored, re-lined, or sporterized guns.Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”