Around two years ago, I was sitting at my friend’s house visiting and he tells me about the supposed end of the world on December 21st, 2012. At first I thought he was feeding me a line of horse manure. He went on to tell me that he was going to buy the car of his dreams that he wouldn’t be able to afford, rack up his credit cards, get a big loan and live it up. He wasn’t going to have to pay it back anyway, the world was going to end and we were all going to die. Well my stomach got queasy and was left feeling very disturbed. Well thank God for him that he didn’t do just that….right?
As time went by I tried to put it out of my mind. I wouldn’t watch any kind of movies that had anything to do with the end of the world. If my boyfriend would bring up the subject, I would choke up and ask him to change the subject. I would just try to put it out of my mind, what I didn’t know didn’t hurt me. I lived by that motto.
About one week before the rumored Mayan Calendar end of the world date (12/31/2012), I finally had a sudden feeling, a calming, easy feeling about the situation. I don’t know if I finally came to terms with the fact that there was nothing I could do with that situation, so whatever happened, happened. I really felt good for some reason. I was really okay.
When the date came around, and then went, that was when the reality of it set in. What if something did happened? I wasn’t even a little bit prepared for what could have happened. If something did happen, I wouldn’t have lasted a week. I didn’t know the first thing about preparing for a huge catastrophe.
Not knowing where to start, I sat down in front of my laptop and began my investigation. To my surprise, there are web sites on prepping. I couldn’t believe all this information, I wish I would have thought about this sooner. Have I been living with my head in the clouds? On my search I immediately found a blog site called SurvivalBlog.com. I read a few articles and I was hooked. It’s been only a few weeks now and I must say, I have learned a lot over a little time.
My first thought was food so that’s where I began. I went on to learn that it’s ok if you have a small income because you can do it a little bit at a time. Make a list, then from that list figure out how much extra money you can put aside each month or every two weeks to buy and put away. I have all kinds of big plastic containers not being used that I could store this stuff in.
I am not much of a cook but a few months ago, I did a search online on easy ways to cook while camping. I found recipes that you can breakfast, bacon and eggs in a paper bag over the camp fire. Very impressive. I will take those recipes and modify them if I need to, organize them and put them into my binder labeled “What to do in a Crisis” under “Cooking”. I also studied the ins and outs of bottling food from the garden. That doesn’t seem like an easy chore but I have the rest of this winter and all summer to figure it out.
First aid was the next thing on my mind. I found a few sites online that you can buy antibiotics without a prescription called “Canadian Express Meds” to name one. I don’t know how legit they are or if their medication is any good. I could talk to my doctor, she might surprise me and be understanding to my needs. I already have a good first aid kit but learned that I will have to add quite a lot to it. I will look through my first aid books and add another section in my binder called “First Aid”.
A big item on my list of needs is Essential Oils. I would have lavender in my first aid kit along with Calendula essential oil. Calendula essential oil helps regenerate your skin. The men in the War used to have Tea tree essential oil in their First Aid kits. They would use it to disinfect their wounds or so I was told. You can on the other hand definitely use these oils for many other purposes. Cypress essential oil can be used to help control bleeding. I would put it on my wrist holding a cloth over it so it would soak into my bloodstream. If you had to do a small surgery and have to create a sterile environment, you could get a bucket, fill it with hot water and put some lavender and tea tree essential oil in it. I would put 2 drops of each kind of oil per one cup of boiled water but cooled down enough to stand putting your hand in it. Lavender oil can be a mood stabilizer, give your young ones a warm bath or a good wash down with just a few drops of lavender in with the water, your children will sleep soundly all night long. Ylang Ylang essential oil is a good aphrodisiac. There are many oils to choose from and if you don’t know much about them, it would be very beneficial for you to read up on it. You can even make different medicine with essential oil as well as dilute some in with your kitchen fats and message it into your tired, aching or pulled muscles. You can get tiny bottles of different oils so it could fit in your pocket and make a good trade item. To the right person they are worth a bundle. Chamomile essential oil that I have is worth almost forty dollars with the tax. Ylang Ylang is worth a fortune also.
Then I learned about Bug out Bags/Bail out Bags and what to put in them. Of course there is fire starter, matches, lighters and cooking tools, safety gear, personal hygiene, I found many lists that people where kind enough to provide online. For newcomers like myself “The Desperation Shopping List: The 7 Critical Items That Are Guaranteed To Be Stripped From The Store Shelves When You Need Them The Most” is a good list to consider. Although, I just found it a few hours ago, it would have been good to start with. More sections that I will add to my binder. That was an enormous help. It’s amazing how other people’s thoughts could be such a big help to other people. A lot of these things I have laying around here and there but mostly I will have to set some sort of budget for that as well.
Then came shelter, now that could be a problem. If I couldn’t stay in my home, where would I go? Yes, there is ways to make temporary shelter with paracord, survival blankets, tarps and so on. I live way out in the country with miles and miles of woods. Where there is a will, there is a way. I am doing my homework on shelters in the woods.
If I had to leave my home on foot and I set up shelter, eventually I am going to want to sleep. What about security? I can be pretty handy with a knife but if I don’t see or hear them coming, I’m done for it. I am a 5 foot 3in., 105 pound female so I am going to have to have the jump on them. So far I have found one way to get ahead of this situation. I was looking on YouTube the other evening about trip wire set ups and one of them really stood out to me. It is by CripticCRICKET and it is titled “Trip Wire Alarm-Homemade, Simple, and Loud. He added some string to a key chain alarm and it turned out pretty great. As for the shelter situation, I am going to have to do a lot more reading up on the subject. I am sure I will come up with something creative and safe.
Of course there are my two dogs. My two, four year old sister pit bulls are great. I love them so much and they love me so I have them for protection as well. My dogs love to carry there doggie back packs when we go for their walks. They look pretty proud with their back packs on and their heads high in the air. So to be able to store extra stuff you need for your bug out bags, you can now put in your doggie bug out bags or you can simply fill it with their stuff that they will need such as their first aid kit, water food toys, doggy wipes and treats. I can also make an extra handle for on their pooper scoopers with paracord and attach it to the outside of their packs. I even have two little plastic poop bag holders with a roll of baggies in each that have clips attached to the. I can clip that to their packs as well. Don’t fill it too heavy because if your dog is not used to carrying one, it may be quite awkward or too heavy for them. I suggest that when you go for regular walks with them, you can get them used to their Doggie Bug out Bag little by little by first starting them off by putting two bottles of water, one on either side of the pack to distribute the weight evenly through. After a few walks with two bottles, add a few more and so on. If and when the time comes that they will really need to carry these bags, they will have no problem. It won’t take them long to get used to them and they will feel so good about helping you, believe me or not.
Budgets: How does a person budget for this stuff when their paychecks don’t even cover the bills they have to begin with? Go to flea markets, yard sales, dollar stores, even trade with other people. If you see a good deal or a sale, stock up then. You can make a lot of these things. If the time comes that you are in need of these things, you are going to wish you had them.
So people may be wondering why this chick is only bothering to prepare herself when the scare is over. I feel that the world we live in can be very unpredictable, as we found out the last week of December, 2012. People predicted that something would happen and nothing did, but that doesn’t mean that things won’t happen in the future. I don’t want to feel the awful queasy, uneasy feeling of being totally helpless in the event that something where to happen. After all, I am a women alone in this world when it comes to preparing. I expect that I wouldn’t be alone if something was to happen, I would have some people that I would have to lead and take care of. I don’t mind but I would never want to let them down. If I am to be a leader, I want to be the best leader I can be. Until that time comes, every day or every other day, I will be filling my head with all the knowledge that I can. If that time is just around the corner, the way I see it is that I know a lot more information then I knew a few weeks ago. I’ll be that much more ahead.
One last thing I would like to add. When I see a person in need, I will still be the first one to give aid. No matter what, I will not be stripped of my humanity. If a person is starving, I will feed them. If a person is dying of thirst, I will give them a drink of water. If they need medical attention, I will do what I can to help them medically. My heart couldn’t take not giving and helping someone in need, especially children and animals. Make no mistake though, I will proceed with much caution. Being a push over has no place in that kind of world.
Good luck to all, and to all the other newbie preppers out there. God bless.