Prep Genrl Any one else ramping up their preps as the war news gets worse?

Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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In answer to the OP? In a word? Nope. It is already a lifestyle for us and has been for over twenty years. I made some mistakes in how I allowed Covid to impact our lives. Some I couldn't help and some I didn't fight enough. Oh I fought with people, but quite frankly not enough. A few too many times I went along to get along.

If I didn't let almost dying less than month earlier stop me from traveling to Israel and Jordan back in July, I'm not going to let this situation stop me from living my best life either. I'm done cowtowing to TPTB that don't want me to live my best life. Barring a nuclear exchange I am going on a cruise in November and then for Christmas the family and I have rented a cabin in GA for a week. Life is crappy enough without simply handing over control to people that can't control themselves.

Does that mean I'm going to be stupid? Of course not. I will remain situationally aware as I always am. I will take reasonable to me precautions. I will stay informed. And I will not blame others if I make a wrong choice. But I am determined to live the life that the Lord has left for me with as much joy and purpose as I can. Yes, I "prep" but I will not do the angry or scared sit and spin. There are simply way too many drama llamas out to take your last breath on their cause/agenda. I'm outta that herd.
 
Hfcomms

Hfcomms

EN66iq
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
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Not me. I store my water in the ground in the well. I have a spare shallow well pump new in the box, I have three generators each of which will run my pump. I also have a submersible 12 volt pump already in the well in case it's too cold for the well house or there is no gas for the generators and I power that particular setup off two deep cycle batteries and a 100 watt panel. I also have a new 12v submersible pump new in the box. If all that goes fubar I also have a well bucket. There is also a river less than a mile away as well for surface water. One of the benefits for living where I do is abundant water and I believe in having backups to backups as a rule of thumb.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
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Yes, in the form of water reclamation or whatever you want to call it. We use a gutter system to capture water for non-potable use at the moment. It can be made potable but we haven't gone to the trouble yet though we do have the capacity to do so if needed. Came in handy during the Aug 30 disaster known as Hurricane Idalia. We had no real power for a week. We just happened to be there for the storm (and my freakin' birthday). It took us five hours to cut our way out from the house to the county road. It was hot as hades and not a lot of relief. Electric got damaged so gennie was fairly useless. Solar would have been destroyed so glad we hadn't gotten there just yet. We got up with the sun and went down with the sun. I salvaged most that was in the frig and freezer but there was some loss of leftovers in the barn freezer. Ridge vent on the house has been damaged and we are still dealing with insurance over it. Fuel stations couldn't operate so gas was very sparsely available in the county.

We had sufficient back up cooking/fuel for what we needed. And I keep bottles and gallons of drinking water just because this is Florida and crap happens.
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
Click to expand...
I have a 300 gal caged tank behind the barn. Refilled for winter to about 60% because it will freeze over winter. Also water barrels under the gutters, same drill. Plenty of water storage in house and garage.

We have abundant water around here - but more is better - winters we can collect a lot of water from snow all season long. If I have to I can chip ice from barrel or lake - the main idea of the outdoor storage over winter is to have something come breakup in the spring.

I‘m continuing to replace many, many things lost to theft and fire, but they had been purchased originally over decades; now the quality is low while price is sky-high — and I’m retired now, so funds are limited.

Will make it though. I do have some equipment, can eventually replace some of the vital things…its just too bad so much of my work lost though the hands of others, with no recourse for me. It is what it is and I’ve moved on, and always relying on God. :)

…Next to trusting in God my best preps are great health, physical strength and endurance, my skills, and my mindset.
 
Toosh

Toosh

Veteran Member
I took a physical inventory of every needed thing and added a bit where I felt might be nice to have.

Also, updated all my emergency action plans and printed them. I know where everything is and what to do with it but other family members do not. If I'm not around or ill, it's nice to have a binder with info all in one place.
 
W

Wildwood

Veteran Member
BH said:
This was on my list also. Last Sunday local Harbor Freight had a parking lot sale and I picked up new pure sine inverter for $100 off (with electric start).

I have 2 ecoFlow power boxes, fed by grid and solar. They will run my well, hot water, refrigeration, internet and a few lights. The new generator should be able to charge both boxes at the same time.
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We have one moderate sized and our small generator charges it completely in an hour. When our electric went out last winter, it kept the fridge, pellet stove, router, a few lights and occasional microwave going all day while DH was at work. We alternated between the freezer and fridge with it. He showed me how to start the generator and put gas in it so I could charge it if needed during the day. We got the solar panels for it too but they are still in the box. I've thought about getting a second one because one is none and we are that happy with it. We have a bigger generator but it's easier for me to use the small one.
 
H

hd5574

Veteran Member
We have a shallow well...genny that will run well pump...also well bucket and plenty of rope .
Had ice storm January 2022....no power for 10 days in winter.....
We didn't use washing machine or dryer or dishwasher...but other than that all other was normal... was great test...
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
AlaskaSue said:
I have a 300 gal caged tank behind the barn. Refilled for winter to about 60% because it will freeze over winter. Also water barrels under the gutters, same drill. Plenty of water storage in house and garage.

We have abundant water around here - but more is better - winters we can collect a lot of water from snow all season long. If I have to I can chip ice from barrel or lake - the main idea of the outdoor storage over winter is to have something come breakup in the spring.

I‘m continuing to replace many, many things lost to theft and fire, but they had been purchased originally over decades; now the quality is low while price is sky-high — and I’m retired now, so funds are limited.

Will make it though. I do have some equipment, can eventually replace some of the vital things…its just too bad so much of my work lost though the hands of others, with no recourse for me. It is what it is and I’ve moved on, and always relying on God. :)

…Next to trusting in God my best preps are great health, physical strength and endurance, my skills, and my mindset.
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I can identify with your mindset. We lost so much of our prep equipment to the barn fire and I don't see us ever replacing some of it at our age...it took years to accumulate it all. We are still replacing DH's tools, etc. so he can eventually be self employed again.

It has to be so much worse for you, knowing some of it was intentional. We were given the grace to handle the loss and it sounds like you were too. It doesn't mean we like it but we feel that everything happens for a reason but sometimes it's hard.
 
W

Wildwood

Veteran Member
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
Click to expand...
Not much....just enough to flush the commodes a few times and a little drinking water plus the Berkey is always full. We have two wells, a year round spring and a year round creek in our back yard.

I do buy the occasional case of water even though I hate bottled water...water from the Berkey tastes so good, it's ruined me. Somebody is always needing a quick bottle as they run out the door heading to work, etc. and I'm tired of them taking my good insulated cups and water bottles never to see them again.
 
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philkar

Veteran Member
Wildwood said:
Not much....just enough to flush the commodes a few times and a little drinking water plus the Berkey is always full. We have two wells, a year round spring and a year round creek in our back yard.

I do buy the occasional case of water even though I hate bottled water...water from the Berkey tastes so good, it's ruined me. Somebody is always needing a quick bottle as they run out the door heading to work, etc. and I'm tired of them taking my good insulated cups and water bottles never to see them again.
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I live in a similar situation! Just was wondering if I was looking at this the wrong way!
 
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WalknTrot

Veteran Member
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
Click to expand...
A shallow well hand pump on the well, as the static water level in the 90 ft. well comes up to about 12 ft. from surface. Also, a good sized pond and a creek runs through the property if all else fails.

I still store around a week's worth of water in the house in case of illness or injury, but that's more for convenience sake. The power goes out around here a lot.
 
Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
2 weeks very minimum stored indoors - all kinds of SHTFs where you'll want to be inside and not exposing yourself .....

wouldn't be depending on any surface water - especially creeks & rivers fed from the direction of any sewage treatment plant or industrial source with possible chemical contamination in SHTFtimes ....

not even counting in the possibilities of animal & human corpses >>>

water sources are going to draw refugee types like flies to meat - compounded with sheeple neighbors without any knowledge of field sanitation procedures >>> widespread dysentery within 10 days
 
S

school marm

Veteran Member
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
Click to expand...
Always have about 30 gallons in the house. We had some 55-gallon water barrels that froze and broke last season. THey were always fine in previous locations, but now we're just a little colder in winter and that was enough to break them. They've been replaced with a few 275-gallons totes, which unfortunately, are not in place and filled yet.

Our well is now only 200 ft deep (previous house it was over 600 ft deep), and while we have the generators to run it if necessary like Illini said, conditions could be such that going outside may not be desirable. In addition, in winter there will be snow to melt, and year-round there is a creek about a mile away. Always have Plans B, C, and D in case Plan A doesn't work out.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
philkar said:
I live in a similar situation! Just was wondering if I was looking at this the wrong way!
Click to expand...
We may be looking at it the wrong way but I'm I'm going to keep doing just what I do, for now. I use to fill gallon jugs with water but I considered it a useless endeavor after a while and got rid of them. We do fill the tub up if it looks like there may be ice in the forecast.

Just the other day though, I was thinking maybe I should at least refill the empty bleach jugs because it seems like since it went up, we use twice as much but I'm not there yet. Supposedly there is enough residual bleach in the freshly emptied jug to keep the water safe. I would still have to store it though.
 
nomifyle

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Illini Warrior said:
just picked up four IBC totes - $15 each great deal on food grade 275gal - not going to have time this remaining fall to properly install them - if I didn't see a very real possibility of needing that water storage - normally wouldn't have pulled the trigger ....

but I can temp block them up and fill them if it starts looking even worse than it already is presently >>>>
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We have ten or twelve of these, some came in the metal baskets, but DH got some for free that were just the tote. He has a saw mill and milled lumber to build a few cages. Some he cut in half and made raised beds for, its those he made the cages for. We collect rain water, two of the tanks are hooked up to down spouts and from those he pumps rain water into other totes. He also has rain barrels under down spouts.

I keep jugs filled to flush with and I have other water containers that I purchased, those need to be filled. I also keep and rotate about 3 months of cases of water, and I also buy some water by the gallon, There is a creek in the woods across the road that my great grandmother use to keep milk and butter in to keep them cool.
philkar said:
Are those of you that live rural and have wells, storing water?
Click to expand...
DH tried to drill a well in two or three places, but could not get good water. There was a well back here but it was not a good well.

Water is a precious commodity, most people just don't see it though.
 
SouthernBreeze

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
nomifyle said:
We have ten or twelve of these, some came in the metal baskets, but DH got some for free that were just the tote. He has a saw mill and milled lumber to build a few cages. Some he cut in half and made raised beds for, its those he made the cages for. We collect rain water, two of the tanks are hooked up to down spouts and from those he pumps rain water into other totes. He also has rain barrels under down spouts.

I keep jugs filled to flush with and I have other water containers that I purchased, those need to be filled. I also keep and rotate about 3 months of cases of water, and I also buy some water by the gallon, There is a creek in the woods across the road that my great grandmother use to keep milk and butter in to keep them cool.

DH tried to drill a well in two or three places, but could not get good water. There was a well back here but it was not a good well.

Water is a precious commodity, most people just don't see it though.
Click to expand...

We don't have a well, either, Judy. We will have to rely on water we have in storage (several 55 gal plastic containers), our rainwater catchment system, and rain barrels. I also keep about 3 months worth of bottled water in the house, rotated. There is a small spring filled pond at the base of the ridge we live on. That water would be our last resort.

We had an old well when we bought this place, but it caved in with the well shed falling in on top of it. Never could find anyone to clean it all out, or to dig a new one. It's so deep that Cary was afraid to attempt it himself.

Having enough water is our weakest link in all of our preps.
 
Ractivist

Ractivist

Pride comes before the fall.....Pride month ended.
I'm about to put a new roof on my house, and this discussion on rainwater makes me wonder how wise a metal roof would be over shingles? I'd think the metal would be the way to go..............thoughts?

New gutters, new metal roof, like a new catchment system in place, just add barrels. I'm thinking new shingles would be shedding grit that might leak contaminants that are unhealthy, to put it mildly. Food for thought.
 
C

Cohickman

Veteran Member
I now have 440 gal of water in the garage. No well as there is no aquifer under me. But lots of surface ponds due to cattle. 4 of us so we can hunker for 100 days or so before we have to resupply.
Got more food back in Sept during Mt House sale.
Plodding along.
 
Reasonable Rascal

Reasonable Rascal

Veteran Member
Discovered this evening we have no tomato sauce stored. What my mind said was turned out to be cases of stewed tomatoes. And we used the last of the enchilada sauce.

On the plus side discovered several bags of canned meats and soups that weren't shelved and were 'hidden' under other things of a non-food nature. It is time to do a big food bank run and then inventory what we have left. We lost our super cheap food source when the salvage store in Sioux City closed and haven't been doing nearly as much for the food bank. But it is getting to be the season and all that so time to bite the bullet and add to it from stores while they are still in date.

In other news the austere medic course was this last week-end and we refreshed for the most part. Assisting students also helps retain skills. I won't reveal confidences but we could have met any immediate threats while we were there. If we didn't shoot them we could always stab them. We were covered regardless.

RR
 
Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
Ractivist said:
I'm about to put a new roof on my house, and this discussion on rainwater makes me wonder how wise a metal roof would be over shingles? I'd think the metal would be the way to go..............thoughts?

New gutters, new metal roof, like a new catchment system in place, just add barrels. I'm thinking new shingles would be shedding grit that might leak contaminants that are unhealthy, to put it mildly. Food for thought.
Click to expand...

metal over asphalt shingles - a good roofing company should advise for a tearoff - you should do it if you have a couple of decades planned in that house or care about the future owners >>>

you should have that metal on a good solid deck and not with a deteriorating sandwich in between >>> a tearoff shouldn't add that much $$$$
 
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WalknTrot

Veteran Member
A lot depends on where you live.

I debated metal when I had this roof redone 3 years ago. Now if I lived in serious fire country (California or up north here in the pine forests) I'd do it, but even though forest fires and brush fires happen in this neighborhood quite often, the house sits in the middle of huge hayfields with only a couple trees around it.

Modern shingles boast a pretty good lifespan these days, and I really couldn't justify the added cost of metal, plus the problem (here) of heavy snowfalls sliding off so fast as to destroy chimneys, vents, gutters, etc. on the roof. I see what avalanches of ice and snow come crashing down from the metal pole building and barn roofs, and I don't need that happening around the house.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
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summerthyme said:
Metal roofs are the way to go! They're fire resistant, don't suffer wind damage until we start talking hurricane or tornado, and then who installed it and how will determine if it's damaged or gone.

Summerthyme
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They do require regular maintenance that a lot of people don't consider. It isn't a "one and done" kind of thing anymore than if you had a shingle or slate roof.
 
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Wildwood

Veteran Member
Ractivist said:
I'm about to put a new roof on my house, and this discussion on rainwater makes me wonder how wise a metal roof would be over shingles? I'd think the metal would be the way to go..............thoughts?

New gutters, new metal roof, like a new catchment system in place, just add barrels. I'm thinking new shingles would be shedding grit that might leak contaminants that are unhealthy, to put it mildly. Food for thought.
Click to expand...
We've had our metal roof for 35 years and still going strong...love it! I campaigned for it back before metal was popular and DH usually goes along with all my crazy schemes. Before you know it, several of our friends and neighbors liked it and got one too. DH put ours on and then helped friends do theirs too.
 
A

anna43

Veteran Member
The cost of metal roof vs. shingles is somewhat overcome by the lower cost of installation. Large hail will ruin a metal roof, but it can handle smaller hail without an issue. My household insurance premium is less due to the metal roof which is another long-term benefit.

I've not changed what I'm doing due to the "news". Maybe because I no longer watch the TV news at all -- canceled Dish long ago. Also, it's not really "news", its propaganda.

I've mostly depended on this forum for news for years and figure if the SHTF someone one will start a thread about it! :rofl: I've been an active prepper for over 20 years. I use something, it goes on the shopping list and is replaced on my next trip to town (once a month usually).

I've had my eye exam, dental checkup, annual physical, scheduled a procedure that I've been putting off and had my car inspected and made ready for winter. So thankful for a mechanic I trust. Also, got a whooping cough booster which also updated my tetanus booster. Will not be getting any covid boosters.

I have a full unfinished basement where my pantry and freezer are located. At the other end of the basement, I store water in various containers such as bleach, vinegar, soda and milk bottles. If they leak, they do no damage. I consider this water to be cleaning and flushing water. It could be boiled or treated with chlorine for drinking if necessary. I have no idea how much I have stored because I just keep adding as empty containers become available. I also keep bottles of purchased drinking water but not many. I always have my Britta pitchers (2) full on the counter and a 2-quart kettle on the stove full for daily use. Water is likely my weakest link in preps. I have dozens of empty quart jars and I have been considering filling them and processing to seal for long term safe drinking water.
 
TxGal

TxGal

Day by day
We have a standing seam metal roof, and it was well worth the extra cost for all the reasons others mentioned above. They aren't totally maintenance-free, all vent pipes should be recaulked every few years, but they are pretty darn tough. Since they're fire resistant they also lower insurance costs.

We did the gavalume, had gutters installed, and have rain barrels on all 4 sides with overflow catchment. That and several ponds, a well, and creeks go a long way to helping keep water here. We still buy bottled water and keep plenty on hand. Lots of water filters here, a few Berkeys and others. We are on a community water system, but having back-ups to back-ups is a good idea.

Peace of mind is well worth it.
 
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