Prep Genrl Prepping is Changing as I get Older

seraphima

Veteran Member
Prepping is changing as I get older

Yesterday I finally buckled down and did something I had been avoiding: Cleaning out under the kitchen sink to make room for water storage.

I live in the ‘mother in law apartment’ of my house, with the rest of it occupied by my middle son and his family. The basement is shared. My/our water storage is in the basement, mostly in 5 gallon or larger containers. It was more than a year ago that I realized I probably couldn’t carry a 5 gallon container up the (outside) stairs, and what if the stairs were in ice anyhow? What if my son was away and I was alone?

There’s room for a thin 5-gallon under my sink, and gallon jugs there and elsewhere, but cleaning out under the sink meant having to get on my knees- not so easy- and dealing with a mess of junk under there.

So, I procrastinated for more than a year on an essential prep. It is much more likely that I will need water for a few days or weeks, and I had not moved to do the obvious first, even if I had longer term storage downstairs! Doesn’t do any good if I can’t get to enough water to get by for a bit.

Another example is that I ran out of ibuprofen. Often have to take a couple in the evening if I’ve been working in the garden or doing a lot of housework. Tom Clancy said in one of his novels that special ops forces bring plenty of OTC painkillers as they get sore from all the heavy activity. Good point! If TSHTF, we will all be sore as our activity levels go up- carrying wood and water, cooking from scratch, guarding, etc. etc. There was a time I had plenty of ibuprofen, and then…it got used up. That’s been fixed, too.

On one of forums, someone said they were no longer buying long-term storage foods because they won’t outlive the storage life. Got me thinking! Are there ways you are changing what you prep for and make adjustments for aging?
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Sure but it is more about what we are prepping and who we are prepping for. First off, a lot of the fluff and junk has been used up out of our preps and will not be replaced. Strictly basics now with enough recipes to make eleventy dozen different kinds of easy meals out of all of it. I invested in a freeze dryer and that's turning into most of my preps except for some narrowed down supplies that I can or buy commercially canned.

I no longer prep for small/young children. None left in the family. And I really have no idea if my kids will have kids. They may, and if they do then I'll put aside some supplies for that but not until they do.

Instead of grandchildren, I have my parents in my plan these days. I don't expect them - particularly my father - to live long into a SHTF/EOTWAWKI scenario, but I want them to be as comfortable as they can for as long as they can.

I've been faced with my own health struggles this year. I am not a fatalist but I am trying to be a realist and make sure that my husband can make it without me should there be a repeat. That goes for our adult children as well. I've accumulated a lot of "stuff" for a while and I needed to go through it, organize it better, and donate what is no longer healthy to hold onto. That is also so it is easier for me (or them) to take care of things housekeeping wise.

It is not necessarily a drastic change, but it is a change.
 

connie

Veteran Member
I have had to make adjustments. Not necessarily in the prep dept but everyday life.
I only put items at front of my lowest cabinet shelf on bottom cabinets. A basket I can easily slide out holds smaller items used infrequently.
I have already decluttered but of course that never ends. I wish I were as organized as SB with food and recipes
But I do keep basics in food and do my best to rotate through it all . Our location is good weather wise and town not too big. House has lots of natural light.
Like many here I've been doing this for 20 years.
I'm sure things will continue to evolve as I age.
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
I had a senior moment last year and bought king size comforters. I have always bought 2 full sized ones instead of a king. Well after this last time of wrestling them to the laundromat, I finally got them washed, dried, and sealed in a storage bag. They will stay there. If the kid ever comes to visit again, I'll give them to her. I just can not manage them.
I switched to detergent sheets because I can't handle the jugs of laundry detergent anymore.
I have pretty much switched to smaller containers of everything, even if they're more expensive, because I can't get up the stairs with them.
The feed mill owner saw that I was struggling with the big bags and now they put all my feed in 25 pound bags for me.
I don't get down in the floor to do anything unless hubs is around to pick me up.
 

Wildwood

Veteran Member
Prepping is changing as I get older

Yesterday I finally buckled down and did something I had been avoiding: Cleaning out under the kitchen sink to make room for water storage.

I live in the ‘mother in law apartment’ of my house, with the rest of it occupied by my middle son and his family. The basement is shared. My/our water storage is in the basement, mostly in 5 gallon or larger containers. It was more than a year ago that I realized I probably couldn’t carry a 5 gallon container up the (outside) stairs, and what if the stairs were in ice anyhow? What if my son was away and I was alone?

There’s room for a thin 5-gallon under my sink, and gallon jugs there and elsewhere, but cleaning out under the sink meant having to get on my knees- not so easy- and dealing with a mess of junk under there.

So, I procrastinated for more than a year on an essential prep. It is much more likely that I will need water for a few days or weeks, and I had not moved to do the obvious first, even if I had longer term storage downstairs! Doesn’t do any good if I can’t get to enough water to get by for a bit.

Another example is that I ran out of ibuprofen. Often have to take a couple in the evening if I’ve been working in the garden or doing a lot of housework. Tom Clancy said in one of his novels that special ops forces bring plenty of OTC painkillers as they get sore from all the heavy activity. Good point! If TSHTF, we will all be sore as our activity levels go up- carrying wood and water, cooking from scratch, guarding, etc. etc. There was a time I had plenty of ibuprofen, and then…it got used up. That’s been fixed, too.

On one of forums, someone said they were no longer buying long-term storage foods because they won’t outlive the storage life. Got me thinking! Are there ways you are changing what you prep for and make adjustments for aging?
If you ever find yourself in an emergency situation and need that water, maybe you could pour it into a gallon jug so it will be easier to transport up the stairs.

I'm in pretty good shape but five gallons is a lot for me now too. That's probably over 35 pounds plus it's awkward. I use to be able to carry a fifty pound bag of feed not so many years ago but just about the time it got to be a little much, they downsized most feeds to forty pounds. Now that is getting to be a push but mostly because I'm afraid it will hurt my back.
 

Wildwood

Veteran Member
Thank you, Wildwood, yes, putting it into smaller containers is good. However, we get weather here, and sometimes the stairs are impassable - ice, snow, 90mph winds, you name it. I'm prepping to use the preps. :)
I completely understand but it's a hard pill to swallow for me. I still feel so independent and I dread the day that I'm not.

Just recently, I can't collect eggs from the bielefelder pen becuase there is a huge rooster in there that threatens to charge me and I'm short. DH marches right in there and he doesn't do a thing. Come spring and time to hatch new babies, he's going to a new home as soon as I have a couple viable replacements. I have a fortune tied up in the breeding stock and only have two roosters. Even two or three years ago, I would have blustered my way through and had a come to Jesus meeting with that rooster.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
My strength demished when I had covid two years ago. I was 74 at the time but I didn’t feel old, now I feel old.

I have 5 gallon water containers and I’m sure I can’t lift them. I recently bought a couple of two gallon containers. Those I can manage.

I can’t turn the main off so I could turn on the generator, haven’t solved that yet and we have no near neighbors to help.

There are many things I use to do that I can no longer do, but I’m finally feeling better so there is hope to get more done with work arounds
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I have a cart and a wheelbarrow that are close at hand for unloading the car. For larger buckets that I have to move frequently, I got plants dollies do they roll around.

For water, because I'm not lifting 5 gallons for flushing, etc, I got the small battery powered pumps. And if needed, I can use the plant dollies to move them.
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
I completely understand but it's a hard pill to swallow for me. I still feel so independent and I dread the day that I'm not.

Just recently, I can't collect eggs from the bielefelder pen becuase there is a huge rooster in there that threatens to charge me and I'm short. DH marches right in there and he doesn't do a thing. Come spring and time to hatch new babies, he's going to a new home as soon as I have a couple viable replacements. I have a fortune tied up in the breeding stock and only have two roosters. Even two or three years ago, I would have blustered my way through and had a come to Jesus meeting with that rooster.

I have one of those "grabber" things that I pick up eggs with. Some of the hens I deal with are as nasty as roosters and they have torn up my arms this summer. I wear gloves and long sleeves when I go in the coop now.
 

Wildwood

Veteran Member
My strength demished when I had covid two years ago. I was 74 at the time but I didn’t feel old, now I feel old.

I have 5 gallon water containers and I’m sure I can’t lift them. I recently bought a couple of two gallon containers. Those I can manage.

I can’t turn the main off so I could turn on the generator, haven’t solved that yet and we have no near neighbors to help.

There are many things I use to do that I can no longer do, but I’m finally feeling better so there is hope to get more done with work arounds
I'll be 67 in a few weeks and I feel the same. I tell anyone who will listen that covid made me feel old. Before that, I thought I'd be young forever. I have rebounded just the tiniest bit and I'm hopeful I may see more improvement eventually.
 

babysteps

Veteran Member
I'm in that "sandwich filling" stage of life where I'm taking care of both my mom and my youngest kids (17, 10, 4) at the same time, while also helping my adult kids stay afloat. And we have a (small) farm.

So my preps are pretty much a little bit of everything. My adult kids aren't having babies (yet) but my youngest isn't that far out of baby stage and after being surprised with her, I'm not willing to let the baby stuff go quite yet. (It's quite the trip when four doctors all agree that there's no POSSIBLE way you could be pregnant, while you are sitting in front of them with an ultrasound picture confirming kid #7 :lol: )

Preps for mom, assistance devices, incontinence supplies, meds and all of that. Preps for farm animals. Things like a spinning wheel, carding machine, and smallish loom, because the kids raised sheep for 4h for years and we all learned all the fiber arts, but they don't have room in their teeny apartments.

I wish it was more organized! Our house is small, despite the number of folks living in it, and I HAD been doing a good job with shelving units everywhere with labeled bins. And then when mom and dad moved in with us three years ago, we ended up with their house and garage full of stuff. And I just haven't done a good job of getting their stuff sorted, organized, and sold or donated or kept.

Anyway. Rambling. Sorry. Just feeling overwhelmed occasionally with all the everything that I get to be responsible for, now that things are getting uncomfortably active.
 

herbgarden

Senior Member
Hang in there ,babysteps. I understand. I still have 2 houses of stuff to sort. My mom and single aunt died 12 weeks apart. And then my single baby brother who was storing some stuff, also died. It is hard to organize preps when surprises like that happen. Just do the best you can and let God help with the rest.
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
I'm in that "sandwich filling" stage of life where I'm taking care of both my mom and my youngest kids (17, 10, 4) at the same time, while also helping my adult kids stay afloat. And we have a (small) farm.

So my preps are pretty much a little bit of everything. My adult kids aren't having babies (yet) but my youngest isn't that far out of baby stage and after being surprised with her, I'm not willing to let the baby stuff go quite yet. (It's quite the trip when four doctors all agree that there's no POSSIBLE way you could be pregnant, while you are sitting in front of them with an ultrasound picture confirming kid #7 :lol: )

Preps for mom, assistance devices, incontinence supplies, meds and all of that. Preps for farm animals. Things like a spinning wheel, carding machine, and smallish loom, because the kids raised sheep for 4h for years and we all learned all the fiber arts, but they don't have room in their teeny apartments.

I wish it was more organized! Our house is small, despite the number of folks living in it, and I HAD been doing a good job with shelving units everywhere with labeled bins. And then when mom and dad moved in with us three years ago, we ended up with their house and garage full of stuff. And I just haven't done a good job of getting their stuff sorted, organized, and sold or donated or kept.

Anyway. Rambling. Sorry. Just feeling overwhelmed occasionally with all the everything that I get to be responsible for, now that things are getting uncomfortably active.
My situation is very similar to yours, including having little ones as well as adult children and we also have a farm. I'm a full time caregiver to my husband and my mom is quickly coming to the place that I think she will need to move in with us. We've recently had this discussion. I totally get feeling overwhelmed sometimes! I will be praying for you!
 

momma_soapmaker

Disgusted
When we began prepping many years ago, I planned for my parents to be here with us. Both have since passed, so some things I had put back for them no longer matter (food preferences, meds, etc).

Hubs has been down most of the last 2 years, so it's upended a lot of our preps. There are things I can't carry or do on my own, so I've adjusted (folding wagon to transport items, putting some things in closer proximity, etc). I've also made sure we have handicap items still onhand, even if he's not currently using them, such as a walker, cane, toilet riser, etc. Life can be even harder when you can't do even basic things without assistance.
 

seraphima

Veteran Member
Recently found out from a friend that there is a local Independent Living Center even here in this little town. they give out all sorts of neat stuff- long handled grabbers, those strong Moen hand bars for bathrooms or stairs(like you see in hotel handicapped bathrooms), and all sorts of adaptive living items. They operate on grants from various agencies, up to and including fed.gov, so they often have plenty of money for things if you qualify. Age, disability, disease, others in your home who need care- all these may be qualifying. Recently, a grant popped up that I fit (old) and they bought me a new stove and paid for the shipping and install!
A friend got long handled oven mitts (so she doesn't get burned), a nifty sort of chain mail glove for cutting with a knife (for the holding, not cutting hand), and help with buiding handrails into her home. Another got this gadget that attaches to the tub and has a looped handle that serves as a handhold to steady her.
Tools for getting older!
 

feralferret

Veteran Member
Water weight.
One fluid ounce of water weighs one ounce. A gallon is 128 fluid ounces divided by 16 ounces per pound. Eight pounds. remember that a pint, 16 ounces, weighs one pound. Then count the number of pints in the container. Five gallons weighs 40 pounds. You would also need to include the weight of the container for the actual weight you are lifting.

Our drink water preps are one gallon jugs that are constantly rotated. i have a couple of clean empty five gallon containers with spouts for transporting water as need from our several 55 gallon barrels for non-drinking usage. Yes, I have a hand pump for the barrels. I would likely only fill the five gallon container half full at a time due to the weight and my back issues. I turned 69 a few weeks ago and have degenerated disks in my lower back. A gallon jug is the max for my 82 year old wife.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
A few years back I bought a wagon with wheels that go over uneven ground better than regular wheels. There is a creek across the road in the woods that I have not visited in the 13 years I've lived here. I'm not comfortable going in the woods by myself. DH is fearless. So back to the wagon, we could transport some water with that wagon. I knew even back then that I could never carry water very far. Plus I would need a walking stick in the woods, so I guess I could only carry one gallon. DH on the other hand at 80 can still lift and carry a case of water, but not the 40 count packages, hurts his back.

I ordered some empty gel capsules to fill with various things. A package of 500, I thought it would be a lot but its not.l Have to keep it in my subscribe and save. Right now I'm thinking curcumin and ginger will go in those capsules.

All the stuff I ordered from amazon finally came.

I'm getting a few of these each month for a few months:

 

seraphima

Veteran Member
I've been cleaning in the basement now that the door can be held closed with two newly installed hooks and eyes. Having an inside pull handle also helps.
Under the sink there was a bunch of junk, mostly dirty from various sawing projects nearby over the years, but cleaned up there are some treasures- three bottles of lamp oil, a couple of containers of white gas for a camp stove, some old dish towels (now washed) and- an unused but dirty snap on toilet seat for a 5-gallon bucket! (now cleaned and in a plastic bag in a plastic box.) All the loose plastic trash bags have been rolled up and put back under the sink in another box and the bottles of fish emulsion fertilizer for the garden put with the gardening stuff.. Good stuff there- most of which I didn't even know I had!
I've been a prepper forever, but let a lot of stuff go over the years, and the bonus for cleaning up the mess is finding things which would really help in a difficult situation. Having them clean makes them immediately useful. Sure don't want to be washing stuff with no running water!
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Another nifty tool regardless of age but they do come in handy are packing straps. I don't mean the straps to close stuff, these straps help you lift and carry things. I got a set after watching some guys move around appliances and heavy furniture with them. No more messed up floors.

Here's an example of them on amazon.

 

Thunderbird

Veteran Member
I used to be bull strong. I can remember lugging a fully assembled 390 Ford short block up a set of stairs. A combat harness with 10 M14 Mags and 2 canteens was manageable. Now I will be 82 in a few months I am weak as a kitten. 35 pounds is heavy and 50 pounds is very difficult. Very hard to adjust too.
 

feralferret

Veteran Member
I used to be bull strong. I can remember lugging a fully assembled 390 Ford short block up a set of stairs. A combat harness with 10 M14 Mags and 2 canteens was manageable. Now I will be 82 in a few months I am weak as a kitten. 35 pounds is heavy and 50 pounds is very difficult. Very hard to adjust too.
Sad but true. At 69 with health issues, I'm unable to do many things that used to be nothing for me to do. I don't eve want to think about when I am 82. My wife is 82 as of two months ago, so I get to see how that has affected her.
 

Teawhisk

Jarl of Drakenstead
"Do not go gentle into that good night.
But rage rage against the drawing of the light" (Dylan Thomas)

I'm 75 now and am suddenly a widower. My beloved wife of 53 years died in early June leaving me alone here on the prairie with enough Long-Term Storage to weather the Apocalypse. So, what do I do with all those five-gallon pails of 20-year stored food? What do I do with a $500.00 Country Living Grain Mill that I probably will never use again?
My daughter and granddaughter have figured I was a lunatic since they were children because "Nothing like that will ever happen". I can sell it. I can donate it. But where and to whom could I pass it to. That "lunatic" judgement is more than common because everyone knows that things a fine and will just keep chugging along.
I don't plan on death in the near future, though the witch doctors with their masks and rattles at the Mayo Clinic tell me I have an incurable and inevitably fatal disease caused by the treatment for a cancer of the throat five years ago. They call it a "Therapy Induced Morbidity". The disease is cured but the treatment is fatal. I tire easily but don't sense the immediate arrival of Sargent Death and his howling commandos. I figure that I have the same chance as everyone else. I wake up (or maybe not) every morning and I either live or I die. I do not however live in fear. I'm the real deal. One of the last of the Viking Breed is what I am fearing neither gods nor death. (The White Christ though gives me pause so I take care to treat Him with the respect that is his due). The hard part is loneliness. For the greater part of my life, I have been a husband.
I had a wonderful woman in the center of my world who I care for deeply. Now I have no one to move the kitchen table and dance with on Saturday night. No one but the cats laugh at my jokes or appreciates it when I cook their favorite sea food pie. I'm gradually being faded out of the scene of social living becoming a ghost in my own home.

So, I am contemplating the "Aegir's Rock Solution."
Years ago, there was a warrior called Aegir the Big Handed. He sent many a man to Valhalla and received many wounds but lived in spite of them until his hair turned gray and his arms grew thin. There was peace in the country then and Aegir sorrowed saying " I am old. Battles are still. Must I die on my back in the straw like a cow? Shall I not see Valhalla?" Now thus did Odin say. "If a man grows old and cannot die in fight, let him find death in some brave way and he shall feast with me in Valhalla". So one day Aegir came to a rock high above the fjord. He drew his sword and held his shield high above his head. He leaped into the air crying out "A deed to win Valhalla!" He died in the waters of the fjord. Th skalds still sing of his deed that day.
Now to take my own life in such a fashion is forbidden to me, as I noted my deference to the White Christ. However, given the winds of war blowing across the world and the possibility of a need for such as I am, I can see the possibility of death in a pile of spent brass defending those dear to me and the land I love. I'll hold until the time comes and claim my seat in the Great Hall to feast with my grandfathers.
Til Ragnarok!
 
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