World Wide Preparation

I have noticed on my stats page that I have a great number of blog viewers that are from outside of the US. First off, thank you to everyone that reads my blog! Secondly, since I have noticed this I thought it would be proper to clear up something.

I have made it clear that I live in the Midwest USA. My region is full of farm land and dairy farms for the most part. We have some inland bodies of water but nothing that is too large. We also have the Mississippi River which is about 50 miles from my location with some of its tributaries much closer to my home.

As I prepare for things to hit the fan here, do the same where you are! As I write about my climate, and terrain think about how they are similar or how you can adjust your own needs to fit in with the tips I am giving to you. 

When the SHTF in the US, there is a great possibility that the entire world will be impacted; this will be because we are at war or because of some sort of outbreak. 

My fellow readers from abroad you too need to be prepared for what might one day come to your part of the world! 

Surprise at the grocery store

If you read my blog you understand the message behind it, if not I will reiterate it to you. 

At any given time an unannounced event could take place that would end our dependence on the grocery store, for this reason my family will prepare to be self-reliant in many areas of our life. 

We are still preparing to be self reliant and are not yet fully capable. So last night I had to run to our local grocery store to grab a few things that we needed around the house. While I was there I noticed that for a Thursday night at 7:00 the store seemed kind of busy. Not thinking too much about it I went about my business and started placing the items off my list into my cart. 

While I was looking at the meat cuts and deciding which ones I wanted to use for our weekend meals I overheard two females talking about the storms that were headed to our area. These storms are the leftover rains from Hurricane Isaac, which struck the gulf coast earlier in the week. As I was eavesdropping I heard one of the women say that she came to get bread in milk in case the weather got bad.

As I was listening to this it dawned on me that I had not even considered this storm to be anything more than some rain. Then it dawned on me that due to my new outlook on the importance of prepping I have learned to ignore media induced fear and prepare for what the media will not see coming. 

I moved on through the store and as I approached the other end of the store where I was wrapping up my shopping experience I heard a man on his phone talking about the same thing! I was really troubled at this point. 

I took something from this trip to the store. If people in my area are running to the store to stock up on items because we are going to get some tropical rain for a few days, I do not even want to think of the chaos that will follow a real natural or manmade disaster! 

I also realized something that I have known for a while but last night it was thrown in my face! The news will always make something that is not that major seem much larger which will induce a great amount of fear into the viewer causing even more chaos. 

Disappointing Rain Barrels

Where I am located we have been in a drought all summer. This drought is about to get a nice kick in the butt with this rain that is left over from Hurricane Isaac which will hit my house any time now. It is projected by our newscasters that we will see anywhere from 3-5 inches of rain over the next few days. While I tend not to listen to the weather man, I am making an exception in this case only because it is clear on the radar that the storm is still rather big. 

The disappointing part is I do not yet have my rain barrels in place so all this wonderful rain will simply run off my gutters and run into the yard. 

Even with me missing this rain I have made it a point NOT to complain about one thing during this storm. If you live in the Midwest US you know exactly what I mean! How can I complain about us getting rain??

So even with the rain barrels not being completed yet I still want to say to you all HAPPY SHOWERS!

Great Article on the Psych of Preparation

This is a great article on the psychology behind prepping. 

"I am fascinated by the driving force behind decisions based on stress and morals/ethics.  For me, the idea of emergency and disaster preparedness is a no-brainer—something we should already be doing and always looking to improve.  But many of my contemporaries, family, friends, and readers don’t feel the same way."

The Psychology of Emergency and Disaster Preparedness 

Supermarket/Pantry Prepping

While you are prepping you might wonder, what foods can I get from the store that will help me during the first part of the end of the world scenario. I have sought out that information for you and have compiled it into a list for your convenience.

How much food you plan to get is entirely up to you but as a guide let me give you some advice. You know how I feel about urban areas, but I still think about you so I recommend that you should get at least 3 months of food per person. If you plan to bug out as soon as the SHTF, which I recommend, you do not want to have to worry about lugging around tons of food with you so you may want to prepare by going to a rendezvous point at sometime and bury some food for later pick up, I will cover this in a later posts titled "Burying to Survive".

If you plan on being in that one spot for quite some time you could stock up to 6 months to a year, but you will have to adapt to a steady rotation of goods so that nothing grows old. Here are some items that you should look into stocking from the super market so that you start off on the right foot.

This information was gathered from books as well as other internet sites and compiled to benefit you!


You can start your stocking by getting some harder grains that have a shelf life of 7-10 years. 

• Soft White Wheat
• Spelt
• Buckwheat
• Dry Corn
• Millet
• Kamut
• Durum Wheat
• Hard Red Wheat

These softer grains have a shelf life of 6-8 years and need to be kept in a cool dark place in sealed containers.

• Oat Groats,
• Barley
• Rye
• Quinoa

Some basic items that will last from 3-6 years 

• Canned foods such as tuna and soups
• Powdered milk
• Freeze dried herbs
• Peanut butter
• Canned Vegi's
• Ramen Noodles (trust me you will want them in a life or                          death situation) 

You will need some pasta and flour for their nutritional value, these items if stored properly will keep for around 8 years

• All Purpose Flour
• White Flour
• Whole Wheat Flour
• Cornmeal
• Pasta
• White Rice ( up to 10 years)

Some other things that will be beneficial to your diet are beans, which can hold a shelf life of up to 9 years if stored in a cool dry place and are not exposed to oxygen. 

• Garbanzo Beans
• Mung Beans
• Black Turtle Beans
• Blackeye Beans
• Pinto Beans
• Kidney Beans
• Lentils
• Lima Beans
• Adzuki Beans

Finally you have the foods that you will want to have for various reasons that hold a shelf life for much longer if stored correctly

• Salt
• Pepper
• Liquor (I suggest a few bottles of Jack but you store what                   you want) 

While prepping at the supermarket think of other items that are not food related that you can stock up on to make life easier for you once the SHTF. I will compile a list of these items for you in an upcoming post titled "General Store Prep Items".

Rain Barrel Progress

Thanks to the generous downpours that I got at my house this weekend I was able to miss some great harvesting. Although I was unable to have the rain barrels in place I was able to get them all cleaned out, which proved to be easier than I thought it would be. 

To clean my rain barrels I simply put the hose in the barrel and filled it up, then I dumped it. I also used a flash light to look down into the barrel to make sure that all the previous contents were gone. I used my 'High Powered Spray' setting on my spray nozzle which worked well at spraying off the sides that I could see. 

With that being completed I was about to start the construction when my dog got sick and had to be taken to the vet. After our visit to the vet I had to medicate him back to health which he is finally, slowly, coming to today. 

Next on my list is to move the barrels into place and begin doing a dry run with my pipe and determine if the position is correct then I will do the final installation and begin my rain harvesting. 

Making more paper to fund the projects!

 I sold 6 more barrels today putting my in the green on my investment. So I am now $20 ahead, but I have to subtract the $14 I had to pay for a new power cord for my laptop so I am $6 ahead.

I cannot complain though!

For my next project, the water filtration system, I am keeping an additional 55. Gallon drum to house the filtration system. So for other materials I am estimating I will need maybe 20-30 dollars in additional materials. So I can still get two completed projects by making the initial investment.