Essential Items For Surviving in the Event of Rationing-Depression

[the1much]

start thinking of a hand pump system to get water up to ya .
and a word of caution on rain water,,, a little is o.k. ,, but when you start drinking it for days,, it'll make you sick,,, it needs to be boiled.
same goes with water in the tub,,,use that water to "do things" not for consumption.
a filtering system is a good investment ,, and PLENTY of filters.,,, water is a "hard" item to stock,,, you can stock for "household" use,, but it is very hard to stock it for consumption.
and DONT wait for an "outage" to take a test drive,,hehe,,, do it for 2 weeks. in summer,, and winter. go and hit ya breaker box, and say,,, we're camping

 

[chiknmama]

Our water tastes very icky right now. It isn't only us, it is everyone - the "lake turned over" whatever the heck THAT means. It is supposed to clear up soon, and it is safe to drink, but it tastes like mold.

So, with this going on, I was thinking last night of water supplies and how best to accomplish that. I know about rain barrels, would love to get two of them, with a spigot towards the bottom for gravity feed, so I can attach a hose to it. I'll be working on that one, if for nothing else than to water the garden.


enjoy the ride -

My kids and I used to do that every now and then when they were small. We'd have "Little House on the Prairie" days, (usually when I got sick of them having the TV blaring and other electronic crap that was driving me nuts, LOL). We'd have a day without power, without any modern amenities. They loved it - of course, they were much younger then.

Now, if I turn off their internet (because they eat all the bandwidth) so I can get online, myself, they think I've ruined their entire year.


As for hand tools, well, thankfully hubby has a lot of tools. We've had to buy a lot of "farm" equipment and tools this year, because we had none of those, but shop tools (woodworking, metalworking, vehicle repair, spare parts) he has a lot of those.

I do need to stock up on medical stuff, but other than our prescriptions, I don't think we would need much, as we do not use much now - and haven't for many years. Bandages, pain relievers, and stitch'em'up kits, yeah, antibiotic creams, etc... yeah, too. But, we rarely even use a bandaid when we cut ourselves - although I know that Bandaid Brand says we will heal faster, LOL - it usually gets in the way and falls off while we're working anyway.

I know, I have to think "catastrophic medical emergency preparedness" but I just can't think that way this morning... not awake enough yet. However, I do have to say that a good herbal knowledge can by-pass a lot of the OTC drugs necesary. I've been studying that for years, and can fairly well medicate myself from nature if I had to. This was born out of a deep distrust and loathing of doctors. (my mother, OTH, thinks doctors are gods who should be followed to the letter - I don't think she's ever argued with a doctor in her life - silly woman.)

I agree with what everyone else said, also - in fact, when I first started to read this thread, I was going to say the same thing, but someone (a few of ya) beat me to it before I got to the end, LOL. We will need friends and neighbors to help us through any disaster. Need a blacksmith? make buddies with one, get to know them, you may get into a hobby blacksmithing yourself, then you'll be prepared for metalwork. If you don't get into it, I'm sure they'll be ready to barter for work done for something YOU can offer that they cannot do or grow.

My neighbors and I do this now, to an extent. I mean, yes, everyone has bills to pay and needs that cash, but for a lot of stuff, we trade. Eggs for organic produce, meat from our cow or chickens for work on some building job. And speaking of work, no one says you will HAVE to do it all alone, think "community" and how they used to all go from field to field doing the farm work and then move on to the next farmer's field.

That is one reason we chose to move where we are - the people are more likeminded and willing to work that way. Where we lived up north, my neighbors would just as soon run over your dog (or children) in the road than come and talk to you, much less help you out with anything. Many of them wouldn't even make eye contact because that might mean they would have to nod a hello now and then.

Down here, total strangers wave to you as you pass by their place, or pass on the road. It is simply a different mindset. Instead of rats on a sinking ship - every man for himself - it is "heya neighbor, need a tip on how to do X?" or "Heya, I got the tool ya need back home, I'll run and get it." or " I got two of those, I only need one, ya want the other one?"

I don't think ANY of us will survive any disaster if we have the mindset of "every man for himself".

Peace -
Meriah

 

[patandchickens]

For those who do not already have a bunch a hand tools and are considering stocking up, I would like to suggest buying (intelligently chosen) OLD ones rather than new things from the stores, in most cases. It is very VERY hard to find non-P.O.S. new hand tools these days. Most things being made at present have brittle plastic handles, plated metal, thin shafts, poorly attached wooden handles, soft metal, inaccurately-machined parts, etcetera.

Whereas if you go to auctions (estate auctions, or tool-and-machinery consignment auctions) you can find tools made fifty or eighty years ago or more, that are still in great condition and have a long serviceable lifetime ahead of them. Of course just b/c something is old doesn't *necessarily* mean it's good -- cheap items were made back then, too, and even sturdy items can be abused or poorly-stored to the point where they're fit only for decorating the walls of a country-theme chain restaurant. But I have gotten better tools at auction (mostly for real cheap, too) than I could EVER find in a store these days -- good old saws, tin snips, pliers, screwdrivers, sledges, brace and bit (still looking for a good hand drill, b/c I am cheap ), punches, awls, files, shovels, post hole diggers, mattock, all sorts of things. A few items are hard to find in good condition - planes that can be adequately well rehabilitated, and smoothly/fully functioning hand drills, seem to be in short supply at least around here. But that just gives you a Challenge <g>

Plus if you're at the auction for this, you can also cheaply amass all the boxes of little metal bits and bobs that you have room to store, and never again have to go to the store for a particular-sized screw/bolt/whatever

Pat

 

[the simple life]

If you are going to be able to live (NOT just survive) the time is NOW to explore new and different ways of doing things... Just like the boy scouts..go on hikes, campouts, try cooking on wood, shooting/trapping a rabbit (any wild animal you have in your area /skin it/cook it. IF you have a container you think is waterproof--place a roll of tissue, close top and place it in a bucket/tub of water and leave it for a week..then check it.. Don't wait until the power is out, the roof has blown off to find out your container was NOT really waterproof.

Dixiedoodle

Excellent Point!!!! Thank You!

 

[the1much]

dont forget,,, we COULD use DC electric, is REALLY easy to make a small hand cranked generator to recharge 12v car batteries,, along with that will be "battery" acid, that will be the only thing we may not be able to get.
rubbing alcahol, witch hazel ,, peroxide,,BEER ,
canoe, row boat, flea and tick control substance, ,, man the list,,,,, does anyone have 40 acres i could store some things on?,,haha

 

[dacjohns]

I'll be back later. I didn't want to lose this.

 

[Ellie]

TOILET PAPER, lol Actually this is a serious item!

Lime for those who have no septic system.

Bleach (only good for a year or so) but very good for cleanliness.

Rechargeable batteries
Generator
Gas might be difficult, but just a little and you could charge a few batteries and get water from a well, etc.

Ellie

 

[TanksHill]

Ok so my husband and family think I flipped my lid. Today I cleaned out a 1/4 of my garage and told my husband it was going to be the NEW Emergency room. Our garage is under our home so it has almost three walls backed by earth. I use the back wall for my canning goods etc.. It stays nice and cool down there. Anyways, I think the reason I got so hooked on this thread was because I have been looking for food grade storage containers for flour, rice etc.. to store in my garage room. Again trying to save cash by buying in bulk. In the process of dooing my goole search I found a great web site.
Beprepaired.com.
They have interesting stuff as well as the food storage containers I was looking for. Not sure if anyone is familiar with it. Just looking at the items offered gives me a general idea of what I should have. I am sure there is a book somewhere. Maybe someone could post a few.
Thanks gina

 

[dacjohns]

. . . I know we have touched on this over here as far as stocking up on food supplies, but this thread is getting far more into it.
People want to know what else is just as important.
Tools, lightbulbs etc.

. . . So here is the thread, what people want to know is what is the most important tools to have, energy supplies and things of that nature.
I know we already have one on food supplies so I don't want to repeat the same things over and over, but if someone has something new to add go right ahead.
Hopefully people will come over to this site and get involved in the discussion.

There have been a lot of good suggestions made thus far. I don't have much to add in the way of physical things but I would like to throw out some food for thought.

Many of the things mentioned are perishable; medicines come to mind, also anything with adhesive like band aids.

When preparing you almost have to set an arbitrary amount of time you expect the depression/rationing/whatever to last if you want to stock supplies. You also need to rotate your supplies while you can to keep them fresh.

Being prepared is also a mind set. Like others have mentioned, do the things you think you will have to do so you know how. If you have all the manual carpenter tools and mechanical tools know how to use them to make and prepare things.

Take a wilderness first aid course. Basic Red Cross first aid won't do it.

Learn how to do without. Learn how to start a fire without matches. Do without electricity or gasoline or propane or natural gas. How much space does a 6 month supply of toilet paper take up? How much gasoline do you need to keep a generator going for 6 months at only 4 hours a day? How many water filters will you need?

Being totally prepared for extreme economic conditions may not be feasible but if you mentally and physically prepare for the worst conditions we had during the last 100 years you will be pretty well off if the time comes.

 

[unclejoe]

I'll throw in my 2 cents.
You may want to consider a bow also. In the event that things get BAD, ammunition may get hard to come by. I haven't done it since I was a boy scout, but I could still make my own arrows. The chickens won't mind giving up
a few feathers and fishing line & pine sap will hold them on.

dacjohns - If you can go with diesel, a long time. I have a 45hp diesel engine that will run for about 4 hrs. on a gallon @ 800 rpm. With a 275 tank out back and a lot of careful use I might make it for a year ; unless someone steals it.
Local friends are probably #1 though. We already have a small group that provide each other with things the others don't. I have wood, produce, and eggs. One has more fruit and berries than we could ever use.
Point is - don't wait for things to get any worse. Talk now.
"Be Prepared"