WELCOME TO OUR EDITION FOR SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21ST 2020

 

THE BASICS:  WHEN IT’S PERSONAL

Official type emergency handbooks and such from FEMA, the Red Cross, and other such sources use general guidelines for most situations. They also concentrate the most on natural disasters, and stick to the common basics.

Some “survival and prepper” sites stick to country/worldwide, Level III “apocalyptic” type events such as solar flares, EMP’s, epidemics, economic, governmental, or general societal collapse, and the old standard, zombies. 

You, however, should take a look at your own personal situation and try to access the threats to you and your loved ones. True, many of those listed above could affect you, but there are some others that are more likely for your area.

As far as the natural disasters, I live in an area that has very little chance of a major earthquake. With my home here at the foot of the mountain, the terrain makes a tornado much less likely, but still reasonably possible. I am also sufficiently high up from the valley below so that the direct effects from the river flooding could not reach me.

But, I am in the “snow belt”. Ice storms can bring down lines here. Artic cold, like we had this winter, can affect the normal grid in dangerous ways. Snow can reach blizzard levels, blocking roads and taking down lines. It also causes icy roads, which can lead to crashes taking down power lines that may take days to fix due to the bad weather.

We also can see lines come down from summer storms, or the side effects of hurricanes or tropical storms. Heavy rains could affect the reservoirs with their run off. Also, with the forest only a hundred yards or so from our front door a wild fire could be a threat.

Then there are the man made threats. There is a nuclear plant some 30 miles or so away from us that could cause us to evacuate. We are generally on the flight path to a fair sized airport. A crash could start fires that could burn up the neighborhood or the forest.

You should also keep in mind about getting caught in the secondary effects of an event. This is what we call RAGE, the Relative Area of Grid Effects. Simply put, you could be in between the area, such as with us, the flooded out valley below, and where the grid is operating normally.  In turn, this could cause your personal “grid” to be affected from annoyance level to a major problem.

What causes the event is important towards what you need to be able to deal with it. But, the general rule of thumb is to be able to be cut off from the grid and exist on your own little island until things get back to normal.

So look around and think about the kind of threats that are specific for your area in order of most to least likely. Next up we will talk about threats you can see coming (floods, etc.) and those that come out of nowhere (water main breaks, loss of electricity, etc.).

Later we’ll talk of what to do if you are at work when things get bad, because as the average Ann and Andy knows there is always that boss who says that there is no problem and you can come to work and you can’t afford to lose the job.

 

AFTER THE BASICS: 

PREPPING TOGETHER

My wife, Mama Donna, doesn't really think of herself as a Prepper, but she possesses a lot of the basic ideas and skills. She can crochet outfits and sweaters, cook up a storm and can scratch bake like you wouldn't believe. She doesn't get into firearms, but she'll let fly with the 12 gauge shotgun or anything else we have if someone breaks in.  But, tell her to put on camo or sleep in a tent, and she'll laugh at you. The idea of her with a combat knife in her hand is like a politician admitting they are wrong. But tell her she needs to help defend her home or get us all to safety, and she'll be there to do all she can in her own way.

I introduced her to prepping slowly, starting off by showing her how little things work together to build up our supplies and how we could do it a few dollars at a time. With yard sales, “two can” buying and sales on everything from aspirin to flashlights, we have put together what we have. She saw our water supplies be stocked up from 2 Lt Soda bottles washed out and refilled.

But what really won her over was when my prepping saved our vacation a few years back. We had gone to the beach, and on the first day she cut her foot. I had my big first aid kit in my "Big Bob" that was in our Jeep and was able to bandage her foot well enough that she had no problem with it.

Since then she has seen us ready for any type of power outages from snow and ice storms, flooding in the valley below us, and even Hurricane Sandy.  She even came up with a shoulder bag that could carry 4 or more .5 Lt bottles of water that she could sling over her shoulder in a bug out or bounce back. She can't wait to go "yard Saleing "  each year to see what we can find. I  She enjoys the rain barrels for watering her flowers, and the fresh veggies our gardens.

You may have a significant other who is not yet a Prepper and would like to have them join you in prepping.  I offer these suggestions. Show them that you "prep to live and not live to prep" and that not every dollar you have goes into the expensive prepping items. Create or get them a "BOB" for their car, and show them what's involved. Show them in little ways and by example how prepping is a combination of a lot of little inexpensive items, and display how it fits in with regular living. A good example of that is  show them how keeping ice cubes in zip lock bags in the freezer makes them handier for drinks and protects the frozen foods in case of a power outage.  Get them a little mini flashlight for a key chain. Let them use it once to find something and they'll wonder how they got along without it.

If, however, they still aren't "into it", don't poison the well! If they can stay mellow with what you do and you don't use up a lot of money, it's better than nothing. As long as they are not negative, they may come around as a lot of people are doing now as they see what is happening around them.

 

AFTERMATH: AFTER THE DUST SETTLES

When you are trying to “game plan” post Level III situations, the discussion usually turns to the “what if” of some kind of “Federal Government” that no longer operates under the Constitution and is more of a dictatorship, or such of whatever political type.  In that scenario, it is helpful to look back on the past. It this case I am talking about the Prohibition Era.

            If you’re not that familiar with that time, it was a 14 year stretch from 1920-34 where the Federal Government, in its vast wisdom, decided to prevent the average citizen from having so much as a beer at a bar.

            In the big cities, gangs took over “bootlegging” operations to get people something to drink. This led to “colorful “gang wars and raids by people like Eliot Ness and the” Untouchables”. But in small town and rural areas like the one I live in, it just led to people making their own beer, wine and whiskey and selling it, with little problem from the local authorities. Sometimes the “Feds” would bust someone’s operation and make a public display of destroying the booze, but all in all, for every one they “caught” ten others kept on operating.  People kept drinking because they wanted to and NO law was going to stop them.

            In a post Level III situation where there is a tyrannical Federal “government”, be it extreme right , left or whatever, the small towns and rural areas, under the right leadership and control, would be able to avoid, if not openly ignore Federal “edicts” and commands as long as most people quietly, if not openly rejected what the Fed was trying. Yes, there is the argument that the Fed would move in with troops, drones, helicopters, etc. But, in my opinion, they would not have enough troops and equipment to control every area like these along with trying to keep the big urban areas together, especially if the “resistance” was more covert (on the quiet side) than overt (armed insurrection).

            For those of you who would like to see an example of how this might work, I refer you to the book Total Resistance, which was a plan by the Swiss of what they would do in rural and urban areas to resist if the country was overrun. For everyone else, we’ll cover many of the basics here in upcoming parts.

 

TOUCAN BILL’S BIRD’S EYE VIEW: BUILDING BLOCKS

            My wife, Mama Donna, made a cake the other day “from scratch”. She used flour, sugar, cocoa, oil, and such but no eggs or any perishable item. She can do that because she has the knowledge and we stock up on items, such as flour, sugar, etc.

            If you have a reasonable chance of sheltering in place (SIP) I recommend you stock up on such “building blocks”. The good news is not only can they be found at discount stores, according to an article on the net today, their quality is NO less than name brand items.

            But, like any other item, be it firearm or flour, it is useless without learning what to do with it. Learn to make items from scratch now, and do them as much as possible by using hand powered kitchen tools, such as the “egg beater” and can opener shown in the photo.  Remember the electrical mixers and such won’t be there after a major event.

            And after a homemade biscuit or two, you may find prepping to be a tasty idea.

MAMA DONNA’S UNBELIEVEABLY GOOD EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

            My wife, Mama Donna, takes a practical view of prepping. She looks to be able to cook, clean and keep the house going under any circumstances. This is her “no perishables” cake recipe.

3 cups of white, all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

½ cup baking cocoa

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. white vinegar

1 cup Canola (or other) cooking oil

2 cups cold water

            In a large mixing bowl stir all dry ingredients until well mixed.

Make 3 “wells” in the mix.

Pour the vanilla in well #1

Pour the oil in #2

Pour the vinegar in #3

Pour water all over

Mix until combined ( A hand beater can be used )

Pour the batter into a lightly greased 9X 13 X 2 pan

Bake at 350 degrees in oven (if possible or inside a closed grill as an option) for 30 minutes or until a toothpick put into the center comes back clean.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.