I need you to watch for an article that will appear on September 1st. It will be the first of a series of articles that I really am excited about and think you will enjoy….or at least learn something from. Not that I am a great teacher or an oracle of truth…but the articles might get you thinking…and then learning.
Please keep your eyes open for it!
All right then….
My Days of September series of articles is over. It covered from Sept 1st through Sept 19th. The series also covered a whole lot of material and I asked you to do a lot of thinking.
So how did it turn out for you?
I ask that because I had a conversation on Friday morning with a friend I’ve had for over 40 years. They liked what they read…but…and I hate it when I hear the dreaded “but” !
They had a hard time following the articles because they couldn’t come to the website each day. Bummer! She asked me to link each article to the next one. So, there is a “next” button now on each of the articles to guide you from the September 1st all the way through each article in the proper order. I also posted the list of articles in the “Table of Contents” page. I am also going to post a list of the articles at the end of this post as well.
There was a number of great comments on many of the articles and I appreciate each and every one. Some emails I received were stunning! They were very heartfelt and eye opening. I enjoyed reading each one and hearing what ya’ll had to say.
Now…this post is to remind you to read the articles from start to finish…if you haven’t already. There is an opportunity to make comments on each page. And this post is to give you another opportunity to make comments, ask questions, make suggests, raise concerns, etc. You can do so via the “reply” feature at the bottom of the page. Also, I am including a “comment form” as well. This will give some folks an opportunity to share with me directly concerning their thoughts about the articles.
So, what I would like to ask of you…
I am going to try something new…please bear with me.
I want to link a number of updated articles together in a “lesson” format. Yeah…school time!
I hope you hang in there with me, I think everyone can get something out of this. It is important enough to me that I am dedicating the entire first part of September to this. Please take the time to work with me. I bet we can all learn something.
How it plays out…
Pretty dang self-explanatory…you are reading this post.
These two articles originally appeared a few years ago on my website. I have resurrected them, edited them for grammar and spelling, then added some additional material while discarding out of date stuff. These two articles are to get you thinking. I develop a scenario and then I go into some details of what I might do and why. I hit on some principles and ideas. It is to get you into a more formal mind set of dealing with emergencies, disasters, and even grid-down events.
This article will cover risk/threat categorizing, priority setting, fatality factor, and risk mitigation. It will touch on each of those subjects in detail and with formal training to implement what you’ve learned. It won’t be long or boring…just hardcore fast moving information to get you going.
I will cover each of the risks/threats that are common to all emergencies, disasters, and grid-down. They are; Violence, Injury or Sickness, Communications, Organization, Dehydration, Exposure, and Starvation. I will present information that will get you started in understanding the risks/threats and how to deal with them.
In that post I will wrap up the previous 7 post information and give you an assignment.
This 5-post series, one each day, is to present you with different scenarios and ask you a simple question, “What would you do?” You can turn it into a major planning session…or simply a brain-storming session with yourself and/or your family. It is to motivate you to think about what might happen and get your mind in the habit of thinking through what is happening and coming up with a plan.
This will be my time to bloviate on the previous 18 days worth of posts, your comments/replies, and anything else that might be applicable.
I truly hope you don’t find this idea out of line, or childish, or unneeded. I think the timing is right for it. I hope you will participate with me through this exercise.
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
Have you noticed how highly I rate “communications” as a priority when dealing with emergencies, disasters, or grid-down? I rate communications higher than the threat of dehydration and exposure, even starvation. Actually, as you’ve seen I only rate the threat of violence and injury/sickness higher. If you’ve read much of my writing on this matter then you know the priority rating is due to its fatality factor (probability and severity).
Let me explain…
Example #1 – If you don’t know that an emergency, disaster, or 
grid-down event is going to occur, or is occurring, how can you be ready for it or react to it? Exactly, you can’t. The event would be on top of you before you had knowledge that it was even going to hit you. Hence, you are overcome…behind the curve…out of the loop.
Example #2 – The event has occurred but you don’t know what to do. A great example would be Hurricane Katrina, many people didn’t know where to evacuate to, or where to stay away from. As a result many people became stranded in road jams, stranded on house tops, or trapped in the living hell that was the Super Dome.
Example #3 – You are into a grid-down event and you have no way for your neighborhood guards/security to communicate. A mob of looters approaches and the guards/security can’t get the word out to people what is 
happening, and calln’t for reinforcements. Two hours later your neighborhood is a smoking ruin.
Example #4 – You have a wide-spread power outage that affected cell-phone towers. You and your children are not in the same location, same is true for your spouse. You are trying to figure out if everyone is safe and trying to coordinate with your spouse who picks-up which kid and where…but your cell phone isn’t working.
All of this might have been avoided had you properly prepared with the ability to communicate during emergencies, disasters, and grid-down events. This is absolutely one of my favorite subjects. Why? Because it is so flipping important and so inexpensive to mitigate.
When it comes to communications there are two basic types; 1) internal, 2) external. Internal is the ability for the group/family to communicate with each other. External is the ability to communicate with people outside of your immediate family/group.
There are a whole lot of ways to accomplish both internal and external communications. For this article I am only going to touch on two; 1) SW receivers and mobile radios for external, 2) handheld radios for internal. Yes, there are plenty more avenues of communication available to folks. Please feel free to go whatever direction you feel is right for your situation. I will confine my thoughts to this specific series of articles in regards to taking action during the 7 Days of September.
So let us prioritize a little bit. Which is more important…internal or external communications? Well, there could be a really good case either way…I call it a tie, a draw, equal weight. For me then I go another level deeper…can I use them other than just emergency preparedness? Of course. But, I think that outside of emergency preparedness I am more likely to get value out of handheld radios with my family. And, I will probably be able to get some external information through devices such as AM/FM radios, TV, Smartphone, Internet, etc. That means I head to the “internal” aspect of communications first.
There are FRS/GMRS radios that are readily available and pretty decent for internal communications. They are 
relatively inexpensive, some are good quality, have a wide selection of channels, some have scramble technology, and have the ability to connect with other families/groups. But, there is also a downside…everyone who owns a GMRS/FRS radio can listen in to your conversations if they are close enough to your location. And another downside is limited power is available to the radio so that means limited range of communications.
Then there are handheld HAM radios. I love these! They come in an unbelievable variety, and I could talk you to new heights of boredom…but I won’t. I will go with two simple choices1) Yaesu FT-60 if you have lots of money, 2) Baofeng UV-5RMHP if you are on a more limited budget.
Yaesu FT-60:
The Yaesu FT-60R dual-band 2 meter/440 MHz HT boasts 5 watts output on both bands. It also features wideband receive from 108-520 and 700-999.990 MHz (less cellular).
Features – Over 1000 Memories, 5 Watts RF Output, Backlit Keypad, Alphanumeric Display, NOAA Weather Alert, PL Encode/Decode, DCS Encode/Decode, Emergency Auto ID System, ARTS System
Baofeng UV-5RMHP:
I think it is simply the best Baofeng UV-5RA Love Itprice/performance handheld radio on the market today. Yes, there are better quality radios such as the Yaesu FT-60r but the Yaesu also costs about 6 times as much at the Baofeng. True, if I could only have one handheld radio and the money wasn’t a real factor I would choose the Yaesu. But for many of us mere mortals money is a factor. And, I would rather each family member and all of my close friends have a radio rather than just one or two having a radio. Hence, the Baofeng UV-5RMHP handhelds are an amazing combination of price and performance.
Features – Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-520MHz, Dual-Band Display, Dual-Standby, 7 / 4 / 1 watts of Output Power, 128 Memory Channels, Built-in VOX Function, FM Radio (65MHz-108MHz), Low Battery Alert, and more.
Just because I listed internal communications as a higher priority please don’t think that this category, external communications, is substantially less important. That is simply not the case, you must be able to communicate with the outside world, if nothing else…to listen. Which brings me to subdividing external communications into two categories; 1) one-way, 2) two-way.
One-Way:
This ability gives you the operational capability to hear what is going on in the larger world outside of normal communications methods. The key is to give yourself as many options as possible. For me I think a good solid SW receiver unit fills that need.
Two-Way:
In this category of external communications the inference is you can not just hear but also talk to people that are remote to your location. The key to this operational capability is defining “remote” and all that it entails. It could mean being able to talk to another family or group that is ten miles away or 5000 miles away.
Why is that remote definition so important? Money. Pure and simple it is about the dollars and cents to fulfill this need.
You can use a $150 mobile Ham radio operating on 70cm or 2m bands to reach ten miles, maybe even thirty. If Ham repeaters are operational you might even be able to reach to another state. But, should you be needing the ability of two-way communications over long distances (100 – 5000miles) you are talking some potentially expensive HAM HF gear. And I mean in the thousands of dollars price range. And you better fall in love with large antennas as well.
Yaesu FT-8900r:
The FT-8900R is a ruggedly-built, high quality Quad Band FM transceiver providing 50 Watts of power output 
on the 29/50/144 MHz Amateur bands, and 35 Watts on the 430 MHz band. You can operate on 10M, 6M, 2M, 70CM bands. It includes leading-edge features like cross-band repeat, dual receive, VHF-UHF Full Duplex capability, and over 800 memory channels.
Some operational notes on external communications:
If you can’t communicate the presence and threat of danger…danger will find you and those you love…normally with very unpleasant outcomes.
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
So now we talk about organization. No, not a boring eyes glazing over type of article…an article about how you can save lives, including your own.
“What the heck?” you might be asking right about now…I don’t blame you.
When was the last time you went to an activity or event that was just so poorly organized you simply had to roll your eyes? I am talking food was cold, it started late, the agenda was a mess, and it dragged on forever. And, when it was all over…it utterly failed to accomplish what is was supposed to?
Or, how about the last time you attended (hopefully not led) a planning meeting where it was chaos and you really didn’t get any decent planning done? You know what I am referring to…lots of talk, little action, and in the end…no solid plan.
These are all organizational issues. Rather, I should say indicators of poor, or non-existent, organization. Here’s the rub…what if this was happening during a emergency, disaster, or worst of the worst…during a grid-down event? How do you think that would work out for you and all the others involved?
Let me really try to insult you…Would you even know where to begin to actually organize after a grid-down? Yes, I 
am sure many can go into details about what needs to be done, but how about how to organize to get it done?
Let me go over some basics:
So here is a pretty good idea of what is needed in any emergency, disaster, or grid-down. Now remember, a single person can handle multiple organizational positions for small emergencies and/or disasters. If it is a large incident, such as a 1000-person camp, then you have a single person in a single position so they don’t become overloaded and burned out..
Here is basic information on how the different sections work to make that happen –
Logistics SectionMission – All service and support needs are provided by the Logistics Section.
Responsibilities –
• Acquires, stores and distributes supplies.
• Acquires and maintains facilities.
• Provides all transportation needs.
• Provides communications capabilities.
• Provides food services.
• Provides medical services.
Planning SectionMission – The Planning Section collects, evaluates, processes, and disseminates information.
Responsibilities –
• Collects and process situation information.
• Supervises preparation of the Incident Action Plan.
• Tracks all resources.
• Determines need for any specialized resources for future operations.
• If requested, assemble and disassemble operations units not assigned to the Operations Section.
• Establish special information collection activities as necessary.
• Assemble information on alternative strategies.
• Provide periodic predictions on incident potential.
• Report any significant changes in incident status.
• Compile and display incident status information.
• Provide maps as needed.
Admin & Finance SectionMission – Manage all financial and administrative aspects of an incident.
Responsibilities –
• Run the commissary.
• Establish monetary & barter policy, and oversee related disputes.
• Handle all other financial aspects of incident.
Operations SectionMission – Responsible for all tactical activities outside of camp.
Responsibilities –
• Reducing the immediate hazards.
• Saving lives and property.
• Establishing situational control.
• Restoring societal “norm.”
Incident CommanderMission – The individual responsible for the overall management of the incident.
Responsibilities –
• Sets objectives & goals.
• Responsible for, and authority over, all incident personnel.
So, about now you are thinking this is pretty good organization. Yup, it is! It is called Incident Command System (ICS) and it is used by every emergency responders all over the country and in most of the world. There is a reason for that…ICS works and it has been proven for decades to work…don’t reinvent the wheel.
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
If you are the normal average person you can die from dehydration in as little as 24-hours, you can last no more than about 96-hours. You can become weak and disoriented within 12-hours without water. Drinking water contaminated with viruses and bacteria and be debilitating within 1 – 10 days. Drinking contaminated water can kill you.
So, tell me again how important water is?
Fortunately dehydration can be easily cured…drink water. To keep yourself healthy and functioning…drink safe water. Fortunately the “safe” part is easily cured…purify water before you drink it. But, there is still a problem here…you gotta have water to purify. Yup, you gotta actually have water…or be able to get it.
You have utility water coming out of your tap and so you are confident that your Monolithic water filtration/purification system will keep you and your family just fine. So what happens when the utility company can no longer keep water coming out of your faucet?
“No problem!” you say…you have a well. Great! And what happens when your power goes out and the well pump no longer works? Or the pump itself goes out and replacement parts are no longer available…what now?
Fortunately this problem too can be solved…with the right plan. Here’s your right plan…
So let’s get started…
Personal dehydration prevention should be a NDuR or similar “life straw” kind of filtration device. It can be carried in 
your pocket so it is the second line of defense against dehydration. It is easy to use, requires no special training, it is readily available, and effective.
note: NDuR is no longer available Life Straw is the next best option.
If you have had to “bug-out” this personal option should be on each person all the time, as in their pocket. Yes, it is carried in a pocket so it is readily available. Why? Because if you lose all your other water filtration and purification capability then you still have this life-saving option available to you. And yes, people have lost all their prep items (i.e. 72-hour kit) during emergencies, disasters and grid-down. By having this handy little option on you, you stand a better chance of surviving.
Moving out one layer or circle would be AquaTabs or Chlor-Floc. Both can be easily transported by a person in their kit. But these chemical options do take a little longer to work than the NDuR or Life Straw. But they can also be used to purify water for more than just 
a single person. And they can be used to purify a storage container of water. So that gives them the justification of being the next layer up from NDuR or Life Straw.
Both the Chlor-Floc and the AquaTabs are a chemical process and they both take time to ready water for drinking. Sometimes there just isn’t any time available. So keep that in mind with these two options. But they are 
both highly portable.
Next would be something along the lines of an MSR Sweetwater system. It is light, portable, compact, easy to transport, and can provide water to an entire family if needed. But it is bulkier and heavier than the two previous layers. But, the entire unit weighs in at less than a pound. The Sweetwater unit can easily produce 1,000gals of drinking water. The water source can be as polluted (non-nuclear) as you can imagine and this filtration/purification system can make it just fine to drink.
note: The MSR Sweetwater system is no longer available. It has been replaced with the MSR MiniWorks EX
The next layer is getting into the more semi-stationary options of filtering/purifying water. 
My personal favorite, and very economical, system is the Monolithic Ceramic filter system. It can be used with 5-gal buckets, 55-gal drums, or larger containers. It can easily provide water for an entire family or a 
neighborhood if needed. However, the entire system can be bulky compared to something along the lines of the MSR MiniWorks EX system.
Also, I hope you noticed a trend here…portability. The more personal an option is, the more portable it is. The easier it is to transport by person or vehicle. You have to balance portability vs. capacity. Only you can make that decision for your specific circumstance. But, ensure you have multiple options to cover various portability and capacity requirements.
You have a hot water tank, yes? Well, most homes have a 40 gallon hot water tank. And you probably have two toilets in your house, right? Well, there is another 5 gallons(+/-) each. No, not the water in the toilette bowl, the water in the tank that sits on the back of the toilet. Yes, that is normally acceptable as drinking water. So there is your 50 gallons of water storage on hand. The trick to it is to not lose it. So if your water supply disappears do the following:
So let’s hit on a subset of Utility Water for a minute. If you would have any amount of warning that a disaster or emergency is coming fill every possible container in the house that might be able to hold water. Yup, anything; and I mean anything. Go for easy & quantity first such as the bath tub and sinks. Then go for buckets, bowls, bottles, jugs, jars, glasses; literally anything including heavy duty trash bags.
One of the items that we have in our home and love it to pieces is a WaterBOB. It can hold up to 100gals and easily fits in your bathtub. It seals up very nicely and comes with a pump to move the water from the container to your bucket, bottle, etc. A WaterBOB is basically a large very heavy duty food-grade plastic sealable plastic bag. It takes about 20 minutes to fill it from your bathtub’s spigot. This is a great way to store water at the last minute for an emergency. So why not use it for storage sooner? Great! All the WaterBOB needs is some kind of “form” or cage around it to hold in place. But remember, there is a whole lot of weight involved; 900 pounds for a full WaterBOB. Plus you have the pressure pushing out on the sides as well. Whatever you would decide to build make sure it is sturdy.
A smaller similar produce is an AquaPod. The 
only holds about 65 gallons but is a quality product as well and as a bonus is made in the USA. AquaPod & WaterBOB are both readily available on Amazon. A WaterBOB sells for about $40 or so, shop around. An AquaPod sells for about $28 but that is for a 3-pack! So here is your decision point…If you are going to use it for a last-minute-fill-it-up container and only have one bathtub then I would use a WaterBOB because you can get more in a single container. However, if you have multiple tubs as last-minute-fill-it-up containers or you can make good quality forms for them (longer-term storage), then I would go with the AquaPod. Either way, you are storing a whole lot of water.
You can buy a case of water (35 ½ liter bottles) for less than $4.00. Each case of water would then last about 5 days for the average person. Option to consider, buy and store 1 case of water person for each 5 days of supply you want to maintain.
Bottled water is easy to store, easy to move, avoids cross contamination among people, easy to track usage (drink 1 bottle of water every 2-3 waking hours).
Note: Bottled water may not be any more pure or safe to drink than tap water under normal daily circumstances. Virtually all tap water in the United States is safe to drink without additional purification…under normal daily circumstances.
Small size storage containers. I am torn with this option really. For storing and moving smaller amounts of water I see cases of bottled water being the right all-around option. But there is a place for small container water storage. I would highly recommend a sturdy food-grade plastic container. I am partial to square containers to save space. But they need to be sturdy enough to handle not just storage, but moving and transporting them as well. The 5gal containers are about the right size in my opinion.
Medium size storage containers. A great compromise for storing water in quantity, but not as intrusive as a large tank in your yard, is a 30 or 50 gallon food-grade plastic storage container. If you have storage space limitations consider decorating them as furniture and putting them out of the way in the yard, on patios, etc..
When initially storing your water add bleach to keep bacteria in check (8 drops per gallon). Regardless of the bleach I would always filter and purify water that has been stored like this prior to using it.
Note: Use only food-grade plastic containers that you know what was in them prior to you acquiring them.
Large storage tanks. This option can be a real lifesaver if you have the room for it. To have a 300+ gallon storage tank full of water can be a really huge benefit. But the same information applies to this as it does to the option of storing water in plastic soda bottles or glass containers, just on a larger scale.
Moving water from large storage tanks is all but impossible unless you move the water to smaller storage containers or have it plumbed into your home directly. Storing the water outside brings additional concerns; preventing freezing, concealing its presence, etc.
Note: You know that large, really pretty above round storage tank that you have in the back yard or behind the barn, or the one you were thinking about putting in? Think how nice of a target that makes for folks doing some shooting practice, or drawing folks to you who are looking for water. Consider this storage option carefully. Think about a creative paint job that helps it blend in to the surroundings. Or you might want to ponder making this method an “in ground” possibility.
For above ground options you can take a look at these tanks –
For below ground storage here are a couple options –
Note of caution: For storing water in these large volume containers consider the location of the storage tank itself. If you place the tank too far away you have to be able to get your house. If bad weather or bad guys are present it might be a little tough to do. Make sure you have a reliable way to get the water to you house under less than desirable conditions.
TRAP – Storing water in milk jugs has a pretty serious downside. I am not a big fan of storing water in milk jugs. Reason, other than their transportability? Have you ever left milk sitting around too long, opened it and had it smell like a basket full of dirty clothes that came from the high school football team? Yeah, point is, if you don’t get milk jugs really, really clean then you will have some milk residue left and it will get very sour and produce a tremendous amount of bacteria. In other words, your water will stink and will be nasty to drink and contaminated when you need it most. And milk jugs will deteriorate and breakdown over time and water leaks all over the place. Not a good way to endear your spouse to “prepping.”
What plastic containers are safe to use to store water?
WARNING: #1 PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) normally used for water, soda, and juice bottles are not designed for reuse. They are not suitable for storage due to the possibility of bacterial buildup. There are also different reports outlining the possibility of BPA leaching over time out of the plastic and into the bottle contents.
Cool Thought: A small 8′ x 30″ frameless pool from Intex costs less than $66 for about $650 gals of water. Plus you can cool off during hot afternoons!! a 10’x 30″ gives you 1,000 of water for under $72.
Having your own water well is amazing for self-sufficiency and true sense of security. And that is true as long as 
you can get water out of your well. A well on your property is actually just a form of water storage…a very large storage container.
Most people depend on utility power to run their well pump, do you? Is that the best way to go? It is certainly the easiest way for sure. Let me explain my own situation…
Our retirement/BOL property has a well. We recently had the well serviced, the old pump and pipes removed. We will be replacing the pump with a unit that can run off 110vAC power. We are also replacing the 1” galvanized pipe (9 x 20’ sections) with 1-1/4” poly tubing. Why do that might you ask?
The well hadn’t been serviced for 10 years, it needed it.
Replacing the pump with a 110vAC unit gives us the ability to run the pump in two ways –
Since the pipe is actually a single piece of poly-tubing I can pull the tubing and pump out of the well myself…literally. And then I can use my Waterboy Well Bucket to retrieve well manually eliminating any need for any power other than a little muscle.
As you can see we now have three levels of redundancy to have a supply of water available to us. The third option being the well bucket requires no technology and no external energy source. Virtually foolproof.
If you don’t have any water storage at all go to Sam’s Club or Wal-Mart and buy ten cases of water. You will have spent less than $40 and have a decent supply of water on hand for emergencies.
If you have water storage get a personal water filtration system such as a Life Straw.
If you have water storage and personal water filtration system for each family member then get a portable family filtration system such as the MSR MiniWorks EX system.
If you have all of the above purchase the Monlithic water filter system. Yes, you can buy a Berkley if you want to…and spend way more than you need to. Or spend the same amount of money buying the Monolitic system…and have filters for 10 times the water purification.
Now, if you have done all of the above I have two more potential suggestions…
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
In the most simple of terms…we don’t want to become sick, or die, from exposure. We have to be concerned about both hypothermia (cold exposure) and hyperthermia (heat exposure) in emergency, disaster, or grid-down situations because you can die pretty dang quickly from exposure. And this is true whether it is winter or summer.
The best way to present my concept of protection from the elements is expressed in layers of protection.
So let’s get started with putting you in the middle of a bunch of concentric circles representing the expanding layers protecting us from the elements and all other aspects of exposure.
Yup, nothing fancy, no special piece of gear or equipment, just clothing. But, this is the single most important factor, period. Without good quality clothing appropriate for the environment you are in, no other kind of shelter will matter much. I categorize clothing into two basic groups; 1) clothing that will get you killed, 2) clothing that will save your life.
Stop laughing! Or, stop rolling your eyes at least. I am being serious and you will understand what I am talking about in just a minute.
So let’s look back at what are the biggest general threats/risks to any emergency, disaster, or grid-down. Previously I’ve listed them as:
Notice #1 on the list? Well, if bad guys can’t see or find you, how can they hurt you?
So, my first suggestion to you is pretty simple, make sure everyone in your family or group has a full set of good 
quality camouflage clothing to wear.
But, that being said, will you always find yourself in a situation where you need to hide from bad guys? Hey, you might find yourself in a totally benign situation where there simply are no bad guys. Fine. Or, you may find yourself in a situation where you might bring unwanted attention on yourself and your family by wearing camouflage such as in the middle of an urban environment. Fine.
Both are valid situations where camo might be inappropriate. But, prepare for the worst and enjoy anything less. So have the camo clothing ready but also have other non-camo clothing that will function just as well within this “exposure” area of preps.
Now, back to exactly what clothing as your first layer in the shelter category…
Let’s hit on the closest layer, literally. It is called the “base layer” and is worn right next to your skin. What you wear depends on the environment you will be in. If it is a cold environment then you may want to wear thermal underwear. If it is the desert where you will be then you may want to wear the lightest possible material. In either event you always want to wear clothing next to your skin that will transport moisture away from your skin. If you are going to be in hot, humid, rainy conditions maybe commando is the way to go.
I am not a fan of artificial fibers for base layers. Nature has already made great natural fibers that have worked for millions of years, no need for man to screw around with them. I don’t recommend, and I don’t endorse any man-made fiber material for a base layer.
For cold environments most people automatically think of cotton thermal underwear. I did as well in years gone past. But there is a huge difference in materials and what they can do for you or what they can do against you…like kill you. Cotton is the worst thermal insulating material that you could possible use in a cold environment. It will potentially kill you. If you overheat and start to sweat, cotton will hold the moisture directly against your skin and draw heat away from your body.
Wool on the other hand is an amazing natural material. It is designed to keep you warm even if it does get wet. Remember you want to be warm as you sit around and that’s for sure. But, that is what a campfire is for. However, the same layers of warm clothing that keeps you toasty sitting around camp could be far too warm for any physical exertion on your part such as hiking or splitting wood.
That being the case, you not only want to be warm sitting around a camp fire, you want your clothing to keep you warm when you are engaged in your normal physical activities.Those are two very different situations.
If you are walking with a backpack through the snow and you are over-dressed, you will sweat. And sweating is creating moisture against your skin. If that moisture stays in contact with your skin, you will cool off and you may become hypothermic.
I researched and tested a lot of different wool clothing, Minus33 Merino wool was the best all-round that I found. There are other brands, but I found Minus33 to be the best.
One more time…I am sold on one brand of cold weather underwear – Minus33. I think it is simply the very best. Wide range of men’s and women’s products in three weights; lightweight, midweight, & expedition.
Their products are made from Merino wool. It has an amazingly soft and comfortable feel. Minus33 Merino Wool regulates the amount of moisture on your skin by absorbing any moisture or sweat on your body. Then, the absorbed moisture evaporates out of the fabric into the atmosphere.
Hot Environment –For me, I like a little moisture against my skin in hot weather to cool me down. The exception would be the crotch area. Also, a gentle cooling through moisture evaporation of a t-shirt will help keep you from over heating. But, that same moisture in your crotch area can lead to “crotch rot” and that is miserable. Regular cotton doesn’t provide that quick moisture wicking and drying in my opinion. Charged Cotton does provide that wicking effect and dries quickly.
Just as I love a single brand of underwear for cold environments, I am just as sold on a single brand for hot environments – Under Armour. I work in very, very harsh desert environments fighting wildfires, UA is simply the best in my opinion.
Their Charged Cotton is built from 100% cotton. It has the power to wick sweat and dry fast. Lightweight Charged Cotton has the comfort of cotton, but dries much faster through their Signature Moisture Transport System wicks sweat away from the body.
Note: Now, for you that are LDS, the “handbook” has exceptions for certain conditions for your base layer. Look into it if you are interested. Otherwise, go with the material that is available and best suits your needs.
Now an informative word on socks…
There is only a single material that I think is appropriate for socks – wool. Period. I use wool for both hot and cold 
environments. It works just fine, the best actually. I like SmartWool, Minus33 and REI 
brand wool socks (in that order). Get a heavyweight pair for when you are hiking with lots of weight or in harsh cold conditions. I use a lightweight pair for desert environments in the summer. However, that being said, I have used heavy, mid and light-weight socks in both hot and cold conditions and I have yet to be uncomfortable. It wouldn’t hurt to try different weight wool socks for your specific conditions. The weight will make a difference on the thickness of the sock. Make sure you try your socks with the boots you expect to wear. Also, never go buy a new pair of boots without taking your thickest wool socks with you when you are trying on those new boots.
Your first protection against the elements, hot or cold, should be your base layer. Then comes your next layer, for this discussion we will call it the shirt/pant layer. This is the layer that will likely provide your greatest resistance to all aspects of your environment, so it is essential that these items be of the highest affordable quality possible.
I will break this layer into groups, camo and non-camo. Both need to be sturdy and can probably be made from the same kind/type of material.
For camo I go with:
Shirt, ACU – ReadyOne Industries 65/25/10 rayon/Aramid/nylon) rip stop. It is comfortable, hold up well, and are cool in 100+ degree desert conditions. I buy the military surplus stuff.
Assault Shirt. This shirt is specifically designed to be worn with body armor. It is also great when worn with a tactical vest without body armor. The sleeves are 65/35 poly/Cotton rip stop. The main shirt body is 55/37/8 cotton/poly/spandex. It is extremely comfortable, holds up well, and is cool in 100+ degree desert conditions. The quarter-zip front really makes this shirt comfortable in hot weather.For non-camo I go with:
vent at center back. This is a very comfortable shirt that performs exceptionally allowing air to circulate over your back keeping the moisture wicking away from you. The material also dries very quickly.So do I suggest other materials or styles? No, not really. The clothing suggested here works for both warm and cold climates. If it is colder, you put on your wool base layer. If it is warmer you don’t use your base layer or go with the UA charged cotton underclothing. I’ve worn these same exact clothes in 100+ degree bright desert sunny days. I am still around to write about it. Sure, it may get hot but it wasn’t to the point of unhealthy or dangerous.
So what about it getting really cold, now what do I wear?
I already mentioned that you wear your base layer, then the shirt/pant layer. Once you have that on you assess how much warmer you have to be. Again, I’ve worn these exact same clothes and been just fine in both hot and cold conditions. However, a base layer and the shirt/pant layer may not be enough for cold(er) conditions, an outer layer may be required. But, that doesn’t mean you have a different pair of pants, a different shirt, or different base layer. Your base layer and pant/shirt layer still remains in-place. You “layer” your clothing to meet the conditions. If you warm up, you take the outer layer off. If you get cool, you add a layer on the outside called the outer layer.
Why add or remove an outer layer? To reduce the time, effort, discomfort, and vulnerability while not attempting a complete wardrobe change.
That is also why you want the lightest possible base layer; you don’t want to have to take that layer off in the middle of your day. Think about it…you are bugging out with your GOOD BOB on, your family is in tow, and now you are over-heating. You stop to remove your base layer. How much effort goes into that change? How much time does it take? And while you are doing all of that changing of clothes are you really prepared to handle threatening situations very easily?
The outer layer consists of watch cap, fleece jacket, rain poncho and ECWCS:
Watch Cap – Blackhawk (100% 7 oz. Blizzard Fleece). This low-profile cap is really warm and won’t interfere with any jacket hood and is comfortable under a helmet.
weather hood! It has drawstrings to cinch down the amount of exposed face. And a lower drawstring to secure it low on your neck. Make sure you get a “long” cold weather hood to make sure it stays inside of your jacket.
Jacket – Cabelas Snake River (100% fleece). This is a very comfortable and warm jacket. Zippered front pockets and a drawstring at the bottom. The drawstring allow you to cinch it up to prevent cold breeze from getting underneath the jacket.Note: If you are using a poncho and poncho liner system, or a parka and parka liner system, together then view the liner as the fleece jacket.
white version
amazing poncho was designed specifically to go over your
as shelter half
backpack and fit correctly. Optionally it is also 42sqFT shelter-half. There is no better rain poncho. Note: It folds up and then can be stored in its own hood.
really like this parka. But, it is not a traditional parka that you might be thinking about. This is a military “system” against rain, snow, and cold. But, it is a system. Let’s talk about the shell first…Parka – Parka is made from 3-layer DINTEX® nylon material that is windproof, waterproof, and breathable. The zippered underarms open for ventilation to keep you dry and comfortable. Double storm flap, interior flapped map pocket, rollable hood stows away in the collar, DINTEX® inner lining, non-freezing two way zipper and zippered underarms, 3-pocket design and adjustable sleeve cuffs, sleeve pockets, waist drawstring, and large cargo pockets. The parka comes down to upper-thigh.
Parka Liner – Liner is made from microfleece, a lightweight, warm and soft fabric that is hydrophobic. Zip thru collar, zipper front placket, elastic cuffs, drawstring waist, front pockets, and sleeve attachment loops for attaching to the parka.
For non-camo clothing options I suggest you look at quality snow skiing clothing. Why don’t I go into more detail non-camo clothing? Because I don’t do non-camo outer layer clothing. Why? For what we are talking about (emergencies, disasters, & grid-down) I want the very best gear I can own. And I am not made out of money so I go with the old saying, “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Military gear is the best when compared with dollars spent in my opinion.
Yeah, there may be some folks right about now asking, “What about military clothing bringing attention to you and getting you arrested?”
Well, if that is a possibility then you have far, far bigger issues to deal with. This would be a martial law, occupation type scenario that is a much bigger issue with far great problems to deal with than military clothing.
Also, notice I didn’t touch on gloves or boots. I did a review on Lowa Tibet GTX boots for cold weather. The Lowa’s are also just fine for hot desert conditions as well. But, I also like Merrell Moab boots for warm/hot conditions. So you can take your pick on which boots you like. As for gloves, I am preparing a review soon on those and you can read more detailed info when that article comes out.
So there is your “clothing layer” and I can guarantee you that you will be warm or cool in virtually any climate you can find yourself operating in. Alright, time to move on to more layers. We got all the way up to the ECWCS parka and rain poncho, but what is next?
To me the best non-shelter shelter it is a hammock. Yup, you read the words correctly, a hammock. So, why a hammock?
When it comes time to sleep you want to be off the ground. It gets you away from the critters that could harm you, gets you off the cold and/or wet ground as well. I like the Eno hammock for quality, pretty hard to beat.
So you think it might rain while you are sleeping in your hammock? String up your shelter-half (OPSEC Poncho). Now you are off the ground and under cover.
You might ask the question what about if it is cold. Yeah, that could be an issue so I recommend adding a layer to the hammock…an emergency blanket. No, I am not talking about the cheap, thin Mylar emergency blanket, I am 
talking about a heavier duty, thicker, more efficient/effective version – Space All-Weather Blanket. Specs & Info:
What happens if it rains or snows? String up your poncho as a shelter half. If that is still not enough then you go to 
the “tarp” layer. A decent quality ploy tarp is an excellent choice. They are easy to carry, lightweight, have grommets to facilitate stringing them between trees with your para-cord.
Here is a great tip…string up your tarp between trees with three of the four edges of the tarp in contact with the ground. Have a single open front facing your fire. If you have a good sleeping blanket and ground tarp put those on top of a good insulating layer of leaves or boughs. Now, line the inside of your shelter-half with the space blanket mentioned above.
No ground cloth? No problem! Make your insulating layer as mentioned, then lay out out your space blanket with the silver side up. Then lay out your sleeping blanket on top of that. Get in your sleeping bag and roll up until you look like a burrito. You will stay very toasty.
So, you want something more stable, more permanent, no problem, go to the next layer…a tent. Tents come in all sizes; from a small put-tent to a nice big cabin-wall expedition tent with stove and cots. Take your pick, whatever works for you and your situation. But, go with quality!
Remember, when it comes to tents you might not always be able to transport it in a vehicle. Apply the layers theory to this situation. Before you have a big luxurious cabin tent, have a high-portable, easily carried smaller tent.
2-person SnugPack Bunker Tent
I really gotta tell you, as far as personal tents go you simply can’t do better than SnugPak…period. I use The Bunker as my personal tent and I am amazingly pleased with the quality, the layout and the over build and function. There simply isn’t a better tent. You can’t go wrong with it!
Cabin Wall Expedition Tent
Then again…you can get all tent fancy →
And finally, if you are still not feeling like you are getting the shelter you need…how about a bug-out camper or a bug-out cabin?
I could go into really incredible detail with this concept of protecting against exposure but I am not going to. There may be a time and place for me to, but that time and place is not now. But, by now you get the idea of how these exposure-protection layers build upon each other. You have your personal “shelters” close to you (clothing), then sheltering grows in size and complexity as you add on more layers all the way up to a cabin. But, you still always have your base layer…the easy to transport and the layer that is the most important.
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
What are we trying to accomplish when we talk about starvation in relationship to being prepared for emergencies, disasters, and grid-down? Simple, we don’t want to starve to death or become so weak from malnutrition that we can’t meet our responsibilities in those situations. Notice, we also have to be concerned about malnutrition as well as starving to death. Once again we can apply the “layers” theory to this area of prepping.
Overall the concept is simple, we don’t want to lack sufficient caloric intake that we are unable to do what is required of us, or worse, die. That being said, let’s apply the “layers” theory to this area of prepping.
This is the food that you eat on a normal everyday basis.
Being the simple man that I am I want to have 90-dyas worth of food in the house at all times. I am talking about your normal, everyday, run of the mill food that you and your family eat on a regular basis.
Yes, 90 days, you heard that correctly. What’s the problem with that? You are going to buy the stuff anyways, just get it done and put it in the pantry. Think of all the gas you would save only going to the store every other week rather than every other day? Think of all the money you would save buying quantities of food items that are ON SALE!
So, oh my gosh you need 90-days worth of food in the house right now?? No, you don’t. Calm down, relax, it will be OK. Read on…
Don’t make this more complicated than it is. If you like spaghetti sauce and you eat it every couple of weeks and you use 2 cans each time you fix it, then go buy 12 cans the next time it comes on sale. Same thing for all other can goods that you use.
If your budget is tight, no problem there either. If you watch sales closely from all the food stores then only buy items in quantities when they are on sale. And, if you can’t afford to buy 12 cans at one time then buy 6, or whatever you can afford. But, buy something more towards storage each time you go to the store! Have a plan.
A couple thoughts:
These are military grade Meals-Ready-To-Eat with heaters.
You do need options to provide decent meals to your family during short-term emergencies. Granted, if you have a BBQ grill that is an option. But ask yourself…Do you know how long will your propane tank last before it needs refilled? Will you be able to get it refilled?
Have you ever seriously considered grilling in the dead of winter? Do you have a back-up propane tank (or 4) that are kept full? Do you have a natural gas stove? What happens if the gas is disrupted?
What if you don’t want to draw attention to yourself by lighting up the grill? Or worse yet, do you really want some big cooking fire? Or what if you don’t want to draw attention to yourself by the aroma of hamburgers and ribs cooking on your grill? What if you are having to relocate and can’t take a grill? Or you’re traveling and don’t have time to fix a cooking fire, etc.?
Sorry about all the questions, but as you can tell, I am trying to stimulate you to really question your situation and your Normalcy Bias. To solve this issue I believe in short-term emergency food storage made up of MREs.
Yup, good old fashion military grade MRE’s. You can take them anywhere, including in a backpack. They are 100% self-contained, including the heat source. They are nutritionally balanced, packed with calories and sometimes include treats like M&Ms and Skittles. Very hard to beat!
But MRE’s have distinct drawback – they tend to produce constipation when eaten for any length of time. If you are in a combat or hunting situation, that might be a bad thing when compared to the alternative. However, under the best of normal situations constipation is probably not high on your Christmas wish list. I have discovered a miracle cure for that unfortunate condition – granola bars. I pack 2 granola bars with every MRE, a soft/chewy one and a crunchy/hard one. Eating a granola bar between your breakfast/lunch and then again in the afternoon or evening will keep your system moving along.
So, you might be thinking about now how much of this food category (MREs) should you have on hand. And that is truly a great question with no single standard answer. For my family I am thinking about 4-days worth of MREs for each person in our house. A case of MREs contains 12, so think a case per person. It will cost you $50 – $100 per case depending on where you buy them. I buy them at gun shows for $40 – $45 per case.
My next layer of food storage preparations is just a little more complex but far tastier, bordering on a fancy feast – Mountain House meals in the pouches. Why Mountain House brand? Those are the ones I really like the best.
These are different main dishes (i.e. lasagna, beef stew, etc.) that have been freeze dried and then packaged in commercial grade packaging. Stays fresh for 10 – 25 years.
Let’s get into why freeze dried pouches are my choice:
Again, you might be thinking about now how much freeze-dried Mountain House pouch food should you have on hand. And again, that is truly a very valid question with no single standard answer. I am thinking about 4-days worth of freeze-dried pouches for each person in your house. Each pouch of food will cost you between $4 – $8 depending on the meal and specific food you get. Count about $6.50 per meal on average. That $78.00 per person for the 4-days worth of food.
To make this option work the best I would suggest a way to boil your water. An Emberit or Olicamp stove is a great way to do this on a personal level.
These are different main dishes (i.e. spaghetti, tortellini, etc.) that have been freeze dried and then packaged in commercial grade #10 cans. Stays nutritious and edible for 15 – 25 years.
This is a kind of a tricky area for me to lay out there for you. It would be easy to just say “I recommend X” and go on. However, this is a really important part of your food storage. It is also a very expensive part of food storage. This is the part of food storage that will stave off “food fatigue.”
Food fatigue is where you are eating a lot of the same food day after day and it is bland and boring. Like eating oat meal everyday without anything to jazz up the taste. Rice, bean, oats, and wheat will keep you alive and healthy but it is horribly bland and you will get tired of eating it. Well, that is till you get hungry again and then it will taste great!
So first, how much do I recommend of long-term everyday food items? I suggest a minimum of 45 days of #10 cans full of freeze dried food, the 20-30 year shelf life stuff.
Why 45 days? From my experience it seems to be the outside time-frame for most emergencies and disasters. For situations such as food chain disruptions or social problems it gives you a transition period that you can use to stabilize your specific situation. For a “grid-down” event where the food chain is permanently disrupted, 45-days isn’t near long enough. However, you can use this food to “spice-up” your long-term staple foods.
Should you store more than my 45-day minimum recommendation? Absolutely!! More for you to eat during TEOTWAWKI (grid-down) situations. But another cool aspect to this…eat it when you retire if the world doesn’t fall apart in the meantime. I practice what I preach! I have more, significantly more, to make sure that my long-term food staples don’t food fatigue me to death. I also look at food storage as an “edible IRA.”
I thought through different scenarios and a really good way to deal with them – an ultimate solution if you will. Some of the scenarios I considered:
1. Extended winter storms with grid-down.
2. Hurricanes without any infrastructure left.
3. Flooding with complete grid-down.
4. And longer-term food disruptions or societal/economic issues.
I was looking for a category of food that would provide:
• Tasty meals to avoid boredom and/or gastronomical revolt.
• Nutritional to maintain high energy levels.
• Very easy to fix with minimal preparation.
• Redundant ways to prepare meals (cold or hot, water or no water).
• Easily stored, transported and concealed.
The most obvious answer to me was cases of #10 cans of freeze dried meals. They come in astounding variety, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken Tetrazzini, Ham & Eggs, Granola and milk. They also have standard fruit, grains, meat, vegetables, etc.
What is needed to prepare and serve this kind of food? Best case scenario, a cup or small pot, hot water and done. Worst case scenario, just open the pouch or can and eat it.
You can heat the water up any way you wish, I like the small multi-fuel MSR WhisperLite stoves<click to read more> but your electric range at home is fine too (provided there is still power). Make sure you have redundant ways to provide a heat source for the boiling water needed to prepare freeze-dried food.
There are lot of brands of freeze dried food out there that make incredibly good entrees. Some of my personal favorites are Mountain House, Thrive, Saratoga Farms, and Augason Farms.
I won’t make specific recommendations on what food to purchase. What I will do is suggest you purchase the food you like that can also be put over rice and beans. Using rice and beans as “extenders” will easily extend your good tasting food by 2 – 5 times. And that is important to fighting off food fatigue but maximizing the food storage you have on-hand.
The next thing I would like to suggest is consider are fruits, in this case freeze-dried or dehydrated fruits. Fruits will contain valuable and required vitamins to your diet. 
They are also great to add to oatmeal to add a little zip to an otherwise bland tasting bowl of oatmeal. Dehydrated apple slices from the LDS store are a great snack and extremely affordable. That is six #10 cans of apple slices with a 30-year shelf life for under $54.00!! (Last time I priced them.)
I think later I will go over an extensive list of foods that would be good to purchase for a great diet that has flavor and nutrition. But for now, I think you have enough of an idea to get started. Here is one suggestion on what to put in those cases:
Case #1 –
1 can of Beef Teriyaki with Rice
2 cans of Granola with Milk & Blueberries
3 cans of White Rice
Case #2 –
2 cans of Beef Stroganoff
2 cans of Scramble Eggs with Bacon
2 cans of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Case #3 –
2 cans of Chili Mac
2 cans of Garden Peas
2 cans of Sugar Sweet Corn
Case #4 –
1 can of Hearty Beef Stew
1 can of Noodles and Chicken
2 cans of Apple Slices
2 cans of Peach Slices
All of the food mentioned above is Mountain House brand. I think Mountain House has the best quality and flavor of all the freeze dried food brands. With four cases of food you can see that your family can eat for a pretty decent length of time…and a wide variety of food tastes.
So here is a one of those “best kept secrets” that will make your food storage life a whole lots easier…LDS Home Storage Centers. Yup, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe so much in food storage that they make is very easy and very affordable to purchase properly canned (#10 cans) long-term food storage. Their on-line store is a great way the time and money you save will be amazing.
Note: Sorry, for those of you living outside the USA neither option is available to you.
Last time I checked here is what available on-line:
Nonfat Dry Milk
Hard Red Wheat
Hard White Wheat
Regular Oats
Quick Oats
Sugar
White Flour
Spaghetti Bites
Macaroni
White Rice
Potato Flakes
Apple Slices
Pinto Beans
To purchase these items you go to the website and order just lie you would any other on-line store. The shipping is unreal low so the price doesn’t go way up to ship the food to you. Normally it is $3.00 <click here to go to the LDS on-line store>
Now, if you are near one of the LDS Home Storage Centers that are scattered around the country it gets even better. At these locations the pre-canned food available it amazing! The order form provides you the shelf-life, and the weight per can, plus obviously the price. So you know exactly what you are getting. I have bought from them before and I am telling you that the quality of the food is outstanding! I really really like the apple slices as a snack. They rock!!
click to enlarge
You can find an LDS Home Storage Center by visiting the website locator page: <click here> We used to do a “group order” of interested folks. We would gather orders from folks and just send a couple people in a pick-up truck the 110 mile round trip to buy the cases of food. Everyone who didn’t go would chip in gas money. Then the food would be delivered to one location, someone’s garage, where everyone would pick up their order. A BBQ of hamburgers and hotdogs would always be a nice social event to top it all off.
In my perfect & ideal world I would buy these items in this order. I would buy a single case of each first. Then once I got that done, I would start over and keep buying until I felt I had a year’s supply of food in the house for the entire family. In priority order:
• Apple Slices
• Onions, Dry
• Wheat, Hard Winter
• Rice, White
• Carrots
• Sugar, Granulated
• Beans, Pinto
• Oats, Quick
• Macaroni
• Milk, Nonfat Dry
• Potato Flakes
• Four, White
• Beans, Refried
• Beans, Black
• Spaghetti
Yeah, it’s going to take some money to do this. However, in my way of thinking I would rather have all this food storage and not need it, than need even some of this stored food and not have it. Remember, you can always eat the food! Even if you wait until your retirement years, you can still eat the food! That is why I call it my “edible IRA!”
The way I look at it – this is part of my IRA, 401K, pension or whatever you want to call it. It will help reduce the food bills when my wife an I are retired, if we don’t need the food before then.
Couple comments about food from the LDS Store:
These are the basics to sustain life; wheat, rice, oats, beans, etc. The items are packaged in commercial grade #10 cans. Stays edible for 20 – 30 years.
I have mixed emotions on long-term staple food, I really do. First, you absolutely must have it. Second, it is very cost-effective to buy. Third, you really don’t need to rotate it, it will last 20 – 30 years in good storage conditions – but not in your garage! Fourth, it will provide the basic nutritional requirements to keep you and your family alive. Fifth, you will suffer from “food fatigue” very quickly. Food fatigue sucks.
Here’s the deal, I don’t see “long-term staples” as what you are going to eat for any length of time. At least not by itself. What I am getting at is this, it will be used in conjunction with other foods. Here is what I mean…
You know I suggest that you have a wide variety of foods. But let’s 
just talk about “soup” for a minute. Let’s say you have a can of soup in your pantry storage; chicken noodle or beef vegetable as examples. It is nutritious by itself but not real filling and offers little in terms of carbohydrate or protein, which your body will need during tough times. So you supplement it with your “staples.”
You cook a ½ cup of rice, a ¼ cup of pinto beans, and ¼ cup of wheat “berries.” Then you mix those ingredients together with your can of soup and BINGO! You have a great tasting meal with far more nutrition, plenty of carbs/protein, and it far more filling. Throw in some crushed red pepper flakes and you really have a very tasty dish!
This combining of staples with more palatable food will greatly improve the nutritional value of your meals and give it some 
acceptable flavor as well. Test the idea, cook up the beans, rice, and wheat berries; mix them together in a bowl and eat. Yeah, how does that flavor work for you? Yes, it is nutritious to be sure but the lack of taste will quickly burn you out; hence, the term “food fatigue.”
Another way to leverage your long-term staples is to combine it with food you’ve hunted. In this example take a rabbit that you have snared, by itself it does provide protein and bulk. But now take the same rabbit and then cook up the same mix of rice, beans, and wheat berries. It is now far more nutritious, with way more protein and a whole lot more bulk. If you cooked the rabbit over a fire before adding it to the “mix” then it adds even more flavor as well.
Throw in an onion, a leak, a carrot, beat, beans, peas, potato or anything else from the garden or from the wild and you have a very tasty stew. The key is the extra bulk, nutrition and protein coming from your stored long-term staples.
This “long-term staples” was one of the very first areas of food storage that I focused on when I started buying my food storage. Why? It’s cheap. I was able to buy large amounts of the basic staples for a much smaller amount of money than I could have for #10 cans of freeze dried meals. I could have gone with the fancy freeze dried foods but they are far more expensive than the staples I was buying.
So I bought the following in priority order…for starters:
For my source I used The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When I purchased the majority of mine it was all through their warehouse system. Now they have an on-line store now where you can purchase a wide variety of long-term staples at prices that simply can’t be beat anywhere else. Why so cheap? They want people, all people, to have food storage for when the tough times come.
<click to go to the LDS Online Food Storage Store>
The food is canned in #10 cans and packed for 20 – 30 year shelf life. Look over the portions for each and a case can be considered roughly a month’s worth of food for one person. Yes, it is the boring “food fatigue” stuff but it is food and can sustain a person for a month.There are recipes in the boxes as well on how to use the those basic four foods. It is a really good deal at only $22.00 – $40.00 per case.
If you do as I suggested above, you could eat fairly decently with just cans of soup, your long-term staples, and then thrown in a little spice here and there and you have it made. Then add a can of tuna or chicken and you are really living. Now here is a little secret to share with you, the LDS also has things like onions and carrots on-line and much more to purchase as well. Buy a case here and there of each type of food, add it to your basics and now you are really living…it’s called stew!
Seriously, look at how much food you could purchase quickly by going through the LDS church and their website. It can be an instant shot in the arm to your existing food storage, or a great way to jump start your food storage from scratch.
So here is what I would buy from the LDS website in order:
At this point you now have approximately a year’s supply of food for one person when added to your food pantry stuff.
Now, go look in your food pantry and freezer, see what you have in there and imagine how you would use it to combine with the long-term food outlined above.
So there you go, adding long-term staples can drastically improve your food storage situation. You can take your food storage from a month or two to well over 6 months to a year or more fairly easily and cost-effectively.
I often get asked the question, “How much long-term food should I have stored?”
That’s a tough answer for most people. However for me it was easy to get that answer, I just kept buying food storage until I felt inspired that I had enough. I know people who have years worth of food storage; I am talking 4 – 8 years worth of food storage! Now, granted, a lot of it is long-term staples but that is OK! Food is food and when you are hungry it will taste like a feast.
Why do they have that much food storage? Well, again, the answers vary quite a bit for each prepper. A middle-aged couple have told me that they have large families, including extended family members, and they want to make sure that they can feed them all.
I also know a family or two that have purchased that much just because they felt inspired to do so. They feel they will be called upon to feed lots of folks; and that is OK too. And then there is a family or two that want to use their food storage as a bargaining/bartering chip. For me, I think I will be called upon to feed other people, so I bought food until I felt inspired I had enough.
Think about it – food becomes in short supply and people are getting hungry. You’ve stored a considerable amount of food, far more than your family needs. There’s a family in the neighborhood who your family enjoys having a BBQ with occasionally. You and your spouse have enjoyed a double-date or two with them over the years, and your kids go to the same school. The dad is a retired Army Ranger and his wife is a nurse. So, you think you might want to try and work out a little deal where you band together with them? And food storage could be your ticket!
How about the guy around the corner who is a Emergency Room Doctor?
The options and possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Yes, operational security is important, you don’t want them knowing that you are sitting on a pile of food. But being able to feed them can buy a lot of assistance and maybe even loyalty. Or, better yet, the start of a preparedness group.
And you know how I feel about precious metals if you read my article “Silver & Gold…Really?” <click to read>. In a true “grid-down” situation I look at food as even more valuable than precious metals. Food can be used just like precious metals to “bribe & buy” in exactly the same way. The only difference…food will become more and more valuable as times goes on.
There are a lot of reasons to have food storage, but it like any number of prepper topics, you are either sold on it or not. You either believe in it or not. But food storage in the most practical and realistic terms is a “no-branier” in virtually every way possible.
This will be a short topic. I want you you to have snares on hand. The wire small game snares, big game snares if you need/want them. Snares are 24-hour a day hunters, and the don’t use up valuable ammunition, make no sound, and are inexpensive to put into action. I personally like pre-made wire snares myself.
The game you catch can supplement your food storage or be bargained away to neighbors . And that is worth a whole lot!
Notice that I have not included home canned items in this list. The reason is my opinion of their stability and transportability. Since 99.9% of all canning is done in glass jars I think they are not suitable to be considered as anything other than normal pantry food, I do not consider them in any other category. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with you having 1 – 2 years’ worth of normal pantry food. As I look at all those glass jars though I see a big problem trying to transport them anywhere and have them remain intact. Also, I seem them as less than desirable for rough conditions of any kind in a “grid-down” scenario. They are “glass” and are easily broken. All that being said, I love home canned fruits/jellies and they have a place in the food storage plan…under the “normal pantry food” category.
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
September has been a crazy month so far! I am talking plain ole freaking crazy! And it seems that the months just keep getting crazier and crazier as each goes by.
The world is an interesting place. There are some folks who would say the world is falling apart, I can’t really disagree. Some folks would say that “the end is near”, maybe. Some preppers are in a tizzy trying to get everything done, that’s fine and dandy. But those things are not us.
We are thoughtful, determined, and focused on what needs to be done to prepare for emergencies, disasters, and even grid-down. Whatever happens will happen regardless of what we do or when we do it. You and I have learned not to panic, not to go off the deep end, and not to become a crazy person. But, we know what needs to be done and we are doing it.
I started out at the beginning of September with one goal…for folks to be more prepared at the end of September than at the beginning. I hope you have joined, or will join, me on this mini-trip.
Out of the seven areas of threats I hope you have done something in each category. It could have been something big such as buying your first AR-15 and 5000 rounds of ammo. Maybe it was something much smaller such as a Life Straw. Maybe it was nothing no more than adding 5 pounds of salt to your pantry. Whatever it was…thank you!
So…here is your assignment: I want you to write down something you can and will do in each of the 7 areas of risks/threats. In each area I want you to identify one thing you can and will do to mitigate the associate risk/threat. It doesn’t have to be sophisticated or complicated. It doesn’t even have to be expensive…just something you can do and are willing to do it.
Together we are on this amazing journey of preparedness. We see the benefits to being able to take care of ourselves and our families. And to me, protecting and providing for our families is a requirement in life…it is not an option.
Thank you very much for going through this series of articles with me.
We will prevail, we will win!
If you haven’t read the post on September 1, 2019 that explains this post…well, go read that post first (91/2019) and then this post will make more sense.
So what is the goal/purpose of this series of articles?
To use seven separate days in the month of September to dedicate to, to focus on, each of the seven areas of emergency, disaster, and grid-down threats…and solutions.
I am not so naive to think that you would be fully prepared after the seven days, but I am hoping you will take the time to gather ideas and thoughts to be better prepared when the seven days is over.
You may already consider yourself prepared…great! However, what I would like you to do is to read each of the seven articles and listen to that little voice inside of you…that still small voice…and follow those promptings. Listen to what you might hear in regards to doing that one more thing that you might not have thought about prior to reading the articles.
And, I also want to throw another idea at you…I want you to think of this as an opportunity to share emergency preparedness with others. None of these articles will be fanatical, extreme, or filled with political ideology. They will be down-to-earth, common sense, practical ideas on being prepared for emergencies, disasters, or a grid-down event. That might just be the opening you have been looking for to reach out to others. I encourage you to share these articles with folks that you know who aren’t prepared, not prepared enough, or simply have shown an interest in prepping but you needed a place to send them to for information.
Let me take an opposite tact first…I am talking about “events” not “situations.” What I am not talking about are survival situations. An event is where a wide-spread electrical outage occurs and you and your family must then respond to that event. A survival situation is where you must react to being lost in the forest and it will drop to 10° tonight.
That being said, the “event” preparation steps we take will be able to handle most survival “situations.” So in these articles I will concentrate on events where broader principles apply. It is a matter of responding vs. reacting.
My 30+ years of experience as a professional emergency responder tells me there are three basic categories of events to prepare for:
Yes, you can add more to the list for each category. You may even want to move a few around from how I have them arranged. That’s OK, at least you are thinking about catastrophe categorization.
As you look at each category of catastrophe you can see how they grow larger in terms of scope of impact. “Emergencies” for the most part affect only a single person or a family, potentially a neighborhood, etc. However, emergencies are fairly limited in scope. As you move to “disaster,” and especially at the “grid-down” level, those events are now affecting people over increasingly larger areas. And in the case of “grid-down” it could/would be affecting potentially an entire country, hemisphere, or the whole world.
There are a wide variety, almost an endless list, of emergencies, disasters and grid-down possibilities. But amazingly, they all fundamentally contain virtually the same threats in the same priority order:
Neglecting to properly mitigate these threats/risks in the proper order will result in failure at some point and to some degree. And failure will not be pleasant! Failure can potentially mean fatal or near-fatal results.
Why do I list threats/risks in the particular order? The order is based on the “fatality factor.” Meaning…what can kill or seriously injure you, or your family, the quickest.
Example #1 – The inability of you to defend yourself or your family from an armed man can result in you or a family member being shot. That gunshot wound can be immediately fatal. Starvation can take about 10 – 20 days to kill the normal person. So being shot has a far higher fatality factor than starving to death.
Example #2 – If you are out scouting for water and you fall and gash your leg open resulting in bleeding, then you have a problem of potentially bleeding out. That can occur in as little as three minutes if you have cut an artery and can’t get the bleeding stopped. However, if it is 30º outside and you aren’t properly dressed for it you could potentially die from exposure as well. But, the process of dying from exposure could take hours, maybe days, to kill you. So bleeding to death carries a higher fatality factor than exposure.
The fatality factor is the key to prioritizing threats/risks in emergency preparedness.The things that kill you the quickest have a higher mitigation priority requirement than those that can take longer to be fatal.
There are two aspects of risk that we should not only be concerned about, but have the ability to influence; 1) probability, 2) severity.
“Probability” simply means, how likely the event is to occur. And in the prepper world I extend that to, and in what time-frame relative to now. So I have defined probability as “How likely is the event to occur and how soon.”
The other aspect of risk is “severity.” Severity is defined as “If the event does occur, how bad can the potential outcome be.”
I’ve combined it to read, “How likely will the event occur from now and how severe could the outcome be?”
Yes, there is a whole lot of “judgement” that can take place (and should take place) when working with those definitions as applied to your immediate emergency situation. But not to worry, just make the best judgement you can. Throughout this series of articles I will give you clues, hints, and advice on what to look for and how to make those judgements wisely.
Now that we have identified the two main players in “event risk” and how to judge the probability and severity, we can 
discuss how to increase our chances of surviving an event with its associated risks. Actually it’s very simple; 1) reduce the probability that the event will occur, 2) reduce the severity of impact to our family should the event occur. That process is called “risk mitigation.”
You mitigate the identified threats/risks by having the ability to:
This article introduced you to a number of vital preparedness principles:
Each of the next seven articles will provide information on each of the seven “priorities.” The articles will appear in the next seven days and then a “summary” article on the 8th day. I look forward to hearing your feedback, suggestions, ideas, and even your complaints.
note: This series of articles originally appeared in September 2016. I have edited and updated the material in 2019 to be more useful and current. Please ask questions about any of the material as you wish. Also, feel free to post comments on each page as you deem appropriate.
