I like this high overview survival list. It is specific enough to give you very important areas to prepare for and general enough to leave some room for innovation. 20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins *updated link to new source, old link is dead, old site has been closed*
Good article! Man, this makes me want to get off my butt and go buy more supplies. But the one I really need to work on is #19 Community. We just moved and we don't really know anybody yet.
Great list, didn't see duct tape! Guess you could put it in your first aid kit, used it enough times in emergencies.
Ugh, I really need to get the whole water thing figured out. It's so frustrating because there's no getting around some of the basic costs and storage requirements for the bulky life saving liquid. I have some feelers out trying to find some cheap used food grade barrels. *cross fingers* #8 is what I'm working on right now. I'm doing a "flashlight roundup." Basically just trying to locate all our flashlights (and lamps/candles), locate all their batteries (oil/matches), do a tally, fix those that are fixable and fill in any gaps. Then of course store them all back in a proper place. Great list overall.
Water is E,Z. I order the freeze dried stuff in 50lb boxes.[rofllmao] Actually we bought a big berky and I've always had my katadyne hiker filters .. we have a well on the property and plenty of river/lake water within a mile round trip. After a basic two week supply in containers: You might want to look into basic rainwater collection and storage. for when the municiple water goes down... remember there's 40 or so gallons in your water heater tank
Hey thanks for the info. Water storage is my biggest problem. I also have a well but it is at a depth of 125 feet. Not much help there.
Good list, but I would add "Survival Library" to the list. When SHTF occurs we are going to have to do a mightly lot of things for ourselves. One small shelf full of books could be real handy. Heirloom seeds aren't a bad thing to have either.
look into "simple manual pumps" and "bison manual pumps". I prefer the Simple. Have a neighbor with one. He also has a small but adequate solar array and storage batteries, and Simple has a 12 vdc gear motor drive for the pump. It quickly exchanges with the hand pump. The manual hand pump can be installed and just as a standby with your submerged pump as primary. Power goes out you can use the hand pump or 12vdc gear pump. I think their ads say good for up to 200 ft. The gear motor doesn't stick up more than 1 foot above your capped well head. Also you can remove most of the manual hand pump mechanism, leaving only about 6 inches of remaining mechanism above the well head. That way you can cover the whole thing with a pressure treated wood box/stained or painted sitting on a concrete block(loose) perimeter base. disquise it as a dog house if you like. no one will be the wiser.
A low tech cheap way to deal with this is a bail tube. Figure out how much room you have inside the well to get around the suction pipe and how deep you can go before hitting the pump. Most likely should be at least 4 inches across and maybe a couple of feet. get a piece of PVC pipe that will fit down the well and put a thread fitting on the end then attach a metal/brass check vualve to that end. Drill a couple holes in the other end for parachute cord/rope and attach the cord. Tie something to large to go down the well to the other end of the rope. Now if the water goes out you just take the cap of the well and lower this down, water runs in through the bottom but cant get back out as it comes up a gallon or 2 at a time. Not the fastest or least work to get water but if money is an obstical then it can be done for $20 or so. Also if you get into a BO situation and all power is down it can get fuel from most underground storage tanks when the electric powered fuel pumps have stopped working.
@ Jennie_in_Iowa -- check with your local municipality. We got 7 food-grade 50-gal drums from a local "make work" program that converted the drums into rain barrels. Mainly done because they wanted as many people as possible to get the storm water out of the sewage lines (it's still combined in Milwaukee). The work is done by people desparate for a job from the inner city, but they bought all the parts and put everything together. Even included a downspout diverter. All for about $30 / barrel. Right now we use it mainly for watering our garden, and my wife swears by rain water in her iron. All I do is replace the rubber seals after each winter.
One of the things I am doing with the water thing, is having already tried a couple of barrels on the front roof, I am now building a larger system for my container gardens in the rear. I am starting it off with 2 barrels, and as time and money permits will expand it to at least 4 of the 55 gal food grade barrels. If possible I will double that next year. You can never have enough water.
Water containers from small to large will be wonderful to have. Nothing like a dependable bucket for many jobs. A great solution to water purification is a small supply of "pool shock" powder. Just a few pounds will make thousands of gallons of "clorox" which will purify many thousands more for drinking/cleansing. The last was a back up plan--would add that you need more than one back up plan. Options should be planned and prepared for. Your " community" may not be your neighbors but those you know. Establishing a group of friends may be the most valuable asset you have. We have bi-annual gatherings(next is 15-17 Oct in NC) to do just that. Plus we learn from each other and have fun doing it. Gleaning from the monitor is OK but when you do hands on you retain it and can use it when needed.
Great Article! I just sent this out to many people on my list who have children who don't get it! Seems most kids 15 through 30 think the mall and supermarket will be there for ever, boy are they in for a surprise! Thanks Dan
People that have never been through tough times cannot fathom surviving such an event. Like cattle they go and do what every one else is doing afraid to be a little different . Then when it comes to the slaughter the are again fallowing the bum ahead of them. I asked folks about Katrina when it was happening, and for the most part they didn't care, because it wasn't happening to them selves . I said what if ? and they replied "I don't think about what if." The ignorance of what to do in an event ,seems over whelming to some folk , it's like," only professionals can handle fire fighting, I could never do that." When the fact is, just about any one that can read , can operate a fire extinguisher . Granted you can't sit there and debate the instructions ,like a millennial . There was a great article by the BBC demonstrating the capacity to do something in an event , I wish I could find it. Seems in an event, most people wait for some one else to do something first . sad very sad.
OK something is going on, I clicked on the first link and got a search page for old newspaper articles from around the country. I clicked on the link mentioned in a response and got a page about lighted Christmas trees. Somehow I don't think my 'puter is acting correctly.
Your 'puter is likely just fine. That article has a beard from 2010, lord only knows what links do when they get tired of waiting for cliks.