Levels of Preparedness (take 2?)

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bkt, foods that will last 20 years and beyond, include but are not limited to, dry beans, white rice, sugar, honey, wheat berries, canned meat, canned vegetables, freeze dried vegetables and meat, jellies and jams.

Honey in the pyramids was still edible and wheat still sprouted. Canned good over 100 years old still tested edible and mostly nutritious. I've eaten my own home canned salmon after 20 years. My only complaint is that I didn't have but one jar.
 
I might have a thing or two and a skill or two, and more than two axes, A really bad attitude, and some determination. and a local supply chain
 
Interesting thread - I love lists like this because they make you think about where you are at. We're almost at 3, but heating and defense are where we are lacking. We can't have a "real" woodstove where we are at because of stupid EPA rules and only have a couple weeks worth for our pellet stove. If I can figure out where to store pellets where they'll stay dry, we'll ramp up a pallet at a time. I've got weapons for every family member who I know would be able to pull the trigger ITSHTF, but fortunately I've got neighbors who more than make up for what we lack 🔫:)
 
TeeJ said:
Interesting thread - I love lists like this because they make you think about where you are at. We're almost at 3, but heating and defense are where we are lacking. We can't have a "real" woodstove where we are at because of stupid EPA rules and only have a couple weeks worth for our pellet stove. If I can figure out where to store pellets where they'll stay dry, we'll ramp up a pallet at a time. I've got weapons for every family member who I know would be able to pull the trigger ITSHTF, but fortunately I've got neighbors who more than make up for what we lack 🔫:)
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I don't know about pellet stoves and why they are used as opposed to wood burning stoves. I always wondered why someone would buy one as opposed to a wood burning stove, and then have to keep buying pellets to keep it going.
 
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hiwall said:
I have years of practice gutting and skinning various critters. Does that count?
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Yeah, I've been up to my elbows in blood and guts many times, it's very good training for other blood and guts situations.
 
Weedygarden said:
I don't know about pellet stoves and why they are used as opposed to wood burning stoves. I always wondered why someone would buy one as opposed to a wood stove, and then have to keep buying pellets to keep it going.
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Apparently pellet stoves are "cleaner" burning than a regular wood stove - we have bad pollution inversions in Utah and they are really strict about allowing wood stoves. The pellet stove came with the house, and is better than nothing. Having had a house fire in the past, I'm not confident in my skills in retrofitting in a smuggled in wood stove, or I'd install one in a heartbeat. I wish we had wood stoves like we did in Ohio. We had two and a two acre woodlot, so all we needed for heat was a little elbow grease.
 
TeeJ said:
Apparently pellet stoves are "cleaner" burning than a regular wood stove - we have bad pollution inversions in Utah and they are really strict about allowing wood stoves. The pellet stove came with the house, and is better than nothing. Having had a house fire in the past, I'm not confident in my skills in retrofitting in a smuggled in wood stove, or I'd install one in a heartbeat. I wish we had wood stoves like we did in Ohio. We had two and a two acre woodlot, so all we needed for heat was a little elbow grease.
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Are wood burning stoves illegal in Utah?
 
TeeJ said:
In the densely populated area I live in, yes they are. Regular chimneys are as well...
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Well, I would forget the wood stove, unless its in a bus that you are converting to a bug out vehicle, or in the little cabin up in the woods you will be headed to.


The idea of 'levels' is one I've thought about a lot, but no so much in terms of a score, but of glass ceilings that you have break past if you want to ever increase your overall level.

A wood stove is one of my levels....as in , you will always be held at a certain level of preparedness that you won't be able to get past no matter how much time or money you put into other things unless you find a way to have one. You will always be trying to compensate for something for which there is no replacement.

Another major one is a high population area with building codes. Something you can't compensate for no matter how hard or long you try, you merely must prepare to escape.
 
Supervisor42 said:
Everybody needs a generator.
When people holler: "but generators make noise and will tip off raiders that your house has supplies gaah", I say BS!
If our generator is running, there will be one running at every house in our neighborhood. BFD.:rolleyes:
Rotating gasoline once a year is easier than you think.
And there is a good reason everyone has heard that old saying: "Don't get left out in the dark".:(
Ask @phideaux about after the tornados, food was everywhere; generators - worth their weight in gold!
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I'm reviewing this list, making new goals. I wonder what percentage of homes in the hurricane zone have generators?
 
Weedygarden said:
I'm reviewing this list, making new goals. I wonder what percentage of homes in the hurricane zone have generators?
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Down here, 99%.
The other 1% are wealthy 'bug-out-people' who will just flee if the weather is going bad.
They don't have to 'prep'.
$300 per-night for a week in a sold-out hotel is no biggie for them. :rolleyes:
 
Supervisor42 said:
Down here, 99%.
The other 1% are wealthy 'bug-out-people' who will just flee if the weather is going bad.
They don't have to 'prep'.
$300 per-night for a week in a sold-out hotel is no biggie for them. :rolleyes:
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Additional useless info:
DW's relatives south of us when the 2021 spinny-thing came up, they were under an 'evacuation-order'. They fled to a casino hotel in Shreveport and booked 3 nights at the above price, which would be enough time for it to move thru.
Their hometown got blasted so when their ticket ran out, their city was still under a 'do not return order' and they couldn't book more nights.
They had no choice but to bug-in with us, (bringing Delta with them :oops:).
When they finally returned to their hometown, nobody had power for weeks, and they had to live off a generator.
Wiki said: Hurricane Ida was a deadly and extremely destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 2021 that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
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...Yes, we play the SHTF game here. :(
 
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Weedygarden said:
I'm reviewing this list, making new goals. I wonder what percentage of homes in the hurricane zone have generators?
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Sorry, but I am Meerkating the thread:mad:.
Just for Weedy, everybody thinks about getting a generator but nobody thinks about plugging all that stuff into it.:(
You can start collecting these things long before you get a generator.
When bad stuff happens, all of the shelves in the stores will be empty of these:
And experience shows that you're gonna need a BUNCH of them:
IMG_20230408_190249.jpg
 
Supervisor42 said:
Sorry, but I am Meerkating the thread:mad:.
Just for Weedy, everybody thinks about getting a generator but nobody thinks about plugging all that stuff into it.:(
You can start collecting these things long before you get a generator.
When bad stuff happens, all of the shelves in the stores will be empty of these:
And experience shows that you're gonna need a BUNCH of them:
View attachment 106830
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A person could do a trial run with cords, plugs, power strips, etc.

I recently fed the neighbor's cat for a week. Their house is an old three story Victorian that they have done a lot of remodeling on. He is a contractor. The house doesn't have a lot of outlets, but I noticed that they had power strips in a few places. I doubt that they are overloading them, which could be dangerous, but I have a few power strips. I do know they can be overloaded, so I am careful. The biggest challenge for an overloaded power strip is a space heater.
 
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Aerindel said:
And, or.....put in a transfer switch and just hook up the hole house and use your existing wiring.
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I do have a transfer switch. When I'm on the grid I need need extension cords now. I expect to need more in a SHTF scenario.
 
Aerindel said:
And, or.....put in a transfer switch and just hook up the hole house and use your existing wiring.
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Yes that works, if you have a huge generator.
If you don't, you have to turn off a lot of breakers so it doesn't overload it, like A/C, water heater, stove, dryer.
I won't even get into the redneck 'suicide-cable' that many people in Bama used to back-feed their house thru the dryer plug. :oops:
It worked great and wouldn't kill you... if you weren't stupid.🤪
 
Weedygarden said:
A person could do a trial run with cords, plugs, power strips, etc.
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A trial-run would be a great idea.
In a perfect world, your $2,400 Generac® would automatically start up and power the house. :)
We don't live in a perfect world.:(
A gas generator needs to be located 'out yonder' or it will monoxide everybody.
Every time a hurricane blows thru, more people down here die from that than the hurricane itself.:mad:
To run the generator out yonder, you will need lots of cords.
 
Supervisor42 said:
A trial-run would be a great idea.
In a perfect world, your $2,400 Generac® would automatically start up and power the house. :)
We don't live in a perfect world.:(
A gas generator needs to be located 'out yonder' or it will monoxide everybody.
Every time a hurricane blows thru, more people down here die from that than the hurricane itself.:mad:
To run the generator out yonder, you will need lots of cords.
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You probably also need a shed to protect it from water and theft.
 
Supervisor42 said:
If you don't, you have to turn off a lot of breakers so it doesn't overload it, like A/C, water heater, stove, dryer.
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Indeed. But I find flipping breakers a lot easier than stringing extension cords.

Especially for short outages.
 
Caribou said:
I do have a transfer switch. When I'm on the grid I need need extension cords now. I expect to need more in a SHTF scenario.
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No argument there. Like garden hoses, its something I seem to never have too many of.
 
The transfer switch is the better and safer way to go, but being a cheap bastard I opted for a different solution. I made two male/male 1' cords out of heavy extension cord. I mapped the outlets in my house to find two on either side of the breaker panel. I can flip the main breaker, then plug two extension cords into those outlets and into the male/male pigtails to the generator and get electricity to my whole house.

There are a few caveats. I can't run anything demanding. Just some lights chargers, radios, the freezers/fridge and the furnace motor. I probably couldn't put much more of a load on it than that.
 
One way to define levels of preparedness (that ties in with key capabilities) would be the following:
  1. Water Independence
  2. Sewage Independence
  3. Heat Independence
  4. Financial Independence
  5. Security Independence
  6. Medical Independence
  7. Communications Independence
  8. Electric Independence
  9. Vehicle/machinery fuel Independence
  10. Food Independence
  11. Repair/Manufacturing/Construction Independence
  12. Complete Independence
 
Hardcalibres said:
One way to define levels of preparedness (that ties in with key capabilities) would be the following:
  1. Water Independence 5/5
  2. Sewage Independence 5/5
  3. Heat Independence 5/5
  4. Financial Independence 4/5
  5. Security Independence 4/5
  6. Medical Independence 2/5
  7. Communications Independence 4/5
  8. Electric Independence 4/5
  9. Vehicle/machinery fuel Independence 4/5
  10. Food Independence 4/5
  11. Repair/Manufacturing/Construction Independence 5/5
  12. Complete Independence 2/5
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Great scale.

So, on, 1-5 scale, this is how I rate myself on each one.
 
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