Practical Prepping Protocol even if Poor

I am very happy to see all the posts, and that everyone has actually been working hard learning, planning, thinking.

I agree with everything said - and would recommend reading
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Where I live we are in a very strange weather situation - snow every day for the next week - this never happens. Snow, wind, cold. Good chance of power outages - my least favorite because no heat, but it could be the opportunity to test-run the new butane burner for hot food/drink. If I disappear, just know it wasn't willingly!

Cancelled doctor's appointment because it's snowing and I am uninterested in driving 35 miles on a highway with no side barriers and, if the tide is in, water on both sides for part of it. Luckily last night I found Amoxicillin in the cupboard and began taking it, as that is what is prescribed for strep. Spoke with the doctor a few minutes ago for specific directions for this illness, so I am set to stay home and get well. No chance to go to a health food store for something else someone recommended.

Fortunately, I like staying home, and had an inkling this weather was coming so shopping is done and everything we need is already here, including those wonderful blueberry muffins from CostCo!

Hoping everyone is staying warm and safe.

Ran into this video last night - haven't watched it yet but this might be a good day for it.
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Don't know where to put this, but just got back from Piggly Wiggly, Elbow Macaroni for .49 cents per box with card. No limit...

Have been following with interest, but probably have not read every post.

I've been buying "fish" antibiotics for years. Try to keep amoxicillin and cephalexin on hand for minor stuff as well as for preps.

However, today when I went to Amazon, I couldn't find cephalexin at all and only some VERY expensive amoxicillin from a new dealer. Maybe their policy has changed? I know Petco stopped carrying them years ago because (Oh, my Gawd, can you believe it...) they suspected we were doing what we're doing. Anyone got a good cheap source?

Good chance of power outages - my least favorite because no heat,

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Maybe it will be time to "play fort" :)

Just the PERCEPTION of an emergency will empty out stores. Good reason to have preps!!!

Check out some comments from another thread...

Everyone is prepared for this storm whether it comes or not. BUT, the stores were emptied in ONE day...

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I stopped at Safeway at 9pm last night and OP isn’t joking. There was nothing on the shelves in Tacoma. People weren’t panicked or anything like that, but it would be ten times crazier if they were!

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Skagit county local info: My girlfriend went to costco yesterday and said it was a zoo. They were completely out of bottled water.

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Seattle Grid Lock!

Thread: Pacific Northwest Snowstorm start shortly and one thing scares me. Check in PNW'ers

Do you have the space and opportunity? Wish you had started when first prompted. Remember you need an innocent place to put the removed soil - start raised bed gardening. Dig up a gardening plot.

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My yard is kinda flat, so it wouldn't be an ideal place.

There are many hilly areas that are hidden away that would be perfect...but if I got caught digging an undeground shelter on public land they would make me stop, fill it in & give me a ticket :/

Oh boy. "They" are onto us! I don't know a source - the last feed store in this town closed a year ago. Try eBay - their motto used to be, and should still be, "If it's on your mind, it's on eBay". I use them for almost everything.

edit: [link to www.ebay.com (secure)]

Last Edited by Pooka on 02/08/2019 06:53 PM

And this just now:
[link to www.seattletimes.com (secure)]
Gov. Jay Inslee declares state of emergency over winter storm

The state military department has activated the State Emergency Operations Center, which will coordinate resources to help local officials during the storm.

There are so many things that can take place - anything in the world almost - so it's downright silly to be in stores in panic mode, fighting for the last of something, if there is any left!

I have always kept water on hand, and awareness of what foods I can eat without preparation, etc.

This is why I keep warning - if you think you are going shopping after "it" happens, whatever "it" is, you are not thinking straight. Do it now, today, so you can stay safe inside while the world is going mad in stores. Look what only a snowstorm can do!

Are you on ground floor or in your own home? Pull up some floorboards and get to work! I like that the best anyway - no entrance for others to find. You can carefully fix a trap door out of the boards you pulled up. Fasten a rug over your trap door just right so it falls into place when you close the door behind you. Put STRONG locks on the inside of the trap door so if someone tries to pry it up, they soon understand it is just part of the floor, not a doorway.

I'm in my own house...but the entire foundation in the basement is concrete...I'm not going to bust a hole thru the floor to dig an underground shelter.

Just found an excellent video on the thread "After TEOTWAWKI event/ the 4 stages of recovery."

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Here are photos and even video of what is happening right now in my general area - this is why I keep telling people if you think you will wait until trouble hits and then go buy your preps - you are in an imaginary world which will have you dead in short order. Pay attention, PLEASE, if you want to save your life.

Thread: Panic At Grocery Stores!!!! All Shelves Are EMPTY!!!! Pictures!!!!!!!

Thread: Valentines day may be about to kiss California goodbye

Have a look - if you are in California - 100 inches of rain? Well, wait til your street is flooded before you go to the store, okay?

Pooka, you asked me a few pages back to 'refresh your memory?' It was about my friend Joe who sold the used tools and made enough out of that to buy property all over the state. You said you'd like to do something like that and then I said yes, you could do that too. That's all it was.

A note about homemade salve and this is very important - I learnt the hard way once, lol.
When you've strained your herbs out of the oil and set it to reheat a little so you can melt the beeswax into it, do not take your eyes off of it! If it gets too hot, it can burst into flames!

Once, I had mine on a small propane burner, and like all gas burners, it can sneak up a little bit without you knowing. Every single one I've ever used does that to some degree so if all you want is to heat and not to 'cook,' do not take your eyes off it for a second. I got busy with something else on that day and next thing I knew, there was a big flame jumping up above the burner, scared the shit out of me.

For grid power, a small hot plate on low is much more dependable and for off grid, there is always a spot on your woodstove that is cooler than others. Let your fire burn down a bit and rake your coals away from that spot; then you have more freedom to move around.:)

Have a look - if you are in California - 100 inches of rain?

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I hope people are aware if they are downstream of a dam.

I've tested a few ways of cooking dry noodles without using so much water.

Rather than boiling the pasta...I'll slow cook it right into the soup or spaghetti sauce.

If the spaghetti sauce is really thick I'll add some water & stir it in before adding the dry pasta.

Sometimes I've added to many or too few noodles...but thru practice I can eyeball it pretty well now.

The noodles are usually pretty good after 45-60 minutes of slow cooking. Always cook COVERED or some noodles wont cook properly. (lasagna takes about an hour and 20 minutes for some reason).

This method saves quite a bit of water...and another pot & strainer.

Last Edited by Mental Case on 02/08/2019 11:08 PM

busy, busy till next week...

but a few thoughts of small stuff for your preps.

Tic Tacs or breath mints...you'll be really glad to have them.

Nails & screws, never know when you'll have a need, and you can use a rock if need be.

Needles and thread

Mirror

Hair ties

garbage bags, garbage bags, garbage bags..takes almost no space and sooo many uses. poncho, tent/lean to, ground cover, water bags (double if you can)..tons of uses, big and small.


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[link to petdiys.com]

Once I went to a local big-box store in the advance of a major winter storm, not because I needed to get anything but because I wanted to watch human behavior in such an event.

The dairy section was completely empty and some poor kid who had done something to incur his supervisor's ire was tasked with pushing a cart of milk into the middle of the floor.

There was a palpable rush to strip the cart bare in mere seconds. I had to step lively to avoid the swarm. It was an event of scant seconds and then there was no more.

If you wait, you go hungry.

Good info Godblessya!

I also included a few needles in my bug out bag...splinters ya know.

If you wait, you go hungry.

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Nawww, they have bread milk and cheese at the convenience store where nobody is.

Ya just think ahead.

Or the thrift bakery where everything is half price.

While everybody is killing eachother at costco I'll be loading up on breads, pies, cakes, and chocolate eclairs down at the thrift bakery :)

I still think it would be a riot to do your last minute prepping by drive-thru.

Hi, I'd like 145 cheeseburgers and 30 big macs please...and make it snappy!

That works well! I do that every time I cook any pasta. I like to do a whole dish in just the one pot and not have to drain boiling (starchy and greasy) water off, some of which is bound to dribble on me. Almost never did I bother with a colander out in the country: what I did was hold the lid tight on the pan and ease it just a slit open, enough to drain the water off, but once in a while my hand could slip and drop water on my foot. That's plenty of motivation to learn another way.:)

I know I'm jumping topics tonight...but this is important.

Don't under-estimate the need for light.

While water is #1 on the hit parade...without light, all you can do is go to sleep. You are utterly screwed once the sun goes down!

That works well! I do that every time I cook any pasta.

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Same here WL.

I can't remember the last time I boiled a pot of noodles.

And I love the way my lasagna turns out!!!

Thank you, Whispering leaves.

There it only takes being on a hillside. Trees have been cut down to enhance their "views" so no roots to hold the hill - mudslides wipe out whole neighborhoods. If that forecast is correct, CA will become a nationally supported disaster. Better if it would wash away!

Oh!~ Did I say that out loud?

Love this! We really need such important means of saving water, so this was a biggy, mental case, thank you!

Jump all you like. Your info is good. Even I have to remind myself to stock more lamp oil and candles than I have already and I live in a mountainous area much prone to power 'hiccups' whenever there's a thunderstorm (all summer) and outages of several hours' duration just whenever it feels like it. I always have flashlights, with extra batteries, so I can see my way around at night but as you point out, it's not enough for a real emergency.

Oh, before I forget: have you noticed that some grocery chains - Safeway for sure - stopped carrying those 'strike anywhere' kitchen matches?! I have to drive at least 65 miles to get to a full-size grocery store so you can bet I was pissed off when I got to Safeway, certain I could restock general purpose matches and a silly manager said when I asked him where they were, 'we only have the 'safety matches' in stock now.' That means if the strip wears out on that damn box, you're screwed - you need a lighter to light them then, lol.

Solution for me was: Family Dollar still has them, Dollar General still has them. Check this out in your area to see who's doing the Nanny State agenda and who's not, and buy up when you can.



Don't forget to put your lasagna recipe in here. Do you ever see those little bags of soup-size pasta in your area, the Mexican brands? They're in little bags, might be in the pasta section of the store or in the Mexican foods section, and are usually quite cheap. Instead of say, regular 'pasta shells,' they'll be little bitty shells, kind of cute. Thing is: they're actually good and they're perfect for the one-pot casseroles with pasta as they cook so quickly with little liquid. You might find them in the Dollar stores too - I do, but I'm in New Mexico too.

Time to rethink, but I don't believe an underground shelter is in your future!