What Did You Do To Prep This Week?

Well, in East Tennessee the rain has set in and after the rain comes the cold… although we aren’t expecting any snow or ice yet, this weather pattern is the main reason that driving conditions often deteriorate to the point of impassibility during winter when precipitation starts as rain, then temperatures drop turning the rain into freezing rain and ice and then to snow on top of that.

Snow isn’t much of a problem when you have a four-wheel drive and know how to drive in those conditions, but with the freezing rain and resulting thick sheet of ice then no matter what you...

Read the whole entry... »

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Preppers – Got Glut? Cut Feed Bills!

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

An overabundance of eggs or milk is a good problem to have. It’s one some families will never experience, but it’s a common enough problem that it pops up annually on Facebook groups, homesteading and preparedness forums, and family gatherings.

I’m a huge proponent of various preservation methods, from freezing and oiling eggs to churning and pressing home-raised milk into salted butters and hard cheeses for later use. I’m especially a fan of the pre-modern storage methods. Sometimes, though, there’s just not enough time or space to develop skills or store it all.

If we have livestock and pets, they’re happy to help us deal with those gluts, as well as our table and garden scraps. In many cases, they’ll reward us with increased health or production as a result. Almost always, if we’re paying for our feed anyway, labor or cash, using our gluts can help us cut some of the costs.

Incredible Edible Egg

One of those things that so commonly pops up at day classes, tours, and online is an overabundance of eggs. There are many ways to use and store them, but sometimes there are still eggs ad nauseam.

Easy fix. It starts with scrambling them. You can cook a whole lot of eggs really quickly in either a steam table tray or a lasagna dish. You can even use a big metal mixing bowl.

 

You do want to scramble them, or boil and mince them. Otherwise, birds and other animals start associating those ovals with tasty nibbles.

Once that habits starts, it’s hard to break and it regularly spreads.

(Psst … Watch hogs – They don’t need the introduction to know eggs are tasty. It’s in their genetic coding to eat eggs of pretty much any kind.)

Eggs are fantastic due to the protein content – it’s usually proteins we’re paying the most for in our pet and livestock feeds. And while rich, most animals have no problem consuming them.

That makes them an excellent addition or replacement for dogs, cats, any poultry, and pigs – especially the young birds that need higher levels of protein to grow, carnivourous pets, and high-production laying hens.

 

Whole, Raw Milk

Like eggs, milk is an excellent source of protein and calories. Most poultry is sensitive to milk and other dairy products, however, cats, dogs, and pigs can handle raw milks and pasteurized goat or sheep milk just fine, even if they’re lactose intolerant with supermarket milks.

Pasteurization destroys some of the milk enzymes as well as bacteria and viruses that cause illness. It’s those enzymes – still present in raw milk and soft products made from raw milk – that make it more digestible. Goat and sheep milk have different types of fats and enzymes, which leave them more consumable for more of the population than cattle milks.

(Psst … Penn State did a dairy waste milk study in 2015. They suggest not giving finishing hogs commercial milk due to antibiotic presence, but saw 6-7% cost decreases when nursery hogs were offered that waste milk.)

Whole milk is too rich a resource to let it go to waste. It’s also rich enough that if it’s being given as more than a dribble for cats and dogs, or a quart or half gallon for hogs, it’s worth doing some figuring with a Pearson square for proteins (and calories) so you can cut back on other feeds.

That’s the point, after all. Using up our gluts, but doing it in a way that doesn’t increase the cost we’ve already put into producing those gluts.

Livestock Trash Compactors

In many cases, chickens and hogs will eat anything that doesn’t eat them first. It’s one of the things that makes them useful on a homestead of any size. Goats that can help keep fields and fences cleared are also big winners.

Chickens especially, though, sometimes just aren’t capable of being foragers, and won’t survive or thrive on the same levels of feed substitution.

There’s a big difference between homestead-bred dual-purpose heritage breed birds that hunt but are easy to handle like the Dominique, and something like the white cross hybrids that would die of heart attacks or develop broken legs from their own body weight by 9-12 months of age.

There’s also a big difference in birds that have no idea you can peck into the big orange thing for tasty squash and seeds, and birds that grew up thinking it was totally natural to at least attempt to munch anything in the same space as them.

It’s not just the egg-meat yields. As with dipping a chick’s beak to show it how to eat and drink, some of our livestock have lost the skill to feed themselves, even heritage breeds.

If you’re going to try to use some of the garden produce to replace feeds, especially, you’ll want one that’s been bred to have an adaptable stomach.

If you’re specifically looking for livestock that will do well on a varied diet, especially if you’re after bug hunters and foraging birds, the Livestock Conservancy is a good site to visit. The mypetchickens.com site is also an excellent resource, but the Livestock Conservancy is nice enough to make at-a-glance comparison charts for us.

They compile ratings that include foraging skills (and predator savviness) along with other breed information.

Working with breeds that can do well on self-found foods, rough browse over higher-protein, higher-calorie hays and grains – even if their production is lower – isn’t just useful for decreasing glut wastes. The ability to replace feeds, not just give a treat, becomes a sustainability issue for truly long-term disasters.

Cats and ferrets, too, may take a while to warm up to the idea of new foods if they’re straight bag-can animals. I hear there are picky dogs, too. I haven’t actually run into any that aren’t delighted by milk or eggs and scraps, but I hear they’re out there. Somewhere.

 

Calories Matter

Sometimes as I follow along various blogs and social media, I end up feeling sorry for somebody. That was the case when I read this article http://farmfolly.com/2011/03/complete-costs-of-raising-pigs/. It’s a fabulous write-up about home-raised hogs, with excellent price and input-output charting.

What I want to draw attention to is what they fed their hogs, and the realizations they reached once it was all said and done.

Two market-sized hogs of a lean, meat-heavy breed consumed 1,350# swine feed, 50# squash (pumpkins), and 38# of eggs (ten eggs per pound, 380 eggs). They got other garden produce as well, but those were the significant sources of proteins and calories.

And in the end, all the labor, cost, water and feed/fertilizer that went into those eggs and pumpkins amounted to barely more than 1 percent of the hogs’ diets.

The author surmises that feeding hogs on grain is inefficient. I have to assume that’s a typo, or a reflection of hogs’ efficiency – not grain efficiency. I feel safer in that assumption since the author makes the point, “We had hoped these would reduce our feed bill. The numbers tell a different story … One really gains a sense for how calorie dense grain is when you realize that 380 eggs and 50 pounds of squash represent the calorie contents of just 18 pounds of grain.”

That’s not intended to blast a hole in everything I’ve said about using up gluts. It’s intended to make us aware of the effort-reward scale that will be vital if we’re trying to cut cords now or planning to live off our land at some point.

What we feed – to which animals – should factor in the type of animals.

Those 380 eggs go almost nowhere between two hogs – 1.4-1.6% of their total feed for the ones raised by that blogger. That’s about 2 days at market weight, off the annual yield of a high-producing layer – which is being fed as well, and high-quality specialized feed at that.

However, 380 eggs between my two smaller hounds (45-55#) is protein and a big chunk of calories for 95 meals.

In prepper world-down conversions, I can just about keep those dogs for two months off the annual yield of a single high-yielding hen on bagged feed or a pair of hens fed off mixed forage, garden patrol, and worm bins.

 

Then, being me, I bang my head at the thought of feeding an animal that can thrive as an herbivore pumpkins instead of grain.

(Psst … if you can produce 50# of pumpkins, you can produce 18# of wheat, barley and oats – usually with fewer pests, irrigation, and fertilizer, regularly in less time, and reap far higher protein yields while you’re at it, along with bedding straw or mulch.)

When we opt to feed gluts, or aim for production, we need to consider each component in our system, and weigh where our efforts are being placed.  I’m better served using my glut for an animal where it makes a significant difference than I am something where it barely even registers in their feed needs.

That’s one place where a SWOT analysis intended for business practice can be a huge benefit.

For that, I need to have done my homework on each animal. How efficiently they convert those foods depends on calorie and proteins and total bulk needs. It goes back to size, type, and specific breed – and the specific genetic lines of those breeds.

Switching Diets

Whenever we change feeds, it’s a good idea to do so slowly. We also want to be careful how much rich foods we offer at once.

The 10 percent-10 days rule works like a charm for most animals, although I rarely use it since I’ve been hugely lucky with my stock and pets.

If your animals have a history of intolerance or sensitivity, and with young or senior animals, consider moving very slowly indeed. However, animals that often get a variety of foods commonly keep diverse gut bacteria that decreases the risk of having negative reactions.

At some point, if we’re looking at a long-term disaster – whether it’s an extended job loss, an issue that interrupts shipping or our ability to fetch feeds, or a major national or international disaster – we’ll have to consider the sustainability of our animals. Having some tricks in the back pocket to make use of gluts can help us make plans, as well as avoid waste.

 

 

The post Preppers – Got Glut? Cut Feed Bills! appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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These Are The Best Self-Defense Firearms For Urban Survival

No matter how many times it is said, it can never be said or heard enough: “The best self defense firearm for you is the one you are proficient with, feel confident with, and are carrying in a time of need.”

In an urban environment, you have to defend yourself at close, intermediate, and long ranges. This is why you need to develop proficiency with at least one weapon in each of the three main categories of firearms: handguns, shotguns, and rifles.

For each of these groups, there are questions to think about and answer for yourself in order to decide which weapon will best meet your needs.

Since .22 Caliber handguns and rifles are often underestimated as defensive rounds, I created a category just for them. In most cases, as a beginner, you will be starting with a .22 and then moving onto higher powered weapons.

Handguns

This is the weapon you should always carry and have on hand when a rifle or shotgun is impractical. Choose a defensive handgun that is comfortable to shoot under any circumstances and feels comfortable to carry all day.

While those questions are a matter of personal taste, reliability and stopping power (should be powerful enough to put an attacker down with the first or second shot) are much easier to gauge via known facts about specific handgun models.

3 Second SEAL Test Will Tell You If You’ll Survive A SHTF Situation

In pistols, the most popular defense calibers are the 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. All are good choices, but I prefer the 9mm for its larger magazine capacity and the .45 ACP for its knock down power with lighter recoil than the .40 S&W. For open or concealed carrying, I prefer to carry a full-size pistol at all times.

My recommendations for pistols are the following:

• In the 9mm – the Glock 17 with it’s 17 rounds per magazine. This pistol is safe to be use by adults and older teenagers after instruction.
• In the .45ACP category – the Springfield XD-M with it’s 13 rounds per magazine. This pistol is to be used by adults only who can handle the heavier recoil.

Revolvers are an excellent option, and a good choice for inexperienced shooters since they are a rather simple handgun to operate. They are also very reliable and do not require buying and using spare magazines. I would choose the Ruger stainless steel GP100 in .357 magnum/.38 Special with a four inch barrel. I would recommend this revolver for adults and older teenagers that can safely handle them after training.

If you live in a dangerous area, or want a handgun that might be used against bears or big cats, a S&W 629 .44 magnum revolver would be suitable. I would recommend this revolver for adults only because of the heavy recoil.

In a time of social unrest it’s to your advantage to use the same caliber ammunition as the police and the military do. This makes it easier to scrounge up extra ammunition in your calibers during and after these periods of unrest.

For most modern pistols and revolvers, it is easy enough to get spare parts or repairs. However, as laws continue to change, these options may become limited. Now is the time to buy parts kits, accessories, and any tools you might need to make basic repairs or manage deeper cleaning.

Shotguns

The shotgun is an excellent and formidable home and personal defense weapon. Shotguns come in pump action, semi-auto, double barrel, and single barrel.

My personal preference is the pump action because of the distinctive sound it makes when being racked. If there is one gun in this group that will act as a deterrent that reduces the need to open fire, the pump action models can do the job. If they can’t, you will still have an excellent weapon to resolve the matter with.

Pump action shotguns are rugged, reliable, simple to operate, and best of all easy to learn and teach.

Shotguns can be concealable if it is done right. The first thing that you must consider is how to make the shotgun a more compact weapon. To shorten the overall length, I would use the shortest legal tactical barrel and stock combination possible. The standard stock would be replaced with either a cruiser or a folding stock that folds over the top of the shotgun. Finally to help support the weight and add control ability I would attach a single point sling.

For a shotgun to be concealed properly you must be wearing clothing that can cover the shotgun without standing out. Here, loose fitting clothing and a long cold weather or rain coat would help, but the clothing must fit the season and temperatures.

One of the things I like most about a lot of the pump shotguns is that changing barrels is very easy. To make the most of your pump action shotgun, you should have at least two barrels for it. This gives you two guns for the price of one.

The first one should be a field barrel with multiple choke tubes. This one is your hunting and varmint control barrel. The second barrel should be a shorter tactical barrel in the 18-20 inch range. This one is for home defense purposes. It is quicker handling in tight quarters and gives a wider shot spread at short ranges. The tactical barrels come either rifled or smooth bore.

What to choose from so many pump action shotguns?

For adults and older teenagers that will not have any problems with recoil or operating a pump action shotgun, the Parkerized Mossburg 590-A1 in 12 Gauge should work well. This shotgun was designed for the military and is a very heavy duty shotgun that holds 9 rounds of 3 inch shotgun shells. If need be a M-7 or M-9 bayonet can be mounted under the tube magazine for further self defense.

For smaller framed adults, teenagers, and older children that can operate a pump action shotgun, I would recommend the Remington 870 Shotguns in 20 Gauge. An 18-20 inch barrel can still be used for defense and a 26-28 inch barrel for hunting.

For individuals that can’t operate either pump action or semi-auto shotguns, the double barrel shotgun may be a viable answer. If you can handle the recoil of a 12 Gauge shell, but can’t work the pump action or semi-auto action, the 12 Gauge double barrel shotguns should work fine. The same is true for those individuals who can handle the 20 Gauge recoil, but can’t work pump or semi-auto actions.

My recommendation in this group is the Stoeger Double Defense over/under double barreled shotgun for adults and older teenagers that have no issues with 12 Gauge recoil. This shotgun comes with a fiber optic front sight and a picatinny rail for your optics or rear sights. It shoots 2 3/4” or 3” shells. These shotguns are well made and very reliable. It is easier for most people to aim and shoot an over/under shotgun, because of it’s similarities to shooting a rifle. Most people prefer it over the side-by-side double barrel shotguns, because they are more accurate and are easier to aim.

Smaller framed adults, teenagers, and older children that can handle the 20 Gauge recoil and would rather not shoot an over/under double barreled shotguns can try the Stoeger Coach double barreled shotguns with a 20” barrel. These are well made and very reliable shotguns that can shoot 2 3/4” or 3” shotgun shells.

As with handguns, in a time of social unrest it’s to your advantage to have and use the same Gauge shotgun ammunition as the police and the military do. This makes it easier to scrounge up extra shotgun ammunition in your gauges during and after these periods of unrest. Now is a good time to find out what is most commonly being used in your area.

For most shotguns today, it is very easy to get repair or spare parts. You can get them today by ordering direct from the shotgun manufacturers or from firearm part dealers. In a time of social conflict, repair or spare parts will not be available on the open market. It is best to purchase extra kits now while you can.

Centerfire Rifles

As with any other weapon, it will be a matter of personal preference in terms of which one feels most comfortable and easy to carry. You will still need to choose a rifle that is reliable and can put down an attacker with the first shot, if you have to face the aftermath of a disaster in your urban location.

If you need a few recommendations for semi-autos and bolt action rifles in today’s popular calibers, here are some options. As with the other categories, each of these models has a long standing reputation for reliability and has suitable stopping power for most situations.

The Springfield Saint (Military Spec) AR-15 in the 5.56×45 can also shoot the .223 Remington. This gun is very easy to shoot and works well with high capacity magazines or drums. Because of its low recoil, I recommend it for adults, teenagers and slender built individuals after proper training.

In the 7.62×51, the Springfield M1A would be an excellent choice. I highly recommend the M1A for it’s knock down power, durability, an reliability. It shoots very accurately from 20 round magazines, and is an excellent hunting or battle rifle. I would recommend this rifle for adults and older teenagers that can take the recoil after proper training.

In 7.62×39, the AK-47 is my hands down favorite weapon. This weapon is a proven warhorse rifle that has stood the test of time. It is extremely reliable, low recoiled, shoots high capacity magazines and drums, and has good knock down power. I would recommend this weapon to all shooters except young children after proper training.

My choice for a bolt action rifle is the Ruger Gunsite Scout in .308. This is a well built rifle that is very accurate, reliable, has an 18 inch tactical barrel, and uses ten round magazines. This rifle can be scoped two ways; by a regular scope, or by using a scout scope on the picatinny scope rail. If you don’t wish to scope this rifle, it comes standard with front blade and rear aperture sights. This rifle has a bit of a recoil, so it is best for adults and teenage shooters that can take it after proper training.

For those individuals that would like to shoot semi-auto rifles, but have recoil issues, I would recommend an AR-15 that shoots the 9mm pistol round. This AR could be a companion rifle to anyone that is carrying a Glock 9mm semi-auto pistol. Both of these weapons can use the large capacity Glock magazines when needed. This rifle is safe to use by all shooters after proper training.

If you choose a gun that uses ammunition other than what the local military, police, or sheriffs use, it would be to your advantage to stock up on them now.

For most centerfire rifles of today, it is also easy to get repair or spare parts. You can get them by ordering direct from the manufacturers or from firearm part dealers. Get them now while they are still available and easy to get with relatively little effort.

AR-15s with a folding stock or a collapsible stock and AK-47 rifles with a side folding stock or an under folding stocks can be concealed. It will depend upon the climate, time of day, and the type of clothing being used. Concealing other full sized centerfire rifles will depend on their size and weight. Some are very hard or impossible to conceal.

What About .22 Caliber Rifles and Handguns?

.22 caliber rifles and handguns are great learning and practice tools for shooters of all skill levels. It is also an underestimated defensive round, and will put down attackers quite well with good shot placement.

Training and practice are the keys to being a good marksman and with these firearms. Ammo for these weapons is also cheaper than for higher powered guns, so you will find training and practice more affordable.

I recommend the following .22 caliber rifles and handguns for training and defense:

• For a semi-auto rifle – Ruger 10/22 in stainless steel with a black synthetic stock. This rifle can be scoped or use the metal adjustable sights. The 10/22 is a tough, reliable little rifle with a lot of accessories. Upgrades are also available. If taken care of, this 10/22 will last a life time.
• For a lever action rifle – Henry Lever Action .22 caliber. This is a very well made and dependable rifle that shoots .22 LR, .22L, and .22S.This rifle has adjustable sights or can be scoped.
• For a semi-auto pistol – Ruger Mark III Hunter. This is a .22LR very well made, reliable, stainless steel pistol with adjustable sights, and a 10 round magazine.
• For a .22 caliber revolver – Taurus Tracker in .22LR. This is a very well made and dependable SA/DA stainless steel revolver, with a 4 inch barrel, and a 9 round cylinder capacity.

Typically, .22RL ammunition is not used by most local military, police, or sheriffs. It would be to your advantage to stock up on this ammo now because it will disappear very quickly in time of need. At this time the ammunition is priced reasonably, but you never know when the next shortage will come.

For most .22 caliber handguns and rifles today, it is easy to get repair or spare parts by ordering direct from the manufacturers or from firearm part dealers. It is best to buy extra parts now while you can get them at a reasonable price on the open market.

In a time of social conflict, you have to defend yourself at close, intermediate, and long ranges in an urban environment that goes crazy. Proficiency with handguns, shotguns, and rifles will go a long way to helping you achieve that goal.

Each of these weapon types have their advantages and disadvantages, as do specific models in each category. Regardless of how many models you try out, the best one is always going to be the one you are comfortable with and actually have on hand in a time of need.

Prepare your guns and practice your shooting skills, so you could survive the disaster!

This article has been written by Fred Tyrell for Survivopedia.

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The 11 Indispensable Tools for the Better Hunting Expedition

Something Borrowed…From the Ghost of Government Past

Written by Wild Bill on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: This is an article originally “published” by Jeffery Tucker of Liberty.me in 2012. The Prepper Journal is republishing it with some additional materials (and some pictures for flow and effect.)  I have sought the authors permission but have had no response to any inquiries. It stands on its own merit, even thought it was posted in 2012. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly receive a $25 cash award, as well as being entered into the Prepper Writing Contest AND have a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards  with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies, then enter today!

“The gas gauge broke. There was no smartphone app to tell me how much was left, so I ran out. I had to call the local gas station to give me enough to get on my way. The gruff but lovable attendant arrived in his truck and started to pour gas in my car’s tank. And pour. And pour…

“Hmmm, I just hate how slow these gas cans are these days,” he grumbled. “There’s no vent on them.” That sound of frustration in this guy’s voice was strangely familiar, the grumble that comes when something that used to work but doesn’t work anymore, for some odd reason we can’t identify

I’m pretty alert to such problems these days. Soap doesn’t work. Toilets don’t flush. Clothes washers don’t clean. Light bulbs don’t illuminate. Refrigerators break too soon. Paint discolors. Lawnmowers have to be hacked. It’s all caused by idiotic government regulations that are wrecking our lives one consumer product at a time, all in ways we hardly notice.

It’s like the barbarian invasions that wrecked Rome, taking away the gains we’ve made in bettering our lives. It’s the bureaucrats’ way of reminding market producers and consumers who is in charge.

Surely, the gas can is protected. It’s just a can, for goodness sake. Yet he was right. This one doesn’t have a vent. Who would make a can without a vent unless it was done under duress? After all, everyone knows to vent anything that pours. Otherwise, it doesn’t pour right and is likely to spill.

It took one quick search. The whole trend began in (wait for it) California. Regulations began in 2000, with the idea of preventing spillage. The notion spread and was picked up by the EPA, which is always looking for new and innovative ways to spread as much human misery as possible.

An ominous regulatory announcement from the EPA came in 2007: “Starting with containers manufactured in 2009… it is expected that the new cans will be built with a simple and inexpensive permeation barrier and new spouts that close automatically.”

The government never said “no vents.” It abolished them de facto with new standards that every state had to adopt by 2009. So for the last three years, you have not been able to buy gas cans that work properly. They are not permitted to have a separate vent. The top has to close automatically. There are other silly things now, too, but the biggest problem is that they do not do well what cans are supposed to do.

And don’t tell me about spillage. It is far more likely to spill when the gas is gurgling out in various uneven ways, when one spout has to both pour and suck in air. That’s when the lawn mower tank becomes suddenly full without warning, when you are shifting the can this way and that just to get the stuff out.

There’s also the problem of the exploding can. On hot days, the plastic models to which this regulation applies can blow up like balloons. When you release the top, gas flies everywhere, including possibly on a hot engine. Then the trouble really begins. Never heard of this rule? You will know about it if you go to the local store. Most people buy one or two of these items in the course of a lifetime, so you might otherwise have not encountered this outrage.

Yet let enough time go by. A whole generation will come to expect these things to work badly. Then some wise young entrepreneur will have the bright idea, “Hey, let’s put a hole on the other side so this can work properly.” But he will never be able to bring it into production. The government won’t allow it! 

It’s striking to me that the websites and institutions that complain about government involvement in our lives never mentioned this, at least not so far as I can tell. The only sites that seem to have discussed this are the boating forums and the lawn forums. These are the people who use these cans more than most. The level of anger and vitriol is amazing to read, and every bit of it is justified.

There is no possible rationale for these kinds of regulations. It can’t be about emissions really, since the new cans are more likely to result in spills. It’s as if some bureaucrat were sitting around thinking of ways to make life worse for everyone, and hit upon this new, cockamamie rule.

These days, government is always open to a misery-making suggestion. The notion that public policy would somehow make life better is a relic of days gone by. It’s as if government has decided to specialize in what it is best at and adopt a new principle: “Let’s leave social progress to the private sector; we in the government will concentrate on causing suffering and regress.”

You are already thinking of hacks. Why not just stab the thing with a knife and be done with it? If you have to transport the can in the car, that’s a problem. You need a way to plug the vent with something.

Some boating forums have suggested drilling a hole and putting a tire stem in there and using the screw top as the way to close the hole. Great idea. Just what I wanted to do with my Saturday afternoon, hacking the gas can to make it work exactly as well as it did three years ago, before government wrecked it.

You can also buy an old-time metal can. It turns out that special regulations pertain here, too, and it’s all about the spout, which is not easy to fill. They are also unusually expensive. I’m not sure that either of these options is ideal.

 Who knew this would be a thing of beauty someday?

It fascinates me to see how these regulations give rise to market-based workarounds. I’ve elsewhere called this the speak-easy economy. The government bans something. No one likes the ban. People are determined to get on with their lives, regardless. They step outside the narrow bounds of the law.

It wouldn’t surprise me to find, for example, a sudden proliferation of heavy-duty “water cans” in 1- and 5-gallon sizes, complete with nice spouts and vents, looking almost exactly like the gas cans you could get anywhere just a few years ago. How very interesting to discover this.

Of course, this law-abiding writer would never advocate buying one of these and using it for some purpose other than what is written on the package. Doing something like that would show profound disrespect for our betters in the bureaucracies. And if I did suggest something like that, there’s no telling the trouble that it would bring down on my head.

Ask yourself this: If they can wreck such a normal and traditional item like this, and do it largely under the radar screen, what else have they mandatorily malfunctioned? How many other things in our daily lives have been distorted? If some product annoys you in surprising ways, there’s a good chance that it is not the invisible hand at work, but rather the regulatory grip that is squeezing the life out of civilization itself.”

I have include the original authors bio, without changes, but now without this comment “plain old Tucker does not respond to emails sent to plain old tucker@liberty.me.

I’m executive editor of Laissez Faire Books and the Chief Liberty Officer of Liberty.me, an innovative private society for publishing, learning, and networking. I’m the author of four books in the field of economics and one on early music. My personal twitter account @jeffreyatucker FB is @jeffrey.albert.tucker Plain old email is tucker@liberty.me

Editors Note: Republished as food for thought . Of course his comment on “leaving social progress to the private sector” has since been disproved and certainly one can make a case against gasoline spillage and fumes, but not at the expense of degrading performance. This is the result of designing and implementing solutions in a vacuum. A lot has happened since 2012, a lot of things have changed, and there has been some reversal of “the crazies” but, then again the crazies are still in charge in so many places, protected by labor laws specifically designed to keep them from being weeded out, having to face the same review as people in the private sector. So new crazies are still producing….

Apologies for the fuzzy quality of the picture, you can look for yourself.

For not just preppers, but everyone, knowledge is always our first line of defense and keeping up with the crazies is a new career. Small, medium and large businesses have employees, or staffs of employees, that do nothing but “compliance”. As a friend told me once after driving from Northern California to Southern California with an unloaded 12 gauge shotgun in his trunk, a legally purchased gift for his father, that he was sure the number of county and city laws he violated on the drive was north of 50. BTW my recently purchased gas can has a vent installed, a small hole drilled and plugged with a shaved wine cork. A good prepper will always find a way, a good prepper will always check his stash and supplies …and will also hope the NSA misses this post.

The post Something Borrowed…From the Ghost of Government Past appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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Stay Dry, Safe in Camp in the Rain

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: A post from Melanie Campbell, the enthusiast behind Ardent Footsteps, to the The Prepper Journal. Following the links she has provided is recommended to get the detail behind the thoughts and to get some sound tips on making sure your gear is bad-weather ready. For a pleasure trip or for survival. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly receive a $25 cash award, as well as being entered into the Prepper Writing Contest AND have a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards  with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies, then enter today!

Even though my fascination with the natural world didn’t start until I was in my late 20’s and stressed out from work and responsibilities, I still remember vividly all of the camping adventures I had with my parents. I have about 20 years of experience in camping, and I’ve gone through all of the weather conditions and all sorts of other tricky situations.

And one of the most common and annoying problems that can dampen your camping trip in no time is if you didn’t come prepared to deal with rain. That’s why I decided to give you a few tips on how to get ready for camping on rainy days or survive them as safely and comfortably as possible.

Make a Wise Choice on Campsite Location

When I was a child, my family had a beautiful tradition. Every year, for my birthday we would go out in the woods and turn the celebration into three-day camping. As I was born during summer, the weather was ideal for this kind of activity. However, on my eighth birthday, the sky just broke. As rain poured, our tent, pitched at the base of a north facing peak, became soaking wet. My sleeping bag, unlike everything else in the tent, did not float. That’s when I learned the first and by far the most valuable lesson – choose your campsite location wisely.

In general, you should look for high, flat ground upon which to pitch your tent. Additionally it is important that the area is well-drained, so you don’t end up swimming in your sleeping bag.  Also, if you can, choose a campsite that is hidden by big trees, which will provide you with natural shelter from both winds and overexposure to the sun.

On the other hand, avoid campsites that are located too near bodies of water or under overhanging branches which will catch water at first and then channel it right to you. Sloping and depressed areas are a bad choice because water tends to flow through and accumulate here. And remember to avoid camping under that one lone tree, because this significantly increases your chances of getting struck by lightning.

Waterproof Your Tent

Your tent will usually be able to prevent water from pouring in when the rain is light.  However, as tens are regularly cleaned, exposed to heat, wind, and all sorts of weather conditions, they wear down bit by bit, which affects their waterproof features. Even the packing and unpacking of tents will produce wear over time.

If you want to stay dry and comfortable waterproofing is an absolute necessity. You’ll need to take care of tent’s walls, floor, seals, and seams and maybe even install a rain fly. If you want to learn more about waterproofing techniques, read this guide. 

Plastic Bags are a Must-Have

When it comes to rainy days, plastic bags are life savers. They are waterproof, and they will keep the majority of your stuff safe and dry. Make sure to bring plastic bags of all sizes and shapes.

You should use them to segregate clothes and everything else in your backpack, line your bags to protect your belongings and most importantly keep your food dry and protected.

Cheaper plastic bags are usually not reusable, but even those can serve the purpose for a single outing if you don’t have any other choice. However, don’t forget to dispose of them properly after use.

Take the Tarp Inside

If you are a passionate camper, you probably already have a tarp. (You need one in your survival gear even if you don’t plan on camping.) They should be placed directly on the ground, beneath your tent. They create an extra layer of protection and barrier against water and when there is no rain, morning dew. You can get a classic woven polyurethane style tarps for not more than fifty dollars.

If you place a tarp inside your tent rather than outside, as you probably do in most of the cases; you’ll find it offers a much better protection from the water this way. As most modern tents come with a built-in floor, this gives you bot extra moisture and heat-loss protection.

Insulate the Ground

Except for placing the tarp, you should take care of other types of insulation. Add a bivvy bag will protect your sleeping bag from moisture, and retain a little heat. Doubling up on the sleeping pads is also a good idea. A lot of body heat can be lost to sleeping on the ground, even in a warm desert, where there are real creepy-crawlies seeking warm thing to cuddle up with…

Once you get in your bag and decide to go to sleep, make sure to keep your face exposed. Breathing into the bag may cause down insulation to get wet, which will affect its performance.

Mind the Signs of Hypothermia

Staying wet from the rain for a long time can put you at an increased risk of hypothermia, which often happens when rain or snow surprises you on while off the grid.

The most obvious signs are following: shivering, slurred speech or mumbling, slow and shallow breathing, weak pulse, drowsiness and low energy, clumsiness or lack of coordination, confusion, and loss of consciousness.

If this happens to you, or someone you know, rush them to the hospital. However, before you get there, you should start helping the person by removing all the wet clothing and covering them with dry blankets, clothes, and sleeping bags. Keep them as warm and as calm as you can and monitor their temperature.

Dry Out Your Wet Camping Equipment

All of your wet equipment, from clothing to shoes to sleeping bags to tarps to tents, and everything else, needs to be vented. As soon as you have a chance, unpack your bags and let your stuff thoroughly dry. Otherwise, molds, mildew, and other unpleasant scents will develop, ruin the fabric, and corrode metal items.

Editors Note: The editor recommends you do this will all you camping and survival gear on a regularly scheduled basis. No matter where you live. In the humid south for moisture, in the dry west for cracks from loss of moisture and loss of flexibility within the materials; check for mold as a result of incomplete drying prior to storage, cracks, torn or failing seams, items that looked good a few months ago but now need to be replaced. Vigilance pays off. 

Bio: Melanie Campbell is an outdoor and camping enthusiast behind Ardent Footsteps, enjoying this wonderful world since 2010. She shares expert advice when it comes to camping and outdoor trekking. With the main focus on making the most out of camping and outdoor adventures, Melanie will make you want to go out today!

 

The post Stay Dry, Safe in Camp in the Rain appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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9 Ways To Compromise Your Survival Stockpile

There are a lot of foolish people in the world today. Sadly, we even find some of them amongst the ranks of preppers. These people are doing what they need to do, in order to be ready for a disaster, but they’re not necessarily doing it right. In many cases, they are letting others know what they are doing, or they are doing it in such a way as to not protect their preps.

This became eminently clear to me in the recent spate of hurricanes we’ve had.

While I don’t know any preppers who were caught in those hurricanes, simply examining the devastation caused by them, as part of my typical post-disaster review, showed me a number of weaknesses that could apply to just about anyone’s survival stockpile.

But we don’t need a disaster to show up, in order for us to find that we’ve made some major mistakes in how we stockpile for an emergency. Some of these mistakes can show up long before a disaster does.

3 Second SEAL Test Will Tell You If You’ll Survive A SHTF Situation

A neighbor dropping by or an accident causing supplies to be destroyed is not all that uncommon. So let’s look at the various mistakes that many people make, in order to ensure that we don’t fall into the trap of becoming foolish preppers ourselves.

Poor OPSEC

The first and most obvious mistake that many people make is poor OPSEC (operational security). More than anything, this means not hiding what they’re doing from friends and neighbors. This requires actively thinking about how you will keep people from knowing what you are doing, rather than just thinking they won’t know, if you don’t tell them.

I guarantee that if you show up at your home some afternoon, with a truckload of food that you picked up at Costco, your neighbors will see it and be curious. Even if they never ask you about it, they’ll remember that you buy things in bulk, so when things go bad and they need food, you’ll be the first one they’ll think of.

Hiding things from neighbors can be very difficult, simply because people are curious and they see what’s going on around them. If you have a vegetable garden, they know; likewise for a swimming pool.

Even if they aren’t thinking in terms of disaster preparedness, they will remember that those resources are in your backyard. They might even try to tell you that your swimming pool is a great source of water and isn’t it fortunate for the neighborhood that you have it.

The best you can do sometimes is to disguise what you are doing or mislead them as to why you are doing it. My neighbors know that I have a wind turbine and solar panels. Those are rather hard to find. But they also know that I’m a retired engineer, who likes to tinker around in my workshop. So, they see those things as signs of my tinkering, nothing more.

Of course, when the power goes out, they might show up at my door with a cell phone to be charged, but at least I’ve made it harder for them to realize what I’m really doing.

Storing Everything in One Place

If you lived in Southwest Houston when Hurricane Harvey hit and had all your prepping supplies in your home, they would all have been waterlogged by the flooding that the hurricane caused. The same sorts of things can happen with just about any type of natural disaster, from fires to earthquakes.

You should always have multiple caches of supplies, so that if your main stockpile becomes compromised in some way, you’ll at least have something to use.

Likewise, you shouldn’t keep your whole stockpile in one place in your home. Rather, spread it out some, so that if part of your home becomes damaged in a disaster, you’ll still have supplies in other parts of your home. This could also protect you if the government starts going door to door collecting things.

Some types of supplies should be spread around for safety as well. If your firewood stockpile is all in one place, then a fire could destroy it all. Likewise, if you’re storing gasoline. Not only that; but in both of those cases, destruction of the stockpile would also endanger your home and family.

Not Ensuring it is Ready for Long-Term Storage

You have to assume that anything you’re storing is going to be in storage for 20 years. While it may not be, making that assumption will help you to avoid making the mistake of not packaging it correctly for long-term storage.

We usually think of food when we are saying this, but it doesn’t just apply to food. Some things, like gasoline, don’t store well. Storing a 55 gallon drum of gasoline isn’t going to do you much good, if that drum of gas goes bad or evaporates due to a poor seal. You need to add the necessary additives and make sure that the container is well sealed.

Another simple, but critical part of packaging for long-term storage is labeling. Adhesive labels don’t necessary stick for 20 years. In fact, many will fall off in a year or less, especially if the item is stored in a hot or humid area. In those cases, you need to make sure that you’re not using a label, but rather writing the contents directly on the container with a permanent marker.

Forgetting to Waterproof

Perhaps the most obvious thing I saw from these hurricanes was the need to waterproof everything. What good is a year’s worth of toilet paper going to do you, if it ends up soaked in water? While much of our food stockpile is already in waterproof containers, much of our other supplies aren’t. What can you do to make sure that they are properly waterproofed to protect them?

One of the hardest areas to do this is with a pile of firewood. I’ve got a couple of cords of split firewood in my backyards, stacked in racks. But if it flooded here, that wood would certainly get wet. For that matter, it’s not even well protected from the rain.

There’s no practical way I can protect all that firewood from the rain or from flooding. But I can take a small quantity of it, say enough for a few days, and store it inside, where it will be protected. If there is flooding and the power goes out, I can then start a fire and stack some of the wet wood near it to dry off.

Leaving Out a Critical Item

There’s always something you forget to stockpile, I don’t care how long you’ve been at it. I recently realized that I don’t have a boat; any sort of boat. Granted, I don’t have much need for a boat, and I have much better things to spend my money on. But I also live in a hurricane zone. So without a boat, I’d end up just like all those other people, sitting on my roof, waiting for someone who has a boat to come by and rescue me. Duh!

This is easily resolved, without spending a fortune. All I need to do is buy an inflatable rubber raft. You can find those for as little as $100, allowing you to have the means of rescuing yourself, rather than waiting for others to do it for you.

Always be reviewing your stockpile, looking for that critical missing item. You might be surprised when you find out what it is.

Not Protecting from Heat and Cold

Many things are damaged by heat, cold and dampness. Yet the places we tend to put our stockpiles in are either hot, cold or damp. Not a real good combination. We need to think our storage plans thoroughly, taking into consideration the effects of heat, cold and dampness over a long period of time.

Dampness can cause mold and mildew to grow on things, even things like that rubber raft I was just talking about. Should that happen, it would be a very unpleasant ride out on that raft. But heat can damage it as well, if I were to store it in my attic.

So the basement isn’t a good place to store it, nor is the attic. I need someplace where I can put it, like the garage, where it won’t be damaged by environmental consideration.

Leaving Your Stockpile Unguarded

Probably one of the worst things you can do is to leave a stockpile of supplies somewhere that others can get to it. I think of this, every time I talk about a survival retreat in the woods. Like many, I’d love to have that retreat; but I haven’t been able to afford it yet.

Leaving six months worth of food in a cabin in the woods, so that you’ll have it there if you have to bug out, sounds like a great idea. But cabins in the woods can usually be broken into fairly easily. If that were to happen, you might show up at your survival retreat, only to find a pile of empty packages, left behind by some bum that was squatting in your cabin.

Ideally, you’ll have your supplies someplace where you can keep an eye on it. But if you can’t make sure it is extra-secure. If it were me, I’d move a shipping container onto the property, parking it next to or behind my cabin. Rather than stocking my supplies in the cabin, it’d stock them in the container, ready at hand, but well secured against theft.

Prepping in the Wrong Place

This one’s a bit controversial, but I don’t think that everyone should build their survival stockpile in their home. While I’m a big proponent of bugging in, rather than bugging out, especially for those in the suburbs, rural towns and out in the country, I also recognize that not everyone should bug in.

If you live in the inner city, especially in an apartment building in the inner city, you should probably get out of there fairly quickly before society can break down. No matter how many supplies you have stockpiled, you won’t have enough water. What water exists will not meet the needs of everyone there and there is no way that you will be able to harvest water and protect it from being stolen by others.

For people in this sort of situation, I highly recommend finding a survival retreat in the suburbs or some rural town. That’s where they should build their stockpile. That way, they can escape from the dangers of the city and get to a place where it will be much easier to survive.

Not Checking Your Stockpile Regularly

Whatever you have stockpiled, whether it is food, ammunition, gasoline or firewood, you should check your supplies regularly. Things left alone tend to deteriorate and you have to assume that your stockpiled supplies can do so as well. Checking them regularly will protect you from the bad surprise of going to look for something and finding that it’s not usable.

One way to avoid this problem is to rotate your stock, buying new things and using up the old. Some food items are best stockpiled in this way, as they really don’t keep well for more than a year. Gasoline is another thing that should be rotated, as the shelf life of gas is only about six months.

By checking your stockpile regularly, say once a month or so, you can find things that are not packaged well enough or that need to be replaced. That way, you can make use of those items, rather than having them go to waste. You’ve got too much money invested in your stockpile, to just have things go bad on you. Better to use it and replace it, so that the money isn’t wasted.

Checking your stockpile also allows you to check for security problems with things that are stored off-site. As with the survival retreat I was talking about a moment ago, you want to make sure that the supplies that you have cached in other locations are safe from thieves and from destruction.

Now check your stockpile again and be honest: how many of these mistake do you make?

Would you stockpile be good enough to help you and your family survive?

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.

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Some Common Combat or Tactical Knife Sharpening Myths or Misnomers

by John Brown

I know a lot of you out there in internet reader-land have heard this but here I go: How many times have you been in a military knife shop or on a camping trip or some other activity with a bunch of dudes carrying knives? The subject gets on best tactical knife cuz guys/gals like to talk about fighting knives and then all of a sudden you hear some kind of knife myth uttered from the mouth of babes? Someone spit out an old wives tale about tactical knives.

Here is an example: “If you give someone a self-defense knife for a gift it is bad luck because you have just cut the...

Read the whole entry... »

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Should We Fear This Latest Rant?

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, the political left has been in a collective tizzy fit. Howls of outrage have resonated across the land, as each self-proclaimed activist has tried to outdo the next in the fury and outlandishness of their rhetoric.

Many of the demonstrations we are seeing the media focus on, like the NFL taking a knee and “civil rights” groups calling for the tearing down of statues, are nothing more than an expression of this collective outrage.

The consensus of the left seems to be that if they can’t beat us in the polls, they’ll beat us on the streets. They are living in a circular argument, where they tell themselves they are the majority and then are publicly outraged, garnering the attention of the media.

That attention proves to them that they are the majority, based on the faulty logic that there aren’t similar stories about those of us on the right. You’ll never see normal conservatives tearing down a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. That’s just not the way we work. But even if we would, you wouldn’t find the media reporting it in the same way.

Since the media is about the most liberal part of society, when they report on what leftists do, they give it a positive slant. They’ll either present it in a positive light, or they’ll ignore it altogether.

Yet in the midst of ignoring truly dangerous actions on those on the left, the media has no qualms about slandering anyone on the right, even if they have to make up a false story to do so. Nor do they have an problem tarring us all with the same brush, calling anyone who isn’t on the left by every name in the book.

In a very real way, the mainstream media is fueling the fires of hatred in this country. They’re also fueling the fear of those on the left. Rather than leaving fear-mongering to those who are on the fringes, fear-mongering has become mainstream. It is being used to manipulate the masses and create unrest.

Read or watch anything that is produced specifically for those on the left and you’ll find that fear-mongering going on. It is a tool they use very effectively, for the purpose of rallying the masses behind their banner. Keep the people afraid of what those nasty, hateful conservatives might do, and you can keep them in your pocket and voting for Democrats no matter what.

When Fear Becomes Dangerous

But this fear may manifest into something much uglier than the demonstrations and civil unrest we’ve seen to date. Ever since Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016, the left has been arming themselves. While this still isn’t a widespread phenomenon, it is becoming much more common.

I have nothing against any law-abiding citizen of this country exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, regardless of their political beliefs. After the Pulse massacre earlier in 2017, some conservative gun groups even started reaching out to the LGBT community, offering them shooting and self-defense lessons. This was accepted with both gladness and surprise, as the members of that community have been told that conservatives hate them.

But, as you and I know, those of us on the right don’t hate people, even if we disagree with them. Besides, these people obviously need to be able to defend themselves, just like the rest of us do.

Traditionally, guns have been in the hands of conservatives, with liberals crying and pulling out their hair to enact “sensible” gun control laws. Of course, sensible in their minds and sensible in the minds of those of us who own guns are two different things.

This is Why Conventional Preparedness Wisdom is Deadly!

To them, sensible is denying us our Second Amendment rights, in the name of “safety.” To us, it’s denying guns to criminals, which there are already laws on the books to do. All that needs to happen is for the government to start seriously prosecuting those who break those laws. Not enough of that happens, especially for straw purchases.

Leftist Militant Groups Arming Themselves

While there is nothing wrong with those on the political left exercising their Second Amendment rights, any more than any other American citizen, this seems to be extending beyond peaceful law-abiding citizens… not with criminals, but amongst the social justice warriors.

Word is coming out that militant groups, such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter are also arming themselves, as well as giving their members lessons in “self-defense.” But what do they mean by self-defense?

We’ve already seen, on multiple occasions, how violent these groups can be. Images from Ferguson and Baltimore are still all over the internet, as well as a score of other similar “demonstrations” that turned ugly. The violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was started by Antifa, even though there were a number of the white supremacist protesters who were armed.

These people, like others on the left, equate what they consider to be “hate speech” with violence. So they respond to anything they see as hateful with violent acts. The problem is, according to pretty much anyone on the left, all it takes for something to be considered hate speech is for it to be in disagreement with the left’s groupthink. In other words, any conservative opinion is hate speech and should be responded to with violence.

It’s bad enough when these people respond with their fists, rocks and sticks. They’ve put too may people in the hospital already, without using firearms. So what’s going to happen when they decide to ramp it up a bit, and use guns to express their outrage, rather than fists?

Owning and carrying a gun is a grave responsibility. I know men who won’t carry, simply because they don’t trust their own temper. They don’t want to put themselves at risk of acting irrationally with a gun, so they make sure that they can’t. I applaud them for their responsibility.

But what about these groups who have already shown their irresponsibility? What’s going to happen when they are armed and trained? Will they operate with the same restraint? Or will we start to see demonstrations like Ferguson turn even uglier? The risk we face from that is growing by the day.

Yet at the same time, we can’t take those people’s Second Amendment rights away from them, without just cause.

For us to take their guns away from them, simply because we suspect that they will use them inappropriately, is no different than them wanting to take ours away, because they think that we’re going to use them inappropriately. Until someone proves themselves to be a criminal, our laws require that they be presumed to be innocent.

Is a War Breaking Out?

The big risk here isn’t just that militant leftist groups arm themselves, or even that they use those arms in the midst of other violent acts. No, the big risk is that such an act break out into a full-scale battle.

With as many gun owners as there are in the United States and as many of us who are carrying concealed, chances are that any time that these militant groups would start shooting, someone would be there to respond.

This is rightly the job of the police, not you and I. Conservative gun owners and conservative militias must prepare themselves to use restraint in such a situation. That won’t be easy.

Don’t misunderstand me here; I’m not advocating letting them get away with attempted murder. Nor am I suggesting that we put our guns down. I firmly believe in our right to defend ourselves. All I’m suggesting is that we don’t go farther than necessary in defending ourselves and other innocent civilians.

I’m also suggesting that when the police take over, we step back and allow them to do their jobs.

Remember, there is no way for the police to know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are in any violent confrontation. They’re forced to assume that anyone who is shooting is automatically a bad guy, until proven innocent. So if they see you or I shooting, there’s a good chance that they might shoot back at us, in an attempt to do the same thing we’re going; protecting innocent lives.

Situations like this can deteriorate quickly. It’s up to use to make sure that they don’t. Even if the left offers war, we don’t have to accept their offer.

There are enough of us, with enough firearms, that we can easily afford to fight a purely defensive war, forcing them to bring the battle to us.

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.

References: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/10/24/the-nfl-player-protests-broken-down-by-team-and-week/?utm_term=.9642618ba4e6

eastbaytimes.com/2017/04/13/pick-on-someone-your-own-caliber-lgbt-gun-group-promotes-firearms-for-self-defense/

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The Saga of Seed Stockpiles (Continued)

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another contribution from R. Ann Parris to The Prepper Journal. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly receive a $25 cash award, as well as being entered into the Prepper Writing Contest AND have a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards  with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies, then enter today!

Boy oh boy, to have come back for more … you have earned your biscuits and I wish you productive hens and no little red eggs or white butterflies in your gardens.

So, last time we created a pretty big “short” list of factors that combine to determine not only how much seed we need, but also how much land space. You got an example of how something like sustainability goals, or lack thereof, can affect how many seeds you’d want to stock because it changes what you’re planting. We also mentioned developing baselines, to see how things perform in your specific patch o’ dirt.

That “performance” aspect is the biggest variable.

That particular variable is why I don’t present any lists of “plant this many of this” – not even when I’m speaking to regional or local groups.

All I do, is make some guidelines available, and give people a few things to consider with each list – and with “all-in-one” kits of various kinds. I’ll give you the same.

Corn is just one of many staples that comes in huge variety. I’ll need different amounts of seed (and land) to produce equal amounts with different crops.

Seeds for the Future

The amount of seed we need to stockpile for planting changes based on seed size and coverage densities, by variety as well as general crop type.

Then our seed handling – mechanical v. manual planting, pre-soak or sprouting v. direct-sow – further affects how many seeds we set out, and how much land we need to prepare for those seeds.

Mechanical planters increase the risk of damaged seeds. Broadcasting usually has higher planting rates. Precipitation, soil nutrients and soil structure determine if I need extra spacing to avoid stunting, or would need more amendments or irrigation at the conventional densities for the yield I want.

Chickpeas and lentils average 2-4 seeds per pod, while common bean types can average 5-16 seeds per pod. Tomatoes have a finicky process to save seeds. Some crops need 3-7 seeds sown per desired adult plant due to low germination and survival rates.

All those listed factors really do play in together as a system, and the system determines how much seed and land we’d need to meet our goals.

Then there’s which seeds.

I could save just one melon, and plant a fair bit of land the next time, but I’ve just severely “bottle necked” my gene pool, which can lead to serious problems down the road.

Plain soil, NPK additive, and biochar+NPK comparison of crop health & yield with a single variety of corn. Environmental factors matter in crop performance.

 Other People Post Guides

Bless them for it. I don’t plan to.

Something that thrives and does well in the greater CSRA may be a low-yielding hothouse bunny for the DelMarVa. Apples do not ship from Arizona for a reason. Sheep in Seattle are going to be less-needy and higher-yielding than in Shreveport – changing the amounts of plant-based Vitamin D, calcium, and protein we need to produce.

In his foraging books, His Highness the Great Samuel Thayer (I’m a fan) offers a latitude and altitude conversion guide. Because, just blocks or miles or states apart, what grows and when changes by ‘tude.

Age, ability, and acreage also lead to very different suggestions. Our amendments and growing styles factor in.

Some guides are handy, either as general starting points for planting (which we will test) or for “extras” they offer. Still, they must be liberally seasoned with salt.

The canning jar article http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2016/07/21/how-many-canning-jars-do-you-need/ includes a chart that gives yield, seeds/starts per area, and space suggestions. She doesn’t tell you what varieties she’s sticking in those rows specifically, or how long it takes to grow them, so it’s only a starting point.

Pole beans v. bush beans

There’s a whopping yield difference between a pole bean or melon vine that’s 3-6’ and one that’s 8-15’. Ditto for bush beans v. pole beans, favas v. lentils, pintos v. kidneys. Short-season and drought-tolerant regional heirlooms tend to yield lower. Diseases and pests in warm, rainy areas may mitigate the yield advantage of a more productive regional heirloom.

It’s what makes me shake my head when I see numbers sometimes. See, sometimes the planting ranges make sense due to possible variations.

Sometimes, though, it’s stuff like “5-10 broccoli plants per person, 10-40 carrots per person” (http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/how-much-should-you-plant-in-your-garden-to-provide-a-years-worth-of-food), or “10 squash and zucchini per person, 75 sweet potatoes per person” (Back to Basics via https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/how-much-should-i-plant/).

Those are huge ranges.

Even so, the high-end is still not enough broccoli or carrots for each of my family. Flip side, 10 squash and 75 sweets per person could be overwhelming harvests – respectively, 50-200# and 150-250# each, on moderate years (Georgia Jet to Beauregard’s).

Then, there’s TWO (2) autumn-winter squash recommended in the first link.

Ever grow Hubbard, butternut, kuri, and Jester squash? Two plants could yield anywhere from 6 to 24 squash – 5-90 pounds – depending on variety, pests and care. That’s an enormous and ridiculous range to give somebody without more specifics.

That’s why I don’t give blanket guidelines. Because, it depends.

It depends on the year (luck), skill, and method as much as the variety and location.

Try to find the seeding rates for the style you want to duplicate in your area. For some generic starting points, there’s a list here among other goodies https://smallfarmersjournal.com/weights-measures/. Mississippi State Extension does a nice job of thumb-nailing some of the relationships between style and seeding rate due to plant density and survival, https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/p2401.pdf. Penn State’s extension service provided a nice gauge of when to increase seeding rates, https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/5081-determining-seeding-rates-for-small-grains.

Remember, your extension office’s suggestions will be better for your garden and plots.

Even so, I actually like the VA Tech veggie guide https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-331/426-331_pdf.pdf. It gives seed-starts per row along with yield estimates and suggested amounts per person, and it’s nice enough to break plants down by a lot of types.  Plus, it goes hand in hand with the planting date guide that’s page one of the pub – just switch your location’s frost dates around for the 0-date given the chart.

And speaking of charts…

A compilation of expected shelf life of seeds, in dry, generally constant 55-75 degree F storage – nothing fancy, paper bags & packets in a basket on a shelf. The listed years are the time you have to use seed before the germination rate starts dropping. – – – I no longer remember where I found this chart; it’s not my original work. If you know who made or posted it originally, let us know so it can be properly credited.

Seed Vaults & Kits

“Over 25K seeds!” “10-year shelf life!” “Plants an acre!” “Feeds a family of four!”

This is actually another one that really rates its own article. I’m not after naming names here, but please be aware of a few things when you consider these.

For starters, that family of four had better be rabbits if it’s is all they’re eating. Most “survival” seed vaults and kits are lacking in the same ways:

– Overall potential calories, proteins, & fats

– Regionally- or climate-specific varieties, to include short-season staples

Caveat: There are admittedly “survival garden” kits out there specifically for proteins, grains, oil seeds, and staples in general. There’s also companies that do make regional kits.

 

Three sets of black beans. Differences? One’s Zorro, specifically bred for uniform maturity in Michigan’s semi-rainy but shorter summers, regionally high-yielding and highly disease resistant. One’s the original Black Magic, developed in the U.K. – a bigger bean, lousy “green bean”, mediocre productivity anywhere humid & hot, great for a Seattle-type climate but too long-growing for Montana & North Dakota. And one? Well, I have no idea who produced it, how long it takes, where it yields best, or its spacing-nutrient-disease-pesticide needs. It’s whatever is in somebody’s survival seed vault.

– Inflated seed numbers (how much basil & borage are you really going to plant?)

– Further inflate numbers with perennials that won’t bear much in the first year

– Use a weight measure for seeds (which, divided out, can end up being 12-30 bean, melon & corn seeds … Pssst. That’s not gonna feed you all that much.)

– Declare the storage life using the longest-lived individual or upper 25-50% of the seeds in the best of storage conditions

Amazon question-answer – From the seller: “Some of the seeds won’t store for long term no matter how they’re stored…” (Full disclosure: When this one is $75-90 instead of $180-230, it’s actually a good deal as a starter or booster kit, and you can download the guide before buying to see what applies to your zone, although there’s 300 borage and similar inflation’s to be aware of … and corn isn’t as delicate as the supplier thinks.)

Now, referencing that chart above (which I’ll confirm – except spinach; spinach seeds never last long for me), a bedroom closet keeps my seeds for 3-5 years. I have a daily quart-plus of green beans and quarter-cup of dry beans coming off 30 abused 6-year-old black bean seeds that became 20 neglected and abused 10-15’ vines.

Then there’s this kit/vault, good for 5-15 years, maybe some seeds will last 20 in ideal storage – usually called 50-65 degrees or a freezer. Who knows how well those seeds are going to yield, or for how long.

So … why am I spending money on that packaging?

Without having a true Svalbard (which just flooded, by the way), the difference between storage in a Mylar bag and a tin can, versus Ziploc and an empty coffee tub is … pretty slim. Really.

Just make sure you’re paying for quality seeds applicable to your zone from a trusted grower, not fear-sales advertising or packaging that won’t appreciably extend the life of your chives.

Also, if a product is claiming 10-20 years, make sure they’ve been around long enough to have done independent testing on that claim – and get the by-variety shelf-life results.

Those results are somewhere. If they hedge and won’t deliver them … this calls for an extra grain of salt.

How Much Seed To Stockpile

Man, I really wish there was an easy golden bullet for this one, I do. But there’s not.

On one hand, I’m tempted to say “the world is never enough” but it makes no sense for people to stock things they don’t know how to use. Seeds fall into that category. Other hand, even if you don’t have space or knowledge, this isn’t the parts to a computer or a pony here – there’s a chance you can find help or extra space. But that leaves all the other factors up in the air.

What it comes down to is the only one-size-fits-all garden rule, the one constant we repeat, early and often:

Get Started. Now.

The more you do now, the more of the learning curve you’ve already passed.

“Foods That Will Win The War” calorie guide, 1918 – This was long before we got fat, and is not based on Cold Dark Northland winter needs.

Figure out the calories you need, and then the calorie yields of foods you can produce in your area. Then figure out what those foods need in turn.

Here’s one rule of thumb I will give you: Grains tend to average about 1500-1600 calories per pound (dry). Beans tend to be more variable, but 1500/dry pound is close.

A half-pound of dry beans and a half-pound of dry grains is a whopping pile once cooked, but it can provide a baseline for calculations. You multiply by days to see how many pounds you need –  harvest to harvest plus next year’s seeding – and divide by your average yield using your baseline seeding rates.

That’s how much seed you need – ideally with some leeway for bad years.

You can start with published yield averages or suggested plants per person, but start now. See if your yields would multiple outward and match those averages. Adjust accordingly.

Anything you add into your garden or crops, you’re going to have to stock for the duration you expect to be growing, or learn to produce yourself for sustainability. So that will require additional space and labor, one way or another.

I wish there was an easier answer, but unfortunately, in this case … it still depends.

 

 

The post The Saga of Seed Stockpiles (Continued) appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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