12) Guidance...
I would like to start by giving an appreciative 'shout-out'/mention to Jesse of 'The Real BPEarthWatch' YouTube channel (as well as www.bpearthwatch.com) for providing me with a 'heads-up' with regards to books of possible guidance - for it was his particular input/advice that caused/led me to consider such things...
So, what if a possible 'lights-out' situation of a possible indeterminable length of time caused us to have to fend for ourselves??? - books of possible guidance could come in very handy, no???...
...And so, with such considerations in mind i have decided, in this hopefully final/concluding offering within the 'Sum Preppin Tips' area of this 'ere website, to offer a simple list of some such books that i personally decided to purchase - however, please note that i've not read any of them yet, so can only offer such titles for possible consideration, rather than critique any of their contents...
1) The New Complete Book Of Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour - this is a fairly large and heavy book of colour visuals as well as text, of around 400 pages of seemingly fairly comprehensive(???) guidance/advice...
2) Back To Basics (A Complete Guide To Traditional Skills) by Abigail R Gehring - a fairly large but not quite so heavy book of colour visuals as well as text, of slightly over 500 pages of seemingly fairly comprehensive(???) guidance/advice...
3) The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody - a reasonably large book of colour visuals as well as text of 250+ pages of seemingly rather interesting and comprehensive(???) guidance/advice...
4) Prepper's Long-Term Survival Guide by Jim Cobb - around 180 pages of what may constitute fairly well considered, and perhaps easier to carry, textual information...
5) Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury - a fairly light book of almost 250 pages of text and visuals of a seemingly comprehensive(???) nature...
6) Bushcraft First Aid by Dave Canterbury & Jason A. Hunt, Phd - a seemingly rather interesting book of 240+ pages of text and visuals regarding 'a field guide to wilderness emergency care'...
7) Living Off The Grid by Dave Black - a seemingly rather interestingly instructive book of 260+ pages of text and visuals...
8) The Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman - a smallish book of around 600 pages of text and visuals, which apparently contains 'treatments for over 200 conditions and diseases - from arthritis to colds and flu to cancer, and more!'...
And with that, may i bid you all a fairly robust adieu from this 'Sum Preppin Tips' area - but hopefully ('pranksters' efforts aside), not from the other areas of this 'ere website of ours...
11) Other 'Stuff'...
Although i have mentioned quite a lot of 'stuff' already, there will always be many other things that any dedicated 'prepper', in particular, could consider as being of possible importance should a 'lights-out' situation ever arise any time in the foreseeable future...
...And with that thought in mind, i have decided to provide a simple list of such 'stuff' that has come to mind to me personally, simply in order to perhaps provide some additional, food for thought / ideas, that some others may not have yet considered to be of possible future use/importance...
1) A spade, fork, rake, hoe etc...
2) Whistles - for each member of a group to have in order to raise an alarm or call for assistance for example...
3) A grappling hook, together with some long, strong rope - for possible rescuing and/or traversing purposes...
4) An axe for chopping wood and/or removing obstacles for example...
5) Binoculars, face/gas masks, ear defenders, both clear and very dark welding type goggles etc...
6) Tools such as spanners, socket sets, screwdrivers, allen keys etc...
7) A blade/edge sharpening whetstone of multiple 'grit' gradations...
8) Camping equipment such as rucksack, tent, sleeping bag etc etc etc...
9) Some defensive 'stuff' - in case of confrontation by hungry, savage and potentially troublesome 'beasts' such as escaped zoo animals and/or packs of vicious dogs for example...
And that constitutes my contribution to such matters folks - once again it is by no means meant to be a comprehensive all inclusive list, but simply some ideas that i have decided to put into the communal 'prepper pot', so to speak...
10) Clothing...
The type of clothing we have available should always be an important consideration when/if choosing to prepare for possible periods of difficulty, one would most readily suggest - especially so, if we were confronted with a 'lights-out' situation of an indeterminable length of time, no???...
So, with this possibility in mind i am simply going to offer a list of possible items of bodily clothing for possible consideration for the reader of these words - it is not in any way meant to be an all-inclusive list, but simply a list of items that come most readily to mind...
1) Gloves - thick, thin and waterproof ones...
2) Socks - of different thickness in order that they may be worn layered...
3) Thermal full-length (upper and lower body) underwear - preferably more than one pair of each...
4) Warm, waterproof, hooded coats...
5) Waterproof over-trousers - and possibly gaiters also...
6) Warm head/neck/face-wear items - for more extreme levels of cold weather...
7) General heat-retaining, multi-layered clothing items...
8) Boots - preferably durable/sturdy good quality ones...
9) Wellington boots - for muddy/waterlogged conditions especially...
And that's it - apart from mentioning that it may be worth bearing in mind that if/should such a possible 'lights-out' situation/scenario ever unfold, it is perhaps possible that whatever caused it could turn warm climatic conditions into cold(er) ones, possibly rather quickly perhaps???...
9) Food...
I've already mentioned food in the 'A Fore Word' part of the 'SNIPPETS' area of this 'ere website, as well as having mentioned both food production and then, later, food storage on a few occasions since mid 2016 (if my memory serves me correctly) within comments i have made within The Guardian online newspaper - however, for purposes of completeness, it is probably worth mentioning, in greater detail, again within this 'Sum Preppin Tips' area...
Yes, i regard the storing of a certain amount of food within the home as being an essential part of a 'prepper's' action plan...
However, let me be very clear in saying that i don't endorse so-called 'panic buying' - i personally regard such actions as being socially irresponsible/thoughtless (especially so when linked to gross profiteering activities)...
...Much better to perhaps go to the shops a little more often than we usually do, and to simply buy a little more than we would normally do on each occasion - that way we build up (and later maintain) our stocks gradually over time...
...This way we each can act as a micro/nano-warehouse, if you will - and thus when the actual/official food warehouses are full and the shops well-stocked, the country as a whole is storing more food for us all to consume, when and if such increased food-stocks should ever become necessary...
So, how much food should we actually store??? - well a lot depends on how much space we actually have or can, put aside / allot, to such storing of food...
...Personally, i would ideally suggest storing up to a couple of months worth of food-stocks or more - but obviously such a decision is for each of us to make individually, i would very much suggest...
And what types of foods should we consider stocking up on??? - well personally i would very much suggest stocking up on canned and dried foods (as well as foods for our pets, if we have them) that we eat regularly, in order that we may cycle such food-stocks on what is commonly known as a FIFO (first in first out) basis...
...This means that we always try to consume the foods that have the shortest 'best before' dates first - thus ensuring that the food-stocks we have available always have the longest possible 'best before' dates...
I, personally, would further suggest stocking up on pre-cooked canned foods that are immediately edible, unheated, straight from the can - as well as stocking up on a healthy assortment of cans of ready-to-eat vegetables, soups(???) and fruit...
...And on dried cereals (preferably containing an assortment of nuts and fruits) that can simply be soaked in any available water (for a couple or more hours ideally) before eating/consuming...
And what would i suggest not stocking up on??? - perishables that would normally be stored in fridges and freezers; for clearly, in a 'lights-out' situation, the longer such devices were without electricity the sooner their contents would become unfit for human consumption...
8) EMP 'Proofing'...
An electromagnetic pulse (emp) can seemingly be produced/generated in a number of different ways - for example...
a) by an Earth directed solar flare/discharge...
b) by a man-made device that is used/designed for such a purpose...
c) by an incoming space rock (January 18, 2000 in Canada's Yukon Territory???)- although this is apparently not always the case...
d) and also, possibly by lightening strikes apparently...
Such events tend to damage unprotected electrical/electronic components - potentially, at least, rendering them and any data stored on them completely useless...
So what if we found ourselves in a 'lights-out' situation, only to later discover that it had been caused by an emp event of some description??? - and what if we had not had the foresight to attempt to emp-proof our electronically stored data (such as our music and movies/films for example), and similarly protect at least some of our electrical/electronic equipment/devices from such an emp strike???...
Twood be somewhat depressing/frustrating/infuriating no??? - especially so, if we could no longer effectively generate any of our own electrical energy also no???...
So how would we go about trying to emp-proof the items that we would wish/want to be emp-proofed???...
Well, as a general guide it would seem that using strong, good quality rolls of tinfoil could help to form an effective barrier against any emp strike...
...So maybe we should consider a multi-layered approach by firstly containing/wrapping/enclosing such items that we would wish to try to individually(???) protect in cardboard (for example) and then add/tape/seal a layer of tinfoil around that - and then repeat such a procedure until we have 3 - 5(???) cardboard separating layers of tinfoil around each(???) of our chosen/selected items??? (and then add an outer foil-protecting layer of cardboard on which we could write a reminder/description of what it is we have just attempted to 'emp proof' also???)...
Other than that, we could/should(???) perhaps seek advice from YouTube and/or other areas of the internet simply by 'googling' 'emp proofing' for example??? - and we could perhaps investigate/consider the possible merits(???) of ready-made 'faraday bags' as a possible alternative/augmentative way of attempting to emp-proof any smaller items that we may wish to potentially so protect also???...
7) Solar Energy...
In a 'lights-out' situation of a possibly unknown duration, having a solar panel set-up available/handy could be a good option (given that enough natural light was available of course)...
It could potentially allow us to recharge the batteries in our electronic devices, so that we could continue to listen to our music and/or watch our movies/films after their batteries have run out of stored energy for example...
In order to accomplish such tasks we would need the minimum of a suitable solar panel, together with a solar panel charge controller with at least one usb outlet...
However, such a very basic set-up would only allow us the opportunity to potentially accomplish such tasks whilst there was enough natural light available for us to do so...
So maybe we should think about extending such a set-up so that we may have some stored electricity available during the periods of time when there is insufficient natural light available - in order that we may use/recharge such devices whenever we wish to do so (potentially at least), and maybe in order to potentially use some other household devices that we may otherwise plug into the normal household electrical sockets also...
In order to do so we will need to extend such a solar panel set-up by adding at least one 12v battery and an inverter - together with some suitable cables to connect/link the battery/batteries to the solar panel charge controller...
Personally i would suggest using a lithium-ion battery, as these are relatively small and light and can apparently be used in any physical orientation - and i would also suggest using a suitable pure sine wave inverter in order that a greater variety of devices could potentially be used with such an extended solar energy set-up also...
A suitable ammeter could also be useful within such a set-up, as such a device could be used in order to ascertain how much energy is present within such batteries in real-time...
As with all such set-ups that comprise a number of separate components, it is obviously important that each compliments the other in terms of individual specifications, so please make sure that you carefully consider such matters so that all components do indeed compliment one-another in order to achieve a practically balanced working set-up/system...
Also, you may wish to consider purchasing more than one of each (preferably high quality) component within such a set-up (especially, i would suggest, with regard to the solar panel charge controller), or indeed having two completely separate set-ups/systems (one as back-up / 2nd independent set-up/system, and both with a second solar panel charge controller) - if any individual component should fail then this could render such a set-up/system completely useless or frustratingly compromised after all...
The above constitutes some fairly basic food for thought for your possible consideration, from an admittedly fairly rank amateur (in the practical sense at least) regarding such matters...
...So if you are seriously considering investing in a solar energy set-up/system please take time to do your own research (if only for the specifics), rather than blindly taking the advice offered by myself...
6) Music & Movies...
In the possible event of a 'lights out' situation of a possibly unknown duration of time it could be important to have nourishment for the mind as well as the body - an unoccupied mind could easily become a very worrisome mind under such conditions of possible uncertainty after all...
Although most of us have at least some of our music and/or movies stored on physical media such as individual cd's or dvd's for example, would it not also be a good idea to have back-ups of such music/movie collections stored on data cards/sticks and/or external hard drives also??? - simply in order that we don't have all our eggs in one solitary basket, so to speak...
Personally, i have my music backed-up twice on two separate 32GB SD cards - and i intend to back-up my movie/film dvd's onto a 2TB external HDD (and maybe later i will choose to copy such backed-up movies/films onto a second 2TB external HDD for added reassurance)...
5) First Aid...
If we found ourselves in a 'lights out' situation, whereby there was no readily/immediately available electricity, our need for emergency services, in general, would probably increase, would they not???...
So what would we do if we, or a family member, or indeed a close-by/nearby neighbour, needed fairly speedy medical attention??? - for example, for things such as...
a) a fracture or break of a bodily bone - or indeed a dislocation...
b) a burn to the body...
c) a cut or deep gash to the skin...
Would we readily know how to treat such bodily ailments/injuries???...
Would we have the implements/tools and materials readily at hand in order to treat such afflictions???...
Could a pre-purchased emergency medical kit or two come in very handy indeed??? - i personally would say, 'most certainly it could'...
And could a 'how to' pre-purchased practical medical type book (preferably pre-read and at least partially 'digested') come in extremely handy also??? - once again, in situations where trained medical expertise was in short (possibly at best) supply/availability, then i personally would say, 'most definitely it could'...
4) Fire...
I am one of those people who firmly believes that we should all have/practise a duty of care to ourselves and our families with regard to the possible outbreak of fire, within our living spaces especially - (and i am presupposing/assuming that each of us already have fire/smoke (preferably battery operated ones???) alarms/detectors installed within our living spaces btw)...
As well as also having/practising a duty of care to our closest neighbours of course - especially for those who live in flats/apartments or semi-detached properties, one would most readily suggest...
Multiple fire extinguishers, each one placed (and readily/easily available) within various rooms within our dwelling spaces/places should be a serious consideration for all/each of us, should it not??? - fire blankets should also be a serious consideration, one would most readily suggest...
And such items are not particularly expensive either - and once we have purchased them, we can more readily relax, knowing that such possibly very handy items will stay in good working order, possibly for many years to come, with little or no maintenance...
Domestic/household fires can break out very easily and quickly, and for/in many different possible/potential reasons/situations - more so in a possible 'lights out' situation, where candles may be burning, no???...
And within such a possible 'lights out' situation of no readily available electricity, it is possible that we may not be able to summons the assistance of emergency services, such as the fire brigade, as quickly (possibly in the short-term at least) as we would normally be able to do, no???...
So which anti-fire device should we use in which type of fire situation??? - well in some fire situations it is said that a fire blanket should possibly be used, rather than a fire extinguisher...
So it would be very prudent for us to each find out such information well in advance, as a matter of priority, would it not??? - maybe the internet could very much prove to be our friend in such a respect, if not the fire department itself???...
Some people may think that a fire could be, doused / put out, with the use of possibly readily available water - but what if such readily available water became/was a somewhat precious commodity???...
Oh, and lest we should forget - what if we awaken from our slumbers to find that a fire within our home has already taken hold???...
A pre-prepared possible escape route would/could come in rather handy, could it not???...
Perhaps some long/lengthy, occasionally/periodically knotted, strong/thick electrical cabling(???), attached very firmly/securely to the underside(???) of our bed, could provide the means for a rather speedy exit from a/our bedroom window, under such possibly dire circumstances, could it not??? - with some readily available to wear, and suitable gloves, situated/kept on the interior window-sill/shelf, so as not to possibly burn/chafe/damage our hands during such a possibly very hasty window exit, also???...
3) Water...
In a 'lights out' situation of no readily available electricity supply, no / very little(???) cold water would be running through our taps, would they(???) - so how would we keep our bodies hydrated???...
Well i guess we may have a hot water tank full of water to keep us going for a while (after it has suitably cooled of course) - but what about after that particular perhaps readily available water store has been depleted???...
Well i guess we may have some alcoholic beverages readily available within our living spaces - but although such beverages may keep us hydrated in the short-term, they, later, have a dehydrating effect do they not??? (with greater percentages of alcoholic concentrations/proportions, potentially at least, causing greater levels/effects of dehydration, no???)...
An increasingly dehydrated body doesn't keep operating for very long does it??? (days perhaps - rather than weeks???) - and an increasingly dehydrated body becomes an increasingly toxified one, does it not???...
So, clearly, in a 'lights out' situation, beyond a certain point, we would need to have an alternative ready supply of water, no??? - together with a means of readily collecting, (from streams, rivers, puddles, ponds, lakes, rainfall, etc ???) perhaps more readily available(???), replenishing supplies/sources of water, no???...
But before we reach such a possible situation we could have readily available supplies of bottled water stored within our living spaces, no???..
And although glass storage vessels are deemed(???) to be the healthiest way of storage, they could also be the most fragile, no???...
It is for this reason that i, personally, have chosen to keep a ready store of water within plastic bottles/containers (mainly stored, rather conveniently perhaps, within a non-used dishwasher) - plastic bottles/containers that we (rather fortuitously perhaps???) seem to be forced to take home with us after our perhaps fairly regular visits tooth shops/supermarkets...
We are told that water storage within such plastic bottles/containers is not a particularly healthy way of storing water - within the medium to long term, right???...
Tis for this reason that i, personally, choose to refresh/renew my own supplies/stores of water within such plastic bottles/containers on a once every couple of months basis (you may wish to consult internet-based info regarding such things as this???) - simply choosing to pour the 'old' water out, and replacing it with 'new' fresher water (or indeed, for example, using such 'old' water to repeatedly flush the toilet over a few days, so as not to completely waste it, perhaps???)...
Once such readily/immediately available water stores have been used, we may then have the need to use buckets and trays for example (plastic or otherwise), to gather rainfall, for example, may we not??? (or indeed we may wish to create our own personal 'emergency well' - and if so choosing, you may wish to check-out possible suppliers of such equipment (as well as 'how to' information) onth internet???) - as well as perhaps collecting some replenishing water from other above mentioned possibilities, if locally available of course...
But then we have/need to consider the quality of such possible alternative water sources/supplies, do we not??? - this, one would most readily suggest, is when possible water purification devices/methods would/could become very important indeed perhaps (once again, internet-based information/sources could be very helpful/informative in such a respect - in terms of what devices/methods are available for purchase (not forgetting to see how many litres of water such devices will purify before becoming unsuitable for further safe/effective use of course) /use for such purposes, no???)...
2) Lighting...
What would you do if the 'lights' went suddenly and unexpectedly out??? - where we perhaps found ourselves in a situation where we had no electricity supply for an indeterminable/unknown amount of time perhaps...
Well i guess, in the short term, battery based/powered torches/lanterns could come in handy - but what if all our batteries had used all their stored power/energy before our electricity supply was restored (if indeed it ever was - in the short to medium term at least)???...
Well i guess wind up torches/lanterns could come in handy - especially if we felt the need to move from room to room, or visit the bathroom, or indeed venture outside for some reason or another...
But what if we became tired of fairly frequently having to keep winding up such devices??? - or indeed such devices failed to further function???...
This would/could be the point when candles could come in rather handy, no???...
Most of the larger candles seem to have a label on them which tells us how long they are likely to last for, on a continual burning basis (so we could calculate how much (in terms of hours) candle power we potentially have available) - the ones that i have available have a continuous burn time of between 25 to 85 hours each (although under such a 'lights out' situation of an indeterminate/unknown amount of time, one would most readily suggest that such candles would be used in a rather discriminate/frugal way, rather than be left to burn for the duration of their life-span)...
And then there are those very small, usually multi-pack, candles that are contained within tin(???) and last for around 3-4 hours duration...
The rather obvious possible drawback with candles, of course, is that they could more readily cause a fire to start within our home - especially so if left untended perhaps...
So it would be a good idea to place such lit candles within some sort of transparent container...
For the very small ones a saved (and safely pre-stored - so as not to break before possible use???) coffee/storage jar could come in very handy - and could be simply placed in a location of your own choosing, perhaps with a mat/coaster placed directly underneath in order to protect the placing surface from heat build-up and possible staining / superficial damage...
And the larger ones could be placed within a vase or cylindrical container - once again, with a surface protecting separator directly underneath it perhaps...
To be lit with a good quality refillable gas candle lighter perhaps??? (maybe have more than one of them available???) - and a readily available handy string-type (home-made???) carrier for possible emergency(???) candle-container mobility perhaps???...
1) Books...
Books???, i hear you say/question - in what way could they possibly be of value within a survival situation/context???...
Well in three rather readily pre-thunk ways actually...
a) For reading...
b) For burning...
c) For body insulating...
I have amassed around 180(???) predominantly second-hand books to date - a quantity that i have built up gradually, mainly from a local book store charity table that i often pass by as/after i have done some shopping, for food mainly (something else that i have gradually amassed, incidently)...
I have yet to preferably double-seal such books in polythene (a readily available item that/which we seem forced to take home with us as part of our shopping bundles, perhaps???), either singly, or within smallish(???) bundles perhaps - after which can then be placed within numerous carrier bags in order to safetly and more readily move them en masse from a possible lower place of storage to a higher one, should the need ever arise(???) perhaps...
What if we found/find ourselves in a situation whereby we were 'holed up' within our homes, possibly waiting within possibly extreme cold weather conditions, for the skies to clear or the local prevailing climatic conditions to improve, i ask myself???...
Within a possibly cold 'lights out' situation, would it not be a good idea to put our (and possibly others) minds elsewhere, rather than sitting/laying idly within a worried/worrisome 'what if' type of mind-set??? - and would it not be a good way of stopping/preventing possibly other such worried minds from rather unwelcomely/stressfully/tiresomely (further???) 'pecking our heads', possibly over and over again, within such possible circumstances of perhaps/possibly several months duration, i further ask myself???...
And what about the possibly severe cold experienced within such a possible scenario??? - already read books, especially (one would most readily suggest), could be burned like logs (but please remember to remove any plastic wrappings/coatings first - the last thing you'd want/wish to do is to toxify your living space afterall), within some sort of previously prepared, safe and suitable, metal container (together with an over-head smoke removing canopy, linked via some flexible piping(???) for example, to a higher (heat naturally rises), already existing wall ventilation hole(???) (once again, a YouTube video may be of further(???) assistance in such a respect)) could they not???
And/or could not such books paper pages be used to help further insulate our body from unnecessary/unwelcomed (further) heat loss, also??? - maybe some YouTube videos could help/assist us in such a manner???...
Just some basic food for your possible thought, should such an unwelcoming scenario ever unfold folks - for those who may be, interested in / concerned about, such 'preppin' activities of course ...