by Tunnel Rabbit, Survival Blog:
Introductory Note: This brief article is a response to The Patriot Nurse’s latest video: How To Prepare For Civil War which was recently linked in SurvivalBlog
Water
Secure your fresh water source now. It is the most important thing you can do after getting right with God. If you only have access to a deep well, get a solar-powered water pump from such a place as Backwoods Solar or install an inexpensive Shurflo model number 9325 yourself. The Dankoff Slow Pump is ideal for surface water sources and can be set up to be portable. All of these water pumps do not need a storage battery to operate and can be operated directly from a 100-watt solar panel. Berkey filters are great, but if you have a low-pressure water source that can be provided by an elevated tank like we had on our ranch, or an electric or hand pump then you can get better filtration and more filtered water for the same money in Berkey filters using this filter cartridge.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Food Storage
Do not waste money on expensive prepared storage food. Buy inexpensive dry staple goods so that you can quickly stock up in quantity. The same money that purchases dry beans will buy 5 times more beans than canned beans and it requires only 20% of the storage space. Corn and rice go well with beans and are inexpensive. Bulk up on the inexpensive type of foods first, then diversify to attempt to avoid appetite fatigue and increase the nutritional content. This is why even a small garden can greatly be of benefit. Eventually, a large garden will be needed so do not forget to have plenty of garden seed. Buy the best quality seed from specialty sources.
As a child, I was making bread on a weekly schedule for a family of seven. It is easy to learn how to cook from scratch. Yes, you will not be eating what you are accustomed to, but you will be eating five times longer because you stocked up with inexpensive dry staple goods. Wheat flour can be stored up to one year without losing its nutritional content and it will store at least three times longer in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. Instead of using yeast, make quick breads such as biscuits and pancakes using inexpensive baking soda that requires no special long-term storage packaging and lasts indefinitely in its original package. Quick breads are much easier to prepare than raised breads, and there are a huge variety of quick breads that can be made.
Fats and oils are usually an overlooked and underappreciated item. Lard is amazingly self-stable and half the price of olive oil. Lard can be stored in cardboard boxes in wax paper at room temperature for more than 1 year. To extend the shelf life, I heat it and hot pack it in jars using metal lids that easily seal out oxygen by creating a vacuum. The same thing can be done for olive oil, hot or cold packed in a jar, or simply poured into glass bottles or other glass containers. I do not freeze anything, but instead “jar it up”. It is necessary if you are completely off the grid or if the power goes out. None of your food storage will be lost. Canned goods do not require refrigeration, but will preserve the food therein better if stored in cooler temperatures. Most canned foods in metal and glass jars will be edible for many years after their marked expiration dates. I’ve eaten many canned foods that were 10 years old.
Radio Communications
Buy two-way radios such as FRS/GMRS and a CB so that you can coordinate a defense. I can work most of the RF spectrum. These radios will be a substitute for telephone system and they are dirt cheap to buy and easy to operate. You do not want complicated radios even if you are a radio nut like myself. Among other proclivities, I am a self-proclaimed ‘bullet head’ and a ‘radio nerd’.
Very low power, directional antennas and terrain masking, horizontally polarized antennas, brevity codes with or without FLdigi for burst transmissions and other techniques, are all you need to avoid being DFed. Get the book The Guerilla’s Guide to the Baofeng Radio. If you have an amateur radio operator in the family, buy them this book. They typically do not know these things, but because of their involvement with radio, they have demonstrated their interest in radio and can learn how.
With the knowledge in this book, we can learn how to get the most out of our equipment, be it the latest and greatest, or the most elementary. Using ubiquitous FRS radios set on their lowest power setting and 2 scanners or FRS radios that have been altered and attached to a field expedient external antenna, I can make a somewhat secure radio communications network over a distance of 1 to 8 miles depending on terrain that would be more secure than using sophisticated radios. I can do this with two or more 6-inch sections of any smaller gauge metal wire that might be found in the field. It does not have to be complicated or expensive, but you gotta understand the principles involved that make this sort of thing possible.
