Freeze Dried Food

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Okay, I know the first the reaction is “yuck”! But I’ve eaten a lot of freeze dried food in my days backpacking and it’s really not that bad. I’ve come to look forward to a nice hot meal after a long day of hiking and Mountain House’s entrees are just the thing. In a survival situation freeze dried food could be just the thing too.

Let’s explore what the choices are. I use Mountain House because I like it. It’s easy to prepare even if you don’t have a plates to eat off of, just use the bag it comes in and have a spork (spoon or fork) handy. All you do is add hot water, seal the bag shut, wait 15 or 20 minutes and then enjoy. Here’s a tip that I use. Instead of using the bag it comes in to prepare it. Boil your water in a small pot, shut off the heat, then add the entree to the water, stir, cover and let sit for 15 minutes. If it’s still not done after that, cook on very low heat for about 5 more minutes. Add some more water if necessary. Sometimes the meat in entree doesn’t want to soften up completely in the first 15 minutes. I like the spaghetti with meat sauce, beef stroganoff with noodles and chili mac for entrees. They even have some pretty good desserts, but I won’t get into those now.

Here’s the link to my 2012 Essentials which includes freeze dried food.

Portable Generators

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This is a good video on basic portable generator selection and has a number of good tips. In addition to what is mentioned, I’d also see how long the generators run on a tank of gas. The longer the better. Get a four stoke engine too. Two-stroke engines require that oil be mixed with the gasoline to lubricate internal parts. Four-stroke engines use a fuel-air mixture and it makes them easier. You don’t want to have another item (2 stroke oil) on your list of necessities. Just have some extra gas around.

This video also talks a little about how it should be connected to the home. If your getting it connected to your electrical box there are some precautions that need to be taken and this should be done by a qualified electrician. Never back feed an outlet into your home. I hope you get something out of this video.

 

Standby Generator

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This video comes from Tim Carter on Youtube.com. If you have the resources (money mainly) this is a great idea. I think a generator like his probably runs $4,000 or more and then there’s the expense of hooking it up, but once it’s in, it’s ready to go. These are great for people who need them or just want the peace of mind.

Water Storage

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This video comes to you from youtube.com by It’s pretty straight forward and not too difficult to do. I saw a lot of videos that I thought were overkill, like storing water in 55 gallon drums. I don’t have room for that and I don’t think it’s necessary, at least not in my case.

Video: Poor Mans Water Storage

In this video he uses some old juice containers to store water. It makes good sense and you don’t have to go out and buy containers. However, I have a little extra money and I’m going to be purchasing a few 5 gallon water containers. I already have one. I’m going to get just a few more. Like I said I have river close by and can retrieve water from there if I run out. It would just need to be filtered or boiled to consume. I have a good water filter I use for backpacking and I know boiling water for 10 minutes will also kill any germs. You can also buy purification tablets. I think having smaller containers like the 5 gallon size is easy enough to carry around and easy to pour from. They sell them at Wal-Mart. So enjoy the video. Post your own if you like. Thanks!

 

Food Storage

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This video comes from thenewsurvivalist on youtube.com.

Video: Survival Planning on a Budget

I’ve been looking for a good video on food storage and I reviewed a number on youtube. The one listed above is basically what I was looking for. I know people (Mormons) who say you should store enough food for your family for one year, but I really think that’s going to far. I’d say if you have enough for one month for your family, that should suffice. My guess would be if you had that much food for your family in a disaster, you would probably end up helping a lot of other people who didn’t manage to plan as well as you. Let’s not forget this is planning for the worst case scenario to a reasonable extent. Not the end of the world, okay? I’m talking  tornado, hurricane, earthquake, a long-term power outage, etc. Not asteroids hitting the earth and super volcanoes errupting. Even if you only have enough resources (money, storage space) to have a supply for one to three weeks of food you’d be in really good shape. Let’s not forget water too. Water is extremely important to store. The rule of thumb I’ve heard is one gallon of water per person, per day. That sounds like an awful lot to me. Following that rule me and my girlfriend should have 60 gallons of water on hand for one month. I’d need a water tank, not just water jugs. I really think storing half of that amount would be excellent. I can actually do with a lot less without any problem. I live near a river. I’ll post more on food and water later, but for now enjoy the video. It’s food for thought.

Shutting Off Water To Your Home

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Video: How to shut off the water to your home

In the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster, you may need to shut off water to your home. If the utility company is unavailable this short video clip shows you how to shut off the main water from the curbside valve. Most homes today have a main shutoff valve in the basement of near the point where the main water line comes into the home. Mine is in the basement next to the water heater and it’s very simple to shut off. I will shut off my water when I leave town for extended periods of time, just so that if a pipe breaks or leak occurs I won’t have a big mess when I get home. This is a good clip and is provided by SelectFinishe’s on youtube.com.

 

Shutting Off Gas

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Video: How to shut off gas to your home

This video comes from youtube.com (http://www.youtube.com/user/SelectFinishes) . In the event of an earthquake you may want to shut off the gas to your house. This video shows a simple way to do it. Also, you my want to do this if you suspect a gas leak inside your home and the gas company isn’t around to help. I’d think the first thing you’d want to do if you suspect a gas leak in your home, is to call the gas company. They should be able to get to your home quickly and shut it off for you. One word of caution, the gas company has a special aluminum tool they use to shut gas off. This tool won’t create a spark if it comes in contact with something else. So be careful if you do this yourself.

Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System

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Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 PM EST

As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our country and communities safe during emergencies, we’re working in partnership with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS test plays a key role in ensuring the nation is prepared for any type of hazard, and that the U.S. public can receive critical and vital information should it ever be needed.

Over the past year, our agencies have been working with the broadcast community, cable operators and programmers, and other communications service providers that participate in the Emergency Alert System; our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners; and other critical stakeholders to help inform all members of the public regarding the nationwide Emergency Alert System test.

Here are specific items we want everyone to know about the test:

It will be conducted Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 PM EST.
It will be transmitted via television and radio stations within the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
Similar to local emergency alert system tests, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming indicating: “This is a test.”
When the test is over, regular programming will resume.

As we get close to the test, the FCC and all of our many partners are working together to spread the word to as many members of the public as possible — so people know what to expect when the test takes place, and no one is caught off guard. We’re asking everyone to join us by spreading the word to your neighbors, co-workers, friends and family — share this web page, post a message on your social media site, and feel free to embed our videos on your website or blog.