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25th October 2010 22:18
Link to Post #1
Avalon Member
Survival Preparedness With Limited Resources
Survival prepping can be taken to the extreme, especially if one has enough financial resources and physical space. However lets look at the scenario where you have limited resources and are on a tight budget, but you are convinced and motivated that you need to begin prepping for an uncertain future. How do you prioritize your preparedness purchases as it relates to your expenses, what is the plan, and what do you do first?
First of all let me say that survival preparedness is not solely about having preps stored away, although this is an essential step. Preparedness really is a way of life, a way of thinking in your every day life. It is a mind set that is significantly different from the typical brainwashed citizen worker bee.
Okay, having said that, lets look at the situation. Number one, look at your budget. Assuming there is debt being serviced, be it credit cards or loans, take a hard look at your monthly essential payments for your expenses. Really strip it down to the basics. How much take-home do you need to survive in your present situation. Keep in mind that paying minimum payments on credit cards will not get you out of debt anytime soon.
With limited money and space, what should I purchase first for my survival preparedness?
Lets be smart about this and start with the necessities of life, Water and Food. IN THAT ORDER.
Water is First Priority for Survival Preparedness
Water is a resource which often gets ignored or overlooked because of it’s seemingly endless supply. Every day, we need to intake about 2 to 3 quarts of water. Some of this comes from the food we eat, maybe twenty percent, but the rest is from what we drink. Think about this… If the regional power goes out, it may not take long before the water pressure may drop, depending on your location, situation, and the municipal backup generator situation . You will not survive more than 3 – 5 days without any water. Period.
Water sources are often readily available, so long as you don’t live in the desert. Maybe a nearby reservoir, a river or stream that is not far away, or the lake or pond nearby will all provide alternative sources of water. That is all good and well, but remember that you will have to transport the water, so be sure you have the means to do so (simply storing water ahead of time will be easier and healthier). You will definitely need to have a filtration method to screen out any ‘bad’ stuff from collected water. I highly suggest investing in a good water filter. I personally have several – the main water filter that I use is a counter top filter named the Berkey. My secondary water filter is a smaller portable filtration system named Katadyn that I keep with my vehicle 72 hour kit as well as a spare at home just in case. Depending on the size of the Berkey water filter that you choose, the price range is between $200 – $300 as of my last online check. The smaller portable Katadyn filter looks to be around $65 at this moment.
If you solely depend on a municipal water source, and you do not live right near a source of water, then you need to make other preparations. Either you need to be prepared to leave your area completely and during the first sign of trouble, or you need to be prepared by physically storing water. A potential problem with storing water is that it is quite heavy. One gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds making storage in large volumes nearly impossible to move (which may not be a problem for you if stored in a good accessible area).
How Much Water Do I Need for Survival Preparedness ?
The average 200 pound person will need about 3 quarts of water per day, strictly for consumption. Lets add one more quart for a safe margin and make it a gallon of water per day, or 7 gallons per week per person, strictly for consumption. Do the math and figure out what you will need for your family and the length of time that you are preparing for. As an example, 2 adults for 4 weeks will require about 56 gallons of water. Water storage for the same two people for 3 months will require 168 gallons. Remember, even more water will be needed for cooking and sanitary reasons. For example, without water pressure, how many gallons does it take to dump into a toilet to flush it out? Answer, probably between 2 and 3 gallons. Add up all of your use-case scenarios and factor them into your water storage calculations. For those that live where you can count on rainfall throughout the year, you can utilize rain runoff from the roof and gutters into collection barrels. This would be great for secondary water usage requirements, but you will need to filter and purify this water for drinking.
How Do I Store Water ?
A guideline to storing water is to mix one eighth teaspoon (1/8 teaspoon), or about 8 drops of regular unscented bleach to each gallon of water for purification. You can safely store water in clean containers that had consumable liquids such as milk jugs or soda bottles. Best to store in a dark place away from heat. It is generally recommended to drain and refill the water containers every six months or one year. This is not critical because water will basically last forever, but a periodic check for impurities or problems is a good idea.
To store enough water for several people for one month or more, it may be practical to purchase water storage barrels, commonly available in 55 gallon plastic drums. Be sure that the plastic barrel you choose is food grade (HDPE #2). Although I’m sure these barrels can be purchased at many locations, here is one water storage barrel source that I found while searching. Looks like about $100 for a 55 gallon water storage barrel. You will probably want a hand pump for the barrel too. There are quite a variety of hand pumps ranging from $20 and up.
The bottom line is to start with your water preparations so that you will live to utilize your next prep which is food.
Food is Second Priority for Survival Preparedness
Beginning your food storage preps is actually pretty easy. Instead of starting off by ordering cases of MREs or 50 pound bags of rice and beans, it is far better to begin by simply buying a few more of the same items that you buy at the grocery store every time you visit. The point here is to buy what you normally eat. If you have searched around other sites, I’m sure you’ve heard this before, and it is absolutely true. Also, another great idea to keep in mind is to think ‘variety’. In addition to buying what you normally would eat, pick up some treats and sweets too.
Storing the extra food is also pretty simple, even in a small apartment. You can buy just about any size plastic storage bin these days, which make perfect containers for any food item. We also found some perfect sized bins that fit and slide right underneath your bed, which perfectly holds the typical size canned food. When determining how much food to store, you can calculate using 2,000 calories per day per person as a minimum requirement. Simply look at your food container and multiply the calories per serving times the number of servings in the container to give you the total for that item. I put together a food storage inventory spreadsheet that keeps a nice organized list of your items along with the survival day count based on calories. You can download it here.
Once you have built up a base supply of the foods you normally eat, then you can venture into other things like that 50 pound bag of hard red wheat. However you will need to learn proper ways to store it for long term, and you will need to be sure that you know what to do with it when you need it (making your own wheat bread for example). Also it will be a good idea to try these other foods first, to be sure you don’t have allergies and that your system can handle it
So, there you have it. For your survival preparedness plan, first get started with water storage and then food storage. Then and only then, should you move on to other things. If you begin this way, the resource burden should not be too heavy or too expensive. Go at your own pace as your budget allows. Stick with water storage and food storage before you are tempted to purchase other preparedness items. Remember, you are doing this for you and your own liberation. This process will begin to change the way you think. Like I said, it is a way of life, even in good times.
Read more: http://modernsurvivalblog.com/preps/...ted-resources/
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25th October 2010 22:27
Link to Post #2