Bill’s Commentary:
“Grizzly checks in with some very wise words after the most hateful State of the Union address ever. Please heed his warnings and subsequent advice!”
State of the Union
Are we the target?
I would suggest that we all watch Tucker Carlson’s Commentary of that most hateful state of the union we will ever witness. I was reminded of the bloodlust of the Nazi followers, with glass-eyed trances, rabidly cheering for war in Ukraine. These people are desperately trying to stay in power. It’s personal to them now as many undoubtedly think they will be prosecuted by the next administration, should they lose. Sure, they want the graft to continue, the unbridled power, the favoritism. But now they have committed so many crimes that they are fearful for their future.
So they push for war. But along the way, the seek a group to blame. This is always the case in any failing and immoral dynasty. A scapegoat must be found.
This is the point of today’s discussion and what we can do.
WE ARE THE SCAPEGOATS.
This is not paranoia. Listen to all of Tucker’s commentary.
We white, Christian, self-reliant, constitutionally knowledgeable, defenders of liberty, once what all Americans were encouraged to be, whatever your race or religion, are now the enemy of the state. They cannot abide by us not bowing to their direction. They will not tolerate our quest for God given rights carefully enumerated in the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments.
The IRS, DOJ, CIA, DHS, EPA, FDA and many more are all setting their sights of new regulations and focus, along with their newly acquired and barely functional Glocks on us.
Again. Not paranoia. Fact.
So what are we scapegoats to do?
It’s very tempting to give them a double-fisted, one finger salute but I’ll keep my actions and ideas positive.
We need a good retreat. It is incumbent on us to find a place in a freedom loving Constitutional abiding state. ID, WY, UT, probably MT, SD, TN will do., maybe TX, some of these meet most of the requirements but fail or are lacking in others. There’s good places in many states in the south and midwest to varying degrees. Preferably a state that recognizes gold and silver as legal tender and might even have its own depository. These are the best. Within these states, we need areas that are secluded but not so remote that it’s too burdensome in bad weather. We need a small city, less than 15,000 I believe within 30 miles but not much closer, and definitely no where near a city of 100,000. In this area, we need to have a few neighbors but not too many that are of the same mindset. This place needs a sustainable water source, a sustainable fuel source, a decent enough climate to grow food, large enough to support some livestock. Cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, even rabbits and fish will help.
It has to be defendable, preferably far out of site from passer-by’s. On this property you will need a sturdy structure or several with wood heat and cooking capabilities. Solar is good but I think it’s uncertain how the electronic circuitry will withstand an EMP. But definitely useful if smaller units are hardened. We need cast iron cookware, tools, some building materials and fasteners, lighting capability, good sturdy clothes and boots, some heavy equipment and a good supply of fuel is a good thing for the beginning of these possible calamities, draft animal power and some horse drawn equipment even better. Food preservation skills and necessary supplies. Salt, jars, canners, pressure cookers, grinders, smokehouse, etc.
Defensive measures are a must, anything and everything to give us as much advanced warning as possible. Sandbags, sheets of 1/2” AR 500 steel, native material for cover – anything to help as much as possible.
Etc etc etc – we’ve talked about most of this already. I thought it worth discussing again, given the tone of that state of the union. They have made themselves very clear for several administrations. They are destroying the banking system and USD to make us cry uncle and beg for a CBDC. They are destroying our food supply and production to cripple our will. They are draining our oil reserves and banning our own oil production so we are dependent on their power – or lack thereof to weaken our resolve. We see the effects of their geo-engineering on so many facets of life. We see they have promoted fear with a manmade disease and forced a killing and maiming shot on the world, the effects of which are still forthcoming. We see what they are doing to our Constitution in the article last week. They want us all to be wards of the state, constantly surveilled, incessantly harassed. Some will quit. The burden is tough. Hungry kids will bring poorly prepared but good men to their knees.
So – sorry for this long talk. I apologize for the redundancy. If you aren’t in the position to secure a place like we’ve discussed, then meet up with people that are. But do not go there empty minded and empty handed with no skills and nothing to add. Strong, good minded, mentally and physically tough with at least enough food and supplies to take care of those in your family are an absolute minimum. In addition to that, medical skills, comms skills, carpentry, welding, are a strong plus to be accepted. Military training in the right minded person is a huge plus and benefit.
Basically we need to be practical people that know how to do practical things, with good attitudes and resilient natures. No snowflakes need apply – that is key. That’s what we should work on. Or – at the very least, be happy to haul water, chop wood (not feet), clean livestock pens, and other chores like that, that will need attended to.
Please don’t take this lightly. These people are evil. They hate America. They hate self-reliant Americans. They are in a corner and dealing desperate – so they are dangerous.
It’s our duty to make sure that we win and they lose, so this great republic can carry on as designed. Pray that God stays with us and gives us the strength and wisdom to persevere in what I believe might look a lot like the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
Bill’s Commentary:
“Constitution violations in plan sight!”
> Morning,
> Let’s take a quick look at this administrations and many others total disregard for our Constitution.
> Steve Baker, Catherine Herridge now in the spotlight. FBI investigating Traditional Catholics, IRS targeting Tea Party folks back in the day and any conservative Christian folks presently. – Total 1st Amendment hatred of freedom of the press, speech and assembly.
> Second Amendment attacks daily – way too numerous to list.
> Private property rights don’t exist- No knock warrants; seizure of property; surveillance of emails, texts, phone calls all trash the 4th Amendment.
> The circus in NY going on where the judge has threatened to seize Trumps assets is complete 5th Amendment violation.
> J6 protestors rights to a speedy trial (after 2 years) ignores the 6th Amendment.
> 8th Amendment?? Back to Trump in NY. $450K per day in fines, I think most people would say is contrary to the “excessive fine” amendment. Or Catherine Herridge’s $800/day until she rats out her journalistic source.
> The 9th/10th Amendments have long been forgotten – that unless rights are specifically granted to feds, then states, they remain with “we the people”. It’s like the “including but not limited to..” verbiage we always see in contracts, except in reverse. Yeah, put a fork in that one.
> 11th – well I’m no scholar but I’m pretty sure it says among other things, Feds can’t sue states. Eagle Pass TX come to mind?
> I think we all saw the 12th Amendment eviscerated in this last election. Our voting process is a joke.
> I’ll stop for now in the interest of TLDR!
> But – these tyrants who made an oath to protect and defend this Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic are in every detail, the enemies of this Constitution themselves.
Bill’s commentary:
“Our pal Grizzly asks you to look in the mirror to ponder what you really see?”
Holidays behind us. Routines back in gear. I have a few self-questions that should make us all take these discussions seriously.
With all the chatter of cyber attacks (even I can hear them under my rock), I find it fairly certain that some folks are up to something. Not just because of the fact that we’ve crossed over the threshold into an election year; or that the financial system is on life support ; or that the Epstein logs are opening up a little (which may or may not lead to the real power brokers); or the J6 Wiley Coyote rouse is starting to see a little sun light; or that the Cartels own our southern border and are probably aided here at home by our own alphabet agencies; or that the flow from the money laundering spigot may be getting slowly turned off in the Ukraine; or the fact that men like Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson are becoming way more than an inconvenience to the people that control all of the above and profit from it – the fact is – there is no way on God’s naturally green earth (because of CO2) that these people will give up power in the swamp. So – back to the cyber attack or whatever it will be to shut things down so they won’t be outed at the very least – I finally have a question:
Look in the mirror and ask the person looking back, what would I do right now, if only the internet stopped working and Fastly couldn’t (wouldn’t) fix it this time. How would you transfer money, do business, find your way from A to B (forget about Z). Just for fun, turn off the desk top, lap top, iPad, and phone for a day. Oh yeah, WTF ! See how embedded they’ve become. We can’t do anything can we – Hmmn, that’s a problem! I’d wager to say no one wants to even think of that scenario – we aren’t ready for that yet !! No way.
Then, while you’re staring at the image that’s growing somewhat more pale with beads of sweat forming, ask the image: what will I do if we’re plunged into darkness right now, this very second.
I’ll only offer a few suggestions as this year will start out with more of a thought process to get us in the right frame of mind.
If we aren’t where we want to be physically – as in, I want to be in X when things go to hell, but am currently living in ZZ, have a comprehensive plan to get to X. If you can’t get there, then figure out how to buy some time before you can (and this may be a projected length of time).
Are you feeling good because you’ve squirreled away a lot of buckets of freeze dried food and according to the label have “X” amount of months or years of sustainability? Did you take the next step and figure how much water it will take just to rehydrate that amount of food and have that amount, plus your normal requirement that we’ve previously discussed? If not, you may as well use it for squirrel bait and roast a squirrel.
Did you install the latest yet unproven EMP defenses on your vehicle but fail to store 100 gallons of fuel? Did your wife, who you proudly claim is “on board” with this line of sustainable thinking, decide to re-fuel your bug out rig that she drove today because of bad roads because there was a line at the gas station after her nail appointment and just didn’t have time to fill it up?
Is that sweet looking M-forgery looking so cool in the bedroom closet next to a case of M855’s you got for such a deal – with only one magazine; no sling; no parts kit; no cleaning kit – let alone the skill to disassemble it and keep it running?
So this week – just a dose of reality. Look in the mirror and ask yourself honestly if you’re full of shit in regards to your ability to take care of yourself or if you’d be better off buying a case of spray paint so you can write – HELP ME – in big letters on your roof like those thousands in New Orleans during Katrina.
Happy New Year !!!
Bill’s commentary:
“Our pal Grizzly as serious as a heart attack. Take heed, practice makes perfect!”
Classes/Skills
Happy New Year!!!
As we start a new year, I think a reminder is in order to not forget the importance of training.
All the links to stuff and books are definitely useful and highly needed, but skills rank above stuff – other than food and water and shelter of course.
But your food, water and shelter will become more sustainable or even salvageable with skills. We need both. With the right skills we can often figure out food, water and shelter, when we don’t have our store rooms handy!
As usual, I am still focusing on not having a dependable power grid, be that from an EMP, solar flare, terrorist attack, over use, weather, supply chain disruptions, whatever. I’m certain that at some point, we will need to be comfortable in a world without electricity, whether for a week, month or longer. So, in lieu of volunteering somewhere or working along side someone with these skills, I’ll give some thoughts on classes and hands on training first, then books and videos. Anything is better than nothing. But a video class is quickly forgotten without practice so we should all be sure to set aside time to make ourselves better and practice.
*Medical –
There are private medic classes as well.
They have lots of good kits for difficult times.
There are also many companies that will provide classes for a group of family, friends or employees. Just do an internet search
*Shooting –
Local gun shops or:
https://www.gunsite.com/ for a trip to AZ
Local rifle/shooting clubs/ranges nearly all have some kind of training classes available.
https://firearmtraining.nra.org/
*Canning:
There are probably classes available at county extension offices and I’ve seen other places online. Just get these books below and do it yourself. It’s not that difficult. With some searching, you can probably find an elderly woman who would love the opportunity to teach you.
Horse/Mule team driving (give it a thought)
There are books on anything from bee keeping, cow milking, cheese making to carpentry, plumbing, roofing, gardening, using edged tools, logging, blacksmithing, firewood production, welding (oxygen/acetylene), trapping, meat preserving, ammo reloading, building defenses (promise we’ll get back to that). candle making, reloading, ham radio and other comms, Etc etc.
as well as hundreds of YouTube videos with varying degrees of usefulness.
The key is to start teaching yourself and sharing your knowledge with others. None of us have all the skills. I suck at comms and really need to dig into ham radios.
I would start with really good first aid. Many of these forgotten skills require active engagement with things that are hot, sharp, heavy, etc. While we may be more athletic (perhaps) these days, there’s a difference in an an hour or two at a gym vs doing these tasks, all day everyday. With the latter comes familiarity and ease of movement while working with tools and awkward objects. It will take some time and injuries will occur. Better to learn the skill and the first aid now than when we are under stress with limited facilities.
So, please schedule a first aid class, including wilderness first aid certification in the next few months.
That’s all for now.
Here’s to making ourselves knowledgeable and self-reliant forces to be reckoned with, by this time next year.
Happy New Year.
May God bless us, our families and friends, our country and all we set our hands to.
Bill’s commentary:
“Grizzly has a shopping list for you!”
I was going to continue on the property protection and defense as stated last week, but being Christmas week I thought I’d change it up and make a great big Christmas list instead, while at the same time avoiding some of the darker items to be covered in the defensive department during this joyous week of the birth of our Lord and Savior.
So – here goes. I have used every single one of these companies. I’m not saying there aren’t more and maybe better (??). But I know this is all good stuff.
*Kitchen Hand Tools, pots, crocks and kettles – lehmans.com
Vermont Country Store
*Cast Iron Wear
Lehmans, Lodge Cast Iron, Craigslist
*Kerosene Lanterns/Wicks (I like the cold blast Dietz)
WT Kirkman
*Fireplace Accessories
RumfordStore.com
*Handsaws/Crosscuts – crosscutshop.com
*Axes – hulta fors, Hults Bruk
*All kinds of hand tools:
Shovels, rakes, sledge hammers, hammers, grubbing hoes, pulaskis, peevy’s, log handling equipment, brace and bits, handsaws, bow saws and blades, screw drivers, pry bars of all sizes, digging bars, various tape measures, spoke shaves, draw knives, etc etc.
*Rope – 3/8” and 1/2” three strand poly rope usnetting.com
*Chain/Cable
Fortune rope
*Sharpening
Files, stones, axe pucks, chainsaw files, crosscut setting jig
*Battery powered tools (DeWalt /Milwaukee) – all of them with extra batteries including battery chainsaw and several extra chains.
*Gas chainsaw(s) also with several extra chains and bars
*Fluids- bar oil, sharpening oil, kerosene, engine oil, transmission oil, grease guns with plenty of grease
*Solar panels and generators – Bluetti, Dark Energy, Earthtech
- First Aid Kits – My Medic (good kits but like all of them need additional items)
The best thing – hand coffee grinder Comandantegrinder.com
That’s a good start. If wife or kids say – “you have everything, you’re so hard to shop for” – give them this!
Have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous and better prepared New Year.
Bill’s commentary:
“This week Grizzly is as serious as a heart attack!”
12/11/23
I’ve been reading a lot about Central and South American gangs venturing into wealthier suburbs for the purpose of home invasions. Once peaceful and somewhat isolated areas of LA, Detroit, Lake City WA, Westport MA, Las Vegas ….. (in terms of violent crime) were in the news this weekend. This prompted me to stay on the topic of our property.
I’m hesitant to even discuss firearms as there are thousands of opinions but I’ll add my preferences on building our arsenals.
*Shotgun
For home invasions, nothing beats a shotgun. Mossberg 590/591, Benelli M4, Remington 870 all these 12 gauge pump shotguns are nearly indestructible. I recommend a 20” or 22” barrel with magazine tube clear to the end of the muzzle, holding seven to nine 2 3/4” shells of 00 buck shot (9 pellets per round) is the best you can do. Adding a forend white light or red/green dot scope could be handy in some circumstances as well. Some will advise smaller shot to keep from shooting through walls – which has some merit. But we are responsible for the direction of our muzzle. I would rather have a knockdown round and probably a body armor defeating round than not. My opinion.
*Rifles:
As we are also concerned with societal breakdown possibly occurring, we have to include battle rifles. Shotguns are great close range tools but what if we have to deal with threats farther than 100’ ? Remember – our goal is to keep the threat at a distance. That’s the purpose of our gates, hedgerows, winding approaches etc as we covered last week.
Playing “what if” for a moment – what if there is a lethal threat from a distance ? What if our gate is locked and a group is trying to forcibly enter ?Will we wait for them to get through and potentially do us more harm in close? Do we allow them to get close enough to fire bomb us, drive into our home, stop and scatter 6 members to overwhelm us? In these times of breakdown of rule of law, rules of engagement will be different.
Make your own decision but I suggest neutralizing the threat at the gate. This could require a rifle and skill capable of a kill shot at several hundred yards.
AR15’s, AR10’s, and other semi auto rifles with standard 30 round mags (AR15) or 20 (AR10) or larger ones from Magpul will be very valuable in the event of multiple threats. I recommend a lighted reticle (Trijicon ACOG) or plenty of others.
*Handguns –
I consider handguns as something to keep in reach all the time. It’s an immediate threat response. Don’t think a handgun should replace the first two weapons- shotguns and rifles. They are hard to shoot at any distance over 30’ especially with adrenaline pumping. This is a tool for up close and personal threats only – or as a way to slow down a threat while you get to one of the first two. Remember, we’re talking about our own property defense here. It’s not handy to have a rifle slung while doing chores – though we should have one within a dozen yards or so. Scenario – we’re chopping wood. We can take a rifle to where we work, but we will keep a handgun on our side. A threat approaches, we draw the handgun but immediately move to our battle rifle. Springfield, Glock, Walther, Sig, S&W, etc etc can take care of our needs.
9mm’s are the most popular caliber in the world. Light on recoil – also light on knock down power but plenty sufficient. As always, consistency is good. Whatever you choose, get the same for everyone. No need to mix up magazines and ammo in high stress situations.
Other items depending on budget.
*Night Vision / Thermal Vision
I believe it’s a safe bet to say that evil lurks most often in the dark. If we can see in the dark – owning the night as our armed forces used to, we have a huge advantage. PSV-14 night vision goggles mounted on a helmet are very useful for determining threats in the dark. Trijicon IR Hunter thermal scopes are great; Burris makes a really good one too. Most threats won’t anticipate this at first, though if society deteriorates, expect the bad guys to use this too.
*Personal Protection Dogs:
Dogs see better, smell better, sense emotions better, are faster and react quicker than the best and youngest version of ourselves ever could. This is a game changer for our family protection. Any dog will be better than nothing for advanced warning and a barking dog may act as a deterrent simply by nature. A trained dog though is another level. To me, vacations could be done away with, that new (you name it) could be put off to save up for a well trained dog.
We could add gas masks, and other things and we will at some point, but this weapon discussion is good to keep in mind as criminals continue to cross our border, while we’re inundated with the home grown variety as well.
Remember this, any gun is useless at best without training. This isn’t a buy and hold item like pinto beans or wheat berries. This one takes some effort on our part. Take shooting classes from good instructors. Then shoot. If it’s in your budget, get clones of your your weapons of choice in .22 LR so the training is identical except cheaper.
As far as ammo quantity? A couple cases of 1,000 of each caliber isn’t much of an investment. That’s a good starting point.
I think next week we’ll continue on the home defense topic in other ways.
Have a great week. God bless.
Bill’s commentary:
“Please take these words to heart, it is for your benefit and survival! “
12/4/23
We’ve discussed an overview of our situations; some thoughts about vehicle travel; water thoughts; food storage basics.
Staying at 30,000’, I’d like to discuss our shelter. In this case, I want to focus on our ultimate destination.
Some considerations that are important:
Rural
Defendable
Sustainable
*Rural – We don’t want to be anywhere close to a city or dependent on common travel corridors. I believe cities and even suburban areas within 20 miles (or more) of cities could be places we don’t want to be. Jog your memory of New Orleans during Katrina; St Louis a few summers ago; Portland and other areas like this that disintegrated quickly into lawless no-go zones during BLM riots, etc. So, first and foremost we need to get to a rural area away from 100,000’s of frantic, potentially violent and desperate people. I suggest remote but not stupid remote. A good rural, ranching and farming area with like minded, self-reliant neighbors can be a great asset. For parameters let’s say we try to be 15-30 miles from a town of 10,000 at the most. That’s a good goal but definitely not written in stone.
*Defendable –
Our place should be in a defendable location. Even if rural, we don’t want to be close to a road of any kind. I don’t even want to be seen from a road. Consider in a time of turmoil and hardships, with people perhaps starving, sick and destitute, how we will look with gardens, tools, livestock, water, some light from a window, smoke from a stove, etc.
They will want what we’ve worked hard for and sacrificed to have for these very times and some will try to take it by force. We don’t need that. Let’s stay out of sight and covert as much as possible. So the first defendable characteristic is covert – not readily seen or discovered. Then, think barriers from the road to the house – anything to slow someone down on foot or perhaps a vehicle. Gates, a bridge, hedgerow, abandoned machinery, anything to not necessarily look like a fortress but will act like one. Again, covert still applies. We don’t want to make people think that we’re guarding Ft. Knox. Curvy roads with big “landscape” rocks inside and outside the curves, concrete planting areas, a dip in the road in peace time can be filled with scrap iron in hard times, etc. Be creative. We’ll dig into this more in another article but I’ll stay at altitude for now.
High ground above open travel corridors are nice. Choke points are good. Gates placed in an area not visible from the road but in a spot that can’t be easily driven around. Things like this. More to come.
*Sustainable
Our place needs a steady flow of water, creek, stream, pond etc. As we’ve discussed, water is paramount.
Ideally it will have a fuel source – wood is the most likely to find and versatile. So we want to have access to trees for firewood. Garden areas to grow vegetables. Currants, bramble berries of various kinds, fruit trees suitable for the grow zone, bee hives, fish in a pond, room for livestock – even if just a couple rabbit hutches. Rabbits can be a huge sustainable food asset (you know what bunnies do!). Chickens, hogs etc.
Wild game – deer, elk, turkeys would be a definite plus.
I’ll add in quality of shelter also. Our structures need to be solid, well insulated, heatable with wood, a stove to cook with wood etc. Again we’ll get more in depth but this will do for now.
One last thing, consider the political environment of your choice. It plays a huge role in regulatory issues, zoning issues, constitutional sanctity, etc.
If things do get bad, govts always take more power. If they already start out with all the power and no respect for personal property rights or the bill of rights, consider how they’ll be when things are bad.
Not many new suggestions for “stuff” this week. Just keep up the purchases, training, planning and organizing. Keep thinking of how prepared you really are. Just one thing – another book.
https://joelskousen.com/strategic-relocation
God bless.
Bill’s commentary:
“Expanding the basics!”
11/27/23
Food storage!
I’m switching it up a little to transition from our getting to where we’re going – to what we need to be storing at our final destination.
There are a lot of schools of thought – or so I see (not sure how much thought honestly) on what foods to store.
My thinking is focusing first on the longest of long term storage items. Yes, we’ll need condiments and sweets and other “nice to have’s” but I prefer to get the basics covered first that will last the longest, if stored properly.
- Where /how should we store our food?Let’s start off with the where before we start going into the what’s. Not suggesting you shouldn’t be collecting food all along but your efforts will be rewarded in building a good store room by your hard earned food lasting the longest.
Enemies to our food storage : moisture, rodents, improper storage canisters, fluctuating temperatures, security and organization.
Our store room should be in a secure location, crawl space, basement, separate room, even separate building. But it needs to maintain a temperature between 40-65 ideally; low moisture/humidity (under 30%); dark during the daylight hours; rodent proof; secure from unwanted prying eyes and fingers; organized so we know what we have. It’s best to go to the storage room, open it, get what we need and get out unless we’re adding to it – but be vigilant even then with rodents and temperature fluctuations.
By now we are seeing why underground is best. The old timers with their root cellars/ fruit cellars/ etc knew this. Usually, a homesteader would build a root cellar first and live in it while the dwelling structure was built. Then the food would stay in there. As a bonus they’d have a storm shelter. Containers need to be food grade plastic buckets or steel buckets with liners or steel /plastic drums.
There are lids called Gamma lids that come in a two piece unit that snaps over a regular plastic pail, then the inside part is threaded for ease of food access.
I’ve gotten a lot of buckets and pails and drums with locking lids, liners, both Mylar and plastic, from Uline. Get the better stuff, it will serve better. If Mylar liners are used, you’ll need a sealing iron.
There’s plenty of YouTube videos on how to do this.
What should we store?
As stated, I’m going in full bore with the foods that keep the longest. I’ll also add a recommended amount for one adult for one year.
*Wheat berries – red/white. Hard/soft. Doesn’t matter except for variations of baked goods consistency and flavor. These will keep indefinitely.
100 lbs.
*Oats – indefinite, 20 lbs.
*White Rice (lasts much longer than wild/brown rice)
Indefinite, 50 lbs
*Dry Beans – pinto, red, black
Indefinite, 100 lbs
*Pasta- indefinite,
50 lbs
*Corn Meal – indefinite, 15 lbs
(Or store whole popcorn that can be used to pop as a snack or grind into corn meal) in that case 40 lbs
*Dehydrated Potato Flakes- indefinite, 40 lbs.
*Honey – a 5 gal pail is about 35 lbs. Get two. Indefinite storage
*Sugar – 35 lbs indefinite if it’s granulated, white sugar.
Bulk spices – add as preferred, enough for canning (another day’s topic) garden produce. Then vacuum seal and place in buckets.
These above, indefinitely storable duration items are must have’s. You can’t have too much.
Peanut Butter – 4 years, 10 lbs at least.
Then, add to these the canned goods from the store – veggies, fruit, beans, tuna, spam, etc. These will last two years or so. Avoid dented cans and the pop top style.
Condiments generally last two years, canned milk, oil, etc.
We should have several hundred of the preferred veggies and fruits that each person likes.
Tools/Appliances:
Grainmaker grinder. https://grainmaker.com/
Gamma lids, buckets, Mylar and plastic liners, metal buckets and locking lids , Mylar irons, etc. https://www.uline.com
Vacuum Sealers- a small bag kind and chest style, with attachment for vacuuming jars.
Can openers – hand. Westmark German can opener. I’d get a dozen honestly. Why not ?
The big question – where to buy wheat berries and other bulk items? 15 years ago this was simple and cheap. Not so much these days.
For beans, a trip to the bean co-op in LaSalle CO is a no brainer. https://northernfeedandbean.com/
Keep them in the 50 lb bag if you like or transfer them to lined buckets. (My preferred method).
I used to buy a lot of gamma lid pails full of wheat berries, oats, honey, etc but it looks like they only do #10 cans now. This will provide some homework. One of us that gets this weekly letter and I bought some wheat berries from an eastern CO wheat farmer a few years back.
So in closing a lengthier than intended weekly letter, build a good place (shelves 20-22” apart clear for buckets that can handle hundreds of pounds), then start loading them up. Hand grinder, hand openers. The vacuum packers are electric but that’s what our little power units are for (another day).
Remember those quantities are for one adult for one year. I did not add any meat to this yet either. We need big and/ or multiple store rooms.
Oh – get this book. In fact, I could just stop doing these and ya’ll could read this book daily.
Bill’s commentary:
“Our pal checks in with preps”
11/20/23
I’m a little early but had extra time.
Travel Considerations.
Let’s start out by assuming that our rigs are well maintained and in good order: tires. Engine, steering, suspension, drive train, belts, hoses and fluids are good.
*Fuel. How much fuel do you need to get home? To your final destination? How many vehicles will be traveling together if more than one. They’ll all need fuel. Figure how much you need then add 15-25% at least for unexpected detours.
Can recommendation : Justrite Accuflow Type 2 with 1” spouts. Red for gas/ yellow for diesel. Into these (unless you commit to rotate) add PRI (Gas or Diesel depending on your needs).
*Maps.
Make your own maps for ease of use, AAA, online places have many sites that do this. Besides this map of your preferred route, have a secondary plan written out in your big spiral bound truckers road atlas (most current).
Key – stay off interstates. Most are traps these days with no way to get off in a jam. With people running out of gas you’ll be stuck in a parking lot. Always provide for yourself an alternate way out. Stick to State and county routes.
*Power Station/Air compressor
This with Slime Through Core Flat Repair will keep you running quickly. Normally I’d recommend changing the tire (please have at least one, preferably two good working spares), but if the situation calls for it, just use the slime and air compressor.
Recommendation: DeWalt or EverReady power packs with jumper cables, air compressor, also charging capability(USB) and light. Keep one of these fully charged in all the rigs.
- Ok. I said three but I have to include comms in this. Even if you’re traveling alone, have a weather/emergency radio with you. There’s lots out there. If traveling with others, very minimum have CB’s but preferably have Baofeng UV-5R radios for everyone in your group, not just drivers, plus spares for breakage/loss or add ons. These have all the bands you need, can be used as simple walkie-talkies, can listen to air traffic, emergency bulletins, weather and will also receive HAM frequencies. Recommendation : get the Baofeng book to better educate yourself on all its capabilities.
Really trying to keep these short. I’ll skip the retreat property recommendations for this week but will probably do a second (for retreat ideas) prior to Thanksgiving weekend.
Bill’s commentary:
“Anyone who subscribed to JSMineset and listened to our Saturday calls will remember we did a prepper series with a very good friend of ours. I describe him as Grizzly Adams’ mentor. He plans on sending us checklists on things to do and give ideas on the thought process of preparing. This first writing is short but for those of you with extended family, a very important first thought. I would say enjoy his writings, but no one will enjoy what comes…”
11/13/23
Basics:
Goal – survive whatever event may cause our lives and lifestyle to change for the worse.
- Take some time to analyze where we spend most of our time; where does our family spend time; where are the majority of our supplies.
- Formulate a plan to bring all these people from all these places above together.
- Once together, will we stay or move to another location? In that case, is it better to have separated loved ones get to the ultimate destination as their focus.
- Once these thoughts are figured out, we’ll see what might help us accomplish this.
- In the next months we’ll look at items needed to help us get through traveling, as one piece to this.
- Then we’ll focus on what we need at our final destination. We’ll do this a few items on each of them so we can expedite the process.
BillHolter.com 