Time to check the preps
Monday, September 17th, 2012I’ve avoided noting that September is National Preparedness Month.
I’ve avoided it partly because of the blatant manipulation by the National Department of Naming and Proclaiming Important Stuff Department (NDNPISD — EndPissed). September? Ooooooh, wonder why they chose that?
I’ve avoided it partly because people hereabouts don’t need a National Preparedness Month. Nor do we need a “Ready Kids,” “Ready Business,” or “Ready America.” (Yes, all separate ways for the NDNPISD to PIS away your tax dollars.)
We certainly don’t need a Get Ready Cats, whose ill-attempt at bringing humor to “public service” drives a stake through the heart of the long-lived LOLCats meme.
For people as savvy as you, having government proclaim National Preparedness Month is about as relevant as having them announce National Chicken Month.
Still …
The equinoxes are good times to revisit our preps and see what needs updating, restocking, re-evaluating, and re-minding.
Used to be we were urged to do some household updating chores at “spring forward” and “fall back” clock-changes. But now that standard time lasts about 30 seconds, that won’t do anymore.
And the solstices? Naw. Nobody wants to stop and check the status of the bug-out bag at Christmas or while planning that trip to the lake.
Anyhow, the equinoxes, with their equanimity and their innate sense of getting ready for change are the perfect times for …
* Hauling the go-kits out of closets and car trunks*
* Replacing the human food, pet food, and medicines in them
* Changing all stored water, whether it’s in go-bags or 55-gallon drums
* Checking the status of first-aid kits, hidden house or car keys, and other things we seldom look at but really need when we need
* Making sure everything in the pantry is being properly rotated; maybe planning a trip to Costco for more big sacks of rice & beans & beans & rice
* Hitting the Dollar Tree for emergency candles, bleach, first-aid supplies, snack nuts for the bug-out bag, sunscreen and other uber-cheap necessities (H/T AG)
* Replacing batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms
* Disassembling, examining, and cleaning any guns that haven’t been used in a while. Cataloging ammo and planning any needed purchases
* Updating phone and address contact lists
That’s enough of a list for me. But what else do you do (or would you suggest others do) as part of an equinox preparedness update?
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* BTW, the October issue of S.W.A.T. has a very good article on survival kits for vehicles. The article isn’t online, but you can buy the issue or (of course) subscribe. S.W.A.T., though still the super-gun-guy ‘zine, is doing an interesting job returning to its survivalist roots.
September 17th, 2012
I think National Preparedness Month is a good thing. There were a lot of family and friends that were not prepared when the July 4th storm took out power for 9 days in the DC metro area. It reallys helps remind people that things do happen even in the “big cities”. There were fist fights over gas. People not able to buy food because cc and atm machines were not working. Just because we have go bags in the closet and water stores in the cellar etc does not mean the rest of the country does not need the help and reminder.
September 17th, 2012
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve actually been doing this recently, and now working on my car bag. Since both hubby and I are gluten intolerant, we have to bypass a lot of foods that others store, so it’s a bit of a challenge. This year has been a hard year financially, so I’ve had to pick and choose what REALLY needs replacing.
September 17th, 2012
Sam, I agree that preparedness consciousness (along with preps, drills, etc.) is a good thing. I just think the way the government does it is wasteful and often dangerously misleading.
It might have helped had I included this link in the blog entry: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/BeReady/. Thought I had, but didn’t.
September 17th, 2012
If you keep a stash of gasoline for your generator or car, make sure to rotate, because gas does go bad.
If you don’t use enough gas that you refill your tanks regularly, there are products on the market to revitalize older gas. I won’t plug any of them, but the one I tried in the clear blue bottle worked very well for me.
September 17th, 2012
Don’t forget to rotate the ammunition in the magazines and sharpen the bayonets.
September 17th, 2012
The reason September was picked for National Preparedness month is easy: it use to be Hurricane Preparedness month on the lower east coast. Hurricane season “starts” in September so the prepper push was logical. Later as people in the Emergency Management system (the ones who love their work, and want to make a difference while helping others, not the ones who are the second cousin of their uncles sisters nephew and just wanted a political appointed job) wanted to make it a national effort for disasters in general. So expanding it to National was easier than building a whole new program.
The idea with national preparation is 1) people who are able to take minimum care of their families are less likely to panic/riot/loot/be nuts. 2) people will have a better rate of surviving if they have preps that can tide them over till aid can be mobilized and delivered. 3) with supplies on hand, people will be able to help their neighbors and that is just a good thing. 4) prepared people will suffer less loss, which means less payments, which should mean less taxes. (riiiight)
Sorry, Emergency Management is my passion (and what i have a degree in), I feel that any time is a great time for prepping.
September 17th, 2012
Here is a good link for prepping over several weeks: http://www.cityofaltus.org/images/uploads/dept_0111/calendar.pdf
And here is a way to build “week in a bucket” that is simple and, for me very important, low cost: http://survivalblog.com/2012/05/alternate-food-storage-a-week-in-a-bucket-by-chemengineer.html
Any business should also have a “Continuity Of Operations Plan” http://www.ready.gov/business-continuity-planning-suite
(sorry, that is my Level 1 COOP coming out)
September 17th, 2012
BusyPoorDad — September is the start of hurricane season? People who suffered through Andrew, Katrina, Camille, and for that matter the recently departed Isaac would be surprised to hear that! September is actually about mid-way through hurricane season, which generally starts either May 15 or June 1, depending on location, and runs through November.
National Preparedness Month was placed in September because of the 9-11 attacks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Preparedness_Month).
Please don’t get me wrong; I totally agree that more people need to learn preparedness, and that even a little prepping is better than none.
I just perceive that the fedgov goes about promoting that message in a way that’s opportunistic, cynical, expensive, and often half-assed.
September 17th, 2012
Very nice list, thank you!
September 17th, 2012
You can even find fairly decent prep advice in the strangest of places.
Might be a good time to check your kerosene (if you have lanterns and such), and make sure all your “hunker down kit” is as ready as your bug-out-bag is.
September 17th, 2012
You about covered everything, imho.
BTW, the prior blog entry wasn’t bad either.
C.W. wrote, “* Replacing the human food, pet food, and medicines in them”
I pulled them, ate some very way past date to test them, they were fine.
I didn’t put most of it back, the goal was to lighten the load of everything,… and make it easier to access.
Even the bottled water got dumped, the empty bottle went back in though.
C.W. wrote, “* Changing all stored water, whether it’s in go-bags or 55-gallon drums”
What did you do with the water you dumped/replaced? Or was that just meaning “people who store 55 gallons of water”?
… I’m sure you know water lasts forever, so – if I was you – (heh j/k)… I would replace the water with water that didn’t need replacing.
I’m talking about the 55 gal. container, not 12oz bottles that have been in the car all Summer. Even then, unless the water is green, wouldn’t it be fine?
Also, I’ve been focusing on getting goods which are in jars instead of cans.
Trying to avoid canned goods, they seem a bit unhealthy. The ones I have are for emergencies.
There’s not much available where I’m at, in jars, and it’s expensive. I’m thinking jars are better/safer/more nutritious than canned. ?
September 17th, 2012
I just hope we don’t have a “We Told You So” or a “You Were Warned” month..
Danny
September 17th, 2012
I restore old cars for a living, and I have a lot of “exposure” to how the new ethanol “fuel” behaves. If you are storing gasolene, GET A FUEL STABILIZER!!! I use the product sold by POR15, and have had good success. (there are others, do some research, be sure it is ethanol compatible) Mixed properly, you can store gas for up to 2 years. Without it, this current blend can go off in just a few months. When it does, it causes all sorts of corrosion, and deposits a think gummy substance throughout the entire fuel system. Very ugly and hard to remove. It will also dissolve the fiberglass tanks in boats….Nasty stuff, foisted on us by the un elected EPA. Nice.
September 17th, 2012
Back when I first started (and was a total newbie) I assigned a month to collect in one or two categories….unknowingly, it also made it less expensive when the time came to rotate out (not everything “ended” at one time)……
Of course all your prepping is worthless if you don’t store it in the right places, as I found out in the flood…..and a friend of mine found out in a hurricane….
So I hope everyone gives where it’s stored as much thought and planning as the actual buying of everything -
September 17th, 2012
P.S. to that is: Costco’s Kirkland brand 33 gal clear plastic trash bags are worth buying just for the “dry and/or see what it is” aspect.
September 17th, 2012
“So I hope everyone gives where it’s stored as much thought and planning as the actual buying of everything -”
So true, naturegirl! And you don’t even have to have a disaster to learn that lesson.
I lived in a house so tiny that the only place I had to store my canned goods was in the crawl space under the house. This might work, someplace. But this was the Pacific Northwest. Point of information: slugs like to eat the glue that holds paper labels on metal cans. Mmmmm, mystery storage foods!
More Pacific Northwest advice: Don’t store a rifle behind the seat of your car through a cold, damp winter. Or (sob!) a beautiful knife that was handmade for you …
September 17th, 2012
LOL, it’s been so long since I lived in “damp” areas I have forgotten a lot of those challenges….Mice also love eating the glue on can labels, too, now that you mention that…..Mold is a destructive beast.
But then, packaging on products just aren’t what they use to be either – bounty paper towels really are more absorbent, even still in their own packaging…..and heavily stocked plastic buckets will still float in raging water, which is a good thing until you see it/them floating away…..
Dry climate info: yes, plastic will disintegrate sooner than you’d imagine. It gets brittle, then cracks, even when it’s not in the sun…And sandy dust goes anywhere it wants to no matter how sealed you think something is.
September 23rd, 2012
WD-40 removes rust from things, including beautiful handmade knives. There is also a product on the market sold at hardware stores that is more task specific, email me for the name if you need it.