February prepping

I can't believe how fast January went by, it's already February! So what is everyone going to work on this month? We are getting snow several days this week, so I may be stuck at home, so I may be forced to do some much needed reorganizing and cleaning.

Finally replenishing my medicine cabinet/cupboard. Got more paper products. I'll get more food later in the month. Debating starting a balcony garden, but I'm afraid my neighbors might steal my vegs/herbs I plan to grow.

KiwiMum, can I put the elderberries in let's say vodka and make your extract that way?

I don't make hooch so I really need to use vodka to do what you do.

You can buy Everclear in the US (that is 190 or 151 proof). It's really hard to find the 190 proof one because it's so strong, so certain states restrict it from my understanding. I don't think it is vodka though? Says its a neutral spirit.

Is distilling legal in the US? It is here, so quite a few people I know make alcohol though most use very expensive electric stills. We have 2 stove top pot stills. We get about 4.5 litres with each session.

That's bad luck. It's alot of fun. It's almost like alchemy. You can actually turn water, sugar and yeast into hard core alcohol in a week which seems like magic to me. 

It's against the law to sell the alcohol you make here in NZ. You can give it away, but not sell it, although I suspect that people do sell it. There are no other regulations concerning it. Books and equipment are freely available. 

I had a mini WTSHTF situation occur

during the Snowpocalypse

a pipe froze and broke at some point

FORTUNATELY it was an outside pipe and the house didn't flood

but I did have to shut off water to the house for several days

before I could make the repair

(yes Satori is WAY too cheap to hire a plumber at $75 an hour !)

anyway

having no running water isn't fun

especially when it comes to sanitation

a good supply of hand sanitizer helps

as do those disposable wipes

you can at least make an effort to keep clean

I keep a GOOD supply of stored water on hand thank God

so that wasn't an issue

should a pandemic shut down city services

I'll at least have an idea of just how unpleasant things will be

camping out in yer house isn't fun

FIRST thing I did when water was restored was take a LONG hot shower

No idea about the lighters, but perhaps vaccum seal the cotton products with space bags. Test it out and see how it fairs up. You can also vaccum seal the seeds too. Zeer pots can be used for refrigeration, but not so much freezing that I know of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmb-kCcDLxQ This requires water.

Any one else with any advice? Johnray1

Vacuum seal bags, both food and those large ones for storing blankets, will only hold their seal for about 6 months. Even the best quality food bags will only last that long, and I got that from a butchery wholesaler who was trying to sell me a vacuum sealer machine! At least he was honest!

I've heard of people burying preps in plasic drum or barrels before. I'd still wrap perishible or metal items in something like mylar though. You can buy the bags online and heat seal them with an iron (that's more for John than KiwiMum - I know you have trouble getting mylar).

Johnray1, have you ever read any of the books by Scott and Helen Nearing? One of them is called Living the Good Life. The Nearings were the original good lifers setting up in the 1930's and living without money as much as they could, and growing their food. They did it to extreme I have to say, they kept no animals and were vegetarian but they certainly managed to maintain a good life/work balance.

KiwiMum- Here's a link for a syrup recipe.

http://wellnessmama.com/1888/how-to-make-elderberry-syrup-for-flu-prevention/

Arirish, thanks for the link. I was in the abandoned red zone in Chch yesterday and came home with a bucket of lovely plump elderberries so I just might make that this evening.

I'm starting on our small harvests this month. Starting with the meat rabbits, I've skinned and prepared 7 of them for the freezer. 12 more to go. I've also collected in our honey harvest in the last few days. We have 45kg of honey for us and 45kg for the bees to feed on over winter. Tomorrow I'll start to cream our honey which will take 2-3 weeks depending how vigorously I stir it. Then I'll bottle it and it will last forever. 

Suzi,thank you.Johnray1

This method works for me for both food and clothes. 

Seal DRY stuff in plastic bags.  Place plastic bags in plastic bucket with lid, leaving a small airspace. 
Add a mothball or insecticide pellet (even a spare length of animal flea collar if it is an organophospate one), not in the bags with the food or clothes but inside the bucket in the airspace.

Seal bucket with adhesive tape, Denzotape is a good one.  You can also use silicone sealant, That is the stuff sold for bathrooms and kitchens.

Large plastic drainpipes with two screw on ends are a good alternative to the bucket.

Do not bury more than 3 feet down, you may want them in a hurry.

Plant over with local SHALLOW ROOTED plants and this will hide them .

Plastic cannot be picked up by a metal detector.  Only downward facing radar can locate this.

Furthermore if you can get hold of thick Polythene parachute-able packs from the UN or special forces, these have about 50L of container space and can be sealed for extra protection using silicone sealant.  Though they can be a real bitch to open again!

The pipe is brilliant for Burying rifles etc. though metal detectors can find them then.

Axes, knives and other metalic stuff can be sealed in inhibiting oil in the bags.

Remember if you put weapons such as guns with wooden buts and stocks or knives with wooden handles the oil will damage the wood.  It will not harm cyrolac parts. 

A friend of ours uses the buckets filled with tins and then the space between the tins is filled with cooking oil.  This preserves the tins, and can itself be used for both cooking and fuel.

Remember night scopes and  telescopic sights must be put in a container only filled with dry air.  They cannot be allowed to come into contact with inhibiting oil. 

Of course, I would never suggest that anyone should store bows, blowpipes, darts, arrows and sealed containers of hunting-poisons for the purposes of hunting, as to suggest this would be ilegal in my country.  But if someone did want to store these, it would be a good idea to spray them with pure beeswax polish (such as used on expensive wooden furniture) and if your bows are longbows or flat bows (like the Native Americal ones) as opposed to the shiny all-bells-and-whistles modern ones, and if,  in a moment of considerable thought, the arrowheads or dart points are made of polished obsidian, heated bone, pyrex glass etc then they could of course not be detected by a metal detector or mag loup and because of their small cross section of required storage (buried vertically) would be almost impossible to find with downward facing radar such as government agencies and well-off private citzens may have.

Of course I am merely saying this as a "what if" as I would not dream of using an edged hunting weapon or suggesting you conceal such things.

Many thanks to WillobyBrat for additional ideas here.

Arirish you make me laugh - $14 for a specialist 6.5 gallon bucket!!!! Unbelievably cheap. Here in NZ I can buy a 20L food grade bucket with a lid for $29.95 and trust me there's nothing specialist about that bucket at all!!!!!! And that's the best quality bucket I'm able to buy here. If I win lotto, I'll fly to America, fill a whole shipping container full of useful stuff and ship it back here. You guys are so lucky with your shopping options in the States. I envy you.

I get my plastic buckets from local bakeries.  They are bought by the bakers full of jam, oil and such like.  They wash them out when empty and sell them for pennies (usually about 70p that is around a dollar).  They seal realy well. I add tape when burying but they last for years.  They are usefull around the place too. 

The same storage method works in cupboards.  The plastic bags last for about 10 years inside, though you do have to check and may face some occasional losses.  If you accept a few losses and compensate for those by overstocking you could probably make 20 years.  I have not been storing stuff that long though, so this is just a projection.  We used to lose a few to insect attack, but insectecide balls between bag and bucket solved this problem.  The freezing to kill weavils before storage would help too as that problem occurs inside the bags.

good site for preps

you don't have to be Mormon to order

I've ordered numerous times from them

good prices,good service

http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_3074457345616706237_-1_N_image_0

and the LDS Preparedness Manual is one of the best resources out there

free download !

but I suggest buying a hardcopy

https://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManualGeneral.html

there is Mormon theology interspersed but don't let that dissuade you

its a GREAT reference

My nearest LDS food station is in Tonga!!!!