New to prepping but now completely unprepared

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69Powerwagon

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
49
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38
Location
North Pole Ak

So I have been aware of the idea of prepping for a while now but up until recently I considered it the territory of fringers and paranoids, nothing that I need really concern myself with. Lately though I have become increasingly uneasy with the stability of the current socioeconomic situation of the country so I started taking an interest in what I could do in case shit does hit the fan. Turns out despite not really actively prepping for anything up till now,I still have a good start. Based on where I am located and my lifestyle I actually have many things going for me prepping wise that I never knew .The downside to where I live is brutal winters and a tenuous supply chain, when something does happen I will be one of the first to be cut off from the goods and services that we take for granted. If/when there is a economic or social break down I am planning on staying in my house and if things look they might get really crazy retreating to a cabin I have a few miles away that is only accessible by riverboat or snowmobile (no roads)


So I have compiled a list of my current resources and at the end I have a list of planned additions to it and my reasoning of why.

Stuff I currently have:

1600 ft2 house with a 5 foot crouch space underneath that I can store supplies in, on 2 acres of land on a clear water river.

200 ft2 utility shed

A well and septic

A 5kw generator for running the house utilities in an extended power outage.

Oil fired boiler for heat with a 500 gallon fuel tank, and a wood stove for secondary heating.

300 gallon water tank.(not currently hooked up to anything and sitting outside empty)

2 wide track snowmobiles and a poly pull behind sled.

2 four wheelers

55 gallon fuel drum, 5- 5gallon fuel cans.

¾ ton diesel pickup- I have removed all the emissions crap from it so it can run on any diesel oil including whats in my 500 gallon heating oil tank. Truck has a 100 gallon service tank in the back that I use to pick up fuel for the house.

¾ ton 69 Powerwagon with 33” mudtires for when they quit maintaining the roads

20ft beavertail car trailer with a 10,000# winch on it.

18ft riverboat with an inboard Chevy 350 so parts are easy to come by in case anything happens to the motor.

I live in Alaska so you know I have guns.- .308 stainless guide gun, ported so the lightweight of the gun doesn't kill my shoulder, lever action 45-70, 30-06 bolt action, mini-14, a custom 1911 .45, a compact Taurus 9mm for concealed carry, a Delaware police special folding stock 12 gauge with pistol grips, a 10-22 with carbon fiber barrel and composite stock set up for biathalon style target shooting, and a Ruger .44 my dad gave me. I also have at least a couple boxes of ammo for each of the above.

865 bobcat skidsteer with a snowplow, bucket,auger and fork attachements.(best yard tool ever)

2 chainsaws, axes, splitting mauls and logging chains

extensive amount of tools for equipment repair.

Dehydrator and a smoker, and whole shed full of canning supplies.

Lots of fishing, hunting, camping, outdoor gear- really too much to list here.

600 ft2 cabin on the same river just a few miles away and has no road access to it, it has a 10kw generator, battery back up, propane cook stove and fridge, wood heat, sand pointed well with a battery powered pump, and a outhouse.

o.k. So it looks like to me what I really need next is food and fuel.

I am going to start buying some freeze dried food from Mountain house or an equivalent manufacturer for emergency rations. This summer I plan on getting my subsistence limit on salmon which will work out to well over 200 hundred pounds of fish that I can smoke and can or jar. I plan on putting in a raised bed garden this year too. Ultimately I would like to grow enough vegetables that I could make it through the winter if I had too. I plan on having chickens this summer too. I figure by the end of summer this year I should have enough food stored to feed a family of 4 for 6 months which is just about what a guys needs to make it through the winter. At least that the plan, stayed tuned for how far I get.

Future items on my list I would like to take care of as I get time and money:

Top off my 500 gallon fuel oil tank and get 2 55 gallon drums of gasoline.

Build a shop this summer if I can swing the financing.

Build a greenhouse. This would really help me extend the Alaskan growing season which will be critical to getting enough vegetables for the winter.

I figure I get food and fuel squared away and I am looking pretty good although I have some plans for a shop so I can have more storage and I have been looking at wood gasifiers for running my generator off of, seeing as fuel is going to be a problem in any kind of collapse and would be convenient to be able to generate electricity after all the conventional fuel is gone.

Let me know what you think and where I might improve. I know I have left some items out like engine oil and light bulbs but its hard to put everything in one list. Keep in mind my plan is to bug in and not bug out unless it gets really bad, like zombie apocalypse bad. I know this introduction was long and rambling but I wanted to get my idea for where I am at in my plans and where I am going, out in one piece for people to pick apart and give good constructive suggestions.
 
Sounds awesome. Solar power and a greenhouse for sure, are good investments for you. Gardening offers you the ability to grow a variety of nutritional goodies. And a greenhouse offers secure growing, and a controlled environment. Solar power is something to consider if gas costs is a concern, a one time investment of 2 grand, you can get get about 2000 watts of free power from a solar generator.Charge batteries, run pumps,etc. That investment alone will save you money, and actually improve your life style instantly, save that fuel money for heat, food etc. I would buy chickens a good residual investment, as long as feeding them is affordable! But you got everything covered, just my two cents.
 
yeah the panels would be nice, but considering how little light i get midwinter being so close to the arctic circle I am looking at a wood gasifier set up first. GEK has a nice design and there is another outfit that makes kits that fit 8kw to 10kw generators. With the seasonal light shortages and the fact that I live in the largest contiguous forest in the world the gasifier makes sense, plus I can rob heat off the process for heating the house. The gasifier is way more labor intensive though and I will need a chipper to process the wood for it. I will probably look into panels after that though just because in the summer months it would be easy living.
 
yeah the panels would be nice, but considering how little light i get midwinter being so close to the arctic circle I am looking at a wood gasifier set up first. GEK has a nice design and there is another outfit that makes kits that fit 8kw to 10kw generators. With the seasonal light shortages and the fact that I live in the largest contiguous forest in the world the gasifier makes sense, plus I can rob heat off the process for heating the house. The gasifier is way more labor intensive though and I will need a chipper to process the wood for it. I will probably look into panels after that though just because in the summer months it would be easy living.

Do both! Your summers will have a lot of sunlight, so this will extend your fuel usage. Do you have access to a good supply of wood? I used to live in Fairbanks so I'm familiar with that.
 
You're doing ok, good luck! Think safety equipment. In your location, not only will the supply chain be cutoff so will medical care. Better to avoid being injured than having to figure out what to do when you hack into your leg chopping wood.
 

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