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Kevin L
A True Doomsday Prepper
Remember that prepping isn't just about guns. I collect guns, so I have more than I need. Try--if you can--to experiment with small, portable solar panels that can be hooked up to a battery charger.
Some of the modern nickle-metal hydride and rechargable lithium ion batteries can be recharged over 500 times . . . if they are used correctly and treated well.
I can keep my AAA, AA, A, C, and D batteries charged up. I also have rechargable CR2 and C123 batteries for my tactical flashlights and the laser/light combo that's mounted on my Glock 19.
Stock up on extra diabetic supplies (if that applies to you), and a D.C.-powered thermoelectric cooler coupled with solar panels and lead-acid batteries. Insulin--if stored properly--can last up to two years. If you're a diabetic (or a beloved family member is a diabetic), then you know which supplies to stockpile.
None of these measures--taken together--run more than $1,500.00 or so . . . and anyone who's handy with electronics and has a tenacious hunger for the best bargin could slash this expense considerably.
Consider Craig's List "freecycle."
I love freecycle. I have gotten totally functional bicycles, excellent and well-fitting hiking boots, and many other necessities for free.
I love freecycle, as I think it cuts down on landfill, and is better for the environment.
I hope this helps.
Some of the modern nickle-metal hydride and rechargable lithium ion batteries can be recharged over 500 times . . . if they are used correctly and treated well.
I can keep my AAA, AA, A, C, and D batteries charged up. I also have rechargable CR2 and C123 batteries for my tactical flashlights and the laser/light combo that's mounted on my Glock 19.
Stock up on extra diabetic supplies (if that applies to you), and a D.C.-powered thermoelectric cooler coupled with solar panels and lead-acid batteries. Insulin--if stored properly--can last up to two years. If you're a diabetic (or a beloved family member is a diabetic), then you know which supplies to stockpile.
None of these measures--taken together--run more than $1,500.00 or so . . . and anyone who's handy with electronics and has a tenacious hunger for the best bargin could slash this expense considerably.
Consider Craig's List "freecycle."
I love freecycle. I have gotten totally functional bicycles, excellent and well-fitting hiking boots, and many other necessities for free.
I love freecycle, as I think it cuts down on landfill, and is better for the environment.
I hope this helps.
Danil54grl
Top Poster
I would suggest you at least try to grow what you can right now, Your mom does so you must have some of her genes in you too. This would be a major boost for your family and once you get the basis down, you would do much better out "in the wild" so to speak. If you dont have mom's green thumb, learn the how to's now because time is running out and is very important, at least for me. ONCE YOU GET THAT DOWN, LEARN HOW TO PRESERVE YOUR EXTRAS. You have the opportunity to grow year around in this area, Even in the heat of the summer dry beans are always a great option,
Kevin L
A True Doomsday Prepper
I understand.
I've heard stories of people assembling Glocks from %80.00 receiver, only to turn them in at gun buy-backs just so they could get a piece of paper with an official record to justify why you might be short by several guns, let us say.
I have--lately--been practicing with my compound bow. I studied a form of Japanese meditation (in college) involving the bow and arrow . . . along with the religious and spiritual aspects of it, and it was extremely interesting.
I have found that most of these principles apply equally to the compound bow.
I do plan on adding a comprehensive hunter's compound crossbow to my collection, along with more mechanical broadheads and graphite-composite quarrels.
I do not know if I would go that far.
I know more than some, less than others.
I have done more than some, less than others.
The important thing is to be brutally objective in assessing oneself in their knowledge, preps, training, and passing on that knowledge to others.
No one is born an expert in anything (except eating, pooping, sleeping, and crying). That comes with time and experience.
Took me no small number of years to get where I am today.
What are the walls of you apartment like?
Frame and stick?
When I was a volunteer firefighter, in some structure fires, going through the front door was not an option.
You would be amazed what axes, sledges, or a really big chainsaw can do on modern construction (frame and stick) homes.
Heck, even water.
So far you have gotten lots of info and advice Bigfoot. Listen to each and every piece, decide how it applies to you and your situation--at the moment-
Remember how well our soldiers are supplied with the best of weapons, equipment and clothing in all weather environments around the world, OK? They still die at the hands of the weather, bad plans, bad orders and bad decisions made above their heads over bad info and other problems. Even the best prepardness can meet a loss, accept the fact and move on. Each situation you have met in your life, you have mastered and learned from to get to where you are NOW: (like MOS 0231) it is ok to make mistakes, if you learn from them...if you do not learn anything, then you are making another mistake...try not to repeat your mistakes, this steals your energy, time and money.
#you are on the right road, prepping is a marathon and not a sprint...#
The only thing I could add to the other comments would be to get your wife to take a look and make a test fire of a Ruger .32 Magnum. I have found out that it hits harder than a .38, but does not kick as much, so as to let her get a second round downrange and on target faster to the reduced hand position recovery...with silver tips or Glaser safety slugs, she would get more knock-down with less stress for herself...live free, Gary
Typical construction for this area. 2x4 construction with thin 1/2 in sheetrock walls. Luckily the exterior is brick. I will go down fighting if they start coming through the walls. They will definitely meet a hail of bullets. Which reminds me that I probably need some type of bullet proof vest for my wife and one for me also.
jontte
A True Doomsday Prepper
if / when you get some bullet proof stuff, take your time to get accustomed with it, you'll be amazed how much you need water when wearing those things,
when I had one of my reserve traingings the instructor could tell pretty accurately when you did your service from the shooting stance, when I did mine ; no vests ,so it was something I had to learn again with the vest, whole new moves so you don't get stucked at some mag pocket with your rifle butt,
much work,but fun anyway..
when I had one of my reserve traingings the instructor could tell pretty accurately when you did your service from the shooting stance, when I did mine ; no vests ,so it was something I had to learn again with the vest, whole new moves so you don't get stucked at some mag pocket with your rifle butt,
much work,but fun anyway..
If I lived in an apartment, my primary plan would be to bug out. Important to realize that bug out supplies function fine as bug in supplies, but the reverse isn't necessarily true.
Rental storage units are cheap, sometimes as little as $25/mo, and they can hold lots of preps, mainly food and bug out equipment, even a small generator and extra fuel. You could even stash a small trailer in there that's already loaded so you could back up, hook up, and bug out.
As we've seen with C19, food supplies can be disrupted easily, and people start hoarding as soon as they feel a threat. Hell, in my area, when a mild show storm is forecast, the store shelves will be empty within a day or two, and the snow will melt off within a day. Point is, if you wait until the existential threat manifests, you've waited too long.
I'm not very partial to canned goods, either in cans or jars, because the majority of the weight and volume is water; good if you don't have access to water, but lots of wasted weight and space if you do. My gotos are beans, rice, and dried fruits and veggies, along with a good supply of nutritional supplements and plenty of basic medical supplies like antibiotics, dressings, alcohol, and peroxide. As we learned from C19, most hospitals have about a week of medical supplies, so if the supply line is cut, they won't be of much use in an extended emergency.
If you set up a queue system, you can eat from one end of the queue and replace your stocks from the other end to make sure your stocks stay as fresh as possible. Integrate your preps into your normal life the way people have for thousands of years.
If the emergency lasts for months, years, or never ends, there will be lots of hard, manual labor involved if you want to survive, long term. For that reason I've included lots of spare work gloves, work clothes, and foot gear to my preps. They aren't very expensive, are easy to pack, and last almost forever in storage. If you research pre-industrial societies that didn't have access to modern medical care, you'll find that one of the main, preventable causes of death were simple infections caused by minor injuries. People would step on a thorn, and within a week they'd be dead. They'd cut a hand cleaning a fish and develop a serious infection. Basic antibiotics would have saved millions of lives. Another major medical prep is just plain, old soap, which dissolves the cell layer of viruses and bacteria, and if used for personal hygiene kills harmful viruses and bacteria that live on your skin, so they don't get a free ride into your blood stream if you suffer a serious or minor cut. Keeping clothing fairly clean is another somewhat difficult but necessary chore. I have one hundred bars of anti-bacterial soap and several cases of laundry soap in my preps. If that is used up, my grandmother taught me how to make lye soap back when I was a kid.
My vote for a girl gun is a five-shot, small frame, short barreled revolver in .38 special. Most of the women in my family carry them because they are easy to conceal, easy for a small hand to control, don't have excessive recoil, but make a BIG BOOM! One of my sisters was attacked in the parking lot where she works, and one round fired into the ground in front of the thug had him climbing an eight-foot chain link fence with razor ribbon on top like he was first cousin to a baboon!
As far as stocking an armory in case of SHTF, since I'll be mobile, I won't be forced into a situation where I have to engage in gun play every day to protect my pigs, chickens, and whatever from the hungry people who show up looking for a shootout. Without access to medical care, one small wound could be fatal or lead to an self amputation, which would seriously affect your ability to work, and thereby survive. My goal would be to do whatever I could to avoid confrontation, and being mobile allows that, whereas bugging in does not.
Just my two bits worth.
Rental storage units are cheap, sometimes as little as $25/mo, and they can hold lots of preps, mainly food and bug out equipment, even a small generator and extra fuel. You could even stash a small trailer in there that's already loaded so you could back up, hook up, and bug out.
As we've seen with C19, food supplies can be disrupted easily, and people start hoarding as soon as they feel a threat. Hell, in my area, when a mild show storm is forecast, the store shelves will be empty within a day or two, and the snow will melt off within a day. Point is, if you wait until the existential threat manifests, you've waited too long.
I'm not very partial to canned goods, either in cans or jars, because the majority of the weight and volume is water; good if you don't have access to water, but lots of wasted weight and space if you do. My gotos are beans, rice, and dried fruits and veggies, along with a good supply of nutritional supplements and plenty of basic medical supplies like antibiotics, dressings, alcohol, and peroxide. As we learned from C19, most hospitals have about a week of medical supplies, so if the supply line is cut, they won't be of much use in an extended emergency.
If you set up a queue system, you can eat from one end of the queue and replace your stocks from the other end to make sure your stocks stay as fresh as possible. Integrate your preps into your normal life the way people have for thousands of years.
If the emergency lasts for months, years, or never ends, there will be lots of hard, manual labor involved if you want to survive, long term. For that reason I've included lots of spare work gloves, work clothes, and foot gear to my preps. They aren't very expensive, are easy to pack, and last almost forever in storage. If you research pre-industrial societies that didn't have access to modern medical care, you'll find that one of the main, preventable causes of death were simple infections caused by minor injuries. People would step on a thorn, and within a week they'd be dead. They'd cut a hand cleaning a fish and develop a serious infection. Basic antibiotics would have saved millions of lives. Another major medical prep is just plain, old soap, which dissolves the cell layer of viruses and bacteria, and if used for personal hygiene kills harmful viruses and bacteria that live on your skin, so they don't get a free ride into your blood stream if you suffer a serious or minor cut. Keeping clothing fairly clean is another somewhat difficult but necessary chore. I have one hundred bars of anti-bacterial soap and several cases of laundry soap in my preps. If that is used up, my grandmother taught me how to make lye soap back when I was a kid.
My vote for a girl gun is a five-shot, small frame, short barreled revolver in .38 special. Most of the women in my family carry them because they are easy to conceal, easy for a small hand to control, don't have excessive recoil, but make a BIG BOOM! One of my sisters was attacked in the parking lot where she works, and one round fired into the ground in front of the thug had him climbing an eight-foot chain link fence with razor ribbon on top like he was first cousin to a baboon!
As far as stocking an armory in case of SHTF, since I'll be mobile, I won't be forced into a situation where I have to engage in gun play every day to protect my pigs, chickens, and whatever from the hungry people who show up looking for a shootout. Without access to medical care, one small wound could be fatal or lead to an self amputation, which would seriously affect your ability to work, and thereby survive. My goal would be to do whatever I could to avoid confrontation, and being mobile allows that, whereas bugging in does not.
Just my two bits worth.
An English author named Liza Picard wrote lots of books about how people lived in pre-industrial societies, wherein she delved into the very basic aspects of how a person lived when they didn't have access to supermarkets, doctors, and the other things we take for granted.
Also, the BBC has released a serious of documentaries dealing with how people lived and farmed in more primitive times. Most of the episodes are set in pre-industrial times, but my favorite is the WWII episode that dealt with how the Brits survived the German blockade when before the war over fifty percent of their food was imported. They had to become very productive very fast.
Also, the BBC has released a serious of documentaries dealing with how people lived and farmed in more primitive times. Most of the episodes are set in pre-industrial times, but my favorite is the WWII episode that dealt with how the Brits survived the German blockade when before the war over fifty percent of their food was imported. They had to become very productive very fast.
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