Prepper Handbook Blog: Shelter

Showing posts with label Shelter. Show all posts

Saturday, January 2, 2016

New Years Resolution

Happy New Year! As a New Years resolution, lets pledge to protect our families against common disasters for our area. Events like earthquakes or severe weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, freezing cold and whatever other disasters that are likely to occur over the next few years. With all the rioting going on, we should include that too. At the very least, put a plan in place.

The following is an excerpt from the Prepper Handbook that can be previewed for free on Amazon.

Prepper Incremental Strategy
Now let’s talk about common sense prepping. Not going overboard or becoming obsessed, but rather build your preparations slowly over time. Few of us have unlimited funds to go out and buy everything we need at once. Therefore, we must organize, prioritize, and develop our preparations over time. I call this our Incremental Strategy Plan. As you read this book, you should develop your own plan. The following table is an excellent example to follow and can be tailored to meet your specific needs.

This table gives you several columns that represent the approximate times that you might be able to survive with no outside support. The columns and rows are in order of priority. Starting on the left is the minimum level of preparations that you should have. Start at the top row of the first column and work down. Once you achieve the first column level titled “0 – 25%, 7 days” then it is time to move across and start securing the second column of preparations titled “26 – 50%, 30 days.” Continue this process until you are comfortable with your level of preparation.

You will notice the first item shown in the first column and first row is Ammo and at least one firearm. It doesn’t matter what preparations you have in place; you won’t be able to keep them unless you are armed.

Prepper Incremental Strategy Table

Column 1^st priority 2^nd priority 3^rd priority 4^th priority

Prep Level &Period of time: →	0–25%7 days	26– 50%30 days	51 – 75%6 Months	76 – 98%1 Year +
Comment on potential cause, symptoms and consequences	Flu, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, chemical leak, wildfire. Power / water out a few days. Minor looting. Less than 1% population loss	Serious pandemic, massive chemical or radiation leak, wildfire, rioting & gang looting.Power / water out for weeks.Single digit population loss.	Social upheaval, terrorist or limited nuke attack, large organized gang looting. Indefinite power outage. Double digit population loss.	EMP, Economic Meltdown, hyperinflation,Organized Militia, possibly foreign “help imposing order”, confiscating weapons & supplies for the common good. 50+% population losses.
Security(1^st priority row)	200 rounds of Ammo & at least one personal protection firearm. Solar Powered Lawn Lights that use AA Batteries.Crank radio & flash lights.Whistles for emergency communication.	Increase to 500 rounds of Ammo per firearm & at least 1 pistol & rifle.Add: Solar Powered Motion detection alarms (Home Brite) and Walkie Talkie Radios, CB, ham radios, trip wire, guard dog.	Increase to 1,000 rounds of Ammo per firearm.Add: at least 1 pistol & rifle per adult; Gen 3 Night Vision & a bullet proof vest for every 2 – 3 adults.	Increase to 5,000 rounds of Ammo per firearm.Add Bow & 24 Arrows for each adult; Black Powder Flintlock rifle & bullet mold.Also one Ruger or Marlin Stainless Steel .22 Rifle per Teenager.Gen 3 Night Vision (2).
Watch(2^nd priority row)	Radio, TV, daily scouting in pairs / visit neighbors. Sleep with 1 eye open.	Night watchman	24 – 7 Armed Security Watch	Community Organized Constitutional law enforcement.
Air(3^rd priority row)	Gas Mask per person. Recall smoke inhalation kills, not the house fire.	Add: Gas Mask for each vehicle & extra set of filters per family member.	Add: 2 NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) Suits.	Add: another extra set of filters and 2 NBC Suits.
Shelter(4^th priority)	Stocked primary residence & backup tent. Outdoor barking dogs.	Add: Get out of Dodge (GOOD) pack; Neighborhood organized.	Add: remote retreat with underground shelter & sufficient fuel to get there.	Add: Security posts for community watch with good cover & communications. Restore utility services.
Water(5^th priority)	1 gallon of unscented bleach per family and 7 gallons of stored water per person.	Increase to 30 gallons of stored water per person.Add: Water filtration.	Increase to two (2) gallons of bleach.Add: renewal water source – creek, pond.	Increase to four (4) gallons of unscented bleach.Add: water distillation.
Food(6^th priority)	Kitchen pantry & cabinets well stocked with your normal foods, especially dried goods and those with long shelf lives. Have a small “practice” garden and a few hand tools.	Add: Freezer stocked with ¼ to ½ beef & commonly used frozen foods. Electric Generator and gas to run freezer. Canning book(s), water pump, matches & fire starters. Larger garden.	Add: 6 month supply of dried food for each person. 1,000 canning Jars & extra lidsGarden Seeds. Chickens & Incubator for eggs & meat. Rabbits	Increase vitamins & food supply to 12 months.Add: Heirloom seeds & hand / garden tools for extended food production.Cows, goats, sheep, horses.
Health & Safety(7^th priority)	Advanced First aid Kit.Keep plenty of vitamins & medicines. Fire protection	Add: Extra First Aid supplies like alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, triple Antibiotic cream, acetaminophen, ibuprofen & Vitamins.	Add Books – When there is no Doctor & When there is no Dentist. Expand fire protection.	Group Doctor or nurse. Trauma & surgery first aid kit. Books on nutrition.
Barter / Share(8^th priority)	Cash, Water & dried foods. Extra First Aid kit(s). Extra Batteries & LED head lights Basic first aide kits	Add: Extra first aid supplies Basic Skills, Survival & Medical Books, Bibles. Rechargeable batteries.	Add: Extra ammo in common calibers.Extra Stainless Steel 22 Rifles to arm trusted neighbors.	Add: US Silver &/or Gold coins. Organized weekly community barter & swap events.Extra Hand & Gardening Tools.
Extras(9^th priority)	Quality AC inverter (120 volt Plug) for your car(s). Police Scanner, can openers. Pet food.	Several 5 Gal Cans of Gas & maps. Propane (long shelf life), Kerosene & Lamps. Para Cord (Mil Std 8 ply).	Solar power system, hand water pump, rain water collection, grain grinder,	Trauma and Surgical Kit, home school books, encyclopedia, fish nets, and Alternate resort off site stores cached for retreat plan.

This table is an example to present the incremental strategy concept. The actual priorities may vary depending on your situation. If you live near a nuclear power plant, NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) Suits are a higher priority. If you live near a chemical plant, refinery, or areas with frequent wild fires, then Gas Masks & extra filters become a higher priority. If you live in a crowded area with no place to go (Bug Out), then you need more security and motion detection, community organization and weapons to share with neighbors for strength in numbers. See the post Urban Survival Plan

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Sustainable Living System

Here is a brilliant idea for a sustainable living system that utilizes solar and wind power as well as a unique water catchment system. It is called the EcoCapsule. The scenic pictures alone are worth visiting their website for. If anyone ends up buying one, I'd be interested in hearing how you like it, as I may get one too. For about $75,000 you can build your own Solar powered home that would be much larger than this, but not portable and certainly not as cool looking.

For more information see our: Blog Table of Contents

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Solar Powered Home Design

The key to having a solar powered home is not generating thousands of kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power, but rather designing your home to be efficient, function well and only use 1,100 kWh of electricity per month.

First place to start is with the biggest users of electricity which are things that change the temperature like the A/C, clothes driers, heaters, ovens, refrigerators and freezers. It is critical that we minimize the electrical consumption of these.

Use natural gas (or propane) for heating, cooking and drying clothes.
Learn to survive with the temperature 2-4 degrees cooler in the winter and 2-4 degrees warmer in the summer and have energy star ceiling fans in each room.
Use a smaller energy efficient refrigerator (and freezer) set at 45 degrees.
Have on-demand hot water, natural gas or propane; set the temperature at 120F.
Get the absolute most efficient A/C you can buy, especially in the south. Geo Thermal uses the cold ground (well) water to cool your home with lower energy. Often you can use the same well for a water supply.

Second is to address the largest waste of energy from homes.

For this reason, it is important to minimize the number and size of windows and to get the most efficient triple pane PVC frame windows. Note aluminum frames conduct too much heat.
After this comes the walls of the home. This is why we need to use 2 X 6 (spaced 24" apart) walls and ceiling with closed cell spray urethane foam insulation. It must fill the walls and be sprayed on the roof immediately under the decking/shingles inside the attic. This keeps the attic at a more constant temperature instead of having the attic 110 degrees (Fahrenheit) immediately above the home ceiling which is 76 degrees. Instead the attic is 86 and the home is 76.
Other large users of electricity are lighting and vampire loads like the displays on clocks, ovens, microwaves. Energy efficient devices with low energy LED displays will help.
Even more important is the use of LED light bulbs. A 60 watt incandescent bulb uses 60 watts. A 60 watt florescent bulb uses about 18 watts and a 60 watt LED bulb uses about 9 watts to produce the same amount of light. Even better is to use the 40 watt LED bulbs which use 3-5 watts. This cuts the lighting load by over 90%!
Use motion detectors that turn the lights off when no one is in the room, or timers (LED compatible) that can be set for 5, 10, 15...or 30 minutes before turning the lights off. The timers work great in closets, bathrooms, wash rooms or places that are visited less frequently while the motion detectors work well in high traffic area's.
Have faucets with both a hot and cold water valve. Having one lever type valve that operates both cold and hot is very wasteful on hot water.

Other important factors to consider:

Build the house smaller than normal with less space to heat and cool; no high ceilings.
Have a porch over hang on the south side of the house that prevents the high mid-day summer sun from shining directly in your window but that allows the low winter sun in, IF you heat your home a lot in the winter.

Again, the key is an energy efficient home. At time of this writing, a 5,100 watt system to deliver up to 500 kwh/month, the cash cost after utility rebates & tax deductions is under $14,000. Only 6,000 watts runs everything in energy efficient homes 24-7 except an electric drier/heating & A/C.
Questions/Comments? E-mail me at the address in the Prepper Handbook Introduction that can be previewed free on Amazon Kindle.

For additional information see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents

Starter Solar Power System

$5 Solar Battery Charger

Sustainable Living System

DIY Solar System

Here is a link to a unique sustainable living system: EcoCapsule

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Alone Survival Show Pack List Season 1

Here are the top items packed on the Alone survival show on the History Channel.

The first column shows how many of the 10 contestants on the show picked that item for their pack. They only got to carry 10 items each. I think it is interesting to note that the winner harvested most of his food from the water as did many others. For this reason, I believe that fishing string, hooks, trot lines and fish nets are a key part of any survival pack.

For additional information, see the following links:

Blog Table of Contents
Best Prepper Websites (vote for this one)
Complete Sustainable Living Plan

Alone Season 1 Pack List

Alone Season 2 Pack List

Alone Season 3 Pack List

Alone Season 4 Pack List

Alone Season 5 Pack List

Alone Season 6 Pack List

Alone: The Beast S1 E1

Alone: The Beast S1 E2

Alone Season 7 Pack List

Alone Season 8 Cast