Thursday, May 28, 2020

Free Report: ‘How to Build the Ultimate Disaster Survival Kit’


Free Report: ‘How to Build the Ultimate Disaster Survival Kit’


The guys over at Click Survival have released a free survival report called: "How to Build the Ultimate Disaster Survival Kit". This free download aims to ensure that its readers are prepared for all types of disaster, (including the coronavirus/ covid19 outbreak) and to create a functional survival kit that is ready to be grabbed in any kind of emergency. It also draws attention to the common survival situation mistakes that may end up costing you your life.

The report is freely available and at no cost from ClickSurvival.com. It's is available to the survival and 'prepper' community or the wider general public with an interest in building a disaster survival kit.

The free report includes:

  • Learn exactly how to prepare for when the SHTF!
  • 14 items you MUST stock at home
  • 7 things EVERY disaster survival kit needs
  • What everyone MUST do when the lights go out
  • Guidance on how to prepare food for long-term storage
  • ...& LOTS more!

Anybody interested in receiving the free report can get it from: 

Benefits of this free survival report

The report helps to solve the problem of being ready for any disaster situation, as well as detailing all the items you will need for the ultimate disaster survival kit. It ensures that anybody can utilize this knowledge and be prepared for when the disaster comes knocking. This includes the latest coronavirus pandemic, a power outage, earthquake or any number of disasters that are waiting to strike.

About Click Survival

Click Survival was founded in 2020 and is a no-fluff, straight to the point, down to earth website. It brings together the experience from Jim's 20+ years teaching survival skills within the 'Survivalist and Prepper' sector. Its unique position within the sector gives it the authority to produce such a report on building a disaster survival kit because it is a culmination of a wealth of experience from teaching survival skills to people of all walks of life. A survival kit is the backbone of being prepared for any emergency situation and this report helps you on your way to building the ultimate disaster survival kit.


For additional information see the following links:  
Blog Table of Contents 

1) Link to the report:
2) Link to the website:
 

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Best Prepper Vegetable

My parents and grandparents gardened on a scale up to perhaps 10 acres, although typically smaller, and we grew, canned and ate some of our vegetables, year-round.   We understood the Soil Basics, Spring Planting Dates and Fall Gardens.  We Saved Seeds from our best Heirloom vegetables to plant what grows best from our own seed, and knew how many days until harvest.
They usually had a small Green House to start plants early from seed, and then set out the plants after the last frost and also to grow a few winter veggies. 


Starting from green house plants instead of seeds, gave them a few weeks head start and allowed an earlier harvest.  An early harvest began providing food sooner, and commanded a premium at the Farmers Market, when selling our crops, that was often three times (3X) higher than mid season crop prices. 

With my grandparents and dad surviving the great depression, and World War II Food Rationing, they understood their Garden was important for survival.  As a preteen boy during the Great Depression, my dad got a biscuit from government rationed flour and a spoon of scrambled eggs each day from their chickens and then had to use wilderness survival skills to find any additional food he was going to get.  Harvesting food from nature was much easier then than today due to the large population we now have.

The point is, my family did a lot of serious gardening.  From this gardening experience, I've developed some favorites like corn on the cob, green beans, pinto beans, okra, peas, potatoes, squash, & tomatoes, which grew well, taste good and in most cases, were easily preserved.  

But there is one vegetable, that was the easiest to grow and harvest, began to deliver food early, even before most of the other vegetables were planted, and continued to yield nutritious food for several months.   In addition, it was easy to cook and taste delicious.  All of these are great traits for the Best Prepper Vegetable.

That vegetable is Asparagus! Why you might ask?  You plant asparagus once, and let it grow for 2-3 years before harvesting, to let it develop a healthy root system; then each year around the first of spring, you have the first vegetable of the year, and it will continue to produce for several months.  It begins producing about the same time as my turnip greens (and taste much better), which is historically the first garden food of the year.  Further, no pesticides are required to protect from bug, which makes it a good Prepper Vegetable as pesticides may not be available in a serious SHTF Scenario.  It also grows in almost the entire continental United States (see zone map at the bottom) and is very nutritious.

Clearly, you can see this vegetable has a lot going for it.



You can plant seeds, but planting 2 year crowns (roots)  will get you a big head start on reaping your harvest.  I have Heirloom Mary Washington (a classic), Jersey Giant & Jersey Supreme varieties.  The Mary Washington are thin (mans little finger diameter) and tender and the Jersey varieties are thick (mans ring finger diameter) and produce more.  There are constantly new varieties, like AsparaBest, with higher yields that might also be worth trying, but I do like having multiple varieties for redundancy.  I would suggest having multiple plots, with one for each variety to avoid cross pollination.

Don't wait!  Get Started NOW, on your way to a healthier life style and security of your food supply.  With a low budget garden and very little livestock (like chickens), you can survive on what you raise.  Start your small Practice Garden today.

I've included some detailed planting & harvesting information at the bottom.

For additional information see the following links:  
Blog Table of Contents

Gardening Links
Gardening 101– Soil Basics
Green House for year-round food supply
Vegetable Planting Dates
Vegetable Days to Harvest

Seeds for Survival
Preppers Garden
Aquaponics

Prepper Livestock series
DIY Solar System


Or click on a label at the BOTTOM for similar topics.
Here is some additional planting reference information:

Product Details

  • Height: Grows 3 - 4 Feet tall.
  • Spacing: 12 - 18 inches apart.
  • Depth: Plant 6-8 inches deep. These plants can be planted with a trowel.
  • Spread: 12 - 18 inches.
  • Light Required: Full Sun in most cases, but some varieties are better for partial sun. 
  • Yield: Bears when roots are 3 years old, so if you purchase a 1 year plant, you can harvest in 2 years, if you order a 2 year plant you can harvest in one year. Limit harvest the first & second year. It will take 3 years after planting for the plants to be strong enough to be fully harvestable.
  • Size:  6 - 12 inch spears, depending on variety.
  • Zone: 3-8; Zone 9 for some varieties. 

  • Pruning: Cut the ferns down to ground level in the Fall once they have turned brown, or in the early Spring before new growth appears.
  • Foliage: Graceful, feathery green foliage.
  • Comments: Different varieties perform better in different soils, temperature regions, and are hardier than others.  For this reason, I recommend you check out the BLUE Links to select a couple of varieties for your region.  By having more than one variety, you can see what grows best and plant more of that type.
  • Fertilize with one cup of 4-3-1 (NPK) per 25 foot row or for every 16 to 24 plants depending on spacing and how many you have planted in 25'.
 Last note:  I have no affiliation with Gurney's who has good selection and information, so I link to them for your convenience only.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Lessons Learned: Pandemic

After the Coronavirus or COVID-19 "Pandemic" there should be some "Lessons Learned".



First, lets put the COVID Pandemic in perspective.  Approximately the same number of people died from COVID, as from the CDC tracked Influenza & Pneumonia deaths that occur each year.

So it is safe to say that as far as a Pandemic, SHTF Scenario, or Apocalypse is concerned, this one was clearly on the "Easy Setting."  Yet there were empty shelves, long lines at many stores, with shortages and rationing of:
  1. Food
  2. Toilet Paper
  3. Masks to protect from airborne virus
  4. Hand Sanitizer
  5. Sanitary wipes
  6. Disinfectants
  7. Bottled Water
  8. Garden Seeds
  9. and much more that was limit 2 per shopper.
Did we over react? YES, in many ways we did, especially the Main Stream Media, misrepresenting the facts and driving fear.  They never put things in perspective, talking about things like the US has the most cases, but not telling you it was low on a per capita basis, and that we had done more testing than any other country, so naturally we found many cases.


While COVID was quite deadly, the early & decisive actions saved many lives.  Before you object, let me provide some numbers from the CDC. In the United States there are about 50,000 people die each week from all causes.  From the Common Flu, during the winter flu season, there are about 500 Americans die per week.  Two - Three weeks after imposing protective measures the COVID death rate peaked at over 10,000 per week after increasing sharply.  With out the quarantine measures, it would have been much higher.

In the US, a Travel Ban from China for non-citizens was imposed 10 days after the first US case was reported and a month before the first death.  Many thought this was premature (including me), but the China actual death rate (not what they report) was likely staggering according to many indicators: Crematoriums running 24-7, Urn sales and cell phone account closures soaring way above normal.

So what are our Lessons Learned?

  1. Disaster can be upon us before we realize it.  There won't be much, if any warning, and even if there is, most won't recognize it, until it is too late.  Our Red Flag Warnings may help you recognize a potential disaster is coming, or already here, but if not prepared ahead, this early warning will only help you a little.
  2. We must take responsibility for our own safety and well-being. We can NOT depend our our government to protect us from everything. The 2009 Swine Flu (H1N1)  killed as many as 575,000 globally but our governments were still not prepared with enough masks & respirators.
  3. Advance preparations is essential. Disaster can come in many forms, but in this case it was a viral infection which is difficult to fight. Only with specific weapons (not guns), like N-95 Masks and sanitizers, along with good practices, can we fight it at all. Helpful habits include things like washing your hands with soap & hot water frequently, not touching your face, wearing a mask, along with social distancing, especially with new arrivals to our group. 
  4. Security is important, and gun & ammo stores are likely to be shut down by the government as non-essential businesses.  Those that are open, are sold out, even at list price.  So IF you are ever going to want a handgun, or AR and plenty of ammo to protect your home and family, you better do it before you really need it & before it is too late.  Even if / when guns are banned someday, there is likely to be a grandfather clause, allowing exiting owners to keep them for a while, as long as they register them.  Many countries (like Australia) have been through this slow, gradual gun ban process that is achieved incrementally over many years.  Don't wait!  Act Now.  With out a gun, you will just be saving supplies for someone who has a gun, or a large gang big enough to take them
  5. Mental health during quarantine or social distancing is important.  Having movies to watch, books to read, games to play, puzzles to work are good, especially if the on-line games & social networking are not working.  Having someplace to get out and walk or workout is important. 
  6. In hind sight, we should have only quarantined people over 60 & others in the highest population density cities; but we didn't know that at the time, and the lack of upfront knowledge and the inherit unknown risk can be dangerous in many ways.  The lesson here is that the treatment (or actions taken), must not cause more damage than the problem.
So what do we need to have to be ready; next time may not be so easy.

  1. First, look at our Beginners List, then add:
  2. Food
  3. Toilet Paper
  4. Masks to protect from airborne virus
  5. Hand Sanitizer
  6. Sanitary wipes
  7. Disinfectants
  8. Bottled Water
  9. Garden Seeds and a few garden tools 
  10. Have plenty of ammo, and some good Prepper weapons, like a hand gun and an AR.
 Each of these Blue links above have a wealth of additional resources, and Knowledge is Free, so learn what you can by reading.
For more information:
Lessons Learned
Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time
List of Top 10 Lists
Top 10 Prepper Websites
Top 10 Posts

For additional information, visit these sites.

https://www.livescience.com/worst-epidemics-and-pandemics-in-history.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/worst-disease-outbreaks-history#3

Or click on a topic below for additional related articles.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Medical Masks

In a Pandemic, it is critical to understand that different masks have far different levels of effectiveness, and that home made cloth masks are the worst.


During the COVID Pandemic, New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new signature look is a western-style bandana pulled up over his mouth and nose. No doubt he’s well-intentioned. But that kind of face-covering is only a hair better than no covering at all. Science shows it’s a mere 2 percent to 3 percent effective. It’s misleading.




N95 masks, which are molded and fit tight to the face, filter out 95 percent of viral particles, even the smallest ones. These masks offer the best protection, but when in short supply, public officials want them reserved for health care workers on the front lines, so they recommend the public NOT wear them.  Again, it’s misleading.





Surgical masks, the kind you see commonly worn in hospitals and dentists’ offices, are flat and held to the face with elastic. They’re made from a nonwoven material, polypropylene, that is a somewhat effective filter. They protect the wearer from about 56 percent of viral droplets emitted by an infected person nearby, according to research in the British Medical Journal.




Do NOT reuse the mask and avoid touching the outside of the mask, because it’s likely contaminated after use.

If you have to resort to homemade barriers, keep in mind that the more layers of cloth, the better the protection. Four layers likely block out 13 percent of viral droplets, compared with the 2 percent blocked with a single layer, according to a study in Aerosol and Air Quality Research.


Getting everyone to mask up helps to protect the uninfected, and keeps the unknowingly infected from spreading the virus.
 



What’s was the root problem during the COVID Pandemic? Year after year after year, through three presidencies, federal health bureaucrats ignored warnings about inadequate supplies of masks and other equipment in the event of a pandemic. Ten federal reports sounded the alarm, even as the nation witnessed SARS, MERS, avian flu and swine flu that circled the globe. In 2009, during the swine flu outbreak, the federal Strategic National Stockpile dispersed 85 million N95 masks, as well as other protective masks. The masks were never replaced afterward.


Remember our Pandemic Lessons Learned:  You cannot depend on the government and must take responsibility for the safety and security of you and your family.

For the complete story see:


For more information:
Lessons Learned
Top 10 Posts