Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Imagine waking up in your nice first-class berth aboard the Titanic and hearing the crew screaming that you have one minute to get up top and into the boats or youre gonna die. Now, in that minute you have to frantically assemble whatever you can to insure that you’ll survive the long wait in the chilly Atlantic waters. You scramble around looking for warm clothes, maybe a flask of whiskey, that sort of thing….painfully aware that in a minute youre going to have to make do with what you have.

See, thats how I feel most of the time…’under the gun’, so to speak. I know what I want (or need, for that matter)..its just getting those things thats a bottleneck..mostly because of money. Hey, preparing for the uncertain future isnt cheap.

In other news, I was rummaging through the freezer and determined the oldest food item in there is a vaccuum sealed package of ground beef from March of 2001. So I thawed it out and cooked it up yesterday and it was just fine. The big freezer keeps everything around zero degrees and the vaccuum sealing prevents freezer burn and helps to preserve things. So, 2.5 years is, thus far, not too long for properly stored frozen meats to last. Good to know. Also finished off a 15-gallon drum of rice last night. Part of my y2k stash. I’ll head up to CostCo this week and pick up another couple 50# bags and funnel ‘em into the drum. 100# of rice lasts quite a while…and stores very nicely.

Since winter is approaching I need to swing by Home Depot and pick up a few more 5-gallon cans of kerosene. Stores well and is quite safe to store…I can use it in my lamps, heater and camp stove. A very useful fuel.

Two acquisitions I need that are going to be huuuuuugely expensive: property for Rancho Ballistica (aka Area 52) and some sort of uber-reliable vehicle.

Money, money, money…..I should put on a suit and tie and take an ad in the NY Times calling myself a ‘Emergency and Crisis Preparedness Consultant’ and charge NY firms $500 a day to tell them to keep a flashlight and spare batteries in everyones desk.

Imagine waking up in your nice first-class berth aboard the Titanic and hearing the crew screaming that you have one minute to get up top and into the boats or youre gonna die. Now, in that minute you have to frantically assemble whatever you can to insure that you’ll survive the long wait in the chilly Atlantic waters. You scramble around looking for warm clothes, maybe a flask of whiskey, that sort of thing….painfully aware that in a minute youre going to have to make do with what you have.

See, thats how I feel most of the time…’under the gun’, so to speak. I know what I want (or need, for that matter)..its just getting those things thats a bottleneck..mostly because of money. Hey, preparing for the uncertain future isnt cheap.

In other news, I was rummaging through the freezer and determined the oldest food item in there is a vaccuum sealed package of ground beef from March of 2001. So I thawed it out and cooked it up yesterday and it was just fine. The big freezer keeps everything around zero degrees and the vaccuum sealing prevents freezer burn and helps to preserve things. So, 2.5 years is, thus far, not too long for properly stored frozen meats to last. Good to know. Also finished off a 15-gallon drum of rice last night. Part of my y2k stash. I’ll head up to CostCo this week and pick up another couple 50# bags and funnel ’em into the drum. 100# of rice lasts quite a while…and stores very nicely.

Since winter is approaching I need to swing by Home Depot and pick up a few more 5-gallon cans of kerosene. Stores well and is quite safe to store…I can use it in my lamps, heater and camp stove. A very useful fuel.

Two acquisitions I need that are going to be huuuuuugely expensive: property for Rancho Ballistica (aka Area 52) and some sort of uber-reliable vehicle.

Money, money, money…..I should put on a suit and tie and take an ad in the NY Times calling myself a ‘Emergency and Crisis Preparedness Consultant’ and charge NY firms $500 a day to tell them to keep a flashlight and spare batteries in everyones desk.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Ah..looters. Not in the ‘Atlas Shrugged’ context, but real honest to goodness running-down-the-street-with-a-VCR-in-each-hand looters… Its one thing to scavenge for food and water…its another to enter the ruins of someones house and help yourself to their belongings..and its a completely different story to set up your own little goon squad and start robbing the stricken survivors.

There is, of course, one recourse to such evil and ‘it is best delivered with a Winchester rifle’, as TR might say.

Living in Montana is a mixed blessing when it comes to worrying about looters. On the one hand, most looters won’t last long. On the other hand, any looters here are likely to be quite well armed.

Regardless, contrary to the stereotype, we dont spend all our resources worrying about looters and invading UN hordes. Really. But the fact is that when the lights are out, its the middle of winter and theres no idea when the supermarket is going to be open our little heated, illuminated and well-stocked homes are going to look mighty tempting and some people just dont take no for an answer.

What are the standard armaments for the LMI’s? I was mentioning this yesterday to a potential recruit…heres what we went with and why:

AR-15 rifle – We went with this because although an M1A would offer more power we wanted something that would let us get mags, parts and ammo anywhere….every National Guardsman or cop is a potential source. (”Hey soldier boy, trade you a bottle of Jack for five magazines and a firing pin…”)
Rem 870 shotgun – The most common shotgun in the US and a proven design with all sorts of accessories available. The Mossberg is a secondary standard.
1911 .45 – We all like .45’s so we standardized on the 1911 pattern
Browning P35 – 9mm is the most common ammo on the planet so it made sense to have something in that caliber…Glocks and Rugers are pretty common but the P35 has all the same controls as our 1911’s. Theyre also quite reliable and well made
Ruger 10/22 – Again, the most ubiquitous .22 rifle in the US. Mags and accessories are everywhere.

Additionally, we try to keep spare parts for everything as well as ’support materials’ (holsters, cleaning kits, screwdrivers, lubricants, etc).

Thats it for standardized weapons. After that theres caliber standards but no specifics on the firearm itself. For example, everyone has to have a .357 revolver but you can have whatever make you want. Same for a .308 bolt gun. (Although we’ve been thinking about standardizing on the Rem police package)

Although it isnt required, most of us try to have redundancy in our armaments. For example, 2 AR-15, 2 1911’s, 2 Ruger 10/22’s, etc, etc. Sounds paranoid, right? You’d be surprised….

Ah..looters. Not in the ‘Atlas Shrugged’ context, but real honest to goodness running-down-the-street-with-a-VCR-in-each-hand looters… Its one thing to scavenge for food and water…its another to enter the ruins of someones house and help yourself to their belongings..and its a completely different story to set up your own little goon squad and start robbing the stricken survivors.

There is, of course, one recourse to such evil and ‘it is best delivered with a Winchester rifle’, as TR might say.

Living in Montana is a mixed blessing when it comes to worrying about looters. On the one hand, most looters won’t last long. On the other hand, any looters here are likely to be quite well armed.

Regardless, contrary to the stereotype, we dont spend all our resources worrying about looters and invading UN hordes. Really. But the fact is that when the lights are out, its the middle of winter and theres no idea when the supermarket is going to be open our little heated, illuminated and well-stocked homes are going to look mighty tempting and some people just dont take no for an answer.

What are the standard armaments for the LMI’s? I was mentioning this yesterday to a potential recruit…heres what we went with and why:

AR-15 rifle – We went with this because although an M1A would offer more power we wanted something that would let us get mags, parts and ammo anywhere….every National Guardsman or cop is a potential source. (“Hey soldier boy, trade you a bottle of Jack for five magazines and a firing pin…”)
Rem 870 shotgun – The most common shotgun in the US and a proven design with all sorts of accessories available. The Mossberg is a secondary standard.
1911 .45 – We all like .45’s so we standardized on the 1911 pattern
Browning P35 – 9mm is the most common ammo on the planet so it made sense to have something in that caliber…Glocks and Rugers are pretty common but the P35 has all the same controls as our 1911’s. Theyre also quite reliable and well made
Ruger 10/22 – Again, the most ubiquitous .22 rifle in the US. Mags and accessories are everywhere.

Additionally, we try to keep spare parts for everything as well as ‘support materials’ (holsters, cleaning kits, screwdrivers, lubricants, etc).

Thats it for standardized weapons. After that theres caliber standards but no specifics on the firearm itself. For example, everyone has to have a .357 revolver but you can have whatever make you want. Same for a .308 bolt gun. (Although we’ve been thinking about standardizing on the Rem police package)

Although it isnt required, most of us try to have redundancy in our armaments. For example, 2 AR-15, 2 1911’s, 2 Ruger 10/22’s, etc, etc. Sounds paranoid, right? You’d be surprised….

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Question for my favorite crazy-survivalist-type
, what kind of gear/supplies would you suggest that your average Joe Citizen should have in every room in his house?

I’m thinking things like flashlights, self-defense, food, water, blanket, etc – I mean, you can keep all that stuff in one room, but what if, when the time comes, you can’t get to that room?

I’m trying to mentally catalog what I need to find room for in every room in my new place.

Depends on what youre planning for. If you want something for the usual hurricane, power failure, blizzard, etc. you can fit all that in a couple of those black-n-grey ‘ActionPacker’ Rubbermaid containers. (Which I recommend.)

Simplest way to to it, in my opinion, is to stand naked in your living room in the dark in the middle of the night with the heat off and ask yourself “Okay, what do I need at this moment?” I’d go with a change of clothes, lighting, heating, cooking, water, food, communication, defense, portability and a few other things. Specifically:
Change of clothes inc. shoes…seasonably appropriate. You’ll probably be able to get some clothes out of your closet and dresser, but if you have to leave home for any reason in a hurry you’ll at least have one change of clothes with you. Comfortable clothes and shoes, please.
At least two quality flashlights and spare batteries. A good LED flashlight will save you on batteries and can be used alot more freely than a non-LED light. Whatever you get, make sure both take the same size batteries…MagLites are kind of the standard for flashlights. Candles and oil lamps are okay but obviously come with their own hazards.
Heating may or may not be an issue for you. A small propane heater works well indoors but you might just wanna go with a sleeping bag or blanket.
Some type of food that doesnt require much in the way of cooking is nice. If you have a gas stove you’ll probably still be able to use it. An electric stove is obviously another story. If you decide to get a small camp stove, be sure to use it in a well-ventilated area. Coleman makes propane stoves, lanterns and space heaters that run off the small 1# propane bottles that you normally use on torches. Theyre very handy, store well and give good service.
If you know theres going to be a possibility of an outage or other disruption, fill your bathtub. You can drink the water if you have to but its nice to use for washing up and flushing toilets. Save the bottled water for actual drinking. I keep a couple five gallon jugs but also a couple cases of 1-liter bottles. A case of bottled water is less than ten bucks at CostCo.
A good battery radio is a must. Preferably running on the same size batteries as your other battery-powered gear (flashlights, etc). Baygen, Grundig and a few other outfits make wind-up radios that dont use batteries at all. (They make flashlights like that too) and I highly recommend them. If you think you need them, the Motorola FRS walkie-talkies are pretty nice. Usual caveat about batteries.
Your Glock should serve you just fine…have at least a hundred rounds for it and a couple extra mags. A short shotgun would be nice.
Ideally, you want all this stuff in a ‘man-portable’ container so that you can, on a moments notice, grab it and throw it in the back of the vehicle and go, go, go. (If you have a garage where you keep your vehicle, I highly recommend a couple five-gallon cans of gas. Or, always make sure to never let your vehicle go below 1/2 tank.)
Keep some cash on hand. ATM’s will be out and no one is gonna want to take a check. Small denominations. Nothing bigger than $20.
All of this stuff should fit into a footlocker-size footprint. Or a couple of those ActionPackers. I cant say for sure, but I’d guess you could put together the FEMA/DHS suggested ‘72-hour’ kit for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Obviously, for a more….ugly….situation you would need more extensive preps. If you need really, really more specific details on things let me know…

Question for my favorite crazy-survivalist-type
commander_zero, what kind of gear/supplies would you suggest that your average Joe Citizen should have in every room in his house?

I’m trying to mentally catalog what I need to find room for in every room in my new place.

Depends on what youre planning for. If you want something for the usual hurricane, power failure, blizzard, etc. you can fit all that in a couple of those black-n-grey ‘ActionPacker’ Rubbermaid containers. (Which I recommend.)

Simplest way to to it, in my opinion, is to stand naked in your living room in the dark in the middle of the night with the heat off and ask yourself “Okay, what do I need at this moment?” I’d go with a change of clothes, lighting, heating, cooking, water, food, communication, defense, portability and a few other things. Specifically:
Change of clothes inc. shoes…seasonably appropriate. You’ll probably be able to get some clothes out of your closet and dresser, but if you have to leave home for any reason in a hurry you’ll at least have one change of clothes with you. Comfortable clothes and shoes, please.
At least two quality flashlights and spare batteries. A good LED flashlight will save you on batteries and can be used alot more freely than a non-LED light. Whatever you get, make sure both take the same size batteries…MagLites are kind of the standard for flashlights. Candles and oil lamps are okay but obviously come with their own hazards.
Heating may or may not be an issue for you. A small propane heater works well indoors but you might just wanna go with a sleeping bag or blanket.
Some type of food that doesnt require much in the way of cooking is nice. If you have a gas stove you’ll probably still be able to use it. An electric stove is obviously another story. If you decide to get a small camp stove, be sure to use it in a well-ventilated area. Coleman makes propane stoves, lanterns and space heaters that run off the small 1# propane bottles that you normally use on torches. Theyre very handy, store well and give good service.
If you know theres going to be a possibility of an outage or other disruption, fill your bathtub. You can drink the water if you have to but its nice to use for washing up and flushing toilets. Save the bottled water for actual drinking. I keep a couple five gallon jugs but also a couple cases of 1-liter bottles. A case of bottled water is less than ten bucks at CostCo.
A good battery radio is a must. Preferably running on the same size batteries as your other battery-powered gear (flashlights, etc). Baygen, Grundig and a few other outfits make wind-up radios that dont use batteries at all. (They make flashlights like that too) and I highly recommend them. If you think you need them, the Motorola FRS walkie-talkies are pretty nice. Usual caveat about batteries.
Your Glock should serve you just fine…have at least a hundred rounds for it and a couple extra mags. A short shotgun would be nice.
Ideally, you want all this stuff in a ‘man-portable’ container so that you can, on a moments notice, grab it and throw it in the back of the vehicle and go, go, go. (If you have a garage where you keep your vehicle, I highly recommend a couple five-gallon cans of gas. Or, always make sure to never let your vehicle go below 1/2 tank.)
Keep some cash on hand. ATM’s will be out and no one is gonna want to take a check. Small denominations. Nothing bigger than $20.
All of this stuff should fit into a footlocker-size footprint. Or a couple of those ActionPackers. I cant say for sure, but I’d guess you could put together the FEMA/DHS suggested ’72-hour’ kit for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Obviously, for a more….ugly….situation you would need more extensive preps. If you need really, really more specific details on things let me know…

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Logistics and planning…two things that you just cant ignore when youre Commander Zero. Of course, it isnt that I *ignore* it..I just sometimes overlook things. Naturally, two weeks after the nukes go off thats when i’ll suddenly discover Ive got a hundred cases of canned ham and no can opener.

Most of the logistics is simple. If you have a canned ham, pack a can opener with it. If you have candles, package them with some matches. Thats the easy stuff…then it gets exponentially difficult.

Example: Kerosene heater. One heater and some kerosene and youre set, right? Nope…gotta have kerosene, a storage container for the kero, a funnel or pump to transfer fuel, cleaning rags to take care of spilled fuel, a fire extinguisher, matches, spare wicks, a box to keep all these items together, and a few other items. See how it adds up? And thats for something simple. Imagine something more complex like, say, a vehicle. Then youre into fuel, spare fuel pumps, tires, water pumps, radiator hoses, belts, lights, batteries, etc, etc, etc.

Fortunately I dont see my future having a mushroom cloud over it…oh sure, someone *will* nuke/dirtybomb LA or NY, no arguement there. But Montana? Not likely. No, I suspect its going to be a creeping depression and/or infrastructure failure…which means lines for toilet paper, empty meat counters, minimal fresh produce and probably gas rationing or something like it. Think Moscow/Beirut.

Of course, theres a zillion less dramatic things that can happen…unable to work, illness that prevents you from working, etc, etc. The sorts of things that cause alot of people to get in trouble. If you lost your job for, say, six months, how would you fare? Food? Utilities? Bills? See, these are the everyday disasters that are minimized by being prepared….

In other news, Sportsmans Guide has Gamma Seal bucket lids on sale for $5.97 ea. Great price. I love these things. Turns any 5-gallon bucket into a screw-off waterproof, airtight container. Great for storing grains and whatnot. Me and the LMI’s will be ordering a bunch next week.

Logistics and planning…two things that you just cant ignore when youre Commander Zero. Of course, it isnt that I *ignore* it..I just sometimes overlook things. Naturally, two weeks after the nukes go off thats when i’ll suddenly discover Ive got a hundred cases of canned ham and no can opener.

Most of the logistics is simple. If you have a canned ham, pack a can opener with it. If you have candles, package them with some matches. Thats the easy stuff…then it gets exponentially difficult.

Example: Kerosene heater. One heater and some kerosene and youre set, right? Nope…gotta have kerosene, a storage container for the kero, a funnel or pump to transfer fuel, cleaning rags to take care of spilled fuel, a fire extinguisher, matches, spare wicks, a box to keep all these items together, and a few other items. See how it adds up? And thats for something simple. Imagine something more complex like, say, a vehicle. Then youre into fuel, spare fuel pumps, tires, water pumps, radiator hoses, belts, lights, batteries, etc, etc, etc.

Fortunately I dont see my future having a mushroom cloud over it…oh sure, someone *will* nuke/dirtybomb LA or NY, no arguement there. But Montana? Not likely. No, I suspect its going to be a creeping depression and/or infrastructure failure…which means lines for toilet paper, empty meat counters, minimal fresh produce and probably gas rationing or something like it. Think Moscow/Beirut.

Of course, theres a zillion less dramatic things that can happen…unable to work, illness that prevents you from working, etc, etc. The sorts of things that cause alot of people to get in trouble. If you lost your job for, say, six months, how would you fare? Food? Utilities? Bills? See, these are the everyday disasters that are minimized by being prepared….

In other news, Sportsmans Guide has Gamma Seal bucket lids on sale for $5.97 ea. Great price. I love these things. Turns any 5-gallon bucket into a screw-off waterproof, airtight container. Great for storing grains and whatnot. Me and the LMI’s will be ordering a bunch next week.

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Hmm..I sure am posting alot lately.

I was talking with someone yesterday about grains and, to a degree, food storage.

My ideas on food storage are ‘layered’…I have the normal day-to-day foods in large quantity that get used and rotated. I simply buy alot of them at a time. (Spaghetti sauce, pasta, canned meats, canned soups, etc, etc) These are things I use daily but I keep enough of them on hand so that with their normal consumption rate theyd last a couple months. All have a shelf-life of a year or better. (and, actually, they last longer..its just their nutritional value starts to dminish, but their safety and edibility remain.)

Next layer is day-to-day/longer term stuff. This is things like instant potatoes, canned vegetables and fruits, honey (honey is incredible stuff..it literally will last forever), etc. Its basically the same as the above, but with much much longer shelf life. (Example: Im still using Idahoan instant potatoes from 1998. Theyre in #10 cans and have been sealed since then. Taste great.)

Then theres the convenience/emergency food – this is MRE entrees. This stuff is for situations where you cant cook or need maximum portability. MRE’s are already cooked and you can, if you must, eat them cold. But you can also toss ‘em on hot engine blocks, in a pan of hot water, or on a hot driveway to heat them up. If you have to grab your gear and head for the hills theyre a great choice.

Freeze drieds make up the really long term layer. They’re sealed in #10 nitrogen filled cans. Assuming the can doesnt get punctured, the shelf life is over fifteen years. Theyre very, very lightweight. Disadvantages is that they require hot water to reconstitute and they aint cheap. But, theyre good.

Last layer is the bulk stuff… 5-gallon and 15-gallon buckets of wheat and rice. (Corn too, as soon as I get around to it.) I dont care much for beans but they store exceptionally well and may be worth it for trade value…additionally, if I get hungry enough, I’ll eat anything. (Plus, beans and rice [or corn and rice] make a complete protein.) The wheat is the most versatile…it can be sprouted for fresh greens, made into flour, craked and made into a meal, or made into bulghur. Pretty versatile. Lasts forever too.

Combine all this together and you can come up with some pretty decent meals. Of course, this doesnt include whatever I can scrounge at the last minute. Nor does it take into account whatever foodstuffs that arent already set aside may be in the fridge/cabinets.

Still need a few other things like dehydrated butter, eggs, that sort of thing. Im also wanting to get a really, really high-end hand-crank grain mill…the wone I want is about $310 but it’ll last a lifetime and grinds to all sorts of granulations.

Ive got a spreadsheet around here somewhere that keeps track of all this stuff. On the 2000 calorie diet its around 2.5 months…good for short-term stuff…but I want at least six-months and ideally a years worth. Ive got the storage space, that isnt a problem…just gotta cough up the $.

Hmm..I sure am posting alot lately.

I was talking with someone yesterday about grains and, to a degree, food storage.

My ideas on food storage are ‘layered’…I have the normal day-to-day foods in large quantity that get used and rotated. I simply buy alot of them at a time. (Spaghetti sauce, pasta, canned meats, canned soups, etc, etc) These are things I use daily but I keep enough of them on hand so that with their normal consumption rate theyd last a couple months. All have a shelf-life of a year or better. (and, actually, they last longer..its just their nutritional value starts to dminish, but their safety and edibility remain.)

Next layer is day-to-day/longer term stuff. This is things like instant potatoes, canned vegetables and fruits, honey (honey is incredible stuff..it literally will last forever), etc. Its basically the same as the above, but with much much longer shelf life. (Example: Im still using Idahoan instant potatoes from 1998. Theyre in #10 cans and have been sealed since then. Taste great.)

Then theres the convenience/emergency food – this is MRE entrees. This stuff is for situations where you cant cook or need maximum portability. MRE’s are already cooked and you can, if you must, eat them cold. But you can also toss ’em on hot engine blocks, in a pan of hot water, or on a hot driveway to heat them up. If you have to grab your gear and head for the hills theyre a great choice.

Freeze drieds make up the really long term layer. They’re sealed in #10 nitrogen filled cans. Assuming the can doesnt get punctured, the shelf life is over fifteen years. Theyre very, very lightweight. Disadvantages is that they require hot water to reconstitute and they aint cheap. But, theyre good.

Last layer is the bulk stuff… 5-gallon and 15-gallon buckets of wheat and rice. (Corn too, as soon as I get around to it.) I dont care much for beans but they store exceptionally well and may be worth it for trade value…additionally, if I get hungry enough, I’ll eat anything. (Plus, beans and rice [or corn and rice] make a complete protein.) The wheat is the most versatile…it can be sprouted for fresh greens, made into flour, craked and made into a meal, or made into bulghur. Pretty versatile. Lasts forever too.

Combine all this together and you can come up with some pretty decent meals. Of course, this doesnt include whatever I can scrounge at the last minute. Nor does it take into account whatever foodstuffs that arent already set aside may be in the fridge/cabinets.

Still need a few other things like dehydrated butter, eggs, that sort of thing. Im also wanting to get a really, really high-end hand-crank grain mill…the wone I want is about $310 but it’ll last a lifetime and grinds to all sorts of granulations.

Ive got a spreadsheet around here somewhere that keeps track of all this stuff. On the 2000 calorie diet its around 2.5 months…good for short-term stuff…but I want at least six-months and ideally a years worth. Ive got the storage space, that isnt a problem…just gotta cough up the $.