How Ready Are You?

I need that.

 

One of the many reasons why I want to keep training in hapkido is that I will eventually learn how to fight with a knife, a katana, and a bo staff.

Then I'll be ready.

Other than that, I'm not really ready for much. I do tend to have a lot of canned food and dried goods on hand at any given time (especially tea).

I never really think about these things much. I probably should establish some standard of preparation for likely disasters where I am. Maybe I'll figure something out after following this thread a bit more.

 

Here's a great resource for anyone looking to really up their game, The SAS Survival Handbook by Lofty Wiseman: http://gonzoj.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/sas-survival-handbook-revised-edition.pdf While a good 75% of the book is about surviving in the wild, there is some great information on how to survive at home, and some of the wilderness info is very useful regardless.

Some other links on how to build a good kit: Survival Kits | Emergency Disaster Kit | Red Cross Build A Kit | Ready.gov

I really recommend taking a look at how to build a first aid kit. If you don't want to build your own, I recommend this one: Mountain Series Day Tripper - Adventure® Medical Kits - First Aid Kits and Survival Gear It covers a lot of the basics and it comes in a container that is easy to repack and refill with your own supplies later. We ordered two about five years ago, and I've replenished both multiple times. We keep one in our go bag and the other is in the bathroom, ready to go when we need it. I also have a fully stocked first aid cabinet. It's not difficult to get together the bare minimum needed to provide effective first aid, and having all the supplies on hand can really make a difference.

 

Thanks. I'll likely find some legitimate online resource for the basics.

I'll be more than likely to read this first, though: The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

 

I find it amusing that your wife can't have coffee unless there's milk.

She'd seriously go without caffeine if there weren't any milk?

(I can relate to such a thing. My SO is somewhat picky herself.)

 

That's why I usually have one or two of these on hand, no refrigeration necessary prior to opening:


Your story makes me glad I take my coffee black, but whole milk is good for lots of things, and powdered milk, while useful in other ways, is disgusting.

 

At least here, it's that time of year again. Due to the remnants of Nuri, Oregon is in for some fun weather this week. Like everywhere else, the temperature is supposed to drop. Because we're on the edge of the low, weather is supposed to be very unstable; they're calling for high winds over the next couple of days, so today I'm spending some time to take stock of what I have and secure what I need.

Winter is coming--are you ready?

 

At the moment we are badly unprepared.
We are packing for a move and working on diminishing our pantry. We still have about 15lbs of rice and some soy vadi that could bring us through some hard times, but no propane or gel fuel to cook over, so if our electric went out we would be screwed

Part of my motivation for moving to a warmer climate (next month! Eek!) is so I can keep a year round garden. Between fruit trees and veggies I hope to produce basic sustinence for regular and emergency use. I would like to also keep hens and a miniature cow (or milk goats) as well, since that would give us the option of being self-sufficient. We also want solar panels, a bird-safe wind turbine, and a back up generator, but those are not on our immediate wish list.