Preparations
A guide to
self reliant living
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A kerosene-powered kitchen! Ideal for survival situations.
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By Miles
Stair
(Note
dated March 28, 2008: The prices listed in this article
are out of date. But with inflation raging, revising the prices
every week would be a waste of time. Buy smart - compare
prices - and haggle when you buy!]
A self reliant
lifestyle, put simply, means anyone can be independent
of "the system," building toward as much self sufficiency
as possible, given the limits of present day living conditions.
Should the electric power go out or natural disasters leave you
isolated, plenty of stored food and water, plus heat and cooking
systems, etc, will enable your family to continue to be warm and
nourished during the emergency and beyond. If Martial Law is declared
or terrorist attacks occur, you need not leave the safety of your
home, unless your individual foresight and planning include an
"early out" to a retreat with pre-positioned supplies. Thus your
family need not take the Mark of the Beast when imposed upon us
by the One World Order. We will have stored food and water, essential
to life. Add in faith, and we will wait Him out. Remember the
seven lean years!
The concepts involved in self reliant living are simple. The
implementation is not. It takes dedication and effort to prepare
for adversity. The beneficial need of prudent preparations are
self evident. With proper preparedness comes security and peace of
mind. Problems will slide away as you enable yourself to believe
in your ability to just live without fear and struggle. You will
not have to rely on government handouts, a community shelter, a
food line, or daily onerous trips laden down with milk jugs to the
county water tanker truck if available.
Those who are not prepared will be controlled. The alternative to
preparing to survive on your own is depending upon the government
to do it for you. Are you willing to move into a crowded
shelter or camp which may be hundreds of miles from your home?
The government has been prepared for just that type of event for
years.
So, how does
one become prepared? First, you need an ample
supply of stored
food. Begin with inexpensive bulk foods such as
rice, grains and
beans, then build around these with home dehydrated vegetables
and "hamburger rocks." We share tasty recipes called
"Manna meals"
food and recipes that really work in hard times. Planning and
cooking meals will differ from the plentiful array of foods found
at stores that we now expect to always be available just by pushing
a shopping cart. Does anyone remember the Ration Stamp Books of
WW II? They will be issued again. Be prepared for a
food shock as the price of food
staples increase dramatically.
If
you have the space - even a little space - strongly consider
gardening for a continuing supply of
fresh produce. A survival garden can even be hidden if you
have any bit of privacy to provide additional security for your
food supply - a Secret Garden.
If
you have or can build a greenhouse,
semi-hydroponic gardening
can supply fresh greens virtually year-round - lettuce and spinach
in the warmer months, and chard for most of the winter.
And
be prepared to save your own garden
seed! Of course you must
start with good non-hybrid
seeds. Then saving your own seeds for planting the following
season gives you a great deal of self reliance from what could
happen at any time -
Help! The Grocery Store Shelves are Empty
  
Stored water
is essential to long term survival, particularly if there is a
workable method to replenish the supply independent of local water
plants. (See Miles' booklet on
rain water collection, storage and delivery.)
 
Let us consider
some basic needs essential for a normal degree of living: heating,
cooking and lighting. This must be done in such a way as to be
reliable, inexpensive, non-observable to passers by, yet independent
from the utility grids.
Kerosene heaters,
cookers,
lanterns and
lamps fill the bill perfectly. For the long term,
wood cooking
and
heating may well be required, but the tell tale smoke from
fires would be an obvious beacon to others, and not safe to use
until the dust settles...or normalcy returns.
   
Tools are
also needed, such as meat and grain grinders, hand saws and other
hand tools.
Battery operated radios can be operated with a
solar
charger, and of course wind up or hand pump radios and
flashlights are available,
as news of world events would be critical.
      
These and many other issues of physical preparation will be
covered in the sections to follow. Each menu item will link to a
separate section of preparedness, so you can click to the area of
your immediate interest.
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Now, a complete off-the-grid
Family Preparedness Emergency
kit! |
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John at
St. Paul Mercantile asked me to recommend what should be
included in an actual working Family Emergency Kit. I
chose those items I have actually used for at least a decade
and know to work well in emergencies. I had to hunt long and
hard to find those items years ago, and now they are available
in
one nice package at far less cost than buying them
individually. (Continues below) |
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Click to enlarge photo |
St. Paul
Mercantile is now offering a Family Emergency Kit with
everything you need to cook, bake, light your home, listen to
the radio, and produce clean drinking water. The kit includes
1) a #2418 Double Burner Stove, extra fuel bottle and 8 extra
wicks, 2) a #2412 Brass Pressure Stove that is small and
compact so you can quickly pack it if you need to leave your
home suddenly, 3) a #2421 Oven that you can use on your
double-burner stove to bake bread and meals, 4) a #828
Pressure Lantern with a dozen extra
mantles, 5) 3 "railroad" type lanterns for reading or lighting
a table, 6)an emergency AM/FM/Shortwave radio that also picks
up weather and emergency bands, plus it can be powered by AC,
batteries, solar power, or crank power, 7) an incredible fuel
filter funnel; 8) a hand crank LED flashlight, and (9) an
Aqua Cera water filter to remove bacteria from virtually any water source to make
safe drinking water. |
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The first
item required is a good, reliable everyday kitchen stove.
That would be the #2418 double burner stove. See the
photo at the top of this page? On the left side you can
see the edge of my #2418 double burner stove, and that photo
was taken nine years ago. My review and operating instructions
are here.
The second item needed was a good portable, any-fuel
stove - the Butterfly #2412. More info
here.
Third, frying isn't enough, because the staff of life -
bread - requires baking. The double-walled #2421
Butterfly Oven is the answer. More info
here.
The fourth item required is lighting. The Butterfly
#828 rapid start lantern was designed to illuminate a field
kitchen with any fuel available anywhere in the world, so it
will easily light up a room as well as electric lights.
More here.
Walking around in the dark is not too swift, and railroad
lanterns are safe and very fuel efficient. The items
above use fuel, and fuel found in an emergency can be
contaminated. Hence, the fantastic
filter funnel
listed above. I was thrilled when I found that funnel 8 years
ago! Communications are important so you know
what is going on in the world. The AM/FM/SW radio in the
kit can be stored for years, then work when you need it on
either solar power or winding the crank for a few minutes to
charge the internal batteries. And finally,
a proven
reliable water filter completes the kit, as safe drinking
water is imperative. |
Economy Family
Emergency Kit
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| Includes a #2487 stove, 4
extra wicksets, oven, 3 hurricane lanterns, radio, LED
flashlight, and bucket water filter kit (2 10" ceramic plus a
spigot). The lanterns also come with extra wicks.
$249.00. |
Should you tell your friends, neighbors and relatives about your
preparations?
Absolutely not. No. Never. If there is a crisis
or emergency, you will want the option of inviting those whom
you choose to share in your preparations. What
are the alternatives? Let me quote from a famous "aftermath"
reconstructionist.
"A Just Economic
System is about entitlement. All persons, in an abundant society,
are entitled to subsistence. That is to say; to sufficient food,
shelter, clothing and basic health care, for a reasonable standard
of life. In a less than abundant society, decisions sometimes
have to be made in favor of those who can contribute to the
survival of the society and those who can't or won't."
"Our main concern
with entitlement is, who (i. e. which entrepreneurs) are entitled
to the factors of production (land, labor, existing goods).... It
is necessary that distribution of resources will be based upon
value judgments as to the future possibilities present in the
person...."
"The gathering
together of food supplies will be a very contentious issue, and
for those few who have made prior preparation, or who happen to
have control of sufficient stocks, it will be one filled with
trepidation. The balance between the rights of those who have
prepared, and the need to access the supplies of those who are
simply hoarding, will need to be accomplished with wisdom by
the Directorates."
Marvelous. Your preparations would be considered "hoarding"
by those too lazy to prepare now! If those quotes
don't scare you into keeping your preparations to yourself,
nothing I could say would convince you....
The
first principle of warfare is to identify your friends, identify
your enemies, and remember which is which.
Proverbs 22:3:
“A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for
them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”
Proverbs 21: 20.
In the
house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish
man devours all he has.
Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to
the ant, you sluggard; observe its ways and be wise! It has no
commander, overseer, or ruler, yet it prepares its food in the
summer; it gathers at the harvest what it will eat.
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SURVIVAL CREED
THE WELL PREPARED ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO ENDANGER THEIR OWN
SURVIVAL TO ASSIST THOSE WHO HAVE REFUSED, FOR WHATEVER REASONS,
TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR OWN WELFARE!
POOR PLANNING BY YOU DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN EMERGENCY ON OUR PART!
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Words of Wisdom
- Preparedness
is expecting the unexpected.
- There
are no emergencies for those who are truly prepared.
- It
is better to have it and not need it than need it and
not have it.
- How
to do it: Re-order your priorities -- get back to the
basics.
- Sacrifice
immediate gratification to gain long-term security.
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