April prepping

It's April, it's been in the 70's and 80's here for the past few days, but we have a cold front here now, going to be in the 40's again tomorrow. People are planting their gardens around here and getting ready for summer. What is everyone working on for this month?

Found a lot of cheap ammo. Snapped up a thousand 00 buckshot for cheap, and 3000 7.62x39 for $150/1000.

There is an amazing site where you can find ammo on the cheap. Magazines and reloading supplies too.

If anyone wants it, shoot me a PM. I'm only doing this because things could get out of hand for a number of reasons, but I'm not going to post my secrets for any schmoe to abuse without being a member.

If the crapola ever hits the fan lol, we have to find a way to merge the last 4 years threads of Penham's prepping tips on to one.

Dang just read Latest News guess I better get going on seeing what I need in preps! I am in pretty good shape food and water and I have all my 3 ring binders of instructions all up to date. I just need more bandages and tape and need to look for more holes in my meds.

Gee I really did not want to do this now but have no choice!

FluMom wrote: Albert are we getting more hits since all the s has hit the fan? I have tried to get my friends to purchase ioSAT or similar but they all look at me like I am nuts! Oh, well hope I am! I just think people do not understand that if Alaska is nuked that the winds will bring the radiation down through the grain belt of the U.S. and contaminiate our food sources.    How long will our soil be contaminated is something I don't understand and maybe I am wrong about the contamination but seems logical.

He's got that taepodong 2 missile, but I don't think they've miniaturized their bomb to the point that they're able to load it into that missile and fire it with any hope of it landing on U.S. soil. I believe they're still using the primitive gun type bomb, which increases both size and weight significantly.

This is mostly saber rattling. I think we all know that.

If he were to actually fire a missile and especially one tipped with a nuclear weapon, he's got about another day and a half to live. The NORK Air Force would last about twenty minutes, and after that, they're going to get to learn what a B52 can do the hard way.

A lot of people in Seoul are going to get artilleried, but the ROK forces are more than capable of taking care of the NORKS while we pound them with B2's and B52's.

Denver is on 2 days only for water on lawns and must water anything else by hand. But my mini spray in the morning on my vegi garden for only 5 minutes is better and less water than hand watering. I will start out with that and then go to everyother day to see if plants will do well.    

Weather patterns are a changing...remember the Anasazi!

Melody, congrats on the Berkey. I have a Berkey and extra filters along with arsenic filters due to the mines in Colorado. I am sure it will slow down the process but I have water pitchers to store water in.

You are doing well. I have meds to go over and see what I need but I am as prepped as I can be. I will always not have something that is for sure. Like you I keep working at it!

Melody, just looked last night at the straws. Be aware they do NOT filter out viruses! Only the Berkey Sport will do that. Yes, the Sport takes up room but if the problem is Flu you will need the virus protection. I have purification tablets also for the Berkey Sport just to make sure.

I just did a small BOB for my son's girlfriend at college she lives in Denver and I know he will bring her home. I put just Mountain House food and ioSAT pills in it because my son has water in his BOB and in his Black Box with extras in it.   I told him to transfer all of his water into her bag to lighten his load   He has a tent, Sleeping bag, sleep pad and lots of food along with esbit stove, fuel, and everything else he needs. I also have an emergency sleeping bags in his car so they can use that one on the ground and the 0 degree bag on top of them to keep warm even in very cold weather. The fact she can carry water weight will be a great help to him if they HAVE to come home by land.

I just hope he can drive home but I prepare for the worst case.

As for the extra filters...don't worry Melody I just over do everything...watched too many movies that made me a little nuts.

From Berkey:

The manufacturer suggests 2 methods to figure how long filters will last. The first method is:

1.Multiply the number of Black Berkey filters in your system by 3,000 gallons to get Total Life in gallons for all filter elements within the system.
2.Next, keep track of how many gallons of water you normally use in one day. This is Total Use.
3.Then divide the Total Life by the Total Use. This will be the approximate number of days your filter elements will last before they need replacement.
4.Next, calculate the future date to replace the filters. Write that date on a sticker and attach it to the bottom of your system for future reference.

Example: If you had a family of 4 and each person drinks 1/2 gallon of water a day you would use 2 gallons a day. A two filter system lasts 6000 gallons. Divide 6000 by 2. This gives you 3000. That's 3000 days before you would need to replace your filters. 3000 divided by 365 days a year would be 8.2 years filter life!

I finally ordered my water purifying tabs, I also got 2-way walkie talkies to use for short distance communication if needed.

Thanks! I got the idea because two years ago, there was a 7.2 earthquake in Mexicali, Mexico, which borders Southern California, and I go to school about a two hour drive north of there and somehow, my college town got a bad jolt from it too and communications went down for a while. I had to be the calm one from my group of friends, they were crying and stuff. I found it a bit odd since where I am from, which is about two hours east of San Francisco, in the Central Valley, we don't always feel earthquakes due to the mountains surrounding us. However, down here in the Inland Empire, and those areas, the earthquakes seem rather uncommon. Yet me being the "norcal foreigner" as I call myself down here, was the only calm one. *I got off topic too lol* I wouldn't mind buying the ioSat tabs but I have no idea what vendor is trustworthy on Amazon as most have weird ratings and seller locations. Getting the water bob, at the end of the month when I get my next paycheck :)

In the next couple of days I am going to sort through my over the counter meds and replenish any needed items this week.

Hachiban, you got me thinking. I better get more Benadryl. I like the liquid kind. If someone's throat is swelling from some allergy I'd think liquid would work better...plus easier for my kids to take. I'll have to recheck my meds to see what I have.

Turboguy, great idea about getting a Geiger counter. I would like to know the most affordable but easy to use Geiger counter. I've been wanting one for some time but they seem to be a bit costly or too complicated. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks.

Sounds like a plan. I take a lot of medicines, so I read up on everything I take, I wouldn't take it anyway unless absolutely needed. I am the same with the medicines I currently take. I use a lot of common sense when it comes to medicines. I do have people in my family, who are iodine deficient. All we have here is a bunch of wind lol It's annoying.

Melody, yeah the liquid would be better for children and whatnot. I have medicine induced photo-sensitivity so I break out in little bumps and stuff, itches like crazy so the antihistamines help.

Susan T congrats on the Berkey perfect for lake water.   Everyone just be aware that you have to PRIME a Berkey. Get on the web site and get the instuctions. If you are like me and not using the Berkey until TSHTF you need to set it up ASAP if you can using tap water. Just read the instructions you will understand.

I have it in my head what needs to be done if I can when TSHTF the first is to prime my Berkey the next is to fill all my water containers. By the end of this month I will have all my stores in order and everything up to date.

I just ordered some medical gear like sterile gloves and disposible scalpels. I am going to get some absorbable sutures for internal organs. I already have regular sutures.    Like I said I try to prep for the worst case. My neighbors daughter is a PA and she can do the needed repairs if she is around and my other neighbor is a Nurse Practioner.    If nothing else they are good trade items.

Living in Colorado we are limited on fruit trees. I have crab apples and am looking into some other bushes this summer for fruit.

AMMO now that is an expensive subject. I need more but can I afford it? But I will most likely purchase since my son will need to practice along with me.

Susan I just purchased 2 - 2 gal plastic gas cans at Walmart. I can handle them 5 gal is just too heavy for me. So I plan on just getting smaller cans. I have 3 propane but I have a solar oven and my fireplace insert to cook in also so I am not so worried about propane.

We all seem to be getting back on the band wagon!

Hey flumom, try doing grafting if you want a multiple fruit tree. We did that in my botany class. My tree grew grapefruit, lemons and oranges. It was pretty fun :)

I actually did pick up some more OTC meds today and got all my prescriptions refilled for myself and daughter. I got several bottles each of generic mucinex and cough syrup, generic benadryl, ibuprofen, peroxide and all my prescription stuff like for the nebulizer, inhalers, eye drops and anything that had refills on it.

MelodyAtHome wrote: Turboguy, great idea about getting a Geiger counter. I would like to know the most affordable but easy to use Geiger counter. I've been wanting one for some time but they seem to be a bit costly or too complicated. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/RADIATION-DETECTOR-DOSIMETER-TERRA-P-HOUSEHOLD/dp/B004WP28R2/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365557524&sr=8-2&keywords=Terra+p

This is what I have and where I got it, but mine is in Russian!

It still works really good. There are cheaper models, but this one just worked for me.

You'll be absolutely astounded at the things in your house that are mildly radioactive. Bananas, granite countertops, and concrete are surprisingly radioactive. Microwaves and televisions aren't radioactive at all, contrary to what your mother told you when you sat close.

Take it on a plane for good laughs.

Penham, where did you get generic Benadryl? I couldn't find it at Wally World. Thanks.

Flumom, same here with ammo, very difficult to find the ammo we want but we buy when we see something.

Thanks Penham. I'll check that out as well. I do get my big bottle of acetaminophen at Sam's. Pretty good price but some things I don't want such a large amount...dollar store would be perfect for the items I want in smaller amounts. Thanks. We have a dollar tree here in town.

I did get a few extra food items today, a few boxes of the UHT shelf milk, 6 boxes of rice, several packages of dried beans, several boxes of crackers and I topped off my freezer with frozen meat and frozen fruit and I loaded up on fresh salads, fruits and veggies for at least a week (which I have been stopping and getting fresh every other day) and I will try to keep at least a weeks fresh at a time on hand now.

I bought a few bottles of orange and grapefruit juice, cereal, more rice, beans and a few canned goods today. Will pick up extras anytime I'm in a store now.