Utah Preppers

June 16, 2009June 16, 2009

Evacuation/Emergency Combat Readiness

This is the seventh installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here. The third post, and the first post on the list review is here. This post will cover Combat Readiness.

Contrary to the belief of some, being a Prepper is NOT synonymous with being well armed and ready to protect yourself and your preps in a violent situation. However, this article is specifically about being prepared to defend yourself, your family and your preps if it comes down to it.

History shows us that when things go bad we can expect riots, looters, roving gangs of marauders and plenty of random acts of armed violence. We have witnessed this just this week with the riots in Iran that ended in violence. Or we can look at the looting during Hurricane Katrina, rioting and looting during the L.A. Rodney King riots, the French riots (pictured above) and several others.

Continue reading “Evacuation/Emergency Combat Readiness”

June 16, 2009September 19, 2012

Shelf Reliance: Free On Friday

Our friends over at Shelf Reliance are having a giveaway that they would like people to know about. Now I am slightly loathe to tell folks about it, since hey, I want to win. But it’s only fair to share right? So over on the Shelf Reliance blog they have a post with all the details, some of which I’ll copy here:

“Shelf Reliance is giving away a Harvest 72″ food rotation system! Visit the Shelf Reliance blog at http://www.shelfreliance.com/blog/ to enter. The Harvest 72″ is valued at $459.99 and can hold up to 600 cans, making it perfect for a healthy food storage supply. The winner will be announced on Friday, June 26th, so hurry to the blog for your chance to win!” Continue reading “Shelf Reliance: Free On Friday”

June 15, 2009June 16, 2009

Evacuation Kits – 72 Hour Kits/BOBs/G.O.O.D. Bag Management

72 Hour Kits - Serenity

This is the sixth installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here. The third post, and the first post on the list review is here. This post will cover 72 Hour Kit management.

It seems that every time I inventory my preps I find things that are missing. It’s usually something like that one time when my wife needed to send a couple water bottles to school and the easiest thing to grab was a couple out of a 72 Hour Kit, then we forgot to replace it. Or you needed some batteries, or a flashlight, or whatever. When something can’t be found, it’s hard to not say “Oh, there’s one in the preps somewhere”. Every time it happens there is always good intent to replace the removed item right away – and invariably it is forgotten about.

Continue reading “Evacuation Kits – 72 Hour Kits/BOBs/G.O.O.D. Bag Management”

June 12, 2009June 12, 2009

It’s Offical – we’re in a Pandemic – Link Roundup

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared a Level 6 Pandemic.

There is a lot of good information out there about Pandemic Preparedness. We’ve written several carefully researched articles about Pandemic Preparedness and in order to make them more convenient to our readers, we’ve put together a glossary to try to make finding that information easier. If you know of any pages that have a lot of valuable information on H1N1 (Swine Flu), Pandemic Preparedness or Quarantines, please leave us a link so we can add it to our list.

Continue reading “It’s Offical – we’re in a Pandemic – Link Roundup”

June 12, 2009

Utah Garden Planning Documents

A while back we posted on a series of classes that the incomparable Gordon Wells was teaching throughout the Utah Valley. Some of you may have attended and hopefully have started out on your first gardening attempts or are implementing his teachings into your existing garden.

A coworker of mine went to the same class last year and implemented it in his garden that spring. He was amazed at the results he was able to obtain just by following the simple guidelines laid out by Mr. Wells. He was so impressed that he created a series of three PDF documents that simply and quickly illustrate when and what to plant. Continue reading “Utah Garden Planning Documents”

June 10, 2009June 10, 2009

An attempt to build a rotating compost bin

I’m fascinated by compost. Watching kitchen scraps turn into dirt in just a few weeks time is exciting and anything I can do to improve my soil is worth the effort. I want the ComposTumbler, but finding $429 in the family budget (the price after you give them an email address) for a barrel that holds dirt is proving difficult. So, this past weekend I decided to build my own.

The project was not a success in my mind but I thought I would post this how-to article anyway describing what I tried and the lessons learned in the hope that it will save others of you time and money should you embark on such a project yourself. The unit is complete and in my garden cooking up a batch of compost at this very moment, but it is difficult to use, I have concerns about how long it will last, and the door doesn’t stay closed.
Continue reading “An attempt to build a rotating compost bin”

June 10, 2009June 10, 2009

Survivalist Blog Carnival

We’re part of this and fully support it – we recommend checking out all the awesome posts in this carnival! (the rest of this post is a re-post from the carnival)

Welcome to the first Survival and Disaster Preparedness Blog Carnival. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit their work. I had a lot of fun looking over all the entries and learned a thing or two in the process!

Continue reading “Survivalist Blog Carnival”

June 9, 2009June 9, 2009

As my Garden Grows – So do my weeds!

My new garden is nearly a quarter acre, I had forgotten just how many weeds show up in a brand new garden!

I’ve been gardening all my life – my Father got his Masters Degree in Agronomy and for as long as I can remember he has kept a very large garden, large enough to feed his family of 9. Growing up we spent each spring building hills for the garden and planting, summers were spent weeding and maintaining and fall was always a huge harvest that the entire family participated in.

Continue reading “As my Garden Grows – So do my weeds!”

June 8, 2009June 16, 2009

Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 3

This is the fifth installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here. The third post, and the first post on the list review is here. This post will pick up where we previously left off in reviewing the categories on the Master List.

Continue reading “Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 3”

June 8, 2009

Live Together, Die Alone

(Cross posted from my blog).

photo credit: micsx032

In 1624, the English poet John Donne wrote in one of his Meditations that “no man is an island.” His poem explains how our common humanity ties us together in one common thread, and that as individuals we cannot thrive in isolation. Christians have been taught likewise, their common identity as followers of Jesus binding them together into a body focused on one purpose. Whatever the commonality that brings us together, the simple fact is that our spiritual and physical survival depends on our willingness and ability to help one another along our shared path.

This principle is especially important in terms of preparedness. When a catastrophe comes our way, each family will quickly discover a need for things they didn’t think to keep in supply, and only through bartering and buying from others will they be able to obtain those things. Isolated individuals will be easy prey for roving gangs and other desperate groups. Lack of communication will increase frustration, loneliness, and ignorance. Only by becoming part of a trusted network beforehand will we be able to more easily deal with whatever disasters may strike.

Continue reading “Live Together, Die Alone”

June 5, 2009June 8, 2009

Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 2

This is the fourth installment of the Evacuation Preparedness Kit Series. The first post, on Evac Prep Basics is here, and the second post, which introduces the Evac Prep Master List is here. The third post, and the first post on the list review is here. This post will pick up where we previously left off in reviewing the categories on the Master List. Continue reading “Evacuation Preparedness List Review part 2”

This post is an update and supersedes our original Water Group Buy as we were able to add another Tank that allows participation anywhere in the U.S.!