Friday, May 25, 2012

I'm a Prepper, Are you a prepper? Maybe you should be a Prepper too!

 I'm a Pepper.  Are you a prepper?  Maybe you should be a prepper too!


prepper, prepping, survivalist, why we prep, American Trucker Association, when trucks stop,
One of our cabinets.


       Don't you love the today's title?  If you are old enough to remember the old Dr. Pepper commercials, then you will appreciate the humor in it.  If not, sorry.
       Anyway, some of you may be wondering what a prepper is.  Well, a prepper is someone who prepares for the unknown.  I heard there is even a television show out now about preppers.  We do not watch tv at our home.  Well, we do.  We watch DVD's and Blu-rays but have not had a satellite dish or cable in over 5 years.
       Back to the subject at hand.  We have been prepping for about 3 years now.  We are not die hard, hard core or anything like that but the world is getting unstable with the national and global economy, natural disasters, and world conflicts.  I just want to be able to take care of my family if something happens.
       Do not judge me.  I am not crazy.  (Well, I am but that has nothing to do with why I am a prepper.)  Click on this link that was put out by the American Trucker Association (When Turcks stop, America stops)
I do not know what tomorrow holds but I want to be prepared.  I do not want to fight my friends and neighbors for items because no one was ready.  I want to be able to help them out if something happens.  I am not just talking national.  It could be loss of power from a few days to a few weeks due to an ice storm or tornado.  I do not want my children crying for food.  I want to be ready.
       Everything I have saved and purchased can be used if nothing ever happens.  I have one room strictly full of shelves filled with supplies and groceries.  We have flour, sugar, rice, and beans in 5 gallon buckets.  We have quite a bit of water and water purification tablets.  My family knows how to hunt and fish.  We have 2 gardens and I do a lot of canning.  Sometime I will do a full post about all we have done to prepare, along with showing you the contents of our 72 hour kits.    Is that something you all would be interested in seeing/reading about?
       Are you doing anything to prepare for a disaster of some type?  What are you doing?  If not, would you like to share why not?
   

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow me on Pinterest





18 comments:

  1. We are beginning to prep. It is something my husband and I feel very strongly about. I am sorry I haven't started sooner, but we are working on it. We have a water distiller and are distilling and storing water everyday. We can tomatoes every year. I have a pressure canner on my wishlist at Amazon. I really want to learn how to can vegetables and other items this year. I started a lot of plants from seeds for our garden this year. I would definitely be interested in any posts you would be able to share and whatever advice/guidance you could provide! Have a great weekend and thanks for being willing to share your expertise/experience with us! Many blessings, Lisa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa, I am glad that you are trying to prep also. Having the mindset to do it and starting is great. I wish we had a water distiller. What an awesome thing to have. Water is so vital! I so appreciate you and your comments! God bless you, Melody!

      Delete
  2. Hi. We used to prep and had enough for at least 3 months. Then we moved across the country and donated it all. Now we don't prep because we live with the MIL. She won't hardly let us cook or buy groceries unless she preapproves it. She is a hoarder. She has food in the cupboards from the early 80s. The freezer is full of leftovers from 1991 to 1998. You can't reason with her. I pray every night for God to help me get out of here. I have no car and don't know anyone here. My husband won't get a job or do anything to help us to leave. He lied to get me here and now I am stuck here with a 6 month old baby. I like your blog. The internet is pretty much my only contact with the outside, and she only got it because it came with her phone bundle. I used to live normally and I miss it. All my family that I know are deceased so I really have no one. Plz pray for me. Thanks. I hope nothing to horrible happens because I have no prep now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have been prepping for a couple years now. Not only food and water but I have gotten Camping gear such as a tent and cook stove in case of an earth quake that may damage my house i can live in the yard with all the comforts I enjoy at home. Also Have everything in easy to carry totes in case I have to bug out quickly. Every thing I buy is what we use everyday. so nothing will go to waste. I use it and replace as I go

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have started prepping just a year or so ago. I have always kept a pretty good stock in my pantry but with times getting harder and possible unforseen emergencies it only makes sense to be better prepared. I am a recent widow with a 18 y.o. son, so maybe I worry a little more and feel like I need to be more prepared. I continually use our preps and rotate them out, with the one income now it has come in so handy. Another reason to prep, life can change in a moment, it has been wonderful to have something to fall back on when funds have been tight. We live in a very rural place, so thankfully we can garden and hunt if need be. My parents lived thru the depression when they were young so they were always very frugal and taught us many things you need to know about getting by with what you have. I hope many more people will begin to prep and encourage others. Love your blog, thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems we both have a same mind set. We live in a very rural area ourselves and know that we will be better off than others living in the cities. I truly appreciate your comments and am honored that you read my blog!

      Delete
  5. I would be interested in reading more about it. We don't prep, but maybe we should be. After reading this it seems like common sense. I am wondering though how long those supplies last before going bad? Do you have to rotate supplies and use some of them and replenish with new?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janine, when I buy canned goods, I try to buy the ones that expire usually 2 years out. That way, they will last awhile. Rice and beans, flour and sugar all have a pretty decent shelf life also. About every 3 months, I do try to go and check dates and rotate items. When i need to restock my kitchen cabinets, I pull from my prep storage and when I go to the store, I place the new items behind the older prep area. Does that make sense?

      Delete
    2. Canned goods with an expiration date are not necessarily bad. That is just the date that the manufacturer recommends for the best flavor. I was in food service in the navy and we would have our outdated cans checked by the medical staff and recertified for an additional two years as long as the cans were not dented, rusted, bulging or showing any signs of compromise. And they could be extended again in two years if they had not been used yet. It depends on what food you have and how you have it stored as to how long it will last. There is tons of information on that on line.

      Delete
  6. Hi there. I couldn't find your E-Mail Address. Could you maybe write me one (HannahKraus@gmx.de), so I can write back? : ) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi! Yep, we are proud preppers :-) I never was too much, but when I got married, my hubby got me into it A LOT. We have a lot of projects in the works for more self reliance, and like you, we consider ourselves fortunate to live in the country. This helps us to be able to implement a lot of our plans. We don't worry about water a whole lot, since we are on a well. One of our goals is to install a windmill to pump our house water so that we won't have to use the electric pump for the water. We do have a huge water storage tank that stores water, so we only need to run our water pump occasionally, rather than continuously, which cuts down a ton on our electric bill. We would also like to make a windmill to generate power for the house, which we would like to have installed within the next two years. We have a food stock pile, as well as an underground shelter. We always garden every year, and raise beef and chickens for eggs. Hopefully, within the next few months, we will also have a milk cow. Our big spring project is planting around 200 fruit trees, as well as an expanded garden. I would love to hear more about how you have "prepped"!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Annie, so glad you dropped by. Love hearing from like-minded people. We have 3 wells and have a well bucket for power outages, etc. We also have an outhouse so if something bad happens, we can still have a "toilet". Hubby is working on a windmill to charge batteries with and we have 2 large storage tanks to hold water in also. We don't have an underground shelter though.

      Delete
  8. Hi, my family and my brothers family all prep. We also have incorporated a large garden into our daily lifestyle, with a greenhouse and our own chickens. I rotate all food, and continue to stock pile as each week goes by. It doesn't mean that I think the world is coming to an end, but it does mean that I know that in reality events happen and I want my family to be prepared. We'd be irresponsible not to prep and plan for an emergency event, especially with the way the world is today. We even prep for our animals as well. Sounds crazy, I know...but our animals are very important to us and we want to make sure they are going to be ok too, if something were to happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim, that is awesome that you have other family members who are on the same page as you. Having that network is a huge bonus to your preps. Prepping for your animals is SMART! If you are like us, the animals feed you in some manner (eggs, meat, milk, cheese, etc.) and you will depend on them in an emergency.

      Delete
  9. yep, us too. Got our rain barrels set up and can store a lot of water. Built us a solar dehydrator and dry most of our food. We have an electric dehydrator to finish up what the sun doesn't finish in a day. Our big investment this year was a new generator. We utilize the LDS cannery for bulk goods since it is such a great place to buy in bulk and take the canner home and can goods ourselves. (we are not lds but have made great friends there) Have a sister that started to prep too and her husband had to have some major surgery and she was so glad she had preps. She only needed to have us bring her bread, milk and eggs. She had everything else she needed so didn't need to waste time going to the store when he was in the hospital and when he came home too. Thats what Preps are there for, use them if you need them. She was so glad she had hers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do not have a solar dehydrator yet but have the items to make one. We have one solar panel and hubby is building a windmill to charge batteries with. We have a small generator and would like to purchase a bigger one and more solar panels when we can. Prepping is a smart way to go. You never know when life will throw you a curve ball and it saves you, just like it did your sister! Thanks for your comments!

      Delete

How to Make a Classic Christmas Rainbow Poke Cake

            This recipe has been around for a LONG time and to me, it never goes out of style.   It is colorful, festive, moist and utterl...