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Here is my favorite dehydrating book that actually came with my Excalibur Dehydrator. I would recommend getting a book to show you the foods that you can dehydrate safely. Remember, you can dehydrate in your Sun Oven, your conventional oven, a dehydrator or a frame with some screening outside. It’s all about preserving….and it’s so much healthier than what you can purchase, and cheaper too.

Here are some awesome LifeStraws. These little gems can filter up to 1000 litres of water. Check tomorrows post….we are giving away three of these…….this is a great item for your 72 hour kits! (more…)

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Today is a post all about H2O. Here are just a few options for your water storage. Lets get something straight right now because if your budget does not warrant buying filled containers….please fill any container that is safe to store water. Please remember we will all need water for sanitation, cooking, etc. We need LOTS of it! (more…)

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Here are some things I have read from different articles that people learned from Hurricane Sandy.

The first two paragraphs are from my niece, Maralee who I have mentioned before about how she invited friends, neighbors, Church members and strangers to her home because her heat was restored during Hurricane Sandys wrath. She invited people over for Hot Chocolate and movies. She told me she was totally prepared (I am one proud Aunt!) as far as food and water. Please read her thoughts so we can all learn from each other.

Hi Aunt Linda.  I would have to say that lack of food and water was not our biggest issue. Warmth was. The temperatures at the time were even in the 50s and we felt miserable in the cold house. Luckily for us, our power was restored before temperatures really dropped. Having a way to warm up even one room was a big deal and we have paid a lot of attention to that for future emergencies. Plus, we saved our generator at first because we didn’t have any “real” emergencies, but eventually put it on for internet and to power some entertainment devices because boredom and being cold really set us on edge. Some people have suggested having “no power weekends” as a way to practice for long-term power outages. We are getting our fireplace fixed and investing a lot in practical indoor propane heaters that won’t output a bunch of carbon monoxide and endanger us. We are too used to being warm inside our houses!

For us, dealing with the cold was our biggest issue. We were very silly in the fact that while we had adequate food storage, we had not yet fixed the lining of the chimney (we just bought our house in April) because it was expensive and we didn’t think it was very necessary. We would have loved to use that fireplace during the cold days without power (and its light and warmth would have been a huge morale boost at night, too). It’s amazing how much heat even a small living space requires (more than our seeming adequate propane heater could put out). Our house these days are built for pretty, not for heat retention (a giant foyer looks great, but my friend with a large, beautiful house will tell you, she hated her “beautiful” foyer after only a few days without power, knowing that it was wicking away all the heat her fireplace was putting out).

Here are some more thoughts about living through a disaster or unexpected emergency:

1. Yes, this can happen to you, me or us

2. We are never really prepared to go longer than a day or two without power, water, air or heat

3. You will need lots of propane, gasoline, kerosene, firewood

4. Better have a fire-starter, flint or matches

5. 3 or 4 cases of bottled water is not water storage

6. If you don’t have enough water stored-you are in trouble

7. Cash is one of the most important things to have (money at the bank, credit union or stocks-means nothing in a disaster)

8. Store as much fuel as water

9. Around day 3 the stress creeps in…temperments start changing for the worst

10. Stored water can taste nasty-I personally store “True Lemon”, they are inexpensive and come in different flavors: lemon, lime, orange, etc. for the nasty tasting water!

11. You eat more food when your kids are out of school for 2 weeks

12. What if you have enough food and supplies for your own family and then the neighborhood kids show up at your door?

13. Your 1972 Honda Civic can get you to the store just as well as a 2012 Escalade…but the Honda allows money left over for heat, food, a generator, etc.

14. Some of your neighbors shut down in an emergency…and there is nothing you can do about that

15. Some things take a ton of power: refrigerators, toasters, microwaves, freezers, etc.

16. Most things do not take much power to run: computers, phones, radios, TV’s, etc.

17. Some things you can’t have enough of: matches, paper plates, paper cups, plastic silverware, toilet paper,

18. Stock up on Medicines (Advil, Tylenol, cold medicines,, etc.)

19. Small solar charging devices are a necessity not a want

20. When it gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon the nights get really long without power

21. All the expensive clothes in your closets are worth nothing if they won’t keep you warm

22. You need a lot of firewood to keep your home warm day after day

23. Someone in your family needs to learn to play the guitar

24. Kids do not like washing their face in cold water

25. The electrical grid is more fragile than most people realize

26. All the food storage in the world means nothing if your kids won’t taste it, let alone eat it

27. Neighbors can be a great resource, they can also become a huge drain on your food storage. Be prepared to handle this situation, it is easy to share on day 3, not so easy on day 11. It’s reality.

28. Anything that you depend on someone else for is not available anymore

29. Mom, Dad everything you have done for your kids is forgotten very quickly if your kids are hungry

30. Normal social behavior quickly goes out the window. People become like animals when  hunger is involved. It’s worse when it’s your kids that are hungry and crying……..

31.  Heat, get one or two sources of heat to warm just one room….until power can be restored. If your fireplace needs repair don’t wait to fix it. Do it now and start storing fuel safely for your area/community. We never know when we might need it.

These are only a few of the statements I have read…..it only reinforces why Kendra and I want to teach the world how to be prepared for the unexpected emergency or disaster. I would totally recommend some sort of solar or temporary power system that works for your area. I would also say get one or two ways to warm your family. I have electric blankets or I can layer LOTS of blankets at night but the days can be brutal if we are too cold. The red buckets above is how I store my Ozark Oak Lump Charcoal. I sure wish I had a fireplace……….Let’s be prepared together.

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Well, Kendra and I have talked about the various ways to store our 72 Hour Kit Stuff. We want to show our readers how easy it is to start with some sort of storage area to store the items we might need to grab in a hurry in a disaster or unexpected emergency. I did not put my 2 weeks of food storage in the garage because of the temperatures we get here in Southern Utah (extremely hot in the Summer). The large blue WaterPrepared High Capacity Water Tank is on the right. It holds 160 gallons of water. (Replaces three 55 gallon tanks). Of course you can also see all the junk I have in my garage! It’s all about emergency preparedness I keep telling my husband! This shelf I bought and had delivered from Costco.com. It is 48 by 18 by 72 inches tall complete with wheels.
The top green bags are C.E.R.T. emergency bags with lots of disaster/emergency stuff. The next shelf has my Big Berkey Water Purifier with 6 filters so I can purify 18,000 gallons of water. I put our Volcano Stove on its side (it uses propane, wood or lump charcoal). The container on the right holds some Sport Berkey Bottles (which filter but not purify water). The third shelf has a $20.00 Butane stove with Butane next to it. It’s an easy stove to boil water, cook some yummy hot chocolate or soup. The silver pan has dishes, silverware and metal cups that fit inside. The two deals on the right of the silver pot are Thermal Cookers. If you are wondering what they are, we did a post and Kendra even did a YouTube showing how to use them. They are awesome! My friend, Julene from http://preparetodaywardnewsletter.blogspot.com/ did a post on her website about them and the rest is history! Thanks again, Julene.

The fourth shelf has several pots, pans to cook with. The container on the right has several N-95 surgical masks. The bottom shelf has our 72 hour kits with tags (to remind us to take prescriptions, and the Food Storage Moms Binder). I have a potty chair with  500 Costco baggies. You can see the WaterBrick blue water containers (filled and ready to grab). You might be wondering why everything is in plastic zippered bags. Well, we have LOTS of dust in Southern Utah. I use these to protect everything from dust and rodents.

This is a plastic zippered bag I store two weeks worth of food for any emergency if I need to leave at a monents notice from my home. The food I purchased has a five year shelf life so I rotate the water and my food on the same timeline. I store this inside my house conveniently located to grab and go.

Here is my Pet’s 72 Hour Kit Bag….yes I have two ShihTzu’s. Where I go, they go. Remember to pack something for your pets. I have dog food, water and food dishes, sweaters, leashes, etc. I also have a dog stroller….yep, I have a couple of spoiled puppies. They would be would be out of breath if we had to use only their leash for any length of time. Let’s not forget that the Red Cross will not allow pets in any emergency shelter. I hope this post inspires someone to start gathering items for your emergency 72 Hour Kits. Let’s do it together!

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Today is a good day to talk about water preservation.  I want to start with a few containers that I like. The first one is the Big Berkey.
It’s the large silver one in the picture. It actually can purify water with with two different types of filters depending on the bacteria. You can purify approximately 12,000 gallons before needing to replace the filters.

The blue bottles with the black tops are called Sport Berkey Portable Water Purification Bottles. They have a built in filter not a purifier in each bottle. You can buy replacement filters as well. I personally purchased these for my own 72 hour kits/bug out bags. I chose to buy these slowly for all of my family members. They are nice for camping or hiking too.

I also like the “WaterBrick “. According to their website they are BPA Free and FDA approved. The larger ones hold 3.5 gallons. The smaller ones hold 1.6 gallons. They stack together similar to “legos”. I have 16 of these laying with their “legs” down so they are about 2 inches off the ground under my guest rooms queen size bed. This gives me 56 gallons of water stored. I did use my favorite “Water Preserver” which is EPA approved. The thing I like the best about it is the fact I only need to “change” the water every 5 years.

According to the Water Preserver  instructions it states: 1 gallon needs 8 drops-I used 1/2 tsp. in each 3.5 gallon WaterBrick size which is 28 drops.  Here’s the deal I counted the drops and I could have blinked…no guarantees but I put 1/2 tsp. in each container. Please count your drops so you feel secure in the amount you use. I used 12 drops or so in my smaller 1.6 gallon WaterBricks. The “Water Preserver” is a 5 year rotation product rather than a 6 month change it solution. I love the 5 year over every 6 months. I have seen articles that say if you fill your containers with city culinary water you never need any water preserver. Please do your own research on that. I drink Reverse Osmosis Water because I do not trust the quality of the water where I live. It’s just me.

I personally will not put bleach in my water containers. I know there is a lot of talk about bleach. This is my understanding, years ago bleach did not have the NEW chemicals it contains today. Please do your own research so you feel comfortable making your own decisions about this topic.

The small white and blue round cans are nice because they can be stored in the hot garage or your cool basement. They have a shelf life of 30 years. No rotation needed.

Be  sure and check out our  “WaterPrepared”  High Capacity Water Storage Tanks! They are my favorite-160 gallons of water with two spigots. Gotta love it!