What have you done this week to prep?

[flagtag]

Sold my "too small" fridge for money for more preps.

 

[churchmouse]

We ran all the vehicles down to near empty and cycled out some of the fuel. Refilled the jugs and rotated the stock. That is a chore.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I cruise several preparedness blogs and I hear a lot about "OPSEC", and I get what they are saying. Nobody other than our kids knows about our preps, and it's not like we have a big circle of friends.

The one thing that no amount of "OPSEC" can hide is the fact that my wife and I are the kind of people who everyone who knows us would expect to be prepared. A good example was a recent day where my wife had taken my mom on their weekly errand-run day and had stopped for lunch to meet my older brother. He was excited about his up-coming trip to Florida for spring break. Later in the conversation, he had brought up the show "Dooms day Preppers", (we got rid of cable and have not seen it) and my wife asked him what his plan would be if SHTF, and he just smiled and said "Oh, I'd come to your house, 'cause if I know you guys, you've got yourself all set up".

Say what you all want to about how you would turn family members away who were to stupid to prepare, but I can't as easily imagine doing it. I mean, sure, if I knew that whatever situation happened was going to be a very long and hard fight for survival then yes, that might be easier. But my guess is that when and if it ever happens, nobody will know for sure, and many (mostly the unprepared) will be convinced that it would only be a short time before the cavalry comes riding in with hot meals and blankets.

I honestly don't believe that I have as much to worry about from marauding armed bandits as I will from pathetic, starving family members if the SHTF. Truth be told, that's part of the reason the ultra-prepared pick up and move the family to the mountains of Idaho.

 

[flagtag]

I can only hope my daughter and her family (husband, son, daughter) would come to my house - but she is pretty independent and does a good job of taking care of herself for the most part. My only real worry with that is that he may try to bring HIS family also (HUGE family) if they do come.

I'm far from being where I want to be, but constantly working on it.

 

[Meister]

Started sprouts this week. Early for the first time in years. ran some more brass through the cleaners and pressed some more boolits. Finally recieved my Ceradyne ESAPI plates. They fit perfectly in my vest! Vest is finally done. Exactly how I want it. Gotta start training with it now. Next plan to enact: Backup firearms at a secondary, non bailout location. Having a redundant supply can be beneficial in uncertain times.

 

[churchmouse]

I cruise several preparedness blogs and I hear a lot about "OPSEC", and I get what they are saying. Nobody other than our kids knows about our preps, and it's not like we have a big circle of friends.

The one thing that no amount of "OPSEC" can hide is the fact that my wife and I are the kind of people who everyone who knows us would expect to be prepared. A good example was a recent day where my wife had taken my mom on their weekly errand-run day and had stopped for lunch to meet my older brother. He was excited about his up-coming trip to Florida for spring break. Later in the conversation, he had brought up the show "Dooms day Preppers", (we got rid of cable and have not seen it) and my wife asked him what his plan would be if SHTF, and he just smiled and said "Oh, I'd come to your house, 'cause if I know you guys, you've got yourself all set up".

Say what you all want to about how you would turn family members away who were to stupid to prepare, but I can't as easily imagine doing it. I mean, sure, if I knew that whatever situation happened was going to be a very long and hard fight for survival then yes, that might be easier. But my guess is that when and if it ever happens, nobody will know for sure, and many (mostly the unprepared) will be convinced that it would only be a short time before the cavalry comes riding in with hot meals and blankets.

I honestly don't believe that I have as much to worry about from marauding armed bandits as I will from pathetic, starving family members if the SHTF. Truth be told, that's part of the reason the ultra-prepared pick up and move the family to the mountains of Idaho.

All who know us are aware that you must bring something to the table. I will help only if you help yourself. We have heard the "Oh, I am coming to your house" remark far to many times. Know we just roll our eyes and tell them to get off their lazy butts and get after it themselves. If you allow that mindset they will never prepare, you are doing it for them.
Yes, far easier to say than to actually do. Having dealt with some very serious issues inside the family dynamic we find it very easy to turn away from some of them. Others, yes, most difficult.
Then there are the children. How do you help them and not the dead beat parents.

 

[bwframe]

All who know us are aware that you must bring something to the table. I will help only if you help yourself. We have heard the "Oh, I am coming to your house" remark far to many times. Know we just roll our eyes and tell them to get off their lazy butts and get after it themselves. If you allow that mindset they will never prepare, you are doing it for them.
Yes, far easier to say than to actually do. Having dealt with some very serious issues inside the family dynamic we find it very easy to turn away from some of them. Others, yes, most difficult.
Then there are the children. How do you help them and not the dead beat parents.

Surely there are some threads around about this? There has to be some good educational sort of comebacks for those who think they are "coming to your house."

"You are welcome! Right now the entry fee is (random figure, ie $10,000) in gold to match my efforts. It is going up as we speak, so to be safe you should transfer $15,000 into gold immediately. Hide it well, you MUST bring it to not be turned away."

 

[Meister]

Surely there are some threads around about this? There has to be some good educational sort of comebacks for those who think they are "coming to your house."

"You are welcome! Right now the entry fee is (random figure, ie $10,000) in gold to match my efforts. It is going up as we speak, so to be safe you should transfer $15,000 into gold immediately. Hide it well, you MUST bring it to not be turned away."

None of my family knows. If they did find out and decided they were going to invade my AO. I'd be sure to inform them that humans make the best fertilizer for tomatoes. I really like tomatoes.

Once they know, they know. It only takes them telling one person and you have a mob on your lawn in no time.

 

[longbow]

Now that gun parts are starting to show up on the web, I ordered some more spare parts. Some how a few parts were used to build and upgrade an ar15 by another family member.

 

[churchmouse]

Now that gun parts are starting to show up on the web, I ordered some more spare parts. Some how a few parts were used to build and upgrade an ar15 by another family member.

Once they know you have them they will come.........

 

[Cozy439]

Prepped garden for planting and started some seeds in pots.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

So good to get into the garden on Saturday. Planted a bunch of peas, saw that the garlic is starting to peek out, but no sign of the asparagus yet. Checked my beehives, both were really active with good numbers. Even got my rain catch tank (300gal) set up.

Last year I added a new 3/4" drop line to my well and bought a pitcher pump to hook up if I ever need to hand pump water. My goal this spring is to get that set up and make sure it works OK, then take it apart and put in in storage for just in case.

 

[ocsdor]

Sowed 16 11-ft rows of peas; doubling last years.

 

[teddy12b]

Found out one of my neighbors is probably more of a prepper in a lot of areas than I'll ever be. He's a good dude and has a skillset that I'm completely lacking. We were finally letting our guards down a lot more about what we've got stashed away, and our skills. During our discussions he was talking about where they might run to if there was trouble and I mentioned that another of our neighbors was an Army nurse. I think my little team may finally be getting assembled! He's trying to talk me into getting chickens and I'm trying to talk him into getting his guns dirty. Neighbors like mine are blessing!

Planted some berry bushes as well.

 

[bigus_D]

Shopped for strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and grapes. Tractor supply appears to have a good price. Will wait a couple of weeks to let the frosts stop. Open to suggestions on a better deal!

 

[Dragon]

Found out one of my neighbors is probably more of a prepper in a lot of areas than I'll ever be. He's a good dude and has a skillset that I'm completely lacking. We were finally letting our guards down a lot more about what we've got stashed away, and our skills. During our discussions he was talking about where they might run to if there was trouble and I mentioned that another of our neighbors was an Army nurse. I think my little team may finally be getting assembled! He's trying to talk me into getting chickens and I'm trying to talk him into getting his guns dirty. Neighbors like mine are blessing!

Planted some berry bushes as well.

Where do you live? I'm moving there. All my neighbors are college kids who only prep beer for Sunday. lol

 

[teddy12b]

Where do you live? I'm moving there. All my neighbors are college kids who only prep beer for Sunday. lol

I'm an hour and half from Muncie. I'd be really worried in a college town like Muncie if the rule of law breaks down. There's more than enough crime there now as it is.

 

[Car Ramrod]

I worked on my fire starting skills today. Needless to say, I still have some work to do..

I also messed around with putting together a rocket stove from some bricks I have piled up by the garage. It worked decently, but I still need to fine tune it. Once I get it working I will probably mortar it together and make it permanent.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Shopped for strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and grapes. Tractor supply appears to have a good price. Will wait a couple of weeks to let the frosts stop. Open to suggestions on a better deal!

If your blueberry plants don't grow well, it's not you, it's the relatively high pH of most soils in Indiana. I've tried them a couple of times and they never lived longer than three years and never produced much. The garden center dudes will just try to sell you one of the several pH adjustment products, and if your soil is close, they might work. Nothing did for me, at least not before I got tired of babying them.

If I try again with blueberries, I plan to put them in a raised bed with a low pH, high organic content soil.

 

[teddy12b]

Worked on some different fire starting methods. Went through the vehicle bags for both my wife and myself. Getting some training lined up for my wife and I.