Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Alright!

Another month come and gone. Heading into the end of the summer growing season.

Started taking down all but of my big boy tomato plants. No easy feat, they're like thin trees. My tallest made it just above 11.5 ft and the shortest 10 ft.

I still have two bush tomatoes I'm letting grow which are from plants I took down earlier in the season. They had reached the end of their cycle and weren't producing too much. When I went to pull them up, I found that two of the plants had about 4" of healthy suckers at the base so I cut them back except for the new growth.

I didn't have high hopes, but now they're around 3 ft tall and have a respectable load of green tomatoes, so we'll see how long they last.

Don't think I'll do a winter garden this year.

How about y'all? Anyone else taking advantage of the group buy MREdepot is sponsoring over at warrifles?

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Got my delivery from Nitropak and I bought more staples to put on the shelves. I will add to that order when I can afford it. It may only be a few things at a time but moving forward is what counts.

I also decided to start looking at buying large quantities of non-fat dry milk. Anyone have any ideas??

I also saw where some people had advised to add vanilla to the mix. I will try that once the delivery arrives.

Hooooah to Infantry NCO for this thread.

:-)

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Worked on the motorcycle... New tires, new battery and brakes.
Possible bugout vehicle, as I get around 55 mpg, if nothing happens
it makes a good gas saving commuter.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Got a Saiga 12, 7.62x39 and 223 on the way, 2 50-gal water barrels, 2 8-gal water cubes from chinamart, a few more #10cans. thinking about a fall garden but have not read a Farmer's Almanac yet. really enjoyed the tomatoes and okra this year. Ground up some whole wheat buds to make flour for the fried okra. Froze some green beans, some tomatoes and a bunch of ham bone and bean soup. Oh, and I GOT MY BERKEY!!!! Now I have Berkey water to put in my Berkey travel bottle with some Berkey ice. :D:applause_

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

all yer missin is mudbugs taters n corn .... and some cold beer:D

now that'd be more than just surviving. That'd be LIVIN!:wink:

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

yeh buddy... :applause_:D

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

It's all about better food production for us this year.
I finally finished the greenhouse and the green peppers are thriving in the 100 degree daytime temps.
Canned cases of green beans, swiss chard, tomatoes, beets.
Cured 35lbs. of garlic bagged and tagged for consumption and planting this fall.
Ordered winter lettuce, kale and broccoli seeds.
Green house tomatoes starts are 16" and ready for fall.......
and some real fun stuff is when I got the time and a safe private property to do some long range 308 practice ....oh yeah.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

planted new squash, tomatoes, and peppers for one more last go around (It stays hot in Texas)

purchased new front sight for the DPMS Panther

purchased 10 Bulgarian mags off gunbroker

things to get:

1/2 ball jars for canning

tritium compass

personal hygine stuff

ammo. ammo. ammo.

:applause_

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Picked up a sweet little 20 gage for $30 bucks. I think as times get harder for folks the guns will just get cheaper.

Got more silver coins and some 20 gage shotshells too.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Moving on construction of fence enclosed garden-eye towards container gardening. Construction will mirror my chick run, a mix of fencing as total containment/access denial.
Splitting wood, finally got to fill an apple bin with small quarters to feed the stove in the garage. Was having a fairly crappy time last year schlepping wood to the garage. The heat will make it nice for reloading on those dark winter weekend days.
BTW the 2 holer .311 ball mold is marvy in a 12 ga wad. Will develop loads (hopefully) overwinter. Also going to load out the heavy 9mm loads for around the house.
Freezers and pantry are full, hard to grocery shop.
Been picking up canning supplies on sale, no immediate intention for use, but have (2) 23Q psi cookers to do the job.
2 is 1, 1 is none, after all....

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Well, I feel about silly.

I was about to head to Charleston to spend the night with my elderly parents to ride out TS Hanna. My sister and brother in law went, though, and I decided to inventory my first aid kit I had packed with the other supplies that was going with me.

I'm proud of my FAK. I can fix a lot of broke, shot, cut, and bleeding sh*t with it.

Or so I thought.

All 3000 ml of my saline expired last month, and the 1000 ml of hextend three months ago.

crap.

Stuff's still clear, but now gotta hit up my medic buddies for fresh fluids.

Anyway, we put a lot of emphasis on rotating foods but don't forget about non-food perishables also.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Ditto. I cut my arm on a chainsaw blade (not running, I was replacing the blade) last week, and thought "I'll just stitch it up". No. All my medical stuff is at my BO place, not at home! I resorted to wrapping it in TP and putting a hiking sock on my arm. By the morning it was dry and not bleeding, though my bed sheets looked like a Jackson Pollock painting!

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

1) LMT custom AR Lower
2) Noveske N4 Light Low profile upper
3) 2k rounds of M855 5.56 (Privi)
4) Aimpoint CompML3
5) Two Hendsoldt 2.5 magnifiers

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Good God, I think you get a new AR every month!

This month I am actually making a big purchase (for me) 20 Silver Austrian Philharmonics and a Platinum Maple leaf to finish a maple leaf collection (by collection, I just mean one of each metal for comparison purposes when talking to friends about pms). The Phils are the best deal I can find at the moment at about $2 over spot.

I am picking up a 1/4 beef as soon as I get the call and I'm on a waiting list for a half hog. I picked up my vacuum sealer last month at a 25% discount and have ordered my mason jars from Ace which is actually cheaper than anywhere else I have looked. I've been quite surprised by that for some time now.

I begin building my garden in the front yard next week. I'm getting the beds ready and the guy I'm getting the beef from is happy to be rid of a truckload of high-test compost.

I still have not tackled the water problem. Money is tight and I know I should be beaten for the Platinum Maple leaf but at $1172 I could hardly pass it up.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

I'm glad I bought my Mountain House when I did. Looks like they are not allowing the dealers to discount their products. I just saw this on another forum. The guy is selling 8 cases for $1335!!! I paid less than half that a couple of years ago.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

The last few nights I've been hitting the Dollar store after work for their $1 cans of food. My favorite seems to be the beef stew but I also find a lot of canned fruit, tuna, etc... I get about 30-40 at a time and it seems like different staff every time. Works out nice.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../beef_stew.jpg

All name brand stuff, though some of the canned fruit appears to be from China. Maybe there's enough melamine in there to do my cabinets. :D

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...mi0&refer=home

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

today, i stocked up on backup woodstove piping in case what i have fails and needs to be replaced...

a couple metalbestos joints and single wall for the stove to metalbestos joint...stack dampers, slip collars...to keep on hand

i have 4 woodstoves in operation in various buildings...

i only fire them up when needed...like if i'm out in my shop working on a project or at a remote cabin...

i standardized on six inch stove pipe systems so my spare parts inventory wouldn't have to include a bunch of different sizes...

all my buildings are modest in size so stoves with six inch exhaust stacks are adequate...

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

I just got off the MLS website. I saw a certain property I have been drooling on for some time. Monehalla is 160 acres mostly on a forested mountainside with about 20 acres flat field. 2 streams and a hotspring. Not too far from a town and VERY private.

Yeah baby.

When I first saw it it was 50K higher than it is now. It has been listed on and off for 2 years. At first I never made a move because I could buy the property outright but without a penny left to build with. Mortgage is out of the question- only because I want it out. NOW- my number crunching spits out between 50 & 70K to go towards a house after property purchase. Not enough... YET. All this may never happen, but a guy's gotta dream. Too bad silver isn't high enough to help much. Physical stays stashed...

Of course I would tap the hot springs for heating... :D

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Yeah, I was perusing Texas and Tennessee land tonight. Need to move somewhere with lower housing costs and lower taxes in a few years...

I'll need a small truck just for my food stores, LOL.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Did the same thing, but a couple years ago. I have a wood stove in the basement and another in the shop....6" pipe on both. I find the pipe ( think it's 24ga ) burns out about every 4-5 years, so I bought enough for 3 change outs on each with elbows/etc. Stuff was dirt cheap couple years ago, I see it's about doubled now. I figured that's one of those things that will be in short supply if folks go back to wood heat in any serious way.

This year has been about food production and preservation. Myself and couple other guys are looking at getting some Dexter cattle for meat/milk production.....being able to share a bull will help a lot. Dexters are smaller cows, easier to raise on small areas.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

i've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about life back on the homestead when i was kid...

remember life before paper towels and automatic dishwashers for washing dishes ?

i know a lot of people do but some on this board were born after those came into wide use...anyway on my shopping run today i picked up 2 bundles of washcloths for a total of 48 of them...in the future we may not feel like paying a buck a roll for paper towels and we will probably go retro...and i picked up 24 hand towels for drying dishes...i'll put them in storage in case we need them...

also picked up several tarps for covering firewood...and a good hoe...this one has a fiberglass handle and looks indestructible...

on the way home i stopped at my mothers house which is at the entrance to my property and checked her propane tank to see if needed to be filled...

we chatted a bit...she'll be eighty this december...

anyway i asked her if she had been watching the news and she said she had...i suggested to her that things don't look good and she agreed...she looked worried when i brought it up...

tomorrow i'll be down at her house doing some chores...i'm going to take my logsplitter down there and split up some firewood and stack it on the back porch for winter...and i think we'll talk some more about the economy and things we should be doing in preparation, just in case...

its early fall here, the leaves are starting to turn...time to get ready for winter...
..........

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

i spent the morning splitting wood at my mothers house...man i love that logsplitter, i should have got one years ago...3 things you gotta have, chainsaw, rototiller and freshly added to the list, a logsplitter...

i've started up some conversations about my sisters moving back here with us if we have tough economic times...

i think the way we will do it is move my side of the family down at my mothers and my wifes side of the family in with us...

theres some bad blood between my wife and my sisters...they never thought she was good enough for their brother, but they should have kept their mouth shut...in the end they all got divorced at least once and i'm still with the same girl for 32 years come this december...

so if they all come back to stay that will be my mother in law, my daughter, and my wife at my house and outbuildings....

and my mother, and my 3 sisters(and families) at her house and outbuildings....

uh...thats potentially 7 women on the property...good grief...

.....

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

I finally cleaned out my local dollar store of cans of beef stew. Moved on to another store and found Campbell's Soup cans on for 99 cents each and another buck off for every 6 purchased (good price for Canada). Well... I pissed off every customer in the store by the time I got outta there. :D

I actually worried about the strength of my pantry floor for a sec today. After a quick figure I believe it's still quite safe. :O

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

today:

100 rounds of 45 acp
90 Katadyn Micropur MP1 Water Purification Tablets
30 250mg zithromax tablets
120 500mg Bayer Cipro tablets
20lb propane
4 cases of bottled water
300 Generic Claritin tablets (tree pollen just about incapacitates me withhout these)
150 Zantac tablets (Some foods, i think the preservatives give me major heatburn, these tablets are a miracle worker).
BandAids
Neosporin

Everyone got a stock of anti-biotics? Be a shame to die from a simple bacteria infection after all the prepping we have done.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

"Katadyn mini" water filter.
Small power efficient laptop (So I can power it with solar cells).
Smartwool socks.
A couple of knives (mayo kala something & a mel pardue something...etc etc)
Lots of honey.
Lots of tea.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

it was a beautiful fall day...

way too nice to spend inside so i ran over to the lumber yard and picked up some ten foot 2 by 12's and out in the yard i built some shelves to install in the old horse shed...

we don't have horses anymore so the old shed i built twenty years ago makes for a great storage area out of the weather...perfect for putting my miscellaneous fuels since its detached from other buildings and well ventilated...

these are pretty strong shelves and will hold a lot of weight, i put them together with 4 inch screws...

i have some coleman fuel cans and the small propane bottles to go on them and i have no doubt i will fill them right up with other stuff that needs to be better organized...

there is never enough shelf space...:wink:

under the shelves i tacked up a ten foot 2 by 6 to hang up all of our hand gardening tools like shovels, hoes, rakes, etc...so everything has a place where its "supposed to be"...if i don't stay organized i end up buying stuff i really didn't need because i forgot about the "thing" i got a couple years ago just like it that was hiding behind something...

you know what i'm talking about...:D

.....

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Local Walmart: 77 cent cans. Backed up the...er... car. :D

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Went to WalMart today and I made sure I looked to see if they had any signs saying you could only buy in "normal" quantities. BTW, they did not have any signs like that.

Filled up (and I mean FILLED) a shopping cart with canned vegetables, lots of soups, some canned meats (ham, spam, corned beef). Picked up several cornish hens for the freezer and a couple of baking hens.

Price $290.

After the little old lady rang everything up she couldn't help herself. She asked us "what are you buying for?" I had pre-thought out my response with a smile, which was: "Gotta feed the kids." :D

They were short on our brand of coffee so we only could get 3 containers of that.

Last time we filled a cart it seems like it was only $200, but we did get more and better selections of soups.

Topped off the gas tank on the way home, and the station only had low-test 87 octane and were representing that they were completely out of mid-grade and high test.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Ordered from MidwayUSA about all the springs parts and pins I could figure needing on all the hardware.

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Ah... I keep forgetting to look. I would think that if those signs ever popped up here it would be because of me. I tend to show up at the till with a cart heaped with the same item. I go to the store and walk the can aisles looking for the best deal and then fill the cart. Repeat weekly more or less.

It is working GREAT. I pretty much have all the dry bulk food I need. This stage favors smaller cans in large amounts. Those big cans are gonna p*ss me off I'm sure.

I also found Campbells soup for $7.99/doz... :D

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Totally agree with you, man.....got two chainsaws, ( thinking about getting a spare and just keeping it new in the box ), diesel rototiller + 5' wide one for the back of the tractor and a home built log splitter with extra carb re-build kit for it.

Always love your photos of your place. What is the little building one poles with the ladder up it ?

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Local food store (Ultra) has Campbells Chicken Noodle and Tomato soups on sale for $0.38, a price we'll probably never see again. Limit of 4 total, so we each take a cart and have bought 8 a day since the sale started Thursday. Vegetable Beef is hardly ever on sale; but this week Ultra is selling it for $0.78 which is way below their regular $1.29. In addition, we keep getting these $0.60 off coupon with the purchase of 6, so all week long, every day, we've been buying 12 cans of Vegetable Beef soup at $0.68 -- a great price.

I inventoried our canned soup stock, and I have 380 cans on hand now. We go through probably a can a day on average, so that isn't really as much as it sounds like, but its nice to have. Especially since it was all purchased at bargain prices. Even if the S never HTF, we all know prices are going up, up, up. So the trick is to stock up on sales events.

Going back tomorrow morning for more :wink:

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

Yeah... you've inspired me to cross the border next weekend (into the US) and do some canned food recon. The prices in Canada can never match yours and I am only an hour and a half from a US supermarket (Albertsons I believe). I wonder what the border guards will say about a canned food run?

The part of your quote that I highlighted says it all. It gets to the point where you have everything in quantity and the result is you buy only what is on sale.

Hmmmm... maybe the Shelby Montana Albertson's has a website. Gotta go... :D

(any links welcome)

Re: Monthly Prep Thread September '08
 

thats called a cache...pronounced cash...its old time alaska stuff...

back in the old days before electricity and civilization came into the country, caches were commonly used as freezers for wild game in the winter time and also storage of items by trappers and miners that might be out on the trapline or mining claim for a while and they didn't want any critters getting into their stuff...

how the cache was typically used was when winter came a moose was shot and quartered up and the meat put up in the cache for storing, plenty cold enough in alaska so it was an adequate freezer...

it was common to the wrap the legs of the cache with metal stove piping so any climbing critters couldn't get up to the meat...wolverine, squirrels, etc...

this is why its up on poles and accessed by a ladder...

then when summer came around...

a lot of the trapper and miners cabins were pretty small and could be broken into by bears if they were away for a season...putting critical items up in the cache insured they would be there when they returned...