PREPARING against a financial/catastrophic crisis - SURVIVAL TIPS

[Abigail]

I really like these kerosene stoves from St Paul: http://www.stpaulmercantile.com/buttrfly.htm

There is also an Amish oven you can use over the stove so you can bake. Kerosene is a very safe fuel and IMO the ideal emergency source for heat & cooking. Long shelf life, not explosive, safe to use indoors w/common sense ventilation (propane and camping stoves can not be used indoors under any circumstances). I have quite a bit stored, some regular kerosene which I have stabilized with PRI-D, some is synthetic with an unlimited shelf life.

Here is a great resource on kerosene, check the "related links" at the bottom of the page: http://www.endtimesreport.com/kerosene.html


Thank you for the links! So you can actually cook indoors with Kerosene? I never knew that. Makes sense, as you can use Kerosene lanterns indoors. DUH!! See what I've been saying about sharing the "little things" that can end up making a BIG DIFFERENCE?

Abigail

[Maximilian]

Here is a decent way to keep a little bit of power going without having a generator.
Mainly use this to keep my fish tanks running during a power outage.

http://www.action-electronics.com/grc/vlsol8.jpg

http://www.action-electronics.com/grc/solar1.gif
http://www.action-electronics.com/solar.htm

http://northwestvintagebroncos.com/tech/jpg/1200s.jpg

http://data.solidcactus.com/cjimages/autobarn/vec024.gif

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SQEX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


Here is the link.
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage..._Power_Cut.html (http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Goldstein_Power_Cut.html)

[tygerkittn]

:waveHello tygerkittn; thanks so much for this link. It looks great. What's "Amazon?" is that the big "Amazon.com?" I didn't know they had anything to do with emergency prep. Does that actually prompt you when there are specials?

Abigail

Hi! Yes, it's "the" amazon.com. Everything in grocery has the free shipping when you buy $25, but it's usually bulk stuff. SInce there's no tax, they're cheaper than the grocery store and just a litte more than Sam's or Costco, on average.
The gourmet food section is mostly stuff that has 3rd party sellers, and the shipping is high! For 3rd party sellers, I find I can usually google them and find their website, and buy from them directly at a discount, or at least get cheaper shipping.
Dehydrated foods last just as long whether they're specially labeled "survival foods" or just bulk from Amazon, I've bought tons of mac & cheese there when they had instant rebates, and beef jerky, and a few months ago they had hamburger helper, a case of 12 boxes for $12! I bought about 15 cases! I've used hamburger helper that expired 7 years ago with no bad effects, I consider it a long term storage food! :nod They had cakes mixes cheap right after that, I bought a bunch of cases of those, and I get energy bars there, when they're on sale, they usually have at least one kind on sale at all times.
Right now there aren't any really great sales, but here are some sale page links:
This one is only good on Friday
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/548166?tag2=dealnewscom1410-20

This is for the manager's specials
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=xs_gb_email_BestDeals_11266?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=307134011

This sometimes has leads on sales:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/movers-and-shakers/-/grocery?
and this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/grocery/ref=sv_gro_1/103-4091254-4209414
and with this you can save 15% and get free upgraded shipping, even if it's less than $25! You just click subscribe, but I pick "every 6 months" and then immediately cancel it if I only want to buy it once:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sv_gro_7/103-4091254-4209414?ie=UTF8&node=251482011

Lately the good sales were in toys, I loaded up on Christmas stuff the last few weeks. Hopefully groceries will be back on sale again soon.

[Abigail]

Here is a decent way to keep a little bit of power going without having a generator.
Mainly use this to keep my fish tanks running during a power outage.

http://www.action-electronics.com/grc/vlsol8.jpg

http://www.action-electronics.com/grc/solar1.gif
http://www.action-electronics.com/solar.htm

http://northwestvintagebroncos.com/tech/jpg/1200s.jpg

http://data.solidcactus.com/cjimages/autobarn/vec024.gif

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SQEX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


Here is the link.
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/manage..._Power_Cut.html


Thanks! looks fairly straightforward; a much safer alternative than generators; sunlight is free and gas/diesel sure isn't! Looks like the only limitation would be $$$ for multiple solar patterns and batteries.

Abigail

[RRuth]

Thanks for posting those solar panel links!

I wanted to quickly mention that solar powered lawn lights can be brought indoors for light if needed. Also, we have those magnetic flashlights that don't use batteries. Just shake and you have a bright LED light. Works great!

[tom_roberts]

http://www.nukepills.com/docs/nuclear_war_survival_skills.pdf

a must read:nod

[Purplelinny]

It is encouraging to see this all being talked about seriously again. I think the old threads got dragged over to the other board didn't they dp?

Another strategy that I have recently started - and this has been great as finances are tight right now... use coupons!

Many stores will double or triple a coupon upto certain amounts, and combined with a store sale, you can pick some things up for free or close to. I will buy two newspapers at a time (Houston Chronicle that has stacks of coupons) and the paper man gives me extra coupons too. Then, I can buy several of the same product. My last three mustards were free, I have gobs of free shampoo, free razors, rice, canned food, free dish liquid, gallons of laundry detergent, air freshsner, cleaners, all at rock bottom prices.

It takes a little time, but you can save soooo much! I only buy things I will use and often get to try good brands that I would not normally buy. My stockpile has grown considerably and for much less since I have been using coupons! AND, I hardly have to enter Wally World these days. Yeah!

There is a website out there that can help with the process, i.e. it helps you match the coupons to the sales and tells you when and where to use the coupons to get the best deal. Not sure of the rules for posting that here, so PM me if you want more info on that :)

[RRuth]

Do you know of a website that you can download coupons?

Also, I'm looking for information on SHELF LIFE of our foods. For example, someone on this board mentioned using Hamburger Helper that's been expired 7 years ago! I have a bottle of mayo in my pantry that expired 2 years ago. Was about to toss it, when I noticed that others say the shelf life is LONGER than marked.

I'm in the process of cleaning out my pantry and rearraning. I'd really hate to be throwing away something that's still good.

Thanks for any info!

PS)I remember being on RR when we were going through Y-2k. Lots of preparation threads.

[tygerkittn]

Do you know of a website that you can download coupons?

Also, I'm looking for information on SHELF LIFE of our foods. For example, someone on this board mentioned using Hamburger Helper that's been expired 7 years ago! I have a bottle of mayo in my pantry that expired 2 years ago. Was about to toss it, when I noticed that others say the shelf life is LONGER than marked.

I'm in the process of cleaning out my pantry and rearraning. I'd really hate to be throwing away something that's still good.

Thanks for any info!

PS)I remember being on RR when we were going through Y-2k. Lots of preparation threads.

I know honey is good forever, if it starts looking gross (crystallized) you can put it in a pan of water and warm it until it goes back to normal. Commercial Mayo that hasn't been opened is one of the longest lasting foods, I think. It's homemade mayo that's usually the source of problems. Tomato sauce is too acidic for botulism UNLESS the ph has lowered to the point it can grow mold. However, anything with a smell is bad, and if you have toddlers or the elderly eating with you, err on the side of caution, because food poisoning is an inconvenience for most but for the very young and very old it can be deadly.
For food in general, I think if the can doesn't bulge, if the lid hasn't popped, if there's no mold, if it doesn't smell, it's OK. Moldy cheese can be eaten by cutting away an inch around the mold, moldy bread can't because the mold is pervasive. The cheese mold is edible, according to the French, but that's just GROSS!
I have a germ phobia, especially about food, and every little dent on a can sends me into a panic, so I have to make myself use common sense. I also pray like mad every time I use something when I KNOW it's still good but it's past the expiration date.
I read a very informative article. For expiration dates on medicines, they take the medicine, put it away, then after a certain amount of time they take it down and test it and that becomes the expiration date. It could last a lot longer, but they only check the effectiveness for the amount of time they WANT the shelf life to be. There are only two drugs, both are prescription, I can't remember which, that become unstable over time. So while out of date aspirin may or may not have lost some effectiveness, it's still OK.

"You should never entirely rely on expiration dates; some products can outlive their life expectancy while others may fall short for no apparent reason. But there are tips and habits that can prolong shelf life.
Keep food away from sunlight.
Store things in dry, cool places.
Remember that salted products, like butter, last longer.
Brown rice spoils faster than white rice.
Eggs should not be stored on refrigerator doors because doors are always warmer than the inside of the fridge.
Refrigerate bread to increase shelf life.
Bananas should be refrigerated after they have ripened.
Even though some foods like peanut butter don't indicate that they should be refrigerated, storing them in the fridge will increase shelf life and maintain flavor.
Meat lasts longer when cooked.
Cereals and rice spoil faster when prepared.
Tightly wrap food when storing in a freezer to prevent freezer burn."

Did you know that until a few years ago, dairy companies that sold eggs would take the expired eggs and PUT NEW DATES ON THEM and sell them again? People used to keep eggs in their root cellars for a long time, you have to turn them once a month or so, though. Since I read about the law that finally stopped them from selling old eggs with new exp dates, I keep my eggs until I use them, no matter how long that takes! If they've gone bad, believe me you'll know! :)
Someone posted this website a while back, it's very handy
http://www.kountrylife.com/contents.htm

and after a LOT of googling, this was from a website quoting Hellmans mayonnaise FAQs
"Mayonnaise is microbiologically safe to eat for an indefinite period of time. Your best guide to freshness is simply to smell and taste the product."
I had heard commercial mayo never goes bad, and hellman's ought to know.
This website is from a university:
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/news/columns/prairie-fare/prairie-fare-mayo-has-had-a-bum-rap
and this is an article from Real Simple magazine, it also says unopened mayo is good indefinitely!
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/content/print/0,22304,676079,00.html
(some of those exp dates are conservative, it says one year for canned tuna and the tuna I just bought has a best by date two years from now!) Also, according to http://www.waltonfeed.com/grain/life.html#1 every time you lower the storage temp by 10 degrees, you add as much as 10 years to the shelf life. Hope this helps!

[Abigail]

When the discussion turned to shelf life, especially concerning medications, I remembered about a link that I came across that touched on that. In this article http://www.oism.org/ddp/medkit.htm (this may have been DPFan's research; I can't remember...I just printed it out)

It stated that Outdated tetracycline can cause kidney damage.

The article is much more valuable than that. It's "Doctors for Disaster Preparedness" and is a detailed list that several physicians put together of suggestions for a basic medical kit for a 10-20 person shelter.

I was thrilled to come across this gem; I've dealt with a lot of serious medical conditions in my family for years, but am not formally trained; This is something that I could not have put together without medical advice.

This is yet another lesson from Katrina...what happened to the medical facilities during the storm? Remember the hospital that was euthenizing patients because they'd lost hope of being rescued themselves? I was born there; so were most of my kids. So much for trusting in the availability and functionality of the hospitals in a crisis...

It is encouraging, though, to see a group of professional physicians that are as concerned about this subject as we are.

I have a friend who is a physician that I'm going to ask to review this document. He's very busy, but when he gets back to me with it I'll share any comments he has too. As stated in the article, every physician would make a different list.

Abigail

PS just noticed a link within the link above. Deals with ways to test antibiotics for age degredation:

http://www.oism.org/ddp/doxytest.pdf