So what did you put away this week?

Training - Local range offers a Street Self-defense School (SSS) where we can learn practice and learn different techniques for self-defense - all firearm related.

I took the level 1 class on Sat, and shot just under 500 rounds in about 7 hours. This course taught us how to draw from concealment, moving while shooting, reloading, shooting from concealment, and much, much more. It was a great class and I had a great time.

Now, to get ready for the level 2 class which deals with low/no light situations, shooting from sitting and from prone positions.

But the first thing I have to do is replace the ammo that I shot in the first class. Good thing I also work at this range so I can get a discount on the ammo

Ryan

 

1 case of bottled water
100 rounds of .45 FMJ
1 box of "00" buck
1 box of #6
24 pack of "AA"' batteries
duct tape

A little bit more every week.

 

Put up 35# of grapes as jelly (15 pts.) and 30# of pears in qt jars.

 

Some of those new digital camoflauge BDUs, six 12v D batteries with solar charging panels, two bear-paw magnets, two magnesium fire-starters w/flint, a wood lathe, chisels,and two cable saws. I am looking for a draw knife.

 

http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/default.php/cPath/36?osCsid=5197fcfa0b9347d1f662e31549d3e83b
Has some high quality stuff.
Sometimes you can find adzes and draw knives on EBay that can be sharpened and used.
http://search.ebay.com/adze_W0QQfkrZ1QQfnuZ1QQxpufuZx
Some good stuff in there.
http://search.ebay.com/draw-knife_W0QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQssPageNameZWLRSQQxpufuZx

 

Cross-cut saw, adze, broad ax, draw knife, large plane, rasps, hand auger and drills. These belonged to my grandfather and somehow my baby brother had them and decided to dig them out of the barn for me.
Also picked up a nice awl at West Marine and my mother has promised a foot-powered Singer sewing machine.

 

Started going through one of my old conex boxes today and found a lead melting pot, ladle, and furnace, several heavy-duty come-alongs, another chainsaw and blade, and a bunch of power tools that I had forgotten about.

 

Topped off the vehicle tanks and refilled the 5-5 gallon tanks with gas to operate my Honda EX1000 Generator in an emergency. Ric

 

Put away 4 qts of the last figs, and 4 pts of the last blackberries. Another 25# of Basmati brown rice and another 3 qts of honey. More supplies for diabetics.

 

Canned 14pts shrimp. only 30# left to go.

 

Picked up a new first aid kit for the truck since my main BOB withthe biger first aid kit dont stay in the truck most of the time now that I only work 5 miles from home and thats as far as I go other than 2-4 times a month when I may go 20 miles from home and still have the smaller BOB in the truck.

I also added another box of .357 JSPs and a box of #4 steel shot magnum loads for the 20 guage and a couple more LED lights that you wear like a ring that I carry in my pocket and vehicles and such (in addition to better ones in the vehicles and at home). Also added an extra pouch of Tops roll your own tobaco for each of my BOBs.

ETA; Forgot to mention that also picked up a state map for each person in the family so can highlight routes to our BO spots so each person can find their way if seperated for any reason as well as plot alternate routes if they have to.

 

7 jars of pineapple jam, and 5 jars white grape jelly (no sugar), blowgun and darts.

 

50 Punch cigars.

Hey, nobody said we had to be miserable when bugging in.

 

I am finally able to put something away. I managed my money, paid my bills and got my needs, and had a hundred dollars left over. I kept it cash and put it away. It's my first start. I am hoping it will attract more of it's kind. Then I will be able to start putting more money and some stuff away.

 

TMH, just a thought but you may (if you didnt all ready) want to be sure to break it into small bills and maybe a couple rolls of quarters. If you need the money in an emergency people may not be makeing change or if they see a $100 bill may up the price as well as being able to use quarters or singles in vending machines on your way out of town if they still work.

 

Thanks for the advice MM. I will do just that. I have it broken down into twenties, so it's broke a bit already. Just need to break it further. Any idea on how much I should totally put away for such an escape? I'm thinking around two to three hundred. More?

 

I think the bigest factor on that would be how well you were set up for it ahead of time and what you could fore see that you might need the money for. If you would be likely to be trying to buy guns and ammo, meals and pay for shelter and rides in times when a bug out would be in order (especialy for anything beyond personl situations) then I would say at least 10 times that. If you already have all the supplies you would be likely to need and know how to gather your own food along the way, create your own shelter, have your own transportation and so on then I would say that haveing $200-300 above expected fuel expenses (if auto would be transportation) would be reasonable. Like most things regarding preperation though its all relative. Haveing $20 beats the hell out of pocket lint, haveing $100 beats $20 and so on so what ever you have is great and if there is some spare that can be set back great but at the same time IMO its better even to be broke with a full belly when things go bad than to already be half way to starvation and have $500-1000.

One thing you might also do if you get a chance, even if you dont smoke, is go to a tobaco store some time. You can pick up a $1 bag of tobaco (around here) for about $16 and books off just over 100 papers for less than $1 and a roller for about $2. That bag will roll the equivelent of about 2-3 cartons of cigarets, takes up less space than a 2 liter bottle and weighs just over 1 pound. Ever seen a smoker in a stressful situation that hasnt had a cigarete for a day or 2? What kind of deal do you think you could barter for say 40 smokes in a time like that? Could be a good back up in case money isnt holding its value real well at the time.

 

Now that's just depressing MM. I am a smoker and will be unless I quit in the future and I just found out who is going to corner the market on Post-SHTF smokes.

I wonder if there's a backpack designed to carry a desktop? Haha.

 

I smoke as well and already roll my own to save money (and if you spray the tobaco with vanila they taste like Camels Turkish Royals) but figure if SHTF I would have to cut WAY back or quit for the simple fact that smokes would be far to valuable as a trade item. Im also wanting to get some tobaco seed since I know it already grows wild on our place so could grow our own if we needed to.

 

Google a little, try to come up with the stories of the earthquakes out there. I remember reading about grocery stores wiped out in just a couple of hours, and one man that went in and filled up his cart with potato chips. He said he knew he would be out of a lot of things, but he wouldn't be out of chips. The point of that story is, I would not count on being able to buy anything after a disaster. $100, I would keep about $40 for gas, spend $60 on canned goods and bottled water, other bug-out gear, and try to keep my fuel tank full or close to it. $200, I would look at $90 to $100 of food, a Coleman backpacking stove, and save the remainder for gas. Buying intelligently, a man could make it 30 days on that $100 worth of food. You won't eat freeze dried entrees every meal, but you can eat tuna, crackers, fruit, soups.

We studied other state's disasters, and this was the thing that really stuck in my mind about the quakes in Kalifornia, how quickly the people panicked and wiped out the stores.