Some thoughts on meeting others of preparedness minded people. Click on the iTunes link to download it now, or directly from the feed.
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(Listen to The Preparedness Podcast on any of your favorite audio players. Find us in iTunes here: Preparedness Podcast iTunes Link or go to PrepCast.info for direct links to the audio files.)
Apologies for my lack of podcasts lately. I’ve been terribly busy and haven’t been able to find time to get these pushed out. So instead of sitting on them any longer, I’m just going to release all of them now.
105 – Talking about the two BBC Series called “Survivors.”
106 – Community, not Commune.
107 – What I would do differently if I was starting my preps over again when I was younger.
108 – Talking about the National Geographic show on Doomsday Preppers.
(Listen to The Preparedness Podcast on any of your favorite audio players. Find us in iTunes here: Preparedness Podcast iTunes Link or go to PrepCast.info for direct links to the audio files.)
With the recent series of extreme disasters that we’ve been seeing around the world, now is a good time to update your preparedness plan and make sure you have a plan for even those events that aren’t likely to happen. Case in point, the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that’s still happening in Japan and the “worst case scenario” tornado that hit Joplin, MO.
While some seem to ignore this basic fact, the earth has a history of cycles. Sometimes things are calm and sometimes things are chaotic. To me, it’s fairly obvious that we entered into a chaos period several years ago. The earth and sun go through cycles and these cycles manifest in ways we typically associate with everyday weather and sometimes as disasters: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. and, of course, climate.
In the past few years, we have seen more major disasters. Ten years ago, having a 9.0+ earthquake was extremely rare. Currently, four of “The Ten Largest Earthquakes Since 1900“ occurred in the past 7 years. We’re also seeing weather extremes that haven’t appeared since the first half of last century.
Looking at the list above, the four most recent earthquakes on the list above occurred, in reverse chronological order, in 2011, 2010, 2005 and 2004. The fifth oldest earthquake on this list occurred in 1965. The period from 1966 to 2003 was a calm period, as far as major earthquakes go.
When looking at these patterns, my concern is that it’s not just earthquakes that is changing, but other earth phenomenon, like tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, drought, etc.. A I write this, two tornadoes have hit Springfield, MA causing many injuries and extensive damage, according to initial reports.
It’s been mentioned in several recent podcasts, but it’s worth mentioning again. You should review your plans or thinking on what’s possible to occur where you live. If you’re not in an earthquake area, you should start thinking of what happens if an earthquake hits your town. If you live in an area that doesn’t normally get tornadoes or hurricanes, perhaps you live in a fringe area, you may want to brush up on what you’re going to do if one suddenly appears.
(Listen to The Preparedness Podcast on any of your favorite audio players. Find us in iTunes here: Preparedness Podcast iTunes Link or go to PrepCast.info for direct links to the audio files.)
This is the third installment of the mini-series about repacking food for your long-term food storage program.
I started this project looking for a way to repack food for long-term storage that was better than using the typical Mylar in bucket. I was looking for something that offered more flexibility and was more space efficient in storage. After trying several different methods, I determined that, while it wasn’t perfect, the Mylar in bucket method of storing was superior in some very important aspects.
If you’re storing for only a short period of time, other methods would probably work just as good, but when working with a large amount of food, for the amount of work needed to actually get the food to a point where it will be stable in long-term storage, storing in large buckets is the better option. Even with the sometimes hit-or-miss nature of sealing the Mylar bags, I still find it a better option.
Listen to The Preparedness Podcast on any of your favorite audio players. Find us in iTunes here: Preparedness Podcast iTunes Link or go to PrepCast.info for direct links to the audio files.
Last podcast, I started a small series on Repacking for Food Storage, where I talked about what my goals were and how I was increasing my food storage and how I was going to go about doing that, specifically, in how I was going to repack the bulk foods that I’ve purchased.
In this part, I continue my discussion on the issues I’ve been having with various aspects of repacking food, including issues with mylar bags and old O2 absorbers. Discussing the various aspects of using Mylar and Foodsaver bags for food storage and giving tips for using both.
Food storage should be an important part to your preparations, but from experience, I know that this can be one of the more challenging aspects to getting prepared. By sharing the errors and successes I’ve experienced, I’m hoping to spare you the time and expense of making the same mistakes I have.
One of the things I did was to transfer the Morning Moo (milk) that I bought into mylar bags and reseal it in the same bucket. These types of tasks, including doing inventory and inspection on your food, is hard work, but it’s worth it.
(Listen to The Preparedness Podcast on any of your favorite audio players. Find us in iTunes here: Preparedness Podcast iTunes Link or go to PrepCast.info for direct links to the audio files.)
