Preparedness for when

homesteadchick

On the subject of rabbits...

When the first litter of rabbits were born here, my best friend's little girl begged and begged if she could please have one of those cute baby bunnies...
and in the end, her parents agreed.
So I gave them two. One for the little girl, and one for her brother...
in full understanding with the parents that there will come a day when the kids will have lost interest and the rabbits would be returned to me.

Well that day came.
Kids no longer interested because the rabbits grew big and strong and willful. They didn't mind a pat on the head, but did not like to be picked up and carried about. they were far too heavy for that anyway.. Result: Kids hardly ever looked at them anymore and had to be told every day to feed and water them.

;-)

So as not to shock the children into horror and childhood trauma, the parents and I agreed that the rabbits would 'run away'.
While the whole family was out and about in town yesterday, I went to collect the rabbits, left the hutch and the garden gate open, and took care of them straight away.

Upon returning home, the kids cried for a little bit.... but didn't even bother to search for the rabbits or anything.. and within the hour, decided that they didn't want rabbits anymore and would I like to have the hutch?

I would.
Yes thank you.

*grin*

Soooo
roast rabbit tonight.

Rabbit meat pies at christmas.

They were lovely HUGE rabbits, fed and cuddled for 4 months, with beautiful pelts which I will do my best to preserve.

And an extra rabbit hutch to boot!
Not a bad deal huh?


As far as other preps are concerned, I'm building a good store cupboard which I'm pretty pleased about. I have my eye on a nice little crossbow that I plan on ordering in Januari, and I have stocked the car up with the winter emergency kit.
(Water, muesli bars, blanket, game to keep kids amused)

westcoastscot

(((walks away heartbroken at the loss of match-making as a second career))))

agreenmess

Hello all, still keeping up with the reading.

RE - the tailless cat, we’ve always had a Manx cat in the family since time begun it seems like, and they seem to have more balance than the others, never had one problem with them. Our last one Felix who we sadly had to say goodbye to this year went blind without us knowing and managed to jump on the countertops without any trouble, we even found him up a fence once! Quite scary indeed. Even after he had his stroke his balance was fine. I do have a work colleague who will hands down say they have problems with their bums but again we’ve never had a problem with that either! I’d have another one in a flash!

jk0

Yeah, one of my work colleagues had problems with his bum. We weren't paid much, so he lived on baked beans.

GreyQueen

sorryImoved wrote: »

Tornado came through my town yesterday. Blocks away homes were damaged. Now I'm not sure if all my preps are worth it. If everything gets destroyed in seconds it seems a waste. Phone alerts went on until the last call at 3 a.m. No basement here so I'm trying to figure how to keep supplies from flying away!

Sorry you had such a scare, pet. We're very blessed in the UK not to have more than a very rare and very mini-tornadoes, the kind that lifts a few roof tiles and does other bits of minor damage to a few homes. I've often looked at media pix of tornado damage and thought OMG, where would you start prepping for that?!

If your home was in the tornado's track, I guess all bets are off for whatever provisions you've made at home, other than to grab your BOB and run (probably drive) for shelter.

But, from the pictures I've seen taken across tornado-damaged suburbs, the damage can be so particular that several homes can be just gone, totally destroyed with only the concrete pad they once sat on, whilst there are homes with little or no damage only 50 yards away.

I came across an American website http://www.grandpappy.info/hlist.htm which has some useful stuff. Just made a fast pass across it but I am sure I have read a detailed article on there about prepping ahead if your home is somewhere where potential emergency evacuation could take place.

One of his ideas was to choose some potential destinations well out of the danger zone and look for long-stay motels (save the details of) and storage units (for the use of). He suggested that it might be prudent to use a storage unit well away from home and equip it with supplies from your home, such as spare clothing, footwear, household goods like pots and pans and linens, and tools of your trade (if applicable) so that you could look to retrieve them if you had to scarper in a real hurry with only what you had in your two hands.

If S looks like it's HTF, the idea being that you'd call ahead and reserve your motel and make your way to it as best you could, and pick up your supplies from your storage unit once you were there.

I appreciate that this is a bit extreme and may be unaffordable, but he did suggest using your own household stuff, not buying and stashing a whole 'nother household's worth of kit. Such as when you replace something anyway, if the old item isn't utterly worn out, that you could store it. Even well-worn stuff would be a godsend if you lost everything.

Even if that isn't something you can/ would want to afford, have you considered getting essential paperwork or treasured family photos/ documents backed up and stored off-site? I've heard of Americans in forested areas at risk of wildfires do this.

Is digging a tornado shelter at your property a viable option? Or could you dig a tornado-proof underground cache, which would hopefully survive if you home was blown away? Somewhere to have some basic supplies stored where you could retrieve them after the storm had passed? Don't know whether you own your place or are a renter (we'd say tenant ) or whether your neighbourhood's zoning rules would allow tunnelling into the ground.

If you have family in another town/ state, how would they feel about holding an emergency bag for you, and vice versa, to minimalise the risk that you'd be stuck with only the clothes on your back?

I'd say that prepping is better than not-prepping, even if looking at a tornado-wasted neighbourhood might leave you feeling hopeless.

pumpkinlife

the_cake wrote: »

Greetings, preppers - may I pick your brains, please? I need to buy a new torch - needs to be pretty bright in case we need it to find a sick horse, or a lost Jeeves, or some other nocturnal emergency. I would like it to be rechargeable, and ideally also solar powered as another option. Rugged and well made, and of course not too expensive! Any recommendations or suggestions very gratefully received ... TIA the cake x

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005LUUEHI/ref=mp_s_a_1_41?qid=1387220097&sr=8-41&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

How about something like this? If you are searching about outside for a horse yiu will need a powerful beam. You could buy a separate 12v solar charger for it. The problem with wind up and solar is that most aren't that powerful and many are in lantern form.

We have a huge Maglite that you can put rechargable batteries in. They last forever and you can easily replace parts.

RAS

sorryImoved wrote: »

Tornado came through my town yesterday. Blocks away homes were damaged. Now I'm not sure if all my preps are worth it. If everything gets destroyed in seconds it seems a waste. Phone alerts went on until the last call at 3 a.m. No basement here so I'm trying to figure how to keep supplies from flying away!

Hi that was some fright.

The thing that struck me last year was the very very short notice anyone gets of tornados - 15 minutes max and then you are not sure whether you are going to be demolished or standing intact next door to a vacant lot. Just had not realised how fickle they are.

My thoughts are:

1. Have an in-car BOB at all time. A few dollars, spare undies, an emergency blanket, nibbles and basic sanitary provision. Cos much of the time you will not be near enough home to get there fast enough and you probably need to be heading the other way. Think about one for work as well.

2. If you own your place, think about an underground store of some sort if possible; even if only a barrel cemented into the ground. Or given how often baths seem to protect people, maybe the underside space could be made into a store for long life goods?

3. Know where is the safe places are, from home, from work, from your favourite stores and eateries etc. All within 10 minutes.

4. One thing I note is that a lot of southern USa properties are timber-frame with timber cladding? If you move think about less fragile construction?

[Deleted User]

RAS wrote: »

1. Have an in-car BOB at all time.

I've been pondering for a while (I enjoy a good ponder ), whether an actual Bug Out BAG is really the best way to go, in a car?

Assuming you are not driving a Fiat 500, Smart Car, etc., then you likely have a decent sized boot, in which case, surely a few extra items (above and beyond the contents of a standard BOB), would make sense?

I'm thinking a 2-man tent, couple of sleeping bags (you can get some pretty compact ones nowadays), decent stove, camping kettle, and a 10 or 20 Litre plastic Jerry Can of drinking water.

There are some pretty smart boot tidy boxes available, into which you could fit your equipment (being careful not to bring tears to your eyes ), on top of which you could still stack shopping, and other items you normally carry in the boot.

cornishchick

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I
There are some pretty smart boot tidy boxes available, into which you could fit your equipment (being careful not to bring tears to your eyes ), on top of which you could still stack shopping, and other items you normally carry in the boot.

but then where would I keep all my emergency chocolate???:eek:

nuatha

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I've been pondering for a while (I enjoy a good ponder ), whether an actual Bug Out BAG is really the best way to go, in a car?

Assuming you are not driving a Fiat 500, Smart Car, etc., then you likely have a decent sized boot, in which case, surely a few extra items (above and beyond the contents of a standard BOB), would make sense?

I'm thinking a 2-man tent, couple of sleeping bags (you can get some pretty compact ones nowadays), decent stove, camping kettle, and a 10 or 20 Litre plastic Jerry Can of drinking water.

There are some pretty smart boot tidy boxes available, into which you could fit your equipment (being careful not to bring tears to your eyes ), on top of which you could still stack shopping, and other items you normally carry in the boot.

I go bag plus. The bag because if the car becomes impracticable for any reason, the bag is easier to carry than just about anything else. However having the extra carrying capacity does allow me more flexibility. My car emergency kit includes a sleeping bag and bivvy bag, so these aren't part of the bug out bag, but are part of the available kit IYSWIM.
Whereas there is a temptation to use all the regularly available space, the downside would be increased running costs (and less space for transporting brilliant buys or wombling finds.

cornishchick wrote: »

but then where would I keep all my emergency chocolate???:eek:

You have a boot full of chocolate? Now that is prepping to envy