This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper
Tensions are incredibly high in the United States right now. I realized that over the past three years, I’ve written that they’re “at an all-time high” far too many times. So, I’ll just say, they’re high enough that all hell could break loose at any moment given the right (wrong) application of fuel to the flame. The number one thing you can do for this situation to keep your family safe is to be prepared for lockdown.
Pretending that it isn’t happening or hoping to hug it out is not a rational response to the chaos that is coming. I know that some cling to their misguided views on the way the world works with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting cubs, but for the rest of us, there’s this thing called reality. When we accept it, we can prepare for it.
People near the border are quite reasonably concerned that if thousands of immigrants push through our border illegally, they and their families could be at risk. People in other parts of the country are concerned about the aftermath of whatever happens when these people arrive at the border. Regardless of what occurs, somebody is going to be unhappy. Add in the fiercely-fought midterm elections and the threat of civil unrest is high.
Are you prepared for lockdown?
Which leads me to a very important subject. As the situation in the United States devolves, how prepared are you really? If you had to go into lockdown mode and keep your family safely at home, how long would you last with the supplies you have on hand? If the answer is “a few days” or “a couple of weeks” you need to work on that. Immediately.
By planning ahead, we can avoid the fear, panic, and confusion that leads people to rush to the store and clear the shelves like a horde of hungry locusts. We can stay away from the angry masses, the rioters who will use any excuse to steal, and the hungry people who are determined to feed their kids no matter who stands in their way.
Whether the next few weeks lead to pandemonium due to violent protests provoking some type of martial law, a prepared mindset, a defense plan, and a well-stocked home can help to keep you and your family out of harm’s way.
Keep in mind that the decision may not be entirely in your hands. In a martial law situation, it’s not unusual for the authorities to force people to stay in their homes. Remember in Boston when law enforcement was searching for the young man who, with his brother, was accused of setting off the bomb at the marathon? Residents were not allowed to leave their homes due to a “shelter in place directive.” The directive was presented as voluntary, but if you didn’t wish to have SWAT teams pointing guns in your face during this period of de facto martial law, staying home was the only option. Some people ran out of supplies the same day. Don’t be one of those people.
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the potential need to lock down. It’s a viable response to a variety of crises. For example, had the Ebola cases on US shores turned into a pandemic, a lockdown period would have been the very best way to keep your family safe.
With situations of civil unrest, it isn’t as clear-cut. It depends on where you live. In a small town, far away from riots and protests, your lockdown area could be much greater than your own home. It could encompass your immediate community, too, and life might go on as it always has for you, aside from the need to stay just a little closer to home than before.
However, if you live in a city or suburb, it may become essential to make a decision quickly. Do you lock your doors and stay home? Or do you get out of Dodge? It is a question only you can answer. One thing that is very important is this: if you need to go, do NOT miss your window of opportunity to do so safely. If the entire city feels the same way, you’ll most likely be stuck in traffic and trapped in your car. Protesters have shut down the highways more than once in recent years, and you’ll be far safer behind the brick and mortar of your home than you will be in your car.
By the way, there’s always someone who chimes in with a snide remark about how cowardly it is to lockdown with your family in order to stay safe. If you want to go get involved in a battle to make a political point, that’s certainly your prerogative. However, my priority is the safety of my family, and as such, I hope to avoid engaging altogether.
First, get home.
If you happen to be away from home when violence erupts, your first task is safely navigating your way home. In a perfect world, we’d all be home, watching the chaos erupt on TV from the safety of our living rooms. However, reality says that some of us will be at work, at school, or in the car when unrest occurs. You need to develop a “get-home” plan for all of the members of your family, based on the most likely places that they will be.
- Devise an efficient route for picking up the kids from school, camp, or daycare. Be sure that anyone who might be picking up the children already has permission to do so.
- Keep a get-home bag in the trunk of your car in case you have to set out on foot.
- Stash some supplies in the bottom of your child’s backpack – water, a snack, any tools that might be useful, and a map. Be sure your children understand the importance of OPSEC.
- Avoid major thoroughfares. If you need to go through the city, avoid the areas that are most likely to be the subject of unrest. Listen to the local news and traffic reports to help avoid the worst areas. Take the safest route, not the shortest route.
- Find multiple routes home – map out alternative backroad ways to get home as well as directions if you must go home on foot.
- Find hiding places along the way. If you work or go to school a substantial distance from your home, figure out some places to lay low now, before a crisis situation. Sometimes staying out of sight is the best way to stay safe.
- Avoid groups of people. It seems that the mob mentality strikes when large groups of people get together. Often folks who would never ordinarily riot in the streets get swept up by the mass of people who are doing so.
- Keep in mind that in many civil disorder situations the authorities are to be avoided every bit as diligently as the angry mobs of looters. Who can forget the scenes of innocent people being pepper sprayed by uniformed thugs in body armor just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
- Know when to abandon the plan to get home. Sometimes, you just can’t get there. Going through a war zone is not worth it. Find a different place to shelter. Pay attention to your instincts.
Prepping for lockdown
Once everyone is safely home, you need to commit to your decision to lockdown. This could last a day, a week, or longer. There’s really no way to predict it. It’s most likely that you will have electrical power throughout this crisis, but you should be prepared just in case the grid goes down due to damage during riots or attempts by the authorities to gain control of the situation.
You should be set up with the following (at the minimum – hopefully you have these supplies and more):
- Water
- Necessary prescription medications
- A well-stocked pantry
– you need at least a one-month supply of food for the entire family, including pets
- An off grid cooking method like an outdoor burner, a barbecue, a fire pit, or a woodstove)
- Or food that requires no cooking
- A tactical quality first aid kit
- Lighting in the event of a power outage
- Sanitation supplies (in the event that the municipal water system is unusable, this would include cleaning supplies and toilet supplies)
- A way to stay warm in harsh winter weather
- Over-the-counter medications and/or herbal remedies
to treat illnesses at home
- A diverse survival
guide, a very thorough preparedness book
- Alternative communications devices (such as a hand-crank radio) so that you can get updates about the outside world
- Off-grid entertainment: arts and craft supplies, puzzles, games, books, crossword or word search puzzles, needlework, journals (here are some more ideas to keep the kids entertained.)
If you are completely unprepared for this type of thing, order some buckets of emergency food. Keep them in the back of your closet – they last for up to 25 years. This is absolutely the fastest way to create an emergency supply.
Try to stay under the radar.
Your best defense is avoiding the fight altogether. You want to stay under the radar and not draw attention to yourself. The extent to which you strive to do this should be based on the severity of the unrest in your area. Some of the following recommendations are not necessary for an everyday grid-down scenario, but could save your life in a more extreme civil unrest scenario.
- Keep all the doors and windows locked. Secure sliding doors with a metal bar. Consider installing decorative gridwork over a door with a large window so that it becomes difficult for someone to smash the glass and reach in to unlock the door.
- Put dark plastic over the windows. (Heavy duty garbage bags work well.) If it’s safe to do so, go outside and check to see if any light escapes from the windows. If your home is the only one on the block that is well-lit, it is a beacon to others.
- Keep pets indoors. Sometimes criminals use an animal in distress to get a homeowner to open the door for them. Sometimes people are just mean and hurt animals for “fun”. Either way, it’s safer for your furry friends to be inside with you.
- Don’t answer the door. Many home invasions start with an innocent-seeming knock at the door to gain access to your house.
- Keep cooking smells to a minimum. The goal here is not to draw attention. The meat on your grill will draw people like moths to a flame.
- Keep the family together. It’s really best to hang out in one room. Make it a movie night, go into a darkened room at the back of the house, and stay together. This way, if someone does try to breach your door, you know where everyone is who is supposed to be there. As well, you don’t risk one of the kids unknowingly causing a vulnerability with a brightly lit room or an open window.
- Remember that first responders may be tied up. If the disorder is widespread, don’t depend on a call to 911 to save you. You must be prepared to save yourself. Also keep in mind, as mentioned earlier in the article – the cops are not always your friends in these situations.
For more discussion or to get questions answered about securing your home, pop on over and join the discussions at our forum.
Be prepared to defend your family.
If, despite your best efforts, your property draws the attention of people with ill intent, you must be ready to defend your family. Sometimes despite our best intentions, the fight comes to us. (Have you seen the movie The Purge?)
Many preppers stockpile weapons and ammunition for just such an event. I know that I certainly do. Firearms are an equalizer. A small woman can defend herself from multiple large intruders with a firearmif she’s had some training and knows how to use it properly. But put a kitchen knife in her hand against those same intruders, and her odds decrease exponentially. I know this is true about the firearm, because I have been in this situation personally, and the gun in my hand was enough of a deterrent to make 3 men leave.
When the door of your home is breached, you can be pretty sure the people coming in are not there to make friendly conversation or borrow a cup of sugar. Make a plan to greet them with a deterring amount of force.
- Don’t rely on 911. If the disorder is widespread, don’t depend on a call to 911 to save you. You must be prepared to save yourself. First responders may be tied up, and in some cases, the cops are not always your friends. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some officers joined in the crime sprees, and others stomped all over the 2nd Amendment and confiscated people’s legal firearms at a time when they needed them the most.
- Be armed and keep your firearm on your person. When the door of your home is breached, you can be pretty sure the people coming in are not there to make friendly conversation over a nice cup of tea. Make a plan to greet them with a deterring amount of force. Be sure to keep your firearm on your person during this type of situation, because there won’t be time to go get it from your gunsafe. Don’t even go to the kitchen to get a snack without it. Home invasions go down in seconds, and you have to be constantly ready.
- Know how to use your firearm. Whatever your choice of weapon, practice, practice, practice. A weapon you don’t know how to use is more dangerous than having no weapon at all. Here’s some advice from someone who knows a lot more about weapons than I do.
- Make sure your children are familiar with the rules of gun safety. Of course, it should go without saying that you will have pre-emptively taught your children the rules of gun safety so that no horrifying accidents occur. In fact, it’s my fervent hope that any child old enough to do so has been taught to safely and effectively use a firearm themselves. Knowledge is safety.
- Be ready for the potential of fire. Fire is a cowardly attack that doesn’t require any interaction on the part of the arsonist. It flushes out the family inside, leaving you vulnerable to physical assaults. Have fire extinguishers mounted throughout your home. You can buy them in 6 packs from Amazon
. Be sure to test them frequently and maintain them properly. (Allstate has a page about fire extinguisher maintenance.) Have fire escape ladders
that can be attached to a windowsill in all upper story rooms. Drill with them so that your kids know how to use them if necessary.
- Have a safe room established for children or other vulnerable family members. If the worst happens and your home is breached, you need to have a room into which family members can escape. This room needs to have a heavy exterior door instead of a regular hollow core interior door. There should be communications devices in the room so that the person can call for help, as well as a reliable weapon to be used in the unlikely event that the safe room is breached. The family members should be instructed not to come out of that room FOR ANY REASON until you give them the all clear or help has arrived. You can learn more about building a safe room HERE. Focus the tips for creating a safe room in an apartment to put it together more quickly.
Even if your plan is to bug in, you must be ready to change that plan in the blink of an eye. Plan an escape route. If the odds are against you, if your house catches on fire, if thugs are kicking in your front door… devise a way to get your family to safety. Your property is not worth your life. Be wise enough to accept that the situation has changed and move rapidly to Plan B.
Stay home.
If trouble comes to your neighborhood and you decide to stick around, stay home.
It’s the number one way to keep yourself safer from during a civil unrest situation. If you find yourself in an area under siege, the odds will be further on your side for every interaction in which you avoid taking part. Every single time you leave the house, you increase your chances of an unpleasant encounter. Nothing will be accomplished by going out during a chaotic situation.
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting, homeschooling blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, and the pursuit of liberty on her websites, The Organic Prepper and DaisyLuther.com She is the author of 4 books and the co-founder of Preppers University, where she teaches intensive preparedness courses in a live online classroom setting. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter,.
Sage advice.
I’m loaded for bear. Bring it, I’m ready to defend what’s mine via battle rifle and strategic force multipliers.
No hesitation targets is all they see, during a lockdown.
Since when are they capable of profiling, on a good day.
Crossword puzzles? Forget that. Try Lots of ammo and plenty of gun lube and gun cleaning supplies. You want to make sure your battle rifle is always ready within a seconds away reach.. And plenty of high capacity magazines to keep on shooting to lay down enough heavy suppressive fire power to escape the area or take down an unruly crowd, at your fence line.
Staying safe is not my concern, what is would be killing the scum illegals and muslim scum along with crooked politicians and traitors in law enforcement. Taking our country back!!!!! Fuck hunkering down.
I’m not so sure anyone really knows what they will have to do in an SHTF scenario until it happens. Whether it be going mobile or hunkering down or maybe both will depend on the situation at hand. All I can say is to be Prepared the best that you can. Deal with it when it gets here.
When they unleash the Military 5G microwave signal bombardment in the cities and microwave your family to bacon bits,… You got that prep covered?
No. Do you?
Yes, I don’t live in the city anymore. Moved 3.5 years ago to the deep swamp. Barely even a 4G cell signal at all out here in the boonies.
Yeah … Move out of the city !
AS A PREPPER I WOULD UNDERSTAND IF YOU WANT TO STAY HOME
I HAVE NO INTENTION OF STAYING HOME
NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE
AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS ITS A CHANCE TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS YOU NORMALLY COULDNT
PURGE!!!
I assume you are referring to a “culling” operation …
Menzo, I’m already where I need to be. If trouble comes our way we already have a plan to deal with it and it won’t be pretty.
That’s right Menzo just like Cuz says, we already have a plan to deal with it and it won’t be pretty. Tell me again Cuz, what was that plan? Kinda like them protester, when someone asks them what they’re protesting, they all kinda look at each other like,”what are we protesting” that’s kinda the way our plan will be when the SHTF, kinda like what Cuz told little cuz,” you can’t teach us nothing!
Killing and more killing is the plan. Killing idiots and their cousins.
Menzo, just ignore NGIC. He’s just another useless troll.
Armed antifa dregs plan riots in several major cities on November 6. FYI
Here is my advise. Stay home and mentally prepare yourself for things getting very dicey very quickly. You will have to come to grips with letting go of morality that will stall you from reacting to fatal dangers. Regret when you are alive to savor it. Survival comes first or just go suicide yourself and save yourself from a vicious tortured death at the hands of others who will take your life. Justice will only come for the living, never the dead.
Those are your options. A NATION where WROL is far beyond what the dystopian movies reflect.
With that in mind get ready because come Election Day November 6th everything that the leftturds did not get what they wanted out of the election they’re coming for it and they’ve already proven that they’re willing to do anything and everything to get what they want to satisfy their Tantrums. If you aent getting your mind prepared and your other preps now, you may as well quit because you are willfully ignoring the very obvious threat thats about to pounce on us.
I’m going to respond to any threat to me with deadly force right then and there.
Neal, as I said, armed antifa thugs are planning violent riots in several major cities on November 6. They plan to riot in cites where the officials are most corrupt – and probably democrats.
Reading this tells me I’m in pretty good shape!!!!
Sgt.
Sarge, I thought the same more or less. I figure I could pretty much make it a year with what I’ve got here. Food, candles, water…. necessities. As for defense… I hate to say it; but, it would be my neighbors that’d be more of a problem than outsiders or the gubmint. Dare say that not more than one family out of 50 could go a more than a week.
Heartless, I’m already where I really need to be if TSHTF on election day. I’ve got 4 years worth of food, water, and other supplies in a big storage building behind the cabin. I planned on being here for a month but if it turns to be longer I’m already covered. Most of my preps are already here and I brought another load with me last weekend when I came here. They can lockdown cities but NOT rural areas. Even during that lockdown in Boston the family were still doing like they normally do; having target practice, drills, hunting, fishing, foraging, even the occasional trip to town. Even if things blow up on election day we’ll still carry on as usual but with some increased vigilance. Anyone who comes our way with the idea of ‘having their own way with us’ had better forget it for their own sakes.
“Hey everyone! I’ve got a big building full of stuff behind my house!”
Real smart……NOT!
4 years of fish crackers that will go stale in 6 months. In the shed behind his Cuz House in N GA that someone already took a crowbar to and popped the lock like nuttin. But DepRen lives in Memphis Tenn and his supplies are hundreds of miles away in N GA in a shed. When SHTF and they lock down the state line border highways. No-one in and no-one out passing from state to state. You will have to abandon your vehicle and walk the back roads to N GA. You prepared? By then Your cuz and her peeps will then feed off of all your supplies.
TSB, I’m a few steps ahead of you, LOL. I’ve already been at the BOL for a whole week and have 3 more to go. And no, everything is still here. If TSHTF on Tue. I’ve got the popcorn ready. I’ve got everything covered and will be just fine.
4 years that’s impressive,
but you may want to focus more on OPSEC!
But we don’t have quite as much ammo as we did a few days ago, right Cuz!
I am also prepared. The government took my guns though, so I don’t have any of those. My Back and my Knees are in bad shape. I’m pretty smart when it comes to prepping though. My other drawback, other than the gun issue, is that I have no one to help with anything. I can’t do it alone………….
Sgt., You will do as well as can be expected.
Most people here well do as well as can be expected.
I have first hand experience with above article. We do not agree.
What will I do? I will leave. I will Fly, Drive, Ride, Run, Walk, Swim, crawl, whatever is necessary to get the hell out. no matter how long it takes.
You have a VERY narrow opportunity when it goes bad. If you don’t move IMMEDIATeLY you are caught in herd.
If you don’t move Immediately the uniforms get into position, cops, military, wanna be military, random armed groups. Then is gets tough to move out. Your movement now very slow. No road use.
Do not hesitate when it gets bad. Just leave. I will leave my home, my posessions, my comfort. I will leave percieved safety. I will leave the comfort of the familiar. All world goods left behind.
I will pray for God and Jesus to safe keep me and wife children. Then we go right then. We don’t stop.
I will get my loved ones out of the affected zone no matter the hardship. No matter the pain. No matter the discomfort. Cold Heat Hunger Thirst, no matter, is nothing. No matter the boogey man portrayed by media or “official”.
Because I know those officials are liars. I know they only care about thier agenda. Not my family. Not your family. They no care for your life. They want you easy to use.
In tpast my family listened to official word. They are now DEAD who stay.
I never listen but go do. I live.
I started with NOTHING. I will start with nothing again if required by difficult circumstances.
Never attach to your things. Things make others kill you. When you have nothing, you do not matter. Leave and go far with nothing to live.
You will be well. You will heal. You will be alive. Life treasure from God Jesus. God will keep you safe no matter difficult journey. Difficult does not matter.
If you were prepared you would already be at your BOL retired, years of food, and building and working your off the grid homestead. I bugged out 3.5 years ago. So I’m bugging in like another day in paradise, and defending what I got. Lots of ammo and liberty tools and force multipliers in place already to waste anything that moves against me. I may dangle some bait out there for the unprepared, all to help cull the weak.
No kidding, I was thinking the same. This idiotic chest thumping gives me a giggle. Purge…right.
Looks like good advice for city people.
My advice is don’t live in a city.
rellik, not just the city. I used to live half way between Baltimore and Washington DC, right next to Montgomery County which has become the MS 13 Capital of the US.
The best thing I’ve done as a prepper was move to a small town in North Western Maryland. Now I am among like minded people!
Justice,
Years ago due to business I traveled from the DC airport (Regan national) to the Solomon island area regularly.
I never went into Baltimore, but I thought it was solid city from DC to Baltimore.
I guess I stand corrected on my geography for the area.
No rellik you’re right, it’s pretty much one continuous city. It will be a no mans land/war zone if a SHTF event happens.
I’m just so happy they didn’t spell it “Break lose”.
JUSTICE
Where in Montgomery co. is MS-13 so I can stay away from it?
Justice
The People’s Republic State of Maryland I am told ?
They are not very gun friendly ????
ANGRY FROG, I know. As soon as I can I want to move out of Maryland!!!
Justice
PA or WV
You will not be sorry.
Rellik
Aint that the truth,,,
Better yet, dont live on the continent,,,,
Island life bud,,, up, down, whatevers, most folks will be fine on the outer islands
Oahu, meh, dont care
Nail,
You got that right
about Oahu!
We also agree
about outer islands.
Because of our isolation
we have to be prepared.
It is not an option.
As an aside
You are an Hawaii farmer, I have some sort of beetle
killing off all my string beans, it cuts the stems,
it also is eating up the Pomegranate tree leaves,
any ideas? I was going to start spraying
Bayer Insect killer( Ace hardware),
but very expensive.
Even though we can grow food year round
the insects also eat year round.
Little brown beetle?
A spinosad type pesticide should work, OMRI approved, rotate that with pyrethrin, also OMRI approved.
Entrust is what i usually use but is super expensive, think its around 450 for a 30oz ish bottle, but is super effective and will last a long time.
Conserve and radiant are two others, not sure they ate both OMRI but are both pretty much the same as the OMRI approved versions
Rellik
Hopefully, you are at least 100ft above the sea level.
Yup, 3200+
Oops, sorry
That’s why every other week you whine and cry and want to leave the “island”. you blubber that you are surrounded by democrats. Like the little boy who cried wolf.
Living in any large city is a death trap. You will go into lock down and be starved like rats on a sinking ship.
Daisy, great article!
This article inspired me to finally get a bucket of Dehydrated Milk (Augason Farms Morning Moo’s Low Fat Milk Alternative Emergency Food Storage 30 Pound Pail). It’s not sexy or exiting but now I can answer the ultimate question in life: Got Milk?
Damn it man, forgot popcorn for the kids.
My sdvice to all the pussies out there?
Practice touching your toes… so you’ll have at least a chance of kissin your asses goodbye.
OFF TOPIC: Dry Canning Game Changer!
FoodSaver Jar Sealer and Using Mason Jars To Store Food: I have been using it for about a month and I’m “tickled Pink” (Yes, I really just said that). It is a great way to store dry foods, plus you can reuse the jars and lids. There is a big up front cost to the jars and lids, but again they are re-useable multiple times.
There are two main reasons to use mason jars for storing dry foods:
1. Rats can get into buckets and No. 10 cans. A prepper I know lost $1,000’s because rats got into just about everything.
2. You can store foods that aren’t usually available. Just today to dry canned 1 years worth of Lipton Black Tea Bags. Previously, I had put most of my tea in Freezer Bags and tried to squeeze most of the air out. I put about a years worth in FoodSaver bags but the jars work better. Also, I have done Black Beans and White Navy Beans (I won’t attempt to make a joke here).
Bonus Reason: With a Food Dehydrator you can prepare stuff for long-term cheaper than you can but it prepackaged. For stuff I dehydrate myself I use; (1) Dry & Dry 2 Gram Pack of 100 Premium Silica Gel Packets Desiccant Dehumidifiers – Rechargeable Paper(Food Safe FDA Compliant) and (2) 500cc Oxygen Absorbers for Dehydrated Food and Emergency Long Term Food Storage – 100 with PackFreshUSA LTFS Guide
If you don’t have a Foodsaver there are manual methods to use the Canning Jar Attachment that are like $20.00.
Justice,
Whats real nice about that bottle sealer is you can ue it with the 1/2 gallon wide mouths too,
Tip/Trick: If you vacuum can stuff like Flour, Pancakes or Oats place a cup cake paper thing inside the top of the jar and this will keep particles from jamming up your machine.
Justice,
Ever dehydrate fruit?
I use a mixture of honey and lemon juice on almost all my fruit when dehydrating,,
It keeps wayyyyy longer for some reason, im guessing the antimicrobial properties of the honey mixed with the citric acid,,,
Gives everything a bit more sweet too, apples etc, bangin good when done this way…
Nailbanger, I haven’t tried fruit yet. Do you have a source for the mixture and which fruits to use it on?
I plan to try dehydrating and canning diced potatoes next (because I use them in soups plus I only have one bucket stored up). I also really want to try eggs because they are really expensive to buy.
I just bought some “dried” blue berries and cherries but I zipped 90% of them up to go into the freezer. The others I sealed in jars, but I’m thinking of “FULLY” dehydrating them.
NOTE: Dried is NOT the same as dehydrated!! I just learned this a few days ago. Merely dried fruits must still be frozen or refrigerated.
Several No. 10 cans of Diced Potatoes came pretty dented up from Walmart, so I plan on opening them up and dehydrating them. I will blanch them before dehydrating.
I am focusing on preserving potatoes because they will be a main food item I plan on growing in SHTF.
Just a heads up,your potatoes are already cooked and will not be improved by blanching
Thanks anonamoose, I was wondering about that. Much appreciated.
you could also try canning diced potatoes in homemade chicken broth. this is a great soup starter, especially potato soup.
i can chicken leg quarters (40 lbs). i cut the back off the thigh and use that for making the chicken stock.
using 3 sliced lemons (peels and all) in the broth helps to give it a nice yellow chickeny color 🙂
grandee’s basic chicken/turkey stock
WASH ALL VEGETABLES
Put into large stock pot:
1 bunch celery cut into large chunks
1 pkg carrots, not peeled, cut into large chunks
1 bunch fresh flat leaf italian parsley, torn up
3 lemons not peeled, quartered (seeds too)
2 fresh garlic cloves, pulled apart, do not remove skins
1 leek—SPECIAL WASHING INSTRUCTIONS FOR LEEK
LEEKS ARE VERY SANDY-they like growing in sand 🙂
Peel back first skin and discard
Slice leek lengthwise
Slice each into 1inch slices down to the root, but so not use root (bitter)
Place one inch slices in large bowl of clean water, swishing them around.
Then let set several minutes to let sand settle to bottom of bowl.
Leeks will float on top of water.
When sand has settled, gently scoop out leek slices and put in stock pot.
Tie into a bundle fresh sage, thyme,bay leaf,rosemary, basil (or use 2Tbs of each dried spices)
1Tbs black pepper corns
1/4 cup salt
raw chicken or turkey meat or even cooked carcass of thanksgiving turkey
*Fill stock pot with water until contents are covered. Stir.
*Cook over medium heat till it comes to a simmer (not a boil). Simmer 2-3 hours
*Check occasionally to skim foam off the top as it cooks.
*When done cooking, remove veggies, bones and any waste meat. Discard. Strain into large bowl. Allow to set. If minimal amount of fat, just leave it. If a large amount, remove most of it.
Ready to can–as broth by itself, or as the boiling liquid when canning potatoes, carrots, black eye peas etc.
God bless
I mix my own,,, one cup lemon juice 1/2 cup honey, i usually mix up about a quart or so and just use as needed, works on almost anything, especially stuff that browns like banannas, apples, pears etc but have used it on everything, even berries. Just dump some on the fruit and mix it around real careful but good so its definitely coated then place the fruit on the dehydrator racks, i have a 9 tray Excalibur, helps keep the fruit from browning, with bananas i slice in half lengthwise after peeling then mix and put on racks, dry till its rubbery, a little hard, they get eaten pretty quick so not sure how long they will really last
Nail,
We dehydrate most the apple bananas we grow and our white pineapple also. But we refrigerate them till we consume, give them away, or mail them off to mainland friends and family.
What are your mixture details? I’m interested.
One cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup raw honey, i do about a quart at a time in the blender. Longest ive kept bananas was 6 months, no change really in taste or appearance, not refrigerated. Obviously i think refrigerating will keep them longer but is rare they go that long before disappearing, slice em lengthwise
I have some that are a couple of years old and they’re still good! I keep them in jars. I dehydrate figs too. I have an Excalibur 9 tray that is excellent!
I also have an Excalibur. I will be trying this also!! Thanks.
great idea thx nailbanger!
Pablo,
No prob, you will love it,,,
Makes great snacks.
Nice post Justice.
Got to love the vacuum sealer.
Check out the videos on making cheese from powdered (dehydrated) milk. Best cheese comes from fresh raw or storebought un-homogenized and not ulterpasteurized just regular pasteurized. That is heated at a lower temperature. Raw milk can be pasteurized at home. All it is is bringing the milk to a simmer for a few minutes to kill bacteria (good and bad).
You can fix-up an inexpensive wine cooler as a place to put cheese if you have no wine and cheese cellar. It’s the perfect temperature. Just need to put in a bottle humidifier. Check out the internet. Cheesemaking is a required skill if you want to sustain a quality of life at the lowest possible cost.
Goat, sheep, cows, even horses can provide milk for cheese. But horse milk is not as simple. And sheep cheese must be an acquired taste. A miniature Jersey Cow is on my wish list.
_
Thank you very much for posting this info. I have a dehydrator (the old round Harvest Maid) and am going to pull it out to see if it still works. No reason why it shouldn’t aside from being in a closet for many a year. However, I’ve been struggling with what to do with the dried goods I’ll produce and wondering about just stuffing things in a plastic bag or finding mason jars or what.
Since I’m still on a pinch-the-nickel-til-the-buffalo-poops budget for now, it makes ordering the big pails impossible but I could get a little extra every time I get groceries and add to my pantry storage that way. Drying my own makes it simple to create a few mixes I’d prefer or none at all.
Definitely going to check out the Food Saver and jar sealer accessory. And, there are some gift giving holidays coming soon so I can broadly hint to friends and family. 😀
Forgot to say, save those holiday tins and tubs from cookies, popcorn and the like. Holiday cookie tins tend to come in all kinds of shapes but usually the lids are tight. Learned this from mom because she saved them to keep Christmas cookies in them as she baked for the season and wanted the baked good to stay clean (away from grubby kid fingers) and fresh. And some cookies or candies needed to age a few weeks for the flavors to mellow. However, gooey or moist goods weren’t stored this way.
You can also sometimes get large–like 2 3 gal size–glass jars from delis where they get pickles, etc. from their food suppliers. I have a number of the old glass ones from years ago and love keeping flour, rice, macaroni, etc., in them vice canisters. Didn’t like plastic then and don’t now either. Mine were obtained for free because they didn’t want to clutter up their trash bins.
Yahooie, I tried to re-use glass jars once but it didn’t work because I used the same lids and the smell transferred. I haven’t tried it again, but I guess using new lids would prevent that?
Justice, the smell is likely from the cardboard insert beneath the lid. I discard those. I use the jars without the insert. If you want, it’s simple to make another from the back of an old pad of paper and then wrap with plastic wrap or foil. These inserts are originally to help seal the jar but since most re-use would not have a vacuum seal (like a mason jar), it’s not an issue to remove it and toss. Of course, if you have new lids that fit, go for it but just for storage not canning like a mason jar.
Oh, that smell is another reason why I don’t re-use the plastic ones which are numerous. I’m doing my best to get away from plastic as much as possible. It doesn’t last as long (plastic does degrade over time and would be hard to recycle in SHTF event), picks up smells (from anywhere) which transfer to the food in it, and isn’t varmint proof.
If you have a half gallon mason jar that has a chipped rim so it won’t hold a vacuum, use it for dry goods storage instead.
And if you have a cracked mason jar, you can paint the inside, break it the rest of the way, and *carefully* use the pieces to make mosaic with it. Always good to have and extra coaster, trivet, etc. Or melt the whole thing down and make new glass.
Everything I own is has double (or more uses) and re-used at least 2-3 times before it’s unusable and recycled or tossed. If I had a country house, I could likely find a few more uses. LOL (Not a high maintenance chick.)
foodsavers are badass. you end up running around the house the first day you get one looking for stuff to vac pack.
I remember my dog brought me her tennis ball while I was messing with it. I promptly sealed it up and gave her the bag back.
I don’t think she’s ever forgiven me.
You can goof on some cats like that, too. But they also have a long memory. Some are forgiving, others hold a grudge.
Justice, Thank You in advance for whatever wisdom you will share with me. My Dad bought a freeze dryer so I can prepper food for family. I have tried multiole times to vac seal my mason jars and its a crapshoot if they’ll seal. maybe 1 out of 3 will seal. Is there a trick to this? I have tried hot dry jars with lids been soaked in hot water then dried off …still no joy. Please any advice?
Lockdown my ass. That’s when I get really active. There ain’t enough law where I’m at to keep me hiding with the shades pull tight.(“F” that!) I’m gonna keep right on doing what I’ve been doing, without fear but always for the ready. But I’ll be damned if I’ll lay down for any one. Any transgressions will be met with my favorite 30 cal toy. Best they find an easier mark or an early grave. Their choice.
good one, daisy…..in your get-home bag, place a piece of kevlar in there to give some added protection.
“Be ready for the potential of fire.” in so cal where i live, businesses have to replace fire extinguishers every few years. so i went to the local fire extinguisher service guy, and asked if he had any used ones for sale….bottom line, i got 13 for 130$…..all serviced, and they are much bigger than the average extinguisher…..priceless!
buttcrackofdoom, that’s good to know. Do you know if Fire Stations still recharge fire extinguishers?
don’t know…..call ’em and ass….
here we(businesses) gotta service them(empty and refill) every year or two. then after….i don’t know, ten years? you gotta replace them. still absolutely serviceable.
Going to storage and removing a couple of buckets of food. Will stop at Wally World to pick up some water,than home to hunker down,turn on the radio and listen to the fun. Got my beer and coke and rum,too
Southside out til after election.
Moved to my doomstead during Bush presidency. Got enough for a few years and far enough from civ if the hungry hoards make it this far they’ll be too weak to fight.
Easy pickings.
A roll of chicken wire fence and tacks for the Windows, Bailing wire snares tied to bushes, Lots of fire extinguishers, Hanging fish hooks, Battery acid in a super soaker, or? Wasp spray, The old tin can full of pebbles on the wire thing, Those pull string fire crackers, Roman candles? Lawn darts?
I put anchors for brackets behind my fake shutters. if the flag goes up, the shutters come off and the windows get covered with flat pallets (the kind without gaps) that I have cut a small gun port into. If it gets seriously bad and I have to stay, the void in the pallet can be filled with dirt or gravel for added ballistic protection.
I think it helps to get mugged a few times.
Then you know what parts of the city really are dangerous, at the street level.
Unfortunately, for many Americans, the most dangerous place they routinely visit is, a “doctor’s” office.
Classic firearms has 22 thunderbolt 500 rnd boxes for $13.99 just to let y’all know.
Good for plinking and such, but get some higher quality (maybe CCI Mini-Mag and Stinger) for serious use if relying on them for anything more important that that.
Concerning 22 ammo that’s an uninformed opinion that clearly shows you know nothing of which you speak.
Camouflage, become a political chameleon. Keep a few progressive bumper stickers and very importantly those of democrat candidates in your glove compartment. In event of trouble, use your brain, swallow your pride, put them on your vehicle. Granted you can’t put “lipstick on a pig” so it won’t work on a 4X4 pickup with a Texas Longhorn hood ornament.
At a minimum who needs a $500 paint scrape when you have a $500 deductible on your auto policy.
K2
Remember how the fighter pilots used to keep tally of shoot downs,
I can totally see having some sort of tally on the old F350
Maybe upside down donkey heads with crosses in their eyes,
makes me smile!
I’ll avoid any fight over words. I’m not running over anybody nor do I relish obtaining a “body count”. If I can go through life W/O having to harm another I’ll be very happy. Damaging or stealing my property depends upon severity. Threaten to do harm of substance with the capacity and/or tool to facilitate it is crossing is the line. I detest violence, but I detest me or those under my protection being injured or killed a whole lot more.
True story from 911, a former coworker lived in Jersey City, NJ. (JC). The attack was in NY City, NY across and down the Hudson river.
There was no actual threat in Jersey city, no attack, no known danger, but the local police and mayor elected to close the city, without public announcement. Now Jersey City is essentially an island with only about six roads in and out across the meadowland swamps, bridges and tunnels.
This woman who luckily started the drive home with a full tank of gas would drive to a bridge into JC, a police roadblock would simply force her to turn around and go the other way. After the first she challenged police, tried to show she was a resident. Police stated they had no information for her, she should turn around and try another route. No one was being allowed through this road.
It was hours of driving to test the four routes in from the West. She finally got the message via blunt trauma that she wasn’t getting home. She arrived at a friends house in the suburbs forty minutes to the West, with just the cloths on her back. She found out two days later that a very close freind died that day in the towers. She stayed the night, and wore borrowed cloths to work the next day never having gone home.
Points of this story:
1. Have a bug out bag, imagine you were her and ran out of gas? Don’t forget the extra empty bottle to pee in.
2. Have a plan.
3. Have alternate plans.
4. Assume authorities will make utterly stupid decisions that will strand thousands of people.
5. Assume authorities will lie to you, and just keep you driving in circles until you run out of gas. Then you will be left on the curb and your car towed. Yes this happened to many that night.
6. Assume authorities will leave you out to die in their ignorance and hubris.
7. Assume authorities will view their own neighbors and residence as the enemy, deadly force will be authorized.
8. Assume authorities will use any and all force to stop even the innocent.
9. Assume authorities will kill you at the slightest provocation. Yes she saw a cop reaching for his gun when she produced proof of residence and insisted she be allowed to go home. This was a well dressed business woman in a nice clean car, simply trying to get home. The cop was just doing his job!
Ya, the Nazis were just doing their jobs too,,,, think on that for a moment
Months…
If you don’t have a tribe and COMMS you don’t have jack.
Have a plan B and plan C, just in case. Plan on out shooting the other guys? How did that work for Randy Weaver? Waco? Gordon Kahl? If you defeat the initial assault on your BOL, counter attack and eliminate the enemy on scene. Then bug out again. Initiate your plan B.
I saw the political Nazi’s in full swing after Hurricane Hugo in 1989 . The islands were destroyed and folks of course wanted to check on their houses etc. No one was allowed on the Islands for three days . Several folks were arrested for crossing police lines to check on their houses. The one take away was that all of the local gooberment officials were allowed on the Islands to check on their property before anyone else.
The sad part is that looters came by boat and stole some folks stuff.
you will eat your children when pushed to the extreme!
Stereotypical Boomers would eat their own children after winning the lottery.
Just the back straps!!
Mine will be tough.
I really dont believe there are enough police and military to lock down the country, maybe a big city yes, but not rural areas. You send out a patrol to a rural area, they dont come back.
make sure some of your food supply is poisoned so if someone takes it there is payback.
I put up the big monitor screens in the bunker last night. Thinking of taking election day off and sitting at home and watching the fun. But mostly just cleaning guns making sure all of them are ready to rock and roll. I’m out far enough that it’s not really a problem but one never knows. Militia command channels are being tested today. I think we’re ready to rock and roll. Won’t have to leave the place unless I get a call on the militia Channel.
Areas where Blacks are will be hit hardest, they rioted and tore half the west side of Chicago up when the Bulls won their “threepeat”. I’m not being racist, just a realist.
Black websites are already reeling out the calls for “The Gathering of the Tribe”, onto the streets of Chicago, L.A., Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Shreveport, NOLA. If CNN and MSNBC sez the Republicans won, Blacks will go on a purging spree. 100’s of Whites will be casualties tuesday, for certain.
CNN will fan the flames and ignore any incidents of blacks on white. Any checkpoints will go up Wednesday and be everywhere the danger is not, typical of cops avoiding personal danger. Look for huge traffic tie ups Wednesday morning, carry heavy if unfortunately you have to go to work that day.
Many blacks will take the day off to participate in the riots. Blacks are divided into two camps, those who have a job and those who do not. ALL of the ones who do not will be out on the streets Wednesday, half of those who do will also be out there, millions of them, plus the white millennial antifa. Marxists are going to see this as revolution time.
Netranger, long time no hear from. How’ve you been?
I live in the boondocks. People here carry openly. Tuesday will be lovely.
Communists don’t typically want to be pioneers. They want to assume control over the civilization, which other people have already developed.
You could probably lay the commodities, at their feet, no questions asked, and they would never arrive at a cheeseburger.
The defectors talk about a brain drain, where smart people have all been killed, dispossessed, or went Gault.
You’re asking how long people can last, based on what they have, right now. With 100% certainty, you will not last forever. For life to go on, you will eventually need to make new provisions.
Do you live in one of those luxury bunkers, with the theater and swimming pool? Where is the livestock and means of production? Can you tie a knot?