4 Things Most Preppers go W/O But Really, Really, Really Shouldn't

[Svt]

There are 4 "things" I rarely see discussed - if at all - on this forum, that I find incredibly important. One in particular is shocking to see ignored by this community (and somewhat related to another item on this list).

1. Merino Wool Clothing

As far as I understand, merino wool is one of, if not the best clothing fabrics on the planet. Far superior to both cotton and "under armor".

It is

• soft
• does not have the ABILITY to retain odor
• dries quickly
• keeps you warm even when wet
• is the warmest fabric by weight
• breathes better than under armor in cool weather
• fire resistant
• offers high UV protection

It never itches, even when worn for over 1 month straight (yes people where this material for that long, and even then the material refuses to retain odors).

The only real downside is that is aint cheap, at least not for the brand I buy, Icebreaker.

But the good news is the clothing lasts and lasts. I've worn one short sleeve shirt some.... ~300 times now? Maybe even more. I've worn is 5-6 days a week for over a year and a half now, still holding up fairly well, and looks the exact same the day I bought it (not counting tears that I personally put in it through typical wear and tear).

Anyway, I'll never willingly buy cotton clothes again over merino wool - money aside. It's just awesome... and if you consider it's benefits, I think it's a valuable survival tool. Cotton for one sucks heat when wet, and takes forever to dry. Under armor and other synthetic clothing stink pretty quickly, and can not be worn for extended periods without resulting rashes.

Neither of which insulate or breathe as well as merino wool.

I think you get the point. Probably best to get it on Amazon or BackCountry.com (BC offers a life time warranty on anything you buy from them, including clothes).

2. Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil is another item that isn't discussed much on this board, without good reason.

Coconut Oil is excellent for you, digesting much like a carbohydrate due to it's high concentration of MCT's (medium chain triglycerides). Translation? Fast fast energy, without the same degree of insulin spiking found in carbohydrate.

Better yet, since it's pure fat (mostly saturated, the good kind), it's packing a lot of calories. Without protein or a host of other vitamins/minerals it is not a complete food, but never the less it's a ton of calories. Even a relatively small jar could sustain the average many for quite a few days, especially if keto-adapted (more in a sec).

But food is only one use of coconut oil. It's other uses are just as, if not more important.

Coconut oil is

• anti viral
• anti bacterial
• anti microbial
• anti fungal
• completely sterile (no kidding)

The first one is perhaps the most important, as it will "kill" any virus it comes into contact with, in addition to virtually all other pathogens.

Better yet, it is easily absorbed by the skin.

Personally I've used it to rid myself of a case of molloscum contagiosum (viral skin infection/irritation).

I had gone to the doc, and he used liquid nitrogen to burn off the red bumps that result from this virus. It hurt pretty bad due to the location (need I say more?), left minor scars, and took over 2 weeks to heal.

Upon healing, some of it came back. I was pi$$ed!

I applied coconut oil liberally for 3 days. On day 4, all remaining bumps were gone, left behind no scars, and I suffered no pain. Bam, never had a problem again (thank god this virus only lives on the surface of our skin!).

Not to mention I spent 1/10th on coconut oil as I spent on the doc.

So, considering all of this (and yes coconut oil is safe to apply to wounds), I find coconut oil especially useful as a survival item. You can eat it, and it can save your life. It's even useful as a skin moisturizer - as in significantly better than almost anything else you can find. Chapped lips? Look no further, this will heal them faster and better than all chap sticks I have ever come into contact with.

And need I take a step back and discuss other skin infections? Oral infections? Coconut oil can even be used to heal eye infections (although I'd be cautious with the amount I applied to my eyes).

3. Keto-adaption

"Fat adapting" or "keto adapting" is more of a trait than an item. It is what happens when one consumes little or no carbohydrate. It takes 2-4 weeks for most individual, during which some head aches can occur due to a magnesium deficiency in the SAD (standard american diet). Producing ketone bodies consistently (keto adapting) requires more magnesium, hence when you dont have enough, you have minor problems.

In any case, that kind of information is something one can Google or search for on Wikipedia. The point I'm trying to make is that once "keto adapted", you are significantly better suited to burn both dietary and bodily fat - when necessary.

You are less hungry, and when you are hungry, there is no serious pain. No stomach cramps, muscle weakness, head aches, grumpiness, etc.

Once fat adapted, your body lives off of, well, mostly fat. Guess what you have plenty of just sitting around?

Fat.

Where this comes into play is in a survival situation. A person who is keto adapted can easily go 24 hours WITHOUT EATING A DAMN THING, and be completely fine, and function normally.

A person who typically consumed 200-350 grams of carbohydrate per day? (very common in Amerikuhhh). They will be RAVENOUS in far less than 24 hours without a fix and regularly scheduled meal.


I think this is a major factor in SHTF scenarios actually. People get hungry, FAST, because they are accustomed to eating 4-6 times a day.

Personally? (I have been fat adapted for many months). I eat once, maybe twice a day. It is extremely rare I eat 3 times a day, and when I do, that third meal is hardly a "meal" but a small snack of jerky or something.

I regularly go more than 24 hours without eating, and while I "know" I should eat some food, I won't blink an eye till it's convenient. I just don't care, and I'm not keeling over from starvation any time soon.

See how this is playing out in a survival situation? Carbohydrate addicted person is freaking out without constant and readily accessible food. When they don't get it, head aches ensue among other problems.

A fat adapted person? Going to last a hell of a lot longer with minimal or no food. You're body is made up of fat, nearly 100% saturated. I recommend you practice using it =).

For more info on keto adaption, check here.

4. Pemmican

Pemmican (properly made) is the closest thing one can find to a "perfect food". It is a highly stable mix of rendered animal fat, and completely dried animal protein (very lean meat).

Properly made and stored (dry location, relatively low temp, although "warm" temps won't seriously limit it's life span), it has been reported to last for decades. In fact, the taste can even improve over time.

Pemmican, in the absence of any significant amount of carbohydrate, prevents all deficiencies - including scurvy - and satisfies all nutritional requirements. (When significant carbohydrate is present, scurvy would be the primary concern, followed by other lesser deficiencies).

Most will find this hard to believe, as the amount of carbohydrate in animal meat is tiny and insignificant. But, never the less, carbohydrate is not a necessary nutrient for humans.

This doesn't make it useless, or "bad" for everyone- and many people may actually live best on X amount - but for survival purposes, it simply isn't necessary. The body can produce all the carbohydrate that is required, and the brain runs better on ketone bodies.

To learn more about pemmican you can look here and here (a bit more colorful).

That's all. Hope some find this useful. If you have questions let me know

-Svt

edit- and for the record, I know of no place to buy properly made pemmican. GrasslandBeef.com sells it, and I've tried it, and it's good, but it does not resemble home made pemmican. Do not know what they did different. Regardless, the beef fat they sell is great for using in pemmican. AND, try not to eat your jerky as you dry it! I run into this problem a lot as real beef jerky is simply delicious.

edit2- should also mention, pemmican is going to MURDER any of "survival" food in terms of caloric content. Properly made pemmican is 50/50 fat/protein by weight, which turns out to be 80/20 caloric content by weight since there are more than twice as many calories in the fat than in the protein. 20% protein may seem low, but it is not, especially in a survival situation, or even daily living where people consume copious amounts of sugar and grain oils (soy/rapeseed/corn mostly, rapeseed being canola with a spiffy new name).

[ColoradoWildcat]

I second the coconut oil. It has the most stable shelf life as well, an important characteristic when storing for the future. It can last quite a few years. It is good for the skin as well. Good post.

[trouble]

Thanks for the Coconut oil info, I'd never heard of it's use before!

[EdD270]

Coconut oil is great stuff, but so is olive oil, equally good and long storage life, too.
As for pemmican, it's pretty standard prepper fare, at least I thought so.
Same with merino wool, and some other types of wool. It's the best stuff, and can often be found for cheap in thrift stores.
Now, keto-adaption is a new one to me. Interesting info that will spur me to learn more and find out how to best apply it to our situation.
Thanks for a great post.

[Mtnman Mike]

I have heard of merino wool and pemmican discussed a couple times in some posts.

This is still an interesting thread although I have managed to go without much of what you have suggested. Maybe I will get some pemmican and merino wool if I can find it cheap enough.

But about coconut oil is maybe it is good. I have heard that olive oil is best for cooking.

But here is one out of many sites that tell pros and cons of coconut oil > http://blog.healthyeats.com/blog/200...l-good-or-bad/

From the above link > "There’s strong evidence that suggests the various fatty acids found in coconut oil, raise both LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol and total cholesterol.

"Studies released over the past 25 years show an overall pattern that coconut oil increases the risk for heart disease (check out this summary of studies for yourself).
Just because a handful of studies show slightly different results doesn’t mean it’s a green light to throw years of research out the window."

[caridad]

thank you for the information. now for a fifth item...

THE CAN OPENER!!!

[lanahi]

I think Velcro would also be a good thing to have.

Most of our preps have more carbohydrates than fats...we need more fats for SHTF, so olive and coconut oils would be good.

[Dr.prepper]

Great post!

Pemmican in my opinion is probably thee best survival food, and a must for any serious prepper. It's easy to make, it will store for years without going bad and tastes great. My favorite way to make pemmican is with beef, bacon fat, and dry spices like garlic powder and onion powder. I only use bacon fat in batches that we are going to eat within weeks, because the bacon fat starts to break down and doesn't store well. For long term storage any red meat fat will work.

I just want to mention that if you want to make pemmican that meets all nutritional requirements without the need for additional supplementation, both the lean meat and the fat should come from grass fed animals, because the meat and fat from grass fed animals has far greater nutritional value than grain fed beef.

[GQtim]

Olive oil is wonderfull stuff, great to cook with.
use it to help preserve things, fresh garlic in olive oil will keep for months and give you another flavour to the oil

add it to bread and its mighty tasty and it keeps for a very long time

[marylp]

Olive oil is great, however the only way to get its full benefits is to pour it over salads, use it in its natural state, I wouldn't cook with it. I have read it has a low heating point, once you cook anything denser than say and egg, its no different than any cheapy oil you can get at the market. I have also read somewhere that most chefs are moving on from Olive oil to maybe Grapeseed oil. Who knows

[Herbalpagan]

I'm allergic to wool, son is allergic to coconut in all forms.

Velcro and safety pins are my pick for good preps that are often over looked.

[Svt]

Originally Posted by Dr.prepper

I just want to mention that if you want to make pemmican that meets all nutritional requirements without the need for additional supplementation, both the lean meat and the fat should come from grass fed animals, because the meat and fat from grass fed animals has far greater nutritional value than grain fed beef.

You are 100% right, and I should have mentioned that. It is especially important with the fat, which is where most of the trouble occurs from grain feeding.

Never the less, cod liver oil or krill oil supplements would help alleviate the nutritional lack of omega 3 fatty acids in pure grain fed beef fat. Personally the pemmican I make is always a mix of grain and grass fed fat (the lean meat is always grass fed though).

Will respond to other comments later. Off to get my CW permit.

-Svt

[callsign]

When I was in NZ I saw clothes made from a mix of merino and possum fur and I was told that it was even better warmth-wise than just plain merino. It was horrendously expensive though.

[Marcus]

olive oil is especially good for it's vitamin K content,

I don't know your recipe, but pemmican, made simply with grass fed ground beef(4:5 fat/protein ratio) cannot possibly supply all nutrients. I know the OP said to make it 1:1 but this wouldn't change the nutrition content substantially(potentially increasing some nutrients 1/4 the amount shown in the following link, and decreasing others 1/5)

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/b...oducts/10526/2

while it is a good source of Niacin, Vitamin B12, Zinc and Selenium--and an
it's an OK source of a handful of other nutrients as well--there are many nutrients that it only supplies trace amounts of if any at all, so it is clearly not something to rely on completely in a SHTF, as ALL nutrients are essential, especially the water soluble ones like the Bs and C as these flush out of your system about every 4 hours(hence the evolution of eating patterns[no they are nut just because of carbohydrates, although that is a good enough reason, but also what those carbohydrates come with]) fruit and grains tastes good, not just because of carbs, but because those carbs are more often than not(in the wild anyway) mixed up much needed vitamins and minerals.

You can do an experiment on yourself to find out what tastes better: compare corn sugar(1g) mixed with corn starch(110g) and corn oil(8g) with 1 cup of corn off the cob. Clearly there is more to appeal than caloric sources. The evolution of our taste-buds has been a tool(however it's "farsightedness" can be a burden for us in our rapid industrial, cultural and coinciding culinary advancement of the past hundred years) this tool helps attract us to foods that our body needs.

But it is adapted to whatever our ancestors went through, not necessarily what we will go through in a SHTF situation. Educate yourself about nutrition, and study your EXTENDED family history.




I am not trying to dissuade anyone from relying on pemmican, the OP makes a good point about ketosis being useful. I don't know enough about it to know if it is without it's bad side effects. But if you are going to be relying solely on pemmican for food, you will need daily supplements of C and some Bs, as well as regular supplements of A, E, K and some minerals

[ForestBeekeeper]

Merino is a breed of sheep. All wool is good. There are different grades of wool, from rabbit, goat, sheep, lama, etc.

We have sheep and playing with wool is fun!

All winter long; I wear wool. Wool shirts, wool pants, wool socks, wool gloves and wool hats.

During my military career I have used hollow-fiber and every other technology of advanced clothing. In my experience nothing else compares to wool.



I am also in favour of pemmican. The Organic / Off-grid / Survival fair that I go to each year often has workshops on making pemmican.

[Lono]

Good post!

Merino wool - I've been using merino wool pants, shirts, and socks since the 70's for backpacking in the Adirondacks High Peaks region. It is light weight, much softer than normal wool, and doesn't itch, at least for me. Never, never use any cotton clothing - if it gets wet or even damp with perspiration, you are looking at hypothermia. I've seen this happen to others in some remote places and it is not pretty. I always bought it military surplus at steep discount to new prices, usually in dress uniform type.

[vicdotcom]

Pemmican is the way to go! So many people look down on the most nutritional parts of the animal. Marrow is one of the best sources of nutrition, minerals, fats. And it tastes DARN good! What sucks is that most "gourmet" resturants and foodies are figuring this out. They now serve "marrow" appetizers at fancy resturants. Stinks because it is raising the prices of the bones I used to get for cheap. And I know marrow pemmican spoils faster, but it usually never lasts that long around here lol

[lugnut]

Some coconut oil is hydrogenated. Some treated with solvents, bleach or heat.

Check your label.

link

[tadbitangelny]

Originally Posted by Dr.prepper

Great post!

Pemmican in my opinion is probably thee best survival food, and a must for any serious prepper. It's easy to make, it will store for years without going bad and tastes great. My favorite way to make pemmican is with beef, bacon fat, and dry spices like garlic powder and onion powder. I only use bacon fat in batches that we are going to eat within weeks, because the bacon fat starts to break down and doesn't store well. For long term storage any red meat fat will work.

I just want to mention that if you want to make pemmican that meets all nutritional requirements without the need for additional supplementation, both the lean meat and the fat should come from grass fed animals, because the meat and fat from grass fed animals has far greater nutritional value than grain fed beef.

How about you and the thread starter share your recipies and methods with us. Have never heard of this pemmican before but would love to try it using someone's recipie who has made if before thanks.

[ForestBeekeeper]

I got a recipe from fair that I attend each year.

To make a batch of Pemmican.
Grind five pounds of dried meat to a meal-like consistency;
mix with one pound of dried berries;
and one pound of cruched nuts;
then 1/2 pound maple sugar;
stir in four pounds of melted fat;
form into bars on a cookie sheet and chill.