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Important preps leading up to November 2020?

47K views 260 replies 100 participants last post by  16isalittleman 
#1 ·
Brain storming session, what would you consider important preps between now and leading up to the November 2020 elections? For the sake of discussion, let's throw a resurgence of covid-19 into the mix.

I plan on hitting the public hunting lands this fall, maybe doing some camping / hunting trips. The camp sites are on the Angelina River near Jasper, Texas. Because of this I am adding some Mountain House freeze dried meals to my collection. Couple of days ago I went through my freeze dried pouches and could use some more breakfast.

Guns and Ammo? I currently have a Ruger P89 on layaway at a local gun store, and that is about it. I am fine with everything else. Ammo and firearms have already been cleared out from the stores, not a big concern though.

Maybe stockpile some 13-13-13 fertilizer while prices are low for next spring.

Fall garden will get planted in a couple of months. Probably going with:

Turnip / mustard Greens
Spinach
Rutabagas
Some winter squash, such as acorn squash

In a few weeks I may need to butcher some of the chickens added to the flock this year. If anything, maybe some canning jars for homemade chicken soup? The chickens were straight run so there are some roosters mixed in.

I honestly can not think think of anything I need to push to the front of the list. Maybe a few more canned goods, but nothing special.
 
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#9 ·
CYA....they can be ordered online and delivered. They also stack on shelves in thier boxes very well. Barbed wire is even cheaper and more availible. Your local TSC, Rural King, Farm and Fleet have it on sale. The stock dude in the back will load it into your truck. Get some welders gloves from harbor frieght to hanle it. Most farms use it as a top wire on thier grazing fields. It stacks 3-4 bundles hight, if needs be, or two bundles high on a bottom shelf.

Some consider it a prep, some a tool, otbers consider it both. Which are you?
 
#10 ·
Brain storming session, what would you consider important preps between now and leading up to the November 2020 elections? For the sake of discussion, let's throw a resurgence of covid-19 into the mix.

I honestly can not think think of anything I need to push to the front of the list. Maybe a few more canned goods, but nothing special.
Currently I am adding in microgreens and indoor growing. Sprouts and microgreens arn't difficult, some grow lights for urban folks and people in the North alllow for some growing even when the weather goes south. A hydroponics set up is a bug free way of doing indoor growing. I have about 10 square feet of growing to work with and that can supplement things a bit. paired with solar you can do so at relatively low cost. The lights have about a 6 year life. Sprouting jars and bags or other sprouting and microgreen systems trays etc.. are my current hobby add on.

Lots of smart home systems, alarms, sensors, cameras that can provide insight if people are sitting on money and looking for some home defence these systems can held secure doors, and used for intrusion alarms.

Things like worm farms, "fungi/mycilia" for soil heath are something peopel may not look to early on.
 
#45 ·
Currently I am adding in microgreens and indoor growing. Sprouts and microgreens arn't difficult, some grow lights for urban folks and people in the North alllow for some growing even when the weather goes south. A hydroponics set up is a bug free way of doing indoor growing. I have about 10 square feet of growing to work with and that can supplement things a bit. paired with solar you can do so at relatively low cost. The lights have about a 6 year life. Sprouting jars and bags or other sprouting and microgreen systems trays etc.. .
I sprout in jars and Sproutman thingamajigs, but never did it bigger. Do you have a thread anywhere that describes your setup? Do you have a good source for seeds?

These high-nutrition greens would be gold in a shortage.
 
#18 ·
Oh really?

Know a lot of city folks whom can afford to do that at the moment, do you?

Amidst the start of a depression, where it’s unlikely they’ll be able to sell there home AND find work?

Please, do tell...

That ship has sailed, unless independently wealthy or “plan” on winning the lotto (which we don’t even play).

Better advice is to improve upon what one already has, where they have it, and with whom they know.
 
#19 ·
Food.
Enough highly portable, long term food storage, to last an entire winter.
Long term explorers, miners, and trappers would pack in 600/lbs per man, and they would include dried fruits, veggies, and salt pork.
A moderized list would include freeze dried components, and run more to 450 lbs. This could be stretched an entire year if you add wild fish and game.

One yr Grub Stake List (450 lbs),
60 lbs Flour,
40 lbs Bisquick mix,
50 lbs Oatmeal,
25 lbs Corn Meal,
100 lbs Rice,
25 lbs Pinto Beans,
50 lbs Pasta (Spaghetti Noodles, Elbo Mac),
25 lbs Coffee,
25 lbs Salt,
10 lbs Sugar,
1 gal Honey,
1 gal Maple Syrup,
12 lbs Jam (Strawberry/Grape/Berry),
1 Gal Crisco,
3 L Olive Oil,
1 lbs Baking soda,
1 lb Baking powder,
4 lb Yeast,
1 lb Corn starch,
Vanilla, 1 Bottle,
Ketchup 2 Bottles,
Spices-Garlic/Pepper/Chilli/Oregano,
Hot cocoa mix
Tea bags,
365 Multi/Vitamin C,
4 #10 Cans MH Entrees, 1 ea, Beef Stew, ChiliMac, Lasaguna, Spagetti.
4 #10 Cans Freeze Dried (Onions/G Peppers/Tomato paste/Potatoes),
4 #10 Cans Freeze Dried milk/Butter/Cheese/Eggs,
 
#25 ·
Food

One yr Grub Stake List (450 lbs),
60 lbs Flour, 40 lbs
Bisquick mix, 50 lbs
Oatmeal, 25 lbs
Corn Meal, 100 lbs
Rice, 25 lbs
Pinto Beans, 50 lbs
Pasta (Spaghetti Noodles, Elbo Mac), 25 lbs
Coffee, 25 lbs
Salt, 10 lbs
Sugar, 1 gal
Honey, 1 gal
Maple Syrup,
12 lbs Jam (Strawberry/Grape/Berry),
1 Gal Crisco,
3 L Olive Oil,
1 lbs Baking soda,
1 lb Baking powder,
4 lb Yeast,
1 lb Corn starch, Vanilla,
Ketchup 2 Bottles,
Spices-Garlic/Pepper/Chilli/Oregano,
Hot cocoa mix/Tea bags,
365 Multi/Vitamin C,
4 #10 Cans MH Entrees, 1 ea, Beef Stew, ChiliMac, Lasaguna, Spagetti.
4 #10 Cans Freeze Dried (Onions/G Peppers/Tomato paste/Potatoes),
4 #10 Cans Freeze Dried milk/Butter/Cheese/Eggs,
That is a good list. I added some line breaks to make it easier to read.

Freeze dried #10 cans are out of stock just about everywhere. Not that I need any more.

A cajun will probably burn through 25 pounds of rice in a month. My rice stockpile sits at around 100 pounds.
 
#24 ·
All I need now is "One" good woman that can shoot straight, and and willing to live in the Alaska wilderness. (Send photo of your dog).......:thumb:
 
#33 ·
I ordered a few hundred more disposable face masks. While most of the plant I work in has A/C, the parts that don’t are where I spend most of my shift. While I have “better” masks in stock (ALOT OF THEM), they are too hot to wear all day this time of year. So disposables and social distancing are the way I am going now. And since I am the boss, EVERYBODY follows the COVID rules we have in place (only had to fire two people to get everybody sorted out).

And with a massive germophobe as one of the owners..........I think masks are going to be mandatory for a long time.

Otherwise, I do my usual thing. Pick up a half dozen MH pouches every week, rotate my preps, keeping everything topped off. Pick up ammo when I see a deal.

My biggest concern for the rest of the year is getting laid off and more severe lockdowns.

Right now we are super busy and I work all the overtime they’ll give me. I don’t expect that to last if there is a “second wave” that is worse than the first one. My company is considered “essential” because we do some work for DOD. But not enough work in that if everybody else shuts down. So a lay-off later this year would not be unexpected.

I eat a lot of rice, and probably go through a 5 gal bucket in 6 weeks (By myself). So I keep a minimum of 6 full buckets including the one I am eating out of.

I live about 60 miles from Chicago on the Wis. border. Not quite rural, but not quite suburb either. If I didn’t watch the news, I wouldn’t know anything about the “protests” going on around the country.

The election is pretty far down my “give a crap” list because I believe Trump has already won. I remember all the “polls” in the summer of ‘16 that were saying Trump didn’t stand a chance. Plus I think it highly unlikely that the electorate will be eager to change leadership of the country when this year has been one crap show after another.

I also think that if 911 had never happened, Bush would’ve been a one term pres like his daddy. I think Trump will win a second term for a similar reason.
 
#34 ·
The election is pretty far down my “give a crap” list because I believe Trump has already won.
This is really dumb IMO.

Nobody knows what is going to happen in Nov. Nobody. You can hope in one hand and you know what in another but it won't make a difference in what really goes down.

Anyone who is just assuming Trump is going to win is making a huge mistake. As would anyone assuming he is going to lose.

Do not pretend you know the future. Prepare for the worst case.

No matter what happens in NOV, very close to half the country are going to be shocked and horrified by it. It almost doesn't matter who wins. The results will be the same.
 
#40 ·
Water food ammo, I have always prepared for no electricity . If you have been through every item needed to live without power, you have solved the real hard ships. Food, water . I can live in a shack and be fine. Don't need cell. Books are nice after working around the house and to bed at dark and up at light. This is the game I have been playing for three months without having re supply.
Just practice.t to be around anyone if stuff goes bad. Your heading right to the most likely places to be confronting people. Maybe crazy ass. Or starving a little.
I don't want to come out for months if needed.
I can still be outside just not shopping.
Plus it's been good staying clear of the Vid
 
#41 ·
I will also recommend the barbed wire. and make sure you have the other tools you need to install it. remember it needs to be installed under tension. we intend to use it to discourage traversal through areas that will be harder to keep under surveillance by our best-placed sentry posts. to be backed up with very nasty traps, if the situation calls for it.
 
#42 ·
Body ar-mor, outfitting the whole family. Also bought a Cowboy Cauldron for cooking outside over a fire. Then it'll be food, food and more food. Have a couple of cows coming in August and will grab another elk this Fall. Also looking for more sources of passive income.
Oh and thinking about getting a couple of more dogs!
 
#43 ·
I can't think of anything that I need to buy before the election. However I do need to work on being more organized. Ever since I moved I can't find my stuff without searching for a long time.

I lost power last night for 4 hours and I spent half an hour trying to find more than 1 flashlight. I know I have a dozen with multiple lanterns and hundreds of batteries. I was able to only find 3 and none of the AA batteries.

Preps are worthless if you can't get to them or find them.

If I stay on schedule I should have by shed complete by end of July which will help a lot with the lack or organization.
 
#47 ·
Building cold frames to extend the season. Need to get some suggestions for decent, affordable dehydrators. Been extending our baseline food and water stocks.

If the election results aren't in line with what our media wants, I fully expect another, bigger round of a trumped up viral threat and worse economic destruction and supply chain problems due to hitherto unseen levels of fear-mongering and outright lies.
 
#49 ·
Bought a second refrigerator on Friday and put it in the basement pantry.
Need to get communications (ham radio) in order.
I moved a year and a half ago and continue getting reorganized. No matter how careful you are when moving there will still be a mess in the end. How much of a mess depends on how organized you are when you start.
Will continue working on orchard and growing plots.
Target practice.
Make some apple pie moonshine.
 
#58 ·
Two things.

Chest freezers hold the cold better and take less energy to operate because of the simple physics of cold air falling. A chest freezer makes essentially a pool of cold air in a bucket. With a standup everytime you open the door all the cold air inside 'falls' out onto the floor and has to be re-chilled.

Cubic foot for cubic foot, chest freezers hold more food because of the lack of shelves and the requirement to not stack so high that things fall out when you open the door. You can pack a chest freezer completely full and as long as you can close the door you're okay.

Stand ups are fine for 'casual' freezing but for real bulk storage they can't beat a chest freezer.
 
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