• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

What are you stocking up on?

In addition to stocking the usual, like extra food, high wear clothing, gloves, etc. I've been trying to stock up on knowledge.

Inexpensive, and often free for the taking, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Today I was looking through our community library, which is a take one, leave one type library, free bookstore. Found this little gem on the shelf.

IMG_20210122_161350241~2.jpg


...and speaking of oil lamps.

IMG_20210122_161336779.jpg
 
Cheezits, I'm bying all the fukin cheezits......
 
  • Like
Reactions: Merle
Those of us on life saving meds won't have the opportunity to do that. Not to mention the fact that I don't know what will happen if I can't be dialyzed at least 2 times a week.

I am investigating how to purchase additional meds without screwing up my Rx plan.

I've been worried about this since earlier this year. Changing insurance in July screwed up most of my plans.
If you need dialysis 2x a week I sure wouldn’t be spending my time and money planning for big time SHTF. If it was a real SHTF then sounds like you have bigger problems to deal with
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steve_In_29
If you need dialysis 2x a week I sure wouldn’t be spending my time and money planning for big time SHTF. If it was a real SHTF then sounds like you have bigger problems to deal with
I actually do dialysis 3 times a week, but could possibly get by with just 2 times. The prepping isn't a long term solution for me, but I do have a wife and kids to think about. I want to make sure they are somewhat set for a long time. Again, water is everyone's short coming in my opinion.
 
I actually do dialysis 3 times a week, but could possibly get by with just 2 times. The prepping isn't a long term solution for me, but I do have a wife and kids to think about. I want to make sure they are somewhat set for a long time. Again, water is everyone's short coming in my opinion.
Good point. I’m not so convinced on water. I live right next to a lake.

boil it, the. Run it through a gravel, sand, charcoal homemade filter and should be g2g
 
Is anyone versed on shallow well drilling and if the water can be filtered to drink and used to cook? I think I have water about 30 feet down, but I want a mechanical (hand) pump. However, I'm not sure I can draw water up 30 ft with a hand pump. Secondly, I know it's illegal to drill a shallow well for drinking, but If I say it's just for a garden and lawn, do you think they'd allow it?
 
Good point. I’m not so convinced on water. I live right next to a lake.

boil it, the. Run it through a gravel, sand, charcoal homemade filter and should be g2g

You are very fortunate having that lake by your home. I've got streams close enough, but Maryland is know for polluted streams due to industrial runoff.
 
Is anyone versed on shallow well drilling and if the water can be filtered to drink and used to cook? I think I have water about 30 feet down, but I want a mechanical (hand) pump. However, I'm not sure I can draw water up 30 ft with a hand pump. Secondly, I know it's illegal to drill a shallow well for drinking, but If I say it's just for a garden and lawn, do you think they'd allow it?

Might want to consider a drop of bleach in each container. I bought some bleach tablets that are meant to be used for killing bacteria in water.
 
Is anyone versed on shallow well drilling and if the water can be filtered to drink and used to cook? I think I have water about 30 feet down, but I want a mechanical (hand) pump. However, I'm not sure I can draw water up 30 ft with a hand pump. Secondly, I know it's illegal to drill a shallow well for drinking, but If I say it's just for a garden and lawn, do you think they'd allow it?
I have a 130’ well on my property. Most drinking water from a well around here is usually 500-900’ down. 130 is still considered ground water.

when I bought the house I wanted to run the whole house on it. Water tasted good, no funny smells, etc. water was fine for 2 weeks then one night before bed I filled my yeti cup full of water, drank it all, noticed it tasted off, refilled the cup, then had to run to the bathroom puking 15 sec later. Set the cup down and let it sit over night. Went back to it the next morning the water had a oily chemical type film on the surface. It went through 2 charcoal filters before it hit my cup.

needless to say I’m back to using city water in the house. Well water gets used for the pool and watering my acre of grass.
 
I have a 130’ well on my property. Most drinking water from a well around here is usually 500-900’ down. 130 is still considered ground water.

when I bought the house I wanted to run the whole house on it. Water tasted good, no funny smells, etc. water was fine for 2 weeks then one night before bed I filled my yeti cup full of water, drank it all, noticed it tasted off, refilled the cup, then had to run to the bathroom puking 15 sec later. Set the cup down and let it sit over night. Went back to it the next morning the water had a oily chemical type film on the surface. It went through 2 charcoal filters before it hit my cup.

needless to say I’m back to using city water in the house. Well water gets used for the pool and watering my acre of grass.

That sucks. All that water kinda going to waste. But at least you have some use for it.
 
Agree that water is critical.
We are on a well, no electricity-no water.
Have a Diesel genset that runs the property, no fuel- no water.
I store 6- 55 gallon drums of Diesel for hurricane season.
The water is only about 50 ft. down the 4” well casing.
Thought about buying a manual hand pump to replace the electric pump motor in cases of no electricity available under the worst case.
But there is no way to get the pump out w/o a crane.
Don’t have a crane.
Need 6 tons to drag the pump through the pipe rust & crap.
Have a swimming pool w/ 16,000 gallons, could be used if treated and filtered.
Have a couple of the MSR Guardian Purifier systems. Slow, but effective.
Have 6-55 gallon drums of water stored in a spare room in the house.
Lake within walking distance, would need some lakefront owner's permission to obtain water.
(Or get some use out of the PVS-14 to get the water)
Not sure what else I can do to prep for water.
Very hot here most of the time, hydration is critical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camocorvette
That sucks. All that water kinda going to waste. But at least you have some use for it.
Watering an acre of Bermuda with city water would cost me a fortune. I’m pretty happy about having that well still. But drinking I wouldn’t trust without running it through a reverse osmosis filter
 
Watering an acre of Bermuda with city water would cost me a fortune. I’m pretty happy about having that well still. But drinking I wouldn’t trust without running it through a reverse osmosis filter

I'm actually surprised the city/town will let you keep the well operational. In my little piece of Heaven, once you connect to city water, they tell you no more use of the well. Sometimes, they even order you to cap it with concrete.
 
You guys on a well, have you thought about having a solar (photovoltaic) system to run your pump? You could get a good set up for around $1K, which is not much for how critical water can be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: deersniper
You guys on a well, have you thought about having a solar (photovoltaic) system to run your pump? You could get a good set up for around $1K, which is not much for how critical water can be.

That's a good point. Do you need to replace the pump or is it just acting as a power supply.
 
Got me thinking (again) about solar, thanks!
Lots of Sun here.
I have not made the investment in solar because of the cost for all the batteries & electronics to start a 1HP 240 volt well pump.
However, it has been a few years since last costing it out, might be a good thing to review again now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camocorvette
That's a good point. Do you need to replace the pump or is it just acting as a power supply.

Well there's two ways to go about it. Depending on the amount of water you need to draw is also a consideration.

You can use your existing pump, but need a large battery bank to deal with the initial current draw of the pump when it first turns on.

Alternative is to replace the pump with what they call a soft or slow start pump, some which can run directly from the output of the solar panels.

Some farms and ranches use pumps that run off the panels, they are low flow, but run when the sun is shining to fill stock tanks. They could also be utilized to fill larger cisterns for drinking water.
 
Something else the wife and I talked about this evening. It seems like we (the men on the Hide) seem to be the driving force to prepping. However, the wife asked me what would she do if something happed to me. She wouldn't have the slightest idea how to proceed.

So, this weekend, we will be writing up a plan and instructions on what to do. Of course this will be an ever evolving list of instructions.

Make sure your family knows what to do in case you can't instruct them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alpine 338
Gonna make a big container of my wife's famous chili and can it. We're hoping to get this done sometime next week. We've got about 20 qt jars on the shelves, but I'm going for maybe another 20-25 qts.

After that, all I'll have are pint jars. I've gotta find another source for qt jars that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
 
I'm actually surprised the city/town will let you keep the well operational. In my little piece of Heaven, once you connect to city water, they tell you no more use of the well. Sometimes, they even order you to cap it with concrete.
They don’t know about it. Well was there before the city was incorporated and it’s not listed on the well database when it was drilled.

Texas isn’t funny about their water though. Like some states won’t let you collect rain water legally but TX made all rainwater collection parts, components, install all sales tax exempt. I have like 4500sqft of metal roof over my head that I could set up as big of a rain water collection as I wanted. I’ve been tempted to bury a 30k tank and switch the house over to that, and run the pump off solar/battery so I have off grid water.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camocorvette
They don’t know about it. Well was there before the city was incorporated and it’s not listed on the well database when it was drilled.

Texas isn’t funny about their water though. Like some states won’t let you collect rain water legally but TX made all rainwater collection parts, components, install all sales tax exempt. I have like 4500sqft of metal roof over my head that I could set up as big of a rain water collection as I wanted. I’ve been tempted to bury a 30k tank and switch the house over to that, and run the pump off solar/battery so I have off grid water.
Just another reason to move to Texas!
 
Might want to consider a drop of bleach in each container. I bought some bleach tablets that are meant to be used for killing bacteria in water.
Iodine works well too.

What kind of weird place doesn't let you collect rainwater?

We have a naturally running mountain spring that we collect then pump up to the house. It would be less convenient without electricity, but not much as the cistern is only about 500 feet away.
 
Just find the people from Doomsday Preppers t.v. show, they are going to be the kings of the new world.
 
Enough AR parts to fashion myself a half-dozen or so for different purposes. That way, if I need toilet paper and there's none at H-E-B... I can appropriate sufficient stock from those selfish fucks that buy all the toilet paper and hate guns.
 
I've gotta find another source for qt jars that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Don't know about your area but here I put up a note on the bulletin board at the local Senior Center asking if anyone had canning jars for sale. Several of the old gals called and said they had jars, lids, canners etc. that they didn't use any more, just come and get them. Wound up with over 300 jars of all sizes from pint to half gallon. The old gals don't throw anything away. The hard part was carrying stuff up from the basements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camocorvette
I've seen a number of comments about water.

If you're on a well and are concerned about loosing power there are a couple of solutions.

1. Emergency well bucket. Essentially a 5' pvc pipe with a cap and check valve on one end. You can build this easily. Just do a search for it. Cheap but effective and reliable.

2. Put in a hand pump.
I have experience with Bison pumps, specially model 1900. Very well made, and can fill a pressure tank. It takes a little work to install, but worth it. If you don't have heat, freezing pipes could be a problem depending on your setup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: clcustom1911
I did buy a side of beef!

Our family did that until we found a small family owned grocery store in Amish country. They have a sale 2 times a year. Beef, chicken and pork. We've found it's cheaper to go this route than to buy the side of beef.

Not to mention that the farmers know people are stocking up and their prices have increased and you need to get on a list the year before to be able to buy from them. I know I'm only speaking for my area and I'm sure there's places in the US that buying it directly from the farmer is still the cheapest way to go.
 
Our family did that until we found a small family owned grocery store in Amish country. They have a sale 2 times a year. Beef, chicken and pork. We've found it's cheaper to go this route than to buy the side of beef.

Not to mention that the farmers know people are stocking up and their prices have increased and you need to get on a list the year before to be able to buy from them. I know I'm only speaking for my area and I'm sure there's places in the US that buying it directly from the farmer is still the cheapest way to go.
In my area, farmers have to literally schedule a butchering date before the steer is born. They’re booked out into Summer of 2022. Crazy high demand is making prices high and even the opportunity to buy very difficult to find. I’m just glad to have a freezer full of venison.

Although it’s currently all in a spare
freezer at my mom’s place, because my 2 year old Frigidair upright freezer crapped out two weeks ago. 😑
Once I get it repaired, I’ll be buying a cheap Menards deep freeze to keep in the garage unplugged and waiting for the same reason. Thankfully my mom already abided by that rule having the same thing happen to her years ago.
 
You could get enough TP to build a fort with one 1000 pack of CCI450s right now. In March you couldn't buy a square of TP for what you could get 100pack of primers.
 
Anyone worried about TP is retarded. Use a cloth, wash the cloth repeat.

Who is stocking up on 2024 votes.
 
Our family did that until we found a small family owned grocery store in Amish country. They have a sale 2 times a year. Beef, chicken and pork. We've found it's cheaper to go this route than to buy the side of beef.

Not to mention that the farmers know people are stocking up and their prices have increased and you need to get on a list the year before to be able to buy from them. I know I'm only speaking for my area and I'm sure there's places in the US that buying it directly from the farmer is still the cheapest way to go.
I bought mine from a guy I work with, we found a butcher that worked us in when it was ready.
$3.50 a pound for a steer that was finished with grain/grass/ & it's mothers milk. Butcher was .65 cents a pound to process.
 
I bought mine from a guy I work with, we found a butcher that worked us in when it was ready.
$3.50 a pound for a steer that was finished with grain/grass/ & it's mothers milk. Butcher was .65 cents a pound to process.

You did well, that would never happen in my little piece of paradise. Finding beef is difficult enough, but finding a butcher is almost impossible. The farmers I talked to say their butchers are 5 to 6 months out on getting cattle butchered. The farmers don't mind it, because their cattle get heavier and they make more money.
 
What kind of primers do you need?
I have all kinds and I am willing to help a new shooter out.
Thanks for the offer Raven, but please keep them for someone who 'really' needs them. I've got about 1400 LRP to cover what I can load for the 6.5CM & 7SAUM, and 1000 SRP for my 308 (Lapua palma brass). I wish I had more so I could load more 9mm or 223, but I'll just stop going through my supplies of that until I can get my hands on more SRP or even small pistol.

We just had our 3rd child (1st son), so I really don't think I'll go through my stocks of anything over the next two years.... unless I bring my other two to the range and start them really young on the 22LR :)
 
You can also look into those religious candles they sell at the dollar stores. They are about 8" tall in glass jar, often with a picture of Jesus on it.
Good call. I found these on the shelf adjacent to the jesus candles at our local dollar tree. This picture is 40 hours into the burn. Clearly the colored candles burn longer but the white gives off more light. The red color is about half gone. No lux meter, just brought them into a dark room one at a time to test brightness. For a dollar, I will be clearing the shelf and spreading them around a few locations.
I'll leave the jesus candles as not to deprive his fans.

Edit to add; The white candle burned for just over 53 hours. I'm betting the other two have another dozen hours to go.
candles.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Steve_In_29
I just got another 96 wide mouth quart canning jars. This takes me over 250 quart jars and about 100 pint jars. The wife made chili in preparation for this snow storm we're getting. We'll eat on that and what's left over I'll be canning.

Also gonna can chicken noodle soup without the noodles. I'm afraid the noodles will get to soft. We can always add noodles at the time we eat it.
 
^^^^ Yup the noodles turn to mush.
Not really stocking just taking advantage of an opportunity. Truck driver friend called last week and said there was a truck wreck on a curve east of town. Nobody hurt but the owners of the load (frozen Kroeger brand 4# pork loins) needed help cleaning up meaning giving away. Headed over and talked to the guy and asked what the limit was. No limit. Picked 80 that were still in the truck, said thanks and drove away. Heard later people took 10,000 lbs. and the remaining 25,000 got hauled to the landfill. Sad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anb618