Raven21633

Scriptures - LDS Online Store I believe they do ship internationally and no-one will come to your door but the postman

Be careful with dynamo radios if you haven't had experience with them before though. (I'm on my third in 2 years) Some models you have to top off every week or two to keep the internal batteries conditioned. I've had two die on me because I forgot to top off the batteries at regular intervals and they stopped holding a charge. This is why I switched to multi-power flashlight/radio combo's. Something that can take alkaline batteries in the event the internal battery ever fails, and I don't charge the internal batteries for the first time until I need them. I have the WeatherX flashlight/radio combo (WeatherX Dynamo Weatherband Radio/Flashlight with Lantern : Weather radios | RadioShack.com). It's cheap, in more ways than one, probably wouldn't survive a fall off the coffee table, but you can crank it up OR put batteries in it.

Really, this is a misnomer. There is no such thing as a "Family" 72 hour kit, especially since 72 hour kits are somewhat personalized. Each person should have their own 72 hour kit, and should contain: 1. 3 full set's of clothing ...a 3 pairs of pants ...b 3 pairs of socks ...c 3 shirts ...d 3 pairs of undies ...e at least 1 long sleeve shirt for colder weather 2. 3 days supply of food. My kit contains: ...a 3 Mountain House single person pouches (I no longer store MRE's since the new US Army recommendation is to rotate every 36/40 months, and Mountain House pouches last 7 years) ...b 3 First Strike apple cinnamon bars ...c 1 3600 calorie Datrex cube. 3. 3 day supply of water. 3 days of water is not only difficult (and heavy) to pack if you include both drinking and washing up. Aqua Cubes and Datrex water pouches are both excellent for drinking, and pack extra if your stocking Mountain House pouches, but what I did was not to pack water in my backpack. Instead I bought two 2 quart canteens that can be carried separately. That should be enough to get by. 4. Personal Hygiene (Hygiene is even more important in an evacuation shelter) ...a 1 toothbrush (travel size) ...b 1 toothpaste (travel size) ...c 1 washcloth ...d 1 towel ...e 1 shampoo (travel size) ...f 1 bar soap (travel size) ...g 1 comb ...h 1 shaving kit (men) 5. Sleeping gear ...a 1 sleeping bag ...b 1 sleeping pad (optional) ...c 1 camp pillow (optional) 6. Personal Prescription Medication 7. Personal Identification and Documentation Again, these are the items that EACH kit should contain. When preparing as a family, there are many items that can be divided among everyone's individual kits. Dad can carry the heavy stuff, junior can carry the travel games. Personally, I never buy a "single function" tool. This is one area where you want to put as many eggs in a single basket as possible, to keep the basket light and portable. Family items include: 1. 1 First Aid kit - Check regularly for expired medicine and rotate as needed. 2. 1 Dynamo radio/flashlight (Mine has Am/Fm/Weather band radio, flash light, room light and runs on crank power or alkaline batteries) 3. Travel size games. I have 2 decks of playing cards, a travel "Sorry", etc. Pack real games and not the hand-held Nintendo. 4. A couple of good paperback books. 5. A tube tent (you can get them now that are almost as small as a poncho) 6. Some way to start fire (lighter, flint/steel etc) This should not be as overwhelming as it looks. You don't have to collect everything at once. You can start with a backpack and start collecting your clothing. Add things as you can afford them, or catch them on sale. Set goals, make checklists and review and rotate frequently.

{again I failed to realize this thread went multiple pages and replied to a page 1 post on page 4 ha ha. Sorry (blush)} You've never had a 14 year old have you? IMO, they're ALL mentally ill. (I'm convinced mine was... and 10 years later.. still is ha ha) No, if it were just one I might see mental illness, but not all 4. Most likely this is a case of one or two bad seeds talking (or coercing) the others into it, but given the number of them it is also most likely that there are a variety of reasons. My best guess is that when they get to the bottom of this, you will find at least 1 "bully" type mentality and at least one boy who is getting into trouble to garner his parent's attention. I would say the pack consisted of: 1) The alpha male 2) his toady 3) the reluctant follower 4) the attention starved kid looking for trouble. If it was they're own ward it would make sense that they would vandalize it since they would be thoroughly familiar with the building.

As long as you don't need a prescription medication, most other (OTC) medications can be grown herbally. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) for example, is merely the inner bark of the White Willow tree combined with Rose Hips (Vitamin C). The Vitamin C counter-indicates the stomach upset caused by the acetylsalicylic acid. Raw honey is not only bacterial-static, but anti-bacterial as well, and is believed by many to have been used to treat wounds during the construction of the pyramids to prevent infection. I am going to limit my reply to those two examples, but there are many more. Since most of the synthesized medicines we have today began as herbs and plants, most of your medicine cabinet can also be found in your garden. Good books on herbalism and a well stocked alchemical garden will supply a good deal of your medicinal needs even in these times. (why wait for a disaster?)

I was a bit concerned about the "oozing" too, as well as the fact that it had been stored next to a water-heater, and you did mention severe temperature fluctuations. All of which is very bad ju-ju for any long-term food storage.

{edited to add} Oops sorry, I didn't realize this had gone to 2 pages (blush) Funky Town took the words out of my mouth. Catholics aren't idolaters, and don't pray TO the saints. That's just a protestant mis-understanding. Yes, be careful if he's had a bad experience with some misinformed missionaries. My wife had a bad experience with some sister missionaries and it almost destroyed any interest she had in joining the Church. My family is VERY religiously diverse. We consist of Catholics, Baptists, Methodist's and Mormons, but mostly Catholics and Mormons, and yet we all sit at the same Thanksgiving table together. No eyebrows are raised when the Catholics cross themselves before the prayer (in fact, I would be disappointed if they didn't. If your going to subscribe to a religion, PRACTICE it!). I have long believed that we can all learn from each other and have tried to get many Catholics interested in Family Home Evening and Food Storage (and succeeded in some cases). I know I'm wandering off topic here a bit, but my all-time favorite Catholic story is the story of the Miraculous Medal. I don't remember the whole story, but when the BVM appeared to Saint Catherine, she was standing on a globe with her arms outstretched and bright rays and dark rays eminating from her fingertips. When Saint Catherine asked what the rays were, Mary answered "Those are blessings granted to those who ask for them". When she asked what the dark ray's were she replied "Those are blessings for which no-one has asked". I always took the moral of the story to mean that there are always blessings awaiting those who ask, we just need to remember to ask for them. In fact, that is one of the reasons for the Miraculous Medal. It's not a "charm" or anything as some protestants would have everyone believe, but just a simple reminder to pray. I have one that my sister gave me that was blessed by her priest, and though I'm LDS and always will be, I never take it off. It simply reminds me to pray.

Any genealogist can answer your second question

Here's another idea

Thanks CD :) I buy store-brand flour and portion it into quart mason jars (one 5 pound bag will fill a little over 3 quart sized mason jars). I read that about freezing your flour somewhere too about a year ago so I take one of my Foodsaver bags and place my whole flour bag (unopened) inside just to keep any moisture in the freezer from getting to the flour, and freeze it for 48 hours. I don't vac the bag, I just seal it because at this point I'm only concerned about moisture getting into the flour. I've never seen bugs so I don't know if it works or not, but like I said, I've never seen any bugs hatching out after a year of storage. I only started doing this last fall though, so I only have 1 year's experience with this

1. Toilet Paper (in bulk if possible). 2. Soap 3. Batteries 4. Big bag of long-storing hard candy (comfort food for psychological reasons) 5. Shotgun shells. I'm assuming gas and electricity are on.

One more addendum to this thread, I found a site that lists the storage life of most of the items I was curious about. I was worried about keeping home-canned flour (with O2 absorbers) for more than a year, but this say's they'll last up to 5 years. https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/storage_life_of_foods.htm I also discovered why it is suggested to store wheat instead of flour. The shell of the wheat kernel helps preserve the inner kernel. Remove the shell and the kernel will last about 5 years if sealed with proper O2 absorbers, but if you store the kernels whole with the proper O2 absorbers, the wheat will last about 35+ years! Boy! Talk about reducing the shelf-life! ha ha.

Yeah that might work. When you first mentioned it I didn't think about the powder getting on the rim and breaking the seal. I was thinking about it getting into your sealer. Sorry about the misunderstanding. Yeah I've never tried powered milk but have pretty good success with flour just by leaving about a 2 inch headspace. In fact I'm going to be doing up some more flour as soon as I get my O2 absorbers from EE. :)

Wow! I've just realized how much money I'm saving just by canning my own flour. I've been looking at white flour in #10 cans, and I thought it might not be a bad idea to just buy big cans of flour and have them around instead of bothering to can my own, but then I asked the one really big question... just how much product is actually in those big cans? My answer.... 2 batches. (or 4 home-baked loaves). My recipe for flour calls for 5 to 6 cups of flour total. I mix in the first ~ five cups (depending on humidity) and work in as much as needed of the rest on the board. But I still need to have 6 cups on hand. According to the web page, a #10 can will hold ~64 3Tbl servings. 64 x 3 = 192 Tbl/can 1 Tbl = ~½ oz. 192/2 = 96 oz. 1 Cup = ~8 oz. 96 oz. / 8 oz. = 12 Cups! 12 Cups of flour / 6 cups per batch of dough = 2 batches of dough. That's what I get out of a single 5 lb bag of bread flour from the store.

Another question about vac-sealing. Do you need O² absorbers when using a vacuum sealer? I've seen a couple of discussions on this but can't find them now. I think the general concensus was that no, adding O² absorbers AND vac-sealing is redundant, as your sucking all the oxygen out anyway, but it would seem to me that adding absorbers would ensure total coverage as it would absorb any resididual oxygen left after the vacuum sealing process. Also, how long does home-canned vacuum sealed flour last? I've got some about a year old now and wondering should I toss it? or will it last 35 years like the #10 cans? Thanks :)

faif2d, how did that work for you? I got to thinking about what you said about coffee filters, and I think the easiest way to do it (though I haven't tried it yet) would be to buy the small round filters, about the size of a mason jar lid, and lay it on TOP of the lid just before you put the jar-sealer attachment onto the jar. This would trap anything that might fog out before it enters the vac-sealer

Try them first and see if you like them. Another thing, don't take them out of their cardboard cartons. I did to save space in my kit and something poked one open and made an awful mess. We didn't care for them as much as the dehydrated pouches so we now pack the Mountain House 1 serving pouches in our kits and our food storage... though rotation isn't a problem, but restocking them monthly is ha ha.

Actually Foust, that's where your wrong. While I grant you that carrying 3 gallons of water can be difficult, carrying a chrome-plated water filter the size of a commercial coffee urn is even more impractical. Let me show you an even BETTER system than the one you seem to be inappropriately advertising here. Yes, that's only one gallon, but it's easy to carry, and as long as I can find fresh water sources, when combined with coffee filters and a colloidal silver solution, it works just fine. :)

Thank you LMM (some how "thanks loudmouth" don't sound right now matter how you phrase it ha ha ha). Foust, your advertisement is forgetting a fundamental precept of prepping. That there are various types of prepping. Shelter-in-place, Go to a shelter, or pitch a tent in the parking lot. To steal a phrase "Prep in Layers". No-one who is planning an 72 hour Evac kit is going to put a 55 gallon barrel next to a backpack. Likewise, no-one who is planning on sheltering in place is going to forget a bulk water storage system. The whole idea is planning for those times when you DON'T have water available to you. Unless you have a stream or lake nearby, your little filter won't do you one bit of good when the municipal service goes out, or the well freezes solid. A form of filtration might be nice to have in combination with a 55 gallon barrel store, but only to remove the taste of the bleach or other preservatives used to maintain potability. Either way, it isn't necessary for properly stored and maintained water supplies. One last word of advice, speaking as one who used to write TV and Radio commercials professionally, the first rule of thumb is to target your advertising to the product you are attempting to sell. You don't want to try to sell Pittsburgh Steelers souvenirs at a Dallas Cowboys football game. Your advertisement seems to have forgotten my last 2 points, that you need a source of water in order for your product to work in the first place, and that any filtration system is a good complement to barrel storage, but not a substitute. If your trying to sell Gasoline, don't denigrate the cars that use it. One last point... it is spelled F"A"ust.

The main thing I do is while filling the jar I shake the jar a bit to remove any dead spaces. Once it's as full as I want it, I let it sit for a minute or two to let the flour "settle down" a bit. Again I always leave about 1" of headspace and when I'm vaccing the jar I don't move or shake the jar.

Awesome, thanks guys. I do tend to get caught up in what I'm doing at times and go a bit overboard. I'm glad to know now that I was on the right track but already arriving at the station ha ha. (I was headed to Albuquerque ha ha) I have an "over-the-counter" kit that contains about 90% of what you listed Margin, except the face-shield, ACE bandage and scissors. I never thought about something for diabetics, great call there. I also didn't know about the Soap Notes. I love those and will print out a few. :) EMT you are so right about preps vs. weight. The one time I really did have to grab my BOB and run, I couldn't lift it. I had packed 4 liters of water in the bottom of it. Once that was removed I could carry it with ease. I ended up buying a pair of mil-surp 2 quart canteens and covers and keep them filled and next to my BOB. It's still heavy, but the weight is easier to redistribute and easier to carry. One more thing I learned that night when we had to run, when assembling your 72 hour "RUN!" kit, keep in mind that the stress of the situation can sap your strength considerably. A kit that you can carry easily on a bright sunny day may actually be too heavy for you on a dark and stormy night.

I haven't tried Powdered Milk, but when I vac-can flour I just fill my jar, leaving the same headspace I would if I were canning with my boiler bath or pressure canner. I don't usually have much problem with fogging.

EMT - I live in Tornado Alley, and every year between March 1 and May 31 we have at least one good tornado outbreak. This year we had a very narrow miss. I've been thinking about assembling a first aid kit that is a bit more comprehensive than standard "home version" kit that I have. More of a "Disaster Relief" kit. I was thinking about picking up an M3 ALICE pack and, besides the usual items that come in a home first aid kit, I was thinking about SAM splints, ACE bandages, a couple of compression bandages, some rolls of gauze, CPR micro-shield and 4" Shears. Too much? or have I forgotten something? :) The crazy thing is, I'm not thinking so much of myself or my family, but my neighbors as well. We live in an apartment complex, and if anything comes through here it will effect about 400 people. Thanks :)

Thanks Pam :)

I tried to do a search on this before I posted, but I don't think the search engine is working for me. I have a Tilia Vacuum Sealer which I have used for about 10 years and LOVE, especially the Mason jar sealer. A couple of day's ago I was watching a video about how to use a #10 can sealer. You put your dry goods in, drop in an o2 absorber, put the lid on and roll the seams shut. Poof, now you have something that will last for years. I began wondering if I couldn't do the same with Mason jars and a vacuum sealer? How long would dry-goods last with an o2 absorber and vacuum sealed? The reasons for this are: 1. We have no LDS cannery anywhere close to where we live, in fact, I don't believe there is one in our state. 2. Buying up #10 cans for staple items like flour, oats, pasta etc. is rather expensive when we can get them cheaper at the local grocer. 3. Using up #10 cans can be a challenge, especially if it's something that will not last more than a few weeks. So I would like to store long-term, but in smaller quantities, and from goods that are readily available locally. I guess the biggest enemy of anything I sealed would be light but stored in a dark closet that shouldn't really be a problem should it? Thanks :)