Every once in a while, we hear a bunch of rumbling on the news about a possible pandemic outbreak or a chemical attack like sarin gas or anthrax.  Sometimes the news talks about nuclear reactors having problems – like yesterday in San Diego.  These are real threats that could happen because of accidents, terrorism or simply an attack on us by another country.  What are you doing to be prepared for this possibility?   Most importantly, do you even know what you should be doing?

If you’ve already looked into prepping for these threats, you’ve likely discovered that there’s not a lot of straight forward and clear answers to questions.

Want to get some REAL information on Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Preps?  Have you tried to decide which gas mask you should be purchasing for your family?  Or wondered if you need to get other protective gear for potential quarantine and survival of a serious pandemic outbreak?

So have we!

We think we know a lot of the answers to these questions – but we decided to get it RIGHT!  So, we’ve arranged for Robert Goepp, a career Hazmat expert and instructor, to join us on the show.  Robert has done Hazmat work in the Military, for the Fire Dept, and for DHS and probably a few other places he can’t tell us about.   You can read a lot more about him here.

Come join us LIVE TONIGHT and ask him any and all questions you may have regarding Hazmat and NBC Preps!

During the PLC show, you can follow this link and participate in the live chat – and ask questions during the show.  You can also call us live and talk directly to Robert.

You won’t want to miss this one!  It’s not always easy to get a true expert in this area to talk to you.

Friday, February 3rd 2012, at 6 pm MST (tonight) the Preparedness Learning Center Podcast/Radio Show broadcasting LIVE with Robert Goepp of Midwest Safety Associates.

Eat what you store

First.  A few weeks ago I went to get some cooking oil from our storage area.  I discovered to my dismay that well over half of my oil had gone rancid.  I’m not sure if I had a tempurature fluxuation or what happened.  Bottom line:  I was almost out of oil.  Fortunately it didn’t ruin my dinner plans, but imaging discovering that your oil was bad in the middle of a crisis?  The oil was out of date, but my previous experience has lead me to believe that generally oil has more longevity than is stamped on the bottle.

Second.  I was really craving a pot of beans.  I soaked the beans over night, and gave them plenty of cooking time.  At dinner time I had a nice tasting but crunchy bowl of soup.  I was really bummed.  Not only did the beans not turn out, but now I need to replace that bucket, because the beans were too old.

These two stories are related in that I discovered old/past date food, but not in a time of crisis.  I’m eating my food storage, so I have the ability to find these kinds of things before I’m in a serious pinch.

Store what you eat

This brings me to my second point.  It is really important to store items that you will eat on a regular basis.  There are a number of reasons for this, most of which have been brought up before, but which probably are worth repeating:

1. Keeps your food storage fresh.
2. Makes sure that you don’t have dietary issues when you suddenly switch your diet in a time of emergency.
3. Gives you the skills to make and prepare your food storage items.
4. Lowers food costs.  It is sort of silly to have two complete sets of food in your house.  Make those bulk sales work for you.

I’m sure there are more reasons but this is why I use my food storage.

To finish up this post I thought I would share a funny article I came across today.  Disclaimer: I seriously doubt this would actually store well, but it proves my point of storing what you will eat.

Everyone loves pizza right?  Why not store pizza in a Jar?

Photo by 1 Fine Cookie

Photo by 1 Fine Cookie

It’s quite interesting seeing a nice summary of their experiences, and how living a truly primitive lifestyle for 13 months changed the way they think.

Would you have the skills necessary to live in this manner? Even with whatever supplies you might have on hand? What can you do to make life a little bit in this type of situation, even if it’s for only a week or two after a major earthquake? I can bet that no matter how well prepared you might be, it wouldn’t take too long for some areas to live in a near iron age state when it comes to their reliance on pre-packaged supplies from a store.

Audience Warning: some National Geographic style nudity in a couple of scenes

Click here to view the embedded video.

Adding to the news, our national affiliation APN (American Preppers Network) was one of the highlighted links in a Blaze article focusing on preppers as those “Stockpiling for disaster“.

It’s nice for larger organizations to see the tide of preparedness sweeping across the population. Many people are going back to their roots to find just how they can provide for themselves.

What is sad though is to see those among the comments that cannot understand a need for preparedness, or see preppers as simply another form of consumer to be swayed by new products. Find out what you need to be prepared for, and how a little provident living can help your family achieve the stability and security it needs.

To help with this, coupon/frugality blog “Living Richly on a Budget” has a nice list that gives general timeframes that should give you ideas on when to buy. The list breaks out on each month the various holidays that have sales associated with them, as well as general harvest times, and grocery themes that most chains subscribe too. These are important as manufacturers and stores often work together to get the best deals during these sales. Combine smart use of coupons, along with planned bulk purchases and you can get that much more food into your families budget and storage.

An example of their January information:

National Oatmeal Month: Quaker
Diet Foods: Healthy Choice, South Beach, Lean Cuisine, Special K, Kashi, Smart Start, 100 Calorie Packs, Yogurt
Super Bowl Sunday: Pepsi, Coke, Chips, Dips, Cheese, Sandwich Items, Crackers, Snacks, Wings
Seasonal Produce: Oranges, Pears, Grapefruit, Tangerines, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collards, Kale, Kiwi, Avocado, Cabbage, Spinach
Clearance: Christmas Decorations, Toys, Wrapping Papers,
Winter Health: Cold Medicines and Vitamins

Living Richly On A Budgets’ Grocery Sale Cycles. I’d recommend using their nice printable version to keep a list along with whatever binder/clipboard or other organizational tool you use to keep track of your preparedness supplies.

But how about a nice way to build a simple, portable stove? Because we all know that when winter really hits around here, simple ways to heat and good are of utmost importance. And I wanted something that was an actual stove (with chimney) that was nicer than the truly survival ones you make from #10 cans. Behold, the ammo-can stove:

Click here to view the embedded video.

According to one report, over its lifetime the Deseret Chemical Depot has destroyed 1.3 million munitions and 13,617 tons of chemical agent. Today (the 18th of January, 2012) the final piece of ordinance (mustard gas shells) will be fed into the incinerator. On Saturday, the final storage tanks (contents already destroyed) of Lewisite will be destroyed as well.

Living just downwind from this location, I can say I’m very happy that this is gone.

Since then, I have moved, built a new home, and done even more research. While my conclusions have not changed generally, my overall plan has. For the most part, I no longer see the need for two solutions. In my mind, there is now a single, universal solution that is the most efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable.

Remember that the specific task was to identify a solution for heating one’s home. I still believe that propane is the best fuel for portability and convenience. I still have my Little Buddy heater and several backup tanks. I even plan on getting a few more tanks. This is a great solution for working in the garage, shed, or greenhouse in the winter. I don’t however, plan on using this to heat my home—even part of my home.

Being prepared isn’t something you do; it’s something you are. It should be a way of life. Those that are best prepared are those that will be able to continue their usual routine with little inconvenience or challenge.This is the reason the concept of emergency food storage makes me cringe. Freeze-dried meals with a thirty-year shelve life is better than having nothing at all and I applaud those that have at least put something like this away, but what happens when the crap hits the fan and you dig these boxes out of the dark, dusty corner they have been sitting in? How are you going to prepare it? What are you going to cook it on? What about appetite fatigue? What happens when it runs out?

The same applies to heat. What happens when you run out of fuel? What happens if your heater breaks? This happened to me. Last time I pulled my Little Buddy out, it wouldn’t light. What happens when you loose your job and simply can’t pay your utility bill? What if you could heat a few thousand square feet instead of only a few hundred? What if you could do it for less money? How would you like to wake up the morning after a night the power went out and not know it until you tried to turn a light on?

The answer is wood. The application is important though; a fireplace won’t work. The appliance you want is a wood burning stove. It’s nothing new; this is how homes have been heated for centuries. You’ll remember in my original article that I mentioned wood was a good, long-term, sustainable solution, but moved past it rather quickly. This was short-sided due to a desire to find a solution that would allow me to continue to run all my modern appliances and ignorance to the performance and cleanliness of modern stoves. I have since decided that a self-sustainable full source is more important that maintaining modern appliances. While a wood stove won’t fuel a water heater, oven, or kitchen range, it will heat my entire home and the model I’m purchasing has a step-top cook-top for radiant and convection cooking. Old wood burning stoves were inefficient, dangerous, and bad on the environment but a lot has changed in the past several years. The EPA limited smoke emissions in the late 1980′s to 7.5 grams per hour, but modern, certified stoves emit as little as 1.9 grams of particulates per hour. They even use substantially less wood.

I plan on purchasing the Liberty Stove by Lopi. It puts out 74,000 BTUs per hour and can heat up to 2,500 square feet radiantly and by means of it’s built in convection air-flow alone. I’m going to install it in my basement next to a canning kitchen. This will allow me to heat my home and use it for cooking, today, tomorrow, during the next storm, or one second after. Another thing that I am going to do as I finish my basement is install a cold-air return above the stove in the ceiling. This will allow me (at least when the power is on) to run just my furnace’s blower and distribute the heat throughout my house via the ductwork, efficiently heating the entire structure (4,000 square feet). It’s not as convenient as a gas fireplace, but without a blower, gas fireplaces are only artwork; they don’t heat. Wood stoves are a little more work, but at least they work under any condition.

I plan on documenting the construction of my chimney and installation of the stove and including that in a follow-up article this summer.

The first day we did a lot of book work. John and Brent at DOA Tactical explained a lot about ballistics, how long range shooting works, shot books and so on. We also did a lot of shooting that day. We put about a hundred rounds of .308 downrange at 100 yards. The second day we did a lot of cool exercises. One of the most useful skills I learned during this class was how to range somebody with my scope. Using the mil dots in the scope, I became proficient at being able to determine if someone was 1500 yards away all the way down to 300 yards. This knowledge lets me instantly determine the rough distance I’m shooting at just as quickly as I get someone in my scope.

At the "Infinite Range"

We also received our shot books on the second day. These are incredibly detailed books that are customized to YOUR rifle and scope with all the distance calculations already figured out and printed for you! The book also has lots of room to log your shots so that you know what scope adjustments you need given different weather and climatic situations. We also learned what it was like to be shot at. We stood safely behind a berm about 150 yards out while the DOA Tactical Instructors shot over our heads, to the right and left of us and into the berm. It was AMAZING to hear what the bullets sound like as the wiz by you! This kind of experience is important so that if you are being shot at, you have the experience to be able to gauge what direction and distance the enemy is based on the snap of the bullet.

These are the kinds of things that you get from Instructors who are actually combat veterans and are trained and certified by the Military to teach this stuff! Brent and John are more than willing to show you their actual military credentials – they showed me. These guys are the real deal – not one of these chair-warrior wanna-be seals that are all over the place trying to teach firearms.

My 500 Yard Target

On the third day of class we started pushing out hard to gain distance. We shot all day long. We put hundreds of rounds down range and moved from 300 to 500 to 800 to 1000 to 1100 and finally to 1200 yards out. It was a crazy day and pulling triggers that long made EVERYBODY sore! Bottom line though is that by the end of that day, I was hitting 1200 yards -with some difficulty – but the beauty was that I was hitting 1,000 yards with no problems!

If you want to learn long range shooting, DOA Tactical is by far the best shooting school I’ve found around Utah County. I highly recommend them and can promise that every class you take with them (I’ve taken several now) you will walk away a much better shooter! I’ve looked at their schedule for 2012 and they have long range classes every month this year. You can call John Luthy, one of the owners, at (801) 661-6304 anytime or email him at doatactical@gmail.com and ask when classes are coming up. Feel free to mention that I sent you – he has told me that he’ll work to make sure anyone I recommend will be able to get a slot in the class they’re looking for.

The EDC Song

Click here to view the embedded video.