What did you do to prep this week?

CERT

This week I went to my second CERT meeting. This is a different group then the one I went to last week. Younger crowd, more people, and closer to work. I know which group I’ll be joining.

Gardening

I got my fig trees and blackberry bushes planted. Also got an aloe vera plant for inside the house. I did notice a problem with the garlic I planted a couple weeks ago – one bed is already sprouting. Not supposed to happen until spring. Hopefully the garlic crop will still turn out OK.

I also pulled down the bean towers. My wife planted some goji in the former bean bed. I got some 2 foot rebar to replace the 3 foot sections I bought last week, so hopefully I’ll be able to finish the hoops in the coming week. Our Agribon got here yesterday so I need to get on it. Oh, and I ordered some North Pole lettuce seed.

Stanley FatMax demolition tool

I’ll have more to say on this later, but for now I’ll just say don’t waste your money. I bought the expensive version only because of the “gas shutoff wrench” that is really just the slot on the prying end. Guess what? It doesn’t fit my gas valve. What a load of crap. Otherwise it’s well built but $100 extra for a wider slot on one end is a total rip-off, especially since it doesn’t even fit a g*dd**n gas valve. If you want this tool, save $100 and get the 55-120, not the grossly over priced 55-122.

Reading

I got two new books, More Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency by Caleb Warnock and The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget by Daisy Luther. I haven’t had time to read them yet but they look OK. Hope to do reviews on both really soon.

What did you do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine

What did you do to prep this week?

My family has spent most of the last 2 weeks with nasty colds (thankfully not all at the same time). I was second, so the week before last I didn’t get much done. I did manage to go to CERT orientation and rethink meds for a prep kit. The past week was better so at least I didn’t have to waste 2 entire weeks…

CERT

On the 4th I went to CERT orientation, which is different than the CERT Academy. Basically went over paperwork and SOP’s regarding operations, chin of command, etc. In my area, CERT is under the authority of the Sheriff’s dept. That was the boring part. The good part was getting to meet some of the local CERT team leaders. We have 6 CERT teams within an hour drive of my home, and it was interesting to hear about each of them.

Last Wednesday I went to the monthly training of one of the groups that meets close to my home. Training was good (wildland fire evacuation and helicopter safety) but I probably won’t be joining that group. This coming Thursday I’m going to the group meeting that meets close to my work which is probably the group I’ll join. The other 4 groups are just too long a drive…

Prepper Meetup

I went to my Prepper Meetup this past week. Topic was open forum/general prepping questions. Mostly we talked about earthquake safety and when/why to bug out. It was a good discussion, except it resulted in me spending money. More on that in a bit…

We’re down to only 5 core members which kind of worries me, because the one other topic the group organizer sent out in his email was “the future plans for the group.” That kind of bummed me out because I thought he was going to disband since only the same 5 or 6 people seem to be showing up. No worries though, he just wants to change the focus of the group from “beginning prepping” to “intermediate prepping.” Oh, and go on social media to help promote the group.

Another new tool

One of the things that came up at the Meetup was “what if the building you’re in collapses in an earthquake”? Someone mentioned the Stanley FatMax demolition bar. So when I got home I looked into it. Turns out they make 2 styles in 2 sizes: the “peon” model and the “tacticool” model, both are offered in your choice of 18″ or 30″.

The difference between the 2 styles is the “tacticool” version has a gas shutoff tool, 2 types of fire hydrant wrenches (square and 5 sided), and a spanner wrench built in. The “peon” version doesn’t have these, except from the pics it looks like the 30″ “peon” version has (at least) the 5 sided fire hydrant wrench. Oh, and the “tacticool” version is hard to find and wildly over priced IMO ($36 vs $91 for the 18″, $62 vs $160 for the 30″).

I couldn’t care less about the hydrant or spanner wrenches, but the gas shutoff could be really handy if I had a gas leak in my house, so I sucked it up and splurged on the 30″ “tacticool” model. It left a bitter taste as I ordered it. Why don’t they put the gas shutoff on the “peon” model? Not like it would be harder to make that way. OK so off my soap box…

Gardening

I ordered 2 fig trees and 2 blackberry bushes. They got here yesterday but I probably won’t have time to plant them until Mon or Tue after work. I also bought some of the things I need to put hoop houses over our planting beds. I messed up on the rebar. I thought I needed 3 foot sections. After pounding 2 of them into the ground, I’ve decided that 2 foot sections would be better. So another trip to Home Depot tomorrow 🙂

For next week, I hope to finish the hoop houses over our raised beds. Already talked to the wife and she’s on board. In fact, it was her idea to get some Agribon. Still need to order the clear plastic that goes over the hoops, but one thing at a time. Hopefully next week we’ll all be healthy and I can get back on my regular schedule. What did YOU do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine