Tag: CERT

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What did you do to prep this week?

This week’s preps – Apr 15 2018

Back to prepping, well back to writing about it at least. Last week was pretty busy for me. We have a rental property that has a collapsed shed in the back yard. Now that we’re almost done fixing up the inside it’s time to move onto the yard, so I started tearing down the shed. It was fun (still in progress) and I got the chance to try out my Stanley FatMax Xtreme Fubar. It works pretty good, but I wish I’d gotten the 30″ version instead of the 18″. The shorter version doesn’t have quite enough leverage for tearing down stuff that’s screwed together.

In our back yard I got more locust roots pulled out of the ground. Those things are nasty. “We” also got rid of “my” wood pile. I wasn’t too happy about that, but I’ll get over it. Eventually. Right now I’m still a little PO’d.

We have all our seeds (almost all are heirloom, open pollinated) and started some. Had to go to the store and get another starting tray today so the rest will be done by the end of the week. I started 2 worm bins and got enough redwood to build 4 more raised beds. Once those are done I’ll just need a couple more.

The prepper group I go to met last Thursday. We talked about water collection and purification. I guess my next project will be a Berkey system using their filters and 5 gallon plastic buckets. I also want to build a rain water collection system.

For next week, I hope to get the raised beds finished and the rest of our seeds started. My CERT meeting is next Thursday, and next Saturday the Permaculture group is having a hands on class for sheet mulching. Oh, and I have an old axe I want to start working on.

What did you do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine

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What did you do to prep this week?

Day late and a dollar short, but you know the holidays… Spent last night doing a comm drill with the local Citizens Corp Program (CPP). Met a few new people and learned about how local law enforcement will react to an emergency situation. Other than that it was pretty boring. After testing radio comms we sat around monitoring local events. Nothing bad happened so it was a quiet evening. Got home this morning at 1:30. Oh, and I learned that my 50+ year old self doesn’t handle over nighters as well as I used to…

Went to Costco, not usually a big deal but I’m figuring out a way to stealth prep a bigger food supply. Got my kid to liking certain things that make good medium term food so just pick up a little extra, right? With wife’s blessing of course… so picked up an extra pack of Dennison chili and a pack of lentil soup.

Got a couple more books (reviews coming soon) and got the rest of the things I need to finish Cody’s survival kit. Once I get it all put together I’ll see if it fits in my pack. If not, either get a bigger pack or re-think what I need to carry.

That’s it for today (still recovering from last night)

Peace out,
porcupine

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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

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What did you do to prep this week?

I finished my CERT training and got my certificate. Also filled out the request to join the county CERT organization. Assuming I pass my background check, I’ll get fingerprinted and get my “official” CERT card from the sheriff’s office. Once I have the card I’ll join one of the local CRT teams. Other than that, not too much. We’re finishing up a rental property (new tenants moving in in a week) and starting renovations on another rental my wife bought in August. I guess that counts as prepping since I “get” to be the handyman. Never thought I’d learn things like basic plumbing and carpentry, but here I am… We also bought a compressor this week, maybe that counts as a prep too? Oh, and I got my wife to go to church with the rest of the family today.

I have a few things planned for the coming week. Finishing my garlic beds is the most important thing. Next Saturday I’m going to a work bee on winter gardening techniques. Finally, since Friday is a holiday I hope to make homemade bread with my mom.

What did you do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine

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What did you do to prep this week?

garlic for my back yardThe past week was pretty busy for me. I have a final exam this Wed and my garlic order showed up. We started work on a new rental. I started my Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) class. More on that coming soon. I started working towards a 2 week food supply for a family of 5. Besides all that, my wife decided she wanted to be in “high maintenance mode”, so I had to deal with that as well. So to flesh it out a little, here goes…

Garlic

Since my garlic order showed up, I figured I’d better (finally) get the planting beds ready. I pulled all the dead squash plants from 3 beds and dug out all the dirt. Went to the local nursery and bought 15 bags of Kick garden soil. Mixed it with the dirt from the beds, shoveled it back in, leveled and tamped with a rake. I’d say the mix in each bed is 20% dirt and 80% Kick. I’ll get the garlic planted in the next 2 weeks and hope for an awesome harvest next summer. I have too much garlic so I’ll give the extra to some people in my prepping group if they want to plant it. If not, I’ll just eat it. It is after all organic…

CERT

I took my first week of CERT classes. So far they’ve talked about emergency preparedness, CERT organization (BORing….), basic triage of disaster victims, and basic fire suppression and prevention. I’m really glad I took this class. I love the emphasis on community (the ‘C’ after all stands for Community) and the skills they teach are really useful IMO. Besides that the networking opportunities are great, and I even found a little intel opportunity.

Permaculture

I didn’t mention it in the intro, but I also went to my second Permaculture meetup. Got to meet a few new people which was awesome. One of the new people was hosting a work-bee on butchering rabbits this Saturday. I had to miss it because of my CERT class but he said I could call him any time and he’d help me get set up for raising rabbits and let my come over next time he’s processing some.

Misc…

My Prepper meetup was also last week, but I missed it because of the CERT class. The topic was situational awareness so I kind of wish I could have made it, but I really wanted needed to take the CERT class. That’s it for me this time. What did you do to prep this week?
Peace out,
porcupine

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Random notes

Haven’t had time to update this lately, so here are some random notes…

Permaculture

Went to my second permaculture Meetup last night. They are having 2 work-bees this month, where members get together and help each other out and learn. Really a good idea for a Meetup group IMO. One is this weekend which I won’t be able to attend due to a previous commitment. Wish I could go though, because the topic is butchering and processing rabbits. I did talk to the guy running the work-bee and he said to contact him and he’ll help me get started with raising rabbits. The second work-bee will also be useful, helping one of the members put in some low-tunnel growing beds. That one is at the end of the month so I’ll be able to go.

Preppers

My monthly preppers Meetup is tonight, but I won’t be able to go because of a previous commitment. The topic is situational awareness so it should be interesting. I do have a couple of good books on the subject, notably Left of Bang.

CERT

The big deal for me for the next 2 weeks is CERT training. If you don’t know what CERT is, it means Community Emergency Response Team. The training is provided by county law enforcement under the guidance of FEMA. I figure it’s a good way to learn how FEMA operates, meet other like-minded people, and learn some helpful skills.

Kifaru

I’m still pissed at Kifaru about the missing pulls on my Urban Zippy. TWICE now I’ve requested they be sent to me, twice now I was promised they’ve been sent, and twice I’ve gotten stiffed. And yes, I verified both times that they have my correct mailing address. I could just get some paracord and make my own, but I want the side pulls to match the other pulls. Hell, they wouldn’t even bother to tell me what brand and color they use so I can match it myself. Maybe it shouldn’t be that big a deal to me, but we’re talking about a day pack that cost over $300.

I’ve been saving for an AMR or Mountain Warrior, but after my experience I’m looking at Eberlestock and Mystery Ranch too. So far I don’t see anything I like as much as the big Kifaru packs, but I’m not very happy with Kifaru’s customer service right now. Hopefully I’ll be over it by the time I have the money saved up.

Garden

My garlic order showed up last week, so I got a bunch of really good planting soil and set up 3 raised beds for the garlic. Hope to get it planted next week. I have 2 more beds I’m going to plant with brussel sprouts, lettuce, and spinach. From what I learned last night, they’ll grow over the winter (even in freezing weather) as long as I keep them under a low tunnel cover.

Peace out,
porcupine