Sunday, June 29, 2008

A good day for preps

Well I decided to drop the $ on the gas and hit the flea market, and make the trip to Harbor Freight. Scored some great stuff today.

On the way to the Flea Market, I found a little feed shop in the middle of nowhere. They have whole wheat for $16 for 50# They didn't know if it was winter wheat or not. Looked like Red wheat. I'll have to do some investigation before I buy. Next time I buy some preps online I'll get some mylar bags and O2 absorbers. They had whole Oats for $14.25 for 50#. They had corn too. The next phase of my food preps is to get whole grains to increase my storage. That reminds me I need to figure all that out and post it.

So at the flea market I scored the following:
2-man crosscut saw $10
7.62mm Ammo can $5
Two hatchets $5 (really needed those)
Drawknife $5
Rosewood and brass square $3
Folding ruler $2
Bear Compound Bow $15

Funny how I'm not a big fan of Compound bows, but I get one basically given to me for nuthin'. It needs a new string, and the on-bow quiver is broken and needs top be replaced, but the peep sight and pins are all good. I'll fix it up and then I can do a direct comparison on the two different techniques for shooting. Reminds me I need to finish up my post on Arrows and Accessories. I think I'm going to splurge tonight and blow some gas and head down to Foxboro to the Bass Pro Shops they have there. And I think I'll get me a nice dinnah (as we say) tonight.

At Harbor Freight, the tools are mostly crap, but you can find decent stuff if you can look for it. I got the following there:

Two ton come-along
Two 18' tow straps (6000# rating, with safety hooks)
two led lights (with batteries)
feeler gauge (really needed that)
tubeless tire repair kit

I wanted to get the tow straps and come-along while they were on sale. Very handy items to have in the jeep when going off-road. I wasn't thinking about getting gear for the Jeep, but by buying while the items were on sale, I saved myself $15 or so. I feel that preparing is a journey. I cannot afford to sell my house, quit my job and move out to the sticks of North Dakota. There is an equal chance that TEOTWAWKI happens while I'm on the hopper at home, or 50+ miles from home base shopping for more preps, or even watching a movie in the theater. I urge everyone to start down the path. Start with three days of food and water with some basic gear to survive a hurricane, blizzard, ice storm, or whatever. I don't ever see my self like Rawles, with an off-grid ranch, and buying hand crank hospital beds for his group.

Rawles has his poop wired tight, but you cannot start to prep with that end goal in sight. You need to start small, then expand as best you can and as you can afford. How many nitwits gathered $50k+ in debt buying stuff just before Y2K? Part of preparation is preparing your mind. You need to be responsible, not just for yourself, but your friends and family as well. One day I might be as prepared as Rawles, with a throne made from sacks of junk silver on the front porch of my off-grid bunker drinking a home-brewed beer from my propane-powered kegerator, when the balloon goes up. I just have to grow my own barley and hops.

More likely, I'll be pounding away on my blog when the power goes out. Then I got to survive with what I got. First stop is the tequila - I'll need a double belt before I start figuring if I need to bug out or bug in.

2 comments:

riverwalker said...

I was gonna buy a missle silo but the bank turned me down. Ha Ha! RW

tmo said...

tow straps with hooks sewn in are really dangerous, be very careful with them. tow straps are supposed to stretch, if it gets unhooked somehow that hook will come screaming back at you.

search around for 4x4 recovery.. most if not all will tell you to stay away from straps with hooks attached

be real careful with them.