Preparedness is for Everyday!

David and I have been preparing for many years as you may be aware after reviewing our story. We are blessed to have Amp-3, and we hope to help you get better prepared for whatever might come your way. We look forward to your input as we continue to build on what we have started over 9 years ago. Amp-3, has given us a venue to provide quality products (Made in the USA) along with our 100 Essentials we hope to help you and your family become better prepared.

You never know what could be around the corner in our lives so here are a few steps to take to help you get focused and ready. Here are a few of my favorite websites to check out:

1. A great website with many aspects to it is Survivalist Boards. This forum discussion has so many pages for you to check out from General Discussion, Off Grid, Urban Survival, Food and Water and so on. This is a vast amount of information and a great website to join and follow.

 

2.  Off Grid Boot Camp presented by Nick Meissner. David has taken Nick’s course and thought that it was incredibility informative, comprehensive and money well spent. Nick just finished putting up a new solar system on his property in Idaho.

3. Amp-3 Recourses page is another place to get your 100 Essentials. Download the document, cross off what you already have and that helps you narrow your list down to what you need to work on. We all live on a budget but if you commit to adding to your preparedness every month you will have this list completed in no time. 

The Humless ESS (Energy Storage System) is the one we are looking at to power our home at the ranch in Southern Oregon.

Remember, that preparedness in for Everyday, not just when you have an emergency!

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January 22, 2018! Part 2 from Jerry D. Young!

Hope that you enjoyed last weeks post from Jerry D. Young on his plan for Preparedness. This week we will continue along that theme and give you the 2nd half of his plan.

The best place to start is usually getting the basic human needs taken care of first, no matter what scenario you are preparing for. First you need to figure out what those are, but that is pretty easy. I have a list. The rest can come when you have learned more and not only have, but have practiced with, the initial items.

Begin to study and learn all you can now, and as you go along. Preps without knowledge aren’t nearly as effective as they are when you know the why-to and when-to in addition to the how-to. Do not feel like you must do everything in the order listed. You will need to do many of the things, especially these first ones, concurrently. Some things can wait, depending on your specific situation, but the basic human needs should all be met as quickly and completely as possible.

1.  Air:

Fortunately, it is still free and available, for the most part, for most scenarios. If there is a problem with air supply, special equipment and supplies are necessary. Not a beginner’s subject.

2.  Water:

Has to be contaminate free, naturally or with other means. And a lot of it. Store a lot, locate a reliable future source, get water treatment/purification. A few 15-gallon water drums, a couple of stainless steel water bottles with cups for the BOBs, a quality water purifier, either a high cap camping filter or a combination of a drip filter for the BIB and a smaller hikers filter for the BOBs. Scout out locations for long term supplies of water.

3.  Food:

You can go for a while without it, but not long or you become useless. No cook, add hot water only, & easy-cook shelf stable foods, heavy on meats, fruits, and comfort foods. For both BOB and BIB. Buy in bulk or in case lots when possible. At the least, buy extra of the things you want and use on a daily basis when they are on sale. To build up longer term supplies, double buy each grocery day. Soon you will have a good pantry.

Learn to garden and grow as much as you can as soon as you can. Ditto home canning when you get the garden going. Don't be afraid of the commercially produced crops like wheat and oats. You can grow non-hybrid/organic types in a home garden. 

4.  Sanitation:

You gotta go when you gotto go. You need the safe means to do so. Chemical toilet, TP, hand washing means, bug spray, antiseptic cleaners, shovel to bury wastes. Toiletries. Charmin camper’s toilet paper and cleansing wipes for the BOBs. Infectious diseases protection supplies, face mask, gloves, goggles and hand sanitizer. And the ladies, and especially soon to be ladies, need large supplies of their needs on hand. 

5.  Environmental protection:

You need appropriate clothing as well as housing. Sometimes it is more important than food or sanitation in extreme circumstances. This includes being able to make and control fires. The right clothes for the season. Basic camping gear in case the house becomes unlivable.

You are probably already doing the right clothes for the given season, though here in Reno I see people going from heated homes to heated cars, to heated business and back again wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops in 20 degree weather with snow on the ground and coming down hard (I am not joking). Have what you need to keep you comfortable in the weather.

And the camp gear is for when the house cannot be lived in and you need to camp out in the back yard or evacuate. Or even stay in the house when nothing is working. Fallout/blast shelters, like air purification, are another specific topic that deserves separate consideration. Put it in the budget, and start saving, but don’t short the other equipment and supplies unless war is imminent. 

6.  Security:

Beside protection from the elements, there can be a need for protection from dangerous animals, including other humans. Light is your friend. If you cannot see the threat, you cannot protect yourself from it. Lights and vision devices are an important part of a security plan, as well as all around useful. Once you know you can see it, you can get the actual means to protect yourself from those things in your threat analysis you decided were the biggest dangers. From wild domesticated animals, wild animals, and self-defense in those cases where it might be needed. Training, weapons, defensive measures. For some this is a much higher priority. Evaluate your needs and make the decision. 

They tend to be expensive, so set up a long range budget and start saving money for them now, even if you can’t get it yet due to the overall expense. But as soon as you can, get something that is at least reasonably effective, even if you prefer something else in the future. Don’t put off protection items to get the penultimate weapons system. Train, train, and train some more with them. And don’t forget Operational Security. Be very careful who you let know you have preps. There can be repercussions if other people do know.

7.  Fire/Lighting/Sharps:

These are important for safety and utility. You will want several means to start a fire, and a couple of items to contain fire. Fire steel, Lifeboat matches, lighters with some tinder for the BOBs. To heat one room in the house, an indoor safe propane or kerosene heater with a supply of fuel stored outdoors. 

You will need lighting for indoors & outdoors. A couple of crank flashlights for both BIB and BOB, candles, propane lanterns, battery lanterns. Tactical lights for defense. Get some lighting specifically for preps, even though you probably already have a couple of flashlights with weak batteries and non-working bulbs. 

You will need sharps to cut with.  Knives/SAK/Multi-tool, axe, saw, etc. I’m fairly sure you have a knife or two in the house. Probably suitable for most uses, except lacking a sheath. But there are some blades that are better for field use and Swiss Army Knives (SAKs), and multi-tools can be handy, and if you need to build shelter or an outdoor fire, axes and saws will save you much labor.

Just purchased this slick little fire starter for David. American made! Click on image to get more information. 

8.  Heat/cooling/Cooking:

There quite probably will be a need to maintain acceptable temperatures in home and in the field such as indoor safe propane and kerosene heaters. Gas grill w/tanks, various camping stoves for home or field to cook food when possible (but not in the house). No-cook, and add-hot-water-only foods are desirable in the early stages of a situation. But a hot drink and hot meal can raise the spirits and supply needed warmth in many situations. Not critical at first in some climate, but nice later on.

Others will need to up this on the priority list if in a cold climate and suitable clothes for the weather won’t be available. This could include a generator in addition to non-electrical means so a refrigerator, freezer, AC, stove, medical equipment, fans, etc. can be operated. 

9.  Medical:

Maintaining everyone’s good health should be a priority all the time. But in some of the scenarios you probably came up with include medical emergencies. Knowledge and the right tools are literally life and death in some instances. Extensive first-aid kits, heavy on the trauma treatment for at the scene and in both BIBs & BOBs and the rest of the alphabet.

These are supplemental kits to your regular home first aid kit. It’s is fine for minor cuts, abrasions, stings, and bruises. In a disaster the injuries are likely to be not only worse, but in great numbers. Stock up with quality in mind and with as much quantity as is possible. Another item to budget early on to get a bit later. And get some training.

Make sure to rotate items that have expiration dates. You can use some of the outdated items in training exercises. Dispose of over the counter medication and any sharps safely.

***A note on prescription medications. Unlike OTC meds, prescriptions medications are limited to how much that can be obtained and stored. Some things, like narcotics, are limited to a single 30-day prescription. Other prescriptions can often be written for a 90 day supply. Work with your doctor to get as large of a supply of your prescription medication as you can get and can afford. 

10.  Morale/Welfare/Recreation:

If you need to be using preps, that means there is a lot of stress involved. The means to help relieve that stress can be very important. Games, some small toys and some paper and pencils, religious books, movies, books. Something to keep the kids quiet and busy, adults entertained or comforted, or just to break the monotony.

There are many more things on the list, but the first ten are the most important, in most circumstances. If your threat analysis includes certain scenarios, things like HAZMAT preparations climb up into those first ten.

Jerry has given all of us several items to think about and get prepared. If you have followed along from the beginning, some of these have been covered before by me in 2017 when I covered my list of 100 Essentials. Need a list??? Download it by using the link below. 

https://www.amp-3.net/resources/

 Thank you so much for following along and as always your Comments are always welcome! 

 

 

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Amp-3 Outfitter "Clinic-in-a-Roll" Give-A-Way

Happy New Year!

Wow! 2018 is already here, where did 2017 go? So many important events happened in the past year so let’s reflect on just a few....

America elected a new President, Donald J. Trump! Some of you may be angry about this but personally, he will take our Country back in the direction that our Founders set forth for our Nation. Hopefully, everyone has more $$ in their pockets in 2018 and less in the Governments.

The Natural Disasters that hit our country and Puerto Rico were so devastating, the many are still trying to put their lives back together. A good friend of ours Todd Albi (Silverfire Stoves) was in Puerto Rico and here are a few images from his trip. https://www.silverfire.us/home

Isabella: Takes care of her infirm father, 5' of ocean water ran through home destroying all.

Water boiling in wok.

She's proudly lighting her new stove!  This is her kitchen, her former gas stove ruined in flood and Hurricane surge.  Over 100 days with no power.

Looking forward to cooking and surrounded with free fuel in yard from storm.  Why buy fuel?

Cement power pole in 1/2 from 175 mph wind, commercial roofs gone.

Our Government needs to help these people and we are but we have to do more. They are estimating that it will be 8 months before power is fully restored. What would your plan be?? How do you get through something like this? We all must think about that and get provisions in place to help our family and our neighbors. No one can do this alone....

Over the past year 2017, I blogged about my 100 Essentials  https://www.amp-3.net/resources/  

I hope that you followed along. Amp-3 's biggest mission is education for all of you out there. Getting prepared for whatever might come our way is our goal and our duty. We love what we do and the people that we get to meet make this very satisfying and rewarding. If you missed any of the past Blog posts, please scroll down and there they are!

Some of you may be struggling right now or maybe loss of love one over the past year. Please remember that your never alone. Reach out and ask for help to a friend, relative, or pastor. They are there for you and always will be. 

The year 0f 2017 will be in our memory banks for a very long time with good memories, sad memories and some bad memories but together we can make it through anything.

Hopefully, all of you have had gains in your Retirement Accounts and 401K's with the surge in the Stock Market over the past year as well. This only means you need to be diversified in your investments. 

This brings up the need to have Gold, Silver and extra $$ on hand in case of emergency. I suggest that you have a minimum of $100 per person in small bills $1, $5 and $10. The more you have the better your situation if something were to happen to our power grid. Power Outages can be for a few minutes or months like in Puerto Rico. You justnever know...

For the Ranch, this past summer we purchased a Woodsman 505 wood boiler on Craigslist. Installing one of these will save us a lot of $$$.

David, Steve (My Brother) and I, went to pick this up and needed a little help. Watch this video!

Super excited to have this installed to heat the new home and barn. The projects never seem to end when your developing a Ranch. David would love to have one of the Skid Steers but at $72,000 it's not even on the list of my 100 Essentials...

I know that I have mentioned it before but one to the BEST investments that we have ever made was our Camp. Mike and Weston Wheeler, the builders of our Camp are working on opening a NEW Facility in Mt. Pleasant, UT and will be building Camps once again. 

Interested in a Range Camp like Camp #216? Call (435) 262-0601 and ask for Mike Wheeler

This Camp it totally off GRID and it's perfect for the Ranch but it's our Travel Trailer as well. This past year we went to Yosemite National Park and stayed in our Camp outside the park in Oakhurst. We loved driving though the Gold Country once again and antiquing along the way. Very Hard to find a place to park Red and the Camp though on this Winding & Narrow Road. Would have loved to stop at a few more shops but just not possible. 

Fall brings may leaves to the Ranch so clean up is pretty consistent. Nothing is better then the smell of burning wood and leaves, which we have an abundance of. There really is something peaceful about standing over a fire, watching it burn and adding more to the pile as it burns down. 

Before Winter turns to Spring, Summer to Fall, and the holidays once again come speeding around the corner, let’s all take a moment to consider the months ahead. Time has a way of marching ever onward and it’s up to all of us to get the most from those precious moments, whether you’re working a hundred head of cattle or simply need to pick up pellets for your wood stove. We believe it’s not what we say, but what we do that matters most. 

This has been a busy year for us and were already gearing up for 2018. In the year ahead, I will be adding several guest bloggers to my weekly blog. Are you interested in adding information to my Blog? Do you have something your passionate about to help my readers with their preparedness? Then I hope to hear from you! Send me a message on my Blog and I will get in touch with you. This isn't about one person but a network of people who want to reach as many as possible and get prepared. 

That’s why you’ll find us here, enjoying the ride and working hard to make 2018 a year to remember. Let me know what you think and if your wanting your name added as a contributor. 

Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year and May 2018 be the best year yet! Looking forward to hearing from you!!