Moved to Sisters!

David and I are very excited to be finally moving to Sisters, Oregon. We have owned our home here since 2005 and now we have our first commercial space for our on-line business. We will be working together to get our order out the door quicker then before as now we have two worker bees and not just one.

Look for some new products to be arriving in 2021 as well.

As we work on getting all of the racks up, we will be open by appointment ONLY for now and always available online. We are so very blessed to have an awesome customer base and we hope that you will refer your family and friends too!

Prepare NOW to be PREPARED!

Download for FREE my list of 100 Essentials!

New Video's!

Well, it’s been a long time since we have done any new Amp-3 Product videos. Over the next few weeks that will all change. David and I are heading down to the ranch for about a week, and our plan is to of course work on some clean up down there as well as work on some product videos.

While down at the ranch we will also be recording part 2 of a live podcast with Brian J. Pombo from Off-The-Grid Biz Podcast (STORIES FOR THE SELF-RELIANT!). We hope that you will Subscribe and Follow Along!

Are you following along? Please subscribe and follow USNERDOC for videos about our ranch and so much more!

Let us know if your have any ideas for video content! We are always looking for new ideas!

Please leave me your comments!

Items #46 to #49 of my 100 Essentials

Life is all about being prepared for the next adventure! I hope that with my list of 100 Essentials, I am giving you some ideas and your preps are starting to stack up.

On we go with item #46 ( Garbage Cans, Garbage Bags and Lids) The galvanized cans are great to store your preps in and also make a great faraday cage. My thought is to use the Flex Seal, a rubberized material, sprayed into a small galvanized bucket and lid to create a faraday cage. Try this DIY project for yourself!

On to Item #47 ( Men's Hygiene) Shampoo, Razors, Mouthwash, Floss, Deodorant (Lots of this!!) Nail Clippers, Shaving Cream, eat...

With men working on keeping everything running on a ranch or farm, they still need to take care of themselves. Nothing worse then a SMELLY man!!! You know what I mean.

Just today, while at Portland Expo Center, I walked by a man that really needed Deodorant... Whew... Come on, you know you can smell it and no-one else wants to!

Degree Clinical Protection Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant, Sport Strength 1.7 oz,(pack of 4) Buy on Amazon

Onto a passion of mine, Cast Iron Cook Ware. I am talking about Dutch Ovens Pans, Pop Over Pans, Muffin Pans, Corn Bread Pans and so much more. These pans are the best for baking and cooking. If you haven't tried Cast Iron Cooking, I hope that you do. Here is another one of my recent favorites, Southern Cast Iron Magazine. You have to try the Rosemary Focaccia Bread. 

Have fun looking for vintage Cast Iron! Keep it clean, well oiled and out of the water. You will be handing this down from generation to generation. 

Item #49 Fishing Gear and Supplies! You will need fishing poles, line, lures, flies, tackle boxes, fishing nets, hooks, and sinkers. Stock up on all of these items will be very hard to get in times of need. Places like Sportsman Warehouse, Walmart, Cabelas or Fisherman's Warehouse are great places to stock up on all of these items. 

Be careful, once you start collecting Fishing Gear you will be HOOKED!!

Fishing Tackle Set,PortableFun® Fishing Baits Kit Lots With Free Tackle Box,For Freshwater Trout Bass Salmon Buy on Amazon

When your looking for items to add to your preps, remember I am only giving you a option to purchase on Amazon. You have the choice to purchase where ever you wish so shop around and get the best price you can. 

Thank you for following along! Join me next week for more ideas for your 100 Essentials. 

100 Essential Items #42 to #45 (Keep stocking up)

Summer is going by fast and were moving forward with stocking up on your 100 Essentials. Remember you never know when you might need the items on this list. 

Item #42-Insulated Ice Chests are a must if you lose power and need someplace to store frozen and refrigerated food. We recently purchased the Kysek 25L Extreme Coolers (26.4 Qt) from Sportsman Warehouse to use at our ranch while building the barn. We add dry ice to the bottom, cover that with a plastic garbage bag, add ice and drinks and food. With this method, we can keep items cold for over a week. 

Yes, they are expensive but if it works, we feel the cost is well worth it! The Yeti is another great cooler but even more expensive.

Coolers are a great way to keep items frozen in the wintertime too!

Kysek-The Ultimate Ice Chest-25L Buy on Amazon

YETI Tundra 65 Cooler (Desert Tan) Buy on Amazon

Moving onto item #43 (Work Boots, Belts, Levi's & Durable Warm Shirts)

Keeping warm and dry in any situation will only make you fell better. Make sure to buy high quality clothing that will last for years to come. Warm Socks, Flannel Shirts, Wicking Clothing, ect...

Check out Duluth Trading Company if you need some great ideas. 

Duluth Flannel Shirts

Flashlights, Lanterns, and Light Sticks are Item #44 on my list of 100 Essentials.

Just spent this weekend at the Portland Expo Center Antique Faire. So many preparedness items to be found at almost every booth. Love collecting Dietz Lanterns and they are so useful in any emergency situation. 

Flashlights are part of our EDC (Everyday Carry) and I always have one with me. Have you ever lost something in your car??? Get out your flashlight and you will find it in no time. I prefer small compact flashlights and preferably made in America. We love the flashlights from County Comm for this reason. 

Item #45 Journals, Diaries, Scrapbooks are helpful to keep track of your Journey. I would also add my Bible to this list as well as Pens, Pencils and writing paper. 

Well, with this list of items I am sure that you can think of a few on your own. Books of all kinds need to be in your library for your enjoyment as well as informational reading materials. 

I love Cast Iron Cooking so recently I have been adding more Cast Iron to my preps. Along with pans, dutch ovens, and a pop over pan, I have discovered Southern Cast Iron Magazine. Just ordered 4 more today. 

Really excited to share with you my 100 Essentials and so much more... See you next week!

Amp-3 Outfitter!! Wound Care & Suturing Kit!! (Item #34 & #35)

Well, were moving forward with our list of 100 Essentials this week with our Amp-3 Outfitter and Wound Care & Suture Kits. Item #34 the Amp-3 Outfitter is the most Comprehensive Medical Kit on the market and the only one Made in the USA! 

This kits goes for Trauma to Dental in our Clinic in a Roll. Weighing just under 8 lbs rolled up and ready to go. Put together our Mastering Your Med Kit DVD ($35) that goes over pocket by pocket on how to use everything in our kit. Our customer made bag is David's design and manufactured in the USA. We pack most of our Modules in LokSak's that are also made in the USA! LokSak's are Waterproof down to 200 ft and completely air tight.

With so many choices for Medical Kits on the market. This is the only one designed by a ER Doctor with materials that he actually uses. This product was two years in the making and is now one of our Signature Kits. Currently priced at $395, available in ACU Digital, Coyote Brown, Black, Burnt Orange and Red. 

Item #35 is Wound Care & Suture Kits. David being a ER Doc, our Wound Care and Suture Kit is more comprehensive then any other kit on the market and Made in USA. Our Survival Suturing DVD, goes over Wound Care,  as well as when to suture and when NOT to suture. 

Hoping that these two kits will add some needed essentials for your Preparedness. 

Well that's it for this week, thank you for following along and supporting Amp-3!!!

Gardening with Lucinda Bailey! Texas Ready Seed Banks

This week I am so excited to have a guest Blogger, my very good friend Lucinda Bailey of Texas Ready Seed Banks. Spring is almost here in the Pacific Northwest so get your garden ready with this fantastic post from Lucinda!

WHEN TO PLANT

It is recommended that you obtain your area’s exact spring and fall “frost” dates–they will be different for individual counties. Don’t go from memory. Check on the internet by typing FROST DATES + your zipcode.  Or contact your Agri-Life County Extension Agent and/or the Master Gardener program at the same office. They will have the right dates. Call them—your tax dollars pay for their services.

The dates for my county are March 17 and November 15 – but what does that mean? If I were to set plants out, either by seed or six inch transplanted seedlings, on March 17, I have a ten percent chance of there being a freeze, which in turn, could kill any plants which are frost sensitive. A ten percent risk is one I can live with. Freeze dates DO NOT mean that it can’t or won’t freeze after that date. Regarding the fall frost date, I have a ninety percent chance that my crops will experience a freeze after November 16 each year—therefore; I plan the spring planting and concluding harvest dates accordingly. The appendix in All New Square Foot Gardening is excellent as it illustrates when to start seeds in trays, when to transplant, how long it takes for the individual plants to mature and when you should harvest.

Obviously, frost dates are guidelines, and Mother Nature has a mind of her own. Thus far, this winter has been extremely mild in my area, so I was willing to bump up my planting date by about thirty days. If we did experience a freeze, there would still be time to reseed or replant. I have plenty of reserve seed and know I’m taking a slight risk. There were two days in the mid-forties, so I have had to replant cucumbers and melons. Everything else flourished. Tomatoes, which are very sensitive, I kept in the hoop house because to regrow them from seed is very time consuming.

In addition to the risk of planting too early, there is also a risk in waiting too long to plant. For example, peppers, don’t set fruit well if the nights are hotter than 70 degrees F.  

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PREPARE YOUR BEDS

You can do this even if your last frost date is a couple of months away.

1)     If you haven’t done this already, clean up all the previous garden debris. Send it to the compost heap. Because we teach survival gardening, Texas Ready does not recommend loose mulch, broken up leaves or grass clippings on the surface of your garden beds. We don’t want to provide bugs a place to hide.

2)     Take a forked tool (a rake won’t get deep enough) and lightly loosen the soil to a depth of eight inches. If you see squirmy little worms or grubs, kill them. If you have chickens either give them the worms and grubs as a treat, or better yet, assuming you can fence them away from whatever may be growing in your garden, let them scratch around in your beds. They’ll become virtual “rototillers” with an attitude. I prefer this strategy because it gives my twenty hens a little exercise and they avoid the boredom of living confined in a pen.

3)     Get a metal window screen—I use one about 2’ x 3’ in size, and a wheelbarrow. Head for the compost heap. I am a lazy composter—meaning I don’t turn my pile like I should—I simply take four inches of finished compost from the bottom of the stack once a year. I put a few shovel fulls on top of the screen and sift the soil into the wheelbarrow, sending back to the compost heap anything that didn’t fall through the screen. The result is a very fine top dressing which my plants love. Alternatively, using the Mittleider Gardening method of 75% sawdust combined with 25% course sand, I level the soil in my garden boxes (aka raised beds).

4)     Take the wheelbarrow full of beautiful soil and spread enough to bring the beds up to the top of the 8” boards. We recommend that your garden boxes (aka raised beds) utilize 2x8 pressure treated boards. The pressure treating process is now safe—twenty years ago this was not the case. Eight inches of material is enough to prevent the sun’s UV rays from activating perennial weed rhizomes.    

5)     Repeat the process until all your beds are ready. Lightly water the top dressing in. Repeat the watering process when you notice the beds are dry. Now the hard work has been done and the fun can begin.

6)     If you are an over achiever, 6 weeks before frost date, get some heavy plastic painters drop cloths. Get at least a 12 foot square one. Cut it in half. Put it over your beds, securing the sides with heavy objects like bricks or boards. You are now going to let the sun solarize your soil. This will irradiate some garden pests (insect, fungi and viruses) and kill weed seeds at the same time.

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MAKE YOUR OWN POTTING SOIL

You’ll want a basic potting mix—your box stores have this (expensive). You don’t want a lot of fertilizer built into this soil. If there is a lot of nitrogen the seedlings can get leggy and the stem won’t ever be able to support future fruit. (In gardening terminology, we call all that plants produce for us to eat “fruit”—even if the plant is a vegetable. Go figure.)

Or you can make your own, like I do from a recipe obtained from Rodale’s Institute for Organic Growing.

Make sure that any chicken or horse manure has been aged at least a year (preferably two) and that your compost heap was heated to at least 140 degrees F for about two weeks so weed seeds will not germinate.

4 parts finely screened compost from one year old shredded leaves and aged animal manure

1 part perlite

1 part vermiculite

2 parts peat moss

You’ll want to mix this outdoors in a wheelbarrow. Lightly moisten the ingredients to keep the dust down. I like this mix because there is a good balance between moisture retention and good drainage. Without good drainage you will struggle with “damping-off” which is a fungal disease that causes newly germinated seedlings to weaken, topple over and die. I like using finely shredded leaf compost because that way you get a timed release of good nutrition.

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Wow! This is a lot of information! Next week we will continue with Lucinda and more on getting your garden growing. Want to see Lucinda live??? She will be with us at two Preparedness Expos in May! Prosser, WA and Grants Pass, OR. 

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Lucinda Bailey-Owner of Texas Ready Seed Banks

It's Never Too Late!

With the latest snow storm in the Portland, Oregon area, I saw how un-prepared Portlander's really are. With the pile up of cars on the side of the road, the long lines the local grocery store and people taking to the streets to walk due to a failure to plan. This storm was predicted and they still didn't prepare. You have to ask yourself are you prepared?

Getting your car prepared for winter weather should start in November! Start by getting your car winter-ready by bringing the routine service up to date. Plan on getting Studded Snow Tires (Approved in Oregon and Washington), Tire Chains, Road Flares, Hand Warmers, Blanket or Sleeping Bag (For Warmth), Water, Snacks, Window De-Icer (Prestone Windshield De-Icer), Yaktrax (Traction for your shoes-Yaktrax), 

Extra Jacket, Hat and Gloves. All of these items can be in your trunk in a Plano 56Qt HD Storage Tote (Sportsman Warehouse). Add other items that you feel would be helpful for your personal preparedness.

November is a great time to stock up on supplies for your home as well. You will need to stock up on food, water and heat for yourself, family and your animals and any unprepared neighbors. It is especially important to check on elderly neighbors to insure they are doing well. Places like Costco, Cash & Carry and Dollar Tree are great stores to buy in bulk and will save you $$ in the long run. We also have freeze dried food which has a shelf live of 25 years or more (Honeyville). Buy some extra Animal Food so you have it available in case you can't get to the store. We also have (5)15 gallon water storage containers (Reliance Aqua-Tainer). Waiting until the event happens is to late to get prepared, avoid the panic and get prepared now!

Once a winter storm rolls in you may arrive home to find a few inches or feet of snow. As soon as the snow stops, get out and start shoveling your sidewalk and driveway. Starting clearing your walkway and driveway early and frequently will make your life much easier. Here are a few additional items to think about having at your home. We think the Orchard ABS Scoop Shovel (Orchard Supply Hardware) is the BEST shovel for snow removal. We own 3 of these shovels. The large D-handle is comfortable to hold and the big scoop lifts plenty of snow. During the last snow storm we were the only ones in our neighborhood that had a clear driveway! Ice Melt is another must for your home as you are responsible if someone slips and falls on your driveway or sidewalk in front of your home. (ULine) The best way to spread Ice Melt is with a hand-held fertilizer spreader.

Generators are another useful item to have at home in case the power goes out. With a gas generator and a transfer switch (installed by licensed electrician), you will be able to run your refrigerator, essential lights and small heater. This time of year, you never know when the power might go out! Staying warm can save your life. Extra gas for the generator and your car will keep you moving and warm through out the winter months. Remember to run your generator in a safe open air location!

Another great idea, is to have extra medications, prescription glasses and cash (Small Bills) on hand in case of emergency. 

Don't wait until the next disaster to get prepared!

Week Three 2020!

With the beginning of every new year, comes new possibilities and resolutions and expectation that we try to achieve. We start of the year with a list to lose weight, read more, save more money and the list goes on and on. This year is no different then the years before. The possibilities for this year could endless but you should have a plan in order to achieve some or even all of them. 

This year 2020, we are staring off the year with a better plan then last year so we will see how it goes. It's the third week of the new year and our list starts with storing more food. As the months go by I will be sharing with you, our readers as to what were add this week or month. 

Starting today, January 16, 2020 we are adding more food storage to our pantry. . The item that I love best is Honeyville. From Bakery Products, Fruits, Vegetables, Gluten Free, Flours, Grains and on and on. Honeyville has the best tasting and long-term freeze dried food storage and more. Set a budget from $50 or more and use that to add to your preparedness every month.

Now, you might say that's not the best way to buy food and you might be right, however with a 25 year shelf life, you really can't go wrong. We started purchasing Honeyville over 9 years ago and will continue to do so from today and moving forward. You see, you can never have enough food and with winter here and snow on the ground it's better to order online.

Canning and Preserving will be essential for your long term food storage as well. Start collecting Quart and Pint jars and lids to have for canning later in the summer. Look for deals on these now as they might go up in price once the season gets under way. Look at your local bookstore for books and magazines on canning and preserving. More on this at a later date.