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survival – Page 2 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: survival

  • Reasons to Stockpile Alcohol

    Reasons to Stockpile Alcohol

    Whether or not you like to enjoy a refreshing cocktail after a long day of homestead duties, or you’ve been sober for years, there’s actually a lot of very good reasons to stockpile alcohol, for use around the homestead and also long-term survival.

    To be clear, when we’re talking about alcohol, we’re talking about liquor. There are many different kinds of liquor, obviously, so let’s discuss a bit what kind you’ll want to stockpile.

    First of all, rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol, is great to stockpile as well, for many reasons, but this is not what we’re talking about. It does deserve its own mention though, because many of the first-aid uses we’ll suggest for consumable alcohol (which rubbing alcohol is NOT), you can use rubbing alcohol for as well, so you might want to keep it around for those purposes.

    Second, many of the commercially-available liquor out there is flavored. For most of the uses we’ll describe, you probably won’t want to use flavored liquor. One reason is that it usually includes artificial flavorings and colors that would not be great to include for say, first aid uses or tinctures. They also won’t keep as long when opened, plus, they’re probably more expensive.

    So, for stocking up on alcohol, you’ll probably want to focus on plain, unflavored, quality vodka, whiskey, or gin.

    So, without further ado, here the best reasons to stockpile alcohol:

    Barter or trade: ah, the first reason isn’t to use it at all! When disaster strikes, being able to offer others alcohol might come in very handy for acquiring supplies or services from others in your community.

    Anaesthesia: after a disaster, you might find yourself needing to sedate a patient if you are performing any kind of painful medical procedure like a tooth extraction, setting a broken bone, and liquor will be very helpful for this.

    Cleaning wounds: alcohol is incredibly effective for sanitizing wounds, and also sterilizing medical supplies.

    Fire starting: while there are probably safer and cheaper methods for fire starting, and you’ll want to be very careful, alcohol is incredibly flammable and can be very effective in starting and sustaining a flame.

    Tinctures: probably the best reason for homesteaders to stock up on liquor; it can be used as the base for herbal tinctures for both wild and homegrown medicinal herbs.

    Stove fuel: you’ll need the right set-up for this, but alcohol can be used to fuel a stove, and is a popular emergency fuel.

    Cleaning a gun: any kind of alcohol is incredibly effective in cleaning a gun after use.

    Cold and flu medicine: while you shouldn’t be hitting the bottle too much while sick as it can lower your immune system, a small amount of liquor, such as a single shot or mixed in with herbal tea, can be very effective for killing sickness and clearing sinuses.

    Entertainment: don’t forget, you can still simply drink liquor, and keep guests or fellow homesteaders happy! Just be responsible and enjoy!

     

    These are some of the ways you can use alcohol for homesteading and survival. If you’ve got more suggestions, be sure to share in the comments!

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  • Preparing Your Homestead Vehicle for Emergencies

    Preparing Your Homestead Vehicle for Emergencies

    For the average homesteader, one of the biggest and most undeniable benefits of the self-reliant lifestyle is the security of a constant, sustainable source of food and fuel, especially in our fluctuating economy. Security and preparedness around your home are incredibly important, but you could be one of many people who leave out a key location when it comes to securing yourself and your family, not just your home: the car.

    Here are a few simple points to consider when building the right travel survival kit to meet your needs:

     

    • Seating Capacity: How many people you vehicle can seat is a key factor in determining how many people to provide for in your kit. Even if you’re alone in your vehicle the majority of the time, you don’t want to have to bring along extra provisions when you have a passenger or two, and you definitely don’t want to be without provisions for them. Failing in this could mean having to share a pair of gloves or one protein bar between two or more people on a long walk into town. Plan to pack enough of each item for as many people as your vehicle can seat.
    • Seasonal Gear: Keeping your kit to a manageable size is huge, especially in a compact vehicle. Help to keep unnecessary bulk out of your kit by rotating it each summer and winter. Trade winter’s packs of socks, handwarmers, and space blankets for summer’s sun protection items and extra water. Most of your kit’s contents, especially first-aid items, will remain in the kit year-round, but you should still check these at each rotation for expiration or damage.
    • Identification: No matter the severity of the emergency, having clear and easy-to-find identification for everyone in the vehicle will make first responders jobs easier if you are unable to communicate when they arrive. Beyond just your driver ID, medical information such as blood type or medication allergies are crucial information. If you will be traveling with children, it’s a great idea to print this information on a label to stick on their car seat. Keeping this information on an index card in the glove box is another good option.

    Even if you only make a trip into town once a week, once a month, or only travel a few times each year, it behooves you not to overlook your vehicle as part of the homestead and equip it for disaster preparedness. Just as you’d perform regular maintenance to keep your car or truck in good working order, you should see to it that it is stocked with a good emergency kit to be prepared for any roadside emergency situation.

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  • Are You Making Prepper Mistakes?

    Are You Making Prepper Mistakes?

    If you are into learning how to survive and prepping, you read as much as you can on the subject, and you are generally willing to work hard to make sure you have everything you need when it comes to living after the SHTF. Of course, many out there do not take any steps beyond buying some “cool” and interesting gear, some freeze-dried food, and maybe some water. Those who fall into this latter category could be making some serious prepper mistakes.

    One of the big issues is people buying supplies and then never bothering to rotate through them. If something has a shelf life of five years, you should use it before those five years are up. You need to learn to rotate your supplies. Buy new and use the old. You can’t just buy it and forget it when it comes to things like food and water.

    Another problem people have is forgetting to resupply their items. If you have a first aid kit that you have been taking from over the last year, and you never bothered to resupply it, when the SHTF, you could be in trouble. What if you have a lot of ammo, but you decide to go out to the woods or the range to do some target shooting? You need to resupply that ammo so you have it when you need it.

    One of the other problems comes from preppers and survivalists who have all of the gear they think they need to survive, but they have no practical knowledge of how to use it. They have items they have never used or tried and simply bought them because it seemed like the thing to do. You need to know how to use all of your supplies, and you need to increase your knowledge well beyond what the supplies offer with real world skills.

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  • Tips for Surviving a Tornado

    Tips for Surviving a Tornado

    Tornadoes cause devastation across Midwestern states each year. Unfortunately, people die in these storms, so it makes sense for you and your family to be as prepared as possible if you live in or are visiting states that are in the path of tornadoes.

    Although you might not have too much warning before the storm hits, the experts are getting better at predicting tornadoes. Always listen for tornado alerts and messages and follow the instructions provided. Keep aware of the way the weather changes and stay inside. You can often tell that a storm is on the way by the color of the sky. It becomes dark, and in some cases, dark green. There may be large hail and strong wind. Of course, there’s also the typical tornado funnel.

    Your goal should be to head for a storm shelter or a basement. Those who live in mobile homes or who are in vehicles should make it their priority to get to a secure building and then to take shelter inside. If you are stuck outside, you need to get as low as possible. look for a ditch and lay down inside of it. However, do not go under bridges or overpasses, as this could put you in even more danger.

    Once the storm subsides, it doesn’t mean you are safe quite yet. There could be injuries you need to attend to, and there could be downed power lines. Remember that the structures around you could be damaged, which could make them dangerous.

    Consider having an emergency bag as well, which contains extra water, food, and some first aid gear, just in case you are trapped in place for a while. A tornado is always frightening, but with the right knowledge, you can increase your chance of coming out of the situation unscathed.

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  • Survival Skills You Need Now

    Survival Skills You Need Now

    Do you have all the survival skills you need? Would you be able to survive if the world as we know it were to implode tomorrow? While you might have some skills that others are lacking, you might not have everything you need to survive. Just because you know how to read a compass and fire a rifle doesn’t mean you are going to live. You need to start acquiring more skills, and you need to start sooner rather than later.

    Medical training is very important. You don’t have to become a doctor or a nurse, but you should learn first aid and get some emergency medical training. You never know what you might have to face in a survival scenario.

    Learn to use firearms, learn to trap and hunt, and learn to skin and butcher animals. Learn basic gardening skills, and learn how to can and prepare food. Sewing classes can come in quite handy as well, as you will learn how to mend your clothing.

    Learn how to drive a stick shift. If you don’t already know how to drive stick, it’s time to learn. It will take an afternoon or two to get the basics down, but it is a good skill to know. Also, learn basic mechanical skills that go a bit beyond just changing a tire. Having some basic knowledge of how engines work can come in handy.

    These are some of the skills we feel are very important, but they aren’t the only ones you should learn by a long shot. Start with these and then start considering other skills that you can start learning. No matter how much you know, you should never stop learning. In addition, share your knowledge with others so they have a better chance of surviving as well.

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  • Growing Calories for Survival

    Growing Calories for Survival

    One of the biggest reasons people want to homestead in this day and age is to be prepared for some kind of disaster. But what should you grow that would actually help you survive?

    Obviously, you will need food, and not just edibles, but calories. And rows and rows of herbs and kale are probably healthy, but they’re not going to keep you alive for very long. You need dense calories, high yields, and hearty crops that can grow through winter.

    Potatoes are an ideal long-term survival plant. You can grow them discreetly, they are high in carbohydrates and calories, and keep well through the winter with minimal processing.

    Breadfruit is not commonly known in the Western world, but again, if you live somewhere that you can grow it, do. It is highly caloric and delicious, with a soft, mildly sweet, savory flesh that can be slow cooked in a fire, boiled, or fried.

    Cassava, also known as yucca and tapioca, produces the most calories per square foot of any other crop in the world. It is much like a potato, and its thick husk will preserve the root for a very long time. The best thing about cassava? You can simply hack up the large bush that grows above ground, and stick in the ground to grow a whole new crop for next year.

    Beans have protein, which is difficult to grow, and have high yields and produce very quickly. They also fix your soil with nitrogen, and can be easily dried and kept through the winter.

    Crucifers like broccoli and cabbage are highly nutritious, more filling than other greens, are cold-hearty crops and can keep relatively well through the winter, when stored properly.

    If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that you can grow avocado, do. It is high in essential fatty acids, and virtually one of the only ways to grow fat. They are caloric as well, and can keep you alive and thriving for a long time.

    Apples are relatively high-calorie for a fruit, and can have a very high yield. They will also keep very easily through the winter.

     

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  • 3 Ways to Purify Water

    3 Ways to Purify Water

    If you are homesteading or in a survival situation, water will always be your primary need. If you have a source for fresh water on your homestead, that’s a huge advantage, but you also might need to purify the water.

    Whether you are collecting water from a stream, spring, rainwater, or what have you, it’s important to be able to make the water drinkable using one of many possible purification methods. Here are a few of the easiest and most popular purification methods for your consideration:

    Boiling

    By far the easiest way to purify water, it is not always the simplest, especially for large amounts of water. But in a pinch, this will be your go-to, given you have the energy and container to boil a large amount of water. By bringing the water to a boiling point and letting it simmer for five minutes, you will kill the vast majority of harmful bacteria and microorganisms.

    Chlorine treatment

    This is another common way to purify water, and typically what your municipal water provider will use. Chlorine isn’t ideal for many people, especially those who are health-minded, but when the choice is between contaminated water or no water at all, and drinking water with chlorine in it, having chlorine tablets or bleach around to purify water is prudent. It doesn’t take much, usually 2 drops of chlorine bleach per quart.

    Filtering 

    It’s not too complicated to make a DIY water filter that will remove the majority of water impurities, and this might be a possible long-term solution for regular water consumption. What you do is find a container that can funnel the water, upside down plastic pop bottles are the popular choice, and fill 1/3 of the way with sand, 1/3 of the way with charcoal, and 1/3 of the way with pebbles. Cover the spout with cloth or screen mesh, then pour your water through.

     

    These are a few basic ways to filter water, but there are other, more complicated options out there like purification tablets, distillation, and higher-dollar filters that might suit your needs long-term. But in a pinch, if you have no money or find yourself cut off from modern water supply, these are great methods to know.

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  • Homestead (and Life) Lessons From the Great Depression

    Homestead (and Life) Lessons From the Great Depression

    The Great Depression was one of the most harrowing periods of history in our country, and there are many lessons we can take from it. It dramatically changed our economy, our government, our agriculture and our people. We made it through the recent Great Recession with far less damage than the Great Depression, but the possibility of something far worse seems to be constantly looming on the horizon and it’s hard to imagine we’d be prepared the way our resourceful ancestors were.

    The thing is, life has changed so much since the 20’s and 30’s, and we have become far more reliant on the resources of a globalized economy. This is why homesteading is so appealing to a growing number of people; in the face of a crippling economic meltdown, we want to be prepared, and self-reliant, and self-sufficient.

    Here are some lessons we can take from the Great Depression for homesteading, self-reliance, and life in general:

    1. Use what you have

    We get so used to constantly spending, we’ve forgotten how to use what we have already. Homesteaders are probably already familiar with this, especially if you live far from town and get used to  being resourceful, but Amazon Prime has definitely made it easier to order the most obscure homesteading equipment to be delivered right to our front door (or the mailbox at the top of our country road). Before you spend, try to imagine you have no spare money, what you would do. You’d be surprised how quickly you can problem solve sometimes if buying an additional tool or supply were not an option!

    2. Rely on others

    Community is the backbone of any country, and we have, over time, become more autonomous, individual agents who are ironically much more reliant on the grid and less on one another. Get to know your neighbors, your suppliers, shopkeepers, etc. Form bonds with others, trade work and supplies, pitch in to help others out and ask for help on your own homestead. Find a church, homeschool group, grocery co-op, book club, farmer’s market whatever it is that you’re interested in and make connections. When things get crazy you’ll need support and resources, and a few heads are always better than one.

    3. Get skilled

    Skills are invaluable, and the more you learn, the better equipped you are for #1 and #2. If you can build or repair things you won’t need to spend as much hiring others or buying new supplies or replacement parts, and if you have marketable skills or an artisan craft you can trade your work for things you need or simply pitch in to help others out and help strengthen your community.

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