Can You Survive A Month Without Any Outside Help?
Here’s a preparedness question for you, “Could you survive a month without ANY external source of help or supplies?”
I’m not talking about just food, but everything and anything that you would need to survive for a month.
There would be no going out to get (buy) anything.
Not only that, but take it to the next level and add this factor: No electricity.
We’ve talked about this many times here on Modern Survival Blog, and I know that most of our regulars here could easily survive this hypothetical situation.
With that said, I’m simply challenging anyone reading this to think of your own personal situation. Your own current readiness. There are plenty of new people who hit this site on a regular basis, so I’m putting this out there especially for you, as food for thought.
Originally posted during 2018, it’s a good one to revisit, because the message applies the same today (as it will tomorrow, and so on).
Lets brainstorm on some of the needs and concerns. And this is just a very short scribble of thoughts to simply get your own wheels turning, so to speak. (There’s tons more here on the blog if you search for it).
Survive A Month
First, if the electricity is still on, you can survive pretty darn easily for a month without outside help. The water will still be flowing, the outside world will be functioning as normal, so all you need are a few things…
– Food
– Specific Needs
Got enough food?
Surprisingly though, most do not have anywhere close to a month’s worth of food in their home. A grocery store run is at least a weekly chore. The solution is obvious. Get more food on your shelves.
Don’t forget about any specific needs that you might have whereby you’ve become complacent being able to run out and get it (whatever “it” is). Do you have enough of “it” for a month?
Lights out?
Now lets throw a wrench into it… Survive a month with the electricity off. Uh oh…
This changes things pretty drastically, to say the least. A week or two is bad enough. But what about a month?
A few immediate and potentially huge concerns include water, unique food loss issues because there is no electricity, climate control mitigation, and potential or probable security concerns depending on where you live.
Survive for a month without a WATER SOURCE?
If you’re on a well, how are you going to get enough water to last a month without external help? Or mitigate the well pump issue (grid down) in some way…
If you have municipal water, you might or might not be okay due to unspecified scenarios which I did not prerequisite…
( Town gravity feed water source (or not) — How long will municipal pump generators operate — Potential infrastructure damage (e.g. earthquake) ).
Unique Food Issues?
If part of your month’s food storage is in the freezer or a chest freezer, you’re looking at 24 – 48 h ours and it’s gone. What then?
If part of your food storage requires cooking or boiling, how are you going to do that without electricity? Got what you need in that department?
How much food do you have that doesn’t necessarily require cooking? Enough for a month?
Survive for a month without CLIMATE CONTROL?
Within a few days, the inside of your house will stabilize to a temperature that’s more or less similar to the average temperature outside. What if it’s winter? What if it’s the middle of summer? These could be MAJOR issues. Got a plan for that?
SECURITY CONCERNS
When there’s no electricity for a week, people generally are able to deal with it. Although many may require help or support, even two weeks can be smoothed over with neighbors helping neighbors, etc.. This is typically what happens during the aftermath of a major storm event or things like that.
But how will these same people cope with week 3 and then week 4? Big difference! Will security become a concern at some point? Certainly it will depending on where you live.
Think about it. Do you have what it takes?
One way to think about it is to think about every time that you’ve gone to a store or somewhere to get something or “run errands” throughout a month. How much of that was, or is, a necessity? Do you have a plan for that?
Now think about this…
What about 6 months?! Say it aint so!!
[ Read: Food Storage List For a Year ]
Wow, what timing. We happen to currently be in a financial SHTF, and to remedy it, we had decided to forgo all expenditures until we are back on sound financial ground. This is currently the six week mark. Our last purchase happened to be a spare chain for my Greenworks chainsaw, just as the SHTF for us. Granted we do have electricity, but we also have 5 other means to cook meals.
As far as water, we will have to haul and filter, but at least the water is with-in sight of our house.
Food is not as much of a concern as we are getting away from frozen as much as we can.
Climate control is the least of our concerns, wood stove for heat, and an ice cold brook to cool off in.
All set on security as well.
PG, nothing like living it and your sharing your situation is very valuable to us here…
Good for you being prepared for the unexpected…
Good Providence to you and yours!
Peanut Gallery
Way to go! Turn this SHTF emergency into a learning experience, you will be just fine. Tough times never last, but TOUGH people DO!!!!
God Bless you in this trying time.
Thank you Shepherdess and Stand My Ground. We will get to see where our weakness lies after the dust settles. Then we can adjust accordingly.
We have gone a month without buying anything many times, especially where we live. The problem would be water. We have a lot stored but when we try and get it out of our well it would be real time consuming. Our well is 320 feet deep. We would have to use a well bucket.
old lady where is the static level of your well?
Static water level is nice to know. if one does not know can take a couple of heavy washers tie to a cord and drop it in top of well head.measuer the amount of string dropped in, and how much of it is wet.. generally electric pumps are about 10-15 feet below the static water level… so a bailer bucket could be dropped if made and available ahead of time from water pipe smaller than well casing.. could be time consuming and difficult on the shoulders for us older folks…a windlass, or strong, sufficient length rope with pulley, secure attachment for said bucket would all be needed.. High tripod would be easiest to use, but very visible.
The pump is around 300 feet. They found water 270 feet. So i assume the static level is way down there. We bought enough rope for our well bucket but have used some if it. We need to replace it.
Have you considered having a simple pump installed to your existing well? There is a handle and a cylinder. You push on the handle which pushes out the water, which creates a vacuum. You can look up the information, they cost about a thousand dollars, but we can not live without water. Maybe this sounds crazy at this price…but thought I would put it out there.
Abigayle, The price for the simple pump is dependent on he type of well and depth one has… example:well 465 ft deep with static water level of 185 ft would require a pump and pipe to go down to close to 200 ft…. something in neighborhood of 1500$-2000$. That s a common well depth in my neck of the woods.
. For most people who are on social insecurity is not something they can decide to do one day and get the next..would take significant time to save for this project.
The simple pump can be placed beside existing pipes if the casing is at least 4inches.. so is an advantage. There are a few dug wells in our area not being used – have water and ability.will need to re set their pulley, and find something to use for a well bucket… pc of chain – shallow wells of less than 40 ft.
Abigayle, I installed a Simple pump in my well by myself, very easy but better with a gofer. My well is 100’/40′ static. Works great but your not going to water the garden with it. I am going to order the 12v motor to fill the cistern. It is of sturdy construction and so far I consider it a good investment.
Our pump sits 130′ down, with the water level starting at apprx 60′. I have often considered how to make a sort of bucket that could be dropped down the well shaft to draw water up in the event that there is no electricity to run the well pump. Can’t figure out how to build the pipe-bucket so that it will allow water in, but retain it for the long journey back to the top of the well casing pipe. I thought of a flapper vqalve, but haven’t been able to suss it out in my mind to make it work.
restoring Brad I just put homemade well bucket into my search box and dozens of them are ready for your needs. Why suss out the wheel friend?
Now getting 130 feet of aircraft cable or at lease 550 cord up and down would need a tripod pulley system and a hand cranked drum from my point of view.
Hope this helps
restoring Brad I was thinking is your well issue the Electric Pump down there? Most modern wells are not that wide and the pump fills a lot of that space. Thus making the use of a well bucket hard.
You could pull the pump with all the problems and costs of having it reinstalled after the power was restored to use that well bucket OR you could buy a Earth Straw.
It is made to fit past the existing electric pump so you can hand pump AND it is removable/transportable so if you had to leave (fire or??) you could take it with you.
Glad Ken asked this question, a lot of water, sanitation, emergency heat/cold temperature control, freezer-canning and security issues were discussed. Useful to brainstorm.
Hope this helps
The links below may help get your mental wheels to turning. I worked drilling rigs, workover rigs, and swab rigs until I was 32 years old. This is how we removed fluid in the hole and was good to depths of around 10,000 feet. Using this same principal at water well depths would be much easier. The technique or procedures for doing this have a few pitfalls that you must be aware of but once you understand the process they are very manageable. I can go into depth on this if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOU0RPU_tlo
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=swabbing+a+well++swab+cups&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=oil+well+swabbing+procedure&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images
Ken, and Baboy Damo,I would like to see this expanded on, Have 2 wells in mind….one with water at 200 ft/abt. and the other about 85.both are 4 inch and have electric pumps…. materials, pitfalls,. details…questions, can it be done beside an existing pump or will that need to be pulled?… in grid down ,a very hard process for old geezers,with injuries to even assist.
Water is always my weak spot.
Water is also a concern for me. Relying on rain collection has not worked out so well. Storage of purchased water is limited. The river is a good two miles away so I bought a garden wagon to haul water as a last resort.
I am pretty sure I could. I have wanted to, but my family is far from the type to even think something like that could ever happen. I do my best to be prepared for anything. My family on the other hand will be the 90% that don’t make it a week when/if the S ever does really hit the fan.
“Could we survive a month without help?”
Food wise we would be fine, as dh says to me “Did you buy the store out?”
As for power, if we were to lose it we do have generators for back up power. It would be the time frame for power loss that would be the concern, as they are propane/gasoline, and neither is set to a larger propane storage tank. Something we had planned on doing but have not found the time to take care of, as that basket it over flowing with chores to be accomplished.
Water storage, at the present time repairing the original gravity feed tank for the live stock. It helps a lot during summer months so it is not a large drain on a low producing well we inherited at the purchasing of this property.(NO-I was not a dowser at this time) We do have a 5 foot round cattle trough that would make a great pool during the summer time IF it were needed.
With no electricity I could not do my job. There would be plenty to do at home. We have a generator but not enough gas to last a month. We have 2 deep freezers full of food that would have to be dried or canned. I would have to use a grille or fire pit or I could make a rocket stove big enough to handle the job. We also have 2 garbage cans full of dog food. We would most likely sleep outside as hot as it is now. I don’t think security would be a big issue in our little town but stay alert just in case. We have 150 gal. of water stored and several cases of bottled water. Our biggest problem would be meds for DW. She is diabetic and the insurance will not fill her prescriptions even one day early.
Carguy
Just a quick response
Have DW ask her doc. that she would like to have an extra supply of diabetic meds in hand and hopefully doc will up her prescriptions so she can slowly build up a supply. Maybe with just a simple phone call to her doc.
Have done the same and have a years worth approx
Actually anybody on prescribed drugs should do the same. And never turn down a refill.
Like for many water would be the issue. I live about a 1 minute walk from water but it is from an extensive canal system that only runs half the year.
I could easily live 1 year without outside help. However, I do have one major concern and that is security from my prepper neighbors. After many discussions with them I know they are of the mindset that they will take from you what every they want and will kill you to get it with no regrets. Fortunately, they live 1 1/2 hours away in normal times so during a SHTF event it could take them many hours to get to their bug out location down the road from me. This gives us time to put our plan in motion. They do not know of our plan. They have such a disrespect for other people that they do not consider other people smart enough to make plans. Arrogance is their weakness. We plan to set up and be waiting as they arrive one by one. Their threat will be eliminated and I will not discuss this any further. As far as security is concerned we have resources to last many years.
Ken, as a result of your article I have called a group/family meeting to review all of our plans. Thanks!
Texas Boy…”they do not consider other people smart enough to make plans”…guess it would be to your benefit to give them to understand that you yourselves “are not so smart…don’t have plans/don’t have preps…etc..
Big ol smiles on this one.
A month, nada a problem going with the No Power scenario.
Water will need to be hauled from a nearby Lake/River after about 3-5 weeks. Filtering the Drinking water of course, Hygiene and Quick Bathing would be done in the Spring Fed Lake, Toilet flushing water from the River. Wondering if hauling water from a Lake that’s 200 feet away counts as an “external source”?
Food should not be a problem, although after that initial 24-36 hours the “Canning” of frozen foods (Meats) would start, Do have gen-sets (kept in a Faraday Cage) and fuel to keep freezers going for quite a while, but the noise would be a security risk for sure. Obviously the Frozen foods would be used first. Additionally Food is a renewable commodity for me; Gardening, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging, so-on are all traits that everyone needs to refine.
Cooking and Canning also not a problem, having multiple means of cooking and preserving foods (Canning, Drying, Salt Curing, so-on) should be on a top priority for most. Heck, can ya say Camp Fire Cooking in an old Cast Iron Kettle?
Specific Needs are few for me , but could be an immense need for some, Medical being the first that comes to mind. How many out there are on Diabetic Meds, how about Blood Pressure, Thyroid, or any number of lifesaving drugs?
Ken mentioned Climate; I believe that most people will learn very quickly they don’t work outside in 104 deg. temperatures, or gather firewood at night in sub-zero snow storms.
Security Concerns; No, not really; BUT knowing how to become the Gray Man (even in your own home) might be a good thing to learn and practice. Even now, can you walk into a store or a public place and not be noticed or “Looked At”? Do you have places in your home or land that you can stay/hide for a few days/week and not be seen?
Back to the Title of the article; 99% of surviving without outside “Help” will all depend on what comes at you from ‘Outside’ are you completely isolated and no worries of the “Golden Hoards” or will you be fighting off that Father of 3 starving children?
If simply isolated, that’s easy, just have a LOT of ‘Stuff’ and knowledge to outlast the world.
Just my 2¢ worth
PS; I wonder how many out there readings this actually do a “Lights Out” weekend or week just to understand what this Article is really about. “Can YOU Survive A Month Without “Outside” Help?” How about even a weekend? Give it a try and see.
PSS; Do you have the Mindset to go into the “Dark Times” and emerge on the “Other Side” and move on, keep living life, regrow, and know that billions may have been lost, yet there ‘you’ are, and ask why you ‘made it’?
Wonder what happened to that good series of 4 Levels of Preparedness that Ken was doing?
Hint Hint.
You are right about the ” lights out weekend ” I do them but not by choice as I lose power up here in the mountains on average 2-3 times each winter. Have also had a couple of problems with water pipes being repaired in the last couple of years that took it away for a day or 2 at a time. After 27 years of the blackouts each year I am down to the point that I barely notice due to generators,LED push lights,solar lights,flashlights ect. First 2 days spell without water taught me that the belief of 1 gal per day per person just ain’t gonna even be close to enough. With all ya need to do I would say at least 6 gal per person at a minimum which is why I store at least 600 gal for the extras and 150 gals for drinking. I can filter the 600 if needed though it came straight from the hose right now as I disconnected my rain recovery system this spring to do some repairs on the roof.
Yes. I could easily live a month without going anywhere for anything, not-with-standing some un-foreseen event that would force me out of my castle comfort zone into the abyss. If it’s just a long term power outage, 1 month, 2 months… 6 months, no problem.
You can salvage almost everything in your freezer. All the meat/seafood can be canned either separately or in stews/soups/gumbo etc. Most of the frozen vegetables can be cooked down into vegetable broth and canned. That’s not a theory. I’ve had to do that a couple times. Freezers are great but when the power goes out for the long term you need to have a mechanism available to salvage your stuff. You will most likely lose your casseroles and other prepared frozen foods.
I will offer a suggestion to all. Make the investment and get yourself an All American pressure canner (921 or 925) and at least 10 cases of quart canning jars and 5 cases of pints. Mix and match regular mouth and wide mouth. Wide mouth is better for canning stuff like chicken, fish and large chunks of meat. Narrow or regular mouth jars are better for soups, stews, stock and juices.
If you already do canning then I would suggest lay aside that many jars in reserve over and above any regular canning you do.
Call this a lifetime $500.00 insurance policy because you can get everything you need for $500.00 or less.
CrabbeNebulae & All;
I can contest to the Wide Mouth jars for meats, did 2 cases of Chicken in Regular Jars, Taste GREAT!! Just a real chore getting it out of the Jars.
FYI, Jars do go on sale for $8 a dozen, An $160 (20 cases) investment that’s well worth not losing the $2000 of Frozen Foods
NRP
You are a canning ‘jaraholic’ as was stated on another site…lol which is a good thing.:-) One can never have to many canning jars with extra lids.
Antique Collector;
I believe you have it all wrong…
A ‘True” jaraholic is one that Cans TP…. HAHAHAHA
From the articles I read starting last year, I hope the lids stored are old, not recently bought.
Warning about 12 month only sealant is scary.
I have shoe boxes of old lids bought in bulk from Mennonite stores kept in cool closet.
JJ;
Re; Canning Lids
Moving conversation over to last weekends FFA (Free For All).
@ NRP
$160.00 for 20 cases of jars is truly a bargain today. I bought many of my canning jars back when they were $6 or $7 a case in full size boxes with the lids packed separately in a cardboard insert. Today, the manufacturer screws the lids down on the jar rendering them unusable for safe canning and the jars are packed in half boxes. DW thinks they do that on purpose to make us go out and buy more lids separately. In the end, I guess it’s the jars that count. The interesting thing is… most of my jars were given to me over the years by people who had parents or grandparents who were canners back in the day but when they died their adult kids or grandchildren never got into canning. The sad thing is that most of them think it is a waste of time. I even dug 7 cases of jars out of the dirt in an old barn that was being torn down. The boxes were all rotted away but the jars were still good. Now I’m beginning to wander from the story.
We’ve discussed our canning several times recently. When we are gone some lucky person is going to get an enormous windfall of canning jars and equipment.
:)
I have somone’s grandmothers jars and supplies. She had some lids packaged that say 9 cents!!!!
old lady;
Got one up on ya, I have a couple of cases of the old Blue/Green jars with the Wire hold downs, Glass lids, and rubber seals…. :-)
Just a couple of cases? I think I’ve got a total of 60 or so of the old style jars and two of them are the 2qt size. Do I use them? Fo’ sho’ I do — but only for things that can be waterbath canned and have a high sugar or vinegar content…fruits, jams, jellies, chutneys and pickled relishes. I’ve only had one fail to seal and I wish I could say the same about the ‘official’ dome lidded jars that I use as well. I suppose I should post this anonymously of the food police will carry me off for re-education. What the heck, I ain’t a’feared of ye. In the words of Leonidas, “Come and take them.”
Everyone is talking about canning your freezer when the power goes out, just remember- You have to have a propane stove with a large enough burner to get the pressure up on a pressure canner. Those little coleman stoves may not be powerful enough.
old lady again; :-)
I’m a Brewer and have built a Brew-Stand for the process, 3-100,000 Cajun Burners will heat a Pressure Cooker right up I’m here to tell ya HAHAHA
Can ya say 10 gallons from 50deg to boil in 8 minutes flat :-)
BUT you’re exactly correct, Caning takes a LOT of heat.
And that is what I have for cooking/heating, a coleman. I plan to give the meat to neighbors. I have no other choice. Of the four freezers, only one has meat.
I’m wondering if any know how to cook these meats on a grill??!?
Oh, one freezer is for backup–it only has a 5 gallon bucket of lard in it.
I store my ice in there and have plastic juice jugs w. frozen water too.
You can cook them on a grill or there are ways to preserve meat with salt and hanging in the sun. I have books on the subject, the salt and i can read fast when I have to!
old lady if you use one of your empty #10 cans to make a heat skirt you will be happier with your Coleman in canning. A lot of heat is wasted normally. Gut top and bottom off split at seam and go for it. Might want two cans if large canner.
Going to have to think thrifty when you go into a month long situation MIGHT go longer.
I have a propane stove in the house and I have a very large coleman stove with a super large burner for high heat. Works great with a pressure canner. But thanks for the idea.
Or an EcoZoom which will maintain the temp
I like the Eco zoom but I wonder if you can control the heat evenly enough for successful canning? Anybody tired this yet? Would make an awesome article for MSB.
I may just try that NH. I have a zoom versa and have cooked on it but never tried to can.
poorman would love a report when you do that.
That way all of us on MSB can profit from your experience.
In my case my stove is propane so I would be able to can all I wanted till the propane runs out. I usually have to refill about every 2 months as all that uses it is my stove , oven ( which won’t work without the electric to run the fan ) and the hot water heater which could be shut off if this happened in the summer. Would take a few days to can everything in the freezer but I have generators and enough fuel to run them 4-5 hours a day for at least a month though as NRP said OPSEC might be a problem. Water? About 600 gal in 55 gal drums and another couple hundred in 5″s s and bottles. Food,meds,soap ect no problem for 6 months to a year depending on how many of the family come by. Yeah i could do a month standing on my head.
No; on soc. sec. ,0ld. Only Jesus Christ, GOD come in the flesh.. At some point your preps won’t be enough. Soon we will all know this, or won.t!
You know you can heat the lard to melting and sterilize jars, fill to rim, ( to eliminate air as much as possible,put on sterilized lids. will last 5 years+..according to one who processes own pork and fat..
Randy reply with this one is out of place, Just want you to know that plenty people on this board are also on social insecurity. preps come at a slower pace, but steadyly it all ads up. I began by cutting one expense then using that money for preps for several months before i incurred that expense again. I started by saving money making my own laundry detergent. 14$ will currently buy enough supplies to last our family 8 months.,as opposed to 8$ a month.. savings go in other needs.
Once Jesus comes there won’t be a problem, the preps are for getting through the times before he comes!
For the exception of a extreme medical emergency – No I do not have a fully equipped ER in my Home ;) My family is capable of handling a “lights out scenario” for close to a year providing we are not overrun by neighbors or forced out. If that happened, we would be on the run surviving using just our skills and limited resources and buried caches of supplies. This will be tough even for experienced survivalists. Upon extreme shift scenario everything will get buried on top of the already prepostioned supplies in other locations.
Great topic Ken…
Lots of talk on water…
Yep, I continually stock up…water in a variety of sized containers is good…
Stock up for your household and also some bottles to help someone in need if that is your choice…We are very thankful for an underground spring on site that is accessible besides our larger water storage tanks…
We could do a month easily, biggest concern is unprepared neighbors…
Also another point similar to the water in re: to storage sizes is having food supplies that are meet for the need, i.e. smaller containers so you don’t have to open your super pails for a shorter term emergency…depends on how many you are caring for and dietary needs..
I have various rice and grains in 5 gallons pails, as well as 5 pound and 1 pound and 1./2 pound increments and other foods in various sizes as well…
One more thought is hygiene…Ken maybe an article on most likely waste management issues, how to and what you may need? A prepared person could have all the food water and meds needed for a month but what if no toilets are flushing? I think you may have done a how to build a latrine outdoor or temporary indoor- before maybe a refresher?
A month with electricity in this Texas heat and I will turn into a raisin :)
Same here in North Carolina. Today it was 97 before noon.
And that’s actual heat. I could not go without power in the summer.
Need the power for the AC. Food wise I could go a month maybe 2.
Have plenty of canned veggies that you don’t have to heat.
Also-potted meat, tuna, sardines, salmon not needing to cook.
Plenty of water % Gatorade. Also plenty of charcoal for cooking on the
grill. There is a water source if needed just down the street/1 block to creek. Would be hard for me to do this but if needed I could shoot a deer.
They are now in my neighborhood. And rabbits.
I think I could last longer in the winter here–doesn’t get that cold.
And I do have a fireplace–no problem cutting my trees down for heat.
And if need be, I do have lots of books I could burn.
Need
Something that’s not been mentioned yet is Comms. Communication to know what’s going on.
Even a plain old Am/FM/Weather Radio all the way up to a $5000 Ham setup.
Ken has done many articles on Comms, and Batteries/Solar chargers
If you don’t know what’s going on how do ya know “What’s Going On”?
We just got a weather radio. It was left overs from DW’s store closing. I have not had a chance to set it up yet. I also have CB’s to go in each of our trucks but have not got them going. I have more chores to do than I have time. I do have a hand crank AM/FM radio that’s ready to go.
Texas Boy,
Your neighbors sound as if they are not preppers, but rather, opportunistic, parasitic thugs. That is, if they really plan on employing those tactics. Some folks run their mouth on subjects like this, just to see the reaction they may get from you. But, then again, you’ve met them, I’ve not.
I guess it’s the old cop in me, but I don’t know that I would take someone out based on small talk about hypothetical future situations, without some overt actions. I would observe their actions and respond with a lowered threshold of tolerance for misbehavior.
Good luck.
P.S.-we have several men that moved into one rented home on our sparsely settled road that we already keep under close observation, they are well aware of the “eyes” on their behavior.
Right now? Absolutely NO WAY.
Today, June 19, We are dealing with a 3yr old with a severely swollen Lymph node infection, 3 trips to Seattle in the last 2 weeks. My Daughter, whom I’m taking to surgery in about 3hrs, for a badly infected tooth, that has spread to the bone. My son, whose hip has been wrecked by a fall in the shower, and as is being worked up for hip replacement. He can barely walk.
Plus, I’m in the middle of harvesting 1000 acres of hay, with very poor weather.
No way, not right now. Things change in a hurry in real life, some things are just not able to be prepared for.
If we HAD to? Yes, we are well prepared. But the emergency medical we are dealing with, could result in a fatality in a SHTF. Life can be BRUTAL!!!!
And you are in my prayers today. God help you and send help for all you are doing right now.
Stand My Ground, for each and every family member in great need now, Good Providence supply in Godspeed time…will continue to pray for you and yours healing, provision for each need, and much peace, in Jesus’ name amen!
Stand my Ground,
Is there any way you can get help with all that hay???
I’m not a farmer but that sounds like way too much for
1 person to handle.
You & your family are in my prayers.
Honeysmom
I have 9 hired helpers, all equipment operators with experience.
So glad to hear that.
Praying that all are doing great,
Prayers go out to you and your family. It sounds like you have enough on your plate right now. I pray for the health of all in your family.
SMG
Hang in there!
Stand, do you have kittens? A cat scratch can turn into Cat Scratch Fever which infects the lymph nodes. This happened to my son when he was about 5 or so. Only takes a small scratch and it could have happened weeks back. Keflex was the med given.
Mrs. USMCBG
Tested negative for cat scratch fever, 6 types of TB, Lyme disease, mono, and Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. They don’t know what’s wrong. Tested by Childrens in Seattle and Mayo Clinic in Chicago.
Probably both viral and bacterial…. vft is non-toxic,..anti viral, anti bacterial, and immune booster, would give it 2x day, sublingual 1/2 adult dose, 25 drops, in same amt honey, under tongue hold for one min if possible. and something else that known anti viral,…depends on what is avail.,… like garlic prepard for allicin effect….amazon quick delivery.will not interact negatively with antibiotics.
Just Sayin’
I’m tired, and don’t understand your post. What is vft? His blood work is all NORMAL, complete tests 3 times in 2 weeks. The lymph is the size of 2 pullet eggs. He’s is 31 months old. Have him on echinacea and golden seal, plus a tonic of turmeric and honey.
Stand my Ground,
Lymph nodes can become blocked with a very small “stone”. I’ve seen this a couple of times in my previous career.
I hope your family members recover soon!
Beach’n
Stand My Ground
Stand Strong, my friend……and This Too Shall Pass.
Get some help for those hayfields and be close to those that need you
Aside from having to restart the humanure recycling toilet to avoid all the work of hand pumping drinking water to flush some poo I could settle in for a month+.
That reminds me I need to source a better supply of wood chips for recycling human waste. Dry sawdust or wood chips are best as no little bugs problems. Anybody have an idea for a reliable electric chipper?
This week our hot water piping sprung a leak, of course right before the weekend. I was surprised how much trouble this caused, and we were very grateful that we had stored enough water to get us through as I had to turn off the water main. Once I isolated it to the hot water, we have cold again, but it was eye-opening, both in how unprepared we really are, and how suddenly and unexpectedly we had to rely on our water storage, and how grateful we were that we at least had that. I feel much less irritated that it’s in the way and heavy and hard to move today. Also discovered that an electric tea kettle is a lifesaver when you have kids but not hot water if the power is still on :)
Currently, I think we’d survive, but we would be miserable
For some reason, I’m getting a message: You’re posting too fast, slow down. I only tried one post. Is it something I said or am I somehow being blocked?
if you copy and paste a post from your ms office then hit post the wpblog will fag as spam
try again just let 5 minutes pass before you hit the post button
I meant flag not fa..g
Nope, not next month. Like many, water is the issue.
Have a deep well that is hard-wired into its own breaker box, and the river is a quarter-mile downhill thru the woods.
Plan is for a small solar set-up on the roof of the well-house to provide power to well and chest freezer during the daylight hours.
That, plus greenhouse, water storage tanks, and farm-sized propane tank are on the list, but for later in the summer. Have other projects going on now. Ask me again next year.
TommyBoy – some of your neighbors must be related to some of mine. Their idea of preps is having enough ammo to shoot all the elk in the neighborhood. I expect that when the elk are gone, probably will disappear into pantries or the deeper woods in a day or so, they’ll let loose on perceived other sources of nourishment.
Oops – meant Texas Boy
I read an article not long ago about a prepper living in Venezuela. Being a prepper there is no easy task to say the least, but he somehow managed to hide away about 6 months worth of food before things got really bad…… He recently wrote, that 6 month supply was gone a long time ago.
That makes you sit up and take notice.
For those concerned about waste management, check out the Clivus
Multrum. My friends built one and it works just fine. No smell and it only has to be emptied (one cup of ash) once a year.
Stay frosty.
I’ve been a tent camper my whole life so I’m use to being off-grid.
While the house would suffer with a grid down event, I have a motorhome with solar panels on it, I have a LOT of food, water is no problem as I have filters and it rains a lot here and the water table is like 9-feet down. You can sink a sand point well in no time. (I have the well point and pipe in the garage).
Heat is no problem as I have propane heat, wood stoves and a lot of wood. I would just use the motorhome if I needed to.
The problem of using AC in hot weather is not something the solar system would support, but it will do OK with the 12-volt fans I have for it.
Security is an issue for everyone as there will always be someone that is willing to take what they need and use force to do so. My answer to this is an application of counter force to convince said person to move on or die in the process. But this very well can mean I get shot. But what can you do to stop bad and or desperate people from doing bad things to you?
A big part of security is not looking like a target. When everyone is living 1800’s you don’t want to be running lights, a chain saw or driving about in your auto. It’s best for all if you look to be in as dire shape as everyone else. A low profile is how to blend in.
As far as heat, we have a military tent coal/wood heater in the attic.
I hope we never have to bore a hole in a wall from the porch or garage and use it–but it’s here.
We’re near lots of tree forests. Hubby is an old man now, but being a logger for 40 + years, surely e can
JJ please remember a metal collar to prevent house fires from that heater being impromptu installed. That and making sure you do not hit water pipes or electric wires while installing.
I’m retired military and those wood/coal units cab get red hot and scorch/set afire nearby materials.
JJ, Having the triple wall pipe and flashing, elbows, dampers and etc, with pipe clean out all are necessary to keep from buring down your home. This pipe has gotten very expensive, bu not as expensive as your life or safety.. You should have all installation needs on hand.. Just went thru this plan for us. one possibility is also to remove a window, replacing with a double walled tin..instead of a wall..to eliminate the possibility of going thru electric lines/etc in wall.. They make stud finders and finders for electric lines etc. they are not too expensive and need a battery… having an area pre-scouted and pre marked , planned can make a big difference in your safety and peace.
On the electricity. Do we have 12 volt and smaller batteries? Can I run the generator? are we precluded from using same and 12 volt panels?
Food and medical not a problem. Fathers day gift was a double 30,000 BTU propane burner. Lots of food in the freezer and lots of jars on hand. Just purchased 30 lb of chicken thighs and will be canning them next week. Water on hand is adequate but in a month I’d pull the submersible pump and put in the hand pump. Cooking can go for a long time on available propane and wood stove is also available. Mild weather year round so overheating or freezing is not an issue.
We could survive, but as someone else mentioned, we would be miserable. I would be canning food out of the freezers for the first couple of days. We have an large irrigation canal on the edge of the property that stays open all year long, even in sub-zero temperature, so water would be okay.
Have a question for everyone. I see a lot of people plan on canning what is in the freezer right off the bat. My 7 cubic foot freezers say they only draw maybe 2.1 amps at 120 volts . By my reckoning, that is around 250 watts. so what would stop a person from buying a 300-325 watt solar panel, a small DC/AC inverter, and running that freezer directly off the panel for 4-5 hours each day to keep it cold??? they do not run all the time, I think 4-5 hours a day would do it. for about $500 in solar panel and inverter, you could plan on having your cold storage stay viable in a grid down situation. Thoughts on this anyone???
Have actually thought about doing that with a small chest freezer, we dont really keep much in the freezer though.
Back in 69 snow storm hit the day after Thanksgiving. No power for a week. We had 2 large chest freezers nearly full. We only opened them quickly to get things out. Mom had everything organized so we didn’t have to search for stuff in them. At the end of the week the ice on the inside walls of the freezer was beginning to thaw but we didn’t loose anything.
So apparently with good freezer management, it may only be necessary to run it once every couple days.
Would be a good thing to experiment with under controlled conditions
@ GoodBear, I remember that year. My mother cooked in the fireplace that Thanksgiving. No turkey though. We slept fully clothed to help stay warm. The fireplace was our only source of heat for that week. My parents didn’t worry about the food in the frig/freezer as it was almost as cold inside as outside. There was no going to a relatives house, we just sucked it up. Everyone was dressed in coats, hats, mittens. It didn’t bother me as a kid as my parents rarely turned the heat up above 60, so we were quite accustomed to the cold.
Minerjim a small 7 cu foot chest freezer can be kept frozen by the system you described, I have set this up at a friends deer camp and it works well. The only issue is making sure that your inverter can handle the START UP amp draw. Some folks do a capacitor jumper to handle that start up but that is beyond my experience. Anybody know how to do this or at least a webpage to do this work around?
Inverter needs to be large enough to START the compressor in the freezer so plan on at least 3x capacity.
Old Homesteader. Do you use pure sine wave inverter or mod wave? People always seem to argue against mod/wave inverters. But I have never owned one. None of my generators are pure sine wave. And I have 3 modest solar set ups, I have never burned out anything electric by using what I have.
Something else to consider for others that dont or cant afford solar or generators that will help you maintain some normalcy in a grid down situation. Go online or into a truck stop and look at what they have. Everything needed to survive. TV/DVD, refrigerators, freezers, all sorts of cooking and household appliances. Fans, electric blankets etc.
Basically truckers are mobile off gridders. If you think about it, your vehicle, with an inverter and some 12 volt things can get you through tuff times if needed. Keep your tank filled when you can. You can use your vehicle like a self contained power plant that you can watch TV, make popcorn or dinner, have a climate controlled space. Or use it to get out of dodge if the golden hoarde comes after you.lol
Well I didn’t post fast enough. I see that old homesteader doesn’t like modified sine wave inverters LOL.
There is a U-Tube video where a guy runs a microwave with a modified sine wave inverter and a full sine wave inverter. The microwave did not like the modified sine wave inverter.
Look it up, the video is worth watching.
MinerJim,
Let me suggest that you put 2 solar panels in parrallel. Each solar panel (300 watts) puts out about say 8 amps giving you 16 amps total to cover the surge current on freezer start-up. Turn your freezer to its lowest setting and let it run all day if needed to remove as much heat energy from your freezer as possible. You should be good to go. Best of luck.
Texas Boy unless Miner Jim’s freezer is DC he will still require a sine wave inverter with the ability to handle the start up watts of that freezer. A normal rule of thumb is X3 running wattage seems to work.
Modified sine wave can work but not as well as sine wave units. A LOT of trucker powered units are DC or cheaply replaceable AC items and so many truckers do use modified sine inverters (and can afford to waste power due to truck engine) and simply buy replacements as needed.
Given I doubt after SHTF Amazon will be able to deliver me a replacement part burned out by modified sine wave……
A solar set up as follows: Solar panels in direct sunlight at proper solar angle for the season to a controller to a battery or battery bank to DC outputs and/or to inverter to power AC outputs. Although some newer solar panels have micro-inverters built in mostly for grid tied systems, common stand alone inverters prefer to avoid the cloud shading brown outs of solar panels by having the battery bank as the buffer.
Many webpages can give far better detailed information. I PREFER to use 12 volt systems even though a bit more expensive/less efficient BECAUSE I can scavenge stuff from common vehicles/RV’s to expand or repair my system. My system is built for SHTF needs and ability to find repair items post Amazon Prime.
Piece of cake
Thoughts and prayers to you and yours.
that was meat for SMG.
I wouldn’t enjoy it much, but Yes, we can live a month without power no problem. Water, no problem…5, count them FIVE artesian wells that flow freely at 11 psi 24/7. Enough food for the family for at least 6 months. (yup, the place is packed in places you don’t know exist!) Seed to plant more food, enough to cover at least 50 acres, I kid you not. Awe, hell, the only possible weak spot is medical. I can’t do surgery.
Thought it might be worth mentioning. We are currently camping and DDs Garrity LED lantern isn’t working due to a Duracell Copper Top C cell leaking from its’ base and corroding one of the contacts in the lantern.
Normally I have very good luck with Duracell.
@me, Energizer Max, guaranteed not to leak.
I know we could not make it a month not yet. We are working on it but with our location in town we would be a target for hand outs and hand it over. But it is always interesting to read how other have had to face these kind of problems and how they over come. Thank you all for that. Good topic and as always good information.
With 15,000 gals of water in tanks slightly higher than the house, we’re good there.
After that, refill our tanks using the generator to run the well pump.
Got treated gas stored, so probably good there for at least a year for water.
Like many, we would be canning our frozen foods within a few days, rather than the losing battle of powering the freezer until out of fuel.
Rice, beans and canned pasta sauce will last us maybe a year.
Biggest concern is nutrition for 2 yr old grandson. Have canned whole milk for maybe 6 months….better buy some milk goats.
Blessings.
Jacksoneson
You can purchase Goats milk in the powder form for your grandson, as long as it is kept in a dark cool room will last just like other canned goods. It is after you open the can that the expiration starts to take a hold, usually 6 months depending on how much you use from it for his needs. I keep a can around for dh as he has a reaction to certain products made from cows milk.
Ant. Collector,
Thanks, meant to say that I have canned DRY whole milk (Nido). That said, I’ve had milk goats in the past, and think they are very useful long after the grocery store is a burned out shell.
Blessings.
The Dollar Tree has shelf-stable cartons of milk that need no refrigeration. I have a few put up, and a lot of powered milk.
I was just going to mention that Chuck. I keep about 2 gal of the whole milk ones in storage. They come in quarts if anyone wants to know. They will keep up to about 1-1.5 years depending on the expiration date. Tastes just like any other whole milk.
A couple of flats of the UHT milk and a stock of canned goods is what got my family through the fallout from Chernobyl when we lived in Germany
We are in the southeast, hurricane country.
We are good with food and water.
Heat is not a big concern
I have a propane conversion kit for the gas generator.
Inexpensive and easy to install.
In the event that gas is no longer available, due to shortage, or no power, the kit will allow the use of the propane tanks we have.
We have never needed it, but—
Staying at home a month , we can do . Our biggest concern would be a serious medical emergency. We are pretty well off on a “stop the bleed” first aid scenario .
Without electricity puts a different slant on things. Last year we did our canning on our 2 burner Camp Chef propane stove outside, it worked fine . We also have kerosene lanterns for nightime. Our wood stove heats our 1500 s.f. house and I try to have 2 years of split/stacked wood on hand. We consider our freezers as temporary food storage. We keep enough fuel to run our generator plenty long enough to maintain the freezers till we can stuff.
We are blessed with a year round creek and a year round spring on the property and we have a berkey filter . We just installed a 130 gallon water tank in the house for potable water and of course the 55 gallon water heater is there as well.
I think we would be in fair shape as long as no serious medical issue arose . But there is always a Murphy thing that could happen when you least expect it .
Yes, now that we have the well Might loose some weight and that would be positive!
For some of you folks try a Water Bob, not too pricey.
Our weakness is lack of water from our well if the electricity goes out. In our previous home, we purchased a stainless steel Bison hand pump (made in America!) and installed it on our well. It did a great job and was easy to use. Made me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House books.
We are currently building a new house and have installed an electric pump for our new well. The plan is to purchase and install another Bison hand pump alongside the electric pump, like we had in our previous house. I highly recommend a Bison hand pump for water security if you are considering an effective back-up plan to power outages.
Gardener-
I have been looking for a manual pump for our well but have had problems because our well is deep. Thanks for mentioning the name of the pump you used! I’ve contacted Bison and am waiting to hear back from them.
restoringBrad,
You won’t regret installing a Bison hand pump. We loved ours so much in our previous home that we plan to purchase and install a new one in our well for our current house under construction. Works like a charm and looks beautiful, too!
Old Homesteader, NH Michael,
Thanks guys! I figured someone had done this. I will get a pure sinewave inverter, and check the starting amp draw of the freezers. ( you can use a clamp on amp probe to do this) Would rather have this set up and not have to spend two days canning if SHTF. Of course if we get a bike EMP, might have issues with the freezers anyway
Old Homesteader, would love to talk your ear off about the 2nd oldest profession. Lots of books out there on old, but still viable milling technology. Let me see if I can find a thorium milling circuit design for you,
I will be honest: No, I could not do the one month challenge with my current lifestyle. I could try to blame my wife butt, the truth is my current career is tied to a steady flow of electricity and potable water in that both my wife and I are nurses working within hospitals and nursing homes.
We have enough preps in place in our home to be sufficient for about a week to 3 weeks butt we would be suffering and hygiene would take a serious hit. We are also on city water and power comes from far away.
To Car guy and any insulin-dependent diabetics out there: the standard storage life for insulin is generally 30 days. Rather than stockpiling, I would become a master in the art of proper inventory and cycling through supplies with meticulous attention paid to dating and shelf life. Most people I have met are not yet masters at this practice. ( I have had to become good at this as I was in charge of medication ordering and sending back items to pharmacy prior to expiration dates within my large hospital.)
My “plan” if SHTF is not really a plan so much as I would become a refugee again and work the type of job I used to prior to settling into a steady “day job”. ( I went to where the jobs were at and filled in a critical shortage whether it be helicopter borne medevac services, as long as there is aviation grade fuel, In those days, I lived out of duffel bags and slept at fire stations while my laundry spun in the drier.)
In truth, I would like to settle down in a more local care facility and would like to cut back my hours in the near future butt we are in a nursing shortage at present time. ( both me and my wife are making hay while the sun still shines.) In such jobs, I eat food prepared by others and in a really bad SHTF situation, I would have to take my turn at guard duty standing my post and doing my rounds like I still do at my current job.
Being a registered nurse means that many communities would require me to check in and register and possibly be called up for service if a really bad situation occurs. It has not been part of my character to turn tail and run away. I am the gamey foul mouthed SOB that will show up for work when the skies are glowing red from burning buildings. (Rodney King Riots of 1992: Been there/done that and got the T-shirt.).
What the hey, it has worked for me so far…
Cali
any insulin-dependent diabetics out there: the standard storage life for insulin is generally 30 days.
Are these oral meds that you speak of? If so, can you suggest how they could be prolonged ,even if it were for a few weeks past their exp. date?
My shots are good for a year after purchase as long as they are refrigerated, then last up to 30 days as long as they are not exposed to extreme temps. I constantly rotate. Newest on the bottom. Older on top being used.
My thoughts also on the year. I no longer need to take the shots as I am controlling with diet and XIGDUO but still have a lot of lanicin in the fridge. Also have a couple hundred Metformin if needed. If your not type 1 I personally think the added physical labor we will encounter will help with keeping blood sugars level.
Poorman
For sure…..
Additional physical labor and poorer dietary needs.
We would be OK. Good to go. Might even enjoy the time off employment?
Pioneer Woman, thats about where im at on this, id miss yall here but would honestly be nice to just not have any electronic gizmos like phones etc working… less distractions
Would Survive but not thrive…Don’t want to. miss the few perks we buy mostly monthly. Would eat, have meds, water.,, TP, can make dump station into septic…. humidity at 70+ percent with no air and bugs… do NOt want to do that!
Why not bury frozen foods in a deep freezer filled with sawdust.
CR;
You make a good point, as the Sawdust will make a good insulation, BUT eventually it also will warm, and having 500 pounds of Frozen foods covered in sawdust may not be a problem when it does thaw, I seriously doubt if a lot of us have 2 or 3, 55 gallon drums of Sawdust around.
Good suggestion though.
I guess that you could say that’s thinking outside the icebox 😄
Thanks for the speedy reply Joe c.
You can tell my response is based upon the experience of a hospital based RN where things are well within standards of safety and practice. Hospitals must have high standards because they are targets within a litigious society. I am not diabetic myself.
To find out the expiration date on medications, you may have better luck contacting your local pharmacist as opposed to the MD that you see.
In general, the bigger the molecule, the shorter the shelf life. Some of the old time release insulin such as NPH was protein bound and the shelf life was relatively short. There are newer products out there like Glargine which is time release but uses a different binder and reports from the field are it is more forgiving than NPH.
Regular and apart insulins are not time released, smaller molecule and have relatively long shelf life. I generally store medications in an ice chest when traveling and would recommend the ice chest as the place to store medications as one of the primary things that will make meds go bad is heat.
I would love to hear from others out there that are using these products outside a standing facility beyond expiration date.
Hi Cali, me again.
I was on the beef and pork Regular and NPH for years, then the Humilin
N and R.
I’m currently using epie (sp) type pens of Toujeo. One time daily use. Exp 10-2018 to 10-2019
And Apedra. Quick acting Exp 11-2018 to 9-2019
My Apedra is no longer covered by insurance. So on to Novalog. Recently bought with an experation of 2-2020
So nothing used past experation date.
I believe we could do a month easily, but with everything, it depends on the scenario.
We have the propane ran fridge for need be’s, wood for heat and / or cooking, more propane for various camp stoves for canning.
Food, available water for various uses.
That be me, Joe
One added mention,……
Not sure I could do a month in the horse trailer if need be……need my space
Ken, question, are you talking just electricity being out or are you talking electric and Nat. gas too? We have a stand by that would turn on but if gas is also out, we got problems. Am working on another source of power for sump, otherwise we lose basement (half our living space) after back up battery drained. Have fireplace, grill, propane stoves and propane on hand. Water, we have two good sources about a block or two away( spring fed ponds) could haul water to home and the supplies to filter it when there if we go thru our supplies. We would be good for awhile, certainly for a month. Sorry not more current, borrowing DIL’s pad when I can.
Peanut, sorry to hear about what’s happening. Prayers for you and I know it will get better.
Grannyo I saw your sump pump problem. You could go solar running a 12 volt boat bilge pump. You already have a back up battery system so adding a solar panel to a controller to your battery would be reasonable.
I assumed you do not want a hand or foot bilge pump but they work. Whale Gusher is very good and reasonable in price. One is none two is one so maybe both options? Shop around prices vary quite a bit from very high at marine shops to reasonable at wholesalers.
Hope this helps
Too fast I forgot that the foot powered bilge pumps are great at getting water from a pond to your water cans too. But I hope you have a very good garden cart or red wagon as 10 gallons of water is 80 pounds. Not what I’d want to hand carry at 60 years old.
I hope folks are not planning to haul water by hand to flush toilets. a couple of gallons per flush X 8 pounds X time/distance to transport it…. Oy
NHMitten, yep got two carts and a wheelbarrow for hauling stuff. Trying not to have panels on the roof, as have LEO friend tell me about a gang of teensthey caught hitting houses with panels because as one of them said “they (homeowners) got solar, so they must have money and good stuff to take. Yeah, I know makes me paranoid but over the last couple of years we’ve had break ins around us. Just as soon not give anyone a bigger reason to come to my house. Joe C, thank you for the idea but can’t put that in, we live in subdivision with all the rules therein.
It saddens me grannyo that you have to hide solar panels because of becoming a “rich” target.
Well as an work around you can mount solar panels a controller a battery or two and an inverter on a garden cart to put out when you really NEED power for say your Refrigerator and or Sump Pump.
I assume you have discussed security and OPSEC with your family and friends? Going it alone is a harsh and generally unsuccessful option. You have to sleep sometime and 360 degree security is hard to do alone.
Grannyo
Just an idea….
I bit the bullet one time with my basement. Basements are a problem. Got tired of making sure the pumps were running. Fretted every night and while I was at work that they may have stopped pumping. Let alone if the power was out.
I finally decided to have a natural drain. Crock is now flowing to the river via field.tile. It cost bucks but piece of mind and energy to run the pumps.paid for itself Although not a cure all for my place the pumps may run in the melt off of spring. And I did as such because I choose to stay here. I should have built.a pole.barn/ garage…not a basement.
Just a thought.
IF the worst happens. No one could make it a month. But with a bit of luck, I could make it. Even in winter, it would be miserable but I have the gear to give me a chance. Got to love the North Dakota winter…at least I wouldn’t lose my frozen food…LOL
??? So your name is really “NO ONE”? bear, coyotes, etc.. would help you eat your frozen food.
Bears are no longer an issue in North Dakota. Yes, you can’t just set it outside…nor would you need to.
nhmichael
restoringbrad
My well is in the 280 ft deep range, 6″pvc casin. can’t remember static level. I made a well bucket out of 4″pvc, I capped one end with a 2 inch hole in the cap, I made a conical wooden check valve to fit the hole. I used stainless steel mesh above the wooden plug to limit the room to rise. The plug rises to let pipe fill, when picked up the water will seat plug and seal, typical check valve. Probably much easier to use a rubber ball, but I have to make everything……… some inherent trait….. Anyway, I used a piece of flat 1″ wide, 1/8″ thick to make a “bail”, loop, or handle on upper end to fasten rope to. I used 2 quarter inch bolts on each side to attach bail to pipe. This is in case I lose it in well, I can get it with a grapple hook.
I have a gantry I built years ago, makes pullin pump more user friendly. it has a car wheel mounted on a shaft to rotate. Sorta like an oversized v-belt pulley. Wheel is about 4 feet off the ground. position above the well, run a rope over the wheel, tie it to rope on pump, pull it over the wheel and remove pump. 2 people can pull the pump by hand. you can hook rope to vehicle, atv, etc pull it CAREFULLY that way. I would pull my pump and store it if I had to rely on well bucket. .Plug all open ends of pipe to store.
I would use my gantry with well bucket, mine holds somewhere in 3 gallon range, very light. walk with rope drive stob in ground to hook rope on when out of well, , empty bucket, repeat.Gantry makes pump remove, install, water procurement one man job.. Windlass is too slow for me.
Gantry makes it easy, but 2 people can pull pump with nothin but willpower. I have done it several times when younger.
If slightly smaller pipe, plans I saw called for passing the bailer bucket past the water line already/still attached to pump. actual fill is above the existing pump.( Usually pumps are 15 ft or more below static water line…)
One well I know is 365 ft deep. w /static water level of 145 ft.,.steel casing…,. so each well will have a specific static level depending on quanity of water and pressure exerted. from flow rate of water..
.. you tube. …plug in search bar there,.. bailer bucket.. toilet rubber kit could be used for stopper. bolt with 4 nuts to secure thru holes in end of pipe, use locktite would keep it inside the pipe diameters with no overhang. something like plastic wrapped cable secured around he bolt.. with thimble and clamps. Tie distal end of cable/rope. …someone has a company and they make bailer buckets for general sale.
NH Michael, YEP, DH ,sons and dils have been told under NO circumstances are they to talk about what I have and am doing. So far they have respected my wishes. When I started, I was still employed outside home. DH put the old pantry shelves in basement for me and I started to “stock” up on things we use, canned goods, paper products,etc.. One of his brothers saw that and wanted to know if I was becoming a “survivalist “. Told him no,I was just trying to put aside things in preparation for my retirement, cause I did not want to pay the inevitable higher prices when I did retire. Another BIL thought I was pretty smart and he started to put a little “extra” away when he went shopping. I think he hasn’t done as much but I believe he said he has about 5-6 months stored, reminded him to remember to rotate the canned goods.
I don’t think making it through the month would be as difficult as putting up with friends, neighbors, and relates who were not, in any way, prepared for a week, much less a month.
If we, who are even modestly prepared, are geographically too close to too many people there will be a great overwhelming of the prepared,….unless…
<bb
A month…w/o electricity…providing all your (and family) needs…shelter, food, water, security? Without a doubt….
But, let’s add some variables like…do you know for a fact it will be just a month?…the unknowns will terrify a lot of folks…especially the unprepared…when fear sets in, priorities can change quickly…making the ability to hang on to what you have (including an intact body) the premier objective…
Having survived a coupla ice storms…w/o grid, more or less isolated by ice coated mountain roads for a little over two weeks at a stretch…we did just fine…we didn’t know how long the situation would last, but we knew things would eventually return to “normal”….there was an end in sight…
What if there were no assurances of help anywhere in the future…near or far? Would that not change some priorities?
Adversity can (and will) bring out both the best and worst in people…people will be tested…prepared people will have a cushion…the unprepared will be dependent on others…
My family has tried to prepare…both with food, water, shelter, and the means to ensure that we make the decisions on who feeds at our trough….
This means preparing a mind-set as we look to the future…we will assist others to our ability…but we won’t be taken by surprise by those who would take by force….we will not victims of those who try….
The chinese fishing fleets have decimated more than just the salmon, they have ruined most big game fish as well
Given a few hours notice, yes. Water is our achilles heel. If I had a few hours to fill the tanks, fill the water bobs, then yes. With no warning, I’d be in trouble.
Yesterday I drained the tanks for the season, leaving me with apx 100 1 gallon water jugs (most of them in the greenhouse) and a Berkey. If the water was still running I’d be fine.
A month? Sure. Not looking forward to powdered milk, so I’ll likely go without. I’d likely concentrate on keeping the chest freezer going. Should be able to do so with just solar/wind. Planning for using ice for refrigeration. Might not need refrigeration, depending on time of year.
If only a month, likely fire up the generator for well pump, you know showers and stuff. If longer, I have dc deep well pump. A month is longer than I’ve gone. 13 days in an ice storm was the longest. Comms would become important quickly. Is it widespread? The whole country? Any news on the weather radio or is it dead air? VIPs???? Information would impact all decisions. If ya don’t know, well ya don’t know. Just a thought! I’m absolutely certain, I’m not the only ham with a radio in faraday.
if it comes down to it a real SHTF moment i am not going to let anyone onto my property for several months. gonna lock it down as much as possible. the ones who are left will be the ones who have prepared. the rest, good riddance. the unprepared, the lazy and the beggars will come, but they won’t leave.
short term things like hurricanes and such is different. we help our own, but a long term situation ?
i pray it never comes down to that.
stack it deep friends, and good luck
nyscout,
Spot on. We haven’t prepared and pkanned for years to let a bunch of slackers show up and expect a free meal. Family, friends and neighbors may get ONE very direct warning to leave and to never return but unknowns won’t get any. Trespassing will be considered an immediate threat to my family, the same as illegally entering our house and will be dealt with the same way.
One month would be OK – barring a medical emergency.
Even 2 or 3.
After that, it would get seriously challenging, for sure.
I would just go to the FeMa camp,,,,
🤓
NOT!
One month? Piece o cake.
Wonder how many of the idgits freaking that their FB or isnstigram could last a week
KF,
The Covid BS has shown us one thing, the vast majority are easily terrified, manipulated and willingly will give away their rights if the government promises them “safety”. So I’m guessing it would look like a marathon with the lemmings running to the camps. With a little luck the outages would be three months or more which would be fine with me.
Kulafarmer,
Read a blurb that said that somehow…accidentally…possibly maliciously…the entire base digital coding for face slap has been deleted and may never be recovered….
I have no idea if true or even possible….but causes me to wonder if…say I was about to launch an attack on…say Taiwan…it would not be advantageous to shut down one of the major forms of civilian communication….this “outage” is global….
A test run ?
Wouldnt be a surprise
Dennis/Kula, Face crap is back up here.. twatter and instagram were all down….Dh got second strike on twatter today someone posted, a rep ..all men over 40 neede vas’tmy and all abortions after…He said they should consder to volunteer themselves for medical care of cast’tion and lobotomy. they said..it violated community guides, killing babies was not an issue but for someone to volunteer for medical procedures is???
2 year update on preps for 1 month: Back in 2018, the last time I responded to this article, it was a different world back then. Since that time, we have gone through COVID 19 lockdown, an unprecedented ice storm event on Valentines day of 2021, a wildfire that came close to our neighborhood on Labor Day of 2020, Masks are now part of our wardrobe and social distancing is the new normal.
My wife is coming on board with the preps that I purchase and my old hobby of purchasing components for purposes of reloading shells has truly come into its own as I have become the only source of high quality reloaded ammo with hollow or soft point ammunition for folks within my group of friends. My wife was greatly impressed by the lack of toilet paper and ramen noodles to be found in the stores a year ago and it finally got her thinking that maybe her husband was on to something.
She no longer tosses out the canned foods that are close to expiration date and she is starting to stock up on her own essential goods as I cannot remember to pick up EVERYTHING she uses and does not tell me about. ( If you want me to pick something up, it would be helpful to tell me…communication is key here ).
In short, the events of the last 2 years are convincing her to prepare whether she likes it or not. We survived the wildfires nearby last year. We survived the ice storms last winter with some discomfort. We would make it for 1 month with some discomfort.
I doubt we would be showing up for work during that time but I am close enough to retirement age where that fact does not bother me as much these days. At my age, I am still showing up for work more than most of my younger coworkers. I am still making hay because the sun is still shining. One day, this COVID 19 crap will end. When it does, maybe I can pull the pin and retire. Until then, I show up for work and my supervisors flinch and get upset when I mention my retiring one day.
Yes, we could manage more than a month, but it would suck. I really like a nice warm bath to relax now and then rather than shower. I like my washer/dryer. I would not miss the TV at all… We were rarely have it on. I would miss the communication with my friends and family that are spread far and wide. I think the not knowing what is really going on and how long it might last would be stressful for everyone. I would say our best investment thus far has been a solar system that allows us to run our deep well pump. I would have a ton of work ahead of me preserving everything still in the freezer but we are set up for that also. And I know I would feel great sadness for many people that aren’t mentally equipped to deal with an event like that and those that we’ve tried to tell to get ready for an event like that and chose to go on a cruise (insert ant other wasteful choice here) instead.
YES.
Pretending there was zero notice:
At week 5 or 7 food might be getting a bit bland and “same old” but no real issues.
If it was emp that’s another situation with generator/freezer *possibly* not working but still a Yes, just more work and less enjoyable food.
IF emp then we would know power loss was going to be long term and conserve more
only operating equipment when absolutely necessary, if that were still possible.
Huge 2/3 acre pond on property 400′ down a trail, access to 2 electric powered wells.
Generator(s) and fuel to run them for a long time *my unused vehicle is a 20 gallon fuel tank* + more.
Just one gallon gas will provide more than enough water for a month for us and the horses/goats/sheep.
There’s always re-installation of the old hand pump that provides around one gallon every 15 to 20 seconds of pumping.
If notice was given ahead of time seriously I’d try to get a load of extra junk food, gas, and?
anything that may prove useful if I see it/can buy it.
Along with everyone else.
I’d be wanting information for this wtf is going on situation above all else.
Forgot, my above^ is for any season, more difficult during winter because having to drain all water pipes used every time, animals tank would need refilled and emptied every single day.
I need to take Omeprazole for acid problems but I have a three year supply of that and several bottles of ibuprofen for the chronic muscle pain.
Horse,
Consider ham radio.
I never seriously considered ham, more cost and have to protect it from theft/emp/lightning/vandals.
When my money tree starts growing good I’ll look into that and one of those linear amplifiers.. for shtf.
Some years ago I had a strange dream where I set up a repeater station, 100′ tower and all.
Was nice in the dream, was solar powered built in it’s own fortified tiny building and I listened in to many stations.
Oddly the equipment I had was all very old, remembering bakelite components.
A dream and that’s it, will likely never happen.
That was back when heavily into EOTW fiction, books, anything collapse.
Disease, Gov, war, terrorists, CME.
I have several shortwave receivers stored, protected for that information I’ll be desperately needing
when the power suddenly isn’t anymore.
Water is not going to be a problem, electricity is not going to be the problem, other people will be the problem.
Beggars, leaches and moochers, even the honest in need.. they will be the problem.
Likely waaay cheaper than you’re thinking. Many folks FEAR failing at anything. Us older folks haven’t taken a test of any kind for years. Easier, safer to just put it off. No risk to the old ego that way. Good luck
We could do a month. Even longer. I have two generators. One can run the entire house minus the emergency heat. But fuel would be a problem, I think. When my gasoline runs out will resupply even be available? We have used the gennys during temporary power outages. The big one is loud (draw attention). Besides, running generators for several days is actually fatiguing mentally… the cutting on and off, re-fueling, the noise, moving drop cords, etc. takes time away from other important things. Thought about a whole house generator on propane. But I would still be limited due to needing propane. It, too, might not be available once resupply is needed. So, we have chose to install a solar system with battery back-up. Damn sure not cheap, but those Dollars won’t be worth spit once the globalists finish with our economy. At least I’m have something to show for it. It will keep our beer cold and the water running during an outage.
I’m a ham. I have both short and long-distance comms at my disposal. Having comms is critical and having back-up comms is just smart. I have family living out of state. We have satellite phones should the cell/landline/email systems fail. Security would be a issue. Two people can’t be on guard 24/7. We aren’t isolated but are secluded, which can be both a help and a problem. We pray its the former.
We could do a month, with power, with no problem. Without power, it’s doable, but with some inconvenience. The time of year would make a difference. The coldest part of winter would be rough.