Readiness

Be ready now and Readiness Watch will post tomorrow (Tuesday 10 May).

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Sanitation

• Immediate: The best rule of thumb for proper sanitation is to keep waste products away from people. Consider storing non-potable water for the purpose of flushing toilets, and designate a place to dispose of trash and other waste at least 50 yards downwind and down-water from people. Do not dispose of waste near well heads or open water. Make sure you have sanitation supplies, such as toilet paper and trash bags, on hand. Consider purchasing a sanitation kit to allow for safe storage and removal of waste.
• Intermediate: Consider purchasing a self-composting toilet or self-composting waste system for the number of people involved in your readiness plan. Locate sites for compost piles and trash pits that are at least 50 yards away from water supplies and are downwind from human habitation areas.
• Long-term: Long-term sanitation involves finding ways to permanently dispose of waste products and will generally involve three components: disposing of human waste, disposing food waste, and disposing of or recycling non-food waste.
  • Human waste can be safely buried at least 50 yards away from potable water sources, and functioning septic systems (that is ones that have access to water) will continue to function if cared for. Otherwise, an outhouse with a leach bed or a self-composting toilet can also be used. At worst, a pit that is periodically buried or burned can be used.
  • Food waste (yes, even meat and bones) can be composted, although compost sites should be located away from water areas. Composting can be accelerated by adding animal feces to the compost, by the regular addition of soil, and by turning the compost periodically.
  • Non-food waste should be handled based on what it might be. In a long-term readiness situation, most waste will need to be recycled for its raw material value.

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Hygiene

• Immediate: Buy a stock of body cleaning products that do not require water. You should have at least one package on hand for each person involved in your plan. In addition, consider stockpiling extra water, soap, and towels.
• Intermediate: Emergencies of any duration require a different approach to hygiene, especially if water resources are scarce. Remember that hygiene does not require potable water, but you should never used fouled water for hygiene. Consider stockpiling extra water, soap, and towels for hygiene purposes. You can build homemade water filtration systems from readily available components to recycle water for hygiene purposes. Consider stockpiling fuel and containers to purify water.
• Long-term: Long term hygiene concerns involve constructing systems that allow for the collection, filtering, and recycling of non-potable water. In many places, the best method is to construct an outdoor shower facility with a rain collection system, a collection basin, a hand pump, and a drum water filter. Water can be kept from freezing during the winter months by the addition of a stove and heat transfer elements.

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now will return next Monday. Thank you for your patience.

DLH

I advise everyone to pay close attention to the economic news over the next several days. From the reading I have been doing over the past 24 hours, the S&P downgrade of the government’s credit rating has the potential to be just the first of several hammer blows to the economy over the next week. This news is coupled with drastically rising wholesale inflation numbers, significantly rising commodity prices,  the specter of rising interest rates, and the potential that S&P may only be the first to downgrade.

The potential outcome of this toxic brew of circumstances is that it could trigger yet another recession (or the second dip if the existing recession). This potential becomes most threatening in that a second recession will further reduce the revenue being collected by the federal government, increasing the size of the deficits at current spending levels just at the time when it became harder for the government to borrow money because of higher interest rates and more credit restraints. In the most extreme circumstance, the government may find itself unable to borrow sufficient amounts, forcing it to defund or reduce funding on programs in mid cycle.

Be ready before it is too late.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

If you have been following these posts for the past five weeks, you will have noticed that, if you followed the suggested plan, you will have the following things on hand for immediate readiness:

• A plan for what to do in the case of a disaster or unrest.
• 2.5 gallons of water for every person involved in your plan.
• A case lot of ready to eat food.
• A clothing kit for everyone involved in your plan.
• A tent (or tents) big enough for everyone involved in your plan.

At worst, depending on what you decided to buy, you might have spent several hundred dollars, but in fact, you could buy everything on this list for a couple of hundred dollars if you are savvy about how you spend. If you followed this plan, then you are probably now more ready than as many as 90 percent of the people in the United States are right now at the time of this writing.

If you did not follow these posts or the plan they suggest, consider doing so now. It’s never too early to be ready, but when disaster strikes, it is far too late.

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Shelter

• Immediate: Buy a tent. It doesn’t have to be a good tent, though quality cannot hurt. Make sure you have enough tent space for everyone in your readiness plan. After you buy a tent, buy tarps, rope, and tent stakes.
• Intermediate: Is the place you live somewhere you can shelter in place? Is it livable without electricity or air conditioning? If not, what are your options?
• Long-term: Consider stockpiling building materials, especially precut lumber and cinder block. Even if you don’t use them for construction, they may come in handy as collateral.

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Clothing

• Immediate: Put together a clothing kit for each person who is part of your immediate readiness plan. The kit should include, but is not limited to, at least one change of underwear, at least one pair of good quality socks, a pair of work pants or jeans, a shirt, a sweat shirt, a pair of sweatpants or long underwear (That can be worn under the regular pants), a pair of work gloves, a pair of winter gloves, a stocking cap, a scarf, and a good pair of walking shoes. Other items to consider could be sunglasses, dust masks, simple tools (a Leatherman or equivalent would be a place to start), a winter coat, a rain coat, etc. Pack all of the clothing in a waterproof container or bag and store them in a central location that everyone involved in the plan knows about. If you wear dress clothes to work, consider packing a smaller version of this kit into your car or carry it with you in a backpack. If you carry nothing else, carry walking shoes.
• Intermediate: How much of your clothing is appropriate for an enduring emergency situation? Do you have the capacity to repair your clothing? How will you keep your clothing clean? Consider all of these factors for a period lasting as long as a year. Consider stockpiling extra clothing for everyone involved in your readiness plan.
• Long-term: Do you know someone who can make clothing? Do you know of a local, non-commercial source for fabric and supplies? Consider stockpiling raw materials.

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Food

• Immediate: Buy at stockpile of ready to eat food. The fastest and (over time) cheapest way to stockpile ready to eat food is to buy case lots of MREs from one of the thousands of places that sell them. MREs, unlike most food you buy at the grocery, can last as long as ten years when stored in the proper environment. Here are some examples.
• Intermediate: Decide how long you need to have food on hand for in the case of an extended emergency. How soon will you be able to grow your own food or get it from another source?
• Long-term: Develop a plan for growing your own food or for procuring it from a source other than a grocery store. Can you grow it yourself? Can you trade skills or labor?

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH

Be ready now is a weekly post about things you can do right now to get ready for whatever might come next courtesy of Dennis L Hitzeman’s Readiness Weblog. You can find other posts in this series in the “Be ready now” category.

This week’s theme: Planning

• Immediate: Discuss and write out plans for such emergencies can include what to do in the case of a fire, a natural disaster, or civil unrest. Immediate readiness plans should include such items as who is involved, what kind of resources will be involved, where those involved should meet, and where they should evacuate to, if necessary. Keep the plans simple, and share copies of what you wrote down with everyone involved.
• Intermediate: Consider what resources you and those who depend on you will need to survive for an extended time without electricity or fuel. Can you weather such an extended shortage in place, or will you need to find a better location? What kind of supplies will you need to have on-hand? What can you get from the local area?
• Long-term: What would it take to make your living situation independent from regular supplies of outside electricity and fuel? How can you provide for your basic necessities (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) without depending on supplies from retail outlets?

Do you find this information informative and helpful? Feel free to contact me and let me know. You can also contact me about ways you can support this effort.

DLH