Are You Prepared?

I suppose you watched the news yesterday evening and today. Huge winter storm hits the central and northeast part of the country. Traffic snarled. Numerous power outages. People flocking to the supermarket to stock up. Sitting in front of my cozy pellet stove out here in Utah, with the temperature dropping to single digits, I was inwardly pleased to know that should the power suddenly go off line, I would remain cozy and warm and well fed even if the outage lasted a week or two. How many of you would be able to have that same confidence? I’ll bet there are many people out east right now, with power lines down due to the storm, who wished they had prepared a little better for such a situation. We are so used to living on the grid that any disruption of the grid can become a huge problem to the average citizen--that is, unless they are prepared.

And being prepared is easy to do, not that expensive, and provides a sense of safety and satisfaction in knowing you can carry on in the face of any disaster, whether man made or by nature. Think like a Boy Scout--Be Prepared. The following is an outline of how to get yourself set.

You need the following essentials to weather any calamity. I’ll take them one at a time.
    1. Shelter
    2. Water
    3. Food

With the temperatures hovering around 10 degrees where I live, shelter is essential should the grid drop off. Your house is a great shelter, but it will be pretty miserable if after a week the internal temperature drops to that of the outside temperature. I have solved that problem by having a pellet stove, a month’s supply of wood pellets, and a means to power the auger and blower on the stove. To do this, I built and installed my own solar panels, batteries, and inverter that will provide near continuous power during the day, and half the night. But you don’t have to be that elaborate. A small gasoline driven generator/inverter out in the garage or back yard can provide the emergency power you need to drive space heaters, electric blankets, and basic electric cooking appliances. My solar system cost me less than $500 complete, and a utility generator with 3500 peak watts runs less than $500 at Costco. Could be the best investment you would ever make.

Water is essential to life. Period. In order to survive, you must have drinking and cooking water. Each person requires one gallon of water per day for drinking and sanitation. Be sure you have at least two weeks supply on hand. Should the grid go down, many municipal water systems would not be able to guarantee drinkable water. It would be a good idea to have water purification tablets on hand. Plain liquid bleach, at the rate of 8 drops per gallon, will do in a pinch.   Collecting rainwater by erecting a tarp, or catching downspout water is a good way to replenish drinkable water. : How to purify water.

Finally, food. Nobody wants to go on a forced diet during an emergency. Most people have enough food to last a week or two, but remember if you drop off the grid you may not have the ability to refrigerate your perishables, unless of course you have a garage like mine that is colder than a refrigerator.  And, you need a way to cook your food without gas or electricity. With a generator, an electric skillet, rice cooker, and tea pot will get you by. A small, liquid fueled Coleman Camp Stove is perfectly adequate for meal preparation. A good iron Dutch Oven with a couple bags of charcoal briquettes will go a long way in producing hearty meals. I have found that planning and storing food supplies is fairly easy if you pretend that you are going on a two week camping trip and stock up accordingly.

Finally, it goes without saying that you should have the following: Emergency crank radio, first aid kit, flashlights with lots of extra batteries, candles, and a good supply of your critical medications.

For quite a bit less than a thousand dollars, you can prepare yourself and your family for what is happening to a lot of folks back east right now. Don’t you think it is time to quit thinking about being prepared, and actually do something?

JP

Victory Gardens and Arrow Shirts

By the time World War II ended in 1945, I was seven years old, so I do remember quite a bit about those times. One of my strongest memories is of our family cultivating a “Victory Garden” along with every one of our neighbors and relatives. A bit of research on my part found that these gardens, instituted as a national movement during the war, accounted for fruit and vegetable production equal to the entire commercial market at the time. Victory Gardens were ostensibly a way to ensure our troops would receive the lion’s share of the commercial growers output, but in reality the main reason was that they provided a way for Americans to feel like they were participating in the war effort. In addition, most every other commodity was rationed; for example, meat, sugar ,milk, butter, and so on. Hard to believe for anyone born after 1945. 

Shortly after the war, I remember that every Sunday we would take a family drive in the country. At the time, I did not realize that pleasure driving had been banned during the war, and that gasoline had been strictly rationed. (As a side note, the coveted “X” ration card with unlimited gasoline purchase was found to have been illegally issued to 200 congressmen--I guess things haven’t changed much after all.) The United States really had all the gasoline it needed, so the true reason for the rationing was to save on distribution costs and minimize the use of rubber in the tires. The Japanese had choked off our rubber supplies, so the military needed all the rubber we could produce with our limited capacity.

So what does this all have to do with investments? First of all, to demonstrate that it was only three generations ago that the United States was coming out of a deep, deep depression and that there was a time, in my lifetime, when there was not an abundance of foodstuffs and consumer goods. We are so used to the lifestyle we have now that it is hard to believe that it was not that long ago that there were shortages of commodities, whether man made or natural. It is only through complacency and ignorance that we deny that it could happen again.

But it can--in a heartbeat. The “big one” could hit California any time. Al-Qaeda could succeed in nuking a major city. A stray asteroid could slam into the Los Angels basin. An economic crisis as bad as the Great Depression could occur. (It nearly did a couple years ago.) Mt Rainier could blow its top and wipe out the Pacific Northwest. The list goes on and on--catastrophes could happen at any moment. Are you prepared? Probably not, and that is where I feel you can make the best investment you will ever make for your family.

You have to invest in your survival. That means instead of dumping money into the stock market, or the gold market, or savings accounts, that you invest some of your hard earned cash in the things that keep you alive, eg., food, water, shelter, and energy. Enough to last you for six months. No, I am not Mormon, although I live in Utah, but I do believe as they that it is prudent to prepare for the worst by ensuring your family can survive even the most dire man made or natural disasters. You cannot eat certificates of deposits, paper money, or even gold. Not so long ago, the main enterprise of mankind was the production of food because that was the very basic essential of life on Earth. If you don’t eat, you die. My little nest egg is worthless unless I can convert it into the essential commodities of life, and in a real crisis, I would not count on paper money having any more value than the ink that was used to print it.

Six month’s worth of food, water, and energy is surprisingly affordable. Basic commodities such as wheat flour, corn meal, rice and beans are cheap and easily stored in bulk. Water, or a way to produce potable water is essential. Energy in the form of charcoal or solar panels is available. I have spent less than $1000 in setting aside enough of the above to feed myself and my family for at least six months, keep us warm in the winter, and ensure a clean drinking supply.  Basic survival stuff, but the best investment I have ever made. May I also suggest you do the same. Its what we do out here in Flyover Country. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

In the past 60 days, soybeans 22%, sugar 51%. In the past 4 months, wheat is up 72%. This year, corn is up 48%. These numbers are the market telling us that the smart money is shifting from dollar investments to commodity investments as fears of devaluation of the dollar mount.  Better stock up--its a long way to Spring and getting your Victory Garden planted.

Lead story in the Wall Street Journal today--Cotton up 100% this year. Better stock up on your Arrow Shirts.

JP

http://twitter.com/minerjp