This article was originally published by J.G. Martinez D. at The Organic Prepper
The current situation in Venezuela, with the present induced scarcity, made me analyze what could be done by a prepper to provide a proper DIY supply of those goodies that suddenly disappear from the shelves.
Venezuela had industries that produced a lot of goods: toothpaste, shampoo, all kind of hygiene products, food, drinks, fuel. Just like every country. The raw materials needed for some stuff, if not produced in the country, were bulk imported, much cheaper. Items in a wide range of prices were available. If someone could not afford the toilet paper with perfume, no problem, there was a cheaper brand available, nationally produced. Everyone could enjoy a decent life quality. That was one of the main attractions of the country. Until the commies arrived, of course.
Under this light, I realized we had, until the mid-nineties at least, a similar economy to those of the most developed countries. As a matter of fact, our industry was one of the strongest in all of Latin America: the free market allowed a wonderful (perhaps not always so healthy because of the occasional mafia) competition. I remember some exercises in college about choosing the company with the best performance in the Caracas stock exchange, in a financial engineering work course I took for optional credits.
You need to learn to make these 5 items
After a careful study I could detect that these five items could be significant to be stockpiled, or even better, homemade:
Let’s see why I have identified these as important.
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil can be extracted by the proper processing of the corn and other seeds of your choice. It is useful. This was one of the first staples that disappeared from the market. Most of the oil producing companies were seized and nationalized. Now their production is a small fraction of what it was when they were private, and the military controls the supply and sales in the black market.
You can prepare mayonnaise with it and some eggs. You can use it for canning. One of my aunts had sardines preserved in large glass jars with salt and cooking oil. Even in the heat of the tropics, they lasted for months. Well, without a gang of hungry teens running loose at home. (NOTE: Meat of any type is low-acid and MUST be pressure canned. ~ Daisy) We ate this with “arepas” (corn pancakes) and some drops of lime juice, and they were really great and filled with nutrients.
There are a lot of uses for vegetable oil. Once it has been used for cooking, it could be used as fuel, to improve the heat output of wood stoves, or even as a makeshift a water heater that runs with WVO (waste vegetable oil).
Vinegar
Vinegar can be made with apple fermentation, or potatoes, beet, rice, and others. This is another staple that disappeared, and we had stockpiled at least 5 gallons that, used wisely, lasted a long time. It can be found again now, but the price is way too high. There are lots of useful recipes around. If you can find it cheap, it is better to stockpile. However, it’s a good idea to prepare a test batch so you know how it is done before you need it, would be a good prepping skill.
It is good as a disinfectant, and has lots of other uses. You can use vinegar to preserve and pickle food so it doesn’t spoil.
Biodiesel
I mentioned this already, but I found this so meaninfgul, that I have to go into more detail.
Our refineries are going to face a technical halt. There are no contractors for the maintenance; operators are leaving their control panels empty, because the salaries won’t allow them to feed their families anymore. Jeez, I heard about one guy that having sold his audio equipment, took his kids for pizza and the next day he was under investigation to check where he could get the money for that, because they knew that with that joke of a salary, even buying a pizza was not feasible. This is not an exaggeration. The working shifts were changed from 8 hours to 12 hours, and there is no lunch provided, something that never happened before. This means that the last employers remaining will just migrate without looking back (just like me).
The derivatives production will see their minimum levels soon. Gasoline and engine oil supply is already experiencing shortages. Some imports of gasoline from Russia are damaging the engines because it has been proven that their anti-freezing compounds are not suited for being used in the tropical heat of Venezuela. I never thought that diesel would be my choice for an engine, but this is the fuel that will be the future of the preppers.
A small facility to produce biodiesel, for those with enough skills should not be very difficult. The time to find a blueprint, assemble a pilot device, and buy the needed parts to escalate it in the future, is now. In that future, this could be a great side business and generate lots of income.
Soap and Toothpaste
There were a LOT of different soaps once upon a time in Venezuela. The most popular, used since generations ago by even the most wealthy people was one popularly called “blue” soap. It is so good that the doctors recommend it to clean flesh wounds from surgeries and such. With parfum, with oats, glycerine soap, all kinds could be found at fair enough prices.
This stopped when the Procter and Gamble facility was seized. Shampoos and like 10 other different products including toothpaste disappeared from the market. Now, Chinese copies of famous brands, without any sanitary registration are almost the only option. I have used blue soap as toothpaste, with salt and some charcoal powder. Despite the initial taste, they truly work together as a cleaning agent.
If you don´t have any other option, manufacturing your own soap will provide you with an awesome edge under an economical collapse situation. Keeping yourself well fed and clean will provide the necessary mindset to improve your resistance to stressful situations. Good personal higyene is paramount, as we all know, but keeping some of our daily routines is even better for our psyche.
The lack of soap has unchained a scabies plague among our children, just for you to know. This is something that needs some special medications. No problems in other countries. But in Venezuela, my wife had to go to a lot of pharmacies, and pay for it at an inflated price.
My suggestion? Try to find a good, simple recipe, cook a barbecue, and afterwards, use the ashes to try to make a batch of homemade soap. It will be fun, and you will find yourself with something that will be a highly valued item, if the need arises. I would bath the dog first, before using it for the children, though…Just in case.
Alcohol
We are going to need alcohol, regardless if you intend to use it in a wound, for lamps, or for cooking. If you have raw materials enough for producing large batches, you can relax and enjoy yourslef drinking an adequate portion of the distillate that is obtained specially for that purpose.
This should be done carefully, though. There have been lots of explosions in homemade distillers, enough to understand that this has to be done with a good amount of care and the necessary safety measures. With some anecdotical data, in Venezuela, there were a lot of poisoned people when the factories, in the general strike in 2001, stopped producing beer and the trucks stopped delivering rum. How Uncle Hugo survived this, knowing how my people love a good Rum and soda, still remains a mystery to me.
Anyway, Venezuelans drank like fishes all the kinds of alcohol they could get their hands on…resulting in several deaths because of the experiments. We do have something like the moonshine you have in the USA. It is made from sugar cane and not suggested for the weak. They are mostly product of small, unknown factories, scattered all over the country. That production disappeared just like liquid gold.
Thirsty guys, those Venezuelans of mine (I still remember some of the funny situations with some people not used to drinking that liver-killing stuff)…
If some of you believe that you have the skills, or perhaps are able to get a distillation system, after going through that part of the collapse, I can assure that it is a good idea to have some means to produce alcohol…even if it is just for rubbing it in a wound. Properly done, a bottle of alcohol for disinfection would be a great bartering item. This medical item was never scarce, as far as I know. But we don’t truly know what the future will hold.
This is one of my projects for the far future, just in case my son decides to have children, and my predicted pandemics happens to blow out once I am not here with them any longer. If this happens, they will have to remember that their old grampa provided them with some of the needed apparatus to generate some health items…and relaxation means.
Stay safe people! And God bless you all.
About the Author
Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has a small 4 members family, plus two cats and a dog. An old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Thanks to your help Jose has gotten his family out of Venezuela. They are currently setting up a new life in another country. paypal.me/JoseM151
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]</e
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Ok, I am out.
I stopped reading after #1!!
Sorry Daisy you are Dead ass wrong. Veneszuela was doing great until the Commie CIA arrived and started killing off their President Hugo Chaves with food poisoning and Nation destroying with massive financial banking samctions by the US to furthet criple the countries economy. Let talt about the disaster US Sanctions which mostly hurts the little people. Just because the US Fsscists dont like the leader who refused to play ball with the Wests Central bankers. Then the Saudi’s Oil Price manipulation which also killed the oil sand fields of the Dakotas with cheap oil dumping. So did Communism also kill the N Dakota communities that also could not compete with Saudi cheap oil? Use your brain Daisy. Every crisis seems to be an uninformed info commercial for your prepper food sales. Sorry, I dont buy food from liars. Get the truth people, Veneszuala is another Victim of the West’s Nation Destroying campaign by the Western banking Commies and CIA is what killed Veneszuela who has the largest oil reserve deposits of any Country on the planet. Duh. Thus why they are being attacked. Daisy thinks shes talking to ignorant 5 year olds.
It’s still better than some of the usual fearmongering propaganda bs that’s been put on this site lately, what’s been driving many people away.
“I stopped reading after #1!!”
what, you dont want to sacrifice your food supply to make some oil?
😉
Here in the Southwest, citrus is best for disinfectant. In a REAL SHTF in America, either by EMP, earth changes, or nuclear war, no one is going anywhere. Plan accordingly.
And anyone with a diesal and their own guel will be identified in short order; either by jealous neighbors or the authorities if you think you can cruise down central on Saturday night.
Spend that money on some solar panels and rechargeable batteries. Put the panels on wheels, roll them in and out of the garage or barn to collect energy for your battery system and roll them back in at night.
No matter where you live in the USA, the American Indians here before you had natural solutions for all of these problems in your local area. Learn what these solutions were and catalog them for your use.
You do not have to reinvent the wheel, even though the American Indian never did. 🙂
Well-said, Durango!
Knowing how to reload cartridges for rifles, pistols, and shotguns will be a skill to master before things get dicey. You’ll need a good manual, the press machinery (cost you about $200 for a basic one, and the materials, casings, primers, powder, and bullets. If you follow the directions in the manual, and Lee puts out a great one, you’ll be fine. Just don’t get all creative and squirrely. There are some easy to find and good pieces of hand machines to supplement your work and to make it easy and practical. University of U-Tube taught me well, I just don’t know if the reloading videos are still there. Any of the good gun blogs certainly have good videos on how to reload. You can save money this way too.
I have serious reservations on reloads. I know three people that had guns damaged by bad loads, one got hurt. These were serious gun enthusiasts, not novices. Accidents can and will happen, I would prefer the store bought ammo. Not not the cheap Russian Bear or Wolf brands.
I know people who have been reloading for over 50 years and NEVER had one single problem
Agreed.
I have been reloading since age 8.
I don’t reload much now as most my ammo is
rim fire or steel cased.
But if you follow the “rules”
this stuff simply does not fail.
Ditto, been reloading for 24 years and never had a single issue. The only thing I don’t reload is 7.62×39 and .22 they are so cheap it aint worth it.
After 1000’s of rounds of wolf 7.62 and tul-ammo I have never had an issue with them either… 100% problem free. Maybe your friends aren’t as smart as you think they are?
Wold ammo is decent, same with Bear ammo.
TUL-AMMO is GARBAGE. Incessant misfires, rounds not chambering, etc. NEVER use TUL-AMMO. Anyone saying otherwise is a complete and utter fucking DUMBASS.
Wolf and Tul ammo are steal cased ammo. Its cheap because it rusts and damages your rifle cylinder. Its like putting used motor oil in your car engine. No thanks, I’ll stick with Brass shell cased bullets. My rifles are too expensive to feed them sh!t ammo just b/c its cheap. Its cheap for a reason. And because it steal cased ammo then they smear a laquer finish on it to prevent rust, which also gums up everything it touches. And makes your rifle work 10 times harder to shoot and wears out faster since it is a dirty ammo. Ever do any research? Some genius. Ha.
I do not shoot rusty ammo and it has not damaged any of my weapons. My rifles fire it absolutely fine, You do not know what your talking about and obviously have no experience with it. A clean gun is a happy gun….
Reloads is like having sex with a used condom. Never know what you will get. Maybe no gun powder or too much gun powder. Reloads is like buying dope off the street vs a dispensery.
Don’t *BUY* reloads – – – reload ’em yourself! The whole idea behind prepping is overcoming your own ignorance and laziness! If you want or need something badly and it isn’t commercially available it only makes sense to do it yourself.
But – of course – we’ve been conditioned to expect someone else to bail us out whenever we get in trouble. Long live government!
Your shell stuffers are morons. Real reloaders never have that problem, at least not once you start your production run. You’re dealing with shell stuffers. …and not very good ones at that.
Oh, dude, really? I’ve had WAY more problems with factory rounds than I’ve ever had with my reloads. Understand that until I started buying 9mm and 223 and stock piling it, all the center fire factory rounds I had shot could fit in a single pants pocked. I have loaded and shot several hundred thousand reloads.
What you’re expressing comes from “shell stuffers” not “reloaders”. I know some. They don’t “work up a load”. They just read the manual and pick a load. Heck, my brain IS the manual. I don’t even look at loading manuals anymore. I know what to use. The only thing I look at is the powder burning rate chart if I want to try a new powder. Of course, I’ve been at it for 45 years. But, even when I started, I knew what to do to keep bad things from happening. You have to read the brass. It has a lot to say.
That being said, I bought a bunch of reloaded ammo from a friend of mine. He had 357 mag, 38s, 45ACP. OH! MY! GOSH! Inconsistent charges. Bad sizing. So much bullshit. I still haven unloaded all of his crap yet. He’s a shell stuffer. Doesn’t know crap about it but somebody had a press and some
One load he had was 12 grains of 2400 in a 357 magnum with a 158 grain bullet. 2400 is one of those powders that go from hardly burning to burning it all. This guy had the load right on the edge. In hot weather: BOOOM! Good and hot. In cool weather: Pooof… Not misfiring but very nearly. There were times when one would poof and one would boom. Imagine your accuracy with that load, or lack thereof.
You have to be somewhat of a scientist to make good reloads. I have a couple presses but my main handloading press is a Lyman All American turret press. I also have an RCBS Green Machine inline loader. You have to know what you’re doing and you have to pay attention to what you’re doing. Those skills, possibly, are in short supply these days.
Understand this: I can load you a set of rounds for nearly any gun, customize it so it will shoot better than anyther you’ve ever seen and make it so if you seal that gun and ammo in an air tight case, 100 years from now, it will shoot exactly the same as it does today.
I no longer call myself a “Reloader”. I’m a “Technical Reloader” but actually, I’m an “Amateur Small Arms Ballistics Engineer” meaning that I know enough to be a professional, I just don’t get paid for it.
Stay away from shell stuffers, they’re dangerous. 9 out of 10 guys don’t know how to read pressure and they don’t know how pressure relates to powder charge, bullet seating, case sizing temperature, etc, etc.
I have also had waay more issues with factory ammo than my reloads. The factory ammo I have had issues with are Federal .22 lr. …. Federal 12 ga. hunting loads …..Federal military .556 ammo (very bad ammo) ….remington .22 lr. Federal 30.06.
I can’t recall ever having an issue with my reloads.
I reloaded for a number of years, don’t anymore, best advise I can give a starter is: Stay away from max loads and use a powder that fills most of the case. By doing that you cannot double load a cartridge by accident. It’s almost impossible to do much damage if you stick with .38 brass and stay away from a few of the very fast powders. In Most quality brands like S&W, the .38’s use the sane steel as their .357 so you have a lot of safety factor working with you. In SHTF empty brass won’t be a problem, powder and primers will be. READ THE DIRECTIONS!!!!!
only one problem i see with all this reloading….i WILL NOT survive shooting the couple THOUSAND rounds i have on hand…..because when i’m firing THEM, there will be zombies SHOOTING AT ME! how many rounds are you going to NEED? i also reloaded shotgun ammo …thousands and thousands of rounds, and been around others that did too….maybe rifle/pistol is much more dangerous….never reloaded those before.
Most of my loads are at or close to max in the book (which I am sure is lower than actual max for safety reasons). They work great and accurate as hell. Of course I wouldn’t use those loads in an old 1890 gun or a cheap piece of shit gun. You MUST keep your guns clean too! Do not overheat an ak or ar or sks by firing 120 rounds through it in 10 minutes or stupid shit like that. I let mine cool for 10-15 minutes after a 30 rnd. blast with the action open for ventilation. Getting stupid with overheating your mil type rifle will warp the barrel and cause a plethora of problems. Same with any rifle, let it cool fool ~~~~~~~
Yes, max loads are not really max because all of the junk guns out there. On the other hand if you always shoot max, why not get a bigger gun? Max is hard on things. Not that a box of +P isn’t a good idea for your carry gun. (I shoot reduced V super hollow points, so things don’t go to far) For Buttcrack—If you count in thousands you likely don’t have enough ammo. And it’s not for Zombies, We were talking trade or making your stash last. For defense, people way over estimate their needs. Unless you figure to hold one end of the George Washington Bridge against the hordes; when the shooting starts crowds RUN.
just never you mind how many thousands i got, my paranoid friend…..BTW….i hope you’re paranoid ENOUGH!
I don’t either, But when the only bugout vehicle that might be useful is a semi, you have to start to figure you are close. Peace be with you.
” I know three people that had guns damaged by bad loads…”
Either they were experimenting far outside the established pressure ranges, or they were clueless idiots with no quality control. My bets on the latter.
I load better than 10K rounds of 45acp yearly. I have never NEVER had a squib, or showed pressure signs. Ever.
Stock Piling Food bulk is a big waste of time if you live in a crappy area and you have to Bug out. How you going to carry gallons of Vinegar in your Bug out bag. Get real. This is a fantasy article. #1 Prep is Guns and Ammo to orotect you first. In an emergency bug out you will have to abandon 95% of your stock pile of preps saved for the looters, for you to flee for your life. So the lesson here is, get out if the unsafe areas now, mostly urban cities and head to the remote country now, then start stockpiling preps.
What good is ammo without food?
You will be hungry without food. Yes, you are supposed to have food or you will starve.
Most on here were concerned on making ammo and not learning HOW to do anything else.
Food disappears very quickly.
I’ve been around hurricanes and yeah, the shelves empty fast. So…remember the food.
Otherwise you wont last long.
Stock Piling Food bulk is a big waste of time if you live in a crappy area and you have to Bug out. How you going to carry gallons of Vinegar in your Bug out bag. Get real. This is a fantasy article. #1 Prep is Guns and Ammo to orotect you first. In an emergency bug out you will have to abandon 95% of your stock pile of preps saved for the looters, for you to flee for your life. So the lesson here is, get out if the unsafe areas now, mostly urban cities and head to the remote country now, then start stockpiling preps.
Reloads are good for practice range. Not first line of protection. I want Ammo that goes Bang everytime.
Then don’t buy federal ammo!
“Reloads are good for practice range. Not first line of protection. I want Ammo that goes Bang everytime.”
riiiiight, thats why every competitive shooter I know of loads his own ammo and does not trust factory boxed crap. It MUST go bang every time. Quality control under YOUR control.
Sorry Blows, you’re way off the mark.
Competitive shooting is not war and nobody is shooting back at them. For war, battle and self defense use factory loads. I use Federal and never had a misfire. Maybe you have a worn down firing pin.
Oh and I never buy used guns either. Its like buying an old Whoore off the street. Never know what you got. Everything brand new out if the box here and never used in a murder nor crime nor is the gun stolen. Common sense..
And if any of my guns are used in a shooting they then end up in the salty Gulf of Mexico miles out, and all the numbers drilled out and totally dissasembled in pieces before its scattered into the sea.
5 things to do before a collapse.
1. Clean house, sell everything you have that is not essential to survival. Or do nothing and abandon it all in the crisis.
2. Use that money to buy more survival gear like guns and ammo and get your concealed weapons permit. Get multiple water filtration systems, hand tools, axe, saws, multiple cook stoved, 5 wsys to cook food. 500 lighters you can use for barter later and making camp fires and cast iron cookware so you can eat cooked food.
3. Move out the city.
4. Turn your soon to be worthless cash into hard assets like gold and silver. Bury (casche) some of it for safe Keeping.
5. Buy remote land to set up your BOL. Then move ASAP and get reestablished in your new area and get your BOL 100% off the grid and be self sufficient.
Idiots waste time fiddling with vinegar and flour. Daydreaming of an apocalypse.
#1 Rule. Do not try to defend your house by baracading yourself in the house. That is a death trap as they can burn you out. Get out of the house and defend it 200 meters out with a battle rifle and large capicity magazines. Stay on offense with armed patrols, before they even get to your area or neighborhood. Kill or be killed. Got your 300 sand bags yet that stops bullets?
Well said. Good advice. 🙂
you be just fine….long as y’all got this sh t….
i KNOW you already GOT all this stuff….but just in case you forgot sumthin’….cut and paste/print this sucker out….SOMEday, i’m gonna ask for it BACK from you!…..let’s call this the list of MOST IMPORTANT stuff to have when SHTF
fire extinguishers,,,,LOTS of them
night vision
LED headlamp
antibiotics will be worth MORE than gold
motion sensor alarms
rat traps
magnifying glass
fuel
come-along
ghillie suit
high powered binocs
work gloves
digging bar from harbor freight
jogging stroller for hauling things that weigh a lot long distances
benadryl
wipies
brillo pad makes a good fire starter with jumper cables
a hat for sleeping in….and ALL the clothes you’ll need to keep you warm…and dry….this will require MUCH THOUGHT AND RESEARCH….and testing, on YOUR part.
bulletproof vest…and helmet
tourniquet
DETAILED Maps Of Your Area
wooden 4×6, or 6×8’s for crossing obstacles(3 feet long)
peanut butter….VERY important
folding shovel and saw
army survival manual
first aid book… where there is no doctor book
military 4 part sleep system…protects to minus 30 degrees if you know what to do with it…and at LEAST have the bivy bag part of it in your car in case you get stranded….if you are dressed for the climate you’re in, it might only take that bivy to save yer life.
tow straps/shackles/chain with pipe for towing
Antacids
Anti-diarrheal
giant channel-lock pliers and crescent wrench
Books on foraging and how to use herbs and essential oils.
sandbags
sell your stuff, move, buy more stuff. bury some of it in the ground. Sounds like a great plan. Only idiots learn skills, right?
Thanks, I did all of this in 2015, and starting preparing to take these steps back in 2010. These were goals over years. Does every decision you make get you closer to 100% off the grid?. When a collapse happens what you got at that time may be it. And all access to supplies, ammo, water filters food may cease to exist on any store shelf period. And money may be wortlesd. Way better to acqire it all now while you can, than stress out and be out of luck later. Prepping greatly improves my chances for survival in over lapping crisis.
And where is the food exactly?
This article was meant to tell you how to make things for food and how to make other things that will help you through hard times. We haven’t been through a lot of this yet, but give it time.
By the time you are finished with the toys, you will look around for the food. And be hungry.
There are going to be a lot of hungry people out there wondering who has the food. Of. Course they will also have ways to take it. You don’t always have to have ammo. It will work, but so will knives and rocks and farm tools. Comprende?
It is important to know how to make your own foods.
One, so you can eat. Two, so you actually know what is in it.
Think about the foods we buy now. Is it REALLY what it says it is?
Much of it does not taste right anymore.
And you just might be surprised when you find canned goods with botulism in it.
I have already. And It was from major companies. So, never depend on canned on the factory goods.
Does chicken taste like chicken anymore??
Just a little piece of advice, if you wait till you need the ammo before you start reloading it, you’ve waited WAY TO LONG! Better to have it already loaded into mags, then to be reloading it as the golden horde is breaking down your door!
I bought a used Lyman turret press 30 years ago for $20.00 – and I’m still using it. Just cooked up a bunch of 9mm subs. Most reloading manuals have explicit warnings and learning of how and what to do, (and what not to do) but you must READ it.
So, you all can make your own smokeless gunpowder? You all have your own lead, copper and zinc mines to make your bullets and cartridges? No? Uh, oh–when shtf!
Pussy. It is a renewable resource and people will always want sex. Be the middleman and you will always have an income. Hey, look at Harvey Weinstein!!!!
You’re a jerk!
mmmmmm Yes. Be a pimp in SHTF.
Good plan.
What are you going to get paid with. A chicken for a screw. A ham sandwich for a BJ?
he’s gonna get paid with STDs
knowing that guy, he’s probably already got enough to make change when he does…
hell, my last wife was doing it for a sandwich…..and the shit hadn’t even hit the fan yet……i mean LITERALLY, he would bring her lunch, and he would get his just desserts….gawd i hate that woman….women will be at a distinct disadvantage, fer sure…..unless, of coarse, they are finer that frogs hair…..them’s few and far between here in murca………take a look around you, them homeless girls give ME the creeps.
I have never met a fine woman that wasn’t used up like a cheap road whore then discarded when her looks fade.
If all you have going for you is looks, then enjoy it while it lasts, because it won’t last long. And when you are 55 with 20 year old tits, you will just look silly.
i have instilled in MY kids…..and step-kids….that it takes a WHOOOLE LOT more than looks, to be mate material….but it’s a place to start…..afterall, you can’t MAKE yourself “like” someone that’s unattractive….i mean, isn’t that what the word attractive is all about? if they weren’t “attractive”, there would be a BOUNTY on their heads….
Are you attractive too buttcrack?
So many guys obsess over attractive women while they themselves don’t look worth nothing themselves…hmm.
Some attractive women wont give a shit about men when shtf comes. They aren’t totally stupid.
Some can actually live without a ” male” around. Funny aint it? 😉
Keep her away from the ‘American Way’. Don’t let her eat junk food, don’t let her sit on her butt and binge eat while watching TV, don’t let her bitch all day long with the ‘girls’ at the office, let her buy very nice clothes and take her on nice vacations to classy places where she has to up her game (wear a swimsuit, be surrounded by thin-as-a-rail Euro bitches in chic clothes who will make her realise she better not wear anything from Wal-Mart and eat too much).
I know many older women who still got it and the secret is this: stay in shape so not only your husband wants you, but even the pool cleaner does too. Dress nice, wash, stay clean. Don’t nag: you got this far in life so why nag at your man?
Couples that go the distance not only love each other and are kind to each other, they also don’t say things like “if he if so much as looks at that cheerleader I am going to divorce him!!!!”
Ladies: guys look, they even think about more than looking. Every once in a while that might even do something with a 20 year old. Let it ride. Europeans know that you sometimes need something younger to put a skip in your step. Life is looooong and hooking up with the secretary at work etc. Is not the end of the world. Keep life in perspective.
I know a woman, a friend, who was once very hot and cookey when we were young. She then got into micro managing her husband – until he left. He shacked up with a much younger woman and is very happy. He travels a lot now and does all the things he couldn’t with the wife. Whereas she now is not in her prime physically (varicose veins, a bit chubby) and has got into the whole #metoo bitching about men thing. It is a real drag and she complains she can’t get a man to f#ck her anymore. Wonder why???!
Geeze guys.
Don’t forget the same applies to men also…are you fine looking too?
Better watch out for some women. They all are not some dumb used up bag.
This site has really pretty much turned to shite. Sad.
Guess you never gave her a lunch that really satisfied her.
she was doing the same guy for around 8 years of the mairrage BEFORE me, and continued after i divorced her, and i’m willing to bet she’s still doing it, even though she’s married again. it’s all about his MONEY, i think, even though she will never have any of it. he’s married, and if he divorces his wife, it will ruin him/his fortune.
Wrong; In the depression even the hookers couldn’t make money. It was, “desire and a dime”. And they did very poorly. Unlimited supply and desperation don’t make a very profitable product.
My plan is to be Useful. I’m not a spring chicken, but I can clean cook, sew, midwife, do carpenter work, teach, can, make wine, and run a farm. Might that save my life? We shall see. Oh, I forgot Radio Communications.
Way to go.
Who needs a guy when you can fend for yourself?
Guys seem to forget eye candy doesn’t mean shit.
Somethings just never change. Cie la vie.
Where to these authors come up with this bullshit?
Here is a news flash: stockpile WHAT YOU CONSUME RIGHT NOW!
Is spaghetti a regular dinner? Then buy 100 packs of noodles and 200 cans of small tomato sauce and packets!!!
Everybody out there should have at a minimum of five 5 gallon buckets of flour. Don’t waste time or effort buying wheat and a grinder.
Have least three 5 gallon buckets of sugar, etc. If you don’t cook with vegetable oil now, you won’t want to later either.
Stockpile what you consume. Trying to figure out what to do with biodiesel is a waste of time and energy in a crisis.
Soap and toothpaste are easily stockpiled because they don’t expire or go bad. Same with deodorant.
In a SHTF, getting drunk would be the last thing on my mind. I don’t drink now and don’t plan to. I can think of a hell of a lot more items to spend my time and resources on.
Right on, John! I’d add that changing habits so you consume things that can be easily stored is also a good strategy. I too no longer use cooking oil and suggest that eating the corn or other seed rather than pressing it for oil will provide a lot more nutrition and be a lot healthier. Food storage? Try dehydrating rather than canning. Nutrition is better preserved, its easier, and the product occupies less space. Biodiesel? Large quantities of “waste” oil will be a thing of the past and small cooking quantities won’t take your car more than a couple of miles. Also, your car won’t take you anywhere once it breaks down and there are no parts or money for repairs. Get a bicycle with critical spares (tires, tubes, chains) and learn how to do your own repairs. You’ll get a lot further after SHTF and until then you’ll stay in better shape. Alcohol? Suit yourself, but I’m not drinking and then literally pissing away a valuable resource. Again, if you have enough grain to make a decent quantity of alcohol, you’d be better off eating it instead of drinking it. An exception might be beer. Relatively nutritious, no still is needed, and you can still get your buzz.
for long term storage you need the wheat berries – once grains are processed and nature’s shell cracked the storage longevity is severely sacrificed …
and in regard to a grinder – other foods such as beans and rice can be processed into a flour additive – an alternative any experienced is seeking ..
JS,
Wheat berries store for fifty years or more, flour does not.
We make most all our bread from Wheat berries.
I don’t have much sugar, but I have lots of Honey which lasts forever.
I keep coconut oil stored as it lasts forever. It adds an interesting taste to food, but does not go rancid.
I have good access to coconuts, I don’t have a press,
but I know someone that does.
I agree on the alcohol. I really like my beer but can give it up.
All my pure alcohol is used as a solvent, it is “denatured” anyway.
But for disinfection we use Betadine soap and Hydrogen Peroxide.
i just finished up a five year old bucket of flour. i hear it don’t last, but i live in the desert, so maybe that’s why. i like john’s post, for the most part,fer sure….DO have a lot of canned goods with moisture in it. water will kill after the bell rings. fruit will be very important too…..
True, flour has a short shelf life compared to whole wheat berries. I got 1000lbs (half a ton) of double bagged, triple cleaned, long term storage wheat for 100 bux on craigslist :P. I have both an electric and hand crank mill and it is non gmo so I can plant it too. Maybe use the old rancid flour you have to seal up your moonshine still? Or make paper machet scarecrows?
just to clarify….MINE lasted a whole 5 years before i got to the bottom to use the last of it….and it seemed fine to me. i hear it goes bad in a year to two years, but not so for me. i suppose the dry heat here has sumthin’ to do with it….my thanks to you, genius, for alll the great posts on shtfplan….and even for the not-so-great posts…..they ALL teach U.S.
I recently opened a 5 gallon bucket of flour from 2008 and it was just fine.
John,
We still are using flour from 2009 that I vac. packed and kept in the pantry. We like it… Not much else to add to that. 🙂
I’ll tell y’all about one failure that I found. 🙁
I got some corn meal on a holiday deal. $1.38 per 5 lb. sack. I put half in mylar with a 02 eater and vac. packed the other half. In 18 months which was the best buy date, I found the mylar stuff all bloated. (It had started to ferment in the mylar. That is what it smelled like when I open the packs.) The other half is still good 2 years later.
I still have not figured that out yet… If anyone has a clue. we would love to hear it. 😉
Y’all play nice now. 🙂
its the weevils in cornmeal and rice and wheat….seems like they ALWAYS got eggs in them. BTW, i ate 7 year old macaroni yesterday…..just right out of the boxes, no speacial mylar, buckets, or anything.
bcd,
I’m not so sure of the weevils.
I did not see any type of critters running round the meal.
If they were in the mylar/02, which should remove 99% of the 02, the vacuum pack should/would have more of them doing the same thing, I’d think. There is still more oxygen left over from vac. packing.
As I said, it smelled like it was fermenting.
That was 4 mylar packs with 10 lbs each. (i was thinking that maybe the 02 eater reacted with the meal and created a Lil’ bit of moisture from any humidty that was left over.) By the way, all were packed the exact same way. I’ve had baking powder swell up that was vac. packed. This was just the first and only time I’d see mylar do this.
Yea, I had hamburger helper/spaghetti and other stuff just sitting on the shelve almost 10 years with no extra packing. No problems. Ramen noodles though, suck… after that long. 🙂 Just nasty. 🙁
Over time I’ve settled on mylar, and only using the vac. pack for short term stuff. Things that will be used in about 2 years or so.
I still have some coffee from Y2K that were still sampling.
Still ok by me. The Maxwell House cans do not have as strong of a smell when you first crack the can. Folgers smells a Lil’ bit stronger. We keep trying it every year. I’ll let y’all know what the last ones were after 25 years. 🙂
Y’all enjoy what’s left of the weekend.
I hear a Gin and Tonic calling my name. 🙂
Tooth paste does have an expiration date. Its melted in the seam of the end of the tube. You can always brush with baking soda. Probably better using that, than a commercial tootpaste.
There are essential oils that repel insects, are anti-microbial and anti-bacterial. I add a few drops of these fragrances into fragrance free floor cleaners so the house smells nice without chemicals. I wipe down the cupboards inside and out using these essential oils. Bugs and germs stay outside.
Sunshine kills germs and bleaches whites. A clothes line should be in your preps. A wash bucket can be used with ice for beer and fruit drinks. It can double as a planter too. Regular plastic buckets work well with a few bricks or smooth stones for cleaning clothes.
Twenty mule team borax is a detergent booster. Not a soap, it is the element boron. Some people take a diluted solution as a supplement. I no nothing of the benefits or danger. But it speaks to the safety of using borax as a cleaning booster, as well as baking soda to boost the cleaning power of detergents.
_
I have not yet been fully convinced by essential oils yet, however, I am a firm believer in the oil Lavendar. It is used on cuts, rashes and minor burns. It works really well. treat 4 times a day.
B of A
Here we use Borax as an wood preservative also.
It kills termites.
Garlic repels many insects as does tobacco. Eating garlic or garlic suppliments will keep you from being eaten by no-seeums and other biting flying a-holes. Don’t wear perfumed deodorants or colognes or body washes, it attracts the lil’ bastards. Washing with Dr. Broner’s castile soap will make ticks pull out and you will flush them down the drain (never get that stuff in yer eyes!) If you ever do you will know why ticks high tail it when coated with it lol. JS is right, lavender is great stuff. Bentonite clay is great for bee stings, bug bites, just make a paste with it and apply it asap to the area. Have a bag of activated charcoal on hand and in first aid kits for poison ingestion too. BBL need more beer 😛
Tobacco and garlic have many uses. DIY worming recipe.
Many horse owners I know believe Diatomaceous Earth may be dangerous to horses and other livestock if they inhale the dust. So, they use other natural methods with their livestock – horses, cows and goats.
Homemade Worming Recipe for Horses
(Most of these items you can grow yourself.)
Use a mixture of:
40% sunflower and pumpkin seeds
30% tobacco leaves (or loose pipe tobacco from the store)
the rest parsley flakes and garlic.
Fill up a gallon ice cream bucket and you can worm over 20 horses with it.
According to research, intestinal worms release from the stomach and intestinal lining during the full moon to breed. The rough texture of the mixture scrapes the worms away and right out of the horses.
It is much cheaper than conventional worming. Also, the horse manure (garden fertilizer) is NOT contaminated by the chemicals in the tube wormer. Horse manure tainted with worming medication is also tainted and will kill the good worms in the soil once the manure is on the ground.”
Ivermectin products in the manure will continue to kill beneficial stuff in your soil for 28 days post worming. Daily feed through wormer like Strongid will eventually sterilize your whole place. Panacure or Safeguard does the least damage to your soil.
KY, I have a 50lb. bag of food grade diatomatious earth and we have given it to our cats and dog and they were fine, also use it ourselves. We also sprinkle it on garden plants for insect control. It kills exoskeletal bugs. It is cheap and good to have, never goes bad 🙂
by consuming DE, you negate its effectiveness. you cannot kill a bug in your digestive tract by dessication/dehydration. You are a moist environment 🙂 People who suggest eating it are giving you pseudoscience.
Animal feeds are treated with it to keep the insect population under control in storage, not to feed to/treat the livestock. you can dust your dry beans etc with it if its a concern to you.
I like the stuff but rarely use it in the garden. also kills spiders and beneficial insects
Tobacco works great on intestinal parasites, but you have to be very very careful with dosage. Will make you very sick, possibly kill you in high doses.
I’ll stick with my own trade-ables. Got what would amounts to a bale of cured tobacco leaf vac-packed. Enough for 5 guys/gals smoking delight for maybe 5 years each. A lot of extra medkit items as well. From bandages to sutures. Honestones, extra handtools and other items that could be quite useful. I’ve always been willing to barter and know the ropes of making such deals. That is the most important. Learn how to trade without the money as a means of commerce.
Good advise. I like the list as well. Always good to have a little extra. Toilet paper too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD__r66sFjk
My main barter item, if it came to that would be clean drinkable water. I have put a lot into water collection and filtration. Nobody can live without it.
A well with a handpump is the ultimate water solution.
Glad to read the comment about coconut oil lasting a long time. The owner of an olive oil plantation in Spain told me that olive oil lasts indefinitely too.
no oil lasts indefinitely, all will eventually go rancid, as is the nature of fats.
light-proof sealed containers and cold storage help considerably.
Yes, clean drinkable water doesn’t fall from the sky…… or does it?
That is the one thing Venezuelans are not concerned about.
Water.
Kudos on your rain collection though, it is important.
There is a lot more to a still that the simple one pictured. you have to produce a product that is not poison. and a exploding still can kill you.
Ya true, not just any idiot should attempt using a still. Have someone who knows what they are doing show you. The still pictured is a basic setup and will work fine if you know what your doing. Get someone with knowhow to teach you and walk you through it step by step and take notes.
Or send me 100 bux and I will send you step by step instructions and a few good recipes. Also tips on still cleaning, water supply, making your own still, secrets to a good mash, how to make great fruit shine, where to get supplies. You will pay for the instructions with your first 3 quarts sold. 😀
Oh no, please don’t test homemade soap on a dog it could burn their skin, just let it cure for a month or do a zap test if not sure about it. Its not easy making lye from campfire coals (I haven’t been successful yet, critters that get in the garage keep dumping it over!)soap makers, just stock up on lye or soap.
Here’s a link to make your own vegetable oil.
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Vegetable-Oil –or–
http://www.survivopedia.com/how-to-make-vegetable-oil/
Here’s a link I’ve found useful for cleaning around the house and she includes getting rid of insects (pick your buggy nemesis, there’s likely way to get rid of them listed here.)
https://raising6kids.wordpress.com/blog-series-index-room-by-room/
Venezuela has almost no supplies you’re doing going to be making anything. If you plan on stocking this stuff you might was well stock the finished product.
The comment that making biodiesel is easy is dead wrong. I have made hundreds of gallons. First you are dependent on methanol. How will you source it in that situation? You can do it with ethanol but it requires zeolite to dry the ethanol. Vegetable oil is required to make biodiesel so where does that come from? The biodiesel reaction requires electricity to bring the oil up to 140°. Heating with flame is a short trip to a large explosion.
Good luck with all that!!
RED FLAG: Homeland Security Hiring “Media Monitoring Services” to Compile Journalist and Media Influencer Database
“…monitor traditional news sources as well as social media, identify any and all media coverage related to the Department of Homeland Security…”
ht tps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-06/red-flag-homeland-security-hiring-media-monitoring-services-compile-journalist-and
Direct link…
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-06/red-flag-homeland-security-hiring-media-monitoring-services-compile-journalist-and
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=233277
heres what denninger had to say.
FYI, cig lighters have little flints that do not last in storage.
They dry out and turn to dust. I don’t know of a good way to save flints, any ideas? I used to carry a cpl extra flints in the bottom of my Zippo’s, that helped some.
Hey mangy,
What type of time line are you talking about, years or decades? I’ve learned to only store the Bic brand as the “cheap” others fail after awhile.(leak the butane) I’ve used the same Bic lighter stored outdoors for the past couple of years. I keep it in the carport, so it’s exposed to the humidity/heat/cold of SC. I keep the main stash in a ammo can in a controlled room. I also have a supply of Zippo’s with extra flint packs and fuel.
Let me know what you have seen in your failures. 🙂
Thanks.
The five things mentioned are good things to know. If SHTF happens regardless of what it is, we will probably have to live our lives in a completely different way than we did before. All of our preparations are to get us past the crisis until some order is restored (for good or bad). The more self sufficient you are before the crisis, the less adjustment afterwards. The ideal state would be to not notice that SHTF has happened.
Truly said, Brian! Being able to thrive indefinitely with whatever you can find means you’re really prepared.