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An Occasional Prepper Thread

I grew up pretty close to ground-zero for the preppy; both the style of dress and the real thing, so I know a thing or two about the species, none of which is remotely interesting.

So perhaps we could discuss "prepping" for an eventuality other than going to Philips Exeter Academy. And that of course is any decrease in the constant flow of food and water and power and a host of other things that modern society has afforded us, courtesy of about 3,000 years of culture, scientific inquiry, engineering advances and good old Western stick-to-itivness.

But many of us are deeply suspicious of the current political and social situation with regard to razor-thin logistics, civil unrest disrupting even basic services like water and power, and a gradual degradation of the relatively high level of government services that most of us enjoy, which, in a nutshell, means cops doing their jobs.

So how to prepare for that? And what exactly is "that?" Is it preparing for a week of no water and food, or six months of civil unrest complete with roving bands of thugs intent upon stealing your stores and perhaps much more? Or is it years of subsistence living while society reorders itself along unknown lines?

I have no idea whether any of these scenarios are probable, but most people have done some minimal level of planning for some sort of temporary dislocation. And judging by the comments on this and other blogs, some people have done much, much more planning for long-term degradation of the fabric of society and its ability to provide basic services.

So have at it! Discuss everything from the most basic techniques for preserving food to the long-term management of land to provide food, shelter, clothing and safety.

I'll start below the fold...

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I use vacuum sealing for a host of things, and through trial and error and a fair amount of experience I have found some simple techniques to maximize the vacuum and minimize the possibility of leaking. The easiest thing to do is to use more bag than you think you need. It is tempting to try to cut the bags so that the empty portion of the bag is just long enough to fit into the vacuum sealer, but that is a recipe for disaster when sealing anything wet or fine (like flour). The longer the bag the better the seal, and it also gives you enough bag to seal it again! Yup. Seal it twice, because small bits of whatever you were sealing may have gotten into the seal and decreased its effectiveness, or in the case of liquids may have kept the plastic cool enough that the seal was not even made. Yes, it costs a few more cents for an inch or two of the bag, but the payoff is worth it.

Does anyone use vacuum sealing for anything other than food? I am tempted to seal ammunition into flat-packs that are protected from the environment and are easily stacked and carried, but is it worthwhile? Hell, I guess I could seal a pistol in a bag along with some ammo for a emergency weapon cache.