Are you prepared? Trying to be more self sufficient

This should have something in it for most everybody! Hunting, fishing, camping equipment, power generation, guns, gardening etc hopefully a wide ranging topic!
Hey everybody! Hope you are all well. Living a fairly self sufficient lifestyle has been the norm for us for many years. This thread, for anyone interested, is just going to be about things we can do to be prepared to survive this world in case of some sort of disaster. I’m not gearing this toward some sort of zombie apocalypse or anything a disaster can come in many forms, health issues, job loss, natural disaster, civil unrest, etc. I just want to share ideas with like minded folks.
I debated on even starting this thread because a lot of people wrap prepping up with political and financial topics.
NO POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS ARE WELCOME! I’d prefer to stay away from financial.
I’d love to see some discussions about a number of different topics:
Food preservation
Water storage and how to get it
Growing food
Harvesting your own meat
Tools
Defensive tools
Power generation
Communications
Whether to bug in or out
Creating a MAG (mutual assistance group)

I’m sure many more topics can spring up. I look forward to some good ideas that may help in a grid down scenario or any other circumstance.
We live outside of a small town in rural VA. We garden and I hunt and we do our best to be prepared. 2020 taught us some lessons and we decided we needed to become far more self reliant.
Thanks moderators for letting me do this hopefully it will spur some creative discussions.

 

Ok I’m going to tag a few off the bat that may be interested.
@Cypherian @Ret CB @bucktales @wilcam47 @TacoFMS @six5crèéd @JimBeam @TomTwo
@dewayne

so I’ll start this off with water. I built a rain catchment system last year. I feed a 330 gallon IBC tote from my garage gutter. I then added a secondary 275 gallon tote. This water is for plants and sanitation not drinking.



my nemesis is finding how to get fresh drinking water out of my well with no power. I bought a “well bucket” it’s a specially made 2 gallon bucket made to be dropped into your well casing to retrieve water but you have to remove the pump.
I’m exploring other options using a generator as well but a gas supply may be finite and a non powered way is preferred.

 

How deep is your well?

 

180 feet so not very.
I just started this thread idk if you saw the first post just thought it may interest you

 

I cheat on the water aspect, as my sole source is a well. We have backup power for it if needed and are only a little over a mile away from a lake... so, if needed, we have a way to get water that could be easily purified... unless real bad things happen that lead to severe pollution of the lake or ground water.

I also grew up hunting, farming and growing up off the land. So hopefully I could utilize that if needed.

I need to spend some more time with my mother in law to learn more about canning. We have been using a dehydrator more and vacuum seal and freeze a lot.

 

https://todayshomeowner.com/solar/guides/solar-well-pump/

 

Canning is relatively easy. Just takes time. Sometimes the food isnt as good as fresh but its food. Such as canned potatos. But the difference in jams and jellies is no comparing. They are way better than store bought

 

I have been considering a hookup for my generator so I could use it to at least fill water containers. That seems like a good approach but I like redundancies.
Christie has been dehydrating quite a bit for the last couple years and gotten back more into canning even canning meats. It’s all work but pretty rewarding

 

If one had the money a freeze dryer would be awesome. But last i looked they are about $3000

 

Damn I’d never seen one of those already a good idea thanks

 

because $2m homes, 60% tax, and right infringement isn’t an apocalypse that already happened

zombie and shovel is

why make zombies. Not profitable. Doesn’t make money.
Current state is better. Very profitable.

well yeah hunting for meat and deep freezer is probably cheaper than the store and more enjoyable.

 

They also use a crap load of electricity. Between her dehydrating and canning we had almost zero waste from the garden last year so I enlarged it this year

 

I have been canning peppers and relish style things for years, but my in laws can everything! From okra, green beans, squash to corn, peaches and apples... I just need some of her recipes and guidance.

My wife makes the jams and jellies... she does a strawberry freezer jam that causes fights at family gatherings.

 

lots good info here
https://pickyourown.org/recipes.htm

 

Dehydrated apples make good chips and pretty diabetic friendly

 

Bananas too!

 

Also look into fermenting pickles, saurkraut, hot peppers etc

 

I love them but too much sugar for me and the dehydrating concentrates it

 

We have not stepped into that realm yet

 

Yeah.... that won't happen in our house. I can the peppers, and I'm the only one that will touch kraut or pickles...