Winter/storm preperations?

Its now December and usually by now we should have several feet of snow in the mountains.  But right now, there isn't a lot of it.  None of it around the STG homestead.  But does that mean you don't prepare for it?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Being a prepper means you always try to Be Prepared like the scout saying says. 

When the temperatures start to change, we begin to go through our bug out bags, rotate our water stores, collect and split firewood, rotate out closets for warmer clothes etc.  We buy a cord of wood, split it and stack it so we can burn it in our wood stove if we ever needed to.  We also buy extra propane bottles for small heaters and stoves in case the power goes out and we can't use the kitchen stove or microwave.  I go through the house and make sure our rechargeable batteries and flashlights are fully charged. 

We had a wind storm come through 2 or 3 years ago that knocked out our power for about 17 hours and the wind made it extremely cold in the house.  We were somewhat prepared for this and we built a fire to warm up the house and  I fired up the generator a couple of times and plugged the fridge in so that we wouldn't loose any food.  Since then, I evaluate how prepared we were if the power had been out longer.  What did I learn? A few things!

Learning moment for me:

When the news said that we were going to get strong winds over the next couple days, I went out and fired up our small 800 watt generator to make sure it was ready.  Checked the fuel level and made sure it was topped off.  I also went out and split some more firewood and got it stacked in the house. 

We went to bed as the winds started to pick up.  Needless to say is was a pretty sleepless night with gusts up to 85 MPH.  We lost a small piece of siding off the side of the house and we just laid there waiting for more to go....luckily it never did.  When we woke up we surveyed the damage in our neighborhood.  Not to bad.  Power was out, lots of branches in the road, debris all over but we faired pretty good.  I went and fired up the generator and plugged the fridge in.  Well, what I didn't think about was extra fuel.  And the fuel I needed was mixed with oil.  Yup, I didn't have any stored up.  The generator ran good but I also felt it was a bit small.  It would only run the fridge, which at the time is all I was worried about.  Since then, we have a 1850 watt generator that will allow us to run/charge more items if we need to.  I also bought some solar generators from Goal Zero (www.goalzero.com).  From top to bottom pictures you have the Yeti family.  Yeti 150, Yeti 400, Yeti 1250 and then the 1250 kit with solar panels.

 We have since used all of them in various capacities and they work GREAT!  You can charge them by plugging them into the wall when you have power and they are ready to go!  OR, you can use solar panels with them and let the sun charge them.  The Yeti 150 is a smaller unit that is great for charging computers, phone, Ipad/Ipods etc.  The larger the numbers, the more power is stored and the more outlets you have.  We use the Yeti 1250 when we go to our property to run our coffee pot, lights around the campfire, charge radios etc.  We have 4 of the Boulder 30 solar panels that sit in the tripod shown above and let the sun recharge it.  Now, the 1250 is not light.  It weights a little over 100 pounds but it does come with a wheel kit that you can install. 

About a month ago or so we had the power go out again while we were all watching a DVD with our youngest daughter who is 3.  She got a little scared because it was dark.  Well, Goal Zero to the rescue.  You see, we also have some of their flashlights.  We have a couple of their Bolt flashlights as well as their Solo flashlights.  The Solo is very cool as it has its own solar panels built in!  I keep one of these in the window in the front room so its always charged.  Well, I give that one to our daughter who is happy to have light.  I then grab our Yeti 1250, wheel it into our bedroom and plug our TV and DVD player into it.  POOF!  Instant power and a happy little girl who can finish watching a movie.  Next, I grab the Yeti 400 and a couple of the Lite-a-life lights.  I plug the lights into the Yeti, string them from the ceiling and we have lights!  I grabbed the generator, fire it up and plug the fridge in and we are set.  The power was off for about 3 hours this time which wasn't bad but it did give me a chance to try out some of the items from Goal Zero and see how they performed. 

When I hear of storms coming in, I use that as a good "drill" to see how ready we are for it.  Needless to say with the new generator, I keep 10 gallons of fuel ready for it, plus its always full.  I run it 4 times a year, have the fuel stabilized and when I run it, I turn the fuel off before turning it off.  I let it run until it dies from no fuel.  This will keep the carburetor from gunning up with bad fuel. Also, a chain saw and chain saw sharpener has been purchased and extra fuel stored for it in case we need to cut up branches or fallen trees.

These are a few of the little things that we learned when the wind storm "blew" on through.  It blew over semis, uprooted trees and garbage was everywhere.....but we still had fun and none of us were injured.  Stay safe and let us know what YOU have learned in any "disasters". 

Armor and plate carriers

It's been a few months since I've blogged due to working on some things that have changed our life.  We have been adding some videos to our Youtube page on some reviews and our thoughts on some gear and will be doing more in the near future.  But for now, lets talk about armor and plate carriers.

As stated before, I was in the military and law enforcement.  This was in the era before plate carriers (PC) was standard use to all in service.  Lets look at PC's and armor for the "prepper".  What do you want to have?  How often will you wear it?  How much money do you have to spend? What are the threats you are worried about?   Do you even need it???

There are a lot of questions to consider when looking at armor.  Lets look at "do you even need it" first.  The simple answer is YES.  You do need some type of armor but AFTER you have the basics down.  Food, security, shelter and water filtration/purification should all come BEFORE you get into all the "ninja gear" that's out there.  People have been shot and still survived.  I don't know anyone who has starved to death....and lived, make sense?  All the gear in the world wont save you if you have nothing to eat, a dry place to stay and clean water so get the basics done first. 

How often will you wear it?  Depends.  What is the SHTF disaster that hit your area?  Is it like the looting/riots in Ferguson that happened this last month?  Is it an EMP?  Earthquake?  Did Red Dawn ACTUALLY happen?  For me, when SHTF, I plan to bug out as soon as possible.  Our Mutual Aid Team (MAT) have communication plans in place and know that we will all meet at our BOL as soon as possible.  I plan to wear armor while bugging out.  I also have armor for my wife and kids. We will also wear it religiously until the rest of the MAT arrives.  Why?  We don't know exactly what/who we will encounter.  Hostile?  Friendly?  Who knows, but we won't want to take any chances. 

What do you want?  This is a huge question.  Do you want plates that will stop rifle rounds?  will soft armor work for what you are anticipating?  Do you need it to be concealable?  Honestly, try and get one of each.  One set of rifle plates, even the AR500 stuff is great.  Ceramic plates get very expensive very fast as compared to the AR500.  Make sure it has the anti-spalling coating on it though.  One set of soft concealable armor as well.  This gives you flexibility.  You can even double up if you need to.  Put the rifle plates in front of the soft armor.  This is what most military issue vests do.  You have the SAPI plates in front of the soft armor.  Gives you extra protection.  Now take into consideration that layers will increase weight and make sure that you have ample clean water to drink.  You will sweat a LOT while wearing this, especially if in the heat and moving around.  Almost all of our armor are in carriers that at least allow the option of adding magazine pouches if we need to.  This also allows for flexibility.  Check out these videos I did of a couple of vests/carrier and armor we use at our training courses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0kVjboS_sY&list=UU4wO1Q6DZU4nde9oQlIizXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL4ValfJ4DM&list=UU4wO1Q6DZU4nde9oQlIizXA

There are a couple of options for you. 

Now costs on items like these will vary.  You can pick them up for a couple hundred bucks off of KSL.com, Craigs list, gun shows etc.  If you plant to buy knew, they can easily hit over $1000 PER SET.  Do you have kevlar helmets?  If you have vests, why not helmets?  We have helmets as well as eye protection. 

This is a PC from Grey Ghost Gear with the ceramic rifle plates in it that I'm using at our rifle fighting class. 

Remember to work on the basics FIRST, then worry about armor.  But YES, you should get some when time and money allows.  Who knows, maybe you will never need it....but if you need it, there won't be a substitute. 

Be safe and prep on!