Shelter
Project Prepper: On The Move
Those who’ve been following my “Project Prepper” series of posts know that I’ve been planning a move out of the city of Chicago to the northwest suburbs by late spring (eventual destination, Wisconsin).
Well, it’s late spring, and I’m moving.
The closing is scheduled for next week. It’s the same house I blogged about in an April 16 “Project Prepper” post.
I also mentioned then:
Some time ago I put together a “wish list” for what I’d like a Chicago-area property to have. This includes the potential for:
• An emergency water supply
• A food garden
• Effective layers of security
• Going “off the grid”Oh, I almost forgot to mention a fenced-in yard for a guard or watch dog.
This suburban property definitely has the potential for all these things. Partial brick construction, spacious backyard, an area all ready set aside for gardening, and more.
By this time next week, my girlfriend and I should have closed on the new place. Can’t wait to get in there, get settled-in, and get to work on a number of different preparedness projects which I plan on discussing in upcoming “Project Prepper” posts.
In the meantime, I’m awaiting a couple of new products that are related to my emergency water supply. First, there’s the LifeStraw Portable Water Filter, a personal water filter that removes dangerous bacteria and protozoa. I ordered the LifeStraw- which filters over 264 gallons- from CampingSurvival.com for only $19.95, which includes shipping (ordering info here on CampingSurvival.com). Also, I’m waiting on a WaterBOB Emergency Drinking Water Storage device- a water containment system that holds up to 100 gallons of fresh drinking water in any standard bathtub in the event of an emergency or survival situation- from CampingSurvival.com as well (ordering info here on CampingSurvival.com- at present, they’re out of stock). I look forward to checking out these two devices and talking about them in a future “Project Prepper” post.
More soon…
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Project Prepper: House Hunting In The Chicago Suburbs
It’s been years since I’ve been this busy. As I mentioned the other week, in addition to having a family member in the hospital, house hunting is taking up a lot of my time these days. You may recall from a number of earlier “Project Prepper” posts that my girlfriend and I planned some time ago to move out of Chicago to the northwest suburbs by late spring.
The big picture looks to be “purgatory” in Illinois for a couple of more years before eventual “sanctuary” in southeastern Wisconsin.
(Editor’s note: Related posts here, here, and here)
Well, it’s spring now, and not only have we looked at a number of single-family residences out in the ‘burbs, but we’re now “under contract” to purchase one of these homes.
Ironically, the very first one we looked at.
After crunching the numbers, it made more sense for us to buy rather than rent. And while we would have liked to live as close to my girlfriend’s place of employment as possible, the situation is a lot like what I blogged about back in November:
Unfortunately, the prices of many homes within walking distance of my girlfriend’s place of employment are extremely high, and considering that this suburban residence may only be temporary for us, I’m not sure buying makes a whole lot of sense here. Because my girlfriend is open to incurring a small commute time, the purchase of a house in an adjoining suburb that has more affordable housing and lower property taxes might be a better option. Plus, should we move into the subdivision of that neighboring suburb that we’ve been looking at for some time now, my girlfriend would be very close by to several members of her immediate family. Renting hasn’t been ruled out either.
In a nutshell, the single-family residence we hope to close on in a month or so is in that neighboring suburb with the more affordable housing and lower property taxes. While not in the same subdivision as her family, we’re right next door.
But more about the house. At least as it relates to “Project Prepper.” Some time ago I put together a “wish list” for what I’d like a Chicago-area property to have. This includes the potential for:
• An emergency water supply
• A food garden
• Effective layers of security
• Going “off the grid”
Oh, I almost forgot to mention a fenced-in yard for a guard or watch dog.
This suburban property definitely has the potential for all these things. Partial brick construction, spacious backyard, an area all ready set aside for gardening, and more.
As such, I sure hope everything works out and I’ll be able to move into the official “Project Prepper” lab later this spring.
More soon.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Project Prepper: Prioritizing And Balancing My Preparedness Activity Going Forward
Back on February 7, I blogged about Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast-fame and his insistence on preparedness focusing on 6 “innate survival needs:”
• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Energy
• Security
• Sanitation and Health
I declared:
I’ve come across similar lists in the preparedness material I’ve studied. But now I’m inspired to make these “needs” the focus of my “Project Prepper” series of posts going forward.
Where to begin, where to begin? Well, time to hit the prepping/survivalism-related books and material cluttering my home office and elsewhere around my pad for ideas.
Which is what I did. And according to SurvivalBlog.com editor James Wesley, Rawles, where to begin doesn’t seem to be as important as balancing the preparedness activity. He wrote in his book How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times:
Don’t go overboard in one area at the expense of another. Preparedness takes balance… Maintaining that balance takes both focused planning and self-control.
Still, my gut feeling tells me right now I should be focusing on “Security” before other needs. Why’s that? Because this latest push for more gun “control” that’s going on in America right now could end up limiting my access to a number of tools and other accessories that I could use to construct an effective security setup.
Also, I’d feel more comfortable getting a jump on Water and Food (with water being more of a priority as a person can only last around three days without it, as opposed to around three weeks without food).
As for Shelter? Well, I’ve already done some work in this area as a number of readers already know, making plans to move out of the City of Chicago to the Northwest suburbs in late spring, with hopes of eventually acquiring a homestead in Southeast Wisconsin in a few years.
Finally, not much will probably be done regarding Energy and Sanitation/Health until after the move to the suburbs. But I do plan on getting some American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED instruction as soon as I can.
As a result, that list of 6 “innate survival needs” that my preparedness efforts will focus on has now been reordered to look like this:
• Security
• Water
• Food
• Shelter
• Sanitation and Health
• Energy
Still, I will strive to keep these efforts balanced, as Rawles suggests.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
On TV: Doomsday Preppers ‘Solutions Not Problems’ Preview
Season 2 of National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Preppers TV series continues tonight with a special Valentine’s Day episode, “Solutions Not Problems,” which airs at 9 PM ET.
I was lucky enough to be provided an advance-screening of the “Bachelor Prepper” episode. From a Nat Geo Channel press release I received at the end of last week:
Prepping for an economic collapse, Jeff is converting a decommissioned missile silo into the perfect bug-out getaway. But that’s not all Jeff is focused on. With an online dating profile, he is also searching for a special someone who can share his love for prepping. We’ll see Jeff, a bachelor on the lookout for love, not only work on his bunker, but also go on multiple dates to find his prepper mate. Will he select one to take to his secret bunker? We also meet Doug, who lives in the mountains of Tennessee. He currently runs his own stone quarry, and the locals call him “Rockman.” But what they may not know is that he is using rocks to prepare his underground bunker for the upcoming economic collapse. Will he build a safe haven out of his rock stockpiles?
Jeff Flaningam is a 37-year-old Wisconsin bachelor who owns 19-acres out in central Kansas- with a decommissioned Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silo buried underneath it. Jeff is hard at work turning the abandoned missile base into a livable bug-out location. He told viewers:
I’m preparing for a catastrophic economic collapse.
According to the show:
The national debt currently totals more than $16 trillion. Jeff believes that if nothing is done to change this, the U.S. could go from becoming a global economic leader, to a nation struggling to provide food, water, and power. He worries that the consequences of such a collapsing economy could last indefinitely.
Flaningam added:
Transportation system falls apart, fuel costs go through the roof, people can’t get the goods that they need. The normal courtesy that we share with our fellow man is going to degrade and get thrown out of the window. Violence would be rampant. I don’t think anyone can know how long an event like that could last. I know I have to be prepared to stay off the grid for as long as it takes.
The Wisconsin-based prepper plans on bugging out 800 miles to the Kansas bunker when the first signs of a SHTF situation arise.
But before that happens, he’d like someone to share those “special times” with.
“Doug,” aka “Rockman,” owns a stone quarry in the Tennessee mountains. He told viewers:
I’m prepping for an economic collapse that will change the world forever.
Doug added later:
Our economy is in distress. And I don’t see it getting better. Can you imagine paying $17 trillion dollars back?
Along with his employee and best friend Inés, the two of them are shown building an underground shelter constructed out of a shipping container that their families will use as a bug-out location, and putting a 3-tiered defensive plan for the bunker into place.
It was a fun, informative, and not too overboard (reality TV-wise) episode to watch. And if you’re not into that lovey-dovey stuff, at least catch it for the “Rockman’s” segment, where he, with the help of a former U.S. President, shows you an easy way to make money from money.
Don’t worry. You’ll get what I’m talking about by watching tonight’s episode.
For more information about the TV series visit the Doomsday Preppers page on the National Geographic Channel website here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Resource Of The Week: Living The Country Life Magazine
During the cold, gloomy days here in the urban jungle, it’s rather difficult to envision having a rural, self-sufficient homestead in the coming years.
And it’s just as hard finding motivation to work towards such a goal.
I like to get my inspiration from a number of places, including the latest material from Living the Country Life magazine, “Ideas and Inspiration for Your Place in the Country.”
When my girlfriend and I first got satellite TV, I noticed a show on called Living the Country Life- which I later found out was an offshoot of a magazine by the same name. I put it on once, and even though I’m a city-dweller, I really liked it. I mean really liked it. Perhaps it was because the neighbors were being especially loud that day. Or jumbo jets from nearby O’Hare Airport had been routed over my home. Or City Hall had gotten the City of Chicago into another fine mess. I can’t say for sure. But the show really inspired me to look into rural living, which I eventually decided to pursue.
From the website’s “Media Kit” section:
Living the Country Life inspires affluent rural homeowners to maximize their enjoyment of their place in the country.
The Living the Country Life brand includes a magazine, Web site, radio show, video solutions and database.
About that “affluent” part- that’s not really the case. I don’t think you have to be a rural property owner “of means” to appreciate, and more importantly, utilize the information provided in the quarterly magazine or by the other offerings of the “brand.” Although, be prepared for a healthy dose of ads in the print publication.
To give you an idea of what’s inside each issue of the magazine, here’s the table of contents from the Fall 2012 edition:
• From My Place To Yours
• Comments From The Country
• Saving Barns One Piece At A Time
• Cover Story: 5 Steps To Beautiful Fall Containers
• Top 10 Tools For Fall Cleanup
• Wheat By Design
• Product Guide: Utility Vehicles
• Feeding And Housing Birds
• 10 Fall Chores
• A Bit About Minis
• Recipes: Canning Pears
• Brent Olson: Settle In, Cherish Fall
Total number of pages: 40.
As each issue is typically around this size, don’t expect anything too in-depth about a particular topic. I often find myself jumping on the Internet to do more supplemental research into something interesting I’ve come across.
Another offering from Living the Country Life I take advantage of is their “Weekly Update Newsletter,” another great resource for information about rural living. From the latest e-mail, “26 mistakes to avoid on your acreage:”
• 6 acreage blunders
• 12 reasons electric fences fail
• 7 landscaping mistakes to avoid
• Step up security
• Mini-Course: Garden planning (Week 3: Build a raised bed cloche in 8 steps)
• Betsy’s Blog: What’s your sign?
• Recipes: 10 sweets for your sweetheart
• Country Homes: 11 mudroom organizational tips
“Acreage Security”
YouTube Video
Another offshoot of the magazine is the radio show. Living the Country Life is the largest rural radio network in the country, with 350 stations airing the show twice a day. It’s hosted by Editor/Host Jodi Henke and Editor-In-Chief Betsy Freese, and they share tips from experts across the U.S. “to help you around your acreage.” To give you an idea of the subject matter discussed, the last three radio shows were:
• Bovine respiratory disease
• Feeding piglets
• Country View: Keith Yearout- Bison Farming- Lake City, KS
Now, did I mention that all of this material is free? Yep. Even the magazine.
Even though I’m still a few years away from acquiring that homestead I want, I’m already starting to compile research. This includes information I’ve obtained from the Living the Country Life magazine and other offerings. I feel it will prove to be handy down the road. Hopefully, it might be of some use to you too.
Stop by the Living the Country Life website here for more information.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Project Prepper: Moving Forward
So far with my “Project Prepper” series of posts, it’s been decided that:
• Due to my increased awareness of man-made and naturally-occurring threats to my life and lifestyle (and those of my loved ones), it’s probably wise to acquaint myself more with “prepping” via a sustained “hands-on” program of learning and doing
• This program will coincide with my goal of establishing a southeastern Wisconsin (perhaps not ideal, but good enough) homestead in a couple of years
• Plans are also in place to move out of Chicago for the suburbs (not ideal, but will have to do for now) in the late spring
Time to move forward.
Yesterday, I blogged about The Survival Podcast’s Jack Spirko and his new Texas homestead. But back in mid-January Spirko released two shows- “Episode 1,056- Zero to Prepared- Fast, Simple, and Low Cost- Part 1” and “Episode 1,057- Zero to Prepared- Fast, Simple, and Low Cost- Part 2” that were not only tremendously informative (as usual) but helpful in that they gave me ideas regarding the direction I wanted to take “Project Prepper” in.
Spirko pointed out that preparedness must concentrate on 6 “innate survival needs,” which includes:
• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Energy
• Security
• Sanitation and Health
I’ve come across similar lists in the preparedness material I’ve studied. But now I’m inspired to make these “needs” the focus of my “Project Prepper” series of posts going forward.
Where to begin, where to begin? Well, time to hit the prepping/survivalism-related books and material cluttering my home office and elsewhere around my pad for ideas.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Jack Spirko’s New Texas Homestead
It’s been a while since I last spoke of modern survivalist Jack Spirko on this blog. Being a fan of The Survival Podcast, I still listen to his show on a regular basis.
Some time ago, Spirko revealed that he was leaving Arkansas to return to Texas and establish a homestead there. Well, Spirko bought a 3-acre property, just completed the big move, and recently gave listeners a video tour of his new property:
“Tour of the New TSP Homestead”
YouTube Video
Love it. Especially the “man cave.” Not to mention the dogs.
I can’t wait to hear/see how Jack develops this homestead.
Congratulations to the Spirko family on the new home.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Doomsday Prepper Peter Larson’s Underground Shelter
Fans of the National Geographic Channel hit TV show Doomsday Preppers- remember Peter Larson? Larson appeared in the series pilot back in the summer of 2011. I blogged back then:
The Larson family- Peter Larson lives with his wife, children, and grandchildren in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. Fearing a nuclear strike (it looks as if Peter is describing an electromagnetic pulse attack in the show), the Larsons have constructed a Rocky Mountain retreat for twelve. For those of you who don’t know what an EMP attack is, it’s when a nuclear device is detonated in the atmosphere, where it’s theorized the resulting electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast will “fry” microchips at the heart of electronic devices, rendering them useless.
Well, Mr. Larson is back in the spotlight again these days. From the CNN website last night:
Inside a Doomsday Prepper bunker
Gary Tuchman talks to a peaceful man in Utah who is proud to call himself a survivalist. He built an elaborate $65,000 bunker stocked with supplies, money and weapons. Watch this up close look at his hideout.
Nice setup. And nicely done by Gary Tuchman and CNN, considering the number of hack-job pieces out there these days on underground shelters and their owners.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Project Prepper: Why Wisconsin?
By the time I started this blog back in November 2010, I already had a pretty good idea I’d eventually be leaving the city of Chicago to reside someplace else. And every once in a while, I’d query the “best places” to live in America- should TSHTF or not. While the area of southeastern Wisconsin I’m looking at moving to in a few years is probably not “ideal” (even less so the suburbs of Chicago) from a prepper’s perspective, practitioners of modern survivalism would probably see more positives than negatives with the location. Keeping in mind that not only do I envision a certain lifestyle for myself down the road, but I also think I have a pretty good idea of what will be required to “survive and prosper” in America in the coming years, this part of the Midwest really appears to be a nice fit not only for me but my girlfriend as well. Here’s hoping it is.
Truth be told, while I really should be focusing on finding and eventually nailing down a suburban residence in my remaining four months in the “Windy City,” I can’t help but check out properties north of the Illinois state line every once in a while to see what’s out there. Some nice 5-acre properties are available at what seem to be very reasonable prices.
If only my girlfriend and I could win the lottery. I mean, if only we could win the lottery sooner rather than later.
Check back Friday when I share a nice resource I came across recently while verifying the “Badger State” is the place to be for me.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Heading Into Or Already In The Bunker?
Considering we are already at the eve of December 21, 2012, and I’ve heard believers in something cataclysmic taking place Friday and who also own underground shelters are on the verge of heading into them (if they’re not already in the bunkers), does anyone from this group care to share anything with the rest of us who’ve chosen to dismiss the date and remain topside? Mature replies only.
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