I have been inventorying several areas of late and I have found that:

1) I am very short on meats; dried and canned, including dried shrimp. I am putting more emphasis on this shortfall.

2) I have no powdered eggs, for baking. I will remedy this shortfall after the 1st of the year.

3) I have found that I am now 10 gals short on gas. I have no clue as to who, or when, or what for, the gas was used. I will correct this this week,

4) I still have to outfit my stable of bicycles as second stage vehicles. I will procure the required panniers, saddle bags, and handlebar bags after the first of the year.

5) Weps are adequate without being unrealistically excessive by anyone's definition.

6) Communications are short IRT a shortwave receiver, more handheld transceivers, and a scanner. I will have to address these shortfalls over the course of next year.

7) The BoB's for DW and DD1 are inadequate. I will remedy this situation after the first of the year.

That's what I have found thus far. What inventories have y'all completed and what shortfalls have y'all found????????????

I'm lacking a solar powered sherpa.

Honestly, BOB could be framed so he rides a little better, and I need a better sleep system. The water filter was a gift when the current president's dad had the job, and the tech has improved. Need to look into hydration bladders, do some serious testing of them. Could use better food. Tyvek tarps to replace the current ones.

Ditch kit needs to be experimented with in terms of trying a true vest configuration. Hopefully one that will allow me to up my water load there, and have enough area so I can empty one of the EOD pouches and keep it open for my bag of tricks.

On location, need to have rain catch system set up. A couple more sprout sets.

Need to replace zipper in my heavy parka.

Need a new BOV, it's making a funky rattle.

Need to get a better cash flow. *crossing fingers*

Actually, that latter will fix most of these ills.

It is true that Preparation is like car racing,,, speed is just a question of money,,,,and so is preparation.

At this point, the weak link in our preps is teaching DW how to use some of the gear and making sure we have the right-sized clothes for DD1&2 in the bugout bag. They grow like weeds!

The only other thing I can think of right now is to till up more land for the garden.

-Blast

bicycles are a good idea. Let me know when you get to that stage and I can offer advice.

teacher

Can you put a seal on the gas storage can/tanks to tell if someone had used some? Check for leaks.

How about a small trailer for the bike(s). A great way to haul gear without overloading the bike.

That's easy, train some woodchucks to do it for you.

Amazing what you can grow as "potted" plants. I had a number of veggies and herbs growing in large pots this summer, when garden space was a premium. Weeding was almost not needed with the pots, almost plant and forget until harvest time. The pots required little watering in my area.

I've tried that over and over without any luck. My main problem with potted plants DW isn't very good at watering them while I'm away on business. The Texas sun will desicate a plant in hours here. They need to be watered in the morning and in the evening.

With my raised beds I can get enough water into the soil for the plants to go a day or two between watering.

Sidenote: okra plants go nuts here. Yummy!

-Blast

Funny how that becomes the solution to many of life's problems (re: cars, home repairs, vet bills for dog, medical bills for DW and me...)

The good news is that Christmas is just around the corner. Hopefully the ETS Santa (a/k/a Mom and Dad-in-Law) will be generous this year.