So, much of this forum has to do with unusual situations involving outdoor adventures - canoe trips gone bad, hunting trips and so on. There's the ever popular "plane ditching" scenarios, and of course the "Ice Storm In Canada That Knocked The Power Out For Weeks"

There's also a smattering of silly "suburban survival" stories (such as when I once posted here about my 2 yr. old son and I having a mishap involving diarreah, a shopping mall and 5,280 feet to the car & a change of clothes).

But I have a serious question about equipped/preparedness that might be best answered by any Mormons on the list. The practice of equipping the home with a year's worth of supplies is well-reported practice of those of the Mormon faith, and now I'm beginning to see that I'm getting into the same mind-set about equipping the home.

What has set me off was a story in the news about a "pandemic" of the flu being all but "inevitable" which would most certainly be a situation where you'd want to stay home, out of contact with others, and able to keep your family fed, warm and safe.

I've become convinced that there's no real way to "bug out" in the event of a serious emergency - on the east coast there's no where to bug out TO and the roads are overwhelmed on an average day. "Bugging Out" is just not a realistic plan anymore.

So while it's fun to build kits for life "on the road" my interest is shifting towards building a home environment that's fully self-supporting for at least 3 months, but more like a year. This has forced me to reconsider my generator (currently gas powered, should be Diesel, since I can run it and heat off of the same tank), my water (I have 300,000 gallons in a pond & a 600' deep well) and most of all, food. We don't have much room for storage. So any advice on building a "Mormon Style" stockpile would be appreciated.

There's lots of good info at www.waltonfeed.com

You also might want to check out "Nuclear War Survival Skills" by Cresson Kearny. He has a whole section on food storage that is based on the Mormon "basic 4"

Also see if you can get "Passport to Survival" by Esther Dickey or the updated version, "New Passport to Suvival" by Dickey and Rita Bingham. Either one is an excellent primer on food storage and self sufficiency based on Mormon philosophy

You can also get in touch with the local LDS ward (that would be a Mormon church) and ask for some help/info/guidance. They're generally pretty helpful, or they were prior to Y2K anyway.

Hope this helps,
Ed

Martin,

I'm not Mormon, but I've played one on TV......just kidding. I did, however, live in Utah for a total of about 4 1/2 years and knew/know many Mormon families. Not all of them are that prepared. Some cannot afford to be, some simply chose not to. Also, while many are prepared to some degree or another, they all indicated that they are also counting on community support from other church members, and at least some support directly from the church. This is not intended to, nor can it be, all inclusive of Mormons everywhere, but from what I understood this is pretty common.

I have a small book entitled "How To Be Prepared" written by Roland Page. Mr. Page is a Mormon (actually I think "Latter Day Saint" is the preferred term now) and wrote the book for Mormons. In it, he addresses many of the things you are wondering about. It is dated (circa 1973), but much, if not most, of the info is still pertinent. PM me and I'll let you borrow it. If nothing else, the lists of things you need are valuable and enlightening. When you're done with it, post it on the Lending Library forum, and anyone else who wants to take a look can have a go.

I would also reccomend a book entitled "Bad Times Primer" by C.G. Cobb. It has a decidedly survivalist slant to it, but is one of the better treatments of the subject that I have seen. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy to lend you.

Take care,

Andy

Rocky mountain survival group is a treasur trove for long term survival information. Every thing from stockpiles for hunkering down to organic farming and composting toilets. Most of the information is just that technical information on how to ... Of course there are also the articles on political issues and even religious issues but if you simply want to know what to stockpile, where to get it, grow it, keep it running they are an invaluable resource.

Martin, I would like to clarify something here. The Latter Day Saint church, or Mormons do indeed suggest having the full years supply of foodstuffs, water, clothing and the like. But, in the last decade or so, there was made a recommendation to stock a 72 hour kit as recommended by authorities and then work into a 3 month supply and then a 6 month and so on and so on. This recommendation was based upon actual past experiences of church members who had tried to use a full years supply and finding out too late what they thought would carry them for a full year was actually a 3 months supply. More emphasis is placed on just being prepared and building a supply slowly and within your budget.

There is no magic list of what to stock, only you can do that by following some guidelines and staying within your desired goal. If space is a problem, then you need to consider a different length of time. I would make an excellant recommendation for any “kit” or storage program to rotate your supplies. Canned goods spoil, medicines perish and well you get the idea. I know of some who have stored wheat for over 20 years, though I do not recall anyone doing anything with it. Talk about very stale, yuck! You will find several good books on the subject of storage on the LDS church bookstore website www.deseretbook.com, click on the store then books, then click on preparedness. You will see a listing for over 16 titles.

Now for a little history on this matter, beginning with Brigham Young in the earliest days of the church the members were encouraged to be self-reliant and prepared for any event. Perhaps the best example of a “bug-out” situation is the early Mormons, fleeing persecution, left Illinois for Utah. Brigham Young actually devised a “survival list” (which I have a copy) of requirements for the journey, which includes items such as firearms, tools, foodstuffs, cloth, etc. Today the emphasis is on a self-reliant lifestyle. No mention of economic collapse type scenarios but prepared for any emergency, including loss of the primary income. Hunkering down or bugging in as some call it is a good way to be self reliant if you prepare for it.

The water is a good start, but what preparations have you made to pump water in the event the pond is contaminated? For the generator, unless it is good sized, then stay with gasoline, otherwise consider propane. Propane provides electricity, will heat the home and provide a source for cooking. Propane is less polluting and much more efficient. Make a list, involve your family and work from there. The pamphlets published through FEMA and the Red Cross give good solid basic guidelines for 72 hour kits, home preparations and what to do in an emergency.

A book to consider is The Secure Home by Joel Skousen. It discusses not only laying in supplies, but the other aspects of self-reliance, such as alternative heating systems, alternative energy, etc.

You can get the book from Mr. Skousen's webpage.

In some segments, the book has an anti-government slant, but I believe the other information is worthwhile.

~Wesley

I'd suggest James Talmadge Stevens' book, Making the Best of Basics, and more importantly, Backwoods Home magazine and web page. The web site is a great place to find information. Also, their bookstore is the best I've found for self-reliant living.

Be sure to check out the BHM anthologies--they're essentially a year's worth of the articles in the magazine, sans advertising, in a soft-bound book (some are also available on CD-ROM).

They also have a specific Emergency Preparedness guide that's pretty good, from what I hear.

David

hi there
From what I've gathered about this forum we are primarily looking for short term solutions to short term problems. Going down the route of storing large quantities of food, then maybe having to fortify your house in order to protect that food smacks more of the survivalist mentality. The question we all have to ask ourselves is what our definition of "being prepared" is, and how that differs, in purely preparedness terms, to our definition of a "survivalist"
However.... I can recommend a book, as linked below. It has some excellent adivice, but a liking for all things soya is a must <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
http://tinyurl.com/xrfq

martin

The term "survivalist" was originally coined by Kurt Saxon. His definition is someone who is simply prepared to survive. Think farmer vs. factory worker in a depression era setting. The farmer can provide for his family, the factory worker is on hard times. Saxon has little use for the Rambo-wannabe militia types. Some of his politics and views are admittedly out of the mainstream (as is his right) but his basic survivalist philosophy is not much different than what we talk about here or most church teachings - be prepared to take care of you and yours and help others to the best of your abilities in times of illness, economic hardship, or disaster (natural or manmade). Whether you feel your needs are covered by a 72 hour BOB or a year's supply in the basement is up to you. Either way, by definition, you are a survivalist.

Your level of fortification might be a deadbolt and alarm system or window bars, Rottweilers and a 12 ga. pumpgun. Either way, I happen to believe that I am justified in protecting myself, my loved ones, and my property. Some on this forum agree with that point of view, others don't. It's a personal choice that we each must make and live with.

To start branding people as survivalists in the negative, media buzzword context for simply discussing a slightly different level of preparedness is, IMHO, unjustified.

Just my $.02

Ed

thanks for the input. Yeah, it's a bit "end of the world as we know it" I go through this from time to time.

As far as economic hard times, well, been there, done that. In 2003, I made 10% of what I made in 2000, the year we bough our first house. We're not in any danger of loosing the house, my kids are fed & clothed and we want for nothing, so that's good.

My "self-reliance" urge is based mostly on reading too much, I think. Not only that, I see how poorly prepared people are to deal with adveristy when I respond to rescue calls or "special service" calls where people - 9 times out of 10 - got into a situation that just a small bit of preplanning would have prevented. That 1 in 10 call, where everything goes wrong, is actually the one I'm worrying about - the situation where things really DO get out of hand on a large scale.

Stuff like the flu epidemic, bio-warfare. Most times, I'm not thinking about it. But some nights...well, what the hell would i DO if there really was a bio-attack? I live 60 miles from NYC, and many people here commute to NYC to work, it's not like we're not in a "safe zone" you know?

Anyway, the "hunker down" urge waxes and wanes, it's just particularly strong this week.