What are everyone's prepping plans for 2013? Here are mine:

My big ones are to add to my water and food supply. I currently have one 55-gallon drum of water and a couple cases of bottled water. I plan to add another 3 cases of bottles, two 5-gallon LCI jerry cans, and another 55-gallon drum by the end of 2013. Also planning on adding 1 or 2 IBC totes for rainwater collection.

Also currently have six assorted #10 cans from Mountain House. I plan on tripling that by the end of 2013 and adding more cans of food in the pantry also. I'll feel a little more secure when I have somewhere in the 1 month range for 3 people set aside. And start making jerky with the deer we kill in the back yard.

Also wouldn't hurt to double the amount of ammo I have on-hand. Currently about 500 rounds for the .45 and around 5k rounds for the 10/22. Also want to add a shotgun and a rifle to the collection. I've also been wanting to make the Jeep a little bit more pavement-friendly (it's tough as nails and goes anywhere, but sucks to drive on the road) and keep a little gas on-hand for it rather than just what's in the tank.

With a new baby on the way, our nesting instincts are kicking in. Our big ones this year are to:

-filling the gaps in the panty and freezer and keep them full
-at least double our drinking water supply
-finding some sort of a back-up power supply and/or heating method for the house
-help DD get a preparedness mindset of her own in her apartment
-continue working with DS and DD on their survival skills
-repack my Jeep Liberty (the family BOV) so that we can more easily fit both emergency supplies, groceries and the baby and her gear (i.e. stroller)
-building a baby bob and updating the famly bob and my bob/ghb
-DD and DS are also planning a survival weekend this summer with my nephew

Personally, I'm also going to have a healthy weight loss challenge in 2013. I've put on 30 pounds so far during this pregnancy and I have no expectations that it's just going to melt off when she's born. Taking advantage of hiking all our local trails is going to be my go to exercise of choice.

For myself, I'm feeling good about the supplies we have on hand given the storage we have and the state of our finances. In 2013, I'm planning to learn how to use a chainsaw and get one. I'd also like to get out camping more. My ham shack is still in boxes and I need to get it going and get a couple of antennas up. I'd also like to put a mobile rig in my car.

haven't used the pressure canner yet... will try some chicken, ground meat, and hot dogs...work on losing weight..shoot a little more practical rifle and 3 gun...a few more peppers and aromatics in the Earth Boxes and harvest seeds...possibly look into a technician license for amateur radio

Jackie,
Breast feeding is one good way to take off pregnancy-induced weight gain. As long as you breast feed, you're expending calories at a 25% greater rate than normal. So, the longer you breast feed, the better for you and your baby.

Breast feeding is on the agenda. Thanks JPickett!

hahha!! Poor Izzy. You know I love ya! I didn't take any offense.

FWIW, when my son was born, he had medical complications that made traditonal breast feeding nearly impossible. Our solution was to combine the best of both worlds: we bottle fed him with my pumped breast milk. It worked out beautifully. He was getting breast milk, but I still had to defend myself because several people made uniformed, wrong assumptions based on the bottle. With no intention of ingiting the breast feeding wars here on ETS.... it makes me mad when people judge others based on limited information, and our breast feeding status seems to make us instant public targets. You, Izzy and every other ETSer have never made me feel that way, although Frisket (I think) had a thread a few years ago that came really close. He planned to stock formula to help his neighbours in an emergency and a few voices chimed in to say that he should save his money and instead extoll the virtues of breast feeding to those people. My blood got a little bubbly during that one.

I still remember the little buzz,tish,buzz,tish,buzz,tish of my wife's pump, daughter refused to latch so she pumped for 6 months but her supply dried up when she got sick then and no amount of pumping could get it going again.
We kept on living normally, had a portable pump that ran on 4 AA's and I carried a spare pack of Eneloops and a MAHA C401FS charger. She would be pumping while I was driving and we had the other 4 batteries in the c401fs plugged into a 12v port on the dash.

Definitely water,its my Achilles heel,also a wood burner heater of some kind,some cord wood.IE,better cold preps,we can do better.

Will get a greenhouse built as finances allow comfortably,so far thats looking good.Play more with the hydroponics in the greenhouse.

Getting lazy on the range,actually we have been busy last couple months,want better skill with the shotgun.Weve been working up on mechanics and stronger loads.

I support Mommy rights 100% !!! You feed anywhere you like in my book.IMO there is nothing more natural,healthy or beautiful than a baby and its Mom.

Oh,would love some training on wild edibles,we had ONE class up here we learned of after the fact,thats something I would really like.

The books with pictures just dont register on my brain,I need actual experience.

I need to:

Pick up several more jerry cans and get some pool shock.

Do more BOB practice runs, and start doing some "get-home" practice runs.

Get in better physical shape. Lots more PT. (An office job will kill you as surely as any disaster).

Continue teaching my wife to use her bug-out gear.

Build a better truck kit.

Cut more firewood.


This is just scratching the surface.

Double my stock of water
Double my stock of esbit cubes
(OK not exactly ESBIT but something similar)

Add a few more propane canisters for the home
Buy a gas-based camping stove (actually thinking of two)

um, ahem, thinking about standing up and doing some excercise.

And one I forgot to add, I bought a dehydrator last night and am already trying it out making some strawberries, apples, and bananas.

1. A grab and go first-aid kit. A car accident occurred around my house the other day. I heard braking, and then I heard a crash. It didn't immediately occur to me to run out and see if anyone needed help, but when it did, there was already a crowd. No one was hurt, fortunately. But this made me think I should have a first-aid kit by the door so I can help if I can.

2. Take a course in wilderness first-aid. I'd do the EMT course except it's too much commitment at this point in my life.

3. Get my HAM license. This was my goal last year, but I haven't gotten around to it.

4. The CERT teams in my area meet monthly. We did an exercise earlier this fall. But because my job has been so busy, and I've been so unlucky with scheduling, that I haven't been able to make it. I should probably get back in touch.

5. Still interested in taking a survival course. Again, this is going to depend on my time and resources.

6. I should probably inspect my pantry, update it if necessary.

Bingley... a tool box makes a pretty sturdy home for a first aid kit... my car kit is a "plastic" 50cal ammo can, and a separate trauma bag for the range

Also forgot one more, adding more CCTV cameras. Might not help much in a long-term SHTF but for day-to-day stuff, I like to be able to see what's going on outside and record it also.

Got my DVR moved today to a different part of the house instead of the living room entertainment center, swapped up to a beefier power supply to run more cameras, and swapped one camera out to a day-night IR model for night vision.

Up next is to install 4 more cameras to give me roughly 270 degree view around the house and 1 VERY good image of the driveway. Not too worried right now about the other corner of the house as that's a cow pasture that wouldn't be easy to cross to approach from that direction.

SO left for Africa early Saturday am and will return in about 8 months time. Left me a detailed to do list which will probably take just as long to work through...

Prep related is getting a few more 7 gallon water jugs and a couple more 5 gallon gas cans (not just for home, but also for our off-road adventures.) Also the main first aid kit needs some attention and needs a bigger container for better organization. I seen in one post here that mentions to use a plastic tool box which is a great idea and I will keep a eye out for a suitable box.

Other then that, we are squared away enough on other supplies given our expected threat levels which are all low in probability.

Plan to get out do a lot more solo hiking day and overnight trips after Christmas and also looking forward to my 2 week solo trip which is now tentatively planned for early July.

Congratulations.
... increasing the tribe is a good idea, if a little extreme form of prepping ! I think my tribe is at about the right size. lol

Lose Weight, Get More people I know into Proper prepping, Help Those close to me obtain/update items to help them prep.

1. Increase water storage capability. With summer temps at or near 100 (summer = May thru Oct) water is vital.

2. Increase food supplies. I gotta use that dehydrator wife bought a long time ago.

3. Add to ammo stock. Mainly .22

4. Do finishing touches on BoBs and set up rotation system for some items. Ditto 1st Aid bag.

5. Pay off credit cards and keep them at or near zero balance. (not really in deep debt, and this will happen by April at the latest)

Of course, this is predicated on the world not ending next week. If it does, scratch all of the above.

I'm a big fan of the Kidde combined smoke/CO detectors. No affiliation.

We install systems at work that are covered up with cameras, so for me mine isn't that extreme. I just like being able to pick up the remote, change channels on the TV and see everything that's going on outside without getting up off the couch.

No signs for me other than the company van out in the yard with the name of an alarm company on it. And a couple of alarm company signs and stickers. But the house is very well covered as far as alarm equipment. Outdoor motion lights are on my list as well.

Congratulations Izzy!!

You can try it out next time (if ?) you have a camp fire. Its good to test out these things when you get a chance and better than throwing it out full.

Hey Izzy...Congrats on the new home!

If new house means buying a washing machine,recent research I did into subject shows the speedqueen toploader to be a tank in appliance clothing,all metal gears,work arounds for the energy regs that prohibit filling to full instead of mandated 3/4 full,real hot water,not the mandated warm water standards.

They get around it by being a commercial machine....oh,and no computer thats a cash cow killer on machines for breakdowns,no mold issues like many.....list goes on and on and on.

I came across this in my search for a dishwasher,try finding a good one of those,good luck!

Start at 729 dollars.....no affiliation with company or seller,but after this is our next machine when time comes

http://www.us-appliance.com/awn412.html

FWIW I'd still get a CO detector,cheap insurance a neighbors truck or genny,whatever, doesnt kill you.

My list for 2013 while short is hardly simple.
Build a better BOB/GHB. RIght now it has a fair amount of stuff; PSK, FAK, Extra socks, shemagh, multi-tool, water bottle, umbrella, etc. I just feel like it's not up to snuff, and it seems to weigh a bit for what's in it. So, that's my goal. Not much but for me, it'll be enough.

-Jason

I haven't posted here much or been around in a while, this seems as good a place to jump back in as any.

My goal is to create kits, with lists, that I can feel confident about.

Right now I'm not going to set my sights on them being ideal, but rather just to create something from scratch that I'm fully familiar with and where every component has a purpose specific to myself and that I've contemplated and worked on. The polishing up can happen some other year.

Not much compared to where some of you are at, but it'd be an improvement on my current haphazard setup. That and working on physical wellbeing will be enough to keep my hands full this year.

This year DW and I are completing the switch to fully organic and preservative-free food. Probably 85% there already. This requires copious amounts of meal planning and new storage solutions.

We are having another winter like the last few where a substantial amount of snow falls and then thaw-refreeze cycles create treacherous icy walking conditions on the trails. Coupled with sub-zero temps, outdoor exercise is difficult. I'm hitting the dreaded treadmill this year to maintain my weight and conditioning through the winter.

Planning several camping expeditions and multi-day prairie walks between May and October, and getting everything in order to pull those off.

I'm organizing my outdoor and emergency gear. I know many are in favor of a BoB, but I have decided (and am fortunate to have the space) to set up an area of shelving units right next to my food storage area that hold store-style all of my backpacks and totes along with all of my other gear like stoves, lights, camp knives, FAK, survival gear etc. I can grab a bag and fill it quickly for a hike, a hunting trip, or an emergency in one or two minutes.

One of the things I've really been working on is upgrading each piece of gear I own to better stuff. I started out the SHTF bag for cheap with lesser quality items originally.

Just like my EDC knife, I had carried a $24 Smith & Wesson folder for a couple years while the blade got looser, thumbscrew kept falling off, etc... Then I stepped up to a Kershaw Blur Tanto and am much happier with it.

I went from having a contractor bag in the SHTF bag for shelter to having a 10'x10' Silnylon tarp with tieouts. Went from cheaper rope to real paracord. Replaced my crappy FAK with a much better one, etc...

I still want to get a chance one day to actually go out and live off the contents of the bag for a few days.