Food Security, is it time to?

Northern Raider August 2011

http://preppersuk.freeforums.org

Have you noticed the constant steady supply of news stories from across the world about problems with food security?



Droughts in Russia and Ukraine and parts of the US in the last 3 years causing wheat and other grain prices to more than double, and at times the grain itself being in short supply. In India and Indochina rice crops were so bad they stopped exporting rice overseas, Australian droughts then floods left much of their export crops ruined. Food safety issues from Foot & Mouth (again) Salmonella in European eggs (again), Various food poisoning outbreaks from wholesale suppliers in the UK. Salmonella and other problems from various sources affecting Bean sprouts, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Celery, Water Cress and other salad foods all in recent months. Some citrus fruits over treated with blight control chemicals etc. Reports (unconfirmed) of farmers in southern Europe and North Africa fertilising salad and other fresh food crops with UNTREATED human waste instead of treated and pasteurised which is safe. And it was topped off with the EU and European food standards agencies flailing around without success trying to identify the sources of the outbreaks.



Then if you look further afield reports of grossly excessive use of pesticides on some South American crops, the continued excessive use (according to some) of the use of Steroids in beef cattle (USA) and Antibiotics (UK).

Followed by the current break news stories coming from China and its satellite states about food stuff actually killing children, melamine found in baby formula, other poisons found in Bamboo shoots and noodles exported to Japan, Meat that glowed in the dark, Bread buns injected with die to make them look better, Poisoned milk and dairy products being openly sold etc.



Down Vietnam way the sea food industry rocked almost weekly about tiger and king prawns being injected with chemicals known to cause cancer to make them grow bigger. Fish coated with Formaldehyde (normally used to preserve dead bodies) to make them look fresher.



So we have some very serious issues facing us over what and how we feed our families as its clear many “Official” government approved food production systems are seriously flawed.



That of course is compounded by the HUGE increase in the costs of basic food stuffs from Milk, Cheese, Bread, Flour, Rice, Fresh foods, Fruit Juices, Root crops etc. I note on a personal basis our local COOP store and the local small Tesco has been struggling at times to keep even the essential supplies on the shelves at affordable prices.



Guys even most supermarkets own label budget brand foods are rocketing in price and apart from the extra impact on our wallets I find myself asking



“What economy steps and measure will the big farmers, producers and chain stores take to keep their products looking like bargains?”



Will they dilute fruit juices and milk even more?

Will they add more preservatives to make the shelf life longer?

Will they use bulking out agents to fill out the products that bit more

Will they use lower quality ingredients to keep the product “affordable”

Will they start using more hormones and growth boosting chemicals on the raw materiels.



The old adage of “We are what we eat” is starting to become rather alarming as I as a father find myself getting more and more concerned about food security, food safety and food availability in this worrying economic climate, so we have to start asking questions and looking for answers on how we can regain control over our food supplies for our families.









Is it time to start buying only from local growers and suppliers, small holders and allotment holders

Is it time to stop buying cheap imported veg from Southern Spain and North Africa

Is it time to stop buying farmed sea food from Asia and get to know your local trawlermen.

Is it time to stop buying Asian grown long grain rice and only buy Californian?

Is it time to buy only locally grown free range or semi free range chicken and eggs

Is it time to start keeping your own Chickens and Rabbits

Is it time to stop buying store baked bread and just buy flour to make your own?

Is it time to turn your yard or garden in part at least over to growing your own food?



Stockpiling and caching supplies of plentiful affordable food when it is on offer is only one preventative step we can and should take, especially for WTSHTF scenarios, but even on a normal day to day basis the issue of food security has moved much further up the list of “ To Do’s”



I think we must now at least look very close at the labels on the fresh foods to see where they come from, and where possible try and source locally grown food from known and trusted sources.

A Survival Kit To Keep Your Car Going

Original Article

from Modern Survival Blog - surviving hard times by ken (Modern Survival Blog)

1 person liked this

While many offer opinions about survival kits to be kept in your vehicle, tailored towards keeping you, the human, going… here is a twist on that thought while considering keeping your CAR going.
A survival kit to help keep your car keep going (except after an EMP event), may include some of the following 25 items stored in your vehicle (in no particular order). The list is intended to give you ideas while at the same time knowing that there is no perfect list.



1. Extra Motor oil. At least 2 quarts to keep your engine from suffering damage if the oil becomes too low. Cars, especially older cars, will burn some oil due to natural engine wear, and eventually will require a top-off.

2. Radiator fluid and distilled water. Enough to completely fill up your radiator at least once. Regular water will damage your radiator.
3. Extra fuses. At least 3 each of all proper amperage that your fuse panel needs. Cannot emphasize just how important fuses are to have on hand. Your vehicle’s electronic parts such as the starter, fuel pump, and others must have workable fuses to operate. Having said that though, often times when a fuse blows, it is the result of a short or failure – inserting a new fuse may simply blow again (it’s worth a try though).
4. Portable battery starter. (Also, jumper cables) There may not be anyone around to recharge your battery if it goes dead. You will go nowhere if you cannot start your car somewhere.
5. Standard spare tire. Even two if there is room. Those doughnut tires are okay to get you short distance at reduced speeds, but having an actual standard size tire or tires ready to go is so much better. Tire places will likely have the rim and tire for a spare for you to purchase.

6. Tire air compressor pump. Those that you can plug into the 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet. Many times a flat tire simply needs air and then it is fine. Sometimes you can pump up a slow leaking tire and still get where you are going before it becomes too serious to drive on. Include a tire gauge with this to make sure you get the right air pressure.
7. Good tire jack and wrench. Those jacks and wrenches to change tires that comes stock with the car, borders on junk. A good tire wrench (a 4-way) and or a torque wrench to make sure the lug nuts are not too tight is invaluable (lug nuts that are too tight or uneven will warp the brake rotors). Being able to safely raise up your vehicle on possibly uneven surfaces will also be appreciated. Throw in at least a couple of extra lug nuts in case some of them get stripped when you are taking them off.
8. Gloves for your hands, making repair easier and faster. Also things like cushions, blankets, hats with lights on them, etc. Anything that will help with the repairs and keep you comfortable and protected.
9. Windshield wiper fluid and spare windshield wiper blades. Seeing where you are going is necessary. There are so many people that still run out of windshield cleaner miles from nowhere and have to drive under vision impairment because of bugs, mud, whatever.

10. Extra fuel filter. Too often your poor car gets bad fuel and the fuel filter clogs up and your vehicle stalls or stops dead. Excellent precaution to have in your kit.
11. Necessary auto fluids. Power steering fluid, brake fluid, automatic transmission or clutch fluid, stop leak, fuel stabilizer, etc. Usually in smaller containers that won’t take up too much space.
12. Fit it sealer. Many pin size holes in hoses or elsewhere can be temporarily patched long enough to get where you are going. Duct tape often works around hoses too.
13. Small car tool kit. Make sure that the tools fit the right sizes to do minor repairs on the car.

14. Good sturdy thick clear plastic and duct tape. If one of your windows is knocked out for any numerous reasons, you can use plastic and tape to keep the outside air and elements such as rain or snow out of your car and still see out.
15. Quality LED flashlight with extra batteries. At night you must be able to see to do any repairs, a bright dependable flashlight is a must.
16. Extra gasoline. ABSOLUTE SAFETY FIRST! Store only in approved containers remembering how flammable and dangerous gasoline is. Avoid ever storing gasoline in car under hot conditions. Even one gallon of gasoline can take your car the distance it would take you 6 or more hours to walk, so extra gasoline is a consideration to add to your kit. Just be careful with it.
17. Bulbs. Your car’s lighting system matters. In regular times if the


police stop you for a burned out brake light or something, being able to replace the light bulb right there can save you the hassle of a fix it ticket. Keep an extra set of headlight replacement bulbs. You need to see where you’re going at night!
18. Chain or very strong tow rope. Someone may have to pull your car out of somewhere, or you may have to help someone else.
19. Camouflage car cover. This sounds crazy, but after a national crisis you may not want everyone to know you have an operating car that is parked somewhere. During the daytime and at night, any light reflecting off your car’s shining ares can be seen for many miles.
20. Traction for your vehicle. Tire chains and cables are not only for snow and ice, they work in muddy conditions also. Not a bad idea either to have a bag of sand or gravel for getting out of a stuck spot.

21. Small durable shovel. To dig your car’s tires out of somewhere, also many other uses.
22. Small fire extinguisher. Putting out a fire rapidly anywhere in your car can save your car, and what could be your only form of transportation.
23. Money hidden somewhere in the car. Even after a disaster someone might repair your car if you can pay them cash. Don’t depend on any credit card.
24. ‘How-to’ fix your car book. Owner’s manuals offer little information, but using a book written by mechanics can make diagnosing and fixing a problem long distances from any help much more possible. Try to get a fix-it book that is specifically for you model, make, and year of your car if you can.

25. Spray engine cleaner and spray oil. De-greasers make seeing what you are doing so much easier. WD-40 has so many uses from make something looser to helping clean off an area. Also include some paper towels and rags in your kit to help wipe off areas and your hands.



Oh, here’s another… serpentine belt (and/or any belt that your car uses) – most cars these days have a single belt that goes around all of the pulleys. If this breaks, you won’t get much farther down the road. Even if you don’t know how to replace it yourself, a mechanic could, and having one with you could save many hours or days for a mechanic to get or order what you need.
Go to your local auto store and say to yourself what could my car need to keep it going and get me to safety if there are no parts and equipment there for me to purchase. Be generous to your car, you might need your car to survive.



Thanks to an email from ‘Be informed’ for the basis of this post.





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Video of the Week: Charging batteries from a heat source

Original Article

from ModernSurvivalOnline.com by Rourke

This is simply too cool……and useful!! Gotta get one.
Popout
Check out Engineer775′s Channel HERE.
Rourke

© 2011, ModernSurvivalOnline.com. All rights reserved.

20 Things to Do This Week

Original Article

from Code Name Insight by Code Name Insight

1 person liked this

In order to improve your life and survive-ability.  In no particular order:

1. Sell something on eBay or CraigsList and add the money you make to your emergency fund.
2. Take a thirty minute walk every day either before work, during lunch, or after work.
3. Get a copy of your three credit reports and make sure the information is correct.
4. Obtain and preserve food.  It can be as simple as drying apples in the oven or as interesting as making homemade canned salsa or spaghetti sauce.
5. Check your vital stats (weight, blood pressure, blood sugar level, and if possible, cholesterol numbers).
6. Can you get out to the shooting range this week?  It would be a good idea if you can (you can never have too much practice).
7. Try bartering for something.
8. Schedule a garage sale for next weekend and use this week to prepare for it.  This is the quickest way to declutter your home and make some money at the same time.
9. Plan a camping trip for sometime this month or next.  Better yet, take only your BOB on the trip and see how well you can survive out of only what is packed in it.
10. On that note, dump out your BOB and make sure everything is in good working order/rotated.
11. Study something.  Exercising your brain is just as important as exercising your body.  Even checking out a book from the library on preserving food can add valuable knowledge and give you something interesting to read.  Or you may want to check out the MIT Open Courseware astrophysics course...
12. Have you been fishing lately.  There is no better way to relax after work IMHO...
13. Clean out your car--inside and outside--and make sure it is in good working order, any problems are repaired, and your car emergency supplies/car BOB are in order.
14. What can you make?  Unfortunately recent generations are sadly lacking in the skills to actually make something with their own two hands.  Making something as simple as a rucksack on the sewing machine or a basic bookshelf are good skill builders and shouldn't take longer than an afternoon.
15. Teach someone something.  Candidates can include you kid, grandkid, or spouse.  As with many of these tasks it isn't the actual task (teaching a skill for example) that is the goal but rather the leadership and process skills that such a task develops.
16. Find out what is going on in your community and make plans to participate at a future date (I'm fond of Volksmarching, shooting sports, and HAM radio but you might like theater, boating, or politics better).  This is a great way to be active in and make connections in your community with like minded people while also having the opportunity to learn something new.
17. Write out your list of goals.  Oddly enough nearly every one of my goals that I write down comes true.  A few years ago my goals were to sell the house, sell everything we own, and travel the world.  At the time there was no way in Hell that kind of thing could have happened (due to job and family responsibilities) however at the end of last year it all of the sudden just happened and we are now in the midst of at least a year's travel.  In other words, writing down your goals is the first step to making them come true (cue spiritual wu-wu music).
18. Get outside and enjoy: walking barefoot, listening to the birds, cooking on the grill or firepit, breathing deeply, etc.  In other words, we often spend way too much time indoors and not nearly enough time outdoors.
19. Look at your home or work environment and do one thing to make it safer/more ready for a disaster (could be as simple as checking the batteries in the smoke detector to making and placing a BOB in your office).
20. Change your attitude 180 degrees when you encounter a difficult situation.  There are lots of annoyances in everyday life from an annoying teenager to an annoying boss to a rude driver that makes you daydream about cruising over top of them in a Humvee, but I digress...  Just for amusement's sake (and an interesting way to practice rapid attitude adjustment), when you feel like flying off the handle, do exactly the opposite.  If your teenager is giving you grief and you would ordinarily react in a somewhat hostile manner, grab them in a bear hug and tell them how awesome they are.  I would suggest something similar in response to an annoying boss (sans the bear hug). 

How I Connect My Generator to the House

Original Article

from Possum Living by Tracy

We had yet another power outage today. I waited about 20 minutes to see if it would come back on, then started the generator. That seemed like a good opportunity to do a short video and writeup about how I connect the genny to the wiring in my home, so here it is.
Note that I said how I do it, not how you should do it. This information is presented for its entertainment value and should not be construed as practical advice. This can be dangerous and may even be illegal where you live.
With that out of the way, here are the particulars:
The generator is the same Changfa I have featured in some other videos. I have had the basic generator for years, but the original Changchai S1100 needs an overhaul (after which it will probably become a boat motor) so I replaced it with a Changfa S195 engine that I bought new for that purpose in 2007, and have only recently gotten around to installing. Both engines are of the same design, and as far as I have been able to determine, all of these engines use the same stroke of 115mm. The bore or piston diameter is what varies, and the "1" refers to number of cylinders. Thus, S195 is a single cylinder with 95mm bore and 115mm stroke for 815cc; S1100 is a single cylinder with 110mm bore and 115mm stroke, and S1115 is a single with 115mm bore and 115mm stroke. They all make maximum power at around 2000-2200 RPM, and most generator applications (this one included) direct-drive a 4-pole generator head at 1800 RPM for 60 cycles. This is a good RPM at which to operate these engines. 1500 RPM works well too, and is the proper speed to turn a 4-pole generator to produce 50 cycles for our British cousins.
Both of my engines came equipped with a radiator mounted atop the cylinder, with a belt-driven fan to force air through the radiator. This is a really poor excuse for a cooling system, especially if you run antifreeze in it. For one thing, it absolutely relies upon that fan belt doing its job, as it does not hold enough coolant to work for very long without it. For another, in cooler temperatures it can over-cool the engine, resulting in poor efficiency, carbon buildup in the combustion chamber, and increased engine wear. With antifreeze in the mix, the temperature can go far above optimal operating temperatures on a hot day, even if it did have enough coolant in it. Early in the life of the S1100, the belt got loose, started slipping and eventually broke while it was running unattended while loaded. The radiator boiled over and then melted down, and the piston skirt expanded enough to greatly increase friction in the cylinder walls and shut down the engine. The engine survived and ran fine after this event, but I had learned my lesson.
I set that engine up with a thermosiphon tank-cooling system. I spent a lot of money on 25 gallons of antifreeze to achieve 50 gallons of 50-50 coolant for my 55 gallon drum cooling tank. That was still not a good way to go; the 50-50 mix still allowed the temperature to rise too high on a hot day. If I had used pure distilled water or rainwater, I could have used much less water for cooling and let the boiling point of pure water set the operating temperature.
I have since figured out that hopper-cooling with pure water is a brilliant, deceptively simple means of cooling an engine. The millions of engines like this that are used for all kinds of chores all over the world mostly use hopper cooling because it is simple, cheap and works well, but the fact of the matter is that it doesn't just work well; it works better than anything else you can come up with. It happens that the boiling point of pure water is a nearly ideal temperature to run an internal combustion engine. In the winter, just drain the water out of the engine and hopper when it is not in use. Store your cooling water in the house in jugs. In fact, set the jugs near the woodstove or whatever, and pour warm water into the hopper to pre-warm the engine when you are ready to start it.
The hopper on this engine is the one I was welding up in a previous video about welding with an automotive alternator.

Ok, on to the description of how I connected the generator to the wiring in the house. I needed electricity in my shop to power lights, power tools and welders. I can get by with only 30 amps at 120/240 volts, because the largest welding electrodes I use are 1/8-inch so I never need over about 140 amps of welding current, and 30 amps at 240 volts can supply that. I just have to be sure to turn off the air compressor before I weld. I had a scrounged breaker box from a house I helped to rewire, so I mounted that in the shop and spliced into the dryer circuit of the house to feed it. That means I can't weld while the dryer is running, either. No biggie; I used to live offgrid so I understand power management.
I also scrounged some 8 gauge aluminum power cable from the dryer circuit of the same house I helped rewire, so I used that to connect the generator to a 30 amp 2-pole breaker in the shop panel (the same one the cable was connected to in its previous life, to power the dryer). Now I can turn on the "dryer" breaker and turn off the main breaker in the shop to power the shop from the generator; or I can switch off the "dryer" breaker and switch on the main breaker to power the shop from the house. But let's pretend I don't have that added complication, and just consider how to connect the house to the generator. What I could do is scavenge a connection plug from a discarded dryer at the scrapyard, and connect it to a cable running through the wall (or a window) from the laundry room out to the generator. My generator has a circuit breaker on it too, so I would keep it switched off when not in use. So here is what I would do when the power goes off:

1. Go to the service panel and switch off the main breaker. This is of utmost importance; never allow the main breaker to be on when the generator is connected.
2. Switch off the breaker that controls the dryer.
3. Go to the dryer. Unplug it and plug the generator connector into the dryer outlet.
4. Go outside and ready the generator for starting. Make sure the breaker is switched off. Check the oil, fuel and cooling water. Add fluids as necessary.
5. Start the generator and let it warm up.
6. Go back in the house and double-check all connections and especially make sure the main breaker is off, while the generator is warming up.
7. Practice power management: switch off the breakers to any non-critical loads and heavy loads that I do not want starting all at once. Also switch off loads that are too large for the generator, such as a central HVAC system if I had one and my generator wasn't large enough to handle it. Switch off the breaker to the electric stove and water heater. The water heater stores hot water for a long time, and I can always switch it on to run for a cycle later, if necessary.
8. Go outside, bring the now-warm generator up to full speed, and switch on its breaker.
9. Go inside, check that the main breaker is still off, and switch the dryer breaker on to power up the house through its circuit.

And that's it; I am running on generator power. When I am ready to switch back to public utilities, I use the following order of operations: switch off the dryer breaker, go outside and switch off the generator breaker, shut down the generator, unplug the generator cable from the dryer outlet, plug the dryer back in, and switch the main breaker back on.