Be there or be square from 7-8:30 PM...

Most of us are long time preppers we have been at this for years,but do you remember your humble beginnings...(man I had this all typed out before the change boohoo)...

I would like to use this thread for members to put in their favorite URL for prepping, so our guests and other members have references;

This is one my favorites; How to Store tap water in 2 litre pop bottles


http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_tap_water.html

The only thing they don,t mention in this artical is that you should not store your drinking water in the green plastic bottles(save these for washing up with), the dye is different then the clear ones and with the addition of bleach the chemicals will leach out into your water..and never use your empty milk jugs you can never get all of the milk out and it can contaminate your water..and the plastic for milk jugs is different then pop bottles...

So please post away we can compare notes in here and isscuss this on Tues night

Wow, I'll have to think about that... I've been prepping since 1999 and can't remember all the places I got my ideas from. My first priority was to build a shelter so Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearny http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p1464.htm was a must read. Then came stocking it and with that I developed quite a vendor list with Shane Connor from KI4U http://www.ki4u.com/ providing alot of goods from water filters to MRE's and Potassium Iodide.
Things got crazy then after 9/11 and putting together a library of medical manuals such as "Where there is no doctor" http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php and procuring antibiotics and a serious medical kit followed right along with assembling a team and assigning responsibilities to family members with specific skills (Nurse, mechanic etc) Then came the electrical systems to provide at least a semblance of normality post disaster http://www.newenglandsolar.com/index.htm.
As homesteaders, raising our own food and putting it away came naturally anyway, so facilities for additional livestock were built and we've collected hundreds of Mason jars at yard sales, increased garden space, etc.
It has evolved from there since our family team members have developed additional skills and we now have multiple sources of food and shelter should TSHTF. As most folks will tell you, it becomes a way of life and you find yourself always asking what would you do if...

I hate doing this since it seems as though I'm some sort of "authority" on the subject but looking back over the typical household events of yesterday and today it occurred to me that getting back to basics is infinitely more than buying stuff!

Yesterday my wife and I sat down to decide what we would be planting for crops this year. Then, she went off to make a batch of soap while I went out to hang a mineral feeder for the goats. While there I moved the remaining scraps of hay from their indoor feeder to the outdoor hay feeder since we've discovered that they will finish it off without wasting it if it's relocated. Then, this evening while preparing dinner (after creating another batch of soap) we opened up a container of pickled eggs that we put up a few years ago... still excellent. While saying grace over our meal we considered how the Lord has blessed us with talents as well as abundance. You see, it's almost sugaring season here and it occurs to me that maple sugar is abundant regardless of imports, apple cider vinegar is abundant just from the wild apple trees growing on the side of our country roads. So much is available to us all if we only know how to prepare or process it.

So, the point of this entire post is to do with the most important aspect of prepping... knowledge! Get some now!
(Got Skills?)

alpha thats exactly what the thread is about..to get members thinking before he gathering to share their knowledge with each other...

yep i agree 100% alpha,
you can read all the books in the world twice and its no substitute for hands on doing.

rarely does anything go just the way the book says.

and even if you have done something long ago,one forgets things, and you get rusty.

there is no substitute for learning the skills you need to subsist and practicing them on a regular basis.they may one day save your life.

100%
all the book knowledge in the world won't help without the hands on practice.


and that my freinds is the best barter item you can aquire.

Holly Cow!!!! I have no idea where I got a lot of the information I have collected since the 70's!!!!!! Thats a tough one. However I do have a few favorite sites that I visit on a regular basis for information and news (besides this one) for all kinds of information on self-reliant living, homesteading, preparedness and survival:

http://nmurbanhomesteader.blogspot.com/
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.com/
http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/
http://newmexicopreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/
http://www.arrl.org/
http://www.SurvivalBlog.com
SurvivalMonkey.COM
http://www.captaindaves.com/guide/
http://www.survivalcenter.com/
http://snardfarker.ning.com
http://www.itdg.org/
http://practicalaction.org/home
http://www.fastonline.org/
http://www.scribd.com (you can search for downloadable documents of all kinds)
www.homestead.org
http://www.backwoodshome.com
LifeUnplugged.NET
LivingOffGrid.ORG
PioneerLiving.NET
EndTimesReport.COM
survivalistbooks.COM
ProvidentLiving.ORG LDS
AusSurvivalist.COM
i4at.ORG
www.doc-cafes.com another great site to search and download documents on any subject
Survival_Spot.COM
green-trust.ORG
http://www.bwolf.com/
CountrySurvuval.COM
urbachletter.COM
http://reluctant-messenger.com/
fas.ORG
CNI
http://www.kurtsaxon.com/
FrFrogspad.COM
standeyo.COM
HomeEnergy.ORG
LifeUnplugged.NET
Off-grid.NET
BackwoodsLiving.COM
WinterLakeResearchCenter.ORG
thereadystore.com
ssris.ORG
http://grandpappy.info/hshelfm.htm
http://www.family-survival.com/
freeplants.COM
Self Reliance Adventures
http://www.wisebread.com/
http://www.coldclimategardening.com/
WaltonFeed.COM
ATTRA
Gardening-Self Reliance Exchange.COM
msucares.COM
SheepCreek.COM
Mother Earth News
http://www.naturemoms.com
NativeSeeds.ORG
http://www.organic-gardening-and-homesteading.com/
guide.com Downloadable documents on any subject
desertrestore.ORG
Squanto's Garden
survivalistbooks.COM
aboutTheGarden.COM_au
croptrust.ORG
TheIdeaDoor.COM
DealsToMeals.COM
http://www.byexample.com/homestead/plan ... stead.html
http://www.self-sufficient-life.com/
http://daily-survival.blogspot.com/
dmoz.ORG
http://www.simplesurvival.net/
http://woodpilereport.com/
naturemoms.com
Various other Prepper networks off the American Prepper site.
Various university extension services & government sites (NMSU, WI, WA, NY, MI, TN, OK, MN, MT, WY, USDA, FDA, Agri, FEMA, HS, etc)

seems like we collect these places lol

I have lost many of my sites over the years. They close down like drumrunners is doing may1 or a person gets a virus and losses their fav list, which is what happened to me a couple of times.

I will copy this and paste it in the back up forum..and also a thumbdrive somehow them we will have a collection of the back to basics...

Really lookig forward to the gathering..nitewalker sent out a mass email to all the members so it should be a great turn out...

there will be a lot of sites shared. Better make sure you are ready to make additions to your fav list.

I'll be there! Have to find my favorite sites for this chat..mostly I've learned from all of you!

I don't see http://www.mrssurvival.com posted yet. (For the ladies, of course.)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organicho ... gardening/ is a fairly high volume email list but it has great information on natural and "old-fashioned" ways to do things. There's lots of neat stuff on herbal remedies, and the list owner posts his own personal "gardening by the signs" schedule telling you what is good for certain days during the growing season. It's more focused on providing for yourself than the rambo-style survivalism and would be a good gentle introduction to prepping.

We are supposed to get a lot more snow today and tomorrow, so they might close everything down here. If they do, I'll be here. If they don't I'll be in class from 6-8 and I'll check in when I get home.

Kayleigh

Those eggs sound yummy! Can we get some recipes please?

Heck... pickled eggs is one of those things we change every time we make them. The basics are hard boiled eggs (peeled) packed in a canning jar with vinegar and sugar. Then come the "supplements" ... cloves of garlic, slices of kielbasa... well, you get the idea! Then hot bath for 15 minutes.