That is were I got mt rain catch barrel, blends right in with the house. During a recent blackout I noticed that the same houses that had something more than flashlights on at night also had rain catch barrels.




Rgr, on the rust I have one rigged to feed the other and drain both when I change the fire alarm batteries and test the auto sump pump in the basement.

Bring them a pan of brownies and get to know them....:)

Two solutions. Plastic pickle barrels. My dtr has a number of them. Uses two for composting. She has 4 more, one at each corner of her new house. In the process of hiding them behind plants. Each barrel now has a spigot at the bottom attached to a ball valve that a hose can be attached to.

I was in Home Depot today and saw some very nice looking rain catchment barrels. One was red clay colored, the other a sand pebble texture. Both were flat backed to stand up against a wall. One can purchase diverter system from the rain gutter to the barrel.

A ground floor condo one can use an umbrella as a catchment system with enough plastic hosing..make sure that whatever you use is "food safe" meaning that NO plastic chemical crap gets into your drinking water. One can use an umbrella, a funnel and hose to fill a bathtub in an emergency. You just need to look around at what is at hand and think outside the box.
AM

Now those boiling water kill viruses. Like I had stated before, I am looking for a filter that will either destroy thing such as ALL viruses. I have a river running buy my house that once caught fire and has polio also in it. The bacteria rate is impossible for fishing and swimming. We have have people all the time Kayak down there and almost always get/catch a virus or somenth creepy. Had another guy who recievd a cut on his foot which would be know big deal. 6 days later they almost lost him aNow, does any one of these aforementiond water filters are capable to also kill viruses? Like I had stated before, I am looking for a filter that will either destroy every thing in the waters such as ALL viruses. I have a river running buy my house that once caught fire and has polio also in it. The bacteria rate is skyhigh.

It is so bad here that there are no fishing and no swimmiing signs every where cannot possibley and their are signs up statintg their is that ther are no for fishing and swimming. We have people all the time Kayaking down there and cathinget/catch a virus or somenthing creepy. Had another guy who recievd a cut on his foot which would not behave been big thing if it were to have happened on landon lsndbe a serious injury. 6 days later they almost lost him and had . They did remove his leg however up to the hip. So that is my immediate water supply withe next one being whithinnd had . They did remove his leg however up to the hip. So that is my immediate water supply.:munchin

Mountain Property
 

So my wife and I will be taking a little vacation in the near future to the mountains for a little R&R, while there we're going to look for a vacation/retirement/SHTF property.

Our vision for this property is to be more than 25 acres, not terribly steep, but with some good contours and some ridgelines but also some flatter areas. We're not looking in the mountains proper but a little east of the mountains.

What we're looking for is a property that has water originating on it (spring and or well), that preferably has some open areas already cleared that could be used for farming or pastureland, but with the majority of the land being mostly timbered. It needs to be accessible enough for building but not have a paved road on it. We want it off the beaten path enough to avoid mass migrations should there be any from major cities during a disaster, but still within 30 miles of a hospital with an ER.

Our idea is to put a cabin on it now, then over time build a retirement home there. Currently I've been looking at properties that share boundaries with public land, either game land or national forest, as that gives me easy access to hunting, as well as the guarantee of not being developed, however I was thinking about it and having property that borders game land/national forest means there is a legitimate reason people would be on neighboring land who I wouldn’t know, which presents some risk if we have a place up there that isn't occupied 24/7/365. My thought is we would mark the boundaries with the standard No Trespassing/no hunting signs during Non SHTF times, which would limit incursions from hunters and hikers for the most part as I think hunters and hikers are usually pretty good about respecting private land for the most part. Then we would take those signs down to try to blend in during SHTF times.

Now we’ll use good OPSEC to minimize who knows where the property is and what’s on it, and have the signs posted to hopefully minimize unwanted incursions, but with those things in mind anyone have any thoughts on pros v.s. cons of bordering public land for SHTF times?

Not having neighbors at all during SHTF times could be good if you don't know and/or can't trust the neighbors. However good/trustworthy neighbors are obviously also invaluable as another ring of defense as well as a QRF with proper commo and preplanned agreements in place before SHTF or shortly thereafter.

Defender968-

If your wife doesn't mind cold winters, the isolation of the Rocky Mountians, (ID, MT, UT, WY, CO, AZ, NM) is a nice place to start. Southwest is a bit milder for seniors.

If wanting to stay in SC, NC, TN, KY, WV, those mountains could quickly be over-run with migrating refugees of the east coast.

WD

Fun in the Mud
 

Fun in the Mud - you have to be prepared.

Had some fun in the mud this morning. Went out in the sticks to look at a piece of land. A couple of acres about 200 yards off the paved state road on the other side of a peanut field. Two rut track through the field. First part was harvested, second part standing while a bit over the rise was harvested. Been raining on and off the last two days.

Driving the Ford Focus - tires a bit on the worn side - OK they should be replaced.

Stop at the start of the drive. Stomp a bit looks OK. Start driving, no problem on the first harvested part and the standing crop, gets a little "slickery" as I get deeper into the 2nd un-harvested part. Oooops, a big ol' honkin' mud puddle that was out of sight of the road. Slow down to a stop. Figure I'd best get out and go to back up. Tires start to spin. Rocked it a bit and gave it the gas and the left front wheel dropped like a rock.

Shut the car off and got out. The left front tire was in up to the rim, right only a couple of inches. Look around, miles of peanut and bean fields, a couple of farm homes about a mile off.

Oh, well.

What do I have? An e-tool, GoreTex Jacket and the jacket I'm wearing. The back end of the car is angled off the track a bit so I need to pull forward to get lined back up on the track. I dig out the front of the tires to a gental slope, fold each jacket in half and get them as long as I can running in front of the tires. Start the car, pull forward about a car length to clear the holes, get out, retrieve the jackets and fill the holes.

Now I can either put the jackets down again to get me moving or give it a shot without them. I throw the jackets in the trunk and give it a shot. It starts rolling, a little fasted, bump through the holes and I'm off an running in reverse. Don't slow down until I hit pavement.

Outcome? A dirty e-tool and two muddy jackets. I think I'll add two 18" x 4 foot pieces of old carpet to the back of all my cars trunks.

Don't look that bad from the road does it.

Another good solution for getting a car out
 

Pete....lol, next time ride a horse.. Here are a couple of options I learned from growing up in cold weather. Snow chains on the drive wheels work great in mud if you're stuck. Another option, and won't need to buy carpets, is a 25 foot come-along, a piece of 2" or 3" pipe about 2 to 3 feet long, and a 2,000 lb TS strap to make a loop on, and place centered on the pipe, and an e-tool. Dig a small 2 ft deep T shaped dead mans hole in front or behind your vehicle, place the pipe at the top or the T shaped dead man, hook the come-along to your car, then to the strap attached to the pipe, and wintch yourself out, works suprisingly well. Cost of pipe $5.00, Come-along $20-$25.00, strap $5.00, photos of Pete using his wifes new welcome carpets to get his Ford Focus unstuck....priceless

:) Buck

Yup, about half of D.C. and Northern Virginia plans on heading to somewhere in WV in event of SHTF. I don't know how they are going to get there or where there even is.

MAB,

I believe that viruses can be as small as hundredths of a micron (IIRC, polio runs around .005 microns). About the only thing that removes something that small from a water supply is reverse osmosis, I think. It seems to me that your options would be to invest in a fairly expensive RO set, or simply filter and then treat your water.

Wet Dog we're going to be limited to the east coast, using a piece of land in the Rocky Mountains would be problematic for vacation as well as retirement, and for a SHTF scenario the Rockies would be too far to do me or my family any good. Also the longer growing season near the Smoky mountains is another benefit of being at a lower altitude further south. You are correct in those areas, but for me it's not going to be feasible for my plans.

I am somewhat concerned by a mass migration, my thought was that I would need to be as self sufficient as possible, use OPSEC, and be well off the beaten path of highways and not visible from the turn off of the small paved public road my property will be off of. I don't think too many city folks fleeing a terrorist attack or pandemic will go wandering up dirt roads in the woods on the off chance of finding somewhere to hunker down. My thought is that they’ll likely head for smaller cities/towns where there are resources, eventually when those resources become scarce they may expand outward from those smaller cities, to towns and so on. In the event they do eventually make it to my doorstep and are determined to harm me and mine I'll have well established DFPs, good fields of fire and a 24/7 security plan in place. Hopefully it will not come to that, but better to have a plan than to rely on hope or luck.

I'm looking at staying away from the major corridors that I think that type of mass migration will follow, i.e. major highways and larger state roads, as well as away from most towns, I want to be pretty far out into a rural mountain setting. I know many folks think they’ll just head to the mountains after an attack, but without a specific destination, good training, and or lots of supplies the average Joe Q. Citizen won’t last long, hell I’ve lived in hurricane prone areas most my life and most the normal folks I know still don’t have more than 3-5 days food on hand if that. So the likely threat as I see it is unprepared folks heading in mass towards the mountains, we’ll already be there and will maintain a small footprint, staying out of sight while maintaining security until the dust settles.

This is an over simplification and I apologize for that...it's the way I think being a simple fellow.

Strictly FWIW, the following websites are IMHO great references for living closer to the land. Good as/better then Mother Earth, Five Acres in Independence, Foxfire.

Countryside Magazine is not always easy to find in bookstores or mag racks. Lehmans has a "Non-Electric Catalog" that has a good selection of things. Lehmans geared more toward supporting Amish lifestyles. Countryside more toward supporting homesteading and/or living off the grid.

http://www.countrysidemag.com/

http://www.lehmans.com/

Anyone who hasn't read "One Second After" needs to get a copy ASAP.

Post-disaster population migration may surprise you.

IIRC, a small but of that happened after Katrina.

TR

An alternative to carpet would be a tube of chicken wire. The wire provides great traction and can be cut and shaped to act as a leg or arm splint in event of a medical emergency. Lots of other uses, light and cheap.

Call me strange, but my trunk already has too much junk in it to add a couple of big pieces of carpet or a roll of chicken wire to explain to the gate guards.

Why not just use the front floormats, and clean them when you are done? Cheaper, heavier duty, and easier to clean than jackets.

TR