Ready?

Are every one of you survivalists out there ready? Let's have a little review of things that you need if you are to be ready.

First of all we need to take a look at food. We all need two weeks of highly portable food, packed and ready to take and bug out at a moments notice. You may believe that you will not have to bug out as you live in an out of the way place. That is what I hope also. I live at the end of a dead end road with only one neighbor withing the first half mile. However, I still have my bug out gear ready. Along with the food you need some other supplies with that food. You should have a good sturdy knife in the gear along with a gun if possible. I have a take apart .22 auto pistol in my gear and that will be in addition to the hi-power bolt action rifle that I hope to be able to grab on my way out. That rifle is where I can get it quickly and there are 100 rounds of ammo right next to it. I also have 200 rounds of .22 ammo in my bug out gear. You will need at least a first aid kit in the gear and possibly a partial medical kit. That all depends where you intend to go if you need to bug out. You should probably have a sleeping bag or at least a good blanket and a tarp with the gear. A flashlight and some candles along with waterproof matches need to be there too. Some type of camp stove may be in order. I have a two burner folding Sterno stove and four of the large cans of Sterno. Actually you could do away with the Sterno as these little stoves can sit right on a bed of coals from a small fire. You may want to include a compass with the gear as well as some survival fishing gear.

That is about the extent of my bug out gear. If you are somewhat more sure that you will have to bug out (if for instance you live in a larger city) you may want to add various other items. Also, if you do not intend to return to your present location it would be a good idea to have much more. At that point I would have items that could go into the trunk of my car or my SUV or pickup. However, I would still have my two week bug out gear packed and ready.

Next, you need to have a supply for if you are going to stay where you are. Even if you know you may have to leave for at least a while, you still should supply your needs for a two year period. For those of you who may have cabins in the woods or some other remote place, much of what you are going to store should be there. You are going to need to find a spot to store your two year supply whether it be in your home or in your cabin. For those of us in the northern half of the country, we need to make sure that our food does not freeze.

When you are thinking about your two year supply, do not just think food. Think things like toilet paper, women's sanitary needs, shaving equipment and other incidentals. You may also want to stock up on vitamins and supplements. Most of them have a two year shelf life so if you are taking certain ones now, get a two year supply and just keep using the oldest in your stash and replace them as you use up a bottle. I would suggest that you keep at least multi-vitamins on hand. I also take C, E, A & D, B-Complex and several supplements. That is just me, many of you will not want to do that. I do not have a full two year supply on all of my vitamins and supplements, only C, & E and the multi. Another thing to do is to try to have any prescriptions you may take as far ahead as your doctor will allow. The ones I take I have from six to fifteen month ahead. You may want also to find out what natural supplement you could use to replace your prescriptions with.

You should also have a good supply of arms and ammunition on hand. Some of this should be well hidden yet fairly easy to get at. I am intending to do another column on what I believe is the weapons and ammo to have on hand. I may have done one early in this blog, but feel it may be good to revisit that problem.

There are many more things that I feel that we should all have on hand such as silver or gold for trade. I also believe that having a large stock of ammunition on hand might come in handy as barter goods. You should know something about wild plants for both food and medicine. You should also know how to hide your stores and equipment without breaking the bank. I have written a book titled "Stash-It", which contains much information about hiding your goods. It sells for $8.50 and if anyone is interested, leave me a note in the comment section of this blog and I will get back to you.

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