My progress of preps in the last 12 months.

[Recon]

I was searching the site tonight and realized it had been a little over ayear since I had joined this site. I wanted to take a few minutes to share whatmy wife and I have done in the last year to prepare instead of just"today" like the sticky thread above.

We are blessed to have several family members living in the SE Idaho area.We are a very tight family. We got serious about preparing as a family unitlast year about this time. There are 4 families involved: a college couple atBYU-I, parents are in their 60's, 2 other families (including mine) where bothspouses are in their early thirties, late 20's. I like to give that backgroundas it does play into how you prepare and gives you an idea of what our make upis. Here is what we have done in the past 12 months. What we have started herewas the result of several meetings over family dinner about once a month orevery other month.

1. We generated a master list of food storage. My wife and I started thisand filled it out for us and then let the other 3 families fill out theirportion. It's an excel file that we each have a copy of now. Now we knowexactly what shape each family member is in and perhaps where each of us areweak. And now we can recirculate the file every 6 months or so to recalculateand update lists.

2. We did the same thing for general purpose supplies, camping equipment,tools, skills, 4x4 vehicles, ATV's, trailers, guns & ammo etc. If any of uspossessed something beneficial, it was listed. Red Cross, FEMA, etc were usedfor starter ideas on what to list.

3. We agreed upon an evacuation site (it's easy, and happens to be the stakeevacuation site within about 10-15 miles of the area) in case of flooding orother major disaster that would require evacuation.

4. My father-in-law moved his covered trailer into his garage and made itthe family's permanent emergency bug out trailer. Inside, the trailer is filledwith emergency supply essentials like camping gear, fuel, clothes etc. Thepurpose of this is simple. If we had to evacuate rather quickly with little tozero notice, any of the 4 families could hook onto that trailer and bring it toour dedicated evacuation site or elsewhere if that's what we decided. We all have4x4 drive vehicles and anyone of us could tow the trailer.

5. We have all decided to take a HAM radio class together. That was supposedto happen this spring but we didn't make that timeframe. This winter we willmake that portion of our plans happen. We have the books to learn and testfrom, we just want to take the class together.

6. My wife and I have created our G.O.O.D. bags or evacuation bags full ofeverything we'd need to survive if we had to evacuate with little notice. Theseare camping backpacks that we have supplied with extra clothes, fuel, stove,light, matches, basic first aid supplies, extra pair of good shoes, water filterbottle purchased from Deserett Book for only $16.50, and other survival gear.We keep them on the ready just in case.

7. We have also purchased 2 way radios. It's not HAM, but for the timebeing, I can communicate with 2 of the 4 families with just these radios. So,if we lose cell towers or power lines, we're covered for communication evenwithout HAM.

8. I've invested more and more into silver. More silver rounds thananything, but lately I've learned the importance and need to invest in the"junk" silver like dimes and quarters as those will be more useful inday to day transactions and bartering if we ever see that kind of collapse on alarge scale.

9. We also live on an acre and have a substantial garden. It's our firstyear and it has been a learning experience. Some good, some bad. We really didlearn a lot. However, we've stored away many things in the freezer and tonightate corn on the cob from our garden for the first time in our 11 married years.

10. I keep up on national news and the economy just to make sure I'm pluggedin to what's really happening in this country of ours. I should pay moreattention locally, but find it more important to follow things nationally rightnow.

Please share with the rest of us what you've done. That's part of the fun inpreparing is sharing our experience and what we've each done. It's contagious.I'd love to here from others. If you're not a member yet, join!

[Boadiceaw]

I'm at work and will totally have to respond when I have more time. Probably in class tonight. I'm having a minor panick attack this week in regards to prepping. I'm like the man alone on a sinking island with babies tied to his ankles and no where to go.
I'v found out I'm not alone in this feeling. I put it out there so if anyone else feels that way they're not alone either. I'm in Modesto, CA and I work in Riverbank on Highway 108. If you need me, I'm here for you and your family if no one else is.

[idmedic]

Recon,

Thanks for your post. I think reporting is a great way to stay on track. This week I was able to pick up 6 dozen quart jars for back stock only along with 6 food grade buckets from a local bakery. Keep up the good work!