Preparing Children For SHTF Part 1

Preparing Children For SHTF Part 1 I would be interested in hearing how early you started preparing your child for SHTF. What are some things you started with - were the activity driven or discussion driven? How early did you start? If your children are older now, did they embrace prepping or have they moved on to their own thing?

Spiderwoman!

Spiderwoman! I'm just waiting for my super powers to develop. I hope they start soon because between the tree stump, the spider bite and the poison oak that is all over my neck I've just about had it.



And all of that just from yard work. Oh my! I like winter in the woods better. Less bugs, less poison and deer!

Missing In Action

This is why I haven't been around lately! But I promise if you go read it, I've found some really cool old manuals that I'm going to offer for free to my readers because I love the Prepping community so much.



Oh and how ironic, this manual is a medical one!



Find out what happened with me and a tree stump by reading Missing In Action

Can A Person Have Too Many Knives?

Knife Addiction?

I think it's a serious question - Can a person have too many knives? This past weekend I attended a gun show and you would think I would have been more interested in the guns. No, not me, I drooled over the knives.

I stopped at every single vendor that was selling knives. It didn't matter if they were the cheap ones or the expensive ones - handmade or manufactured - I looked at them all. Full tang, half tang, drop point, clip point - daggers, folders, fixed blade, I thought I was in heaven.

Now the funny part about my trip to the gun show, is what I wore. It was supposed to be warm and sunny but it ended up being chilly so I had to pull a few things from my B.O.B to stay warm. Sorry, no pictures because I don't do selfies and well, I'm not ready to show my pretty little face on here yet. Maybe one day.

I wore a nice little dress that was black and white with a paisley design.  Since it got cold, I put on some black leggings and....my hunting boots. It gets even better though - I put on my US Desert Storm Night Camouflage Parka Jacket. Man, did I get some stares.

For my jewelry, I had a A G Russell neck knife, I had a Kershaw knife clipped to my underwear, I had a Benchmade folder in my pocket, attached to my little carry purse I had an antique sterling silver knife and I had a boot knife, oh and on a key chain I had a tiny decorative knife with mother of pearl on it and in another pocket I had a Spyderco.

Hello, my name is Prepper Principles, and I am a knife-a-holic.

But, get this, once the knife dealers really knew that I didn't just carry but I could talk the talk - just like the guys - I was able to get my hands on some really cool knives at deeply discounted prices that I normally could never afford. Even with my Pinky issues I feel I picked out a few good winners.

I can't even tell you how many knives I have in my car, and yes, some are more collector knives and decorations but most are functional. I just don't get rid of them. If I think about it, I've only ever sold 3 of my knives - the rest I keep. Two knives were more like kitchen knives and I really didn't care about them and the other knife I donated to charity auction for a friend battling cancer. Other than that, I keep them all.

Is there a group for knife hoarders LOL!

I Am Not Ready For An EMP or Losing My Phone

Phone Panic

If you are following me on Twitter (@prepprinciples), then you know that a few days ago that I posted about losing my phone.

I was in a panic. No, seriously, I will admit it.

I thought I was going to hyperventilate. I was running around the house looking for it like a mad woman. Throwing things around, not out of anger, but you know tossing a sweatshirt out of the way moving magazines around.

Retracing my steps, I checked the bathroom, refrigerator, mailbox, washing machine - OH GOD DID I WASH IT??

This here girl was starting to go into full on panic mode - over a phone!

I posted on Twitter that I lost my phone, as if anyone following me could help me find it!

I checked under my chair, in coat pockets, on the desk, on my dresser, in my dresser drawers.

Then it hit me - what in the world was I going to do if an EMP hit and there were no cell phones.

Chill out, I told myself.

I sat back down and did some work on my computer. And then I decided it was time to go do some yard work and realized my headphones were still in my car.

Guess where I found my phone?

Sitting on the seat of my car.

Lesson Learned - Don't panic, not even over a misplaced phone. It gave me some things I need to work on and prepare for, a list that always seems to grow instead of getting smaller.

Patting Myself On the Back - I Fixed It!

Push Mower Madness

I am not mechanically inclined but I've managed to actually fix a few things that would have cost me if I called a repair person. Yes, I failed at the attempt to fix generators, but I successfully repaired my dryer last year. So, when my handy dandy self propelled craftsman mower wouldn't start I thought about the pros and cons of me fixing it and decided to go for it. Why? Because the mower was given to me for free and I felt more comfortable fixing one that I didn't pay anything for than fixing one that I paid money for, does that make sense?

Step 1

Internet research for videos, manual and any trouble shooting information I could find and read it.

Step 2

Make sure I had the correct size tools.

Step 3

Make sure someone had 911 programmed into their phone just in case. :)

Step 4

Diagnose the issue. Spark plugs were good, that was easy to check. Now that I knew the 'ol sparkies were working I had to move on to removing the filter to see if it was clogged. That had a little spider web or something in it and it all cleaned up nicely.

I got out some gasoline and poured directly on to the carburetor area after watching a video about 10 times on how to do this without catching the mower or myself on fire. Stepping back to the handle I pulled the chord and it fired up and shut off immediately. In my book that's a great sign. I checked the little primer button and it didn't seem to be building up resistance.

Ahh ha! There is a leak somewhere!  I tore every little thing off that mower that I could. I took the gas line off and verified there were no leaks in it. Then I had to check the carburetor and it was dry as a bone. The float was stuck. But, the gasket that seals the carburetor was damaged and wasn't sealing correctly. I found my "leak".

Step 5

You know that idea about prepping and always being prepared for everything? Yeah, well guess what? I did not prepare for a mower break down and didn't have any extra gaskets on hand. Sigh. Unfortunately, no stores in my area carry this handy little gasket and I had to order it. I ordered the gasket, actually, I ordered 4. One to replace it with, a 2nd one just in case I broke the 1st one and needed a back up and two more to store for later use.

Step 6

Gasket arrives and I remove the bad gasket and replace with the new one.

Step 7

Start up my handy dandy self-propelled craftsman push mower and start mowing!

I'm so excited that I did it! But, valuable lesson learned. Everything and I mean everything needs to have a back-up plan. I've certainly got a lot of prepping to do, how about you?

Prepping is Dangerous

A Mishap In Prepping

*Warning if you don't like feet, don't look at the picture*

I told you things could be exciting around here.

So I had a little mishap while prepping. I thought I could repair some generators that I picked up at flea markets. Yeah, I've been fighting this battle of  "I can do everything syndrome". I am not too mechanically inclined but I can handle some things. I once replaced a carburetor on a 1966 Mustang. Man, I miss that car.

Anyway, I've finally admitted defeat. After watching YouTube videos, reading manuals and seeking advice from a local small engine repair guy I decided I would just take one of them to him and see if he could fix it for me. This was a real blow to my ego. You see, when I first went to him for advice he gave me the "you're a girl" look. I dislike that look and it really pisses me off. Honestly part of the reason I'm taking it to him is because I just don't have the time to tinker with it any more. I've kept two for myself to fix later.

So I was loading, or should I say, trying to load it into my mode of transportation and even with the help of my offspring, I lost my grip. It had started to rain, just a light rain and there were dark clouds looming, the wind was blowing and lightening could be seen in the distance.

My strong and handy teenager tried without success to keep it from falling. I actually yelled "MOVE" so it wouldn't get us both. And as it came falling down on top of my foot, I heard the crunch.

This isn't my first mishap, it won't be my last - but wow, is prepping dangerous and painful. Of course can you imagine how painful being unprepared could be?

Thankfully I'm prepared for my mishaps. I already have a foot boot, from previous mishap of dropping a 6 pack of soda on my foot and I have crutches from another mishap ages ago.

Maybe I'm trying to tackle too much on my own, I don't know, but I can't stop prepping just because I have mishaps.

*Caution Ugly Foot Picture Below*