New Year's Prepper Resolution

[Fatty]

I know its early yet but I'm the kinda person that does better at their goals when they're written down and figured I'm not the only one:)


So I thought it'd be interesting to list atleast 5 things that we want to improve or add to our preps with. That way everyone can possibly find something they didn't consider previously.

And when you accomplish a goal be sure to post and confirm the results!

Rain barrels for my down spouts
Start a garden
Ham operator license.
More hiking/running conditioning
Atleast 50.00 dollars a month dedicated to preps.
Canning.

[bacpacker]

Set up my reloading bench
600 gallons of rain barrels at the chicken coop
Build and install a HF antenna for my ham shack
Finish cleaning & painting a 285 gallon fuel tank and get it filled
Add to food stores

[realist]

Finish rehabing the house.
Relocate reloading equipment
Start cabin at BOL
Continue stocking up
Attend firearms classes with my son
Get Ham radio license

[msomnipotent]

Only five? I have declared this "Year of the Prepper" in my household and I plan on getting a lot done.

My top 5 are: Finish paying off our debts except the mortgage and restore our emergency fund.

Find someone to finally take me to a shooting range to teach me how to shoot the Marlin 60 and Mosin I bought
long ago.

Get a solid 3 months (preferably 6, but planning on 3) of food and household goods stored away. We can survive
3 months, but we would be surviving on vitamins and spit towards the end of it.

Learn to use the canner and dehydrator I bought a long time ago, which will really help with the goal above.

Clean out the basement. It is so filled with junk that we will be crushed to death if a tornado came, and there
isn't room to shelter there for more than a few hours. Selling the junk will also help restore the emergency fund
and I will use the shelf space to store our canned and dehydrated food.

[Fatty]

Only five? I have declared this "Year of the Prepper" in my household and I plan on getting a lot done.

My top 5 are: Finish paying off our debts except the mortgage and restore our emergency fund.

Find someone to finally take me to a shooting range to teach me how to shoot the Marlin 60 and Mosin I bought
long ago.

Get a solid 3 months (preferably 6, but planning on 3) of food and household goods stored away. We can survive
3 months, but we would be surviving on vitamins and spit towards the end of it.

Learn to use the canner and dehydrator I bought a long time ago, which will really help with the goal above.

Clean out the basement. It is so filled with junk that we will be crushed to death if a tornado came, and there
isn't room to shelter there for more than a few hours. Selling the junk will also help restore the emergency fund
and I will use the shelf space to store our canned and dehydrated food.


I said atleast 5 :)

[Evolver]

Chicken coop
Chicken Pop Door
Chicken run
Chicken nipple system
Chicken feed
Solarize Garden
Chickens ;)

[GunnerMax]

After half of the year overseas, I plan on:
Starting my reloading program for self sufficient ammo
Learning how to make my own molle/tactical gear, and getting the hardware/supplies to go with it
Stocking up on ammo, esp. 22LR
Buying an AK and a 22
And last but not least, balancing this with our child on the way. :)

[helomech]

Basically get my aquaponics going, and maybe get a bunker in the ground. Everything else I think is good to go.

[bacpacker]

Evolver sounds like you might be thinking about chickens?
:)

[LUNCHBOX]

I can't pinpoint 5 things, I plan to continue prepping as normal and just make sure its not my last prepping year of resolutions since it will be 2012.

I hope everyone has a good year of prepping.

[msomnipotent]

I said atleast 5 :)


Ah, so you did. Sorry about that!

In that case, I want to practice carrying my backpack on my treadmill. I am hoping to get up to 10 miles without stopping, now that my dog has learned to stop attacking the treadmill every time I turn it on. It will also help me lose some weight, too.

I want to get some sort of alternative power, even if it is just a small solar set up to power a laptop or a string of Christmas lights. My husband has to be brought on board in baby steps, and it is really hard to get solar panels or wind turbines approved in our city.

And expand the garden this year. Last summer, I cleared too small of a plot, planted everything but the corn too close together and the corn too far apart. I can't wait for planting season now!

[Grumpy Old Man]

Get the engine rebuilt on my "73 Cherokee Full size pickup
new tires for my horse trailer
More range time (firearms and bows)
Acquire my retirement property in the Utah mountains
Convert cash into more tangible assets
Ride my horses more and break them to harness

[Fatty]

All great stuff!

[mitunnelrat]

Debt elimination
Networking to organize a MAG among the preppers I know
Starting a garden, then canning
Rebuilding LTS foods
Begin reloading

Changes are coming at work. If the worst rumors are true I could be umemployed within the next few months. I'm positioned to weather that ok, and if it happens I'll have the time available to add other goals, such as getting trained as a medical first responder, beginning college course work to reskill, and training to join CERT and its hazmat team.

[The Stig]

Rebuild financial savings (moving is expensive!)
Improve communications systems
Network in town and build both friendships and relationships with key local officials
Resume working out on regular basis

[Gunfixr]

I don't normally make any type of New Years resolutions, as way in the past it didn't change anything for me.
I know, it is my fault, and no one else.
Nonetheless, things in our household have taken a major turn in the past two weeks. Now, it is almost a certainty that my wife has an auto-immune disease. While this is not an immediate, life-ending, she needs to be on a machine or serious meds for the rest of her life kind of thing, it does have it effects, and they can be major. She tires easily, and absolutely must rest when tired. She will occasionally be completely down for anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple days or so. She will most likely be unable to return to her job, meaning that our income has just been cut in half. Eventually, she will find something, and some income will return, but there is no way to know how much or when this will happen. We have always lived paycheck to paycheck, so this is a real strain.
We live in a fair sized city, should it go bad, we will leave. However, we have no place to go to, so it will be interesting, to say the least. Our plan has always been to stay as long as possible, with an immediate shift into "bugging out" if necessary, with a somewhat tiered system going from driving away to being on foot. Since she will no longer be able to carry much of a load, or move far at a time, all must be adjusted.
So, with this in mind, there are several new ideas to be implemented as best I can:
Our house has always been a disaster, I have acquired gear and supplies for many years, working off memory, and while there is a lot, it's a shambles. Therefore, a house cleaning and organization is required.
I am in piss-poor shape. Knee surgery followed almost immediately by abdominal surgery 2 yrs ago left me pretty weak with no cardio, and I just haven't gotten it back. I have acquired the tools, I need to put them to use.
I'll need to rearrange the "bug out" loads, and probably rearrange our entire primary weapons setup, to make loading out easier, and more resupply-able in the field. I originally planned on simply having enough for what I wanted to use, and to take it along. I'll be selling off "extra" weapons, and acquiring some different, using funds from others to supply what I get, and hopefully add other supplies.
We still need to try to add to our preps, albeit much more slowly with less income. If this is not doable, then at least to not use up what supplies we do have.
I think that covers the biggest, but not necessarily in order.

[Gunfixr]

Well, she just had another attack, about 10:30. I was finishing a post here. Lasted almost 30 minutes. This one, her breathing was labored, almost made the call. But it finally eased up. After, following her around, I noticed something again.

The house really needs straightening out. That might be first on the list.

[ravensgrove]

well lets see...lest I jinx myself....my Prepping resolution can't be anything directly "prepping related" ie: storage, et all since we are in the middle of the Grapes of Wrath exodus....so instead I am working on that one thing...I never work on much outside farming...my fat arse. I am highly motivated with the realization in 17 weeks, I will be living 3000 miles away on raw land...and truly busting my arse to get back to some semblance of homesteading grace....no more Amish bread for me.

For the first time in eons I won't be planting an early garden, so have loads of free time...no seed catalogues...no starting plants....no nada....

so here's my top five:

1) my fat arse
2) my fat arse
3) my fat arse
4) my fat arse
5) getting Connor to "come through" with a silent whistle command...that one last one, and this dog is fully trained.

I am in decent "shape" I'd say strength wise, I work hard most every day...but my cardio sucks...so I am going to focus on that. If zombies were to chase me right now, I'd fall out...immediately....I just might kick their ass...but I certainly couldn't outrun them.

[RedJohn]

Well, I don't have any prep related resolution except that I would like to be back to the US to start on a real program. So:

1/ Quit this this God forsaken country so I can move back to my real home the USA!
2/ Loose the weight that I gained here so I can be fit for the soon coming days.
3/ Find a way to sell my piece of in-town land and buy an out-of-town one.
4/ Build a wood cabin on it
5/ Start a chicken/rabbit/etc coop so I have good free meat. I would not mind a couple cows ans a horse.

But mainly, it is number one: MOVE BACK!

[izzyscout21]

1.) Start a garden at the new place
2.) build an awning over the bunker entrance
3.)put down the fork
4.) not be as big a dick
5.)new roof on te barn

[ravensgrove]

Are we going to check in with our progress? Who cares I am...LOL. As of this morning, 1 week in I am 5.2 lbs. down. Yes, yes I know slow down...I am sure it's primarily water. Doing my little short chubby dance.....

[The Stig]

Are we going to check in with our progress?

Oh lord....why would we want to do something depressing like that? :)

I don't say that because I've done between jack and shit to accomplish any of mine. Nope. That's not the case at all.

[Fatty]

Lol

[The Stig]

Are we going to check in with our progress? Who cares I am...LOL. As of this morning, 1 week in I am 5.2 lbs. down. Yes, yes I know slow down...I am sure it's primarily water. Doing my little short chubby dance.....

Man...I need to get back into going to the gym. I was going regularly February through October last year. Then I hit a spate of business travel followed by the holidays and completely got out of the routine. My other excuse...er...."reason" is that for cardio I like to ride the bike but I found my knees were starting to hurt. Last thing I want are knee issues. Don't want to do a treadmill and the elliptical is a complete train-wreck waiting to happen.

But I have to get back on it. I was down to 190lbs, feeling good and starting to look tight. Now I'm back up to 205, am doughy and probably get out of breath going to the mailbox.

FML.

[Gunfixr]

Interesting. I was thinking about getting into bike riding, as I already have knee issues, and running is a problem (it's why I carry so much ammo, can't run, just going to have to fight it out where it starts).

[mitunnelrat]

and the elliptical is a trainwreck? That's my favorite form of indoor cardio. I keep meaning to pull mine out of storage now that i have space for it again...

and I hear you on the routine. I've been way too lax myself.

[mollypup]

I've already started back on the Southbeach diet. Today is day 7 and I'm doing o.k. I'm tall and weigh 164 lbs. I need to get back down to my idea running weight of 145 lbs so I have 19 lbs of lard to lose. I'm over 50, and haven't kept up my exercise program so I'm getting back into that. Glad we didn't cancel our gym memberships!

So, my main deal is to get fit again.
Then, get the basement organized
Join a gardening organization. I found a group in my area that does the survival gardening, food prep, etc....and I've asked to join but haven't heard back yet. My gardening skills stink.
Lots and lots of stuff.....oh yeah! Remember to actually write out lists of stuff I need to do instead of trying to keep it all inside my haid. I don't do that very well and consequently I leave many things undone.

[ravensgrove]

Week 2 and another 4 lbs...but I was dreadfully sick early this week...some sort of stomach bug...so we'll chalk most of this loss up to not eating and on my death bed. We live right over a mile straight up a hill going down is easy...coming up in this insane cold I thought my lungs were going to burst today...but I lived. I am primarily after cardio health...which is severely lacking, I farm all day, but I don't as a rule do any cardio per say. So far...its kicking my ass doing the 2 mile hill trip and my lungs feel like they will explode in the cold and I get this wretched blood type taste in my mouth...what's that about?