DH wants my Christmas list so I could use some help with suggestions for good preps

[ladyhk13]

I'm taking suggestions for my Christmas list. Usually I let him buy whatever he wants but this year I figure I may as well ask for some good prep items. I was thinking like a nice solar oven, a body form so I can make my own clothes...that's about as far as I got. I already have a manual grain mill, a reloader and several of my own weapons. So if ya'll could come up with some ideas PLEASE help, he's breathing down my neck and wants it right now (impatient, I know...). thanks!

[The Stig]

For ideas for smaller items you might check out countycomm (http://www.countycomm.com/whatsnew.html).

[Gunfixr]

Well, what do you WANT for Christmas ??
I know, we're all about prepping, but don't forget to enjoy life when you can. Christmas is a time to enjoy life. Get something you want. If you also need it, great, but fulfill a want or two. Not saying to be frivolous, but you could I guess.
After all, post-SHTF we won't always be able to just sit back and enjoy life as much as we may like. we may have what we need, but we will still miss some things we just want.
I'm sure about everybody here has seen The Book of Eli. Remember him listening to his IPod? And how hard he worked to keep it going? It's those little things that make a difference between living and just surviving.

[Dropy]

Tell him you want 500 acres AWAY from everything and everyone. On it you want a beautiful log home that is 100 off grid complete with a hardened basement/bunker. Fully stocked for your family for 5 years.

Or is this too much to ask?

[izzyscout21]

I'd be going to Tahiti.

[Evolver]

I would stick with your gut and get a solar oven. We research a long time before buying ours and I can tell you if you like or want bread with your meals or if you want to bake and cook with out fuels the Sun Oven is tried and true. We bought ours here so you can get a idea on costs and what it looks like... The GLOBAL SUN OVEN SOLAR COOKER cook with the power of the sun solar cooking | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/GLOBAL-SUN-OVEN-SOLAR-COOKER-cook-power-sun-solar-cooking-/370559674360?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564713e7f8)

There are others out there and allot of how to build your own but this one is built, built well and ready to use. IMHO

[ladyhk13]

Nope Dropy, we're already working on something like this now. Just can't find the right piece of land for the right priice. Will be looking at another piece after Thanksgiving. :)

[ladyhk13]

Well, what do you WANT for Christmas ??
I know, we're all about prepping, but don't forget to enjoy life when you can. Christmas is a time to enjoy life. Get something you want. If you also need it, great, but fulfill a want or two. Not saying to be frivolous, but you could I guess.
After all, post-SHTF we won't always be able to just sit back and enjoy life as much as we may like. we may have what we need, but we will still miss some things we just want.
I'm sure about everybody here has seen The Book of Eli. Remember him listening to his IPod? And how hard he worked to keep it going? It's those little things that make a difference between living and just surviving.

That's kind of my problem. I like so many things and have everything I could want. So I'm trying to figure out what he could get me that I could add to our preps that would be on a larger scale. We have all the smaller things and some more pricey things but maybe I'm missing things that you guys would think of? I will check out the solar oven and I would like some other OTG items for the house maybe? Money isn't really an issue so I'm not looking for small stuff but something nice.

[bacpacker]

You probably already have these or something similar, but here's a few we have or want.
Food saver vacuum sealer
Excaliber dehydrator
your favorite carbine or shotty
Big Berky water purifier for the house
a top quality water purifier for the BOB. Pur and Katadyn are 2 good brands
How about some hi quality garden tools
game cart

This is a tough question not knowing for sure what all you already have. I'm sure you'll like/put to good use whatever you get.
BTW the solar oven sounds like something we need.

[ladyhk13]

You probably already have these or something similar, but here's a few we have or want.
Food saver vacuum sealer
Excaliber dehydrator
your favorite carbine or shotty
Big Berky water purifier for the house
a top quality water purifier for the BOB. Pur and Katadyn are 2 good brands
How about some hi quality garden tools
game cart

This is a tough question not knowing for sure what all you already have. I'm sure you'll like/put to good use whatever you get.
BTW the solar oven sounds like something we need.

We have everything except for the dehydrator...was wondering whether it was worth it for us. I am not a huge fan of dried food (I tried to do eggs on my mom's and they didn't come out so good!) so I don't know if I would use it but I have thought about it...I keep thinking Trail Mix and dried fruit...yuk. Think it would be worth it for us? I really have thought about it but I'm kind of afraid.

On the solar oven, I thought someone found one that came with the pots and pans specifically for it...anyone heard of that one?

[bacpacker]

We use our dehydrator a lot. Just bought the excaliber last year and it is a sweet unit. It's pretty large with 9 trays so you can dry a lot at once. We do various fruits, apples, pineapple, etc. Also tomatos, onions, potatos, corn, peas. Plus we love jerky so we do that as well.
It really depends on your all's taste. We don't mind dried foods, it works well in soups, chili, stews. Plus we like the dried fruit as a snack.
Not trying to talk you into it, just sharing what we do.

[ladyhk13]

We love jerkey so that would be good. Never tried veggies...do you just dry them and stick them in jars and they stay good for years?

[bacpacker]

LOL, we can't leave them alone so we really don't have any long term info. We've got a few things we are going to try and leave them alone for a while. We don't take the fruit down really dry, so I don't expect it would go more than several months. But the potato, tomato, peas, & corn we take completely dry, so if you jar them up I would think 2-3 years at least.

[ladyhk13]

Could a solar oven be used just as a dehydrator?

[Evolver]

Nope. You need air flow and a little heat to dehydrate indoors. We also have the Excalibur and love it, I've turned many pounds of meat into jerky with it and I must say... It's mighty tasty.

[ladyhk13]

Well may have to check into it then. Still want to look at solar ovens...I like the idea of being able to put meals outside and letting the sun cook them without using up my gas, electric or whatever my power source may be at the time.
How long are you leaving your jerkey in your dehydrator? I keep seeing stuff like 24 hours and our power bill going through the roof when we use it a lot.

[Evolver]

Well may have to check into it then. Still want to look at solar ovens...I like the idea of being able to put meals outside and letting the sun cook them without using up my gas, electric or whatever my power source may be at the time.
How long are you leaving your jerkey in your dehydrator? I keep seeing stuff like 24 hours and our power bill going through the roof when we use it a lot.

The Excalibur on average (depending on temps) uses around 2 amps (220 watts) which is about 4-5 cents per hr x 24hr = $1.24
If you run it 4 times a month. It would be $4.96 This is the total if your paying 15 cents per 1 kWh (hight average).

[Evolver]

For a comparison it would be the same as a refrigerator, 42" plasma TV left on for 24 hr or a toaster oven turned on for 10 mins.

[Gunfixr]

We have a vacuum sealer, in fact, my wife is using it at this very moment.
I been thinking about a dehydrator.
Hadn't really thought about a solar oven, but sounds intriguing.

LadyHK, well get whatever you want. It's your Christmas, so it's about you, at least as far as DH goes.

[ladyhk13]

Well I put the dehydrator on my list, a few things for the kitchen from Williams-Sonoma (all my accents are red and they also have a pestle and mortar which can be good for herbs), a body form so I can create my own clothes and then gave him the option to add or delete as he wants. I was really trying to find things that I could use if shtf and we had no power and had to rely on manual ways. I have a treadle sewing machine so I thought I could brush up on my sewing skills while I try to learn how to use the thing, should be fun if I get it! If any of you think of anything else, let me know!!! Never too late to add something!

[Sniper-T]

x1000 on the dehydrator! I couldn't live without mine. Whenever possible I over-make a meal, and then de-hydrate the leftovers as a home-made MRE. Chili, Spaghettis, Lasagna, Stroganhoff, etc. Thyey're great to have... if both my wife and I are working late, I can grab a package of lasagne, and have a home-cooked meal on the table in 20 minutes.

A couple things that I've got on my list:
mortar and Pestle
Wood chipper
sausage stuffer

[bacpacker]

We use our dehydrator a lot as well. We had an old Ronco model for a long time(still do), but the excaliber allows for a much larger load, better temp control. We also have 2 mortar and pestles with different sizes. They both get a lot of use. The wife loves cooking with herbs and they work great for that.

Sniper I like the idea of putting together some MRE's, Pre cooked meals etc. Fantastic idea.

Lady, something else, if you don't already have it, repair parts for the treadle machine. Those are great. My mom has my grandma's old singer. I hope she gives it to me one day.

[Sniper-T]

Tx BP... I also use them for hunting and camping. Nice and light to carry/pack, and super easy to rehydrate a great meal in little time with minimum effort. With a pre-rehydration, I've put lasagne on the plates in the time it takes to cook stick wrapped bisquick sprials on a fire.