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  1. My whole life I've been into camping, fishing, shooting, etc so I am used to having "survival gear" around the house. I changed my focus after the horrible tornado destruction in Joplin Missouri. About one week later a tornado took out several houses exactly 2 miles from my house. My place didn't get a scratch. However, that was a "what if?" moment for me. After that I got organized. I now have a dedicated staging area of food, clothes, gear, water, and tools. My family could be completely independent without electricity, water, etc for at least 8 weeks with our current resources. I am not an ITEOTW prepper, I am a natural disaster prepper, but it still never hurts to be prepped for whatever may come at you.
  2. bootstrap

    Hey guys

    Welcome aboard. It's always good to get more opinions around here. Thank you for your service to the great country.
  3. Many of us use so called Smart Phones. With the tons and tons of apps that are available, there must be some good ones out there for preppers. Besides the obvious use of GPS/maps and weather reports, what are some of the apps you have found useful for prepping and planning? I have a Droid phone and have downloaded the USMC survival book, US Army survival book, a flashlight, and a "swiss army knife" app that includes a compass, ruler, level, flashlight, and a red/blue emergency light. I'm a bit cheap and only download free apps, but that certainly doesn't need to limit the discussion.
  4. bootstrap


    The Steripen tested well in Backpacker magazine (March 2011). It got the "Best Purifier" award in a comparison test. Their only complaints were you need a wide mouth water bottle to use it, only treats one liter at a time, and it is not good for silty water. The say the batteries treat 100 liters and the UV bulb is good for 8000 treatments. I haven't bought one yet, but it's on my "to do" list. Hope that helps.
  5. bootstrap


    Just to be clear, you're asking for experience, and not current employment, right? That's how I answered it at least.
  6. bootstrap

    hand gun questions

    Holy crap VT, are you trying to put me into an anxiety induced seizure? If I took your suggestion I would lie awake every night and hear my wittle wovely magazine under duress calling my name softly over and over and over and over....until I was such a nervous wreck I spun out of control in seizure. UGH!!! The humanity!!!! Where do you other preppers vote on the "to rotate or not to rotate" magazines issue? Maybe I'm out of date and old fashioned. It wouldn't be the first time.
  7. bootstrap

    hand gun questions

    I've only had it happen to me once, and it was not exactly when you wanted to see it happen. I was in Iraq and had some of my magazines loaded for a few months straight with 28 rounds. I decided to be a good little soldier and cycle the magazines. Sure enough, after unloading about 6 or 8 rounds the magazine quit feeding them to me. It only took a bump on the bottom of the magazine for it to pop up and feed again, and had I been actually firing the weapon at the time, the recoil probably would have been enough to keep it feeding, but when I saw the failure to feed, my heart skipped a beat with the "What if....." thought. That was one of those moments I don't care to repeat, so now I'm an avid magazine cycler.
  8. bootstrap

    hand gun questions

    One other point on the revolver vs. pistol discussion is the "maintenance" involved. My wife had zero experience with weapons when we met. I got her started shooting and now she is actually quite good. I like to keep a loaded FNH in a bedside holster ( ). Once a week I empty and reload into a new magazine. I also do this with my CC weapon. My wife likes the idea of having a loaded weapon on her side of the bed as well if I'm gone, but doesn't like the "maintenance" involved of reloading new magazines. She prefers a .38 revolver. I'm just glad she's gotten to the point of feeling comfortable around weapons. We don't have young children in the house, so little hands aren't a concern for the bedside holster. Anyway, just another dimension to consider when looking at the purpose of the weapon and the user.
  9. bootstrap


    I once read in a Readers Digest "Laughter is to life like shock absorbers are to an automobile". Makes sense to me. Welcome back.
  10. bootstrap

    Checklist for BOB's, BOV's and BOL's

    It's seems pretty good to me! I clip/pasted it and will use it to adjust/verify my personalized info. Thanks!
  11. bootstrap

    Hello all

    Hello and welcome to the boards. I came here with the same rationale. My wife and are not completely equal on our prepper plans (she's a little reluctant with some of my ideas) but we're working together. Good luck to you and your family on your prepping. There are a lot of well trained and informative people on these threads.
  12. bootstrap

    my plan

    I'm gonna piggy back on my earlier response. It took me awhile to find this link. Here is a link to another thread on these boards regarding what foods to prep/store. A tip of my hat to juzcallmesnake who originally posted this list.!/page3&highlight=food+storage
  13. bootstrap

    my plan

    First of all, congratulations on taking the first steps. Getting prepped can be overwhelming. My wife and I took several months to get to our current level, and it's still not what I would like it to be. (will it ever be?) Regarding the water storage issue, you have a few options. If you're going to be storing your gear in a shed, water storage would be difficult with the threat of freezing and breaking the containers unless you are going to heat the shed. Since iodine treatment is a no-go, then consider bleach or a filter system made for outdoor use such as katadyn. For the food, be sure to store it in containers vermin can't get into. We have all of our noncanned preps (even non food) stored in five gallon buckets to organize/preserve it as best as possible. Plus, if we absolutely have to get the heck out of dodge, we can grab and transport it easier that way. You have a daunting task ahead of you with several challenges and I don't want to retype info you can find on other threads. There are a lot of smart people and well trained people on these boards that have posted good info. I just wanted to drop a couple thoughts on you. Good luck with the preps, and good luck getting the hubby onboard!
  14. bootstrap

    Hand Tools for SHTF

    If you're planning on bugging in, you might want to consider the Stanley FUBAR. It's gonna be a bit heavy for bugging out, but I've added one to my bug in supply chest.
  15. bootstrap

    Greetings from the NW burbs of Chicago

    Greetings Fish. I hope you find all that ye seek, both on these pages and in life. (That's the most philosophical I've sounded in years don't expect that again!)