My New EDC (Every Day Carry)

        I received my new EDC (Every Day Carry) bag today. I wanted a durable and practical bag that I could have travel with me on my day to day visits to clients. And since it is holiday time, I had to choose something on more of a budget, and so I found this little tactical molle compatible bag on eBay, and purchased it for only $15.00, which included shipping and handling! It is a sturdy little bag too. I would like to point out that the contents of my EDC bag will grow in time, but having only received it today, I wanted to give at least a basic idea of how one is packed.

        Before I detail my own packing ingredients, I would like to differentiate between an EDC, and a BOB (Bag, Bugout Bag), or a GHB (Get Home Bag). An EDC bag is a bag that you use to transport items that you use regularly, and allows you to be prepared for daily situations, and mini SHTF situations. It is not meant to replace a BOB or a GHB, rather it can be used to supplement those bags, but the primary purpose is to provide a smaller, day to day use option for a prepper, which allows you to reserve your BOB and GHB for more severe scenarios.

       A BOB is a bag designed to quickly grab and go, the contents providing the necessities for instant daily survival in extreme circumstances.

       A GHB is a bag, similar to the BOB, but it is one that is usually kept in a vehicle, and is designed for someone trapped away from home, who is also in an emergency situation, and provides them the resources needed for immediate survival and usually lasts an individual for a minimum of 72 hours.

My EDC Contents

         In the front pocket of my EDC, I packed a lighter, a book of matches, hand sanitizer, a moist towelette, a pack of toilet paper from a military MRE(Meal Ready to Eat), Chap Stick, and a pack of DayQuill pills.

         In the second/middle pocket of my EDC, I packed a write in the rain pad, two pens, my pocket journal, my contact solution, and a backup pair of glasses.

     In the main pouch of my EDC, I packed a pair of gloves, a crank flashlight, a back up phone/tablet charger, my Google Nexus 7, headphones, a box of pills, and though I didn't pack it inside the main pouch I attached it on the side, my Gerber Multi-Tool.

So there you have it, my EDC bag, as it is currently packed. You can see that the items within it are suited more for day to day use and mini SHTF scenarios. I will be continuing to add to it over time, like a water bottle and water bottle molle pouch.

Stay prepared, stay safe!

Most Common Bugout Vehicles

         Although the above image is one that many people imagine as an ideal bugout vehicle, this is for a minority of individuals with the financial resources and knowledge to purchase and maintain such a beastly mode of transportation. 

         Chances are you are like me, among the countless majority of preppers and survivalists that don't have the funds and/or the space for such bugout vehicle, so you are more likely to either already have or would like one of the following vehicles. I assembled this list of vehicles from taking pulls in a couple of chat rooms, as well as reviewing many of the images and blogs created by other preppers. I would be interested to recieve a vote from my readers on which of the following vehicles they feel would be the best prepping/bugout vehicle. let me know, and I will post the winning vehicle by Thanksgiving.

Ford Bronco

       The Ford Bronco is one of the more common vehicles I found that is used by not only preppers, but also hunters. It has the power and size to tow and transport supplies and preps, and can endure some harsh environments.

Toyota Land Cruiser

       The Toyota Land Cruiser, may be the most popular bugout vehicle I came across in all of my research. They are notorious for being not just powerful, but reliable. They are commonly found among preppers around the world, not just in the U.S.A.

Chevy Blazer

        The Chevy Blazer, is a common favorite among prepper families, as they usually come with plenty of room to transport a family of five, fairly comfortably. They are also among the most common bugout type SUV I find for sale.

Jeep Cherokee

        The Jeep Cherokee is probably the easiest to find bugout vehicle, at least in Utah, as I can find them for sale all the time, but they are also selling fast! They may be among the cheapest to buy and maintain, as you can run them into the ground, then build them back up again.

Trucks

        The reason that I do not specify any particular make or model of truck, is because I was never really able to find any one that was bragged about more than another for prepping reasons. It usually came down to the ever popular brand wars between Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota, but no real argument for bugging out.  It really seems to come down to preppers who prize SUV's or Pickups. 

         Trucks are good bugout vehicles for the obvious reason that they can be loaded and transport large and awkwardly shaped loads. They are also able to have campers already packed that can just be slid into them the moment you need to bugout, leaving it free for day to day use.

So, now that you have seen the list of common bugout vehicles, send me your vote on which one you think would make the best one:

Ford Bronco

Toyota Land Cruiser

Chevy Blazer

Jeep Cherokee

Pickup Trucks

Stay prepared, stay safe!

Winterization Tips

       With the weather growing colder, I wanted to touch on some good ways to help winterize your home and property. Winterizing not only can save you a lot of money, but it will also extend the life of your home.
        Most of my tips I am passing along here, are taken from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and their website: www.fema.gov

Insulation

         

        One of the best money saving steps that you can invest in for the winter is insulation. I just recently did this for my home for a ripping good deal, filling both sides of my attic, and noticed an immediate difference. This not only helps to keep the heat in your home throughout the cold months, lowering your heating bill, but it also helps to keep it cool during the warmer months too.
          Some good news about this process is that many gas and power companies will actually either pay for most of it, or, like in my situation, offer a mail in rebate. When all was said and done, I only ended up paying $99 for all of my attic to be re-insulated. I am now saving almost twice that a year. According to the men who came in installed the insulation you will usually only need to do it every 5-10 years. A great investment!

Caulking and Weather-Stripping

         Replacing and/or adding caulking and weather-stripping is a measure that I have also recently taken on my own home. This is a measure that you will do on doors and windows, preventing cold air to leak in and the warm to leak out. I used a putty knife, caulking and caulking gun, and a utility knife for trimming the weather-stripping, when I redid my doors and windows. You will want to be sure to remove any old caulking or weather-stripping prior to applying the new.
          There are a number of youtube videos that can give you a step by step tutorial on this.

Storm Windows and Plastic Covering

      Having an extra layer/buffer on your windows will improve the internal warmth of your home dramatically. The two most common way for doing this are storm windows and plastic. Storm windows are naturally the long term solution for your home, and can in some situations increase the value of the home. However, if you are like me, and have to be kind of choosy of which preps you do each month, then I would recommend using clear plastic. It can really be any type of large plastic sheeting, it's clarity does not seem to effect the warming effects, so I recommend getting as clear of plastic as you can, as to not limit either the sunlight, or attractiveness of your home. You can pull the plastic tight and flat enough that it is not immediately obvious.

Heating Equipment and Chimneys

        Few things are as nice in the winter as drinking a warm beverage while curled next to a crackling fire, or in a toasty room while looking out upon a frozen country side. For this reason I am greatly looking forward to putting my fireplace to good use this winter. However, prior to ever using it, or even using your heater, you should do a little bit of preventative maintenance on them. I actually just scheduled a chimney sweep to come and clean and inspect my chimney, and it only cost $119, and it is something that should be done at least once a year, if only for safety reasons.
         For your heater, a simple thing that you can do to help it run better and improve the overall quality of the air in your house is to simply change the filter. You can do this anywhere from $5-$25.
          You will also want to have all fuel burning and heating equipment vented and clear from clutter.
          I also recommend that you keep a fire extinguisher handy for emergencies.

Outdoor Winterization

        Winterizing the outside of your home can save you money by preventing damage to your home and property. One thing you should do every fall is to clean out your rain gutters, as this prevents moisture build up that can expand to damage your home and gutters when it freezes. You clean them in the fall, that way you can remove all of the fallen leaves and other debris from trees.
          You will also want to cut away any tree branches that could fall onto your house or other structures should they become overburdened by snow or ice. This is something that also is good to do for general storm protection.

Pipe Insulation

       You can also provide insulation for the pipes in your home. You can do this either by purchasing foam pipe insulation, as seen above, or FEMA recommends that you can wrap pipes in newspaper and plastic, though I think I would recommend the foam pipe covers, as I feel they are not only easier but safer.



Stay prepared, stay safe!