Words of Caution & Intel for Preppers
If you're a seasoned prepper or living off grid, you already know. This is for people who are just getting started, or might have missed a few things - plus a word of caution regarding the onslaught of Emergency Food Supply Kits being sold everywhere online right now. Let's have ourselves a little virtual fireside chat real quick.
We’re gonna address food, water, gasoline, bug out plans, and the blindspot in most prepping dialogue I hear:
One’s relationship with themselves and others, your ability to form authentic connections, and cultivating a solid mental/spiritual condition.
Might sound corny, but if your mental isn’t right, nothing is going to go according to plan, and if you can’t work with others, you can be as prepped as possible, but ultimately, this will come down to a numbers game. Lone wolves will not survive.
Let me preface this with the link to my TGS telegram channel, where a ton of info as to why one should be prepping in the first place is all there- for the few that aren't already aware of what's happening in plain sight: https://t.me/thegreatsilencinguncensored
Let’s start with the emergency food kits being sold online everywhere first: a lot of these companies are scamming the shit out of you. Here’s something to consider BEFORE buying:
When prepping, always prep for a situation without power. If you do not have a way to boil water, understand that many if not most of these companies products require cooking- a lot of this shit is glorified camping food. (Not a bad time to look into solar powered water heating devices, but before you put anything into your bugout bag, TEST IT FIRST- especially if it’s solar. You wouldn’t believe the amount of solar gadgets that people let sit out in the sun for days only to give off little to no power and then stop working entirely.)
The second thing- understand what your body needs to survive. You need a certain amount of calories, fat, carbs, protein, salt, oil, vitamins and minerals, as well as WATER. A lot of these survival kits are really low in all of the above with the exception of sodium (salt)- I see incredibly high sodium levels in these kits and that poses a problem: you’re burning through your water twice as fast because of how much salt is in the food, as it will dehydrate you. You’ll burn through your water three times as fast if its the kits that require water to cook.
Second thing: A lot of these companies are full of shit when they talk about the shelf lives of their product. Want to find out if yours is legit or not? If your food came in pouches, get a flashlight. Shine a flashlight at the bag. Does any light come through the pouch? If it does, that food is not going to be good past a few months. Light is something you want to guard your food from, as the process of photo-degradation depletes it of all nutritional value and leads to rotting. Also test the packaging durability. Open one of them. Try to rip it apart. Was it easy? Okay, then its trash. Odds are it wasn’t sealed well, it’s not protected from water vapor or outside pollutants, oxygen levels are likely too high, tiny bugs can manage their way in, etc.
Anything freeze dried should never have more than 2% oxygen in the bag- and it needs to have those silica oxygen absorbers in there as well, then it needs to be heat sealed in a mylar bag, ideally 5 mm thick with a foil pouch inside to boot. You can do all this yourself btw, I know its overwhelming but you can also resort to other methods if this isnt your thing. Or just don’t go nuts and buy a ton of it at once, buy some, and switch it out every few months- do not count on it to be good for 25 fkn years like they tell you. A lot of people are behaving like, well, typical Americans, and buying shit on amazon without knowing the first thing regarding food and water storage, or any storage for that matter. Then it shows up on their doorstep and they don’t test it out, they just store it wherever and think they’re set.
All you’ve done is give a company a bunch of your money for the illusion of security- you have to actually know the quality of your product and how it has been packaged. Do not take the manufacturers word for anything, if you are buying online read the fkn reviews! Not the one the website suggests either, go to the 1 star ratings and find out what the problems have been. If it’s just people bitching about price, taste, or how long delivery took, great. If it’s something else, well you’ll want to know that before you hand over half your paycheck.
Back to the oxygen levels in the packaging: you can pretty much tell with your eyes if something has a ton of air in it or not. 2% oxygen is hardly anything. Also, those silica oxygen absorber bags, they only work if the bag was sealed at or below 2% oxygen and then the bag rises above 2%- the packet brings it back down, but only once. Then they become saturated and stop working, so they aren’t going to keep a bag with a bunch of air in it fresh.
You are better off making your own food storage “kits” to get you through a brief grid down situation, and then having a long game plan (if you are not already on an off grid homestead or self sustaining eco community) of who you’re meeting, where you’re meeting, and how you are going to have a sustaining way of growing and storing food. Ideally, start this now, and I know I’ve shared this article in telegram before and I talked ad nauseam about it on the Reality Czars podcast, but you do not have much time. The “rolling blackouts” are scheduled for August 2022. Remember the website I shared on telegram (poweroutage.us) in regards to real time power outage updates? I’d keep an eye on that. People in my home state already are dealing with outages, and the only person in the area who has power is the guy with solar panels on his roof. However, there are alternate ways to get power if you can’t afford solar panels.
I am not here to educate on that right now, as I am currently figuring that all out myself. I will direct you to all resources when I have solid shit you can build on, but I’m not going to shove things in your face that could be a waste of your precious time, because that right now is worth more than anything. Yes, gasoline generators work, but you need to know how to store gasoline, and that resource will be limited, as gas stations will not be operational in a grid down situation because the pumps run on electricity. Ultimately it is a limited resource unless you have your own way of extracting it from the earth.
I just felt like giving a bit of a warning in regards to the onslaught of emergency supply food kits being shoved in everyones faces online, please figure out where your food is coming from, what the nutritional value is, test the packaging, check the food, and if you do not have your own way of generating power do not buy kits that require the food to be cooked.
If you are relying on a gasoline generator, make sure you know how to store gas- you need to add fuel stabilizer to it, one ounce for every 2.5 gallons, use plastic jerry cans, not metal, and do not fill them past the 95% mark as they’ll need room to expand bc of the fumes). Another thing about gas that you might not wanna hear, but I gotta say it: most of the gas available to us has at least 10% ethanol in it, thats what regular unleaded has. Anything above that can have 50% or more. When temperatures drop, after a few days this causes the ethanol in the gasoline to turn into a gum like substance, therefore fucking your shit up, for lack of better words. If you want access to pure gasoline, heads up, it’s at least a dollar more expensive, if not two, per gallon. To find gas stations that sell non-ethanol gasoline, download the app Pure Gas. When you are filling up, make sure the gas can is on the ground, do not hold it. Static electricity can cause problems you don’t want.
If you want to know what types of food are best in these situations, including different food preservation and storing methods, I’ll suggest this book (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYQ5559?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details), or you can do your own research, if you do not already know. There are tons of great books and endless amounts of info out there. I realize many people already know this, but for those who don’t and feel overwhelmed, there you go.
WATER STORAGE: if you are storing water in your garage or basement, make sure you lay a tarp underneath whatever the water is contained in- the chemicals from concrete/cement will leech into the plastic and into your water over time.
Water filtration devices: I am on a budget, and I have a particular bug out plan, so I prep according to that. I do not live on a homestead that is solar functioning with a well or natural water supply on location, I live in a city. My goal is to get further away obviously, but that takes time and resources, so incase SHTF before I can make that happen, I need to have a plan in place. I use Life Straws as my on the go water filters. I could literally drink out of a lake or creek with these things. I have tested them out and they work really well. The first personal water filters I ordered (the brand was Sawyer, I would not recommend) I tested and it was absolute garbage- I barely got a few drops of water from a device filled with water and it tasted like liquid plastic.
If you’re looking for bigger water filters and have the money to spend, I’d suggest Berkey or Alexapure. If you’re on a budget like me though, for now I just have a few of those Life Straws that are small enough to fit in a purse, glove compartment, backpack, etc, and they’re good for up to 1000 gallons. They’re not expensive at all, $15 a piece. ALWAYS test everything you get before you are in a situation where you are depending on it, because even if I’m telling you a certain brand works, you never know if what you ordered is a faulty product. It could have gotten fucked up during the shipping process, or who knows, but shit happens.
Other than that, don’t rush out and panic buy everything at once. Do it in pieces. Find out what is most essential. That would definitely be water, at least have that. You can go 30 days without food, but only 3 without water, and even less if you live in a hot climate.
I’ll do a post later showing what I have in my bug-out bag, its almost complete but not quite. Make a list according to your situation, everyones is different. My bug out plan involves travel, so it’s short term survival until I get to my bug-in location where I will be on a large natural water supply, so the only thing I’ll have to deal with water wise once I’m there is filtration. However, I still did order a few water pallets so I can take about 15 gallons with me when I dip out. I keep these things full now, because you don’t know when the water is gonna turn off if you are connected to the grid. I will be switching the water out every few weeks because even though it is really thick durable BPA free plastic, it’s still plastic, and that leeches into water over time.
First things first- get to the safe location, know your route without the need for GPS if that goes down, which it likely will (getting a GPS that is not on your phone is a good idea, because as long as the satellites haven’t been turned off those will work, but again that is also a possibility, and again please test them first. Maps and compasses will never do you wrong, and neither will memory of knowing where you are going.) Avoid major highways and traveling through large cities. This will require you to likely have gas in your vehicle (not the tank, I mean plastic jerry cans in your back seat- do not put them in the trunk) when you are in transit. I say don’t put them in the trunk because it’ll get hot as fuck in there (unless you’re in a colder climate- I am not.) If it’s in my car I can have the windows slightly down for ventilation and the AC on if needed to regulate the temperature. This is one of many reasons why making sure you are armed is really important, if someone sees you pulled over and filling up your car, they might decide to wipe you out and take your shit. You’ll be in an unfortunate situation for sure, but you will need to make sure that doesn’t happen. I think you understand what I am saying. HOWEVER…
Many people are not in that situation. I live in a city, which is why I have to “bug out”. I know a lot of you are on property in rural areas, or are already on homesteads that are self sustaining. In that situation, as long as your operations don’t depend on the power grid of this country, you’ll be fine, and it’ll just be a game of making sure you and whoever else is in your community and home all have a defensive plan in place incase uninvited visitors start showing up with the intent on taking what you have.
Lastly: I am not trying to freak you out, it’s hard to talk about this shit without it raising peoples heart rates, because most of us are like holy shit, we are not prepared if SHTF tomorrow. This is why the following things are the most important, and I think the least discussed:
Your mental, physical, and SPIRITUAL condition has to be on point. Any vices you have are a liability and need to go now. The second thing: INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND COMMUNITY. You have to be able to work WITH people. We have been programmed in this country to be so individualistic and untrusting and selfish, it takes daily work to unravel this, but you cannot do this alone. We all need each other and we need each other to be in a solid condition- mentally, spiritually and physically.
Think about how hard people struggle with their interpersonal relationships now, as things are- you might think times are hard now, but the power is still on, your phone works, grocery stores still have food (although supplies are getting low), gas stations are still in operation, we’re not dealing with mass panic and looting, people are still going to their jobs and coming home and tuning out and watching Netflix or arguing with strangers on Twitter. Those are dumbshit distractions and you’ll wish you still had those “problems” of bickering with people about “politics” when this comes around. Discernment is key- discernment of where your focus should be, how you spend your energy and time, who you spend it with, who you form relations with, and what your relationship is like with yourself. It is not a coincidence that the news is full of distractions, conflict, etc. just be careful what you give your energy to, because time is not on your side if you are not already fully prepared.
With that said, last thing I’ll mention is be mindful of your thoughts and words. If you are someone who regularly says “I’m fucked” or “my life is fucked” or “I cant trust anyone this is going to be so fucked” etc. (I hear this shit all the time) then guess what? You’re gonna attract those people and those situations, that’s how the universe works. Your words and thoughts are energetic sound vibrations, that is the language of the universe, and it is magnetic. I’m not saying times will be EASY, I’m just saying, do not make it harder than it has to be. Ultimately, no one really knows what this is going to be like, because we haven’t experienced it before. Set yourself up for the universe working in your favor in any condition, don’t curse yourself with your words, which are literally casting spells into the ethers. Just be mindful of that stuff.
Be good to each other. Try to narrow down what really should be focused on right now, triage the levels of importance of shit. Your mental state and the quality of your bonds with other humans should be at the top of that list. No one is going to have literally EVERYTHING for every situation, thats why community is important, we’re going to need to work together.
Everyone is here for a reason and has their own skill set to offer, even if you think you don’t have one, sometimes just showing up and being a man/woman of your word and being willing to work and learn and be a team player is enough. Trustworthiness. The ability to collaborate and cooperate.
This matrix has put many of us in a condition of perpetual adolescence, evasive of accountability and responsibility for our own lives and the lives around us, and dependent on the State for our basic needs. We are now in a situation where all of that needs to be uprooted. I know that is scary, but it’s where we are at, and it is an opportunity for us as a species to elevate if we choose to take it.
Focus on what you need to be prepared, and coordinate with others. Have backup plans. And finally, don’t let this consume every second of your time or you’ll go crazy. Don’t forget to do things you enjoy, go outside, spend time with others, create art if that’s your thing, smile, laugh, exercise, meditate, pray, all that shit. Balance is key. Don’t use those things as escapism though- I see a lot of people get into prepping and then they get overwhelmed, and all of a sudden the lower vibrational ego kicks in to protect them from fear and they check out completely- cue the engagement in really destructive activities, like running back to abusive relationships because that’s whats comfortable to you for the simple fact that it’s familiar, using a shit ton of drugs or drinking themselves into oblivion, or whatever their escapism of choice is. Watch for that tendency, everyone has it in them. Don’t judge yourself for it, just be aware of it so you can disengage when you notice the ego self trying to take the wheel. You want to tap in with the Higher Self on this journey. Hopefully this made sense and was helpful, just felt the need to say this for whatever reason.
All LINKS to my music, writing, telegram channels, contact, etc: linktr.ee/tesstamona