Top Ten Prepping Mistakes - Mistake #3 - Insufficient Water Storage

Many people don't have the luxury of being close to a good source of water such as a lake, stream or river. Water is a necessity for many purposes...cooking, cleaning and maintaining proper hygiene. Even if you have a good water source you will need the proper means to filter and purify your water.

Many types of food items require a certain amount of water to process them. Powdered milk, dry bulk food items such as rice or pasta are just a few. Dehydrated food items also need water in order to successfully make a meal. Many can foods have additional water in them but can still require additional water for cooking.

You will also need water for drinking and hygiene purposes. At a minimum of one gallon per day, you're talking about a large amount of water for just a 72 hour period.

Making sure you have adequate supplies of water during an emergency should be a priority.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Top Ten Prepping Mistakes - Mistake #2 - Lack of Skills

While it is great to think of yourself as being prepared, placing too much faith in the “stuff” you may have accumulated to aid in your survival won’t always be enough. That “stuff” may not always be there. If your “stuff” should suddenly become unavailable, it is your skills that will save you.

Food stores may only feed you for a short time but your gardening skills will help keep you fed for a lot longer. A first aid kit is a necessary item but only becomes truly useful if you have the skill to make it work. Having a shelter is a good thing but having the skills to repair it yourself if it is damaged can be invaluable. Having a great rifle will be of little use if you don’t have the skill to use it safely and properly. All the bullets in the world won’t help you if you can’t hit your target.

Having skills that you can rely on in a crunch can be more important than you may realize. Never discount the value of your skills and always seek out any opportunity to learn new skills or improve those skills you already possess.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Building A Survial Library

Wolverine

There are a couple of good posts on building a survival library over at Michigan Preppers Network. My friend, Wolverine, usually posts some great stuff on Thursday night or Friday morning each week. So whether you're just starting out in your preparedness efforts or are a dedicated prepper, check out his posts on building a survival library. There's a lot of info out there and a good place to keep it is in a survival library.

You can read Wolverine's posts here:

http://www.michiganpreppersnetwork.com/2011/02/building-survival-library.html

http://www.michiganpreppersnetwork.com/2011/02/building-survival-library-part-two.html

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Coral Snakes in Texas

The Texas coral snake is the only member of the Elapidae family found in Texas. This type of snake includes members of the cobra family found in Asia and Africa. The Texas coral snake is a very slender snake with a small indistinct head and round pupils. They are normally about 2-1/2 feet long when fully mature. Texas coral snakes have a distinctive pattern with a broad black ring, a narrow yellow ring and a broad red ring, with the red rings always bordered by the yellow rings. Several harmless snakes are similarly marked, but they never have the red and yellow bands touching.

"Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, venom lack."

This is a saying that is easily remembered and can help you to distinguish the difference between the highly venomous coral snake from other nonvenomous ringed species of snakes.

The picture at the top of the post shows a mature Texas coral snake which was about 2 feet long. Sorry about the poor picture quality but these were taken with a cell phone camera. The picture above gives a better view of this Texas coral snake which was in the process of eating another snake. This particular Texas coral snake gives new meaning to the phrase"driveway dining."

Coral snakes are found primarily in the southeastern half of Texas in woodland areas, canyons and fields of the coastal plains. They also prey on other snakes as well.

Central Texas is home to the four main varieties of venomous snakes found in Texas...the copperhead, the water moccasin, the rattlesnake and the coral snake. With warmer temperatures approaching as spring draws near, you would do well to keep a sharp lookout in order to avoid a hazardous encounter with these creatures.

Be aware, Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Snakes in Texas

Snakes occur throughout the state of Texas. Of the 254 counties in Texas, not one of them is snake free.

Granted some Texans may be reluctant to brag about this one, but the Lone Star State is, undeniably, a cornucopia of snake diversity. Although the exact number of species is hard to determine, we boast a stunning 76 species of snakes. If you include both species and subspecies in that number, it gives you a grand total of 115 or more - the highest number in all of the United States.

Snakes often occur in the vicinity of suburban and urban residential areas. They can even show up occasionally in your backyard. If the presence of snakes is deemed undesirable, removing their shelter is one of the most effective ways of discouraging them.

In Texas, we have an average of 2 to 3 deaths per year from snakebites. This is in comparison with 5 to 7 deaths per year from insect bites and an average of about 8 deaths per year from lightning.

Large species of snakes may live to a ripe old age of 40 years or even longer.

Snakes can absorb heat from the ground, from the surrounding air, and from objects next to them.

An animal that has venom is called "venomous." An animal that would make you sick if you ate it is "poisonous." Only a small number of snakes have venom. So although some people refer to snakes as "poisonous," technically, they should be called venomous.

There is no one simple hard and fast criterion a person can use to tell a venomous snake from a harmless one. None of the popular criteria such as a broad, triangular head, a heavy body, cat's eyes (vertical pupils), a flat body, or rough scales are safe since both harmless and dangerous snakes are known to share some or all of these traits.

Visit the source for more facts about snakes in Texas:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/junior_naturalists/moresnakes.phtml#s25

Be aware. be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Being Prepared - The First Priority

Being prepared is all about priorities. Even minimal efforts at prepping will force you to seriously examine your priorities. You will need to establish some very definitive priorities that will allow you to maintain a sense of normalcy in your life. If you want your prepping efforts to be successful, priorities must be established and maintained so as not to defeat your original purpose for being prepared.

While there are a number of items that are important in successfully being prepared, some are going to be more important than others and you should take this into account when organizing your preps. It also doesn’t take a “preparedness expert” to realize what your priorities should be.

Now some may want to argue the point depending upon their point of view on what should be your first priority but I think they are fighting a losing battle. No matter who you are or what stage of preparedness you desire to achieve your number one priority should always be your health.

In the beginning, your efforts at prepping should be focused on achieving and maintaining a good state of health. A lack of good health is sometimes the only thing that will make you realize where your prepping priorities should be. You won’t survive very long if you have a heart attack and you’re not going to walk very far on a broken leg. All the food and water in the world won’t save you if wind up with a serious illness that won’t allow you keep anything on your stomach without throwing it up. Even the simplest of ailments could leave you seriously dehydrated and in a life-threatening situation.

So where do you start? First get a good checkup. You can’t prepare for a problem if you don’t know it exists. Make sure you have the proper medications you need to treat any current conditions you may have. Need to wear glasses? Do you have a spare pair? If not, you better get an extra set. That rifle won’t be of much use if you can’t see the sights! Do you know First Aid and CPR so that you can help out other family members in an emergency? Or do you plan on calling 911? Do you have a well-stocked First Aid Kit just in case?

The first priority of prepping should be focusing your efforts on achieving and maintaining a good state of health. Your health and the health of your family should always be your first priority.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Frugal Preppin’ During Tough Economic Times - Avoiding the Coupon Trap

When striving to save money during a bad economy, it is often easy to make several common mistakes as you try to stretch your dollars to the maximum. One of these is falling into the “coupon trap”. Using manufacturer’s coupon can be a great way to save money but it can also cost you extra if it’s approached in the wrong manner.

The offers are numerous and show up everywhere. Buy one and get one free. Get a dollar off if you try the new and improved version or an almost endless number of other seemingly great offers. It is important to remember that businesses use coupons to get you to spend “your” money on “their” products. Here is where the danger of using coupons can be costly.

People are creatures of habit and once they find a good product they tend to continue to buy and use that product. Coupons are often used to entice you to buy something you don’t normally use. Just the simple act of trying to find a discount coupon for something you normally use can be a frustrating experience.

Saving money by using coupons is great when you can do so in a manner that affords you the opportunity to save money on products you actually use. If you’re buying items simply to take advantage of the coupon, you’ve fallen into the trap. New and improved versions are sometimes simply the same product in a different package (often with less in it) and only slight variations from the regular product.

It’s very easy to fall into the “coupon trap” if you’re not careful. Been there and done that! What’s hard is realizing that you spent “your” money on a product that you never used or eventually threw away because it didn’t fit your actual needs.

Coupons are a good thing and can be used successfully if done with the intention of saving money on things you actually use but can waste money if they’re used on items that your family won’t.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Congratulations Bitmap - You're A Winner

Riverwalker and Backyard Food Production are proud to announce that Bitmap is the winner of the free copy of their DVD on backyard food production. This DVD also includes a resource CD with lots of additional information for becoming more self-reliant.

Congratulations Bitmap! You’re a winner!

Here is the winning comment:

Bitmap said...

I want to be a self-reliant prepper!

JANUARY 21, 2011 12:20 PM

Bitmap, please send an e-mail to riverwalker_texas@yahoo.com and include a shipping address in order for your prize to be sent to you. Your information will remain confidential and only be used to send you your prize.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker