Free Library of Survival Skills

Rocky has put together a free Skills Library for Preppers. It's made up of books from the 1800s through early 1900s. All of these books are in the public domain or have expired copyrights. Most are available for free but are pretty time consuming to search for on the web.

There are many skills and a lot of knowledge that has been lost and many of these are skills that can be invaluable in surviving a disaster or a crisis. Although the Survival Skills library hasn't been completed yet, it has grown quickly and there is a huge number of free books that can be downloaded at the site.

You can visit Rocky's Survival Library here:

http://www.lighthousesurvival.com/library.html

Our thanks go out to Rocky, the Lighthouse Survival Librarian

Be informed. Be aware, Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Disaster Recovery - Vacuum-Freeze Drying is the Key to Salvaging Wet Documents

After a flood, fire or storm, most disaster victims will tell you that the resulting water damage was the most destructive part of the event. Water damage and the mold that follows are some of the most common and problematic results of a disaster because they can affect every part of a building or home – from plywood to plaster to precious family photos.

While you can replace many items, you can’t replace one-of-a-kind photos, heirloom books or other important documents. You can save them, however, if you act quickly with vacuum-freeze drying.

Water Damage Classifications

Whenever there is water damage, disaster recovery experts generally classify it in one of three ways:

Clean water describes water damage that doesn’t pose a health risk. Examples of clean water damage can include a leaky pipe or a bathtub that overflowed.

Grey water refers to water that has biological, physical or chemical contaminants in it to varying degrees. The water that flows down the drain after you wash your hands, for example, is grey water. If you consume or are exposed to grey water, there is a risk of falling ill. Some of the most common sources of grey-water damage come from washing machine, toilet or dishwasher leaks.

Black water is the term used for water that’s unsanitary because of the possible fungal, bacterial and chemical agents within it. Exposure to black water can lead to severe illness. Sources of black water include seawater, contaminated bodies of water and sewage.

Any type of water damage, regardless of its classification, can be severe. The restoration technique used for salvaging wet documents depends on the type of water damage that occurred. If you believe your documents were affected by grey or black water damage, contact your local fire department or water bureau for assistance with making the affected area safe.

Vacuum-Freeze Drying

Vacuum-freeze drying is the answer when you think you’ve lost your documents, books, photos or other precious items to water damage. As one of the best-recognized methods in the restoration industry, the high-tech process of vacuum-freeze drying is excellent for books, fragile items and large volumes of documents.

When your documents are wet, professionals place them in a special chamber that brings the temperature down to between 0 and -20 degrees Fahrenheit. The pressure within the chamber instantly vaporizes the ice that forms so there is no risk of it melting and causing additional page tearing or ink bleeding. A high-tech sensor within the chamber monitors the reduction in weight as the vacuum-freeze drying process occurs and notifies the professionals when the documents are dry. This sensor helps prevent over-drying, which can harm documents.     

The best vacuum-freeze drying systems come with variable settings. These settings allow document restoration experts to create the optimal conditions within the chamber for different types of wet documents, such as old books that need extra care, clay-coated papers or large volumes of documents.

When you experience a disaster, vacuum-freeze drying gives you peace of mind; your wet documents are not lost. With this specialized restoration technique, you can preserve even your rarest or most fragile documents and receive the highest-quality results.

Joe Perko is Director of Field Services at Rapid Refile. Rapid Refile is a recognized leader in document restoration and recovery, vacuum-freeze drying, mold remediation and flood restoration services for businesses and individuals.

Be aware, Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Rainwater Revival in Boerne

On Saturday, October 27, 2012 at the Boerne Convention & Community Center from 10am to 4pm there will be a special and very informative presentation on rainwater harvesting presented by rainwaterrevival.com. There will be presentations by rainwater professionals and users of rainwater. There will also be water conservation-related vendors and several displays of different rainwater systems. There will also be plenty of experts to provide guidance on rainwater harvesting and to answer your questions in this regard.

You can get additional information here:

Rainwater Harvesting

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Meet & Greet for Central Texas Preppers in Gonzales

Shane Connor from ki4u.com will be sponsoring a Meet & Greet for Texas Preppers in Gonzales on Friday October 19th through Sunday the 21st at his facility in Gonzales.

He’s got plenty of room so bring your camper, trailer or tents. There will also be water, electric and bathrooms available, along with a dormitory style camp house with cots.

Everyone is invited to come for a day or to stay all weekend. There are also some special activities planned for Friday night but you will have to RSVP Shane for the details.


 KI4U is centrally located in Gonzales right between Houston,
San Antonio & Austin on the Guadalupe River. Here is a link to a map:

www.ki4u.com/map.htm

Please RSVP to shane@ki4u.com so he can be sure to make accommodations for everyone that plans to come. He’ll also let you know about the special activities that are planned for Friday. I plan on trying to make it to the meet & greet as well. Hope to see you there.

Special Notes:


Sorry, but leave your guns at home since he doesn’t have a shooting range at his facility.

To help you with your travel costs, he’s got 100 for-real NATO gas cans for sale at a cost of $25 each. This is the same as CTD gets $44.95 for here not including their shipping and handling.

If you have prepper friends you'd want to share this invite with, please do so because we will be glad to have them join us. Just RSVP my friend Shane at shane@ki4u.com.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

September 11, 2012

We shall never forget....

Please show your support by visiting:

http://www.911memorial.org/

RW

Free Disaster Preparedness Guide Winner

We have a winner of the free disaster preparedness guide. Kim has won the free preparedness guide. Congratulations Kim.

Here is the winning comment about preparedness by Kim.

kim said...

Being prepared is important because you never know when a disaster can happen.

AUGUST 26, 2012 3:16 PM 

Kim, please contact me by email so that your free disaster preparedness guide can be sent to you. you have 72 hours to claim your prize. thanks.

riverwalker

riverwalker_texas@yahoo.com

Free Disaster Preparedness Pocket Guide

Here's a chance to win a free Disaster Preparedness Guide. This free guide is suitable for carrying in your BOB or GHB and is full of great information. Just leave a comment on this post about why you think it's important to be prepared. A winner will be chosen at random to receive the free preparedness guide. The Disaster Preparedness Guide also includes information to access free additional e-books for download.

The winner will be announced on August 29, 2012. 

Got a reason to be prepared?

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Need an Off-Grid Survival Retreat?

Although many of us wish we could afford an off-grid survival retreat, they can be a pretty expensive project.  Here' s an example of a fairly nice place that is coming up for auction north of Houston which looks like it has most everything you would need to survive off-grid. This should give you a good idea of the kind of costs and effort that is involved in building a survival retreat. It doesn't come cheap.

AUCTION:

Saturday, August 25th, 11:00 AM

Registration: 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

LOCATION:

17863 Reinhardt Rd, Conroe, TX 77306

Online Absentee Bids:

Pre-Register & Place Bid Online

OPEN HOUSE

Tour & Preview:Saturday, August 11, 10AM - 2PM and 10:00 AM Day of auction

Appointments will be considered on case-by-case basis.

INSPECTIONS: By Appointment

Appraisals, Mechanical, Termite, etc. - All inspections must be completed no later than 72-hours prior to auction.

DIRECTIONS:

From Hwy 59, New Caney: Take FM 1485 exit. Go West on FM 1485 approximately 8.3-miles. Reinhardt Rd is on your right (Maximum Auto Repair on the corner, just past Dollar Store).

From Houston, Hwy 45: Take Needham Rd (Hwy 242) exit, turn right (East) and go ~10.7-miles. Turn left on FM 1485. Reinhardt Rd is 2-miles on your right (Maximum Auto Repair on the corner, just past Dollar Store).

From Conroe, S Loop 336: Take FM 3083 South, approximately 9.2-miles. Turn right on FM 1485. Reinhardt Rd is ~500-Feet (0.1-mile) on your left (Maximum Auto Repair on the corner).

Please Note:

Personal Property items seen in photos were sold in a different auction that ended July 26th.

The August 25th Auction is for the Real Property Only. No Personal Property will be sold at this auction.

For more information, contact us by

Email or 281-241-7848

Self-Sustaining Homestead Overview Country living with big city amenities nearby. This Montgomery County property is in a rural area, but minutes away from restaurants, shopping, theater & hospitals. Fire, ambulance and emergency services are minutes away. It is located ~8 miles west of New Caney (Hwy 59) and ~12 miles east of I-45 at Conroe , ~14 miles from The Woodlands, ~15 miles from Kingwood and ~20 miles to the Will Clayton Pkwy to reach Houston's Intercontinental Airport.

This 7.7 acre property consists of 4 Deeds to a total of 6-lots and due to the many features that ties it all together, it will be sold as a complete package. The Montgomery County Appraisal District indicates this property consists of Lots 6 (A & B), 7, 14, 15 & 16, as referenced in the survey map.

The front property borders include 250´ road frontage to FM 1485 and approximately 512´ on Reinhardt Rd. There are also two rear entrances to the property on Nonesuch Rd. The property is completely fenced, with 6´ chain-link fencing on the front, 8´ wrought iron security fencing on the back and has three 8´ security gates.

This "Green Living" property is fully self-sustaining. In addition to natural gas throughout the property and public electric utilities, it also has two 20KW natural-gas-powered back-up generators tied into the breaker boxes on each of the two houses.

There are three (3) water wells. One is a hand-pump well and the other two wells have electric pumps connected to the whole house generators for water during power outages.

Features & Amenities:

4200sf House w/Detached Two Car Garage2400sf House w/Carport578sf cottage house being used as country store Above Ground Pool w/Decking Mobile Home3200sf Workshop1600sf Welding Shop324sf Greenhouse900sf Goat Barn w/Stalls & Milk Room450sf Chicken House w/Brooder Two Dog Kennels800sf Hay Barn1200sf Storage Building400sf Stucco Storage Building225sf Stucco Well House Two Organic Garden areas Fruit Trees Orchard Grape Arbors & assorted Berry Bushes Lots of Shade Trees & Bamboo

http://www.auctioneertexas.com/

Riverwalker

Welcome Waco Preppers

There's a new meetup group that has formed for preppers in the Waco area. For those of you in the Waco area, you may want to visit the site and check out what's happening.I'm sure they would welcome any preppers in the area to their group who might want to get more involved in preparedness. The Waco Preppers is listed in the side bar under Prepper Groups in Texas. 


You can also visit the site directly at this link: 


http://www.meetup.com/WacoPreppers/


Welcome Waco Preppers!


Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.


Riverwalker

Update on the American Preppers Booth at the Ram Home Safety Prep Tour in Houston

There are going to be some great give-aways at the American Preppers Network booth at the Ram Home Safety Prep Tour in Houston on June 2nd at the Reliant Center. Stop by the APN booth (#316) for a visit and enter the drawing for a chance to win some great preparedness products. There will also be examples and demonstrations of several of these great preparedness products for you to check out while you’re at the APN booth on June 2nd.

Hope to see you at the expo at the Reliant Center in Houston.

In the mean time, you can read some reviews of some of the great items that will be included in the give-away at the APN booth here.

Coast Products Rapid Response Knife 3.90

Lifestraw from Eartheasy

”Joshua” by John S. Wilson

You can also get more details here.

To sign up for the Houston expo, click this link and use the coupon code "APN" to save on your admission!

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to learn how to be better prepared to handle an emergency or a crisis!

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

APN at the Home Safety Prep Tour in Houston

The American Preppers Network is going to be at the Home Safety Prep Tour 2012 in Houston at Reliant Park on June 2nd. The sponsors of the Home Safety Prep Tour have graciously donated booth space to the American Preppers Network. The booth will also be staffed by some local Texas preppers who will be looking for preppers who want to take the opportunity to get more organized by developing meetup groups in the area or who may be interested in becoming meetup organizers.

They are going to have some great give-aways and a lot of classes by some very knowledgeable and interesting people. This is a great chance for you to learn how to handle a disaster and meet some local and celebrity experts on preparedness.

You can get more details here.

To sign up for the Houston expo, click this link and use the coupon code "APN" to save on your admission!

Don’t miss out a great opportunity to learn how to be better prepared to handle an emergency or a crisis!

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Special Thank You to JC and Our Supporters

The Texas Preppers Network would like to say thank you to our supporters. With the continuing support of our members, it is my hope that we can continue our efforts to help everyone become better prepared for all those bumps in the road that seem to pop up now and then as we journey through life.

Thanks go out to the American Preppers Network and their continued support of the Texas Preppers Network. Please take time to check out our forum which is also sponsored by APN.

Special thanks to Getting Started in Emergency Preparedness for being a guest contributor and their continued support of preppers everywhere. Thanks Someone You Know!

Special thanks also go out to JC for his recent and very generous donation to TPN. Thanks JC!

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Tyler Preppers Meetup at Golden Road Park

The Texas Preppers Network would like to announce the initial meetup of the Tyler Preppers. This meetup will be on Thursday, April 26th, 2012. After the meetup at Martin Creek Lake State Park, head over to Tyler and get to know a few more preppers in the area.

You can check out the meetup or register to attend at this link:

http://www.meetup.com/TylerPreppers/events/58603182/

They will be gathering at the pavilion in Golden Road Park. Bring the whole family. There is a playground near the pavilion with plenty of room for the kids to play. The meet will start at approximately at 6:30 PM and you might want to bring along something to eat or snack on while you are there. They plan to spend some time getting to know one another, introducing new members to the APN and discussing the basic principles of prepping. The organizer of the Tyler Preppers is an RN and also plans to give a brief presentation on preparing for the summer heat. This will include information about the signs and symptoms, treatment, and prevention of heat stroke.

Here is a link to the Golden Road Park website:

http://www.cityoftyler.org/Default.aspx?tabid=213

Current plans are for a meetup of the Tyler Preppers on the 4th Thursday of each month.

The Tyler Preppers hope all the preppers in the Tyler area will take some time out to attend the meetup and get to know each other a little better.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Prepper Meetup at Martin Creek State Park

This is a reminder for those preppers in the Northeast Region of Texas that there will be a Prepper Meetup on April 20th through April 22nd at Martin Creek Sate Park .

You can also contact Bryan McLaughlin, the organizer of Longview Preppers, for further information at familypreparednessconsulting@gmail.com.

Bryan McLaughlin is the meet up organizer for the North East Texas region.

You can obtain additional information about the meetup here:

http://www.meetup.com/LongviewPreppers/

You can obtain additional information about the state park here:

Martin Creek State Park

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Happy Easter 2012

Have a safe and happy holiday!

RW

Prepper Group Meetings - Northeast Texas Region - Longview Preppers

The Northeast Texas Region now has a meetup group in the Longview area that that has been set up for the benefit of preppers in that area. Here is a link to the site where you can find out additional information about scheduled meetups in that area:

http://www.meetup.com/LongviewPreppers/

Are you willing to learn how to get prepared?

Are you willing to promote a positive image of Preppers?

Are you willing to help organize regular scheduled meetups?

Preppers believe that "everyone" should get prepared. Are you willing to be inclusive of others no matter their race, religion, gender, ethnicity etc...?

Tell us what got you interested in prepping and what you would like to see happen with this group. Bryan started out working for a prepper on his ranch while he was in high school. Bryan looks for this group to not only train together on a wide range of skills but to also gain trust and network together.

You can also contact Bryan McLaughlin, the organizer of Longview Preppers, for further information at familypreparednessconsulting@gmail.com.

Bryan McLaughlin is the meet up organizer for the North East Texas region.

Location: Longview, TX

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Protecting Your Loved Ones Against Home Invasion

As a homeowner and a family man, you may not want to think about what might happen in the event of a home invasion. Of course, the only thing worse than thinking about an invasion is thinking about what could happen to your family and how you could have prevented it. That’s why no matter how good your neighborhood is you should always be prepared.

I have come up with a few tips you can use to help prepare your family.

1. Designate a safe area. Remember that movie “Panic Room” starring Jodie Foster? No? Oh…well, check out IMDB to get a feel for what I’m talking about. Basically, a panic room is described as a hidden room with reinforced walls, supplies and surveillance. It’s a refuge one can escape to in the event of an emergency. You don’t actually need a specific panic room; you just need an area you can lock from the rest of the home to guard against intruders. A bathroom works just as fine. Once you have a safe area picked out, make sure your family knows where it is. It should be in a central location.

2. Pick a safe house. If you have good neighbors, consider coordinating with them and designate their home a safe house, if you have their permission. Basically, their home can serve as a safe place for your family to escape to and call the police from if your home is compromised.

3. Practice, practice, practice. “Drill” might be a better word. Pick a weekend and have your family rush to the designated safe area or safe house. Be sure and time how long it takes, and develop ways you can make the escape routes more efficient if need be. Having a plan means being prepared.

4. Look into some home security. There are plenty of systems on the market and many of them are easy enough for children to use. Ones monitored by ADT, for example, come with keychain remotes that can manually activate and deactivate the system at the press of a button. If your children are in danger, they can even trigger the alarm instantly.

5. Consult with local law enforcement. If anyone is going to have the information you need regarding home invasions, it’s your local police. Take a trip down to the station and ask a few questions. Bring the kids, too, that way you can broach the topic of home invasion without scaring them. The police might even be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to home security systems or even what to buy to help protect your home.

6. Go to the hardware store. Some hardware stores offer different implements you can use to secure doors and windows. Of course, you should consult with the CPSC before you install anything in your home.

Remember, you can’t hide the threat of home invasion from your family and hope to be prepared if it happens. Everyone needs to be on the same page.

AR

Thanks AR.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Heads Up on Texas Vehicle Registration Renewal

Seems our wonderful State Gov't is now sending out vehicle registration renewal forms over a month before the month of expiration. If you send it back in quickly, they issue you a new annual registration sticker in which you lose one month. So for example, if I mail in my March 2012 renewal, I will receive a February 2013 expiration date.

Practical Prepping - A Common Sense Guide for Preppers - Part Three - Incorporating Change Into Your Lifestyle - The Substitution Method

Changing your lifestyle can sometimes be a difficult thing to manage. It will require a definite commitment on your part to be effective. You will also need to decide just how big a change you may want to make in your life and how quick you may decide to incorporate that change into your lifestyle.

The hard part of making a change is that we are all creatures of habit. We settle into a comfortable daily routine and go about our daily lives in this “comfort mode” as a result. Suddenly, something unexpected happens and we are forced out of our “comfort mode” at a time when we may not be prepared to deal with a sudden change. The big question here is whether or not you want to small changes now or be forced into making drastic changes later.

The truth of the matter is pretty simple. It’s a lot easier to make small changes than big ones. This creates less disruption to your daily routine and is a simpler process that will enable you to adjust your lifestyle in a manner that will allow you to effectively deal with a crisis. Unfortunately, you will have to change some of your daily routines in order to accomplish this change.

It can be difficult to change our habits but there is a simple way that you can solve this problem. This is where the “Substitution Method” comes into play. It’s a lot easier to substitute one habit for another one. The trick is to substitute a better or more productive habit for one that is less productive. Many times our habits can produce more negative effects than positive ones. By substituting a positive habit for a negative one, we can change our lifestyle in an easier and more direct manner.

Simple things like taking a lunch with you to work instead of eating out each day are just one example. You will save money in the process and probably end up eating healthier as a result. Put the money aside and you change from being a “spender” to a “saver”. You may have even substituted a good habit for a bad one out of convenience or without realizing it. Maybe you used to change the oil on your vehicle and now you’ve gotten into the habit of letting someone else handle this chore. Perhaps it’s time you changed back. You may even want to drag out your travel mug and start taking a cup of coffee with you in the morning instead of paying exorbitant prices at a coffee shop or convenience store.

The end result of changing your negative habits for positive ones is that you will be better able to adjust to change and you may even save some extra money in the process.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Practical Prepping - A Common Sense Guide for Preppers - Part Two - Making A Lifestyle Change

Common sense tells us that we can’t be prepared for everything. There are simply too many things that can go wrong on an everyday basis to cover them all. Just when you think you have all your bases covered, along comes an event that wasn’t a part of “the plan”. The basic goal you should keep in mind is to minimize these events by making prepping a part of your normal lifestyle.

1. Make prepping a routine activity. When prepping becomes more of a routine activity, it becomes easier to make it a regular part of your normal lifestyle. As a result, you will often be able to minimize the effects of the majority of events that occur on a day to day basis.

2. Keep changes to your normal routine small in the beginning. Radical changes of any type require serious adjustments in your lifestyle. They also require serious planning for them to be successful. Making big changes in your lifestyle may create additional problems you don’t need in the beginning stages. Small changes in your daily routine will cause the least amount of disruption and create fewer distractions to keep you from the goal of becoming better prepared.

3. Make prepping a part of your daily plan. All of our daily routines involve a certain amount of planning. Without realizing it, we plan our normal daily activities to include a variety of simple tasks. Many of these simple tasks are often repeated and form the basis for the “comfort mode” in our lives. Think of prepping as just another routine task in your daily life.

There is a simple method to help you incorporate small changes into your lifestyle with a minimum amount of stress and will be covered in Part Three. This easy-to-use method will help you incorporate small changes into your daily routine that will help you become better prepared for what life may send your way.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker