Protecting Life: Basic Sanitation

            I watched a really good movie the other day where a man was helping a village fight a cholera epidemic, and I had to think that eventually in a TSHTF scenario, we will have to face diseases like this again. Immediately I began research about this bacteria, how to identify it, how it’s spread, how to treat its victims, and how to kill it. Cholera is a bacteria that is initially spread through the water supply. It kills its victims by creating multiple organ failure due to severe dehydration. About half of its victims will die, but full recovery can be accomplished with rapid and aggressive rehydration, which is not as easy as it sounds. There are ratios involved with fluid replacement so you do not accidently turn your blood into something as watery as kool-aid, but that goes WAY beyond the scope of this blog. The good news is that cholera is avoidable in most situations by ALWAYS FOLLOWING BASIC SANITATION RULES!

            Boiling water prior to ingesting it can kill many bacteria found in water; the CDC recommends maintaining a rolling boil for a minimum of 1 minute to kill cholera but that even seems too short an amount of time in my opinion. Chlorine bleach is also an option, but consult the CDC website for ratios of bleach to amount of water, and also waiting times if you choose to treat your water in this manner. Of course the first step in using either process is to have the ability to either boil or bleach your water. Since I have stated before that “two is one, and one is none,” how many different methods of water purification do you currently have? Is it time to update your gear, or add to what you currently have?

            I have not really touched on first aid in this blog since the legalities could be a real pain. I will state that anything I write is to simply suggest something, or to get you thinking about how you would handle a situation. I have a lot of first aid training personally, and could probably handle several small-scale emergencies and traumas without much of a panic. I do suggest taking an EMT class or other first aid training that’s available in your area since this knowledge is always useful even in regular life without being in survival mode.

If TSHTF, be prepared for conditions to become unsanitary very quickly. Proper hand-washing, being diligent with how your prepare food and drinking water will save your life. Also, learn the guidelines for protecting your ground water, and other water supplies. Rotting animals will taint water with nasty microbes which will make others deathly ill. Have a way to protect yourself and your family; this includes the ability to make a fire large enough to boil large pots of water. Finally, learn how to and teach your family to conserve as much water as possible. Using grey water has surged in popularity as a sustainable practice, and things like this could save your life.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Prepping!

Gamma Lids: Sealing Up Dry Goods

            I have not forgotten my blog, nor have I abandoned the task of writing. Real life took priority however, and I hope everyone understands. Classes are done for this term and the holidays are over. Happy Holidays everyone, I truly hope you had a great time with family and friends!

  
With the economy in turmoil, there is no better feeling than having well-stocked shelves.  This includes having dry goods as well as the extensive collection of canned things I have managed to squirrel away over the past couple of years.  Especially with this time of year, with people dropping by at random times, the pantry has saved me a countless number of panicked store trips I would have otherwise had to make.  Dry goods are part of the items I stock, and never fear if you’re intimidated by the idea of canning, this is easy to do.

Gamma lids are wonderfully useful things!

All of my dry goods: wheat berries, rice, beans, dry milk, salt, and sugar are kept in 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids and oxygen absorbers. I will admit that there is a ratio for oxygen absorbers that I have not yet mastered, but there is plenty of information about it online so you can determine how many of which size you’ll need to do the job.

I have also considered using mylar bags which can be sealed with a food saver, but have not had a problem without using them to this point. I do use my stock however, and do not intend to stock anything for years on end without replenishing what I have used, so I don’t see the need for the added layer of the mylar bag.  These bags seem to be a great idea if you are concerned about humidity, bugs, or rodents (since they don’t like the metallic layer), or simply want to have smaller quantities of dry goods open at a time than having the whole 5 gallon bucket available at one time. You could package sugar, for example, in mylar bags weighed out in 1 or 2 pound increments and packed into a single bucket with a gamma lid. When you needed sugar, you would simply open the gamma lid, and remove a single mylar bag for immediate use.

So what is a gamma lid? These are prepper necessities in my opinion. They are 2 piece lids, which include an outer ring that are pounded onto the rim of a 5 or 6 gallon bucket, and an inner lid portion which screws into the ring. Both portions have their own O-rings, and form very tight seals for the contents of the buckets. The buckets, once filled and labeled, are also stackable with the gamma lids on, so space saving is optimized. Please do not forget to label the contents of the bucket and adding the date the bucket is packed is also a good idea if the contents are not going to be used within a year or so. Imagine the frustration of having to check every stored bucket for the correct type of beans if you forgot to label! 

Preparing the food for storage also takes a little work. Yes, I am sorry to say that even storing food in a large bucket still has at least a little prep work involved. After you purchase your dry food for bucket storage (beans, rice, wheat, dry corn, etc..) place the entire bag it came packaged in from the store into the freezer. The freezing process will kill any bug larva that probably is on the food. During long-term storage, if you skip the freezing step, you can expect to open your stored food only to find the contents infested with bugs. I am sure some may argue that these pests are edible so it doesn’t really matter, but I would rather have protein from sources that are large enough to shoot with a .22 at a minimum! How long to keep the package in the freezer depends on how big the package is. A small bag of beans can probably be left for 3 or 4 days, whereas a 25 pound sack of wheat berries I usually leave frozen for a week.

When you remove the food from the freezer, leave it out until it reaches room temperature and is dry. The LAST thing you want is to waste good money on preps only to have it mold in the bucket because of condensation. If you only have room for a bowl full or wheat in your freezer at a time (and I have done this, so I can sympathize) then cover the bowl with plastic wrap before putting it into the freezer. When you remove it, just leave the plastic in place without disturbing your preps too much. I about a day the condensation will be gone and you will be ready to pack your food into a bucket.

Wash both parts of the gamma lid, and the bucket itself and be sure all of the parts are dry before adding ANYTHING to it! I usually wash my container parts when I put the food into the freezer since this allows plenty of time to air dry and get the gamma lid onto the bucket. I keep mentioning the buckets and have yet to explain what kind of plastic you need and where to find them. You want food grade plastic, I choose white to match my décor and also since the dyes in colored plastic are chemicals, so who knows if they will “off-gas” into my food – yuck! My buckets come from the local big-box hardware store and usually run $3.50 per bucket. Look for ones that are fairly clean and damage free, and that’s really all there is to it. Gamma lids take a bit more searching. Here in the US, Sams Club sells them online for $77 for 12 lids. Amazon and Ebay also have them, as well as any prepper store worth their salt.

Once all the parts are clean and dry, use a rubber mallet and bang the outer ring onto the edge of the bucket. This can be harder than is sounds, but be careful you don’t get frustrated and to violent with the mallet since you can crack the bucket or the outer ring. Once the ring is firmly on the bucket, it should be level on all of the edges. Pour your previously frozen, and now room temperature, and condensation free food into the bucket. Wipe the screw threads of the outer ring with your hand, or gently blow off any debris, and screw on the inner lid portion. Label the bucket, stack however you desire, and you’re done. Food should never be stored outside, and should be climate controlled if at all possible.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Prepping! Happy New Year as well!!!