Questions and Answers

When we watch the nightly news, we see protesters being gassed by police because the protecters had over stepped their 1st amendment rights of free speech by throwing rocks and lighting fires. We are supported to feel bad about them getting hurt and I don't believe main stream Americans feel anything but a little pissed off by the protesters. Hundreds of thousands of city dollars are going into repairing the damage and cleaning up the mess, tax payer dollars that are badly needed for police and fire support which is busy babysitting these lazy adults. First get a life and then get a job!

Getting down off soapbox!

Questions and Answers


Many preppers feel that depending on electric devices are a mistake if things go south of us and they do have some good points. But for devices like the Kindle and the IPad, I feel we are not thinking far enough ahead. My retreat already has a fully charged + 700 amp battery pack with 400 watts running into it daily. While not a big load is on it yet, it is there 24/7 for me to charge things without having to worry about losing the mains. Currently my Kindle DX (b/w) has over 700 books and manual on board it at all times and its battery is good for about 6-8 WEEKS on standby and about 3 weeks on daily usage. Recharging it using a USB port uses about 5 volts- 10 volts depending and about 5-10 watts total. So even a very small solar panel will charge it for years of use.

My IPad is the first generation one but has all the features of the IPad 2 except the cameras and works really well for everything that I do online plus it is my main Kindle reader because of the color screen and ease of use. Again it charges at 5 to 10 volts and about 10 watts but does have to be re-charged every day or so because of heavy use.

I have a new laptop and a desktop as well for everything else, mainly school work as I am a doctoral student in Psychology, and I have mostly written this blog on the laptop. But, even so I feel that in an emergency I can run a small refrigerator, my laptop and IPad, and lights on a daily basis without running low on electric power. And while I have already planned in 2-4 more 200 watt solar panels, it is the battery backup I am most concerned about long term because they are normal 12 volt deep cycle batteries and not good solar ones. This I do hope to correct this spring as we spend more time at the retreat.

Questions and Answers

The question always comes up about what prepping did you do this week?

For the wife and I it was a quick trip to Wallyworld to get some milk and eggs. We had just seen the movie THE GREY with Liam Neelson, great movie by the way, and I wanted to look for some lamp oil and some additional lamps for both the RV and the two cabins at the retreat. Well, I had just gotten a small windfall and we ended an in-and-out run $220 poorer but very happy. Being in the Ozarks, we have to deal with more ice storms than snow storms and the first thing to go is the power and lights. This day last winter, we had an ice storm that dumped almost a foot of snow and 2 inches of ice in one shot. So, we picked up 5 gallons of kerosene for the cabin heater and lantrens, 3 oil lamps, 3 bottles of oil, 10 new wicks, and 7 new lamp tops for additional lamps or replacements...wife pick picked up a new bread knife, and a gallons of milk. At the checkout, I stopped and picked up lighter fuel for the WWII lighters I had picked up while the wife was spending my money at the checkout.

We came home happy to have gotten the lamps and oil...but never did get the eggs!!!!

Questions and Answers

Surviving the Day after Tomorrow

Part 1

When we consider what life would be like if society broke down when we watch the nightly news and see anarchy murder and death that shocks the heart and causes us to wonder literally what the world is coming to. Do we sit in terror shaking in our bones and wonder what are we to do when the only one that can save us is ourselves! And that is what I would like to discuss with you as others are doing we take small steps gathering as we go and preparing for a future that we hope will never happen.

One way to start to do a little reading checking and seeing what others are doing and weighing our options on the can afford and we cannot afford. Many times we can do things that we did not consider like buying a few extra cases of pork and beans and tomato soup and we can still use at home but also make it that extra meal we can eat cold. Another thing you can do is buy a bunch of little Bic lighters and you can place them everywhere in your car and your home and in a little bag to keep with you. You will never believe how awful it is soon a cold house or cabin or car and shiver in the cold. Not just for an hour in traffic or broke down on the side of the road but for days and weeks because you could not start the fire. Simple advice, right?

Another piece of cheap advice is buying a case of water and keeping it in your car. You have it when you’re thirsty and when you’re sitting in that breakdown lane. But best of all can save your life in an emergency as we can live in 30 days without food but only three days without water. The nice thing about it is you can usually get flat for fewer than five dollars which is cheap and you can possibly add some of the additive electrolyte solutions to and help sustain yourself. Another thing you can do is to have that small bag place the lighters in it along with a small flashlight and some granola bars or energy bars. Check around some of the sporting-goods areas in Wal-Mart you can find emergency blankets which can keep you warm and cost only pennies on the dollar.

On the home front you could consider a solar oven uses no electricity and only requires the heat of the sun to cook a meal when there is no electricity or propane for the stove. Nowadays many people buy them but it is possible to make one with the box some aluminum foil and a piece of glass. As you can see from the example below they are not that complicated, maybe not as efficient homemade one would work just as well. If you want to consider making one start with a medium-sized box and cover the entire inside and the flaps with aluminum foil, buy a piece of glass lightly larger than the opening so that you can seal it but still let the light in, and take a small piece of wood or heavy cardboard and paint them black. This’ll be the shelf at the pot sits on needs be slightly longer than the side of the box. Place the shelf on an angle so that it is flat when the box tipped on its side and pointed at the sun. At this point of brick or piece of wood can hold the box at an angle facing the sun.

If you have a question or a topic you would like to talk about, let me know!

Getting Started

Dr D on Starlight Ranch Survival:

I have been a number of things in my life to include USAF Security Police, Photo Intelligence Specialist, Targeteer, and Amatuer Radio Emergency Services (ARES) Section Emergency Cooridinator (SEC) State of Minnesota, American Red Cross Disaster Services Instructor/Mass Care specialist, NRA Firearms Instructor and BCA Minnesota Permit to Carry Instructor to name just a few.

But through all of this I have been a survivalist and a prepper and I have used my skill sets to exactly survive life challenging situations where my only hope of survival was saving myself.

Having said that I hope to build up this site with blogs, free ebooks, and stories of how you too can survive with alittle luck and learning not to panic.


                                                          Starlight Ranch Front Yard