National Preparedness Month

• 31 Aug 2010
• royal
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September is National Preparedness Month.

Make a difference this month by sharing what you know, encouraging others to do something more to be prepared and do more yourself to become better prepared.

Spread the news.  This is a great month for preppers, as you will see a lot of companies with sales on their preparedness items, as well as harvests coming in with plenty of fresh foods to lay in store for another time.  Get ready for the upcoming winter.

More info on the history of National Preparedness Month »

A New Toy

• 26 Aug 2010
• Jayce
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I will never hide the fact that I am a geek, a gadget geek in the scope of this post.  I love playing with various “toys” and trying to find the perfect tools for whatever need I have.

Image Taken Straight From ThinkGeek

So this week, one of the shiny things to catch my attention is found over on the ThinkGeek Gadgets site, It’s a key-sized multi-tool, for a decent price.  Now I’ve checked out lots of ‘key’ tools the past few years.From constantly watching for a chance at picking up an Atwood Ti, to usually crappy quality key-tools that are way too clunky to want to carry on my limited keychain.  Previously I was leaning towards the Gerber Artifact (via ThinkGeek:
Gerber Artifact Pocket Keychain Tool) (Which I still wouldn’t mind, for sure).  It’s a nice tool, but still isn’t quite the same idea of this.  While the artifact tries to be another knife, this tool attempts to be all the various non-blade tools from your swiss-army knife.

This however beats out those crappy ones (not the atwoods though, of course).  It’s thin, not wider than a normal key.  Nor is it bulky, sticking out wrong.  It has several helpful functions which are actually labeled to help jog the memory.  It’s the perfect choice when I don’t want to carry my swiss army style knife, but would rather keep a single blade on me.  I don’t lose access to the common tools this way.  Hey, it’s probably safe to take on a plane too!.

Also well thought out, is that it actually wraps onto your existing keys, so it covers the sharper edges, and doesn’t rip up your pocket so much.

Link: Keychain Multi-Tool

Alternatives:
These keys always seem like they would open up in my pocket at the wrong time :(

The artifact, cool, but not sure about that blade.  Like the pry-bar aspect.

Front Sight 4-Day Tactical Handgun Course for $69

• 24 Aug 2010
• ekim
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In February of 2009, Connor attended a 4 day handgun course at the world famous Front Sight training facility near Las Vegas, Nevada. You can find his review of the experience here.

Today I found an unprecedented offer from Front Site. For a limited time they are offering their $2,000 4 day tactical handgun course for $69.
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Bug out/Camping/Utility Trailer

• 17 Aug 2010
• ekim
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I’ve been wanting to get out camping more often, but I suspect like many have had trouble convincing my wife to give camping a try. For some reason, sleeping on the hard, cold ground doesn’t appeal to her.

Buying a dedicated camper, pop-up tent, RV would be nice, but they are generally more than I want to spend, are single purpose and often require separate registration here in Utah. I often find a need for a small utility trailer for hauling mulch, compost, etc. and here in Utah, smaller trailers under a certain weight and size don’t need to be registered. When I obtained an old home built utility trailer recently, I decided to jump head first into a home built adventure trailer build.

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Do it now (refilling water storage)

• 15 Aug 2010
• wade
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Moving into a new house recently required me to empty my water storage. I promised myself that refilling it would be priority number one once we were in and had the beds set up. That was three weeks ago. Reading about residents of Iowa City lined up for bottled water this week made me realize how much time had gotten away from me.

Do you have empty water containers that need to be filled? Has it been a while since you rotated your water? Don’t delay another day. Do it now.

The large, blue tank pictured above is a SureWater tank that holds 275 gallons. The green ones are Reliance Jumbo-Tainers that hold seven gallons each.

Great story of prepping and survival on Investors.com

• 02 Aug 2010
• ekim
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Believe it or not, the investing web site investors.com has a great article about prepping and survival.

Read the article here.

This Navy flier can be a good example for all of us. He knew that there was always the possibility that he would be shot down and that he would need to survive. Rather than bury his head in the sand and ignore the issue, he reviewed the survival kit he was issued as a Navy aviator and supplemented it to meet his personal needs. When other pilots saw him doing this, they took a second look at their own kits and began doing the same thing.

This brings up another good lesson. Without sacrificing OPSEC we can be an example of preparedness to those around us. If someone is new to prepping and seems interested, try to foster that interest and get them on their way to self sufficiency.

What have YOU done to prepare you and your family today?

Super Easy Currant Jelly

• 20 Jul 2010
• angela
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Our currant bushes finally put on enough currants this year that the kids couldn’t keep up with eating them all, so we had currants left to make some currant jelly.
This is super easy jelly to make and one of my favorite flavors because it’s a nice combination of tart and sweet.  Here’s what you’ll need:

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Got Chickens?

• 13 Jul 2010
• neybar
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According to a recent article on KSL.com many Utah cities and counties are considering or allowing residents have backyard chickens.  Most likely you’ll need to verify with your city hall.  Many places allow hens, but not roosters so make sure you check up on that.

If you have the space for chickens they provide a nice source of fresh eggs and meat (if you have a rooster).  How many of you have chickens or are considering it?  I really want to get some, but can’t in my current place.  For those that have them what has been your experience?

New Design

• 06 Jul 2010
• Jayce
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I’d like to give a huge thanks to author Wade (anavidesign.com) who has given his time to help provide us with a new site design!  For those reading this from Facebook, RSS, or other means, please head on over to the site and check out the kicking new design.  And if you need work for your site, well check him out, since I’m sure he wants to buy some more preps :)

And for those drooling over that new amazing logo in the corner, we’ll have some links soon to get it on various items.  I know I’ve already put it on a bumper sticker on my truck, as well as a t-shirt; and it looks great.

Shelf Reliance Developer Job

• 18 Jun 2010
• Jayce
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Our friends over at Shelf Reliance have been expanding, and they need another person to help work on their websites.  Of course, a company like theirs would be interested in the type of person that follows a prepper blog like this, so they asked me to pass this along.  If the skills fit, please contact them.

Shelf Reliance is looking for an experienced programmer to work on our company’s website.

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Preparedness on People’s Minds

• 07 Jun 2010
• Connor
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Today’s edition of the Deseret News carries a story about the subject of preparedness being on people’s minds in increased fashion.

A recent poll of New York City residents found that about half are now thinking about preparedness, compared with 18 percent who were considering it in 2004. And increasingly there are associations of and websites for so-called “preppers.”

Earthquakes and economic meltdowns have made the need more “believable,” said Emergency Essentials co-owner Don Pectol, who has seen an uptick in interest in emergency preparedness.

The problem, Pectol notes, is that money and time are both tight. While desire is higher, it might not be as easy to accomplish in this economy. And those who are not at all prepared for an emergency feel like “they’re being asked to eat an elephant.”

It’s our hope at Utah Preppers that we can make the subject of preparedness easier, more affordable, and more realistic for those who understand its importance. It’s been a slow Spring around here since we’ve all been busy, but expect things to pick up over the next few weeks and months as we share some important information on how you and your family can better be prepared for the future.

Shelf Reliance Special Event

• 15 Apr 2010
• Jayce
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Our friends over at Shelf Reliance (the people that make the amazing roller shelving all the authors here love so much) are having a special event this weekend, that I’ve been meaning to post for a while now.  You see, they’ve been selling awesome shelving, and a great line of food storage products for a while now, but they have decided to open up another channel for sales.  Yes, they are starting up their own “Home Parties“.

For those interested in maybe making a little money, or getting even better deals on some of the best, locally made food storage products, it might be in your interest to check it out.  It’s open to everybody, and they’ll be giving demo’s for people interested in how to use many of their products.

From their blog announcement:

The goal of Shelf Reliance Home Parties is to share the vision of preparedness and food storage with people across the country. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from building your own future while helping others prepare for theirs, and Shelf Reliance Home Parties is the perfect opportunity to experience this for yourself. Our great-tasting food and competitive pricing have made us a leader in the industry, and this new business opportunity will allow you to benefit from our history of excellence. Whether you’re interested in a career with Home Parties, want to host a few parties here and there, or just want to see what it’s all about, we invite you to attend and hope you’ll stay to chat!

When: Saturday, April 17th.

Place: Golf Clubhouse at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah

Time: 1:00-5:00 PM (1-3 Open House, 3-5 Launch Presentation)

Admission: absolutely free