Prepping « Robin Writes

I’ve talked before about the importance of food storage, but a little less about keeping track of what you have and what you might need, as well as rotation.

Now, you should only be stocking food you’ll actually eat, so theoretically rotation should be simple: you remove it from storage, use it, replace it.

For instance, if I’m out of butter, say, here in the house, I can run up to the freezer in the barn and grab a pound or two. If it’s not in the house, it’s in the barn freezer or storage unit; if it’s not there, I make do until our next trip to the store. Rotation, in this case, is simple.

And of course, when shelving items, put the new ones in the back and take from the front. Like your own grocery store.

I mentioned the dreaded “I’m out of ____.” Yes, it happens, even to the most prepared people. This is why I have a list.

I keep it on my computer, and once a month I print it out and check off all the items I have on hand, adjusting quantities as needed. Normally, if we pull something out, I note it right away; likewise, after a shopping trip, I use the receipt to add things we’ve purchased. By using the receipt instead of counting actual items, you’re able to shelve things right away. We usually stop at the barn first and unload whatever goes there.

Normally I’ll make the quantity adjustment as soon as I remove something, but occasionally that doesn’t work out so well. Say, if I’m in the middle of cooking and can’t leave the stove or even when my husband grabs something and doesn’t, ahem, tell me.

It’s important to keep track—what if SHTF and you suddenly can’t find batteries—or butter—because you used them and didn’t write it down? What if your propane is all used up? Or you’re out of bacon? Disaster!

So you not only need to stock supplies, but keep track of them and rotate—otherwise, you’ll be out of something important or, even worse, it’ll be moldy or stale and useless.

Take the time to make a list of all the things you might use in a week, and make sure you have at least one of each item, plus one more to store. That makes your inventory small and doable. As you get better at prepping, you can increase the amount of time and number of items needed to keep yourself in supplies for a longer period.

Let’s talk about camping. Most people have done it at least once or twice, some love it, some hate it. My personal idea of camping is sleeping in a tent, cooking over a fire, doing your household chores and personal business without the conveniences of home.

My husband disagrees.

(I will not also get into the fact that SO MANY of my friends—and children—are too wussy anymore to actually sleep in a tent, but if the shoe fits . . .)

So last week, we bought a camper. Not an RV, not a 5^th wheel, although, in hindsight, those would certainly be easier to move around inside—although more difficult to haul wherever you’re going.

My kids laugh at me and say I’m turning into my mother.

Joke’s on them, it wasn’t MY idea.

See, my husband will go camping—the tent kind—but he bitches and moans ALL NIGHT LONG about the hard ground, he’s too hot, he’s too cold, he has to get up and down, etc., etc. Don’t even let him see a mosquito, or hear one, or even think one is within a half mile of him.

So. We bought this pop-up tent camper.

It has a propane tank, a battery, electric hookups, a water tank or water hookup, your choice; it has a heater and an AC unit—good thing, because when pulling it with my truck, that’s the only thing I can see behind me. There’s a tiny fridge and a tiny kitchen sink, a couple cabinets, curtains, a very small dinette, and a propane stove that you can set inside or put on a railing outside under the canopy.

Oh, and heated beds. Good grief.

And you don’t raise it with one those old cranks, the modern tent camper has a switch. Thank goodness. Takes a lot of turning to lower the jacks on the back end as it is.

The first night, we’d parked it in our “guest parking” that no one ever seems to see. Ahem. I think I’ll put up a sign that says “PARK HERE ALREADY” or something . . . Anyway, we set it up and thought, gee, why not sleep here tonight? So we did. Nothing says camping like walking out the door and running smack into an F-150.

We moved it the next day to a more permanent spot, near the house and the fire circle outside the yard. The extension cord reaches there, and it’ll be a convenient guest room. We stocked a few things, like beer and coffee, and set out to spend Night 2.

Well.

The beds are pretty small too—there’s a theme here. One is a single, the other is full-size. Doable, but barely. My husband let me have the larger one, in front, because the dog sleeps with me, mostly. She loved it, by the way.

So I had plenty of room to stretch out, but see, here’s the problem: he snores. Normally, I poke him or holler at him to get him to stop, but I was clear on the other end of the (admittedly) small camper. Here’s the other thing: I do not, and have never, gotten out of bed in the middle of the night for any reason. Well, okay, mostly—I mean, when the kids were little and had those annoying 2 a.m. feedings, sure. Of course, the first time any of them skipped that, it proved to me they could wait until morning and so they did.

Fine, if anyone is pissed thinking that I let my babies wail all night, think again. I did not.

But, for the record, I hate getting up at night.

So, in the camper, I seriously considered throwing something at him. Nothing too painful, and of course nothing within my reach was NOT going to be painful, so I suffered in silence.

Ha, who am I kidding? I just hollered. It mostly worked.

Then, during one his middle-of-the-night forays, he missed the step coming back into the camper. Talk about being jolted awake! The whole thing moved and shimmied and I was AWAKE! Fortunately, it was close to time to get up, and yes, he was fine. Scared the crap out of me, though.

Why am I talking about this on a prep blog? Because a lot of people who plan to bug out will also plan on camping. It’s not like, when SHTF, you’ll be able to check into a Motel 6 or somewhere.

First, know where you’re going and how to get there—multiple routes, because some may be impassable for a variety of reasons.

Second, keep your camper well-stocked and know how to set it up and use all the features. Practice makes perfect, after all.

Third, have your gear together and ready to throw in your vehicle. Know how to use everything you purchase and take with you. Practice again.

And fourth, make sure wherever you’re going is permissible for you to be there. Again, I can’t say this too often, know and practice what to do once you arrive and have to live there for a period of time.