Just a word of "hello" from the Catskills and a reminder to some who wonder, "where is he?"

The main focus of my ongoing preps this year will be ham radio (getting my ticket didn't resolve my klutziness with building and using antennas), expanding the garden and food storage skills, raising meat chickens to go along with layers, pigs, goats and turkeys (we may wait on baby beef until next year), stepping up my firearms competence considerably and, not least, kicking back and enjoying the post-Y2K "calm".

We're also helping my wife expand her local home- and hospital-birth practice to the next level.

I may not post as much for a while, but I always check and all the accumulated lore and knowledge is a continued encouragement to us.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), February 24, 2000

Answers

Big Dog

Your preps sound like a full time job. You may be able to sell off some of the surplus to at least cover your expenses. Sounds like a great set up.

As far as fire arms proficiency goes have you purchased "The art of the rifle" by Jeff Cooper? (ISBN 0873649311) It is an excellent book with everything you would need to know about being a rifleman. (Or rifle woman. But that depends on you.) I highly recomend it.

If I find anything on antenas I'll pass it along.

Watch six and keep your...

-- eyes_open (best@wishes.2all), February 24, 2000.

Hi Big Dog,

Way to go, keep on preppin...

I got my Ham lisence a few years ago, and prior to Y2K I converted my "shack" to run totally on solar/deep cycle battery power. Sometimes ham radio is the only way to communicate in any number of emergencies and remote locations.

I would encourage you to participate in Field Day this June as a means of sharpening your skills, operating in the bush, and setting up makeshift antenttas. Plus, it's a heck of a lotta fun...

-- No Polly (nopolly@hotmail.com), February 24, 2000.

Still prepping here....expanding and refining....Recent additions:

- Berkefeld 2 element water filter - spare motor for my DC genny (new, mil 2 cyl), 2 cases oil - 4 boxes assorted sutures - 3 Ethicon Skin Staplers - 100 caps rifampin - clothes (socks, thermal Henlys, OD BDU pants) - 6 tyvek hooded suits with sealed seams - 2 doz. mil chem/bio gloves, large - Spare boots (3rd spare set), 6 pair boot laces - Paper face mask, .1 micron, 4 boxes of 50 - New MCU-2/P mask (old one is fine, but this was very cheap so...) - 2 sprayers for chem/bio decontamination procedures - books (Basic epidemiology for nursing, antibiotics: History and applications, Jane's Chem/bio handbook, Military Biological defense, Military chem/bio decontamination, Emerging diseases-AIDS/Ebola, Gray's Anatomy, 1999 PDR) - 8 gallons 5.25% bleach (for decon)

Most of my preps are in anticipation of a mythical, probably-won't- happen (ha...) chem/bio "event", upping my level of medical stores, refinign and adding depth to other preps. Am eating and rotating my food storage and making minor refinements. Still need powdered eggs, cheese and butter. The preps go on....

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), February 24, 2000.

Great going people! Recently I have been adding books such as beekeeping, gardening, pharmacological uses for herbs, Grays Anatomy, first aid regarding children, and many of the Readers Digest series of 'how to' books. Am planting seed starters indoors now for veggies.

I will be looking at Don K's list of things pretty closely as I am concerned with bio weapons but don't have much idea how to combat something like that. I do agree it is a definite possibility at any time.

I have found I like having the convenience of powdered milk (taste tested the differing brands and found 2 really good for my taste), makes it so I hardly ever have to run to the store.

Still keepin' on keepin' on ;-)

-- Sammie (sammiex0@yahoo.com), February 24, 2000.

I knew you folks would keep it up!

Way to go! I'm right with you- most of mine is eating up and replacing the canned stuff with some lighter dry goods and MRE's.

Getting a couple of more firearms and lots O' ammo.

Working on the things I couldn't finish before the rollover. Always been a bit of a survivalist or fatalist anyway, for me Y2K was just another day whether it was good or bad.

Trust in the Lord and keep your powder dry! Sat.

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), February 25, 2000.

so glad that so many are finally realising the importance of "being prepared". this volitle world and all. have buying the 27 acres that abutts our 8 in the works. plan on hatching out meat chickens from our layers this spring.never done this before. looking into raising crops for supplementing livestock feed. finally going to get the family cow.will extend the vege garden for more to can. baby goats and lambs are due in april. have all my cheese, butter and dairy equipment ready and waiting. still looking into what's best and affordable in manual cream separators. will extend the pasture area to accomadate all the new critters. thankful i listened to that inner voice and stored 200 gal. of gas. have 150 left and stopped using it in prep for the possible summer shortages. want to start learning about the use of solar, even if it's just for the hot water heater.fine tuning list could go on and on. thanks, laura

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), February 25, 2000.

Thanks for responses, guys.

Yes, I already have Cooper's book on the Rifle - awesome.

Also plowing through "HF Antennas for All Locations". Buried under two feet of lingering snow here makes outside work on antennas a bit unpleasant. April will be the big month for that. I have some of the pieces I need for solar operation, but not all.

I still feel somewhat confused by the best ways to prepare meaningfully for bio/chem incidents as well as by which products would make a significant but affordable difference. Seems like many of our resident experts have disagreed on important aspects of that over the months. Potassium iodate was easy by comparison. Sigh.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), February 25, 2000.

Hi BD...relate to your last 'sigh'.

Do you all remember when you first heard about Y2K? Remember that awful and very uncomfortable feeling of realizing you were not prepared for whatever might happen...the first moments of assessment...the first lists...the moments of wishing you had more time? Well, we do! Isn't that the great news of the day?

Grozny...for all practical purposes is wiped out...and within a very short period of time. A physician came out of hiding with her children and talked about being reduced to living like a monkey. It sounded like Mad Max there. Natural disasters still overtake us. The future is unknown, and Life is still fragile and precious. Unless you own ruby red slippers and a firm belief that it will never happen to you.... or never 'in America', then a prepared lifestyle is the only way to go. I am just enjoying the ability to feel more low key about preps, and the absence of a ticking rollover clock. Toying with still trying to hatch out new chicks without an incubator or brooder. Have a few broody breeds here. Just acquired two dairy goats (Nubian) due to freshen next month. Very behind with gardening knowledge and skills, but keeping those goals in sight. Ham radio is on our wish list for later this year. Still hoping for a grain order soon. Our oldest (daughter) totalled one of our cars a month ago. She is fine now, thanks. We let her use the remaining vehicle for transportation to start college and get to work while she shopped for her own car. Guess how I managed to 'grocery shop' without a car for days on end? Preps are great. She has a car, and I'll be making a big trip to Costco again soon. I reeaalllly appreciate those who contribute recipes and tips on this forum, thanks!

Greetings to all!

-- Mumsie (shezdremn@aol.com), February 25, 2000.

"I still feel somewhat confused by the best ways to prepare meaningfully for bio/chem incidents as well as by which products would make a significant but affordable difference. Seems like many of our resident experts have disagreed on important aspects of that over the months. Potassium iodate was easy by comparison.Sigh."

It "ain't easy" to figure out my friend. I've yet to find any good guidelines for chem/bio preps for civilians. Have found a couple private sites over the past year that claimed to have such but both were laughable and apparently put together by folks who really didn't know (neither suggested protection for eyes against small viral contaminants and this is an avenue for infectious agent transmission).

I'm not an expert...by a long shot. I have been studying epidemiology, virology and contamination control procedures and the current state of biological warfare for nearly a year now with civilian biodefense my main topic of interest. As a county disaster services volunteer I expect to be in "the thick of it" (probably accidently) should an incident occur. Hope it won't but since I consider such an event far more likely than a nuclear one and perhaps having a greater impact it seems worth prepping for. Consider it a somewhat "twisted" hobby...

The cheapest meaningful level of preps is probably like those for aseptic nursing and surgical procedures; barrier nursing basically. This would be eye shields, a paper surgical mask, a gown of some sort and latex/rubber or nitrile gloves. This is what's used for dealing with AIDS patients and other infectious diseased individuals. I would expand on this a little by suggesting a tyvek hooded suit and a pair of goggles what seal against the face to keep agents out of the eyes. Such preps would likely protect you against the vast majority of infectious agents and toxins in most cases. This is also my basic level of biological/chemical preps. I believe in most cases protection from secondary infections is the main concern though if I lived in a big city or near a major military base protection against primary agent applications would be of greater concern.

There are lots of reference materials online via Johns Hopkins (Center for Civilian Biodefense), USAMRIID, CDC, WHO, HHS and NIH for dealing with infection control and there are numerous military field manuals that cover various aspects as well. I've purchased many of these and my library contains about 2 dozen books and manuals on the subject and several others on basic virology, epidemiology and clinical nursing skills. There's no real substitute for knuckling down and studying as unpleasant as it may be.

If anyone really wants the info I can put together a list of chem/bio links from my system early next week sometime. My own preps go far beyond the basics and include additional supplies for neighbors and decontamination (a 10% solution of 5.25% common bleech works almost as well as anything else).

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), February 25, 2000.

as for the bio/chemical prep, I picked up a book called Biological Terrorism Survival Secrets. It's by Duncan Long & S. Spencer Jones. Picked it up at a gunshow for $25.00 In general I like what I've read. Duncan Long usually knows what he's talking about. The full title of the book is Bioterrorism: Secrets for Surviving the Coming Terrorist Germ Warfare Attacks on U.S. Cities. I'v seen a couple ads for it in "The Spotlight" newspaper for like $69.00

-- dave (y2kdude@pacbell.net), February 25, 2000.

Another good read is "A Higher Form of Killing" sort of an A to Z history of bio/chem warfare. If you don't know about Porton Down and Gruinard (sp?) Island, you will be amazed. There is a reason that causualty figures in WW1 from chem attacks was kept secret for 50+ years. Unbelivable. Particularily when you consider what's rolling down your local interstate or railroad any day of the week.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), February 28, 2000.