Yesterday I mentioned Daniel Suelo, and his caveman existence, as part of the weekly roundup. While scanning my list of daily reads on Thursday I happened upon a great follow up to Suelo’s story. It comes from a post at The Digerati Life about homesteading in the wilderness, and features The Long family living (almost) off the grid in New Zealand.

Robert Long walked away from medical school at the age of 24, rejecting a materialistic lifestyle and all its trappings, and sought to start a life completely unplugged from civilization. He and his wife discovered a remote area of New Zealand nestled between mountains and the sea. Here, they would live in a hut rent free in exchange for being caretakers of the surrounding area. That was 16 years ago.

Now the Long’s have two teenagers who have grown up in isolation. They have been home-schooled by their parents, and are far removed from the lifestyle most teenagers experience today. No MTV, iPods, laptop computers, and other goodies teens enjoy today. With the exception of a monthly plane drop of a few supplies, they live off the land, and animals around them.

A garden provides vegetables, and the ocean, a variety of sea life to eat. For entertainment, the family does have a radio where they can pick up New Zealand national public radio. The kids complete their studies minus laptops, and instead do research the old fashioned way – they read books (the video shows the kids working on homework with the help of an encyclopedia – remember those?).

Click image above to launch video

Critics of the Longs’ lifestyle show most concern for the welfare of the children. Admittedly, I had similar concerns while watching the video. Were the parents stifling opportunities for their children by raising them in such isolation? Or is it us who is exposing our children to harmful influences raising kids in a debt-driven, materialistic society? It’s an interesting debate.

I enjoyed the video because it was one of the first stories I have heard of someone successfully going off the grid with a full family. Often times we hear about the lone hermit, or even the occasional couple, who cash out and head for a life of simplicity. Rarely do we hear about family survival with small children.

I suppose the difficulties of raising kids is hard enough with the comforts we have today, but imagine doing it without any modern conveniences. My great-grandmother did it during the depression, raising a large family (nine kids) as did many in her generation. Her lifestyle was one of necessity, not the product of a voluntary rejection of the finer things. But today we’ve been spoiled by these modern conveniences, and in a way, we’ve become slaves to them.

How many of us, myself included, are working to pay for debts accumulated years ago for things we probably no longer enjoy, rarely spending time with our families while we eke out a miserable, corporate existence? I personally think there is more to life than accumulating wealth while climbing the corporate ladder. Perhaps we could all learn a little from families like the Longs.

What’s your take on this family’s lifestyle?

You have probably been asked some variation of this question before, but I still find it interesting to hear the different responses. Over time I have found things I used to think highly of are now much less relevant in my life, and are not things I would risk life and limb to save.  Actually, it’s worth noting that none of this is really worth risking life and limb to save. In a sudden emergency such as a fire, getting yourself and your family out is a top priority. A life is the only thing on this list that cannot be replaced.

Here’s the scenario: You just found out your house will be demolished by fire, a storm, a flood, or some other catastrophic event in the next few minutes. You have just enough time to rescue three things from your home (not counting your family and your pets) and flee. What three things would you round up to take with you?  Here’s my list:

• A “bug out bag.” Every family should have a bug out bag, preferably one for each person old enough to carry it out of the house without slowing them down. My go bag includes survival gear items such as fire starter materials, a first aid kit, weather radio, survival knife (with can opener attachment), my emergency credit card, some cash, a roll of quarters, two flashlights, batteries, travel kit (soap, shampoo, travel toothbrush and toothpaste), copy of the SAS Survival Handbook, a couple back up prescriptions, and a change of clothes. Other family members also have a change of clothes packed, in addition to one other category of survival needs.  For instance, another spouse may carry water, and an older child may carry non-perishable food such as dried goods or MREs (meal, ready-to-eat). Be sure to rotate foods and prescriptions so the ones in your kit don’t expire.

• Our fire-proof lock box. This box contains things like insurance policy forms, deeds and titles, copies of birth certificates, social security cards, a list of bank account numbers and contact info, a copy of our will, etc.

• Pictures. Young people probably won’t understand this, but we actually have boxes of 4×6 pictures taken by family members and passed down. These are memories that can never be recreated, and pictures that are not stored digitally like practically all pictures are these days. If given enough time I would grab these items on the way out, but only after our go bag and fire-proof lock box were safely retrieved.

A decade ago I might have opted to save things like my computer, my camera, some game system I really loved, or some other material item. However, I now recognize all those things could be replaced by insurance money, or future earnings. They are just things. I’d rather focus my energy, and precious time, on rescuing things that could help us survive, and documents that cannot be easily recreated.

Your turn…which three items would you save from your home?

My first edition of Backwoods Home magazine arrived this week, and I was looking forward to carving out some reading time.  One of the articles that immediately caught my eye was A Survival Key Ring – Your Everyday Tool for Emergency Preparedness by Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E., CEM.

In the article, Yago shares his ideas for putting together a survival key chain.  Think of survival key chains as a miniature, portable survival kit with pocket-size bare necessities.  I thought it sounded like a great idea, so I set out to find a few of the suggested implements.  I added a few more of my own.  First, a few examples when these survival key chains could come in handy.

Ever been stranded on the side of the road in a cold climate?  Ever gone camping and realized you forgot to pack matches or a torch lighter for your campfire?  Ever been in a building you are not familiar with during a complete power blackout?  I have been in all three of these situations, and unfortunately I was ill-prepared.  The survival key chain would have definitely come in handy in each of these scenarios.

The Key Ring

Key ring styles.  Plenty to choose from here, from the basic design to pull-apart dual rings to caribiner styles that look more like rock-climbing tools that key rings. You may decide some combination works best for you, or perhaps you have a weekday key ring and a weekend key ring – one for the office, one for camping expeditions.

Lights and Multi-Tools

Knife or multi-tool.  Lights and a cutting tool are two items I would consider “required components” of any good survival keychain.  Again, you can spend as much or as little as you wish on the various styles.  Utility knifes such as a Swiss Army knife with fold-out instruments may be sufficient for most every-day survival key chains.  However, a heavier-duty mini Leatherman might make more sense for backpacking or camping.  I’ve ordered a Leatherman MICRA model myself because I like the idea of having things like scissors, tweezers, a flat Phillips screwdriver, a mini screwdriver, a bottle opener, and a variety of small cutting tools on me at all times.  Just remember, you can’t fly with something like this, so leave these types of things at home when traveling by air.

Mini LED flashlight.  As for flashlights, we’ve come a long way.  They now make super-bright LED flashlights the size of a quarter that last for hours.  No shortage of these around, and it is definitely something to add to your survival key ring.  From unlocking doors in the dark to navigating, these little lights will come in handy.

Navigation and Fire-Making

Fire starter bar.  Survival television shows often show a guy making a fire by turning a stick 10,000 times into a small piece of wood with tiny kindling eventually smoldering from the friction.  The fact is, this is as hard as it looks, and it take a lot of time and energy – two things you may not have depending on your survival situation.  I’m sure any survival expert would tell you dry matches or a fire starter bar would be preferable, so why not keep one with you.  You never know when you’ll need to make camp somewhere, and a fire is great for keeping warm.  It might be the difference is surviving or suffering hypothermia.

This little fire starter bar fits on your key chain, and generates a hot fire in under a minute.  Using the backside of a pocketknife, or any other metal edge, you simply scrape magnesium shavings onto a sheet of paper, or scrap cloth, or whatever dry kindling you can find.  Then a scrape down the striker rod produces a spark that ignites the magnesium shavings (and your kindling).  Warning:  this produces an extremely hot, extremely bright little fire.  Be sure to take precautions by preparing the area around the fire (dig a little fire pit, clear the ground, etc.).

Compass.  For navigation, basically you just need to find general directions from a key ring compass.  Anything that reliably points North will do. From there you can extrapolate other directions, but for basic navigation something like the model below should work fine.  If you find yourself lost, and you know a little about the surrounding terrain, you may be able to make it to a road, a river, or a town, just by knowing which direction to move.

Self Defense/Rescue

Pepper spray.  Whether you are defending yourself from an attacker, or an aggressive animal, a quick burst of pepper spray may provide a valuable few seconds to make an escape.  I recommend considering something more powerful if you are headed into the woods where you are likely to encounter larger, more threatening animals, but for most urban and rural settings this should do the trick.

Safety whistle.  Few people think of whistles when putting together a survival kit, but it is one of the more valuable rescue tools available.  When I was a kid, I remember a story near my home town of a woman who skidded off the road at night, went down a small ravine, and was pinned in her car, injured.  She did not have the strength to scream, and joggers and bicyclists went by for hours not knowing she was trapped just a couple hundred yards away.  Fortunately, her car was finally spotted a couple days after the accident and she was rescued, barely clinging to life.  Imagine how much better the story could have turned out had she had a safety whistle on her key chain to alert a passerby or rescuer in the hours immediately following the accident.

The frugal side of me recognizes that putting together such a survival keychain from scratch could be costly.  I’d recommend starting off with the basic implements such as the multi-tool and flashlight.  Those will handle the majority of small emergencies you will encounter in your day-to-day lives.  Slowly add to your survival key ring over time to spread out the costs.  Eventually, you’ll have just about everything you need for survival right on your keychain, and with you at all times.

Most economists agree we have not in fact suffered a recession, but for the rest of us the pinch is undeniable.   There are plenty of tips out there for ways to save money in tough times.  Since those are so well-covered, I decided to put together a short list of unique strategies to recession-proof your household–just in case.

• Stockpile non-perishables using coupons from eBay.  I’m surprised at the number of mega coupon clippers who still don’t know that many clipping services make their “products” available on eBay. That’s right–you can buy coupons on eBay, often times in lots of 10 or more for just a dollar or two.  If you frequently go through a product with a long shelf-life, look on eBay for a coupon for that product.  Maximize savings by combining store sales with your stash of coupons and you can realize some significant savings.  Remember to watch those expiration dates.

• Create your own home survival kit.  Any prepared homeowner should have a basic first aid kid and emergency equipment including, flashlights, batteries, water-proof bags, matches, non-perishable food, water, and first aid supplies (tape, gauze, over-the-counter analgesics, etc.).  Even if you are not preparing to live as a genuine survivalist, it still makes sense to have a cache of supplies on hand.

• Spread some cash around, at home.  In times of disaster, natural or otherwise, it is possible that ATM networks and banks will be unavailable for cash withdrawals.  For this reason, it makes sense to keep a small amount of cash at home.  Put the money in a safe, lockbox, or keep it well-hidden.  It’s also a good idea to keep it in separate areas so your whole stash isn’t discovered by a thief.

• Get a side hustle.  I’ve mentioned in previous posts my affinity for side hustles–a part time opportunity that you maintain along with your full time job.  A side hustle can provide money in a crunch if you get a pink slip from your regular job.  It can also help supplement a debt snowball, or the beefing up of your emergency fund.  For maximum diversity, it might make sense to try a side hustle in a separate industry from your full time gig.

• Learn to entertain yourselves.  In addition to the economic benefits of things like frugal family fun nights, these events have a way of preparing you for the worst.  Not long after we relocated to our current city, a strong hurricane made landfall a few hundred miles from us and maintained much of its strength as it passed over.  We were without power for a few days, and practiced some of the frugal fun night activities such as “Power’s Out” and “Game Night”–both themes are filled with activities we could engage in without power.

Taking these types of steps does not make you an alarmist, it makes you prepared for the worst while you hope for the best. We continue to hope for the best for our country’s economy, but there is little doubt we will hit some speed bumps along the way.  Be prepared by taking these steps to recession-proof your household.

What steps have you taken to better prepare your household for a slow economy?

Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause – what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel?

Survivalist in Training

I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations.

Survivalist in the Neighborhood

I have a neighbor who recently converted his entire side yard into a vegetable garden. I don’t know his motivation, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was a sort of “urban survivalist,” planning to grow his own food to live off in an emergency. Maybe he is simply hedging against higher food prices. Either way, he is growing an impressive amount of food. We recently upsized our square foot garden into an in-ground garden in our backyard. By no means could we live off the harvest at this point, but we may have a few veggies to supplement summer salads. Perhaps I need to follow my neighbor’s trend, and borrow his tiller!

Survival Gear

Having a few basic necessities on hand makes a lot of sense, not only in the face of recession, but as a practical homeowner who at times may face natural disasters, power outages, etc. Within this post, I’m going to start a list of items to have on hand in the event of an emergency – sort of a home emergency kit. Over time, the list will grow much larger as I remember new items, or as readers share their lists with me. We keep our home emergency kit in an old school backpack (the contents are stored in gallon-sized Ziploc bags to make them waterproof) and stored high in a closet. In the event of an emergency we could easily grab it and have all the smaller contents close by.

1. Gallon of water per person, per day of required survival. A general rule I’ve read from others is to keep about three gallons of water on hand per person. Hopefully, in a small scale disaster water treatment facilities could make necessary repairs of diversions to get water back online within a few days.
2. Water purification tablets. Pickup a few of these at a camping store. In the event you can’t generate heat and boil water these tablets may provide the only way to make drinking water safe.
3. Can opener. I sort of chuckled as I wrote this, because we always hear jokes of people being stranded with canned goods and no can opener. Think of all the things in your pantry – how would you open them without a can opener? I guess you could resort to smashing them against a sharp object, but save yourself some time and effort by picking up an inexpensive, manual can opener.
4. Weather radio. Just a couple weeks ago tornadoes ripped through the town just to our north, knocking out power, and taking several radio stations down. Without a battery-operated weather radio tuned to the NOAA emergency station you would have no way of knowing what was going on outside your home.
5. Spare container of propane for gas grills. Grilling out is kind of a luxury now, but in the event of losing power for several days it may be the only way to heat food.
6. Ramen noodles. A cheap way to store several days worth of carbs and necessary fats. Add a little water and you have a meal in a real crunch. Hey, if college kids can live off these things, you could in a pinch.
7. Gatorade. In a hot summer I can go through gallons of Gatorade when working outdoors. In an emergency situation, Gatorade can be a great way to replenish salts and electrolytes robbed by dehydration.
8. Waterproof matches. Along with a torch lighter or two, waterproof matches may be your best bet for lighting candles, fires or the grill mentioned above.
9. Whistle. Whistles are great to carry along on hikes because they can make a lot of noise without wasting a lot of energy. They are also good to keep at home in case of a structural collapse as a way of communicating with rescuers.
10. Swiss army knife. Many of these have multiple tools such as screw drivers, corkscrews and bottle opener, in addition to a variety of cutting tools.
11. Flashlights. Every home should have a few flashlights and spare batteries.
12. Gun and backup ammunition. Gun-control advocates won’t like this one, but I believe in our right to bear arms. Make them safe and out of reach of kids if you have them. In the event of a disaster you may be forced to defend your food and other supplies from those who failed to prepare wisely. It is a scary proposition, but unfortunately it is human nature – survival of the fittest.
13. First aid kit. Every home should have a well-stocked first aid kit. Most of the larger retail stores sell pre-packaged first aid kits, but you may find you can stock your own cheaper. I like to add to ours occasionally by picking up trial-size items at Wal-Mart or Target. It’s nice to toss a small bottle of aspirin or acetaminophen in the kit without having to buy 100 tablets in larger packaging.
14. Dust masks. I have a box of these on hand anyway to help fight allergies while mowing our lawn. They also offer protection from dust and debris in the event of a structural collapse. We all remember the images of 9/11 when the towers collapsed, spreading toxic dust hundreds of feet.
15. Prescriptions. It’s a good idea to never let everyday prescription supplies run low. Those taking medicines such as insulin or blood pressure medication should always keep a fresh supply on hand in the event they are unable to venture out for refills.
16. Hand sanitizer. Sanitizing wipes or squirt bottles are an effective way to clean hands before eating without using up precious drinking water. Again, keep out of the reach of children as sanitizers are toxic if ingested.
17. Vitamins. Vitamins may help supplement important nutrients missing from an emergency food diet, such as iron and potassium. For purposes of an emergency kit I recommend a bottle of generic Sam’s Club vitamins or similar because a large quantity can be purchased dirt cheap. Look for vitamins that can be halved and given to children making it unnecessary to purchase separate bottles.
18. Protein bars. Inexpensive way to store individually wrapped servings of protein.
19. Antibiotic cream. To ward off infection to cuts and scrapes.
20. Gallon Ziploc bags. We store the contents of our emergency kit in Ziploc bags, but we also store a few extras in case we need to separate things during an emergency, or to store opened food, etc.
21. Duct tape. Can be used to seal off windows and doors in the event of a biological attack. (submitted by Gretchen)
22. Surgical mask. Offers some protection against the spread of airborne biological agents. (submitted by Gretchen)
23. Books to read, a deck of cards, a travel game, and note book and pen. All good ways to pass the time if forced to “wait it out.” (submitted by Greg)
24. A wad of small bills, mostly ones and fives. Stores would soon run out of change and most vending machines only take small bills. (submitted by Greg)
25. Waterproof copies of legal documents.  Keep copies of birth certificates and other personal papers in a Ziploc bag. (submitted by Jenni)
26. Include a book about edible plants.  This is a great idea, and a topic I took great interest in when I first read the SAS Survival Handbook - in fact, I may just pick up a new copy of this excellent book and toss it in the pack. (submitted by lootsdw)
27. Stockpile seeds for your garden. (submitted by lootsdw)
28. Don’t forget pet food. I try to have an extra bag on hand for the dogs and when I’ve used up the current bag I rotate and go buy a new backup. Doggies need to eat too! (submitted by castocreations)
    

Be sure to rotate your stock of food, water, vitamins and prescriptions so that they are fresh and effective. Most canned goods can easily be stored up to one year, and most dried goods may be consumed up to six months from their purchase date. If no expiration date is present on items, label the date you added them to the emergency kit with a marker so you’ll know when it is time to replace them. I’m not advocating you rush out and buy all these things today (unless you are ready to make a significant investment), simply add a few items from the list to your grocery budget over the next few weeks and begin to build your own family emergency kit.

Ask the Readers: What kinds of things are in your home emergency kits? I’ll add new items to the list and make this a group project.

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photo by: ktylerconk