Welcome to the July edition of the Preparedness Pulse Newsletter! Get ready for another dose of invaluable tips and hints to boost your emergency preparedness. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or expert prepper, we’ve got something for everyone. Let’s jump right in!

For Beginners:

Establish an emergency communication plan: Ensure every family member has a list of emergency contact numbers and designate an out-of-area contact person. Practice communication drills to ensure everyone knows how to reach each other during a crisis.

Prepare for extreme weather: Research the weather patterns in your region and understand the risks associated with extreme weather events. Learn how to secure your home, reinforce windows and doors, and create a safe space within your house in case of severe storms or tornadoes.

Expand your emergency kit: Enhance your basic emergency kit by adding additional supplies like extra batteries, a portable phone charger, a whistle, dust masks, and sanitation and hygiene products. Tailor your kit to meet the specific needs of your family.

For Intermediate Preppers:

Build a financial emergency fund: Start setting aside funds for unexpected expenses or loss of income during emergencies. Aim to save at least three to six months’ worth of living expenses. Consider diversifying your savings into different forms of currency, such as cash and precious metals.

Invest in alternative energy sources: Explore renewable energy options like solar panels or small wind turbines to reduce your reliance on the grid. Additionally, stock up on rechargeable batteries and portable solar chargers to keep essential devices powered during power outages.

Learn advanced self-defense techniques: Enroll in self-defense classes or consider martial arts training to enhance your personal safety skills. Practice situational awareness and develop strategies to handle potentially dangerous encounters.

For Expert Preppers:

Develop a community preparedness network: Connect with like-minded preppers in your community to establish a network of support and knowledge sharing. Organize regular meetings, training sessions, and community projects to build a resilient local community.

Master water purification techniques: Acquire in-depth knowledge of various water purification methods such as boiling, filtration, chemical treatment, and UV sterilization. Experiment with different techniques and ensure you have reliable water sources identified.

Enhance your food production capabilities: Take steps towards self-sufficiency by expanding your gardening efforts, setting up a greenhouse, or exploring hydroponics and aquaponics systems. Learn about seed saving, crop rotation, and maximizing yields in limited spaces.

Remember, preparedness is an ongoing process. Regularly review and update your plans, supplies, and skills to stay ahead of potential risks and challenges.

Stay tuned for our next edition, where we’ll delve into advanced strategies for emergency sheltering and evacuation preparedness.

Stay prepared and stay safe!

The Preparedness Pulse Newsletter Team

Highlight of the Month-Azure Standard Company
Azure Standard is a Food Co-op based in Eastern Oregon. They specialize in organic, non-GMO foods. They carry thousands of products ranging from fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, bulk grains, bulk legumes, baking products, bulk spices, sprouting seeds, herbs and natural health products. Many of their
bulk foods come in multiple size options.

You create your own account on their website, place your order by the deadline and your items come to your area on a semi truck. Most areas only get one delivery a month. You can see if there is a drop location in your area by scrolling to the bottom of the homepage http://azurestandard.com and click on FIND A DROP. You can do a search by zip code or town. Then you select the drop location where you want to meet the semi and pick up your order.

Shipping cost is 8.5% of your order total. You do not have to commit to a monthly order. They have great customer service and they send frequent email updates around the order deadline time and after the truck has been loaded. They now have drop locations across most of the lower 48 states.

Here are some helpful videos that you may like:
Azure Standard-What we do and how it works- https://youtu.be/w2uxu-ZTpQA
How do Azure Standard Deliveries work? https://youtu.be/_Xne1dDr8Fg
How to order from Azure Standard- Start to finish, easy https://youtu.be/Hh81jPMmB0Q

How to prepare for power outages/blackouts

• Have more than one way to cook without electricity
• Have plenty of water on hand at all times
• Have at least one generator that can power your refrigerator when needed
• Buy as many solar tools and gadgets as your budget will allow. Many things come in a solar
  option.
• Keep freezers full and do not open for as long as possible
• Know where you can buy dry ice that can be used in the freezer
• Have several coolers on hand
• Have supplies for hand washing laundry, ( liquid laundry soap, buckets or tubs and something to
  use for an agitator, clothes line and clothes pins to hang things to dry)
• Have a variety of batteries on hand at all times, this includes rechargeable ones
• Assemble a power outage kit that includes different lights, batteries, matches, solar lights,
  flashlights, hurricane lamps, extra chimneys and wicks, etc
• Have a bunch of cash on hand in mostly small bills, if ATM’s and stores have no power, you will
  not be able to use any cards to pay for anything.
• Have some extra gasoline on hand. If gas stations are out of electricity, the pumps will not work.
  How to stay cool without electricity
• Keep blinds and curtains closed to keep the sun out.
• Open all the windows at night once it cools down. Close up the house in late morning before the
  house starts to heat up again.
• Sleep with cold, wet washcloths or towels on you like your forehead and chest
• Sleep outside if possible in the Summer
• Work outside in the early morning or late in the evening, sleep or rest during the hot part of the
  day
• Wear clothing that is light colored and thinner materials
• Use trees and shrubs in your landscaping strategically to help shade the South and West sides of
  your home.
• Invest in some fans that can run on either batteries or a USB cord that can be used with a Solar
  battery like a Goal Zero battery.
• Look up Off Grid air conditioning on YouTube. There are ideas there for things you can made.
• Check out http://www.urbansurvivalsite.com for more ideas

Here are a few videos that I thought have lots of good ideas on keeping your home and food cool without electricity:
How to stay cool when the grid goes down- https://youtu.be/MDFStg_eSH8
Food Storage when the grid goes down- https://youtu.be/HZaX9ux5vWo
Using a 100 year old ice box- https://youtu.be/bP9U5_vYACQ
3 Ways Amish keep food cold- https://youtu.be/MckryWEyfhg
How to manage power outages and rolling black outs, 3 things you need- https://youtu.be/yjzU6cpprEE
Off-grid A/C Ecoflow Wave Portable A/C- https://youtu.be/GZ7D8Mc0QNE
You can live without refrigeration, here’s how- https://youtu.be/RHv4x2Maxp8

We all need to be prepared to cook meals at home during a power outage.
You should have at least two different ways to cook meals when there is no electricity. You also need to consider your location and the kinds of weather you have in your area.

Most off-grid or powerless cooking options must be used outdoors. There are only a couple options you can safely use indoors. If you live where it gets very cold or it snows you will want to find a safe indoor cooking option or have a covered area that will keep you dry.

You will also want to consider the cost and availability of fuel sources for your cookers. No matter which cookers you buy, make sure that all of your cookers do not use the same fuel source. Solar energy is free and clean, but will not work on a cloudy day. Depending on your location you may not be able to use a Sun Oven or other solar cooker for most of the Winter because of overcast skies. Wood fires are nice but you will want to have a lot of firewood on hand, stacked and completely dry before it can be used. It usually takes 6 months or more for cut wood to dry enough to burn.

Propane is easy to use and is preferred by many people. But, propane is now harder to get and has gone up a lot in price. If the power outage is short it will not be a big deal to use propane. But, if your outage last several days or weeks, you may run out of fuel and it will be very expensive to get more. Here are a
few ideas for off-grid or powerless cooking that you may want to consider to have on hand at all times.

Keep in mind there are pros and cons to every method.

OUTDOOR ONLY OPTIONS:

Barbeque or gas grill – easy to buy one, easy to find fuel. Many people are familiar with using it. Fire pit-use with a grate or dutch oven. Need lots of dried wood or charcoal briquettes. It takes some practice so you don’t burn your food. You will ruin many pots and pans cooking over a fire. Heavy pans,
especially cast iron, are a must for this. It is hard to keep fire going in heavy rain or if snowing.

Dutch oven cooking on a metal table-need to store a lot of charcoal briquettes. They must be kept dry at all times. This cooking method takes some practice. You will want to have a covered area outdoors for bad weather. You MUST have a metal table with sides that can be used as a wind break.

Volcano Cooker – This is for outdoor use only. Kind of expensive. You can stack cooking pots on it.

Camp Stove – There are multiple brands on the market. Many people are familiar with the little green

Coleman camp stove or a Camp Chef stove that stands on legs. Easy to find and not too expensive depending on the size and model you choose. The Fuel canisters are easy to find and at the moment are not too expensive. These will disappear fast in a disaster, have them on hand before you need them.

Rocket Stove – You can buy a small rocket stove or you can build one out of cinder blocks. If you build one yourself, it is very cheap to build. Rocket Stoves use very little wood or twigs and it burns very hot. It is a great fuel saver. You can only cook one pot at a time on a Rocket Stove.

Brick Oven or Pizza Oven – You can build one of these yourself but it should be done before you need it. These take resources and time to build. Camp Chef sells a metal pizza oven that goes on top of the Camp Chef cooker.

Camp Chef propane oven – Camp Chef sells a tiny oven that uses a small propane fuel canister. You could bake bread in it, brownies, and casseroles in a 9×13 pan. It is too small to cook a turkey or a large pizza.

Solar Ovens – These are great for using free energy. Easy to use. Will work well as long as you have strong sunlight. Will not work on mostly cloudy days. The outdoor temperature does not matter. You will want to practice using this method before needing to rely on it.

Indoor Cooking Options- Safe for indoor use but crack a window open!!!

To be extra cautious you can use a Carbon monoxide detector in your cooking area when using these methods indoors.

Thermal Cookers – like Saratoga Jacks, a Fabric HopeSac, Wonder Oven, Wonder Bag, cooler, basket, Mr. D’s etc.
Thermal cooking is another way of saying retained heat cooking. You boil the food for a certain length of time and then put the food in an insulator where it will continue cooking for several hours. It works like a cordless crock pot. It is VERY fuel efficient. It is safe to use indoors once the food has boiled. It works great when cooking lots of typical food storage type foods such as grains and beans. You can take your cooker with you while you travel or recreate. You can cook almost anything in a thermal cooker but one should practice a lot before a crisis. You can heat the food using any fuel source. Most foods only need
to boil for 30 minutes or less. An insulator or “cooker” can be made from a very large basket, laundry basket, or cooler. Simply use blankets and pillows all around the pot to retain the heat.

For a lot more information on this kind of cooking check out http://thermalcooking.net and http://saratogajacks.com

You can watch a lot of videos using this method on YouTube on the Let’s Make Sense of ThermalCooking Cookbook channel.

Butane Burner – This cute little single burner comes in a plastic case and is very compact. A butane burner sells anywhere from $20-30. You can easily buy and store more than one. The butane fuel canisters are sold in multi-packs at Sam’s Club, Costco, Camping Stores, Asian Stores, anywhere a caterer would buy supplies.
Safe Heat-fuel canisters – These are made to be used indoors and are often used for catering. These can be used with little metal folding burners. These burners are sold in stores that have a camping department. These fuel canisters and folding burners are great for 72 hour kits/get home bags etc. These
are best for warming foods. Not very good for actually cooking meals.