*How it All Came About*

By Eli

21 February 2003

Ever since I was a kid, emergency preparedness has been instilled into my head. I was a Cub Scout, a Boy Scout and am an Eagle Scout. Everywhere I looked I was being pushed towards emergency preparedness.

In July 2002 I was brought onboard the Rubicon. I spent many hours reading the boards and articles and thinking, "this is too cool". I couldn’t believe all of the technology and the brains there were and the family type atmosphere. I was amazed. Everything I learned in the BSA and other places didn’t even compare.

So, here I am-

This is going to be an article series. If everything were in one article it’d be l-o-n-gggg.

Here’s what’s been bought & accomplished since July:

Food & water

Alt energy, lights & heating

Cooking

Commo

Fuel storage

Some rough ideas on time & money spent-

Food= $700 Needs to be rodent proofed, labeled and organized

$10 Wally world special storage shelf

Water= $15 Purchased some containers-actual water is free! ;o)

Energy= $500 Batteries

$15 Connectors

$15 DC switches

$140 Charge controller

$552 Siemens solar panels

$10 Hydrometer

$70 #4 gauge wire (for panels)

$65 300 watt inverter

$85 Gasoline stores (primarily for genset)

$20 Oil, spark plugs & general maintenance supplies

$20 Extension cords

Lighting= $30 Kerosene lamps

$20 Extra kero & wicks

$20 Lots of candles

Heating= $50 New 20lb propane tank & fill-already have a Mr. Heater

Cookin’= Already have a Coleman stove-bought some more cylinders

Commo=$440 Additional radios

ALICE= $70 2 ALICE packs

Estimate= $250-300 smackers for odds & ends. Tools, spare parts etc.

GRAND TOTAL= $3147 +/-

Time-

Everything had to be set up, organized, labeled, tested, built, revised or otherwise. I’ve spent many hours reading articles and asking questions. I’ve spent many hours typing articles and trying to give back as much as I can to the Rubicon.

I estimate 400 man-hours of work, many of which JW had part of.

The above is all just preparations. It doesn’t include rent, truck payments and all of the other illustrious bills. I’ve spent most of my free time preparing. Most all of my left over money has also gone into preps. I’m about broke, but not in the hole.

Survivalism doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, dedication, research, planning and practice!!!! Your imagination is the limit…but is it? In the case of Rubies, there is no limit. A group the size of the Rubicon has a lot of experience and can think up & do lots of things.

BTW- When we work we always listen to good music. My real friends help me out a lot. JW spends a lot of time at the house. We’re both musicians so ya gotta goof around some!

EH MON, WE BE JAMMIN’

The following articles are not "how to do"; they are a quick run down of what I’ve *we’ve* accomplished and a little on how it was done. Hopefully you can apply some of the info from us towards your survival preparations.

"I’ll get by with a little help from my friends"- The Beetles

It’s totally up to you what you want to prepare for and how to do it.

Onto the other articles-

Eli