*How Are WE Supposed To Know What You Need??*
The AlphaRubicon receives tons of e-mail each day of several different flavors. Some folks e-mail asking what THEY should store and how much. Well, how can WE be expected to know what YOU need? Any good answers to that? There are several articles on this site outlining preparations. Those articles are open to the public for everyone’s benefit. What you store and how much is soley your choice & responsibility. We can’t make that choice for you.
Have a read here. Here is an outtake from THIS "Yes, There are MANY, MUCH more advanced articles and Videos and such on the private Rubicon side of the site, but it comes from Rubicon Professionals that work as a team, and it costs them/us many thousands of dollars, and many thousands of man-hours, to track down and test much of the information available in the Rubicon area, so we don't just "Give it out"..."
We are a very very busy group of people. We all have real lives and real jobs. The Rubicon is nothing we make money at, nobody gets paid for what they do. There simply is not enough time to answer everybody’s individual questions that flood in through the email, especially something as simple as this. (below) That’s what the articles & good old fashioned common sense are for.
One of the common questions that comes through the pipes is this ""How many candles, and how much lamp oil, should I store for a long term disaster?"".
Let’s take that and digest & think about it, shall we?
For those who ask that question or one similar, what do YOU deem a long-term disaster? 2 day power outage, being snowed in for 3 days, H5N1, what? Our idea of long-term is months or longer. Not days or weeks. Days & weeks is just a walk in the park.
What do you want to be prepared for, what kind of disaster(s)? You need to model your preps around what you want to live through. The AlphaRubicon can not make that decision for you. Only you can.
Candles are a renewable resource provided that YOU, again, it boils down to YOU, have the means to reuse them. You will need wicks and the means & knowledge to melt down wax to form new candles. Kind of a nuisance if you ask me. Kerosene & propane lamps are NOT a renewable resource. Once the fuel is gone or mantles/wicks, it’s toast.
During a disaster, don’t bet on running down to the store to get more, how many other people are going to be looking for the same stuff? The stores will be empty. Delivery trucks might not be running so therefore there’s no restocking.
If you really want to go back to the primitive 1800’s to try and live be my guest. I like the 2000’s better. Old and rustic is cool & fascinating and all, but not practical anymore.
Here’s a challenge. If you plan on reverting back to the olden days during a disaster, why not make a dry run. On a Friday night turn off the main breaker to your house. That means no electricity. No electricity means no TV, no music, no freezer, no water pump, no refridgerator, no electric range, no heat/AC etc etc. The only light you’ll have is what you’ve stored. Candles & kero lamps. Try living like that for the entire weekend. Eat what you can, no ordering out. Drink what you can, remember your water pump won’t work. Try taking a sponge bath. Try running out and using a tree every time nature calls.
Think you can hack it the entire weekend without cheating? If you can’t, how do you expect to make it long term? If you can, do you really think you’d want to do it long term?
I think I make my point.
What would make life a little easier in the above? Electricity. Electricity is a renewable resource provided that you have means of generation. A generator works, but again, once out of fuel, it’s a worthless pile of junk. Solar panels, water wheels & wind generators need not rely on fuel. You can store the power in batteries for later use.
I have candles & kerosene lamps. However, they aren’t my primary means of light. I will use electricity most of the time. If the forecast calls for long-term cloudy weather and I need to conserve power to run more vital things, THEN I can fall back on the primitive supplies temporarily until sunny weather comes along. There is nothing wrong with back-ups/supplements.
The common theme is YOU.
We can’t decide for you what you need to store or how much. All we can do is write articles of our experiences and you need to take that information and model it for you. We can’t form your disaster plan or tell you what to do, that is your personal choice. It ALL boils down to personal responsibility.
For anyone who’s missed it when you opened the website www.alpharubicon.com, take a look underneath that cool graphic up top and what do you see?
Have A Plan
It's All About Personal Responsibility.
Get off your duff and get out and PRACTICE!!
We must prepare for the worst and work for the best.
Facta Non Verba- Deeds, Not Words (Do it, don’t just talk about it)
I wonder how many more people will still email asking the EXACT same question that was just digested above. Quite a few I’m sure.
Jaden
www.alpharubicon.com
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