Huntin' with the littlin'

Only one of the youngsters wanted to hunt this year. Of course it was the youngest(7), she had to show up her big brothers but "only if it's a boy deer". We got out the .410 the week before and she shot a couple slugs. She did really well. We also pulled up lots of deer pictures on the internet and she practiced showing me where to shoot each one.

We didn't get out too early and since we only hunt our own property we are limited on where we go. We posed for a pic so everyone could see her hunting deer.

We headed out and walked along the edge of the field you see behind us, where bucks like to bed down and watch the house. We didn't find any fresh beds, but when we got over to the other side i saw the neighbor kid in his half of the woods cutting firewood, but I didn't say anything to her.

We snuck into the woods and she learned how to cross a fence and a creek with a gun. We found a stump to sit on, where we could see the edge of a corn stubble field and watch a trail in the woods.

She did pretty good with sitting still and being quiet. We talked in whispers about different ways to hunt deer, then came in after an hour or so when we got cold.

We went back out that evening without the neighbor being in the woods so I had a little hope we would see something. No such luck.

All of our kids have shot some and all have kill animals in the live trap by shooting them. So far the only game they have eaten is the deer I have killed or has been given to us.

I have made a deal with each child that I will clean their first animal of each type they kill but then it is up to them (with my help) after that. The middle child I think is saving that for later since he won't hunt now but says he wants to in the future.

 I remember as a child the one thing I feared most was the blood, gore and guts of cleaning animals I killed. After I had actually done it there was no problem but the worry affected how hard I hunted.

I am hunting this weekend so wish me luck.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

The live trap is getting a workout

The critters were getting in the garden so it was time to break out the live trap.

Here is the first customer on night two.

 

 

Here is our second customer on night three

 

I moved the trap out to some tall grass by our far shed and night four had another coon. We then skipped a day yesterday but had a ground hog this morning and a couple hours later had groundhog #2 of the day.

Hopefully I will get the groundhogs and coons thinned out soon.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,

Randy

 

Making the hard decisions

It's decision time. I have been doing a little writing the last couple years that hasn't amounted to much. Just look back at the ole blog here and you will see that I can put a lot of good information interspersed with a lot of drivel.

This year I have been getting more serious about it. I gave up one of my magazine subscriptions to get Writers Digest for Christmas. ( we poor folk have to ask for subscriptions for Christmas) It has made a HUGE difference by motivating me to write more.

You say "Really I hadn't noticed since this blog looks neglected to me."

Yes that's true I have been neglecting the blog ...still... but have been writing more elsewhere.

Which brings me to my problem...My laptop stinks!!!
I bought it used(mistake) it is slow and locks up all the time, it takes a good 30 minutes to boot up. When I bought it I figured it would be ok since I just planned on using it to write. It was ok when I was writing once  a month, but recently I have been doing actual writing for pay with deadlines and everything.

My dilemma...no $$$ for a new laptop...but I can sell a gun for enough to buy a basic model that is capable of what I need for my writing. I have a Marlin 336C in .357 sitting in the safe. I bought it for the cowboy shooting that I never started. It's had roughly 20 rounds through it in the eight years I have had it.

I know writing is taking away from the farm/homestead work but....E.B. White always felt guilty when he was working on his farm...So I figure have similar problems to E.B. White is a good thing.

To catch up a bit...

We got some Light Sussex eggs and have them in the incubator. They are much more common in Britain than here. They can be cross to make sex-link chickens. Our goal is to get a decent laying hen and a decent growing rooster for broilers. If we get the cross right we might be able to sell chicks for another stream of income. We have to fix up the coop to house the chicks in a few weeks.

Fire wood season was light since winter was so mild...I hurt my back again last fall cutting the first time and it really cut into how much we got. The Ash borer has killed so many ash trees in these parts that we were able to get several loads to keep us in wood. I let the furnace got out just this past Wed. May 2nd.

Have the garden tilled twice and will do it once more before planting.

I purchase some swarm lure and put it on the top bar bee hive I built a couple years ago. With luck we'll catch a swarm this year. I went to a bee clinic this winter and learned a lot, but we still can't afford bees.

My disc is still broke so I can't use the tractor to till the 2 acre field. I am looking for a three point disc but not luck so far in the affordability department.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

Organic Gardening - Why You Should Go Organic

Author: Doug Kroeker
Why Go Organic
Twenty five years ago the thought of organic gardening would have been considered a pretty radical idea. Herbicides and pesticides were considered the gardeners best friend. Without herbicides and pesticides how were gardeners expected to control the weeds, bugs, and animals that may threaten a thriving garden?
But the thing is, for years gardeners have been growing things just fine without the use of chemicals. Early settlers of our land did not have any herbicides, pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and they got along just fine.
It only makes sense that we should be able to apply the same principles to get the same results as they did today. We should be able to use the same ingredients as the early settlers used rather than franken chemicals born in a chemist's laboratory.
Organic gardening goes way beyond lack of chemicals in our vegetables and fruit and the benefits for us and our families. There has been a great rise in the interest of ecology and concern about the environment that has bred new life to this form of gardening. By using natural materials, such as kitchen and garden scraps a gardener can create compost and fertilize the garden naturally. Taking advantage companion planting and natural predators the home gardener can manage pest control and maintain an organic garden quite easily.
There are many advantages to gardening organically. Vegetables and fruit produced using organic method tastes better, have more vitamins and minerals and have none of the cancer causing chemicals in them. It is simply more nourishing and more healthful.
Organic or Non Organic, What's the Difference
In 2001, the British organization, The Soil Association, reported that a comprehensive review of existing research revealed significant differences between organically and non-organically grown foods. These differences relate to food safety, primary nutrients, secondary nutrients and the health outcomes of the people who eat organically.
Vitamin C and dry matter contents are higher, on average, in organically grown crops then they are in non-organic crops. Mineral contents are also higher, on average, in organically grown crops. Food grown organically contains substantially higher concentrations of antioxidants and other health promoting compounds than crops produced with pesticides.
Most people who decide to start organic gardening report that the enjoyment they receive is paramount to their decision to go the route of no-chemicals in favor of the all-natural route. Many people like to watch the tender new growth come to full maturity and, as a bonus, you get to eat it!
When you start organic gardening, you get extra fresh vegetables. Naturally grown corn on the cob and newly picked green beans are especially noticeable, but nothing compares to vine ripened organically grown tomato. When you take your first bite of an organically grown tomato it's something you won't forget and you will never want a commercially grown tomato again.
This trait extends to all vegetables you grow yourself when you go the organic method. A phenomenon noted by most people when harvesting their very first vegetables from their very first garden is that everyone eats much more of a given vegetable than they would of a similar commercial variety.
Save Money and Make Some Extra Cash
You will not only save money by growing your own fruit and vegetables, but you can even make a little extra cash on the side by selling your own all-natural foods that are so popular in the grocery stores these days. If you know how to can tomatoes you can you can take what extra you have to the farmer's market and sell your organic tomatoes or homemade salsa to others who don't have the advantage of having their own garden.
If you don't know how to can fruit and vegetables don't worry, there are many books covering canning and preserving along with some great canning and preserving recipes.
For a gardener who still isn't convinced about the need to garden organically, here are some statistics that may help change your mind. In March of 2001, the American Cancer Society published a report linking the use of the herbicide glyphosate (commonly sold as Round-up) with a 27% increased likelihood of contracting Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
John Hopkins University also revealed that home gardeners use almost 10 times more pesticide per acre than the average farmer and that diseases caused by environmental illness, exposure to chemicals etc., is now the number one cause of death in the U.S. With the EPA's recent phasing out of common pesticides such as Dursban and Diazinon, we are now realizing that many of the chemicals that we thought were "safe" were never actually tested to see what their affect on children, women, and the elderly could be. The time has come to reassess our dependence on herbicides and pesticides.
What Does Growing Organic Mean
You might wonder what exactly organic gardening means. The simple answer to that is organic gardeners don't use pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers on their plants. But gardening organically is much more than what you don't do.
When you garden organically, you should think of your fruit and vegetables as part of a whole system within nature that starts in the soil and includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes.
Basically organic gardening operates on the concept of recycling. You use kitchen scraps, garden waste and animal waste, to mulch and compost. You can use common household items like vinegar, soap and some garlic and hot pepper concoctions to prevent pests and newspaper and mulch to prevent weeds.
Organic growers rely on developing a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops. Genetically modified (GM) crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards.
Organic gardening is the merging together of plants and soil allowing the Earth to naturally bear what it was made to do. The plants and the soil are one working together to provide food and nourishment not only to humans but to animals and organisms as well.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/organic-gardening-why-you-should-go-organic-5734492.html
About the Author
Doug enjoys gardening and writing. You can view his website at http://thehomegarden.com/

Well that didn't turn out well (pun intended)

We planned our annual trip to Lehmans this weekend. We like to go once a year, usually for our anniversary or Tanya's birthday. I have been planning since I moved back to this old farm to replace the leathers in the old hand pump out in front of the house.

The pump worked when I was a kid and I miss the old days of drinking the cold black sulfur water. I also wanted another backup water supply. My dad said he remembered changing them out when he was young. They used a rope on a tripod and another rope wrapped around the pipe to keep it from falling back into the well casing. I called him and asked if he would help after work on Friday. And I had planned on taking pics to put on here. But he came over early and he was working on it already with my mom and Tanya.

When I got here they had the old ford tractor backed up to the pump and they were using the 3pt lift to raise the pump and then wrapping a chain around the pipe to stop it from falling back down the well. They had just broken the pipe at a junction about 3 feet below the pump when I pulled up. We decided to continue since the cylinder was "only 10 or so feet down".

After the pipe broke we unhooked the pump rod and lifted the heavy pump up and off the rod. (that was an adventure in itself) Then we started pull up the pipe with the lift on the tractor. we'd get about 3 feet every lift and then rewrap the chain to keep it up. after several times we had about 20 feet of pipe sticking up in the air and no cylinder in sight. A few more lifts and there was the cylinder right at the top of the casing. we rewrapped the pipe and started to lift and...shhhhhhhhhhhsplash... the cylinder broke off at the threads and the 30 foot pump rod still hooked to the cylinder dropped to the bottom of the well. BUMMER...

Well at least I got a 30 foot section of rusty pipe out of the deal. I dropped a fishing line with a sinker down to see how deep it is and the nearest I can figure is that the rod is a good 6 feet below the top of the casing.

 We ended up going to Lehmans anyway. If you go they have move their close out section into an outlet store across the parking lot. Be sure to hit it first so you can save some $$$ if they happen to have what you are looking for there. Then we ate at a Chinese Buffet in Wooster since Tanya was craving lo mien.(it was eh...)

Still clinging to my God and my guns, Randy

Selecting a Survival Kit

Author: Gary Benton
As a retired military survival professional, who has instructed thousands of US Air Force aircrews as a Life Support Instructor, I'm often asked a very complex question, "What kind of survival kit is best?" It's not an easy question to answer and for a lot of different reasons. During my military career, which lasted over 26 years and carried me to the four corners of the world, I lived in some very different environments. I've been in the arctic snows of Alaska, jungles of the Philippines, floated in a raft in the Gulf of Mexico, and walked around mountains in the state of Washington. I'm not even considering my numerous camping trips in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, or Mexico. Many thoughts go through my mind each time I'm asked this question and I've never really given a good answer, in my opinion.
The individual asking the question is my first consideration. If the person is well experienced in the art of hunting, camping, hiking, or fishing, they will most likely need less gear than an inexperienced person. Hunters who camp are usually the best qualified, in my opinion, because many of them hike to where they hunt, then camp and hunt, which makes them more outdoors qualified. It's important when you're looking for a good survival kit to fully understand your limitations in the field. It's also crucial to be honest and don't make the mistake of thinking you can get by on very little, when you really can't. Additionally, don't confuse comfort with survival, because survival is not a comfy situation. It's being able to do what it takes to stay alive, with what gear you have, and that will mean some discomfort.
Also, the environment you're attempting to survive in has a lot to do with your survival odds. It's easier to survive in a jungle than it is the Arctic Circle, or a burning desert. Each area requires a different survival kit, with the environment considerations as a motivator. In the desert you'll want more water, sun screen, wide brimmed hat, and so on. While in the arctic you'll want gear that will assist you in staying warm, such as hot foods, shelter, and a good sleeping bag. The environment plays a key role in your survival efforts and should always be considered as you assemble or purchase a survival kit. So, keep in mind your knowledge, environment, and gear you think you'll honestly need.
An experienced person outdoors can survive with very little, compared to those without experience. For instance, in most cases, I carry the items listed below and know I can survive for days using the gear.

• A quality penknife or jack knife;
• Good quality first aid kit;
• Plastic whistle – to signal with;
• Two zip-lock freezer bags for water storage;
• Water proof matches;
• Signaling mirror;
• Flint and steel or a metal match;
• Water purification tablets or bleach. I prefer bleach, because it's the best way to purify water;
• A long strip of heavy duty aluminum foil folded up to cook with;
• Fishing kit, i.e., hooks, sinkers, and some line. Nothing fancy;
• Commercial back packing first aid kit (with instructions);
  • One small pack of gum and one of hard candy (energy);

Also, I carry three other things on my person. I carry a good quality space blanket, dry socks, and about twenty feet of nylon cord.
You may have noticed, I did not say I would be comfortable during my survival situation. You'll notice the lack of a meal or real food and that's not an important issue for most healthy individuals. We can go weeks without food, but only a limited time without water, depending on the temperature. In the desert, for instance, a temperature of over 100 degrees can kill you in just a few hours, but that also depends on a number of variables. In this article I don't have the space to expand on desert survival.
Now, a good minimum survival kit has: A knife, whistle, magnesium match, signal mirror, water treatment tablets, small fishing kit, compass, and water container of some sort. You can order a good minimum survival kit from the Simple Survival Store, and the prices are pretty low, but if you're like most folks, you'll need a lot more gear than a minimum survival kit.
At Country Sporting Goods you'll find a complete list of survival kits that are sure to meet the needs of anyone experiencing an emergency. The store carries car survival kits, blackout survival kits, emergency survival kits, food and water, and the list goes on and on. The gear is made in the US and not cheap imports, so you know you're buying quality survival gear. All of your survival gear should be the best you can afford and cut no corners in gear quality. Remember, you're betting your life on the survival gear you have with. When push-comes-to-shove, your survival gear is your life insurance policy.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/camping-articles/selecting-a-survival-kit-5518305.html
About the Author
Gary is a retired E-8, who left the US Air Force after 26 years of service. He taught survival as a Life Support Instructor for over 12 years.

A Look At The Tao of Rusty

Rusty asked me to take a look at The Tao of Rusty and see what I thought. I spent some time going through it over a couple days this week and figured I should let all you know about it.

My honest first impression at seeing an eastern religion symbol along with the name, combined with Christian references was..."this guy is kinda confused." LOL But that passed quickly as I started reading his how to's.

His picture how to's are arranged along the top of the site. I found the info to be solid, and I even learned a couple things. I tried listening to Rusty radio but my old laptop at work and my older desktop at home didn't let me.

He's got a chat board right in the middle of the site...be sure to leave him a comment or ask him a question. I know interaction makes someone going to all this trouble feel like it's worth it. He does this for free to make the info available for everyone.

The Dilbert cartoon was funny enough that everyone at work got a chuckle out of it since their survival plan is to show up at my house...LOL (altho I'm much better armed than poor Dilbert)

Some videos at the bottom along with a prep vids link at the top give you access to some video prepping info.

There are a couple other links tucked here and there...like the ubiquitous Altoids can survival kit.
The only thing negative I have to say is the layout is kinda all over the place...BUT the info is worth taking the time to find stuff.

Rusty has a good solid site here at The Tao of Rusty be sure and visit check out the how to's and if you have better comps than me listen to Rusty Radio...be sure to leave a comment in the chat box so Rusty knows you were there.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

Winter survival

Author: Survival Supplies 4U
If your survival preparations do not cover subfreezing conditions you are only 50% ready.
The great majority of survival skills and survival equipment work well in dry and temperate weather. In the dry summer conditions you can survive for a while by simply not doing anything stupid. Moderate clothing and basic shelter items will get you through the chilly damp conditions of late spring and early fall. At home, mild weather survival focuses on having safe water and enough food. But winter conditions make survival anywhere an immediate and constant challenge. In winter, Mother Nature tries to kill you. Cold takes no prisoners. Whole armies have been wiped out by General Winter. The survival battle comes down to maintaining the body's temperature. This is accomplished four actions.

• Generating heat internally through the consumption and metabolizing of high calorie food and the necessary water to process it. Consider this fueling your furnace. Food requirements are much higher in cold weather.
• Keeping cold out of the body. Eating cold food, drinking cold liquids and breathing in cold air quickly lower the body's temperature.

• Preserving body heat. Breathing out warmed air, standing in cold winds, contact with cold ground, getting wet, not wearing adequate clothing and failure to cover the head will burn away calories (heat) and lead to hypothermia
• Gathering heat from external sources. Getting into a warm place, standing in the sun, drinking warm liquids, eating hot food, standing by a fire, breathing warmed air reduces heat loss.

Civilization has focused on providing a warm environment. Our homes are heated. Our vehicles are heated. Even in winter our exposure to cold is brief. Well-fed and warm most of the time we are all in poor condition to survive long-term cold under survival conditions. When we think of survival we think of winter fire, but all animals and some human cultures survive the harshest cold conditions without any form of external heat. They depend on heat conservation and high calorie food metabolism. Two things are certain,

• Inadequately fed and clothed humans who are exposed to sever cold or chilly wet conditions for too long will die
• If you live in most areas of the United States and Canada and have not acquired the skills and equipment for long-term cold weather survival you are at high risk 20 to 70% of the year.

The Body loses heat in 5 ways:

• Respiration: Breathing in cold air, heating it in your lungs and then exhaling the warmed air back out is a significant source of heat loss. A simple facemask, ski mask or muffler over the nose and mouth can conserve some of this heat.
• Evaporation: Sweat and dampness on clothing evaporates and carries away heat. Alcoholic beverages give the allusion of warming while evaporating through the skin and taking away more heat. Rain, snow and even fog will dampen hair skin and clothing to take away you heat.
• Convection: Air (wind) passing over the skin carries away heat. That's great on a hot day, but deadly in the cold. Get out of the wind ASAP! On the move wear a wind proof poncho.
• Conduction: Nature hates an imbalance. If you are in contact with ground, rocks, metal, snow, etc. that are colder than you are, energy will flow from you to the cold surface. Minimizing contact and good insulation are the keys to preventing this heat loss. Wet clothing loses 90% of its insulation value with water having 240 times the heat conductivity of dry air STAY DRY!
• Radiation: the whole body radiates heat/energy into the environment. Adequate clothing is the only way to reduce this radiation.

Since heat rises the head and shoulders are the greatest source of heat loss and since the brain is most heavily supplied with blood circulation the head is the last part to feel cold. Listen up! Hoods, stocking caps and those big fur caps will save your life. One day we were out in 10 below zero winds. We entered an unheated building and just took off our caps. We immediately started to shiver until we put them back on. Another device for combating radiated heat loss is the Space Blanket. These aluminized blankets can be used as ponchos or rigged as shelters. They reflect body heat back to you. They can also be used to catch and reflect campfire, stove heat or solar warmth onto your body. I have recovered from damp cold clothing in this way.
Since heat rises the head and shoulders are the greatest source of heat loss and since the brain is most heavily supplied with blood circulation the head is the last part to feel cold. Listen up! Hoods, stocking caps and those big fur caps will save your life. One day we were out in 10 below zero winds. We entered an unheated building and just took off our caps. We immediately started to shiver until we put them back on. Another device for combating radiated heat loss is the Space Blanket. These aluminized blankets can be used as ponchos or rigged as shelters. They reflect body heat back to you. They can also be used to catch and reflect campfire, stove heat or solar warmth onto your body. I have recovered from damp cold clothing in this way.
Thee two chief dangers of cold exposure are hypothermia and frostbite. A person who is exhausted, hungry or sick is more susceptible to both of these life and limb threatening conditions.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia occurs when the bodys core temperature begins to fall. This happens when the body is no longer able to generate or hold more heat than it is losing. Being exposed to cold, wind and rain with inadequate shelter clothing and food are prime causes of hypothermia. Shivering is the warning sign of impending hypothermia. The body is using the heat generated by shivering as a last ditch effort to maintain its core temperature. This occurs as the body temperature drops towards 90 degrees. Below 90-degrees slurred speech, dulled comprehension and jerky muscle (staggered walking) movements indicate the need to immediately get this person out of the cold and introduce warm liquids.
At 80 to 85-degrees the victim will lose contact and drift into a stupor. Pulse and respirations slow indicating advanced hypothermia. At this point the person will continue to decline even with external warmth provided. In advanced hypothermia the cells reach a point where they are too cold to produce heat therefore creating a progressive condition that only a hospital can reveres with warm IV s.
This is why it is important to recognize hypothermia at its earliest stages and act. At 80 to 78-degrees the victim will become unconscious and will suffer cardiac failure and hemorrhage into the lungs resulting in death. In addition to getting the victim into a warn environment and giving them hot sugary liquids while they are still conscious you can re-warm them by placing heat packs under their arms and on both side of the neck. Forearm emersion in warm water is another effective re-warming method. Simply place both forearms under warm running water or wrap both forearms in warm damp towels. Caution, A person who has reached the advanced (semi conscious) stage should not be re-warmed too fast externally as this may drive the cold external blood into the core and cause cardiac fibrillation. Of course if immediate hospital treatment is not available you cannot wait to re-warm.
Frostbite
Is the actual freezing of external body tissue? Frostbite can result in loss of body tissues, amputations, gangrene and death. Fingers, toes and ears are the most often frost bitten, but prolonged exposure can result in the loose of larger (hands, feet, legs) body parts. Any part of the body that feels very cold can suffer frostbite if it is not protected and warmed promptly. The sensation of cold turns painful as circulation stops. As nerves freeze the sensation is lost and nothing is felt. The skin becomes gray or yellow-white and ridged to the touch. Do not rub the part or forcefully remove shoes or gloves. Once the victim is brought into a warm environment and the area begins to thaw it will become swollen, red and painful. If the color goes to black tissue loss is probable. Frozen body parts can be thawed by emersion in warm (not over 105 f) water or placing them in the armpits. Never expose a thawed body part to potential refreezing! A previously frozen tissue is much more susceptible to refreezing and the loss of that tissue is much more likely after a second freeze. Damaged tissues should be wrapped in soft, thick, sterile (if possible) bandages and kept warm. Seek medical attention as soon as possible
Wear thermal sox in cold weather and have a spare pare handy. Tight fitting gloves actually make the fingers more prone to frostbite. Wear insulated gloves and in severe cold wear mittens.

Winter Survival At Home

Fortunately survival threats like civil disorder and terrorist attacks are les frequent in cold weather, but power outages, fuel and food shortages are greater. When balancing the hunker-down vs. hit-the-road options, staying home as long as possible may be best. Even an unheated house is better than a tent. You may be able to ride-out the situation or at-least hang on until the weather improves before evacuating. You must be set up to get by without any utilities (e.g. gas, water, electric) and support (e.g. medical, fire, police, groceries) for several months. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to store enough fuel to run a generator and heat your whole house for several winter months. So you will have to adopt a camp at home configuration.
Camp at home simply means that you will reduce your needs by utilizing camping supplies in the home. You can take an interior room and seal it off with plastic sheeting. This will be your one room shelter for the duration. You may be able to have enough fuel for a small camp heater to help heat one room, even better, put up a tent in your living room and stay in there. A small tent will be easy to heat and will conserve body heat as well. The best way to stave off the effects of cold is to heat hot food and drink hot liquids. A good camp stove with lots of fuel cylinders is a must. Get good sleeping bags for everyone! An army surplus mountain rated bag is good to about 10-degrees above zero and costs about $40.00. In an unheated house, on a mattress with a few blankets it will be good at colder temperatures. For about $180.00 you can get the army surplus extreme cold/arctic bag rated to 40-degrees below zero. Of course commercial bags are available at higher prices with equivalent ratings.
The body burns a lot more calories in cold weather, so you need to have hearty foods stored away. Fortunately the food in your freezer can be kept frozen or at least refrigerated for some time if the power goes off. You will need to have a strong animal proof box to store this food outside in the shade. You can store food in an unheated garage or shed or in large metal ammunition boxes like the ones designed for 40mm rounds. If you have a wood stove or fireplace stock up on wood. Stoves are efficient to heat a room or two, but fireplaces without a running fan are not much help. You will need a good camp heater to keep your indoor tent or sealed (not air tight) room warm.
A Coleman â„¢ 3000 BTU heater will run 7-hours on one 16 oz propane cylinder. That's enough to heat a tent or small room for part of each day. You are going to have to spend about 12-hours a day in those sleeping bags to conserve your own heat and energy. The heaters will have to be turned off when you're in your bags. Even so, you will need to have 50-100 cylinders to heat and cook with through the worst of the winter. You will want to have crank powered flashlights and radios, but in the case of winter survival, candles and gas lanterns are sources of heat as well as light and should be used safely.
Keep your carbon monoxide detector and smoke detector working. Have fire extinguishers handy. Avoid leaving unattended candles, stoves and lanterns. Although the camp heaters and stoves are generally safe for indoor use they are hot and they burn oxygen, thereby creating a hazard you must be aware of. While the survival pack and the ability to survive on your own is an essential. If your home gets below freezing for any length of time the water pipes will freeze and burst, causing flooding. If you cannot keep them warm, let the water trickle from each faucet. If that fails, turn off the water and drain the pipes. The prepared home is a key element of independent, self-reliant survival capacity, abandoning the home is always a last resort. This is especially true under winter weather conditions.

Vehicular Retreating

If you must leave home and you can drive your vehicle to a safe destination that is what you should do. You should have your survival packs in tote bins ready to load in the vehicle. Other tote bins should have your additional sleeping bags, tents, stoves, heaters, fuel and food. The scenarios to follow assume that you will either not be able to drive out or will have to abandon your vehicle at some point. This is a possibility you must consider.
Short Distance Retreating
If you cannot stay in your home you will want to minimize the distance to a safe place. Your good weather destination may be too far to carry what you need for winter survival so you may need to have a short term site within a few hours hike to hole-up in until the weather improves. Abandon buildings, barns, sheds, stored boats or motor homes, etc may be considered. If you have a roomy vehicle and a place to hide it off the main roads that may be your optional shelter for a while. Things like tents, heaters, sleeping bags and food can be hauled a short distance to establish this temporary retreat.

Load Sharing

If you have a large family or group your chances of a survival in winter are greatly improved. By spreading the loads of extra shelter, fuel and food over more people you can all be warmer and better fed. Sharing body heat in shelter will also be a big help.

Sleds and Snow Shoes

If there is more than 4-6 inches of snow on the ground walking with a full pack will be difficult, but pulling a sled becomes a good option. If heavy snow is frequent in your area you may want to get into snowshoeing or cross-country skiing as a healthy sport. Its great exercise and gives you mobility others will not have. Pulling any kind of toboggan or sled will let you carry along what you really need for winter survival.

Caches

If safely stashing extra supplies of food, fuel, blankets and shelters along your rout are an option, do so. Unfortunately there are few safe places to stash anything today and locating your cache in winter may be challenging. Buried stashes may be hard to remove from snow covered and frozen ground. Depending on these life saving items being there when you arrive cold and hungry could be risky.

Using Natural Resources

One of your best options is learning back-to-basics survival skills. The pioneers and the early explorers did survive winter after winter without most of the survival supplies we now take for granted as necessities. They hunted, fished, trapped and foraged for food. They used hides and bark and branches to build shelters. They made fires and kept warm. They made beds from pine branches, grass and leaves. They were not comfortable and they were not well fed, but they did survive through winters. If you acquire some of these basic wilderness survival skills combined with your pack full of modern survival equipment you could survive through a winter without additional supplies. I must point out that the having a good knife, sharpening stone, hatchet, small shovel, fire starters (flints, magnesium, etc), fish hooks, line, and of course, a small caliber (22) pistol or rifle in your gear would be essential to using natural resources for food, shelter and warmth.

Conserving Body Heat and Energy

Always be prepared for what the weather could be for the time of year, not what it is. Those nice warm fall and spring days can turn into cold, wet windy days that can bring on hypothermia in a few hours. Even a summer night can be deadly for someone in shorts and T-shirt. The old theory that if you fall asleep in the cold you will never wakeup is a myth. Yes, if you exhaust yourself fighting a storm or you allow yourself to get wet (rain or sweat) and tired before you stop and fall asleep you may not wakeup. But if you stay dry and conserve your body heat and energy supply your chances of survival are actually improved.
Generally a sleeping person will wake up when the body gets too cold and move around just enough to generate a little heat. There are cases where survivors huddled together under a few tarps or dug into a haystack and for weeks and dozed on-and-off for weeks before emerging to be found. Always have a rain poncho available in your pocket, purse, locker, and glove compartment and of course a good one in your pack.
The greatest heat loss is through to top of the head. The body supplies the brain with warm blood and heat rises so the head seldom feels cold, but it is sucking heat from the rest of your body. The neck also radiates a lot of heat that can be conserved with a turned up collar and/or a scarf. A wool cap are ski mask is a must have item. Another big source of heat loss is respiration. You breathe in cold air that then sucks heat from inside the body which you blow away when you exhale. A simple facemask or the ski mask can help conserve some of this heat. So a pocket poncho (or large plastic bag) a dust mask and a wool cap alone could save your life if caught in bad weather. Keep a pair of thermal sox under your shirt when out in winter. If your feet get wet you have dry sox if your gloves are lost, you can use them as mittens.
Don't eat snow. Dehydration is a real danger in cold weather. The humidity is usually low and moisture is lost through respiration. Plan on drinking plenty of liquids, but not cold liquids they will lower your body's core temperature. Stop and heat water. Make tea or coffee if you have it. Warm sweetened liquids will add heat and energy. Avoid long exposure to wind that will take heat from you by convection. Avoid long-term contact with cold ground or objects such as rocks, metal, etc. that will pull away heat through conduction. Avoid sweating or becoming wet from snow and rain as this will ruin the insulation value of your clothing. . Stay dry! Avoid drinking alcohol that takes heat away as it evaporates through the skin. Do increase your food intake and drink hot beverages to fuel your bodies heating system.

Winter in Camp

Camping out for extended time in winter is a last resort. The requirements for adequate food, water, fuel and shelter are much higher than for mild weather. Most people will not be able to haul the necessary weight far from their vehicle (road). Large groups will be able to do better than small families or individuals under these conditions. Camp locations must be selected with care. Select a site that is sheltered from the wind and has adequate access to fuel (wood) and water. Cold air travels down, so avoid valleys and ravines, camp on the lee side of ridges. If you can build up a sleeping platform a few feet off the ground it will be 5 to 10 degrees warmer. Underground shelters and basements are miserable in cold weather.
Most camping tents are designed for mild weather. They are too well ventilated. This is great for hot weather, but not so good in cold weather. Look for expedition or mountain tents that are designed to withstand wind and have smaller closable vents, large rain flies, and strong tie downs. Select a tent that is just a little bigger than the number of people who will occupy it. If there are two of you, get a three-man tent, etc. Too large a tent will be impossible to keep warm. Too small a tent will bring you into contact with the cold walls and not let you do anything but sleep in it.
If you can have only one tent and it is a warm weather tent, consider making up a cover for the ventilated roof. Better yet, cover the roof under the rain fly with reflective Space Blankets to reflect the heat back into the tent. Years ago, I spent two very cold nights in an improvised dome shelter made from clear plastic tarps spread over bent saplings. It was quite warm at night and was a greenhouse of warmth when the sun came out. Clothing, blankets and sleeping bags become damp from outside moisture and sweat. This causes them to lose significant insulation value. They should be dried each day by hanging them out in the warm sun or letting them freeze and then beat out the ice crystals each day.

Conclusion

Winter survival is all about energy (food & fuel) management. You must be able to internally and externally create more calories of heat than you lose staying warm and doing work. You must create, gather heat, and save heat. Summer forgives errors, winter does not.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/winter-survival-3372940.html
About the Author
Nick Johnston is the owner of Survival Supplies4U.

Are YOU prepared to defy the United States government?

Today while driving to work I was listening to Chuck Colson on Breakpoint. He was talking about the Obama regime's Contraception mandate and how it affects all Christians not just Catholics.
You can read his commentary HERE. I like what Chuck has to say most of the time, and this time he is spot on.

The Obama regime is trying to force its will down the throat of religious organizations by claiming the first amendment only applies to churches. If you have been following Obamas attack on religion you are aware of the use of the term "freedom of worship" replacing " freedom of religion". Freedom of worship is a personal and private thing done out of the public sphere...Hitler was big on freedom of worship. Freedom of religion on the other hand is lived out in all aspects of your life including the public sphere.

This systematic attack seems very deliberate and could eventually lead to blood in the streets. (but then that is what many in the occupy movement want) Blood in the street just in time for the election. I have heard before every election since Clinton that the sitting president will declare martial law so they don't have to give up power. I have always thought this was a bunch of hooey. This time I can see it happening.

Why?

Because the Catholics won't back down from this...and we as Evangelicals should be right there with them.
Chuck mentioned in his article Yesterdays OP-ED by Michael Gerson in the Washington post....The poor pay the price for Obama's policies  This outstanding piece points out how much people depend on religious organizations.

If the Obama regime forces them out of business there will be a huge price to pay, both in dollars for the government trying to fill the gigantic gap left behind, and morally/socially for the lack of humanity inherently present when someone serves out of love instead of a paycheck.

Again why should we stand together...?

Read the Manhattan Declaration...The Key point... We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.

They also have a petition  to sign about the contraception mandate HERE19,206 people have signed when I posted this.

One more time WHY should we stand together...

Because those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it...
I will leave you with the words of Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

 

A good coat will keep you warm

Finding a good coat you can be happy with, is a good thing.

Helly Hansen makes top quality ski jackets that will keep you warm in all your outdoor activities.

I like the fact that they carry a lot of darker colors so you don't stand out in the woods so much.

Check this LINK for Outwood Sports in the UK.


Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy