Beginning a Journey of Preparedness

As a child, my dad drove me crazy with his preparations. He was always wanting to stockpile food, ammo, and other goods for some reason. He drove my mom crazy in the 90s with fear of Y2K, nagging her to can food and store supplies in our tiny apartment. While I would still say my dad has some rather eccentric views, and far-fetched theories, I agree with him on the necessity of disaster preparedness.

So what turned me from hating prepping to enjoying it? Getting my chickens. Well, and the Walking Dead, but let's not focus to much on that one! Anyway, I let one of my hens hatch and raise chicks for me this past summer, and it made me realize something. Simply owning these chickens made me much less dependent on outside sources for food. The chickens give me a steady supply of eggs - many of the spring chicks laying decently through winter. Most of the roosters can be butchered, and some of the hens if necessary, providing plenty of protein for me and my family! While people can't live off of nothing but chicken and eggs, they alone could probably keep me alive for a few months if some horrible government-collapsing event took place. In fact, during the avian flu outbreak last spring, I was practically swimming in eggs while other people I knew were paying $5 a dozen for normal, white, non-organic eggs from battery hens.

Prepping is no longer considered odd like it was before. With post-apocalyptic themed entertainment being a favorite by many and the CDC releasing Zombie Preparedness 101 - a campaign to get people to prepare for disasters - it's no wonder this useful hobby has become so popular.

I feel like this blog is an excellent place to document my progress as I learn and practice survivalism. I want to be prepared both goods wise and skill wise.

My goals current skills, and my goals

I've decided to make a list of my current skills/preps and my goals for the future

Current skills/preps

•  own chickens and ducks
•  have multiple sources of water on and near my property
•  can build a fire, but only with matches or a lighter
•  plenty of canned food in pantry
•  can grow organic vegetables
•  live in an area with a lot of edible wild plants and mushrooms
•  can shoot a bow, although a little rust
•  can use firearms safely
•  can hunt, dress, and process wild game
•  already live in the country
•  tons of experience camping

Skills to learn/Preps to get

• learn how to can food myself
• learn to start a fire with a) flint and b) a bow drill 
• expand to get more chickens, as well as geese and goats (build a barn and bigger chicken coop)
• learn to make and grow wider variety of food items such as yeast, cheeses and mushrooms
• store more water
• begin stockpiling dried rice, beans, and canned goods
• learn to grow and ground grain into flour
• get a bigger first aid kit
• learn CPR and detailed first aid
• build a place to store grain for feeding animals in the winter
• successfully tan a hide
• switch from disposable products to reusable versions
• start using solar power (solar powered charging stations, water pumps, fans, etc.)
• get in better shape, increase stamina and strength
• store some MREs
• make improvements on the house (better insulation, fix broken stuff)

That's where I'm starting. Of course, there is much more to do, but I'm going to be taking baby steps here. I will document all of my progress here, so follow me! If you're an experienced prepper, give advice, or if you're new like me, learn with me!