# A different approach to prepping



## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I like to call it "Resiliency".

For those who live in the city as some pointed out real "prepping" with sustainable food and water etc is a big challenge maybe even downright impossible.

So I am taking this approach:

1) Obviate the need for contacts and glasses. This week I got my second eye operated on and can now see very well on right eye (20/15 on right eye!) and ok on the left (20/30 in broad daylight and 20/50 indoors or at night, but left was previously 20/700). 
No more depositing extra contacts and cases and solutions in my BOB, and both my cars. 
I believe good vision w/o a crutch both in general and even rigth after waking up is the single greatest improvement of my survival chances. I guess now I can throw away my 3 year stash of lenses and solutions.

2) get back in shape ( I lost my good shape during last holidays followed by a looong flu) and stay in shape.

3) getting the teeth 100%. Intend to get my teeth to as near perfection as possible. when individual teeth are "iffy" I might respond with a pull and implant replace rather than just a large filling which can fall out SHTF and be dangerous to my very life.

4) Some amount of normal preps, as much as i can realistically store (2-3 mos food/water in apt)

5) Guns, Ammo, and Silver could possibly be my entry card into a functioning community during TEOTWAWKI. High value density all around. And I can equip _and_ train a small Army.

6) Personal skills: going for EMT cert this spring (am also competent shooter and maintainer of firearms)

This is the best I can do in an urban setting where i make my living.

Thoughts?


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

Sounds good. Im with you but I think Im a little less urban then you so I can have a bit of a garden and Im getting chickens next spring. Just have a 72 hour bag makes you better off then 90% of the people in this country so Im thinking you got to be in the top 2-5%. Sure that's still ten of thousands of people but your ahead of tens of millions. Good Job and keep it up. Based on some of the things you say on your other site I have no doubt about your firearm skills. A lot of people own guns but few know much about them. Im past the beginner stage but still in the novice stage, you know the scary time when you think you know something but really don't.


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## MDsapper (Mar 12, 2013)

the best thing you can do is practice, only take a small amount of ammo with you to the range and make sure that every round hits its target and you will be a pro shooter in no time


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Here are some of the things we did while living in an apartment...

We grew some of our own food in fabric grow bags to cut down on money spent and to free up space for more long term food storage. We didn't have a large yard or space to grow but we were able to grow 30 strawberry plants in hanging baskets, 5+ lbs of carrots in a planter, tomatoes in the upside down planters etc. There are even hybrid corn varieties that grow in containers on balconies.

Use every inch of space you can spare for storage. We stored water jugs under and behind the toilets in the apartment. There isn't much you can do with that space otherwise. My DH built shelves any where we had 12+ inches of dead space.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> This is the best I can do in an urban setting where i make my living.


I commend you and think you are definitely on the right track. Do you have a bug out plan and/or bug out location? City prepping is a good thing, but you may still need to get out of dodge in a hurry. If I lived in a larger city I would only keep 3-4 weeks of preps on hand but would have caches of preps along redundant bug out routes. Filling an apartment you will likely vacate in the event of a catastrophic event may or may not be a waste of money (depends on the event and your point of view). If you do leave in a hurry most of your preps will likely be left behind. Of course that is where the bug out vehicle / trailer comes into play.

Even though I intend to bug in I still have a bug out location. I also have a 8'x10' storage garage (rental) approx. 50% of the way between home and my BOL. It is approx. 50% empty with the vital contents secured in a locked container that is concealed behind and beneath some junky household surplus. The unit is secured with a high security padlock using a combination versus a key and it is located outside of a small town on a road that is not very heavily used. It could be used as a BOL on its own if need be.


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## Aliaysonfire (Dec 18, 2012)

I have been wondering about what to do about having stored caches. My solution is to purchase cheap, foreclosed lots of land, and bury. sounds easy but it's hard to find one thats far enough out to be useful. I have one lot now. Cost me 500$...taxes are a whoppin 6$ a year. I plan on purchasing several more in different directions. 
I'd really like to build a pallet house on each of them just because. Worried though that it might make itself a target for whatever. (I'd still bury my caches- away from the home.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

You could have just gotten glasses instead. Glasses are a lot cheaper than lasik surgery. Any chance you could move out an apartment and get a house somewhere? Even if it's a longer drive to work?

You can't beat having a house with a basement. You'd even be better off if you had a townhouse apartment that has a basement. If you have a basement you could store a year's worth of food and water.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

BillS said:


> You could have just gotten glasses instead. Glasses are a lot cheaper than lasik surgery. Any chance you could move out an apartment and get a house somewhere? Even if it's a longer drive to work?
> 
> You can't beat having a house with a basement. You'd even be better off if you had a townhouse apartment that has a basement. If you have a basement you could store a year's worth of food and water.


very true but being in the military I don't stay in one place longer than 3 yrs anyway

Glasses BTW d not give the nearly the visual acutity that contact lenses do.

Good vison is a crucial and necessary survival pre-donation in the majority of SHTF scenarios you can have.

I had very prescription and at that prescription my glasses made things appear a bit smaller than they where and also sitting relatively far form my eyeballs created a bit of tunnel vision.
As well as lack of peripheral vision.

Contact worked a lot better form a performance standpoint BUT during lack of sleep situations they might dry out and because less clear and also create a highly distracting degree of discomfort.

My cornea is not thick enough to allow for LASIK at my prescription so the much more expensive ICL was selected however I may still get my left eye PRKed for agstigmatism (ICL does not address agsitgmatism).

Even so the results are outstanding IMO coming from right eye maybe 20/500 and left eye 20/700 uncorrected and now at 20/15 on right and 20/40 on left.
yes my vison IS better than 20/20 on my shooting eye now


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## BobGrover (Oct 9, 2012)

Add a 3-month supply of food in your pantry or under the bed. Not as much space needed as you may think. This will get you through 95% of adverse situations and is more than probably 99% of the sheeple have on hand.


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## fishparts2003 (Jan 21, 2013)

I see many posts related to survival stock piling and also BOLs suitable to hole up for extended time. These are practical resources, and I also commend your efforts to be physically ready for the challenges that may be ahead. One thing I do not see enough of is what to do in the hole, things to keep your mind occupied and productive are going to be key to morale in any location you are. For some, a deck of cards is worth packing assuming you have someone to play with, for others it may be different. It could be productive, a craft or art form etc. I realize these are not practical for a BOB, but in a bunker or other more permanent location something more than food and bullets may be in order. A craft may also generate a barter commodity, leatherwork, sewing, braids and weaves of paracord. The concept of a whole bunch of people holed up in solitude with a lot of ammo and nothing to do doesn't sound like it has a positive outcome.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Fish, I have 2400 foreign language Science Fiction books to keep me busy


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## fishparts2003 (Jan 21, 2013)

BlueZ said:


> Fish, I have 2400 foreign language Science Fiction books to keep me busy


Good, if you intend to bug in that should work well for you. If you have to resort to a BOL,I recommend you move some there ahead of time before trying figure out how to transport 2400 books after shtf.


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## Aliaysonfire (Dec 18, 2012)

My favorite thing in my bob is a waterproof deck of cards. I also have a 2 yr old. He will have a few toys in any event. If and when we ever have a real bug out location, I will invest in stock piling old encyclopedias and other literary/scholarly items. We still have a duty to educate ourselves as best we can. 
I have ideas of what I want at a bol- it'd be like a ren fest of old world crafts if I had no limits!  and a lab. I love biology.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Sounds like you are on a good track. In my apartment the gutter drain from the roof goes right next to my porch. I went to home depot and got everything I needed to divert water flow to a water barrel. Hopefully it works if needed. Also maybe pick up a couple extra fire extinguishers. I am afraid of fire in a bad situatiin. A couple outside cache's like mentioned isnt a bad idea. I have a few months of food and ability to cook it in my small place. Good call on the ammo. Urban areas=larger ammo requirement.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

I like your idea with the rain collection


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## Jimthewagontraveler (Feb 8, 2012)

Most any person I know around here would be very happy 
to receive $50 a month to have a 8x8 storage building 
somewhere on their property so you can conveniently
store "fishing equipment" on your way out to the lake.


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Ok Small update:

My teeth are now at 100%.
not a single cavity not even a small one.

Doing warm ACT fluoride rinses everyday, with my recent tooth cleaning ( it was long overdue) I have now lowered the chance of cavities developing under the calculus and have also made those areas accessible to the fluoride treatment.

My left eye will probably get some PRK added in on top of the ICL.
But it will only be "light" PRK just to address the astigmatism the ICL cant handle.

My right eye is still slightly better than 20/20 by my recent eye exam has shown it has the potential to see even better since the 20/20 to 20/15 is accomplished while still having .75 cylinder of astigmatism there as well.
but generally that is considered too little to justify PRK surgey after ICL.

Still it might mean the chance of seeing consistently 20/10 which would be great for my shooting.
but the Army considers my 20/20 to be a perfect outcome on my right eye and will not commit additional surgey on the right.


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