May 142013
 

Common Sense Preparedness Link Up #2 @ Common Sense Homesteading

Life goes on, and preparing should, too.  We had a serious shake up last week when my husband was involved in a car crash during rush hour traffic.  Thankfully he was only banged up, but my heart just about leaped out of my chest when he called and I couldn’t tell if he was okay or not.  Our auto insurance will make a dent in replacement costs for the car, and we had been saving up because we knew his vehicle would need replacing.  We just didn’t figure it would be quite so soon.  Just so thankful that he is okay.

Meanwhile, on the home front, the boys and I have started putting the cold tolerant crops in the garden.  (We had temps in the upper 20s last night.  Brrrr….)  The bulk natural food club order is coming in this week from UNFI, and I tidied up the canning pantry to see how many canned goods are left from last season.  It looks like we should have made more salsa, because we are running low.

Grandpa and grandma

Grandma and Grandpa Were Preppers Continue reading »

May 132013
 

PurifiCup Water Filter Review @ Common Sense Homesteading

As part of our ongoing preparedness discussion, this week we’ve got a review and giveaway featuring the PurifiCup® water filter.

What is the PurifiCup® Water Filter?

The PurifiCup water filter is a compact, easy to use water filter for personal use.

Each orange tap water filter provides up to 24 gallons (330 cups, approximately 91 liters) of pure water. The green and purple filters, designed for natural water sources, filter approximately 12 gallons.  The PurifiCup’s absolute 1 micron filter  (recommended by the CDC) will more consistently remove bacteria such as cryptosporidium (Crypto) than a nominal filter. Continue reading »

Apr 302013
 

Common Sense Preparedness Link Up #1 @ Common Sense Homesteading

My husband and I are working on a book titled Common Sense Preparedness.  There’s been quite a bit of attention given to extreme prepping (like the folks in the Doomsday Preppers show), but much less publicity given to everyday emergencies that are much more likely (see Odds of Everyday Emergencies) such as illness, injury and exposure to toxic substances.  This book is intended as a preparation guide for people busy living their lives.  I’ll be sharing excerpts from the book as we work on it, and to encourage you to start thinking about preparedness, I’m also going to be hosting a weekly preparedness link up.

Being Prepared is Insurance Continue reading »

Feb 052013
 

Odds of Everyday Emergencies @ Common Sense Homesteading

What are you preparing for?  There’s been a lot of hype lately about the zombie apocalypses and Doomsday Preppers, but most of us just want to be able to take care of ourselves and our families during “everyday emergencies”.

We’ve made up a list of events that many of us will encounter at some point in our lives. Many of these estimates come from the National Safety Council website.  Others are from additional sites around the web.  Numbers are for estimation purposes only, just to give you a feel for what’s real and what’s hype.

What Are You Preparing For? Odds of Everyday Emergencies Continue reading »

Nov 272012
 

ParaVival Bracelet Review @ Common Sense Homesteading

The ParaVival Bracelet is a compact survival bracelet made with  either Commercial 550 or MIL-C-5040 Type III 550 paracord.  ParaVival offers 6 basic bracelet designs:

  • 1 Color Cobra Bracelet (shown)
  • 1 Color Cobra Bracelet MIL-C-5040 Type III
  • 1 Color Fishtail Bracelet
  • Custom 2 Color Cobra Survival Bracelet
  • Custom 3 Color Cobra Survival Bracelet
  • Quick Release Gator Bracelet

These bracelets provide between 8-16 feet of paracord when unraveled “as is”.  To demonstrate, here’s my youngest holding 10 feet of paracord – roughly one Baby Cobra bracelet. Continue reading »