recharged automotive batteries then power the small electric blower on the wood stove to eat the family room which the stove is place in. This past winter, we turned the heat off in them morning, did errands and such, then came back in the later afternoon and fired up the stove, used the blower and the main room was toasty in no time. So in a crunch, we plan on using the main room as a common room and the bedrooms with big sleeping bags for sleeping. right now, I have about 6 cords of wood on hand, and have access to wooded areas to cut more if needed. There is a storage lot about 1 and ½ miles away from my house which contains, among
many other things, stacks and stacks of wooden pallets. I intend of procuring this supply of wood if it becomes necessary.
I have my wife and two kids to think about. My brother and his wife and kids, plus my wife’s brother and his wife would be coming to stay with us in any scenario where we feel unsafe. I have about 10 Wise survival food buckets. They come in 56 packet buckets for meals. Plus I have 60 lbs of rice right now and just over 100 pounds of pinto beans stored in mylar bags inside of buckets. I think I am okay. My brother and brother in law would be bringing down all the stored food they have as well."
UrbanMan's comments: Dan, The food you have stored would not last very long for 10 people. Think about what would be necessary to feed ten people each day, then see how many days your food would last. I am not trying to diminish you efforts as you are much further along than most Americans. I have written about the categories of food I have stored from canned and dried pantry goods for immediate food, to military MRE's and commercial dehydrated foods, to bulk foods like rice/beans/pasta as well as sealed units of sugar, salt, peanut butter, nuts, honey, bullion and spices, all of which are things you can procure on a small or larger basis to further you ability to survive a food crisis. Any collapse, not matter what the cause, will interdict our food supply and lead to massive riots and chaos. I would also continue stocking more foods along he line you already have, and hope you have a year round water source.
Also consider stocking non-hybrid seeds. I have a pretty big supply of non-hybrid seeds. I plant a decent sized garden each year using store bought hybrid seeds. I will also buy additional hybrid seeds of whatever brand and type seems to do well. These are for an immediate needs and also for barter......plus they tend to be much cheaper.
I think wood stoves are probably necessary for all survival locations as they can be used for cooking and for heating. Depending upon your location you will need to take steps to migrate the threats of using a wood stove. The wood smoke smell and the visible smoke trail could attract unwanted people to your location.
Good for you for having the situational awareness to determine other local sources of needed items such as the wood pallets nearby. Your ingenuity on the solar power solution to your blower is a good idea. I do not have blowers on my wood stoves but will not consider it because of your idea.
You do not mention means of protection such as firearms. It's going to be hard enough for 10 people to accomplish all the daily survival tasks without a robust means of protection.
Lastly, I hope you in a location outside of potential or probably refugees or rioting and are considering building a bigger team. Not necessarily to absorb into your survival household, but to make your community safer....and some type of communications capability can make a different in identifying and reporting threats and garnering support within your local community be it a suburban street, gated community or small town.
be safe and prepare well
