BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Browse by type · 82

Guides

Longer preparedness reads that tie the entries together: gear, systems, and what I have learned doing it.

The guides are the longer reads: how a system fits together, what I chose and why, what failed, and what I would do differently. Water, food storage, backup power, medical, communication, security, and the homestead, written from doing it rather than reading about it.

Start with the full guide

GuideThe Food Shopping ListWhat to store, how much per person per month, how long it keeps, and why. Free one-page printable PDF.Open the full page Start hereStart HereThe order to build preparedness in, one step at a time, with the page to open for each step.Open the full page Master guideWhat to Stock: The Long Shelf Life Master ListOne list of what to stock, sorted by need, with the real shelf life of each item, how to store it, and the products I buy.Open the full page

All 82 guides, A to Z

Need
Event
More

Medical · Guide 3 Medical Books for Homesteaders and Preppers Auerbach for acute emergencies, Werner for diagnosis, Alton for long-term care Kits and Planning · Guide After a Flood: The Supplies That Matter, in the Order They Matter Water first, then dry and warm, then power and cleanup; floodwater is never a water source Garden and Livestock · Guide American Wild Plum Tree (Colorado Wild Plums) Fruit flesh and skin are safe; pits, leaves, and stems release hydrogen cyanide when chewed or crushed Security · Guide Ammunition Storage: Cool, Dry, Sealed, and Good for Fifty Years Sealed can, desiccant pack, cool and dry, off the floor: 50 years or more Communications · Guide Backup Internet with Starlink Mini and Portable Power Starlink Standby Mode: $10 a month, unlimited low-speed data around 0.5 Mbps Medical · Guide Baking Soda for the Body: Stomach Acid, Teeth, Odor, Itch, and the Things It Does Not Do 1/4 teaspoon in 8 ounces of water for stomach acid, short term only; it neutralizes the stomach, not the body Kits and Planning · Guide Barter Items Worth Stocking: What People Actually Trade for When Money Stops Working Small, cheap, consumable and hard to make at home is what trades: lighters, batteries, coffee, tobacco, soap, salt and seeds beat gold every time Food · Guide Beef Tallow and Cayenne Pepper: Uses and Storage Tallow keeps 1 to 2 years at room temp, 2 to 3 years frozen, vacuum-sealed or in airtight glass Power and Light · Guide Blackout Guide: First 45 Minutes, First 3 Days, and Beyond Fill every container with water first; a bathtub holds 40 to 80 gallons Compounds and Cleaning · Guide Bob's Red Mill vs Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Both are one ingredient, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3); neither adds aluminum Kits and Planning · Guide Camping Essentials: The Top 10, the Full Campsite List and the Backpacking Cut The top three are water and a way to purify it, the right clothing, and the right food; everything else on the list is comfort Kits and Planning · Guide Car Survival Kit: Two Bags That Cover a Dead Battery, a Flat, a Ditch and a Night in the Cold Two bags: a large one under the back seat for recovery, repair and warmth, a small one in the glove box for the tools you reach for first Security · Guide Chemical Weapon Types and Their Effects Six families: nerve, blister, blood, choking, incapacitating, riot control. The first response is the same for all: get away, get it off, get clean Water · Guide Clean Water: Which Method Makes Which Water Safe Filter for what you can see, disinfect for what you cannot, and boil when you are not sure; no single method handles everything Garden and Livestock · Guide Colorado High-Elevation Vegetable Gardening Front Range last frost: first half of May. Foothills and mountains: late May into June Cooking, Fuel and Fire · Guide Cooking, Fuel and Fire When the Power or Gas Is Off Cook outside, eat the fridge first, and store fuel deep, because the two common mistakes are owning a stove with no fuel and running combustion indoors. Garden and Livestock · Guide DIY Garden Fence Gate (Wood and Welded Wire) Lower end of the diagonal cross brace goes on the hinge side of the gate Garden and Livestock · Guide DIY Garden Fence to Keep Deer and Rabbits Out Drop dry concrete in the post hole, spray with water, mix with a digging bar Power and Light · Guide EMP: What Actually Happens to the Grid, Your Truck, and Your Phone, and What Is Worth Doing About It A high-altitude nuclear EMP can cover a continent; a solar storm hits the grid, not your phone; both mean a long blackout, and the plan is the same Security · Guide Everyday Carry Tactical Sling: My Setup and What Is Inside My daily sling is an Eberlestock Fade Flex carrying a Springfield Hellcat 9mm, two spare magazines, a Toor Mullet T, an Olight Warrior 3S, and ASP pepper spray. Power and Light · Guide Faraday Bag for Emergency Electronics: The Sling Bag and the Full Case Two builds: a shielded sling bag for a phone, radio and power bank, or a hard case with every device in its own Faraday bag or jacket Kits and Planning · Guide FEMA 2024 National Household Survey Findings 83 percent took at least three preparedness actions, up from 57 percent in 2023 Cooking, Fuel and Fire · Guide Fire Without Matches: Ferro Rod, Flint and Steel, Lens, Battery, Bow Drill, and Chemistry A ferro rod and a cotton ball with petroleum jelly light a fire in the rain; everything else is backup, and all of it needs tinder Communications · Guide GMRS vs FRS: Same Channels, Different Power, and Which Radio to Buy Same 22 channels. FRS: 2 watts, no license, 1 to 2 miles. GMRS: up to 50 watts, $35 family license, repeaters, 5 to 25 miles Food · Guide Harvest Right Freeze Dryer: Sizes, Prices, and My Experience I bought my Harvest Right in 2016 and it has been worth every penny: home freeze-dried food keeps 25 years or more, and prices change often, so check the current list. Tools and Repair · Guide Hatchet vs Axe: Which One for the Job, the Sizes That Matter, and the Ones I Own Hatchet: one hand, 10 to 16 inches, small wood. Axe: two hands, 24 to 36 inches, felling and splitting Garden and Livestock · Guide Highland Cow Horns (Purpose, Growth and Differences by Sex) Mature horn spread reaches 3-4 feet tip-to-tip; growth is fastest in the first 3 years Power and Light · Guide Home Backup Power System: 15 kWh of Battery, a 12 kW Hybrid Inverter, and the Transfer Switch I Did Not Need A hybrid inverter is the transfer switch: the service feeds its GRID port, the whole panel hangs on its LOAD port, and it islands the house in 20 ms. A manual transfer switch in front of it only narrows the pipe Security · Guide Home Security and Defense: Deter, Detect, Delay, Deny Security is bought time: distance, barriers, and awareness come first, and force is the last layer you reach for. Communications · Guide How to Communicate with No Cell Service or Internet: GMRS Radios, the Plan, and What They Really Reach Two GMRS handhelds talk to each other with nothing else: 1 to 5 miles in open country, under a mile in town, farther through a repeater Water · Guide How to Filter Water at Home with a Gravity Filter (the Boroux Legacy) A primed pair of Foundation filters moves about a gallon an hour, serves four people on one fill a day, and lasts 12 months; disinfect surface water first, because the filter is not made to remove germs. Medical · Guide How to Keep Prescription Medications on Hand for an Emergency A physician-reviewed kit ordered online covers over 50 infections and conditions with ten medications; stored cool, dry, and dark, solid medications keep potency for years past the printed date. Water · Guide How Water Goes Bad: What Is Actually in It, Source by Source, and What Fixes Each One Boiling kills germs and removes nothing else; match the treatment to what the source puts in the water Hygiene and Sanitation · Guide Hygiene and Sanitation When the Water Is Off When the water stops, human waste and unwashed hands become the fastest health threats on the property, so a working toilet plan with soap beside it comes before anything else. Tools and Repair · Guide Knots: Which Knot to Tie for the Job, and How to Tie It Bowline for a loop, two half hitches for a post under load, clove hitch for a pole you will adjust, sheet bend to join two ropes. Leave a tail and back up anything that sits slack. FOUR KNOTSDRAWN STEPS Medical · Guide Medical Preparedness: First Aid Kits, Supplies, and 15 Emergencies Stop the bleed first: a major bleed can kill in under 5 minutes, so a tourniquet, hemostatic gauze, and the training to use them come before everything else in the kit. Medical · Guide Mullein for Lung Support: Harvest, Dry and Store Tea: about a teaspoon dried leaf, steep 10 to 15 minutes, strain through a coffee filter Food · Guide Mylar Bags: Which Foods Gain the Most Shelf Life (Ranked) Best for dry, low fat foods at 10 percent moisture or lower; 300 to 500 cc per gallon Medical · Guide Natural Remedies vs Antibiotics for Skin Infections: What Honey Handles, What MRSA Needs Natural remedies for minor, shallow, improving wounds only; red streaks, spreading, heat or fever means antibiotics, now Communications · Guide Off-Grid Communication Options (No Cell Service Required) Starlink Mini on Standby Mode: $10 a month for about 500 Kbps, unlimited data Power and Light · Guide Off-Grid Portable Solar Power Field Guide: How to Size, What to Pick and Why (Full Overview) Hours = watt-hours × 0.85 ÷ load watts. One 400 to 480 W panel refills a 1 kWh station in about 3.5 hours of sun; match panel count to the station's solar cap Kits and Planning · Guide Off-Grid Property: What to Check Before You Buy the Land Water you can legally use, sun for the panels, a road you can drive in February, and zoning that lets you live there: check those four before anything else Kits and Planning · Guide Overnight Readiness Pack Loadout (Breakwater Fogland 25L) Fogland 25L: IP68 submersible, 2.1 lbs empty, floats with over 40 lbs of gear Medical · Guide Parasite Kit (Ivermectin and Mebendazole) for Home Medical Supplies Jase kit: compounded ivermectin and mebendazole; label expiry 1-2 years Medical · Guide Parasite Treatment Options (Rx Kit, Herbal Cleanse, Bentonite Clay) Jase kit contains Ivermectin and Mebendazole; clay binds toxins, does not kill parasites Security · Guide Personal Resilience: Money, Records, Privacy, and Security That Do Not Depend on Anyone Else Cash at home, records in your hands, a phone that does not track you, and the words for a stop: prepared in advance, not on the day Food · Guide Pickled Eggs: The Half Gallon Jar Recipe, and the One Rule That Keeps Them Safe 1 1/2 cups white vinegar to 1/2 cup water; fridge only, 3 to 4 months; never on the counter Power and Light · Guide Power Outage Gear: What You Need for the First Hour, the First Night and the First Week The fridge holds for 4 hours closed and a full freezer for 48; everything else in an outage comes down to light, water, heat and a way to hear the news Garden and Livestock · Guide Prefab Metal Barn Kit: Build Experience and Costs 20x30 steel barn installed cost $15,828; prep plus shell total $23,796 (2020) Kits and Planning · Guide Preparing Your Home: The Seven Systems That Keep a House Running Without the Grid A house that can run three days with no grid, no tap and no phone covers nearly every emergency most families will ever see; build toward two weeks from there Cooking, Fuel and Fire · Guide Propane for Self-Sufficiency: How Much to Keep, Where It Can Sit, and What It Runs Propane does not expire; 91,500 BTU a gallon, tanks fill to 80 percent, cylinders live outdoors and upright Medical · Guide Shelf Life of Medications Past the Expiration Date In the military's Shelf Life Extension Program, 88% of 122 drugs stored under ideal conditions had their expiration dates extended, by an average of 66 months Power and Light · Guide Solar and Backup Power: Every Guide on This Site, and Where to Start Buy the portable power station and panel first in every case: useful on day one, still useful after the wired system or the generator exists Power and Light · Guide Solar Power Basics: The Equation, the Four Parts, and How to Size a System That Runs Your House Volts × amps = watts; watts × hours = watt-hours. Daily Wh ÷ sun hours ÷ 0.75 = panel watts; daily Wh × bad days ÷ 0.9 = LiFePO4 battery Wh Food · Guide Spoilage Cheat Sheet A one-page recap. When something looks off, run these in order and trust the result. Food · Guide Spotting Spoilage Most spoiled food fails one of a few sensory checks. Learn these signs once and you can judge almost any item, no expiration date required. When a food shows any red flag below, do not taste it to confirm. Communications · Guide Starlink Mini and Star-Batt: Off-Grid Internet That Travels Starlink Mini plus a Star-Batt battery gives you internet anywhere with a clear view of the sky, with no grid power. Code BUCKHORN takes $100 off the Star-Batt. Warmth and Shelter · Guide Staying Warm and Sheltered When the Heat Goes Out Heat one room, not the house: close off a small, well-insulated room, put everyone in it, and add heat only from a heater labeled for indoors, run with the ventilation its label calls for and a battery CO alarm next to it. Warmth and Shelter · Guide Staying Warm with Limited Gear (Mild or Warm Climates) Manage heat loss first: block wind and insulate underneath you before adding layers Garden and Livestock · Guide Straw vs Hay: What Each One Is, What a Bale Weighs, and What to Do with It Hay is feed (dried grass and legumes); straw is the hollow stem left after grain harvest, for bedding and mulch, not food Kits and Planning · Guide Survival Bucket for Under $300 from Walmart Everything fits in one 5 gallon bucket and costs under $300 at Walmart Kits and Planning · Guide Sweden's "In Case of Crisis or War" Pamphlet: Key Lessons Sweden's target: self-sufficient for at least a week, three liters of water per person per day. I store 1 gallon per person per day for at least two weeks Kits and Planning · Guide The Backup Laptop: What Goes on It, How It Is Stored, and the Faraday Case It Lives In Wiped laptop, every document and map loaded, powered off at 50 to 80 percent charge, sealed in a Faraday bag, booted twice a year Kits and Planning · Guide The Bug-Out Bag: 72 Hours on Your Back, Packed by the Problem It Solves One packed bag per person, 72 hours of supplies, by the door; the bag is packed for weight on your back, the grab-and-go box for reach at the truck Cooking, Fuel and Fire · Guide The Camp Kitchen in a Case: Everything to Cook Anywhere, Packed so It Loads in One Trip One case holds everything but the cooler, the dutch oven and the table; it cooks at camp and it cooks at home when the power is out Kits and Planning · Guide The Drive by the Door: Photograph Everything You Own and Keep the Papers Where a Fire Cannot Reach Them Three copies: the computer, a portable SSD in a Faraday jacket and fireproof bag, and a second drive at a relative's house Tools and Repair · Guide The Fix-All Kit: Tapes, Fasteners and the Small Parts That Solve Most Problems Three groups in one box: tapes, fasteners, and plumbing and electrical bits; no nails, screws or glue, those have their own drawer Kits and Planning · Guide The Grab-and-Go Kit: One Box That Covers Water, Fire, Bleeding, Navigation and Contact One sealed box, packed by problem: water, fire, cooking, navigation, bleeding, contact, repairs; tools live in a separate kit Kits and Planning · Guide The Pill Bottle Survival Kit: 16 Things in a Bottle That Fits Any Pocket The kit you always have beats the kit you left in the truck: 16 items, one bottle, a few ounces Food · Guide The Preparedness Food Shopping List: What to Buy, How Much, and How Long It Keeps About 48 pounds of dry goods, 45 cans, a quart of oil, and 30 gallons of water covers one person for one month at 2,000 calories a day; multiply by people and months. FREE PDFPER PERSON-MONTH Kits and Planning · Guide The Print Shelf: 21 Books to Own for When the Internet Is Not There A printed book needs no battery, signal or power; buy the medical, the preserving and the reference books first Security · Guide The Two-Rifle Starter Setup: A .308 for Big Game, a .22 for Small Game, and the Case Two rifles cover nearly every hunting job in North America: a .308 Win for medium and large game, a .22 LR for small game and pests Medical · Guide Vacuum-Sealing Medications for Long-Term Storage Seal in original containers, store cool and dark, inspect every 6-12 months Water · Guide Water: Storage and Purification Store one gallon per person per day, half for drinking and half for hygiene, and aim for at least a two-week supply at home. When stored water runs low, know how to make more safe to drink. Communications · Guide weBoost Cabin Signal Booster: My Before and After Numbers The weBoost Cabin took my signal from -123 dBm, a dead zone, to -86 dBm, a 37 dB gain that turned dropped calls into reliable service. Communications · Guide weBoost Drive Reach Overland: The Cell Booster on My Truck From one bar and a failed speed test to strong data, stable calls, and working GPS three minutes after I powered on the weBoost Drive Reach Overland. Kits and Planning · Guide What to Stock: The Long Shelf Life Master List Most of the best things to stock are cheap, dry, and keep for a decade or longer: salt, honey, white rice, wheat berries, vinegar, baking soda, and pool shock. Food · Guide When the Power Goes Out Cold food is safe only while it stays cold. Keep the doors shut, know your timelines, and eat down the fridge before you open the freezer. Kits and Planning · Guide Why Bugging Out Early Is a Mistake Prepare to leave, but plan to stay Kits and Planning · Guide Wilderness Survival: The First Hour, the Order of Work, and the Skills That Get You Found Rule of threes: 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. Shelter first, food last Medical · Guide Winter Supplements: Vitamin D3 and K2, Vitamin C, Zinc and Magnesium, and When to Take Each D3 and K2 with the biggest meal; zinc on an empty stomach; split vitamin C and magnesium; stay under the upper limits Warmth and Shelter · Guide Wood Stove Installation Through a Ceiling and Roof (DIY) Took less than 10 hours at a total cost of $2,682, using 6" DuraVent pipe