Once upon a time, I was a Boy Scout. Yes, really.

I actually got as far as “Life” rank (the one just before Eagle) before my family moved and our new local troop was wholly slapdash by comparison. So, rather than do something poorly, I simply gave it up.

What’s become increasingly evident, however, is that I did not give up on the Scout Motto:
“Be Prepared.”

Now I don’t think I qualify as a “prepper.” I mean, I’m not digging bunkers or fallout shelters out back or anything. (Although if it comes to that, I’ll just annex Chuck’s pre-existing infrastructure.)
That said, I’m also self-aware enough to recognize that I’m beginning to lean a bit in that direction.

For example, when we left Texas the world was still in the grip of COVID-19.

That grocery store trip pictured above completely shook me. Whatever your sociopolitical beliefs are about the pandemic, it’s undeniable that the disruptions to the supply chain it caused were very real. This made me realize just how dependent I was on a bunch of corporate suits who are beholden only to profit margins, and who do not have the best interests of my family at heart.

Additionally, Texas had just gone through the “Snowmageddon” event which shut down power to most of the state for over a week, all while temperatures fell to sustained single-digits.

Those days of chaos were fresh on my mind when we moved up here to a significantly colder climate. As such, a woodstove was among the first “preparedness” home improvement projects we undertook for our old farmhouse.

I called the folks over at Kingdom Stove Works just down the road and had them install a Vermont Castings stove in our living room.

And they did a fantastic job in removing the shelves (the grey lines on the wall) and getting our stove installed for us.

So there’s our heat, at least for part of the house, with zero electricity required.

Water is obviously another imperative, once you’re not freezing to death. As I mentioned a while back, we have a newly replaced freezeproof spring pump about 100 yards from our front door.

It’s gravity-fed so, again, no electricity is required for it to absolutely gush water out of that tap. The spring is also located beneath land that we own (found by a dowser, apparently), so there’s no chemical treatments or reclamation or 3rd parties involved in getting it into our home. It’s just pure spring water, Straight Outta Compton Vermont. Zero charge.

So we’ve got heat and water. Food is next. And admittedly, this one’s more difficult.
I mean, we were doing great with our chickens back when they were fertile young things. Alas, we’re down to about one egg per day from these old girls…

And so, in the short term, we’ve started gathering and storing some of these guys…

And while it’s not a perfect answer, our current stockpile will at least get us through a few days.

We’ve also talked about options for canning and preserving.

So with shelter, heat, water, and food accounted for, next comes some lighting.

I think we have 5 or 6 of these oil-burning lamps stashed all around the house and, as you can see by the sooty build up along the glass, we do use them often when our power goes out. (Yes, they’re safe to burn indoors.)
Those two blue and white pods on the right are rechargeable camping lights.

We used one when we were at Maidstone last weekend and Daphne absolutely loved it. In fact, she loved it so much that we picked up two more of them on Sunday afternoon.

“Ah ha!” I hear you say, “but how do you recharge these lights once they run out of power?”

I’m glad you asked, random Internet troll! A few months ago we purchased a Bluetti power station to take care of just such eventualities, like charging phones, Daphne’s AAC device, and the like.

We did this because, without power, my daughter can no longer speak. So we have to ensure we keep her “talker” constantly charged up. And yes, before you ask, the Bluetti did come with a solar panel as well.

That panel will fully recharge the power station in about 6 hours on a sunny day. Which, admittedly, is a bit on the slow side. But that brings me to what we’re looking at for the future:

1. Food is definitely a thing that needs some attention. I mean, freeze-dried spaghetti & meatballs works in a pinch, but what we really need is a sustainable source of sustenance. As such, a second chicken coop along with 6 more chicks are in our plans for the farm.
   
2. We could really use another Bluetti power station like the one above. Having a second solar panel array, daisy chained to the first, will halve the recharge time. That way we can use one power station while charging the other. They’re not exactly inexpensive items, though, so this one will require some saving.
   
3. We need some additional measures of home protection, and that means more than just a .22 varmint rifle. A dog would be the next line of defense that we’re interested in acquiring, both for us and for our chickens. So we’ve decided a Great Dane puppy will be making his appearance at some point this summer, and we chose Danes because they have a low prey drive, i.e. it will be easier to convey a message of “chickens are friends, not food!” and because my great-grandmother used to keep Great Danes on her farm in Coventry, R.I. many many years ago. (“Murmac Danes.”)
   
4. Finally, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I think we need a handgun of some kind, along with training and practice. Fortunately there’s a gun shop up the road from us in East Haven…

which is where we’ll likely discuss our needs and see what sort of gun/safe setup will fit with our particular familial requirements. (A biometric safe would obviously be a day one purchase as well.)

These are the things I can think of at present. Quite a bit of our camping gear does double-duty as preparedness items: propane stove, 20-liter water container, first aid kit, etc.

So I’ll leave it to you, Internet, as to whether or not we’ve gone full “prepper” up here. Although honestly, if it helps keep my family safe?
You can call me whatever names you like.

j.s.