Emergency Water

In a disaster situation one of the most important and necessary items to have is clean drinking water. It is always better to plan ahead than trying to figure something out when you are under a lot of stress.

Gravity Water Filters

There are several gravity water filters you can choose from. I have a Berkey gravity fed water filter that can produce about 30 gallons per day. A set of filters will provide about 2,000 gallons of clean water which is great for a long term water solution. Here is just one of the sites where they can be            purchased   -  http://www.getberkey.com/berkey-water-filter-systems/

Personal Water Filters 

You can also purchase personal  water filters at Prepper Conferences, Gun Shows and camping supply stores. These are great for emergencies, hiking or if you enjoy primitive camping.

I’m Dying of Thirst Water

I would only use this method in an extreme emergency. If you can find a river, stream or pond (flowing water is better), find an area where the bank is somewhat sandy. Dig a hole about 2 – 3 feet from the water’s edge and it will fill up with water filtered by the sand.  This filtered water     will keep you alive and hydrated. Do not drink directly from the river, stream or pond as you will       suffer greatly.

Purify Water (Boil)

Collect water from some source and filter through a shirt or a better option would be a coffee   filter. Heat the water until it comes to a full boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Let cool and drink.

If you do not have electricity, do you have a means of heating your water to sterilize it? Consider one of these -

Camping stove with bottled gas
Sterno stove
Solar Oven
Cured wood to make a wood fire

Distilled Water

Distilled water is simply water that is turned into steam which is then condensed back into a liquid. The impurities stay in the pot as they are too heavy to travel with the steam. One way of making distilled water is by using a fruit steam juicer. This consist of a bottom pot that will hold the impure water to be steamed, a middle pot that looks like a bundt pan with a drain hose that will collect the distilled water and a top pan/pot that will hold ice or cool impure water so the steam can condense on the bottom of the pot and drip back into the middle pot. Simple enough. The biggest problem with this method is the ice or water in the top pot must be changed often as it gets hot. It takes a lot of time and energy (fire) to get a significant amount of distilled water.

Another method is to use a pressure cooker. Put a heat resistant plastic tube over the escape vent on the top cover and put a stainless steel tube in the other end of the plastic tube. Then the tube should coil down into a bucket of cool water and come out the sealed side of the bucket. The water coming out of stainless steel tube will be your distilled water. Again, you must keep cool water in your bucket with the tube in order to condense the steam.

Purification Drops

You can buy liquid purification drops at most stores that carry camping equipment.

Water Bladder

A water bladder can be bought at camping or survival stores. This can be filled to provide you with water through short time emergencies until services are restored.

Containers

At the first sign of an emergency or potential emergency, fill every container you have including the bath tub(s). These will help with short term emergencies.

Do-It-Yourself Projects

For all you do-it-yourself types, here are some things that may interest you.

In this blog you will discover how to make –

            Laundry Detergent

            Fabric  Softener

            Graham Cracker Pie Crust or Vanilla Wafer Pie Crust

            Croutons

            Bread Crumbs

            Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes

            Canning Butter

            Save all Glass Jars and Bottles (No BPA)

            Dehydrated Pineapple

Recipes for

            Pineapple-Strawberry Jelly-Jam

            Pineapple Jam

Laundry Detergent

As inflation continues, one of the things we hate spending money on is Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener. You know Borax is all natural and has been around for a long time and Arm & Hammer is well known for its qualities. The Zote and Fels-Naptha bar soap have excellent stain removing qualities. Combined, the three together make an excellent laundry detergent. Also, in certain disaster situations, you could use this as a Barter Item.

Ingredients

            ½ cup borax

            1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

            1 bar of Zote or FELS-NAPTHA (Heavy Duty Laundry Bar Soap)

Mix

            Hand grate 1 bar of soap in a pot of water & heat on stove to melt.  Do not boil.

            Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with water

                          (Purchase at Lowe's or Home Depot w/ Gamma 'screw on' Lid)

            Pour melted soap into bucket

            Add borax

            Add Arm & Hammer

            Stir well

            Fill bucket with water, stir and let sit overnight

Next day

            It becomes a gelatinous goo.  Mix well

Usage

            Fill your laundry container (bottle) half full with concentrated detergent and fill

                           with water.  Shake well.

            Use 2/3 cup in a top load machine

            Use ¼ cup on a high efficiency machine

Note:   A 5 gallon bucket of concentrated detergent should last about 1 year. 

            The box of Borax and the Arm & Hammer will probably last 10 + years.

            Add up the savings on that.

Fabric  Softener

1 gallon of white vinegar  (Sam’s Club, Costco, Grocery Store)

½ oz bottle of fragrance oil (Purchase at Wal-mart in the Candle Making section)

Pour the bottle of fragrance into the bottle of vinegar.   Shake well.

Use as you would the regular fabric softener you buy in the store.

When used in your laundry you can smell only the fragrance and not the vinegar.  It also removes static from your clothes.

Note:         If you don’t like a fragrance in your clothes then just use the vinegar.  

                 Your clothes will not have a vinegar smell.

                 Also, if you do an Internet search on the uses of White Vinegar, you will find

                             a ton of useful information for uses of vinegar.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust or Vanilla Wafer Pie Crust

Have you ever bought a Graham Cracker Pie Crust or a Vanilla Pie Crust at the store? It's Pretty expensive.

We watch for sales on Graham Crackers and Vanilla Wafers and buy as many as we can. Off brands are cheaper and work just as well. Check with your discount grocery. We put them in our blender and pulverize them. Then we put them in a quart or ½ gallon Ball jar and vacuum            pack it. When you need either a graham cracker or a vanilla pie crust, remove the amount you need for the crust and re-vacuum the jar.

Croutons

I hope you never throw bread away. We do this with our homemade bread but you can use store bought bread also.

When you think bread is no longer useful for sandwiches but it is not yet moldy, cut it into           squares, place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil and your favorite seasonings and bake         on low for about 10 – 12 minutes until dry.

Put your dry croutons in a jar and vacuum pack.

Bread Crumbs

When your bread is no longer useful for sandwiches, break it apart, throw it into your blender and pulverize it into bread crumbs.

Spread the bread crumbs out on a cookie sheet and bake on low for 10 -12 minutes stirring occasionally with a spatula. 

Put your bread crumbs in a Ball jar and vacuum pack.

Dehydrated Sweet Potatoes

Boil the sweet potatoes until fully cooked. Cool, peel and mash. Spread the mashed sweet           potatoes about an 1/8 of an inch on wax paper and dehydrate until completely dry. Break apart,      put in your blender and pulverize. You’ll be amazed at how many sweet potatoes you can get             into a ½ gallon jar. Vacuum pack.

To re-hydrate, remove the amount of sweet potatoes you think you need. Add water a little at a time until you get the consistency you like. Add butter, cinnamon or nutmeg and enjoy.

Re-vacuum pack your jar.

We usually do this during the sweet potato harvest so we can buy in bulk.

Canning Butter

Recently in Norway they had a shortage of butter. A pound of butter cost $32.00   

Did you hear the one about the U.S. is suffering a drought, corn and grain prices are exploding and cattle herds are being reduced. Don’t think for a minute that the problem in Norway could not happen here.

So, here is our hedge against high butter prices.

We buy butter anytime we can find it on sale. Especially at Sam’s Club and Costco. We buy equal amounts of salted and un-salted.

Process

Wash your jars, half pint or pint, and place in the oven heated to 225 degrees.

Place your lids in a pot of water and heat but do not boil.

Melt the butter but do not boil it. The ghee (foam) should float to the top.

Spoon off the ghee and save for putting on toast of other uses.

Ladle the clarified butter into your heated jar, wipe off the jar rim with a paper towel damp with           vinegar, place a hot lid on top and tighten with a screw lid.

The top should seal as the jar cools.

You will notice a separation of the butter fats and liquid in the jar.

After the top seals and the jar is cool enough to handle, give the jar a good shake to combine the           contents.  Shake the jar about every 15 minutes until it sets up.

You’re done.

This butter does not have to be refrigerated. Simply store the jars of butter in your climatized    prepper room.

Enjoy.

Save all Glass Jars and Bottles (No BPA)

Because of the BPA issue, we save all of our glass jars for food storage.  We do not use plastic    containers unless they are BPA Free. BPA is also in every canned product. So, we do our own           canning of vegetables, fruits and meat.

Dehydrated Pineapple and Pineapple Jelly

We were in Big Lots one day and noticed that a can of Libby’s Pineapple was on sale for $1.00    each. It normally sells for around $1.69 per can. So, we bought every can of Pineapple.

We drained and reserved the juice and spread the pineapple out on our dehydrator trays (we     have an Excalibur 9 tray Dehydrator).  The pineapple is dehydrated until dry and then stored in a Ball jar and vacuum packed. Did I mention we have a Food Saver vacuum packer.

We use the reserved pineapple juice to make jelly.  Recipes follow.

 Pineapple-Strawberry Jam

1 ½ c. Whole Strawberries

1 (12 oz) can unsweetened pineapple juice

3 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tbsp butter to minimize foaming

1 box powdered Fruit Pectin

4 c. Sugar

Wash, hull and quarter strawberries – measure 2 cups.

Mix berries, juices, butter and pectin in a flat bottom pot.

Place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to a full boil.

Stir in the sugar and return to a rolling boil.

Boil vigorously for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Skim and discard the foam from surface.

 Ladle jam into hot sterilized jars.

Seal with hot lids and rings. Makes about 6 (8 ounce) jars of jam.

Pineapple Jam

            Ingredients

            2 cans of crushed pineapple with juice and enough water to make 6 ½ cups

            6 cups sugar

            2 envelopes (boxes) of dry pectin

            1 tbl butter reduces foaming

            Directions

            Pineapple in stock pot

            Sprinkle pectin over pineapple

            Stir  well

            Bring to a full rolling boil

            Add sugar and stir to a full rolling boil

            Boil for 1 minute to activate pectin

            Ladle into jars

            Wipe rims

            Finger tighten tops

            Place in hot water bath canner and turn up heat

            Place lid on canner and set timer for 10 minutes (5 minutes to begin boiling & 5 minutes

                           to boil)

            Makes 9 half pint jars

Vacuum Packing 101

I don't know if I could have found a more ... deflating subject to write about. However, if you are new to vacuum packing you may find something helpful in this blog.

Why vacuum pack? How many times have you thrown some food item away because it became stale or moldy way before it's time. The cause of food going bad is humidity, oxygen, bugs and freezer burn. So, it makes sense that if you can remove the oxygen so mold and bugs cannot live in that environment and keep the humidity from infiltrating your food then it will stay fresh a lot longer.

I started out with an automatic Food Saver that I felt wasted too much of my vacuum bag. So, I replaced it with another Food Saver, Model - Game Saver Deluxe Plus that requires more handling and I love it. There are a lot of different models so pick one that you will be comfortable with and use.

I use the Food Saver Vacuum Bags that comes in a roll so you can control the size bag you need. I also use the Food Saver Canisters and Ball Jars.

For vacuum bags try to avoid food with sharp points, like, dent corn, wet food or food that can be crushed, like, crackers or cereal. It does not take much to poke a small hole in a bag so if that happens re-bag the entire bag that leaked but be sure to cut a slit in it with scissors so the air will be vacuumed from both bags. If you suspect something may poke a hole in your bag then put it in a paper lunch bag before you vacuum pack it.

If you must vacuum pack something that has moisture, like, fish then roll up a paper towel and cut it to fit inside your bag between your food item and the machine. The goal is to stop the moisture from reaching the seal point else your bag will not hold an airtight seal. You can also use the paper towel trick if you are vacuuming something gritty, like, sugar or grits.

If I am going to vacuum pack store bought items already in a bag, like cake mixes or pudding, I cut the instructions and description off of the box to put into the vacuum bag. I will also cut one slit in the bag being stored so the oxygen will be removed from it also. Vacuum packing essentially extends the expiration date by removing the oxygen.

When you lock the bag in place ready to be vacuumed, flatten out the contents before vacuuming. This makes the bag a lot easier to store.

And, if you do decide to vacuum pack something that can be crushed, when most of the oxygen has been removed and the crushing begins, simply stop the vacuum process and seal the bag.

I have even heard of people vacuum packing their ammo.

There is a place on the bag to write a description, recipe (for rice it might be  '1CR 2 CW' for 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water), quantity (for bulk rice or beans I note how many cups are in each bag) and date (I only write the MMYY when I vacuum packed it).

I use the Food Saver canisters for meal leftovers and block cheese. I connect a hose between the machine and canister to remove the oxygen. To use, you simply break the seal, use what you need and reseal the canister. We have not thrown away cheese since we started this practice.

I use Ball Jars from Pint size to half a gallon to store darn near anything. Crackers, cookies, cereal, potato chips, dry beans, etc, etc & etc. I use the small and wide mouth attachment for jars. It's amazing how fresh and crisp food stays when oxygen and moisture is not present. A new use for the jars is to store fruit like grapes, cherries and bananas. Fruits, such as grapes, will last 4 - 5 times longer than normal by removing the oxygen. Do not wash the fruit until ready to eat. To use, it is the same as above for the canister.

Good luck with your vacuum packing.

Aurora, Colorado Theatre Shooting

The Aurora, Co theatre shooting that left 12 dead and 50 hurt is a senseless tragedy that occurs far too often. Even kids cannot go to a movie theatre without fearing for their lives. My sympathy and prayers go out to those that were killed or wounded and their families.

The Shooter was a coward, as these people usually are, because he wore body armor and a helmet to protect himself from getting shot or injured. He is a weak individual who does not deserve the news he is getting. The news should be about what he did and the victims but never mention his name since that was his only objective …. to be famous.

To reiterate that he did not want to be harmed and only wanted to be famous is supported by the fact that he did not put up a fight with police….he simply gave up so HE would not get shot. And then he spilled the beans to the police about where he lived and there were explosives in his apartment.

Over the week following this event we will hear arguments for gun control. But to me, even if there were no guns in the U.S. this guy would have found a way to create a massacre. He could have used Molotov cocktails, a sword or knife, pipe bombs or any other weapons he could cause mayhem with. He wanted to be famous and in his mind, a massacre is the only thing he was qualified to do and he wanted it to be bigger than anyone before him.

One could also use this event as an argument for Concealed Carry. If 10 or 15 people had immediately pulled their guns and started firing back at this guy, he would have split …. if he was able. I don’t believe nearly as many people would have been killed or injured. Remember, he is a coward and does not want to get shot. As an example, a week earlier, two guys with guns entered a internet cafe in Florida to cause mayhem and rob the patrons but when a 71 year old drew his pistol and started firing they took off running over each other trying to escape. They did not even take the time to fire back because they were so afraid of getting shot. These kinds of people try to pick on unarmed, unprepared, weak people who are vulnerable. If they suspect you are armed, they will leave you alone because they know you are trained and proficient with your weapon. They do not want to get hurt.

The only society that is at risk of being abused is the one that cannot protect itself.

I regret that this happened and I feel for the victims and their families but I hope our society does not over react to this event.

Why We Became Preppers

My wife and I are in our sixties and we discovered we were pretty naive. Probably still are. We learned a lot of things, new to us, that we had previously just ignored. I will discuss those things later but first we wanted to understand how we managed to let everything escape us.

We found our answer by observing our kids and their families. Having small kids in school and participating in activities, such as, soccer, baseball, karate and boy scouts does not leave time for much of anything else. You become so wrapped up in daily living that anything not associated with that will be ignored. That's exactly how we were. Simply living from day to day.

I'm not sure what event started us looking outside of our daily existence but for us, it didn't happen until our 60's. We were aware of a lot of things we questioned but not enough to make us get outside of our comfortable box. We suffered from Normalcy Bias .... don't worry, everything will remain the same.

I think one of the first things we began to worry about was the fact we were retired on a fixed income and prices started rising. We wondered what will happen to us IF gas goes to $8 -$10 a gallon and bread cost $15 a loaf and all the rest of our expenses goes up in a similar fashion. We either become a burden on our kids or we get a job, if we can and are able, and work till we die. Not a pretty picture.

Then we started doing research on things we knew about but paid little attention to see how it could affect our lives. Like the inflation thing wasn't enough.

So here are some of the things we found out.

If you do a search on 'Canary Island Volcano', one of the first things you will come up with is -

Scientists Warn Of Massive Tidal Wave From Canary Island Volcano

Basically, this has been going on for years but has scientist really worried because there is nothing they can do about it.  If the right earthquake and eruption strikes this volcano, a very large portion can fall off into the sea and cause a tsunami unlike anything this planet has ever seen. Do you remember what happened at Mount St. Helen? You ask, so how does that effect me. Well, that tsunami will be a mile high when it reaches the mid-atlantic and will still be several hundred feet high when it hits the entire East Coast of the U.S. from Maine to Florida. Nova Scotia and the Bahamas will also be hit. It is expected to wash inland about 40 miles which is 4 times further than the tsunami's that hit Indonesia and Japan. Also, it will only take about 8 hours for it to reach the U.S.  I can't imagine all the ways it can affect us but I'm pretty sure our power and food supply will be compromised. You know how we responded after Katrina. How would we respond to the whole East Coast being destroyed .... including Washington. This revelation caused us to move away from the coast.

Solar CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) and EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) are two things that happen all the time with the sun and cause the Northern Lights. The sun goes through cycles where the flares are rated kind of like the way we rank hurricanes and these flares will peak in 2012 and 2013. Here's the problem. Some of the more powerful flares have not been pointed directly at earth. We do have problems from time to time but nothing major. However, if a major CME occurs and is pointed directly at earth, the EMP it generates could destroy all of our satellites, our power grid and everything that has any electronics. This means no power, no cars except those without electronics, no planes, no TV, no radio, no phones. We would be thrown back into the 16th century in a matter of seconds. It could take years just to rebuild our power grid. Why? Because all of the high tension lines and transformers would be fried and we do not make these in the U.S. anymore. It is estimated about half of the population of the U.S. would perish by the end of the first year. Our government would not be able to help you. This kind of stuff can keep you awake at night.

Our power grid is also at risk from a nuclear explosion high over the U.S. causing an EMP like the sun. We are also at risk from an internet attack that could bring down our power grid or a terrorist attack on key installations. All of these situations have been talked about in the news. They are real. Regardless of what happens, how long could you survive without power, sewer and water? And food. That's right, food. If there is no electricity then how do you can and package food or refrigerate it to keep it fresh?

Now to current events. The U.S. is deeply in debt and is at risk of financial collapse. If that is not enough, there are forces that would like to remove the dollar as the reserve currency. What this means is that every country in the world must convert their currency to dollars to buy commodities, like corn, wheat, gold, etc. If the dollar is removed as the reserve currency we would have to convert our currency into something else to buy commodities and that would cause massive inflation in the blink of an eye.

Many people feel that if something happens they would rather go quickly. Unfortunately, that is usually not how it happens. I would not want to be holding my dying child or spouse in my arms and apologizing because I didn't prepare.

So, for this blog this is enough doom and gloom reasons for becoming a prepper. We go to prepper conferences, we can, dehydrate and vacuum pack. We also buy food from long term storage companies and we prepare for the worst case scenario .... no power. We also plan on planting our own crops. For protection, we go to gun shows, we are fortifying our house and we are prepared to protect what we have. Here is something to remember. Noah took no one on the Ark he had not prepared for.

So, how do you start. Easy. Just imagine you have no electricity, no water, no sewer and the stores will not have food. Make a list of what you will need to survive? You can live about 3 - 4 days without water. Do you know how to purify water? Do you have the means to purify water?

We did not do this all at once. We have been doing a little at a time but we would like to be somewhat prepared to take care of ourselves if a disaster strikes. Just the images of the New Orleans Super Dome after Katrina should make you not want to go into a FEMA Camp. You also need to understand that if you do have to go to a FEMA Camp, you will not be allowed to leave until everything returns to normal .... which could be years.

So, do your research, get out of your Normalcy Bias and start preparing to be self sufficient.

Prepping in Small Spaces

Many people think they do not have the space to be a Prepper. When they watch programs like Dooms Day Preppers and see people with 2 - 3 years of food storage costing thousands of dollars and requiring a lot of storage space, they get discouraged and give up even before they start. But let me tell you, they also had to start small.

My wife and I started prepping when we lived in a three bedroom condo. One of the bedrooms was the size of a large walk-in closet. We decided to turn that room into our prepper room. The room ended up holding four heavy duty storage shelves with 5 shelves each and a 5 cf Freezer. We were in our early sixties.

You could also convert a two bedroom condo or apartment if the second bedroom is not being used on a regular basis. How often do you have company? Once or twice a year? That room could be put to better use as a Prepper Room. For company, give them your bedroom and you sleep on an air mattress or buy a sleep sofa. Use your imagination.

We enjoy doing a lot of our own long term food storage. But we also buy items from long term food storage companies. These companies are especially great if you work or if you are not interested in do-it-yourself. It does take a lot of time.

Most of the long term food items you buy come in a No. 10 can.  These are easily stored in a closet, on top of cabinets, behind furniture or under a bed. As long as they are not opened, they will last for 15 to 25 years if stored properly. These items are delivered directly to your door so there is no reason why you should not be prepared for any event.

Here are some companies to get you started.

http://www.carolinareadiness.com/    

http://www.honeyville.com/

http://www.samsclub.com/    Did you know that Sam's Club had Emergency Supplies.

                                          When the Sam's Club initial screen comes up
                                                  Move your cursor over the 'Grocery' tab - Do not click
                                                              another window will be displayed
                                                  Look for 'Emergency Foods & Supplies' and click on it
                                                  On the left side of the page you will see 'Catagories'
                                                  Click on the first category to get you started
                                                  Good hunting

                                   FYI - You do not have to be a Sam's Club member to order online.


Here's our formula for deciding food storage.

1.    Do an accounting of what you have on hand.
2.    Figure how you can maximize your space.
3.    Make your prepper list and prioritize in a logical order. As an example, don't try to get
       all the food you need before you buy an alternative stove to cook it.
4.    Clip coupons and watch for store sales.  Pay close attention to Expiration Dates.
5.    If you need to rent climate control storage, do you have like minded friends who
       would share the cost and space. If you have a yard, buy or build your own climate
       control storage.
6.    Do your research on anything you don't know at the library or on the internet.
7.    Get started .... times a wasting.

Self Defense

When I was younger I could pretty much hold my own with anyone. I had military training, as well as, the strength, the quickness and the stamina. But now I am weaker, stiffer and I get tired quicker. I like to think I am still tough but in reality I would not want to get into a fight. I now avoid places that I may get into a conflict but that may no longer be possible with our declining economy and flash mobs that invade stores for the purpose of ransacking and mayhem. We could end up as collateral damage as part of the mayhem.

If I were younger, like my grandchildren, my wife and I could learn karate. But we are in our 60's and learning how to fight is not at the top of our priorities. Learning how to defend ourselves and disable someone quickly is a top priority. So, we have two approaches. One approach is with weapons we can buy that may give us an edge in either fighting or escaping. The second approach is to learn how to street fight without complicated moves to disable someone quickly.

Weapons

There are several self defense weapons you can buy for your personal protection.

Pepper Spray - Used to spray into an attackers face to slow them down or to make them retreat.

Stun Gun - Used to knock an attacker out and disable them. These come in a varity of ways from looking like a cell phone or incorporated into a flashlight.

Baton - These are billy clubs that expand with a snap of the wrist and are used to disable an attacker. These can cause a lot of damage so don't crush someone's skull unless you are in a life or death situation.

Neck Knife - My wife has one of these. It hangs around your neck like jewelry but at the end is a small knife with the handle hanging downward. If she is grabbed from behind while going to her car she can easily pull the knife from its sheath and stick the attacker in the arm, neck or face. If the school teacher that was recently attacked and murdered while jogging had had one of these, she would probably still be alive.

Tactical Flashlight - This particular flashlight has an extremely bright light and some come with a strobe function. Shining this flashlight in someones eyes will temporarily blind them long enough for you to escape or to press your attack on them. The one thing an attacker does not expect is for you to go on the attack. It un-nerves them and they do not want to get hurt. The light end of the flashlight has a hardened scalloped edge that can be used as a weapon.

Baseball Bat - Keep this by your front door so it is very accessable.

Concealed Weapon - These are handguns that are meant for the worst case scenario. This requires a permit and constant training in its use so a life changing mistake is not made. My wife had never fired a weapon until her 60's. Even though she was very skeptical the first few times she fired a handgun she is now proficient with a glock 9 mm and has received her concealed weapons license. Regardless of your age, do not be afraid of a handgun. Be sure to get proper training so you know how to handle the weapon. The more familiar you are with a weapon the more comfortable you will be. There is nothing worse than being in a situation where you need a handgun but you do not have one. Prepare for the worse case scenario and hope for the best.

Shotgun - These are good for home defense. Point and shoot to cover an entire hallway.

Rifles - You have choices whether you want one for hunting or self defense. For self defense, many people are buying tactical weapons, such as, AK47's and AR15's. Most come with 30 round clips and are easy to fire with little recoil.

One rifle you may want to look at for your Go Bag is the Henry Survival Rifle (AR7). This rifle easily breaks down into three parts without the use of tools and the receiver and barrel stores in the butt stock. It floats, can be put together in less than a minute, uses 8 -10 22 LR loaded in a clip and does not need a conceal carry permit since it is not a handgun. A big plus with this weapon is that it is cheap to practice with.

Regardless of the weapon you purchase, make sure you get proper training and practice often.

Street Fighting

Street fighting is not about getting into a fight with your neighbor out in your front yard. If you want to still have a neighbor do not use street fighting techniques on them. Street fighting is for when you fear for your life and you are willing to do permanent damage to someone to protect your or a loved ones life. There are a lot of people who will teach you how to street fight but my wife and I learn the techniques taught by www.closecombattraining.com/captainchris.php 

It is best you learn from the experts. This is good stuff to know regardless of your age.

Good luck with your self defense.