Rob Benson
@BuckhornCliffs • 3,855 subscribers
How to Prepare: Knowledge, supplies, and strategies for self-reliance. IG: 400k, TikTok: 120k, FB: 530k, YT 85k
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Step one: Fill everything. Tub, pots, buckets, bottles. You have maybe 45 minutes of water pressure left. That's the cleanest water you'll see for a while. Step two: Confirm the scope. Your house, your block, or your whole region? Battery radio or car radio tells you what you're dealing with. Starlink Mini gives you full details if you have it. Step three: Send one text to family with your status. Then put the phone in low power mode. Cell towers may not last long. Step four: Fridge and freezer stay shut. Snap a photo of both interiors so you don't have to guess. Eat in order: fridge first, freezer second, pantry last. Step five: Stay out of stores. Whatever's in your pantry is the plan. If this is a big event, everyone else is about to panic. Avoid crowds. Step six: Shrink your living space. One small room, blankets over windows and doorways. Critical in winter, similar approach for extreme heat. Step seven: Combustion stays outside. Generators, grills, camp stoves. Carbon monoxide kills more people in blackouts than anything else. This one is life or death. Step eight: Run dark and quiet. Don't be the brightest, loudest house on the street. That makes you the most interesting house. Generator during the day, blackout curtains at night. Step nine: Get comms up. Cell towers may fail within a day or two. Battery radio for info in, GMRS for local family communication out. Step ten: In a big blackout, nobody is coming to help you. Plan accordingly. A few things worth knowing: Blackouts historically last hours to a few days, but the 2003 Northeast blackout affected 55 million people and the 2021 Texas grid failure killed over 200 people. Big events do happen. And likely will happen with more frequency. A whole house generator is great, but a small portable generator with 3 to 5 gallons of stabilized fuel plus a portable power station covers most scenarios and doesn't announce itself to the whole neighborhood. Water heaters hold 40 to 80 gallons of usable water. Learn how to drain yours from the bottom valve. That's a free reservoir most people forget. Practice this before you need it. A weekend without power at home tells you exactly where your gaps are.
Rob Benson271,238 Aufrufe • vor 8 Tagen
Load a 1TB external SSD with everything you might want access to when the internet is down. Books, PDFs, how-to guides, medical references, repair manuals, homestead guides, wilderness first aid, foraging books, gardening resources, family photos, important documents, videos, entertainment. Whatever fits your life. Then drop it in a faraday bag with a laptop or old tablet loaded with the software to read it. A few things worth knowing: Cross platform compatible SSDs work on Mac, PC, and phones with the right adapter. Set it up once and it works across whatever device survives. A 1TB drive holds tens of thousands of books in PDF format, hundreds of hours of video, and still leaves room for family photos and documents. Project Gutenberg has thousands of free public domain books. Kiwix lets you download entire offline versions of Wikipedia, Khan Academy, medical references, and more. Both are goldmines for building a knowledge library. Faraday protection matters if you're worried about EMP or targeted electromagnetic interference. Just make sure the bag actually blocks signal (test it by putting a phone inside and calling it). Store the SSD in a cool dry spot in the faraday bag. SSDs are more durable than hard drives but they still don't love extreme heat or humidity long term. A backup brain in a bag. Cheap insurance for a scenario where the internet you rely on daily isn't there.
Rob Benson33,451 Aufrufe • vor 7 Tagen
For informational and educational purposes only. Closed course, professional activity. No sales, transfers, or solicitation. All firearms are legally owned and operated in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. A completely unmodified Ruger 10/22 might be the best prepper and homesteading rifle ever made. If you're new to shooting, this is where you start. If you've been shooting since Nixon was in office, this is what you'd grab if you could only pick one. Why it earns the title: Low recoil makes it easy to train with, easy for new shooters to learn on, and easy on your shoulder over a long range session. Lightweight enough to carry all day without thinking about it. Accurate out of the box. Reliable. Easy to clean and field strip. And the aftermarket support is endless if you ever want to customize it (though you don't need to). Is it your home defense weapon of choice? No. But it can fill that gap if it has to. What it is: a small game and food gathering machine. Rabbits, squirrels, varmints, predators threatening your livestock. A 10/22 handles all of it with surgical precision. A few things worth knowing: .22 LR ammunition is the cheapest mainstream round on the market, which means you can actually practice. With .22 LR you can put thousands of rounds downrange a year without going broke. It runs reliably on a wide range of ammo, from cheap bulk pack to premium hollow points. Few rifles are this forgiving. Stock long ammo too. Modern .22 LR ammunition stored cool and dry keeps for decades. Societies without access to guns are much easier to control. Don't be that society.
Rob Benson27,871 Aufrufe • vor 24 Tagen
A homemade castor oil and cayenne pepper salve combined with DMSO might be the best one two punch for pain relief I've ever used. The recipe: 1 cup castor oil, 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper powder. Heat in a double boiler for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The goal is to infuse the castor oil with capsaicin (the active compound in cayenne) without overheating it. Strain, cool, and store in a sealed jar. A few things worth knowing: Capsaicin works by binding to TRPV1 receptors and depleting Substance P, the chemical that signals pain to your brain. That's the science behind why it actually works, not just feels warm. Castor oil is loaded with ricinoleic acid, which has its own anti-inflammatory effect and helps drive the cayenne deeper into tissue. Layer DMSO on top after the salve absorbs and the relief reaches deeper. Just make sure your skin is clean first since DMSO carries whatever is on the surface into your body. Store away from light and heat. Capsaicin breaks down with UV exposure.
Rob Benson56,041 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten
A trip to Tractor Supply with preparedness in mind. Here's what's worth grabbing, in no particular order. Fuel and engine care: Ethanol Shield Fuel Stabilizer. Stock it for stored gas in ethanol blend areas. Treated fuel lasts about 2 years. STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer. Same general purpose, prevents varnish and gum deposits in stored gas. About 2 years on treated fuel. Sea Foam. Revives marginally degraded fuel and cleans carburetors. Great for waking up equipment that's been sitting. Stores 10+ years on the shelf. Multi-purpose chemicals and tools: 30% vinegar. Strong weed killer, surface disinfectant, food preservation, natural cleaner. Indefinite shelf life. WD-40. Lubricant and moisture displacer. Protects metal, frees seized bolts, maintains firearms. Indefinite. Kerosene. Dual use for heaters and oil lamps. Stable for years when sealed. Mineral oil (food safe). Conditions cutting boards, seasons cast iron, protects metal from rust, and works as a laxative in a medical pinch. Indefinite. Food grade diatomaceous earth. Shreds insect exoskeletons without chemicals. Can be mixed into rice, wheat, and legumes to prevent weevils and beetles in storage. Indefinite. Catch and release animal trap. Small game like squirrels and rabbits, or relocating animals harassing your livestock. Quick mentions worth grabbing: DMSO, Ivermectin, MSM, Betadine solution, ball jars, 5 gallon buckets, tarps, 5 gallon fuel and water jugs. A few things worth knowing: DE has to be food grade if you're adding it to grains. Pool grade DE is calcined and not safe to consume. Fuel stabilizer only works on fresh gas. It prevents degradation, it doesn't reverse it. Add it when you fill the can, not after the gas has been sitting. WD-40 isn't a long term lubricant. It's a moisture displacer. For long term lubrication, use a proper grease or oil after WD-40 has done its job.
Rob Benson40,745 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
A completely free, highly effective remedy growing wild on our property at about 6,000 feet in dry, rocky Colorado: Mullein How to identify and harvest it: Mullein is a biennial, meaning it lives two years. Year one is a flat rosette of big, soft, fuzzy leaves close to the ground. Year two sends up a tall flower stalk, sometimes 5 or 6 feet high with yellow flowers. You can use the leaves, flowers, and roots. For this, let's focus on the leaves. Pick them, pull them apart, and air dry them. Once dried you can make a tea or a tincture (there are more methods, but those are the main two). But why? Mullein helps with coughing, bronchitis, and chest congestion. It can be used as a poultice for minor wounds, burns, and rashes. The leaves contain saponins and mucilage that soothe irritated airways and loosen mucus. A few things worth knowing: Always strain mullein tea through a coffee filter or fine cloth. The tiny leaf hairs can irritate your throat if they get into the tea. Harvest leaves from clean areas away from roadsides and sprayed fields, since the plant absorbs what's in the soil and air around it. Dry them completely before storing or they'll mold. Once fully dried and kept in a sealed jar away from light, they hold for a year or more.
Rob Benson18,494 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat
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