I have $500: Tell me what to do

Light is always a good thing... yet each persons interpretation is theirs alone. We all have history and are a product of where we have been and where we see ourselves going. We all have strengths and weaknesses and sensitivities... "nerves" if you will that sometimes get "touched" in the wrong way. Shake hands gentlemen... and lets get back to why we are here.

Cheers to you both, JAB

Sounds like it is coming together for you. I would suggest you sit down and list what threats you are prepping for. Is there anything specific to your area? A chemical plant? Flood? Urban? Rural? Or more along the line of civil unrest or economic collapse. Once you have an idea what you are prepping for then you can more easily define what you need. Also decide if your first strategy is to bug out.. or bug in. Unless you have a place defined and ready to accept you, bugging out is a crap shoot... a last resort. I think many people also forget the very basics. A plan to deal with a fire in your residence. Do you have an excape plan? Alternates in case a route is blocked? A rally point once outside? Simple but important basics. A plan for daytime... you at work.. kids at school...wife out shopping... who does what and goes where? Who is responsible for what? Again.. rally point or points. Plan, plan, PLAN!!!!! You can have all the preps (stuff) in the world.. but without a plan it is worthless.

Nicely put JAB.

Gosh...Overwhelmed, lots of questions

Just getting started....Reading lots and taking notes.

My biggest thing is knowing how much

I have a family of 6...how much water should I plan on storing How much food. Would like to have 5 years worth for my family and perhaps extended family. Is there a formula to estimate how much I should have stored.

We live in Calgary.

Signs,
There are tons of websites that will tell you to store 2 liters per person per day. In my experience (not my opinion) this is simply not enough. I would double that as the extra workload during an emergency will make you sweat a lot more and increase your consumption. Yes, there are lots of websites with information on prepping, but only an armchair survivalist would google search a topic and rely on the results to prep. The BEST online resource is a forum like this one where preppers come together and share knowledge they have gained through experience and not just spew out what they read on Wikipedia. Just as important as storing water is developing a system to collect and purify a constant supply. Some examples are rain barrels filled from roof runoff, tarps strung up between trees that empty into a bucket...the list goes on. As to purifying it, I use a 3 tier system. First it is filtered with whatever I have on hand such as coffee filters or a clean bandana. Next it is boiled 5 minutes. Lastly, after it has cooled, I treat with 2 drops of plain chlorine bleach per liter, shake, and let sit for 30 minutes. When calculating how much water to store, don't forget to include pets.

Check out this site for "food per person per year calculator" it is the best that I have found and is mind boogling on how much we do use per year.

http://preparednesspro.com/do-you-have-enough/

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Well AMF, there you have it...two opinions on water, both will provide clean, safe drinking water.
My biggest point is to be able to gather and purify water on an ongoing basis, as you will only be able to store so much.
Hope the difference in opinions here hasn't turned you off the forum.
There are well over 1000 members here and these differences are inevitable.
Keep asking questions...you'll get lots of answers, but the final decisions, well, only you can make.

Water Filtration
go to 'instructables.com'
search for Berkey, Berkly and water filtration

there are some design plans for as little as $25-$35, some very simple too.

Well AMF, there you have it...two opinions on water, both will provide clean, safe drinking water.
My biggest point is to be able to gather and purify water on an ongoing basis, as you will only be able to store so much.
Hope the difference in opinions here hasn't turned you off the forum.
There are well over 1000 members here and these differences are inevitable.
Keep asking questions...you'll get lots of answers, but the final decisions, well, only you can make.

The Differences in Opinions expressed (politely) should make it better for people to deal with their own situation and background. It should also help to draw new members in.

Please remember one thing, Reading a message may not always be the same as hearing the message especially being in the same room, hearing and seeing the message. Things do not always come across as we desire due to the limitations of this imperfect medium.

We encourage all those who come and visit to join up as well. Everyone has something to share and help with, everyone is welcome so long as they are polite, myself included.
So come on in folks, sign up, stop being lurkers, come on into our place and make it your place as well.
.. Prepper/Self Reliance Evolution in the making...

Hey WildernessReturn ... sent you a few PM's... did you get them?

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Okay lots of good info!
So for now I just want to get some water in the house. Looks like Superstore has some 0.5L bottles on sales, so I thought for now I'd grab those in case of an imminent emergency ... ie tornado or power outage with all these summer storms. I gather they aren't rated for long because of the cheap plastic?

I guess my husband knew all about the Berkey, because when we went to MEC he told me he'd been on their website. Cool! He is kind of on board, though we haven't really talked about it. Actually, I think he thinks I'm kinda nutso because I'm on here so much. Anyway.

So say I get my crap bottles that are good for the short term and possibly BOB. What do you think is the next best step for water? Bigger containers for the basement? Mega huge barrels? Water purification tablets? Berkey? Bah! I want to do all the options, I just don't know which is the smartest to start off with. And yes, I know it depends on the kind of emergency, so I'm working on a possibly emergencies list with plans of action.
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I have 10 of the large 5 gallon bottles that you can find at grocery stores - the ones that sit sideways on a rack and are brought back for exchange and refill. We also have a few cases of regualr water bottles around at all times. Another good idea if you have a freezer is to fill plastic juice containers and line the bottom of your freezer (or just add if you have room) - it keeps the freezer cold longer if the power goes out and provides you with a few more litres of drinking water. I also fill those same juice jugs and leave them unrefrigerated and marked for washing and flushing. Having a Berkey means I can add a little bleach and pour it through the filter to use for drinking water anyway.

Since I have a water/beer store near me and he can order in oodles of proper full filters, not just the carbon taste good filters, you can make your own Berky or oldschool type of Water Filtration Unit. (old style type, not the user name type.)