Looking Back at 2013 and Ahead at 2014

The week between Christmas and New Years has always been an important week for me. It’s usually a week when work gets put on the back burner and more time is spent with family. It’s also the week that our main prep closet is inventoried. And it always seems to be a time for me to look back at the successes and failures of the last year and make a list of things to accomplish in the coming year.

2013 was a good year overall. I feel blessed that my family and loved ones are all in good health, the bills were paid on time and everyone still has a job.

2013 was a great year for this blog.  Our core sponsors, SurplusPlanet, Centerfire Antenna and Choate Machine are all still with us. We have added some new advertisers as well: JM Bullion, Mother Earth Products, Underfold Stocks and GoldBroker.  One of our advertisers, Storm Shelters of America has put their business on hold while they reorganize and I’m looking forward to seeing them come back soon.

We also managed to launch Bow and Blade.com in 2013. That site is geared to the archery and knife enthusiast. There is a complete line of kydex presses currently available there and we have plans to add several more unique products in the coming months.

In 2013, I made a few personal choices. The first is that I have kicked the folding knife habit. After wearing out another folding knife and losing two more of my favorite pocket-clip folders this year, I have decided to carry fixed blade knives only. With the current variety of fixed blades and the ability to make custom sheaths for them it just made more sense for me to switch from folders to fixed blades. The only folders that I carry regularly now are my Gerber 600 Multi-tools.

Second, after becoming frustrated with managing so many different types of firearms magazines, I made the decision  to sell off all of our semi-auto handguns and to keep only revolvers. Another equally important factor involved in this decision was that my wife has developed a touch of arthritis in her hands and has begun to have difficulty grasping the semi-auto slides well enough to chamber a round.  I think this change seems to have taken a few folks by surprise and I’m still catching a few comments here and there from my kids and friends but I grew up with revolvers so this really isn’t that big of a change for me. A S&W Airweight was added to the inventory to replace a small pistol that I conceal-carry during warm months. Selling off all of the semi-auto “stuff” has generated quite a bit of revenue for other preps and cleared some clutter out of our gear too.

The third change of the year…. I finally converted my ham call sign to a “vanity” call sign after putting it off for way too many years. I claimed a perfectly unique call sign that , hopefully, one of our sons or grandchildren will take after I die. I wrote an article about this process at Citizens Radio Guide.

What’s in store for 2014?

My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. This is a second marriage for both of us and we never had a honeymoon. We are hopeful that we can plan a special trip or event this year.

2013 was a bad year for our garden when several deer made their way around and over the fence and wiped out most of our young plants in one night. For our 2014 food production needs we’re planning a garden expansion with better pest protection. Most of our original garden space is now dedicated to perennials so an expansion is necessary for our usual homegrown veggies. Our strategy of planting higher quantities of fewer varieties will remain. We also plan to purchase locally grown vegetables in bulk and preserve by freezing and dehydration.

The rain water collection system has been put on the back burner since 2009. It’s on the list again for 2014. It should happen this year since we’re planning to build roof extension on the outbuilding that we plan to use to collect water.

In 2013 we added a horseradish patch to the garden as our yearly perennial. We don’t have any perennials in mind for 2014 yet but we will be growing an unusual annual plant that some preppers may be interested in. It’s not usually grown in a normal Indiana garden and it looks to be a challenge but the effort could pay off in the long run. This project will start some time in April and I am very anxious to share the process here on the blog.

Last year’s hog hunt added a couple hundred pounds of pork to our freezer. In 2014, we’re hopeful that we can fill the freezer with fish and venison since a hog hunt probably won’t happen. I tried to convince the wife that an out-of-state hog hunt would make the perfect honeymoon for us this year but she didn’t agree. I had also planned to use trot-lines for fishing in 2013, that didn’t happen and is now on the list for 2014. I haven’t used a trot line since I was a kid and REALLY want to get back into that, so watch for a post or two about trot lines this year.

More wild edible and medicinal herb foraging will be a priority. My wife is beginning to get very interested in the wild medicinals in our area. Over the years, we have been able to gather several species of wild edibles that occur naturally around our place and maintain them in “patches” around the property, So far, they have flourished and they make a great way to teach the grandkids about wild edibles without having to go out hiking.

I do expect to spend more time at the rifle range this year. The current Remington 700 varmint rifle project is almost complete. Some time will be spent this March and April developing some accurate handloads for it. The range that I frequent has several semi-formal matches coming up this summer and fall that I’m looking forward to participating in.

There aren’t any changes planned here on the blog. 2014 should be more of the same format with a mixture of DIY articles, product reviews and articles about the lessons learned by us.

We would like to give a big thanks to every one of our readers and sponsors and wish you all a very blessed 2014!

Ben

by

Source: http://advancedsurvivalguide.com/2013/12/29/looking-back-at-2013-and-ahead-at-2014/