Author: holyhomestead

Our mission is to awaken the potential of a prepared family, inside and out; through information and inspiration, from values to gear.
Posted in Prepping

Let’s Build A BOB, pt 1

Posted on by holyhomestead

Up to this point, building your own BOB has been fairly conceptual. From here on out, this is a hands on project. It’s time to start collecting gear to stock your BOB and begin understanding this gear. We will go over what is truly essential and how to use it; this is the fun part. There are twelve supply categories that need to be considered when stocking your Bug Out Bag. I’m going to talk through and cover each of these topics over the next few weeks. Some of you might see a few things listed and think, “Duh! That’s obvious,” but there are some things that I might be able to point out when choosing your specific product. My personal rule of thumb is that everything should have multiple purposes, and I’ll explain what I mean by that.

Before we get to the contents of your bag, you must consider the bag itself. It is important to use a good sturdy bag that will be comfortable to wear while walking for hours if the need arose. There are many good brands and I strongly encourage you to make sure it has YKK zippers, duraflex buckles, and cordura fabric. It is also a good idea to use a bag that does not look flashy. Do not display on your bag what it is or hint to what is inside. As I have stated before, it should keep a low profile. This is the bag I am currently using and love it! It’s made to last and can take a beating.

View on Amazon

Supply Categories to include in your BOB:

1. Water and Hydration
2. Food and Food Preparation
3. Clothing
4. Shelter and Bedding
5. Fire
6. First Aid
7. Hygiene
8. Tools
9. Lighting
10. Communications
11. Protection and Self-Defense
12. Miscellaneous Supplies

Water and Hydration

Water is an obvious necessity for survival, but there are some things to consider when packing it in a SHTF scenario. Water is heavy, therefore you would not want to be carrying around a case of water bottles on your back. Though, I would not choose a plastic water bottle even if it might save a few grams in weight. Instead, I choose to have a metal canteen style bottle because it can be used to boil water if you need to disinfect some water you found that you’re not sure is safe to consume.

Canteen
Collapsible Container

I even wrap my metal water bottle with duct tape. Duct tape is a must! I like to wrap my bottle with at least 10-15 feet of duct tape. Not only does it help protect your bottle, but duct tape is an excellent multi use survival resource. It has hundreds of uses. Some of these include: first aid bandage, cordage and tarp, tent, or gear repairs. Wrapping your water bottle instead of packing an entire roll of tape saves you space and weight. I’d like to add that packing a collapsible soft container allows you to reduce bulk as water is used. Consume the water in this container first. When empty, they take up virtually no space and weigh just a few ounces. Make sure you have at least two ways of purifying water; purification tablets, and a hand pump filter for example.

You can always have a water bladder to insert in your BOB. They are typically used in a separate hydration pack alongside your BOB, but having it separated is not necessary, you could slip it right into your BOB along the back, they do not take up too much space. This is my favorite hydration pack that I use in addition to my BOB because it has multi-use functions such as the molle webbing.

Hydration Pack
Water Bladder

Again, it all depends on your preference, as long as you have multiple resources for water and filtering it. Remember, our bodies are made up of almost 90% water!

We also have pre-made, ready-to-go Survival Kits available in our shop (under the Merchandise tab).

Posted in Parenting

Love Requires Discipline

Posted on by holyhomestead

Not every child learns the same way. We have come to accept this as truth when it comes to school or academics, we know there are visual learners, auditory learners, kinaesthetic learners, etc. Yet for some reason we have a hard time wrapping our heads around the fact that it goes for everything in our lives, including how we discipline our children and expect them to learn what is correct or acceptable behavior. Discipline is not a one-size fits all, the methods that work with your first child may not work with your other children. Many times you can find yourself using a combination of two or more methods, depending on the situation.

There are 5 main styles of discipline. Positive discipline uses praise and encouragement rather than punishment. This keeps the focus on teaching problem-solving skills and helps the child develop solutions on their own. Gentle discipline relies on preventing problems from occurring, with the intention of redirecting the child away from bad behavior. Boundary-based discipline requires setting limits and clear rules upfront with predetermined consequences for misbehavior. Behavior modification would use both positive and negative consequences, as appropriate. Good behavior would be praised and rewarded, while bad behavior has negative consequences. Finally, emotion coaching focuses on teaching kids about their feelings and understanding how to express their feelings rather than acting on them. The child is taught that it is okay to have their feelings and what are appropriate ways to handle their emotions.

The one thing that IS consistent with ALL children though, they require a proper balance of discipline AND love. You can’t truly have one without the other and too much of either is harmful to your child. When your child feels loved, they will be more receptive of your rules and discipline; with the appropriate level of discipline, they will know you love and care about them. Sometimes the scales are tipped and you find yourself showing your children with love and shying away from the discipline because ultimately it is “easier”. This can make a child spoiled and in return, even if they don’t realize in the moment, they will not feel that you care about them. On the other extreme, too much discipline that isn’t balanced with love will be emotionally damaging to the child and ultimately drive them away. There is a misconception sometimes that you are making your child “tough” with your decision to hold back showering affection and love. It can also be difficult to discipline your child sometimes and definitely not fun, especially while they are going through the developmental stages and testing their boundaries. I promise, a proper balance and consistency is key and will all be worth it when they are older.

It’s never too late to start balancing your tactics; however, it will be more difficult if it was not done from the beginning of their lives. As long as you are consistent with your rules and there are consequences for breaking said rules, your child will recognize what is expected of them and what is acceptable behavior. For a consequence to be effective, they should be guiding and teaching and should be delivered in a loving way. It is best to get to a child’s level and explain to them exactly what they did that was unacceptable behavior and tell them what the consequence is for doing wrong. It can also be helpful, while they are learning, to tell them what they could have done instead that would have been acceptable behavior. Demonstrating appropriate behavior is especially important in the infant and toddler stages; you are setting the foundations of your child’s behavior for years to come.

A truly beautiful child-parent relationship will consist of a careful balance of reasonable strictness and unconditional love and acceptance. Regardless of the methods of discipline you adopt, consistency is the key to success and a healthy relationship.

For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Proverbs 3:12
Posted in Prepping

Let’s Talk About BOB (Bug Out Bag)

Posted on by holyhomestead

A BOB is a self-contained kit designed to get you through at least 72 hours of independent survival while on the journey to your destination, often called a “Bug out location.” When SHTF, your BOB will be crucial and every individual should have their own! I have also heard this called a “GOOD Bag” (Get Out of Dodge bag). Think about it, if a fire erupts and you only have a small amount of time to get out of your area, what will most people do? The typical reaction is to rush around the house and grab as much stuff as possible, including your pets (we’ll get to pets later). A lot of times, you will forget important items and most likely grab items that you don’t actually need. If you already had a plan and a BOB, things will go a lot smoother. You can focus on the changing environment and what you need to do next, knowing you will at least have the essentials to get you by while things either stabilize or you find a new location to homestead.

Proverbs 24:27
Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

Like anything else, you’ll get what you put into your BOB. It will take time, energy, and money, but it could also be the one thing to save you and your family’s lives. You don’t want to go cheap on certain things and for goodness sake please do not buy the premade packs you see at Walmart or other box stores. Yes, there are some decent premade bags out there but even those are not perfect. Everyone’s bag should be tailored to themselves, with specific medications or medical needs, kids needs, pets, etc. Think of your BOB as a long term relationship. It should grow and evolve with time, and also changes depending on your life circumstances. Oh, did I mention it will cost money! Thinking of it as a relationship, BOB will require a certain degree of commitment in order for things to work out; he is not a one night stand. Plan on spending some time building your bag. It will take time to source and assemble the proper contents of your kit to make it right for you. Building your BOB is only half the project, learning how to effectively use the survival tools is crucial and will also require an investment of time and energy.

Building your BOB doesn’t have to be difficult. It could even be a fun thing for you and your family to do together; all while learning and or using tools to explain and teach yourself or children. I have always liked making my own camp fires but learned very quickly that they are not as easy as some might think or what you’d see on TV. It took a lot of practice and I had fun teaching my kids how to use a flint and what would be the best things to use for tinder. I also make sure to always have things on hand such as “Fatrope” or “Fatwood” and many other types of tinder and fire starters. That’s just one example of the things you can do when building a kit with your family. Make it fun and educational while building and getting familiar with your BOB.

Now I want to focus on a few key attributes of a BOB. First off, it has to be something that is comfortable to wear and also manageable. In an ideal situation we’d want to rely on our vehicle, but make sure you’re aware of the possibility that fuel is not accessible. There could be road closures or roads destroyed, traffic jams, or vehicles could be inoperable. That’s why your bag shouldn’t be too heavy or at least something you’ll be okay with carrying while walking for miles if needed. Walking on foot at some point will more likely happen one way or another if there is a widespread disaster. Secondly, your bag needs to be ready to go at a moments notice at all times. It should be somewhere convenient but still out of the way. With that said, do not advertise your bag to visitors in your home or even extended family members. Like I’ve said, your bag is an investment. You likely keep your valuables in a safe and secure place in your home to protect them from whomever. Take the same precautions to protect your bag from theft.

Another thing to think about is to make sure your bag isn’t some tricked out Gucci-looking bag that screams you’ve got the goods. All that will do is put a big target on your back. It’s human nature to show off our cool stuff, especially something you have worked hard at building. Resist the urge and be humble when it comes to your BOB. It’s good practice to ask yourself, “What can I do to look less prepared?” Supplies of all kinds will be at a premium in any disaster scenario, and you will be carrying an incredibly valuable assortment of merchandise on your back. If you choose to share, that’s great, but being forced to share is something totally different. Desperation can bring out the worst in people, and you will have enough problems without sending signals to scavenging opportunists that you and your family are stocked with survival rations. Rioting, looting, mugging, and pillaging are all very common in disaster emergencies. Just look at what the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 did and the types of things people did when struck with panic and fear. Also you have to think about the quality of your bag. There are many good brands, I strongly encourage you to make sure it’s good quality with YKK zippers and cordura fabric, all while keeping a low profile. I can go on and on about compartmentalizing and making sure you pack efficiently but ill leave that to you, or you can reach out to us for guidance if you’d like some help.

We also have pre-made, ready-to-go Survival Kits available in our shop (under the Merchandise tab).