Category Archives: For New Preppers

What Knots Do I Need To Know As A Prepper or Homesteader?

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I had the fortune to grow up around men and women who were used to working with what they had. All of my grandparents and a host of great uncles, aunts and family friends were born during or just before the great depression that crashed into the United States’ economy during the 1930’s. One of the first things I noticed when I was around them on the farm, shop, or hunting club was the way they seemed to be able to secure anything with some form of rope. I have seen a friend of my father bind down a bale of hay to a flatbed seemingly as tight with just a trucker’s hitch in a rope as i could have with a chain and binder! With that in mind, I’d like to share a few knots we should all learn as well as some general rope information and links to where we can learn much more that I have room to offer on this blog. One place that knots and cordage can be key to our survival is constructing shelters. Take a look at my blog post on it Here.

Since I was only briefly a Cub Scout and never reached the levels of knot tying skill that the Boy Scouts are expected to learn, I’ll start the discussion off with some basics that I needed to learn first. This may be remedial information to some, but for those of you like me, well, we need to catch up on as much knowledge as quickly as possible.

What Rope Should I Use?

When preparing this post, like many other topics, I opened a can of worms that i wasn’t considering. While it adds length to the post, it also lets me share more information on topics we might not have considered. Awareness is a large part of prepping because we don’t have to know everything, but it helps to be aware of variables in what we know. With that said, here is a quick list of rope types that we may encounter and use with some pro’s and con’s of each.

Polypropylene: This rope is often used around water or around electrical lines due to its floating and non conductive properties. It is basically strands of plastic that are woven together making it durable in wet environments and a safer alternative if you have to tie something near electrical lines. The negative aspect of this rope is that it is easily damaged by heat or friction and must be closely inspected for melted strands. A neutral aspect is that it usually has a bit of stretch which can be good or bad depending on use. Click on the picture to get some.

Manila: Manila rope is woven from natural hemp fibers and is often seen around landscape and home decorating uses as well as some commercial use. It has a lower stretch than polypropylene and resist snapping due to the tight weave. The negative aspect of using manila rope is the lack of UV and water resistance. This rope may rot and deteriorate when left exposed to the elements for long periods of time making it less suitable for suspended loads outdoors. Click the picture below for some.

Nylon: Nylon rope is one of the most commonly used types of cordage or rigging we use these days. It’s readily available at most hardware and home improvement stores and offers superior strength to size. Its smooth surface and abrasion resistance makes it easy to tie as well as thread through pulleys. It can, however, become waterlogged and lose strength as it gets soaked but it is only a small change and nylon is still used in marine applications on a regular basis. Get some by clicking the picture.

Polyester: Polyester rope is very similar to nylon but may feel softer to the touch. It has many of the same properties as nylon and makes great all purpose rope. One negative is that polyester rope is that its less chemical resistant than nylon. Click the picture to purchase.

Rope Terminology

Standing End: The part of the rope used to pull or lift

Working End: The part of the rope use to form knots.

Bight: A doubled section of rope.

Turn: When a rope goes around and object. A round turn is the act of making a full wrap around the post or object.

What Are The Most Important Knots To Know?

Bowline Knot: One of the most valuable knots known is the bowline. It creates a fixed loop at the working end of a rope that won’t slip or tighten up on itself and its fairly easily loosened when it is time to untie it. It can be handy to loop rope back through to use as a choker or as a way to attach hooks or other implements to the rope that need to move freely in the loop.

Trucker’s Hitch: This knot is used to make a pulley system of sorts out of the rope itself. By pulling the working end around the tie down point then back through the truckers hitch loop, we are able to double the amount of tension placed on the rope with the same effort.

Half Hitch (and Double Half Hitch): A simple knot for a variety of purposes, the half hitch is quick to tie and untie. It shines in situations where attaching things then pulling or lifting them and disconnecting the rope is done repeatedly. Doubling the half hitch makes the knot more secure and reduces the chance of a slip.

Clove Hitch: Another quick method of attaching something to a round object is the clove hitch. It relies on the tension of the rope around its end to secure the knot. The anchor point must be larger in diameter than the rope and round for the clove hitch to be effective.

Cleat Hitch: The cleat hitch is used mainly for mooring and dock lines for boats, however it can be very handy around the homestead and farm as well. Cleats can be purchased at almost any store that sells marine supplies and can be fashioned by connecting wood or metal pieces in a crossed pattern. The cleat hitch is a very quick way to secure the standing end of the rope when used to hoist something on a rack with a pulley or a turn around a smooth object.

Where Can I Learn Other Knots?

There is almost no limit to the varieties and uses of knots so the only practical way to be able to reference all of the knots you may need is to get a guide and practice the ones that seem the most applicable to your likely scenarios. Click on the book below for an excellent knot tying guide.

Or for a more portable guide, try out these pocket cards and rope practice kit.

Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and make money on qualifying purchases.

Why Should I Keep My Old Cell Phone?

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As a society, human beings have become so dependent on our electronic and mechanical devices that we can hardly imagine how we could have ever functioned without. While the best preparedness practices warn against being dependent on technology for our every need, we should also consider the benefits that we can derive from our devices in the scenarios where they still work. Sometimes we can get some use out of phones that we have replaced and are no longer using. Before you toss or trade in a cell phone or other mobile device, read over the information I’ve gathered here and see if it helps you too.

Why Should I Keep My Old Cell Phone?

Between the advances in technology and the planned obsolescence of devices by the manufacturers that need to sell us another phone or tablet before our’s is anywhere near the end of its useful life, many of us wind up upgrading our mobile devices on a fairly regular basis. The mind numbing habit of having instant entertainment at our fingertips all the time and the constant little upgrades leave many of us with a drawer full of perfectly functioning devices that we no longer use.

Caching

The idea of placing caches of supplies in various locations has a lot of merit for preparedness minded individuals. I mention using a cache to store information in my post on internet dependence. You can read it Here. Staging necessities in various locations makes it more likely we will have a location to resupply at before our bug out bag or vehicle survival packs are depleted. With that in mind, placing an old cell phone or tablet in a cache can give us the benefit of many of the other used cell phone tips I mention below. You can get waterproof caching boxes by clicking the picture below.

Emergency Calls

According to 911.gov, all wireless phones can be used to call 911 for emergency services even if they aren’t subscribed to or supported by a specific carrier. This means that leaving an old cell phone charged up can be a life saver if an emergency happens, however there are some important strings attached to that use. First, you still have to have some cellular signal. The phone still has to be able to access a cellular tower to relay the call so its not gonna work in a dead zone, with or without an active subscription. Another important thing to remember is that using an inactive phone to contact 911 will not give them access to your location (This can even happen with active phones so be prepared to give directions or addresses anytime you call 911) The 911 operator will also not be able to call you back if you are disconnected. Keeping these warnings in mind, we can stage our inactive phones in strategic places for emergency contact if needed.

Data Access and Storage

Each cell phone design is different and has capabilities ranging from only phone calls to advanced computing and memory. Most of the smartphones we use today have the storage capacity of huge hard drives from not that long ago. With those capabilities, we can use an inactive phone to store tons of information and documents that, on paper, would take up an unacceptable amount of space in a cache or small safe. A quick internet search of you phones storage capabilities will tell you all about storing and retrieving information on your particular phone model.

Decoys

When most preppers think of operational security, or OPSEC, we consider all of the methods whereby we protect ourselves and our preparations by hiding them or misleading others who might be after our goods. Sometimes to disappear or hide takes more than just packing up and leaving. if we really need to throw off someone, we can take old phones and fill them with false information such as addresses and contacts. False intelligence is often a helpful way to throw others off your trail. Make sure you wipe all other information from the phone before doing this, though.

What Old Phone Accessories Should I Keep?

When I first began using cell phones, i got a new charger every time I got a new phone and it seemed that none of them were compatible with other phones. As cell phones became more computer-like, the shift to data cables from charging cables began. Now most all phones share just a handful of charging/data cable patterns and keeping them now is much simpler. I personally would have at least one matching charging cord/charger for each of my phones as well as a way to charge the phone from a 12 volt source such as the car. Click on the pictures below to get a multi-cable for charging and data and a 12 volt adapter that you can add to all of your caches.

What Should Not Be Left on My Old Cell Phone?

I wish I could give an all inclusive answer to this question, but the best i can say is “it depends.” If the phone in question is used as a diversion, then we should wipe it clean of any information that can be used to track us to our true location or that of our preps. If the phone is used for digital data storage in a cache, then we obviously need the data saved to the phone, however every password and security option that is available on the device should be activated to prevent someone who might stumble on our cache from using our information against us. Depending on the use, we may also chose to disable the gps features like “find my IPhone” if we don’t want the device location traceable. For emergency calls, current information in our I.C.E. (in case of emergency) contacts is vital if we are unable to respond when help arrives.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon affiliate and may make money on qualified purchases.