Emergency Preparedness Water

CCG Note

 *** The opinions and reviews of the following items are strictly those of the Crafty Camper Girl. I have not been compensated in any form by the manufactures and or retailers of these products. ***

 

I have been slowly trying to become more prepared for emergencies. I have been looking for a good way to store a fair amount of water, but do not find 55 gallon barrels very portable or practical for our family's needs. I was doing some research online and found this little gem at The Tractor Supply Co.

 

This is a Leg Style Storage tank that holds 35 gallons. I paid $99.99 for it at my local Tractor Supply Co. store.  This tank can be strapped down to an ATV, placed in the bed of a truck, on a trailer, or in the garage for water storage. (Note the rectangular grooves on each side of the tank)

Pros so far:

I love the small size and portability.

Clear in color so I can see how much water is in the tank.

The tank has gallon markings on the side so you know how much you have used.

The price was reasonable.

 

Cons so far:

The tank does not come with a spicket or a cap for the opening at the bottom of the tank. You need to purchase a way to dispense the water or keep it in the tank. (Kind of frustrating, but the guys at the store were extremely helpful in finding us a solution :) )

We choose a hose spicket with a down turn for dispensing. (Red handle on the tank)  We are trying to decide if Teflon tape will be enough to ensure no leaks or if we will need to go to a food grade plumbers putty.  I will let you know how our experiment turns out.

 

These are a few other options that I found online.

 

This first option is my favorite and I will be purchasing several of these in the near future for our 72 hour kits as well as long term water storage. These are made by the company WaterBrick. They have a couple of different sizes as well as two colors; blue and tan. I am very excited about this product due to its portability and its ability to be stacked in tight places. Also the smaller versions could be carried if needed by both of my children (not young children).

 

 

 

This big guy is from Surewatertanks.com. I would love to have room in my garage for this tank. This is really an option for when you are "bugging in" as they say. A city not far from my home was told not to use their water for three days due to a contamination issue. I do not have enough water on hand to survive 3 days with out making a run to the grocery store, so this tank made me think of how great it would be to have that much water on hand incase of that type of emergency.

And my last find, a portable 8 gallon water tank from Preparedness.com. This is a great crossover from the wheeled ice chest. This would be perfect for a day at the park, beach or short camping trip.

 

 

 So I'm off to clean out my new tank, install a spicket, and add to my emergency water supply.

Have a great week!

CCG

Bathroom Box (Travel and Emergency Preparedness)

 This is a staple item for anyone who travels long distances and has kiddos. (Or not even kiddos I love having this for myself). We lovingly refer to this as our "Bathroom Box". We take this with us wherever we go.

Here are the contents:

Container-use one that fits well in your vehicle and can also fit everything you need.

Toilet Paper- I am not able to use a new roll as it is too big so I get one out of the bathroom that has had a few uses so it will fit.

Soap/Plastic Container-I tried using a zipper baggie for this but it did not last long and looked gross.

Knee High Stocking-When camping we use this to hang the soap from a five-gallon water jug next to the privy for hand washing. Super convenient.

Hand Towel/Wash Rag- We use these when camping or for those "uh-oo" moments in the car when a drink or something spills.

Hand Sanitizer-I am a huge soap and water girl and only use alcohol sanitizer when I do not have a water source. That being said germs still need to get killed so it is nice to have this as a back up.



These items fit nicely into my container and it is placed in a convenient place where we remember to grab it when we leave. Other items we take with it include; a small spade shovel, the "Scotty Potty" (if we are traveling in the truck, it is more stable than a three legged potty) (click on the link for information on the "Scotty Potty") and the privy tent if we are camping.

Other items we have included:

Brown Paper Bags-these are nice for discretely discarding feminine hygiene products.

Plastic Diaper Disposal Bags/Grocery Bags-for diapers/feminine hygiene products when you are not near a trash can.

This little gem has come in handy so many times, including those times when you are at the rest stop/restaurant/gas station and they have run out of one of these items :)

Happy summer travels everyone!

CCG

Camping Checklist

 I'm back!!!

This has been the first time in a long time that we have been able to camp as a family. With me working 6 days a week it has left us little time to camp as a family. Woooo Hooo for us I don't have to do that any more and family campouts are back on the top of the list!!!!!

 

We had a great family camping trip this past long weekend. We camped in one of our favorite spots in the White Mountains. We went fishing, hiking, geocaching, read books and enjoyed the rain and hail (yes we got hailed on!!) and the kidos built an awesome fort!! I wanted to be super prepared and not have to take a whole bunch of stuff so I made list after list, pre-cooked a bunch of the food. Searched Wal-Mart for the kidos favorite Jiffy-Pop, and made sure to have a treat for each night we camped.

 

 

 

It all worked out well and we had a great time, but I wished I had a better check list for meals, activities and things we needed to bring. So thanks to the blogging world I found the Perfect Camping Check List over at Somewhat Simple.com. I was soooo bummed I did not have it for our last campout but next time......... look out!!! Thanks Sarah for sharing your creativity and organizational skills!

Mr. Crafty Camper's First Post, The "Scotty Potty"

So now for his first guest appearance Mr. Crafty Camper will give his tutorial on our favorite latrine accessory. (When you camp as much as we do you like to have a few creature comforts!!) So Mr. Crafty Camper adapted an idea from a friend of ours and made us this little gem!!!


The "Scotty Potty" - in honor of our friend.

First start with a tube framed folding chair like the one above. I found this one at Goodwill for $3. Turn the chair over and remove the screws from the seat. Once the screws are removed the tabs pull out and you can remove the padded seat.





Go to your local hardware store and pick out your favorite toilet seat. For added comfort you could pick the padded version. :) To reduce the number of purchases, cut the existing white tabs from the bottom of the seat. You can see in the picture were I made my cuts. Keep the screws and white plastic tabs for later use. The top of the seat can be tossed (or decorated if you enjoy toilet seat decorations). If you don't want to cut the white plastic tabs, then you will need to find shorter screws to attach the seat to the chair frame. The last thing you want is to be poked in the bottom when you use this contraption.

Take the toilet seat and line it up over the tube frame. Use the metal tabs that the seat came with to secure the new seat. You may need to slightly bend the tabs prior to drilling or screwing to make sure the seat fits level. Decide where you want to attach the seat to the metal clips and then after everything is level, drill the holes in the metal clips only. Line the toilet seat up again and mark the holes from the tabs on the toilet seat so you pre-drill the toilet seat in the correct locations. Drill about 1/4 inch into the toilet seat. Be careful not to drill to far or you will go all the way through the seat.

Use the original screws and the white tabs from the toilet seat and screw them all together. The screw should go through the white plastic tab, then the metal tab, then into the pre-drilled holes in the toilet seat. Make sure they are firm, but do not over screw them or you could break the plastic tabs (spacers).

You are done. Clean up the mess so Mrs. Crafty Camper doesn't get mad at the mess you left for her to clean. Either dispose of the left over parts, or keep them around for some unknown upcoming project.


I hope you enjoyed this funny tutorial from my sweet husband, Mr. Crafty Camper!!! We took this contraption to Girls Camp with us and it was a huge hit!!! The girls thought it was so funny but after they used it they loved it (especially the padded back)!!! I think we are going to have to make another one for camp next year.

Let us know if you make one and send us pics!!!
Also check out the "Bathroom Box" post, it is the perfect companion to the "Scotty Potty"

CCG

I am in my Happy Place!!!

So here in Crafty Camper Girl Land it has been a balmy 65 to 70 degrees. This is perfect ironing in the garden weather. I hate to iron clothes. It is my 2nd to least favorite chore (#1, cleaning bathrooms!). So I decided a few years ago that it would be a happier chore if I could do it outside in my beautiful garden.
So when we remodeled our back yard I had an electrician come in and put an outlet in the garden for Christmas lights and for me to iron in the garden. (Yes I know that this was a ridiculous expense but, the fountain had to have electricity anyway so it wasn't much to just run a line so that I could enjoy being outside in my Happy Place.)

So I enjoyed my ironing in the garden (which could have only been better if my water fountain was working but it is temporarily out of order), while my sweet little girl took her quiet time in the play set watching a movie. It was such a fun day and I got my chores done too!!!