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| Hey Ali! how ready are you for the big one? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sat Nov 9, 2013 9:29 am (578 Views) | |
| wissaboo | Sat Nov 9, 2013 9:29 am Post #1 |
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Ali and I both live in a high risk earthquake zone. But I don't think it matters where you live, there is always going to be some threat of a catastrophic event that will cut off your families supply of food and water for a few days. It could be tsunami or snow or hurricane or avalanche. Tell us, what is the danger where you live and how are you prepared? A few years ago I started and earthquake kit but have never really kept it up and until yesterday I didn't even know where it was. But my plan is to start working on it again and be truly prepared for the worst. I will keep you updated as I go. |
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| Alisium | Sat Nov 9, 2013 9:36 am Post #2 |
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Womb-Raider
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HA! I don't have time to respond now, because I am moving product into my new "preparedness" store. LOL |
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| Mojochi | Sat Nov 9, 2013 10:27 am Post #3 |
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If you want to be safe from horrible natural disasters, do 3 things. Buy boots, buy shovel, & move here. (Upstate N.Y.)
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| ThankYouGeneR | Sat Nov 9, 2013 10:38 am Post #4 |
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I 'will' remember.
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Oooo. This is one of my favorite games, if you will. Though I am seriously serious about it it is also great fun for me. I am part of my local C.E.R.T. organization and recently did a big push to educate our community on the need and ACTION to set up a minimum one gallon per day of water for each member of the household 'for three days' (76 hours). 76 hours of water for every person (=3 gallons) is the absolute minimum every organization from WHO to local city/town rescue groups are near begging every single human to keep on hand. There are just too many things (human and mother nature) that are causing Events these days effecting large segments of people... unexpectedly. And it is 'averaging' 76 hours from Event to restoring infra structure for basic needs. Can't say I'm 'ready' for the big one of course. But I'm readier than all but one of my friends/family. My friend who plans ahead like me lived in an area hit by mother nature a few years back and was turned to to feed, water, comfort, and 'think for' her friends/family who had lightly mocked her hurricane preparedness. They were in dire straits... for a week. If they had each just had three gallons of drinkable water for each household member the difference in their circumstantial panic would have been reduced exponentially. After Safety in any Event, water is the number one most important thing needed for everyone. Water! Just do it! But don't ... do not... keep it in juice containers or milk containers. No matter how good a cleaning job you think you've done. To be 'safe' do not do it! (science and all that) 2 ltr soda/pop bottles are the best (if you're not a die-hard Prepper of course but they are a whole level deeper in preparedness). Cleaned 2 ltr soda/pop bottles filled with tap water if your water supply uses chlorine. Quantity of six... for each household member is three gallons (76 hours worth). Stored in the dark. If you don't have' dark' do what I do, slide a black trash bag over them. That makes 'dark'. LOL Water! Just do it! |
| I will remember. | |
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| Alisium | Sun Nov 10, 2013 12:46 am Post #5 |
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Womb-Raider
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Here cometh a book! I probably do a little more than most, but still not as much as I would like to. Like Wissa said, I live in an area prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (though not for some time in my area). My two options are: Bug-out or Bug-in. Bug-in: More than likely, we'll be bugging in. That is, we'll be staying at home, doing our best to lay low and see how things are going. I may choose to go to work, I may choose to stay home. I even have the option of a mini-bug-out, wherein take my family to work to stay at the "rec area" for a few days. They have cabins and camping areas, so If I still need to work, but I'm uncomfortable leaving my family alone 12 miles away, 10-16 hours a day, I'm not going to. Things I think are important for your home. An emergency box. We have a small box that we've put together that helps keep things together and organized if we have a mild emergency. This box isn't design for anything serious, but keeps some stuff together for us if we have mild issues. We are plagued with power outages and this comes in handy for that kind of thing. I've also used it during the odd half-decadal snow storm that we get, that keeps us from moving around the area. Contents: First aid kit Flashlights & Lanterns with spare batteries for all. Candles and matches. Cordage (550 cord and some thicker clothesline) Cutting tools Wool blankets / space blankets Emergency rations (MRE's and food ration bars). Propane stove w/ propane bottles 4 Yellow Tyvek suits. (High-vis rain gear, we're also plagued with Noah-esque deluges.) Work gloves and knit hats. Ammo Water - We don't worry too much about. We are blessed with high nitrates in our well, due to the raspberry farms close by, so we have a water service w/ cooler. At any point in time I have at least 30 gallons of water in those 5 gallon jugs standing by in our back rooms. I also collect rain water in 50 gallon food grade blue barrels. Food - I like variety, most of you know that about me, so I have a few different options. Short-term food storage - I try to buy extra food at the grocery store, to put aside, whenever we do some major shopping. Usually, Costco is my favorite some bulk staples or those weird canned or packaged foods that turn out to be really good. I am trying to convert now, to making our own food and canning that. Like spaghetti sauce, beef stew, avegolemono soup etc... It seems to be the healthier option, and I know I'm getting food that l like. I don't have Mormon-esque warehouses, but I've got a respectable pantry. This stuff stores for 1 - 3 years typically. Intermediate food storage - This is the ultra high processed foods that will last me 5- 8 years stored in a cool dry environment. Mainly, MRE's and food ration bars. I have a mixture of MRE's from US Military MRE's, to MRE's from three different types of civilian companies (actually they make the MRE's for the military, but, by law, have to packaged them differently for civilians.) I also purchase "Soldier Fuel" bars from Meal Kit Supply (for whom I am a dealer). This stuff ads to my pantry, gives me variety, gives me an all inclusive nutritional meal, with several courses, that will fill my family up with little work needed. I don't have to add water to most of this, a boon. Long-term food storage - These are foods that will sit in my pantry for 25 years if left unopened and unmolested. They're vacuum packed, with desiccants, oxygen absorbers and sometimes nitrogen flushed. I have several options: Legacy Foods - I like this company because they use only US / Canadian grown products. Nothing from over seas (China) where the quality is dubious. Everything is non-GMO, and mostly organic with a low sodium content. These foods come in pre-package and ready to eat, just ad water and heat. Mountain House - This is the great-grandaddy of long term food storage. They also taste the best. There's no accounting for their product sourcing, but if you're starving, a hot nutritious meal is all that really matters. The company is out of Oregon, so I don't worry to much about quality. Do it myself bulk food - I package a lot of rice, beans, flours, mixes and spices in mylar bags for myself (well actually my business partner does it for me). This gives me staples in the event that I want to add to something else, or create something entirely new and different. Pet food - Luna (black lab) and Mr. Cat (fuzzball frienemy) will augment the extra dog and cat food i purchase with local birds and other neighborhood cats and dogs. I want to do more, there's other companies that offer different items that I like, like "Shelf Reliance" and "Harveston Farms", in order to round out my list of chow. But, prepping is a journey more than a destination, so it'll come along eventually, then I'll decide I need something different. Hunting and Gathering - One thing I can say nice about my area, is all the available food. I won't ever want for milk, raspberries, cheese and beef. We have all that right here. There's also tons of local farms now that are becoming increasingly popular that provide vegetables, fruits and more. One thing that we have done, is make a habit of picking up food from local producers and getting to know some of them by name. In the event of an emergency, we are a known quantity and that puts us ahead of others. Hunting on the other hand is different. I have yet to go hunting up here and have done only the littlest bit of fishing. I can do both, but the state laws are so ridiculous, it makes it nearly impossible for me, to find the time to abide by them to go hunting. For one thing, our modern firearms season is about 2 weeks long. Maybe three. But, they're usually during my busiest time (working 12 hour shifts 6 to 7 days a week), so I completely miss out. And I don't bow hunt (my bad), so my skill are rusty. I could hunt and fish, because there's crazy game to be had, but my skills need improvement if I were going to try to rely on that. I'd have to import Williamslake for serious training and help. Emergency seeds - in case things get really fucked, I have a fair amount of non-GMO, heirloom seeds. I was with a Hobbit's love for a good till of the earth. I make things grow. Household goods Tools - I have a variety of antique and purpose built tools for the shop and the kitchen. From hand powered drills to table top meat grinders. We actually try to incorporate a lot of these things into daily life so that, we aren't stuck trying to learn a new language in the event of an emergency. My list isn't exhaustive and I still need more, but I think we'd be okay. Textiles - extra clothes, and blankets. Patches, thread and the know how to make repairs. Candles - Up all over our house. They're up to look like Bead Bath and Beyond decorations. And they are to an extent. But they are strategically placed to offer up as much light as possible. We also have oil and electric lanterns available to help out. Heat - We have gas, as long as the issue is only electricity, we'ere fine there. If not... Well, I've taken precautions. First, we've invested in good curtains. A good heavy curtain on windows will help hold heat in better than you'd think. Glass is a heat sink, and when the air on the other side is icy, it'll wick away heat like nobody's business. I also took the opportunity to split my house into with the use of a heavy curtain in our hall-way. This keeps the air flow down and prevents heat loss. Especially if my central air isn't working. Like I said above, I've stocked up on extra clothes and blankets to layer ourselves in, if we need it. As far as actual heat, I'm kinda screwed. I have a wood stove, but no where to put it in my house. I could make one, but that would be something that would have to wait until shit hits the fan for real and it'd take a while. My fire wood is also limited to a small pile behind my shop. I do have trees, but everything would be green and wet, not the best to try to burn. I won't have an open flame in the house because of the fire danger and the even greater threat of CO poisoning. Propane heaters and a generator (which my house is set up for ) are on my to do list. Our best bet is to huddle, in one small space and improvise. One option on the latter, is to heat large rocks in a fire outside and bring those into the house, or have a fire on my concrete patio and devise a way to reflect the heat back into the house. Still works in progress. Fuel - Propane, lamp oil and gasoline. As much as is reasonable. Gas is mostly for bugging out. Electricity - I have several small fold-able solar chargers. Great for things like cell phones and lap-tops. Like I said earlier, a generator is also on my to do list. Money - Barter and trade. In the event there's a problem with "money" or the situation renders your dollars useless for any reason, (like, "Whats $1000 dollars going to buy me, there's no fucking food at the store!") I have several options. Gold and silver. Yes, that stuff that's been actual real money for the last 5000 plus years, but is all of a sudden the domain of the crazies. It's real actual money, not the fiat currency that is magically generated and lives as 0's and 1's in a computer. It's real money will eventually come back in demand (if the disaster is long term) that will give you the power of trade. Skills - learn a trade, and trade your service for another service or product. Hooch - I don't drink whiskey , but lots of you folk do. So, I have quite a bit put aside for trade. Hershey bars- because who wouldn't kill for chocolate Ammo - cheap ass .223 and .22 ammo that I don't use. Seeds - not the good stuff I have for my family, and it's probably a futile thing, but someone may be desperate enough. Bitcoin - cause if it's a currency collapse, The smart money is on gold, silver, copper and crypto currencies. A beautiful wife .... j/k...or am I? Home defense: - Yes, I am an American, I have rifles and guns. Enough to do what I need. I run drills with my family and they all know how to use something. Knowledge - Books, lots of them. e.g. A while back I bought the whole Time-Life Do It Yourself series at my library for something like $5. But, I collect books on everything from square-foot gardening to chemistry to engine repair. I also download a shit loads of YouTube "how-to" videos, databases, all of Wikipedia and PDF's to several external 1TB hard drives. Classes, whenever I can. This summer our company is going to be offering a wild-land medicine course, taught by a friend of mind of is a river guide and helps train the local Search and Rescue team. I'll be in that class for sure. Learning is continuous. The more you know, the better off you'll be. Practice - You can have all the best tools in the world. The best weapons. The best food. The best location. The best books. The best videos and the best everything else. It's going to do very little good if you don't know anything or have never actually used any of your knowledge in the real world. We get out and try to practice our craft or run drills in the house, or just use the shit we buy as often as we can. We don't want to have to reinvent the wheel when there's an emergency. Otherwise, someone will just get hurt, or worse, die. That's about all I can think of for a bug-in / stay at home scenario Bugging-Out: When my home situation becomes untenable. Reliable vehicles - I have two vehicles, but only one that I would rely on, my 2010 Dodge Caliber. Not enough space, I need a truck. That's next...probably. But, it's a good car. You MUST keep up on your vehicle maintenance and keep your fuel tank topped - off. The latter is a challenge for me sometimes as I hate pumping my own gas and fighting the Canadians for a spot at the pump. Emergency car kit - Cool stuff in it like road flares, rations, first aid kit, fix-a-flat. cables, space blankets, etc. I want to buy an emergency batter charger for the car battery. Two wool blankets in my car - I love wool blankets. The kind I used in the military. So durable and versatile. An olive drab tarp. Duct tape (OD 100 mph military version) and electrical tape. Go-bags - For each member of my family. They have things like a Sleep system with a Gore-tex bivy, MRE's and ration bars, water filters, mess kit, knives, 550 cords, instructions, maps, water, steel bottles, combustibles, Ponchos (can be used for concealment and hasty tents), toilette paper, hygene gear (toothbrush, past, soap, wet-ones), extra socks / warming layers, balaclavas, individual first aid kits w/ trauma kits etc... not an exhaustive list but most of it, and it varies by bag. My pack has extra rifle parts and I spread load extra ammo between my son, wife and I. I also have a single "I'm never coming home" (INCH) bag with lots of goodies, like extra food, ammo, silver etc. that's a GP bag that gets thrown in with everything else. Maps in the car - with several routes out of my location. My options are up into Canada (not likely with my rifles and if it's an emergency, they may close the borders), up over/into the mountains and down through Seattle. Seattle would be an option of extreme - last resort. The mountains would be my best bet. East of the Cascades is my destination, where we have family that lives and works on a ranch in a very small town, over 130 miles away from the next closest town. As much crap from inside my house as I can load. My biggest limitation is my goran vehicle. I can't fit too much into it. I pack like a pro, but my skills must give way to physics. Next on my expensive "to do" list is a truck and trailer. Or even a good van. I have detailed lists that I give to my customers, if anyone is really interested, PM me and I'll be glad to share. I think I went a little overboard, but this is something that I do, I guess professionally now. So I vomited it all over you guys. Sorry. |
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| spocklet | Sun Nov 10, 2013 5:54 am Post #6 |
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Live long and prosper.....!!
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UK or US, we don't really live in high-risk areas, but yeah always a good idea to be prepared just in case !! Mattress to hide under - check !! Case of rum for liquid - check !! Bag of nibbles for food - check !! Empty bucket (you can figure that one out) - check !! Yup, we're ready !! (Sorry, couldn't resist it !!) Actually, you'll also need a gun and plenty of ammo, to deal with the roving bands of morons and idiots who will be out looking for people like you, when the shops are finally looted of stock !! |
| R.I.P. Gummy, we'll miss you bro | |
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| VioletCloud | Sun Nov 10, 2013 7:57 am Post #7 |
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Water Tribe!
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I live in Florida, so for us it is Hurricanes. My personal kit is fairly small, just some basic stuff. Almost like a camping kit. Emergency blankets, candles, propane, flashlights etc. I think the biggest threat from hurricanes, is shelter, water and looting. Looting is pretty extreme, Ive never seen that in my area. Im nicely perched in tampa, we very rarely get a direct hit from a hurricane, they usually strike south of us. In an event that it was a direct hit... I would pack up my meager supplies, guns and head to my grandmothers house, where all the family will be gathering. and make better plans from there surviving as a family unit. Last time we had a major thing in my area was 2004( the hurricane actually hit about an hour south in punta gorda)... which we were out of power for 2 weeks. there was pretty much no road debris. we all gathered at my aunts house, because she had two freezers... emptied all our frozen groceries in her freezers hooked up my brothers generator (hes always well prepared) plugged in a couple fans and camped out. |
All my posts are done from my tablet. I apologize for all strange errors in my posts... as swype hates me. ![]() | |
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| wissaboo | Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:20 am Post #8 |
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good grief. I have to come back and finish ali's later. ![]() When the big one hits though where I am is going to be in a worse position than where he is I'm afraid. It's gonna take longer for help to get to the island. And I"m planning for not being able to safely go into the house. |
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| stigmata | Sun Nov 10, 2013 8:27 am Post #9 |
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I think the general expectation among Brits is that any disaster will be mild enough for us to gamely ignore it and carry on as usual, or it will be bad enough to kill us all so there's not much point worrying |
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| Mojochi | Sun Nov 10, 2013 9:50 am Post #10 |
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Honestly, where I am, I figure that's the prevailing attitude as well. So very little by way of natural disaster, almost none in my lifetime. One 30 minute flash storm, (derecho) in '98 that uprooted trees & put people out of power for a bit, & a couple blizzards, in '93 & '96, that slowed us up a wee bit. For the most part, nothing that required all out emergency action On the other hand, a man-made catastrophe would probably just finish us in a flash But at the risk of tempting fate, we don't really get natural disasters, tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, etc... extremely minimal flooding, and any hurricane that comes our way his underwhelming once it hits the Hudson Highlands & the Catskills Seriously, if you have a plow you can put on your truck, you have no worries here. I realize that in other places our kind of wintry conditions is considered a natural disaster that many people die from, but in all honesty the singular thing this place is better at than maybe anywhere else in the world is snow management & handling winter conditions. We ought to market our knowledge of it somehow. I've literally seen snow banks packed onto road margins as high as a bus, & we just keep on going like it's nothing
Jesus Christ, Dude. I'll take my canyon-esque snow banks over that crap in a N.Y. minute No worries
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| Alisium | Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:52 am Post #11 |
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Womb-Raider
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I remember the blizzard of '93. My dad had me out shoveling the deck during the actual blizzard. At one point, lightning struck near by. I made the leap from the middle of the deck to inside the house in one cowardly bound. Our drive-way looked a lot like your picture. We had an Oliver with a front loader on it so we got out after a good afternoon's worth of digging. Here life comes to a halt with anything more than a few inches. And they don't plow, they scrap up the top layers and compress the rest into a nice sheet of ice, because they don't want to put the actual plow on the ground for fear of hurting the asphalt. Chains are a must here just to go to the store. |
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| Mojochi | Sun Nov 10, 2013 12:00 pm Post #12 |
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So that's probably why people get dead in other places of the world, when there's only a foot of snow. Too many hills around here for us to not plow right to the ground
Chains hurt the asphalt too. They've made them illegal here for that reason. Hell, we're one of the last places on earth to still salt our roads (We have a natural abundance of salt here anyhow) Hell on your car body, but nothing better for making roads drivable. Load up with a few 50lb bags of sand in back & you're golden |
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| stigmata | Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:02 am Post #13 |
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We grit the roads in icy weather, but we don't have snow ploughs because it never snows that heavily. Contrary you might see in films, it almost never snows in England at Christmas. Never in my lifetime. |
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| wissaboo | Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:13 am Post #14 |
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I'd be interested in a list that would keep a family of 4 going for a week. I'm hoping in the next couple of years to have a trailer to rely on, but even then in the winter water is going to be a problem. You can't leave water in the lines of a trailer even in our mild climate. |
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| Alisium | Mon Nov 11, 2013 1:04 pm Post #15 |
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Womb-Raider
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This I can do. |
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| Mojochi | Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:15 pm Post #16 |
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this thread is interesting to read
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| AWOLangel | Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:34 pm Post #17 |
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weather, mostly snow, some flooding & an occasional stray tornado. we're not much prepared for a "big event." we try to have enough food on hand for 3 or 4 days, we have some first aid stuff & some blankets. we're probably frelled if something major happens. |
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All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.--Abraham Lincoln | |
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| Alisium | Mon Nov 11, 2013 9:40 pm Post #18 |
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Womb-Raider
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Wissa, how many do you have to prep for? |
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| wissaboo | Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:01 pm Post #19 |
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4 two adults and two kids |
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| wissaboo | Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:01 pm Post #20 |
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oh, and a dog |
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, but lots of you folk do. So, I have quite a bit put aside for trade. 






1:34 AM Jul 13
