Old 08-05-2011, 11:25   #721
TOMAHAWK9521
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Well, I got caught up on this thread finally. I re-read it from the beginning and the only thing I can add is a couple of tools to carry in the vehicles.

One is a webbing knife like we used for airborne operations or carried on our kit. I have a Benchmade model in one of the overhead compartments so anyone in the truck can access it. I also have an Ontario Knife Company aviation crash axe in my truck. It's exactly like the ones you see in the C-130's, 141's, 17's, etc.

My reason for the axe was I could have used it years ago when I was coming home after guiding for the fall season. I came upon a small pickup lying on its side in the east-bound side of I-70, just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel. I was one of the first vehicles to get there and the FD was still enroute. The girl was stuck down in the cab and the passenger door was proving to be a problem to keep open while rescuers tried to pull her out. The only help I could provide was lashing the door open with a 120' that I was carrying so they could concentrate on helping the girl. When the FD showed up they said thanks to all for our efforts up to that point and then pretty much cut the truck open and pulled her out.

That incident made me think about the safety briefs we used to get from the air crews about using those axes to cut a hole in the side of the plane after a crash landing or some other SHTF situation. I figured one of those axes would make short work of a car/truck hood, window, windshield, or door in an emergency situation. I picked one up for about $60 and carry it in the truck always. A good modern tomahawk will also take any automobile apart as well but I try to match the right tool for the specific job.
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Old 08-25-2011, 16:51   #722
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Might be timely to mention the FEMA studies that looked into why there tends to be traffic lock ups when Hurricane evacuations happen. They found during evacuations that the average family takes all their vehicles with them, a family of four may evacuate in four cars. If you plan on leaving probably better to do so as early as possible.
If you stay or return quickly have some good ice chests, lots of water min. 1gal/person/day, preferably more. It helps to have enough to help those who don't. It can sometimes help to have supplies for power crews when they get to your area ( like some good food and cold drinks) it might make the difference in how fast power is returned to your house or area. Tarps can save you thousands of dollars in damage if you can cover damaged roofs from subsequent rains and weather. You may benefit from some good bug netting. Stay safe.
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Old 09-09-2011, 07:24   #723
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Flooding in the northeast, storms in the southeast/coastal regions, fires in south central, power outages in southwest, failed ecomonies, failed/bankrupt states, high costs of fuel, unemployment stress, healthcare costs, green energy loans, ($500MM lost), a failed administration, an upcoming election, small town shooting,...

am I missing anything?

I've started a Risk Matrix in excel, but I cant hyperlink solar sun spot activity, a Mayan time stamp or jihadist extremists, elem schools not allowing the Pledge of Allegience or prayer.
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Old 09-09-2011, 07:47   #724
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Just spent all Wednesday night bailing water out of my basement, that never had a problem before. Water came in via draining areas. Was up for 27 hours.

Sub-pump working on AC, glad to have generator .


Moved 900+ gals throughout the night by using a wet/dry shop vac. Next day once Bass Pro opened up, got a 12 volt bilge pump, with automatic switch, one that is used in my bass boat. Its been on since yesterday, 9/8/11,
working like a camp and its 12 volts. Its keeping up with the water that is still coming in. Will plug with hydro-lock from Lowe's.


Point is the crap you come up with when push comes to shove....share.

AL

PS that two hurricanes to hit Maryland and the east-coast. Now the mold fight starts.... Be safe be ready
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Old 09-09-2011, 22:08   #725
TOMAHAWK9521
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Harrisburg, PA flooding

I got this email from my little sister yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that she and her family were so well prepared for this hurricane. I forgot that both she and her husband work in the insurance business-claims and adjustment. That might explain their forethought in preparation for the flooding disaster. Good on her!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all! As you may or may not know, we've been in the direct path of the remnants of Tropical Storm (or whatever his designation is) Lee for the last 3 days. We have managed to stay dry and our 2 pumps in the basement have amazingly kept up with the 10 + inches of rain. although they are running non stop. Neighbors on both sides and several in our neighborhood have taken on water. Schools will be closed again tomorrow because many of the roads in our outer areas of our school district are flooded or washed out. The PA turnpike has been closed in both directions from Reading, PA to Harrisburg. Hershey and Hersheypark are under water. Two of the bison at the Hershey Zoo were actually drowning and had to be put down. We're waiting for the rivers and creeks to crest, some 12 feet over flood stage locally. We're away from any direct water threat, but our water and sewage treatment plants are under water and we are under a boil order and may lose water at anytime (Got showers in tonight ;D).

Anyway, we're fine as we can be and stocked up on bottled water and filled up the bathtubs just in case for the toilets and such. We're very fortunate to have come through this as well as we have so far. Just hope our luck keeps up, as the rain has been relentless and with all the rain we've already had in the last month, there's just really nowhere for it to go.
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Old 09-09-2011, 22:25   #726
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Originally Posted by albeham View Post
PS that two hurricanes to hit Maryland and the east-coast. Now the mold fight starts.... Be safe be ready
Get a trigger sprayer that fits the large (1 qt) Hydrogen Peroxide Bottles and hose the area down. Mold HATES H2O2 and it's not as caustic as Clorox etc.!!

Good luck!
Martin
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Old 09-10-2011, 05:19   #727
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Get a trigger sprayer that fits the large (1 qt) Hydrogen Peroxide Bottles and hose the area down. Mold HATES H2O2 and it's not as caustic as Clorox etc.!!

Good luck!
Martin
Will do..Thanks

AL


Water still flowing....
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Old 09-16-2011, 17:45   #728
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Wear safety glasses or some kind of eye protection while you are spraying... Some of these things are hell on mucuous membranes...
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Old 09-22-2011, 12:52   #729
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Originally Posted by albeham View Post
Next day once Bass Pro opened up, got a 12 volt bilge pump, with automatic switch, one that is used in my bass boat. Its been on since yesterday, 9/8/11, working like a camp and its 12 volts. Its keeping up with the water that is still coming in. Will plug with hydro-lock from Lowe's.
Just re-reading after talking with gent on HF from Mystic, CT (like the pizza) who got some of Irene after downgrade to TS. Idea you cite above is in category my wife would call scathingly brilliant. Thanks for the lightbulb.

FWIW, Mystic man was on city water, a bit higher than town, and was g2g once he was done buying a gen post-incident (at 2x MSRP). Those gloating that they had wells didn't gloat so much when the com'l AC went out as no way to make it defy gravity...
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Old 09-22-2011, 16:06   #730
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Just re-reading after talking with gent on HF from Mystic, CT (like the pizza) who got some of Irene after downgrade to TS. Idea you cite above is in category my wife would call scathingly brilliant. Thanks for the lightbulb.

FWIW, Mystic man was on city water, a bit higher than town, and was g2g once he was done buying a gen post-incident (at 2x MSRP). Those gloating that they had wells didn't gloat so much when the com'l AC went out as no way to make it defy gravity...
They need a cistern or a holding tank above the level of the house.

Alternately, a medium sized generator, or a battery bank with a big inverter (or a DC pump motor, but the holding tank helps with all of those methods as well.

TR
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Old 09-26-2011, 13:42   #731
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Rapid Boot/Shoe Drying using Shopvac

Heres a tip that might come in handy sometime when you are in a hurry to get something dried out:

Place the hose on the exhaust port on the Shopvac rather than the vacuum port so you are blowing air. Place hose inside boot or shoe. Depending on boot/shoe construction, an absolutely soaking wet boot or shoe will dry in 5-25 minutes. Repeat process on other boot/shoe.

I figured this one out when I needed a pair of absolutely soaked tennis shoes dried very quickly. Waiting for my Peet boot drier to dry them overnight was not an option. I was very impressed with the result. Each shoe was thoroughly dry in 5 minutes.

I have used this on all manner of footwear since.

You are using a high volume of air slightly warmed from the Shopvac motor, and no real heat to speak of. You are just increasing the evaporation rate about 1000-fold. I have not seen any damage result from this on any of my footwear when I have used this method.

It works on socks, gloves, and other clothing too.

Last edited by Axe; 09-26-2011 at 13:50. Reason: Grammatical error
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Old 12-26-2011, 10:00   #732
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Earlier this year my whole AO got flooded really bad. 15 feet of water with 60% of the population living in the floodzone. When the guard got called in from a state over, me and my battlebuddy show up in full kit, drenched up to our nipples, asking where to report. I get stuck in the TOC getting coffee for this grisly old MSG (when most of these guard units didnt show up until after responding to worse areas, and hadnt slept in 48 hours). As supply guy for my ROTC platoon I had in my ruck several copies of DoD maps of the area in 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 which I give them becuase these motherfuckers ARE USING GOOGLE EARTH (and their cellphones for commo even though the towers are overloaded.) After an hour or so a 2LT pulls me asside and asks what unit I'm with.

"Excelsior Batt 1st Co 3rd Plt Sir"

"no I mean your Guard unit, who do you SMP with?"

"we're not SMP sir, just ROTC"

This guy throws a shit fit about regulations and how cadets can't support active military operations, even though I'm just grabbing coffee and helping this computer illiterate E-5 type up squad rotations on microsoft word. the MSG comes out to rip my head off about his coffee and gets into it with the LT. 30 minutes later me and my battlebuddy get taken home in a 2 ton, and we're sitting on our front porch drinking beers watching some guy raft down the street at the bottom of the hill our street sits on with "dude, WTF just happened?" looks on our faces. Really pissed me off becuase it was OUR hometown and wanted to do something about it. Ya know pull little kids out of the current and shit. Anyway, we had a stockpile of canned goods and water in the basement, but it got flooded with run off comming down the hill. 24hrs no electricty, 48 no running water, 2 weeks boiling it. turned into a major PITA, and could have been much worse.

AND THEY NEVER GAVE ME MY FUCKING MAPS BACK

The whole experience leaves me with a lack of confidence in disaster response around here. besides, theres no reason not to be prepared.

That being said, my current bug out bag is as follows:

Standard issue MOLLE2 Ruck with Wet weather & Gortex suits, Polypro top& bottom, 3 peice sleeping bag & foam matt. Kindle with small library of FM's and local flora& fuana on pdf in waterproof bag, 6 feild stripped MRE's, duck tape, 100' 550 cord, 50' nylon rope, zippo, flint, 4' gerber tactical knife hatchet & sharpening stone, signaling mirror, whistle, 1 canteen cup, 3 canteens & 7oz Camelback + purification tablets, Maps & protractor, 8x10x16 Binos, med kit. spare change of clothes with crapload of OD green socks. 2 rite in rain notebooks.

Med Kit: dental floss & needles, guaze rolls, cravats, dressings, 1 Tq, double barrel stetho & BP cuff, rebreather mask, Various sized OPA's
penlight & non-laytex hypo allergenic gloves. bacardi 150, ibeuprofin, advil, tylenol, caffein pills, over the counter sleep aids.

theres a large variety of different kinds of sh!t that can hit the fan around here, and I lack the resources to properly prepare for them all. However the one common thread in any scenario I can think of, is that they can all be solved by "GTFO of the affected area". setting up a fortress and holding it off until help arrives is limited by the amount of food&water you can stockpile, and how long you can defend it. being mobile alows more options. Firewood is abundant in 200 miles in any direction, with fire, boiling water from the numerous rivers around or snow in the hills with addition to dew traps cover water year round. As for shelter, the bivvy sack has served me well in sub zero tempuratures, anything else as far as comfort can be improvised. my family was homeless my freshman year of highschool so I can make an abandoned building damn near luxurious. the only real disadvantage of this approach is food. obviously can't carry more than a few days worth on your back, so hunting-gathering-scavanging skills come into play. Suppose setting up a stockpile in an isolated area not likely to be looted would be a good idea. also even the most basic medical training will probably be in short supply, so i suppose I could link up with someone who has some, and exchange one for the other if the opportunity presents itself.

I'll be adding some new items to the list and reveiwing my plan after reading this thread. any criticism/advice is obviously welcomed and encouraged.

Incase I stepped out of my lane here, I'll push out 50 and STFU until told otherwise.
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Old 02-03-2012, 11:14   #733
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After hearing Isreal might strike Iran in the next few months freezedryguy just got some bussiness. Thanks stingray and koz for the info.
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Old 02-03-2012, 18:30   #734
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I'm filling up my vehicles and my spare gas cans and hitting them with Sta-Bil this weekend.

Time to test run the generator and charge the battery bank as well.

I'll hold off on filling up my water supply tank till the power goes out. Probably a good time to grab a couple of fresh packets of pool shock.

Might also be a good time time to take a look in the freezer and the cupboard and see what we need to stock up on.

If nothing happens, we can dump the gas in the cars, and skip a few trips to the grocery store. Nothing lost.

TR
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Old 02-09-2012, 21:49   #735
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Did anyone see the premiere of "Doomsday Preppers" this past Tuesday on NatGeo? LINK

Hour long program, broken up into 3 segments. Each segment was a different person, prepping for a different scenario. When I saw the previews for this show, I couldn't tell if it was serious or if the producers were making fun. After watching the first 2 shows, some of the featured preppers do seem wacky, but there were a few good ideas here and there.

At the end of each segment NatGeo had their "expert" (unidentified) evaluate the person's plan, grade it and provide feedback. It was done respectfully, but not always received enthusiastically by the prepper.

Biggest surprise is that they tell you where each prepper lives. All you have to do to survive is find one of these people's houses and clean them out.

The first 2 shows are being re-aired this weekend. New shows are Tuesdays @ 2100 EST.

Love to hear what some of you think about it....
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