Fear not, she of the deciduous derriere! You have more than enough space in your head, and should not seek to add any more, lest you chance even more frequent misfires.

Teeth
 

I was looking into dental first aid. I really hope I never encounter the situation where I need it performed on me. Anyway, here's what I've found so far...

Common Dental Emergencies

The World Health Organization has developed a process known as Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). The ART technique involves caries removal and tooth filling with adhesive filing materials using hand instruments only, no drills. It has been specifically designed to be delivered by people with limited experience in dental procedures under primitive field conditions.

Atraumatic Restorative Technique Demonstration

ART - WHO website

Instrument set for the WHO ART process

oops... sorry MW. I have been swamped at home trying to fish at least 12 hours a day on the weekends.:D I will get you something posted soon. If not, keep smacking me with the obvious posts. LOL

Sac -
you forgot to mention the 5w handheld that icom makes for west marine - will run off a recxhargeable LiOn or AAs - great feature. on sale West sells them for about $140. Mine has a good 30 mi range at 5w, and it will scann all 10 Wx bands.

West is also a great place to get line.

Btw - pm me re boats - are you a sail or motor guy?

What has your experience been like with the Icom units? They look nice, but I read a review where they failed the dunk test, so I've been focusing on the Uniden and Standard Horizon models.

I love mine - it's been rained on pretty fiercely, in the bottom of a dinghy with 6" of H2O, dropped, hung off my stern pulpit in the heat and rain and cold and still works like a champ - very well sealed, of course I try to take care of it, but competitive sailing doesn't always allow that. Haven't dropped it into 6' of H2O yet, and hope I never do...

Go for one wit hthe West marine branding - the warranty is better, and has full replacement.

Rather than a marine band radio I would go with an aviation band transceiver. Try raising Coast Guard Station Wichita sometime. Since VHF/UHF comms are LOS only, “up” gives you better range. Even if you’re on a boat in mid-ocean you will have aircraft flying over monitoring (supposedly) 121.5. There are NAV/COM units (which I have not used) that might prove useful in some instances.

Pat

Thanks, I just ordered the M32 with lithium ion battery. The price at West Marine was $150 after rebate. It should make a great addition to the pack that I keep in the back of the truck.

Thanks!
 

Thanks, Great info! Looks like you put alot of time and effort into this in order to keep us informed. Really appreciate it. :)

JP

Great work!
 

Excellent information everyone. I would like to especially thank Mr. Reaper for his first two posts, as they both reinforced and more narrowly defined my plan of attack in designing the best disaster preparation and response for my area.

Given a few days I will likely have the basics, if not the more advanced items worked out, or addressed in some form, to account for the most likely scenario in my area.

Just a thought about getting anything battery operated: If possible, maybe get them so that all your gear works on the same batteries. I know that some can't, but if your radio, flashlight, etc all work on AAs, you don't have to keep different types.

Our GPS system works on AAs and so do our strobes. That way, if the GPS goes TU, we can use the batts from the strobe, for example.


Important radio frequencies:


121.50: This is the international aeronautical emergency frequency

138.225: This is the prime disaster relief operations channel used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; it is active during earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other catastrophic events.

154.28: Used for inter-department emergency communications by local fire departments; 154.265 and 154.295 also used.

155.160: Used for inter-department emergency communications by local and state agencies during search and rescue operations.

155.475: Used for inter-department emergency communications by local and state police forces.

156.75: This channel is used internationally for broadcasts of maritime weather alerts.

156.80: This is the international maritime distress, calling, and safety channel. All ships must monitor this frequency while at sea. It is also heavily used on rivers, lakes, etc.


I got these from:

http://www.dxing.com/scanfreq.htm

What no FOX NEWS or SPORTS? :confused:

PM inbound

Radios
 

I forgot I had my little scanner sitting beside my desk. I only turn it on during bad weather or an emergency.

The Fayetteville area has gone to the 800mz trunked system and you need a programable trunk scanner.

Since I'm not an 18E it took me most of the first weekend to scan the user freq.s and start locking out the trash men, bus system, parks etc and get down to City/County Police, Fire Dept and State Patrol.

For normal listening I lock out the County and State just because of the traffic load. Even with that the city uses a number of channels and to scan all of them you miss a lot of traffic.

This thread really got me thinking about all the little ways that life can go sideways, and how I can prepare without going overboard. The goal of my preparations is to allow me to respond to accidents or threats confidently and decisively, whether that means defending myself, rendering aid to others in distress, bugging out on foot or in a vehicle for up to four days, or falling back to a safe spot with family members for an extended period of time.

I decided to follow a tiered approach. This means that for each category that TR originally named, I've thought about what needs to be:

1. In my vehicle (using a dedicated pack in the back of a heavy SUV)

2. At my home

3. At our family's rally point in event of a large-scale disaster

Here is what I have done so far:

Breathable air: Purchased 200 N95 masks (3M 9211's w/ respirator). Four in the pack, the rest stored at home.

Escape: Added a 3" wrecking bar and come-along w/ rope and chain to back of truck. I am considering replacing the wrecking bar with a multi-purpose fireman's tool.

Navigation: Nav CDs and a good road atlas for the truck. Ranger Silva and topo maps of three areas where I know I can go on little notice and avoid contact with others. Waterproof map case and RiR pads for notes. (I figure that a little redundancy is justified in this area).

Rehydration: Sealed tub of powdered gatorade in the truck. More at home.

Personal defense: 1911 on my person or in the truck at all times. 4x CMC 10 rd. mags in the pack. Harsey T2 and multitool in the pack. Carbine w/ extra mags, 1000 rds. of rifle ammo and 500 rds. of handgun ammo at home. Other family members have their own defense items well sorted out.

Shelter & Warmth: Waterproof tarp, stakes and tie-downs in the truck. 2 space blankets, a light shell, fleece gloves and cap, polypro top and dry socks in a ziploc bag in the pack. Sleeping bag and tent are kept at home.

Light: Petzl Tikka LED headlamp in the pack for hands-free use. Surefire G2 and assorted chem lights, 10 extra 123A's also in pack. 100 extra 123As at home.

Water: 4L bottled water in truck. Miox purifier, empty hydro bladder and 2 empty Nalgene bottles in pack. 15 gallons of bottled water at home. Wading pool and drop cloths being purchased for family rally point.

Food & Cooking: 4x large Mountain House meals and MSR stove in pack. Looking into a deep freeze and generator for the family retreat.

Sanitation: Etool, hand sanitizer and wet wipes in pack. Pool shock at home for makeshift slurry pit.

Communications: Car charger for cell phone. ICOM M32 VHF radio w/ li ion battery in pack. Car charger for that as well. Orange M18 for signaling help, other uses, in pack.

Fuel: Syphon kit in truck. 4x 5 gallon Specter fuel cans at home give the truck an 800 mile range w/out stopping for gas, if need be. That is sufficient to get me to any of the four spots I have determined to go. Cinch strap to hold them together when full.

Weak points that I am aware of and am working on are first aid and provisions for the family rally point. I have a really basic FAK in the pack that includes items mentioned in other threads, but the process of putting it together has made me sensitive to just how little I know about this area. I'm considering the Wilderness First Responder course that NOLS is offering in September in Chile, since I was planning on being in SA for most of the month anyway.

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions (lurkers included!). :)