Be Prepared

[MtnGoat]

I had this emailed to me and thought it should be posted. Some good Info for the home.

http://www.lacetoleather.com/hom.html

[Peregrino]

Originally Posted by MtnGoat

I had this emailed to me and thought it should be posted. Some good Info for the home.

http://www.lacetoleather.com/hom.html

MG - Thanks, I fwd'd the link to the wife. (If I keep fanning the embers, I might actually get a spark to ignite.)

Given your current location, I'm guessing that if you could implement the survival strategies/technologies and add a little "redneck engineering" you could raise the local standard of living to at least the 19th century.

Be careful and have fun. Peregrino

[PSM]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I am thinking bigger than a wading pool and closed from the elements. The military stores water in blivets. This made me look at a commercially available alternative.

We have an unused water bed mattress that will connect directly to a water hose. They can probably be found at yard sales and the like for a few dollars. New mattress bladders are less than $100. I am thinking that rinsed out well to remove any traces of algecide, with a little chlorine added, it will be easily stored in my crawl space under the house and can hold a couple of hundred gallons of water. I could actually store quite a few down there. By my calculations, a Queen mattress should hold over 220 gallons and a King around 300. That should keep a careful family of four in drinking water for more than six weeks.

If I reconnect the hose and locate the running end down hill, I can even have running water.

Has anyone else considered this?

TR

We have a queen size and super single that I had already planned on using for hygiene purposes, if necessary.

Now I'm thinking that a new free-flow super single can also be used in the back of a pickup or SUV for water transportation. Fully extended and filled it holds about 150 gal. If weight and/or space are a problem, it can be folded to reduce capacity. They also stand up well to a reasonable amount of weight being placed on top of them.

Pat

I've dealt with these people for a few years. Although some of the water storage items may be a bit steep, I think it is a great idea. Especially the bladders that they are selling.

www.colemans.com/industrial.htm

[mugwump]

I know this thread discusses preparedness for all natural and man-made disasters, but I'll continue in my self-appointed role of resident pandemic preparedness nut...

Your household water requirements will increase at least tenfold if you have a serious flu case in the house. The term "avian flu" evokes images of, well, flu -- maybe bad flu but flu nonetheless. In a percentage of cases (hopefully less than the 20-30% as during the Spanish flu, but its running at 80% now) it will actually be a combination of pneumonia/diarrhea/central nervous system/hemorrhagic fever. Expect multiple bedsheet changes per day and potentially several changes of clothing for caregivers. You'll be dealing with blood, vomit, and feces, all of which will be highly infectious.

You'll need a waste tub for soaking sheets, washcloths, contaminated clothing, etc. in a high-chlorine disinfectant solution that will have to be changed periodically. Laundry wash water will have to be treated prior to use along with water used for scrubbing and cleanup.

Either have a lot of sheets and towels on hand, or plan on increased water consumption (or both).

[sf11b_p]

http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auctio...&convertTo=USD

[mugwump]

A good water treatment faq.

A good food storage faq: Prudent Food Storage FAQ pdf and HTML

[MtnGoat]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Given your current location, I'm guessing that if you could implement the survival strategies/technologies and add a little "redneck engineering" you could raise the local standard of living to at least the 19th century.

I did the same at home, sent it to my wife and had her bookmark it.

Well, here you'll have to some type of Engineering - southern or Afghainee. Anything really helps.

Just get some water and medical help in some areas and they will open up. Trying to get some of the African water pump "merry-go-round" in a Play Ground set made by my CA guys. That will be really big "sale" here.

Toothpaste and a brush are years away.

[Peregrino]

The local news is in disaster broadcast mode (preempted all the after midnight shows ). Seems a chemical plant in Apex NC just had fire and explosions with subsequent toxic gas cloud requiring the evacuation of 1/2 the town's estimated population (32,000). It's burning so strongly they can't get to it to start combatting the fire. People are already being admitted to local hospitals with respiratory issues. It appears the town is doing the right things with designated shelters, cordons, and forced evacuation (some mention of using busses to facilitate evacuation - NOLA are you taking notes?). Unfortunately it appears that individuals are not as well prepared. We'll have to wait and see what the morning brings. Meantime I'm throwing in some kudos for this thread and it's contributers. If everyone adhered to the principles we've espoused here, there might be some momentary hardship/inconvenience for prepared individuals but that will be mitigated by their degree of preparedness. The unprepared who depend on/expect external relief/support will (get what they deserve?) not pass the time nearly as comfortably. Fortunately I don't think the population of Apex suffers the same social dynamics as NOLA, nor do I expect the incident to last as long - but hopefully it's a wakeup call for those capable of listening. Peregrino

[The Reaper]

I saw the same news breaking late last night, this morning it is the lead on CNN and FoxNews.

This brings up an important consideration.

If your plan was to remain in place during the disaster, and the situation forced you to evacuate, what would you do if you had anything from 1 minute to 1 day to prepare? Don't forget that looters might visit while you are out.

Do you have a plan and a prioritized list of things to grab on the way out? In many situations, you would be evacuating to a shelter, neighbor's house, or a family member's home, but what would you do if those were full?

A prudent plan would have a checklist of what to load (and what to do), in priority order, and family members would be knowledgable about the plan, their roles and their individual responsibilities.

Clearly, if you were evacuating prior to a disaster which could destroy your home, like a fire, flood, or hurricane, family mementos, photos, and other irreplacable items would be high on the list.

If the disaster were just a temporary evacuation, people would still need the basics that we discuss here.

It might not be a bad idea to get a storage container or three and consider loading it up with the usual camping type gear (bearing in mind the lifting capability of various family members and cubage capacity of the various vehicles), and keep it in an easily accessible place near the vehicles.

Logical things to consider putting in the bug-out kit might be a first aid kit (complementary to the one you should already have in your vehicle, as with most of these items), personal meds for family members, possibly protective masks and gloves, if you have them and anticipate that sort of airborne problem, spare ammo for the weapons you bring with you (and at least one .22LR pistol or rifle), non-lethal weapons, a tent or tarp and sleeping bags (or just have everyone grab theirs from a common closet on the way out), an old blanket or three, a couple of sets per person of old, but servicable clothes, several changes of underwear, a pair of boots per person, bug spray, flashlights or lanterns with spare batteries, butane lighters, fire starting material, a camp stove, if you have one, some bottled water, water bladders and canteens, water purification of your choice, some basic camping type cookware, paper plates, cups, and flatware, storable food (MREs are fine, if your family will eat them, as are freeze dried meals), snack food with extended shelf life, a small shovel or e-tool, some rope, an axe, at least one multitool, like the Leatherman (no Chinese knockoffs), at least one GOOD flashlight per person with spare bulb (if not LED) and batteries, toilet paper, toiletries, and personal hygiene items, cell phones and chargers (especially car chargers), FRS/GMRS or other walkie talkies, with rechargable batteries, a solar panel, at least one whistle per person, a good radio, preferably with shortwave capability, spare batteries, a signal panel, a mirror, flares, an inverter, a small generator, if you have one, spare gas cans and fuel for the stove, a tool set (mostly mechanical and automotive, some carpentry), several cans of fix-a-flat, some fuel conditioner, a tire plug kit, detailed local maps (I recommend the Gazeteers) and adjoining state maps (at least an atlas), a compass or two, a GPS, if you have one, binos, perhaps a bike or two, if you have room, a come-along, a prybar, a chainsaw (if you have space, with mixed gas, spare oil, and a chain file), a good knife per adult, cards, dominos, board games, Game-Boys, laptop computer, etc.

Storing this in containers or in rucks with a combat crossload (or at least bringing a few spare rucks) would be best. This list was not all inclusive, but was just what popped into my head in the last few minutes that would cover a wide variety of emergencies. Better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

Obviously, there needs to be a plan, and everybody needs to know what it is and their role in it. You need to designate a near rally point (like a trusted neighbor's house), and a far rally point (like a grandparent's house) which would be out of the danger zone. A beach house might be a poor idea, due to issues with weather related problems. Everyone needs to have all of the commo plan memorized, like cell numbers, and you need to designate a phone number well out of the area, again, like a parent or grandparent where everyone can call to check in.

Evacuate early, or be prepared for problems, to include impassable evacuation routes (refer to Katrina and Rita evacuations for examples).

Hope this helps. I guess we are done with water discussions. The links are good and should be printed out and kept in a notebook, or at least saved to the hard drive. On to food and cooking.

TR

[Peregrino]

TR - In light of the news, I'm calling an alibi round for the breathing topic. What is the information on the mask you just played with that you spoke so highly of? Is it rated for military grade threats and VOCs? Seems the primary respiratory threat in this incident is chlorine and VOCs, e.g. pesticides. A quality mask changes an emergency bugout into a deliberate evac. Time is always an important commodity in emergencies and I'll buy more of it wherever I can. Thanx - Peregrino

[The Reaper]

Can't say how you will find it, but given my previous use of M-17 and M-40s, I was shocked at the comfort and flow under hot and humid conditions.

http://www.scottint.com/downloads/m95-original.pdf

It appears to be reasonably priced as well.

http://safetyproducts-store.stores.y.../scottm95.html

HTH. I had no idea that Scott was making masks in Finland.

TR

[mugwump]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

This list was not all inclusive, but was just what popped into my head in the last few minutes that would cover a wide variety of emergencies...

Sheesh...great list. The only thing I'd add is a scanner. Peregrino put a bug in my ear about this...can't remember what thread...and I did a lot of research prior to purchasing a good digital trunk-tracker. We had a local weather emergency recently and I was amazed at the amount of info flowing from the police, fire depts., SKYWARN, the power company, state disaster agencies, public service departments, ambulances, flight for life, etc. I'm addicted to this thing. It would be invaluable for getting road closure info, disaster coverage area, etc.

I'm putting together a post for getting the least expensive scanner possible in light of the trunking or conventional systems in use in your area, how to locate frequency and talk group info, etc. I hope to have it ready when we hit comms.

[mugwump]

Sorry to go out of sequence (again) but I saw something that reminded me of this and I wanted to get it down before I forgot it again. The local Water Dept. guy who I'm cross-trained for mentioned that during a hurricane in the late 60's (Camille?) and again in the early 70's the power was out for quite a spell in the East. The sewage lifting stations were down and the sewer lines filled and backed up into a huge number of houses via toilets, sinks and floor drains. Homes at the bottoms of hills, near the ends of long sewage line runs, or near lift stations were a particular mess. People were digging pits and smashing their sewer lines to drain the drek into their front yards instead of having it come into their homes. Suboptimal.

He recommended an inflatable test ball as a solution if you've got a cleanout port or other access to your sewer line (I checked in my basement and I do). Shove it in, pump it up w/ a bicycle pump, and nothing will get past it. Easily removable and doesn't damage your pipe. Remember it works both ways: don't use your toilet/drains after insertion. They're about $25 - $35 for the usual size.

Link: http://www.accentshopping.com/store/...%3E%3EnumPage=

[kgoerz]

My family lives out in the woods in the middle of our property. So we kind of have a isolation mentality already. I always keep five five gallon water cans full and plenty of canned goods. I have one bag packed with extra cash and important papers with a list of what to grab in case of bugging out. Cell phones, chargers guns.....etc. After reading the latest disaster in N.C. When I get home next month I will give the kids on of those plastic storage containers each with a packing list attached to it. That way they can just go down the list and fill up the box in a few minutes.