Disaster Preparedness

[JD Spydo]

With all of the earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, Hurricanes and various other types of natural and potentially man made disasters it is funny that I am finding very few people who are taking them seriously. I have a book entitled "Dare To Prepare" by a very smart and resourceful lady named Holly Deyo. I have found some of the information in that book to be priceless.

Albeit it really amazes me that when I bring up the subject most people either laugh me off or just think that I am a paronoid "nut case". I live very close the "New Madrid" fault. If you all don't know the history of the New Madrid fault it was the site of North America's very worst earthquake. With that being said why do most people take disaster preparedness as a joke. Or they just don't place any noteworthy importance on it. What's so weird about wanting to prepare for what could be life threatening?

[Dr. Snubnose]

Nothing wrong with being prepared..I am...and people think I'm crazy for it...however when they rummage through my "Be prepared Kit (which is three large bins worth of stuff I can throw in the car) for extreme Emergencies" they always end up saying hmmm...that's a good idea...but I doubt they ever get something like it for themselves...Most people have enough trouble deciding what Tie to wear with what shirt or what lipstick color goes with what dress...let alone think in these terms...everyone wants to believe it won't happen to them...God help those people if SHTF...Doc :D

[WORKER#9]

I am always prepared for a disaster. I first and foremost have several water purifiers, as water is the first need. I also have several large military surplus water bags 10 us gallons each, not filled but always ready to be filled with purified water. I have a large first aid kit and field surgical kit. I have a large library on survival medicine and first aid. I also have attended many first aid and cpr courses through out my life. These are my first and foremost ways to prepare for disasters. I also keep two cases of MRE's in the house to give my family a few days of food if the local safeway is closed. I am not over the edge with months supplys of this and that, but I do have short term survival supplies to get me through most situations. These small measure also insure if things stay bad longer than anticipated I will be able to transition to more serious survival strategies in better condition than most. Worker

[vampyrewolf]

the bag in my trunk holds 3-4 days worth of supplies, but can be stretched to a week... have an ammo box that needs to go in there too with another 3 days of food(and again, could be stretched). Water I have taken care of with 4 litres of water that I continue to cycle and treatment for another 25litres(never mind enough fire to cook and still treat another 40+litres if needed).

in 2 weeks I'll be in school, taking the bus just to save a few bucks and the hassle every morning. Unfortunatly, that means I'm also an hour+ of walking to get home to my gear. Get to sort through my stuff and get the basics in my daily bag without taking 1/2 the space.

[rickh]

Hey JD, better safe than sorry. I keep supplies around for emergencies. Water purifier, freeze dried food, fuel for camping stoves, tent, sleeping bags, outdoor clothing, first aid kits, spare cash, etc. I also keep a Colt 45, shotgun and 2 German Shepherds. Not only to I have supplies for me and my girlfriend, but my dogs which mean the world to me have gallon containers of water and plenty of food. I just don't get why people don't spend a little time, effort and money to put a basic kit together. Stay safe.

[Goldtanker]

In addition to the usual stores of provisions, first aid, food, water, crank operated radios and lights, etc., I have two (2) generators (one is a back-up) wired into the house (I live on some acerage) to run the pump for the well year round and the natural gas furnace in the winter. Plenty of Stabilized gasoline stored in an outbuilding. Wood for the fireplaces if all else fails. :D

[JD Spydo]

Well Worker I think that you have definitely struck a chord again. You have just hit the big common denominator of survival. WATER!!! Yeah Water. And I can't believe how non-chalantly the majority of people take the fact that WATER is the #1 ( not #9 :D ) mode of survival. I personally have a gravity, carbon block water filter known as the AQUARAIN. They manufacture them here in Missouri. They are fabulous because you can take water out of a pond, branch, creek, lake or virtually any reasonable source of fresh water. I don't know how it would do salt water.

But the Aquarain is truly a nice unit. It is similar to the one you hear on the shortwave radio broadcasts called the "British Berkefeld". There is also a portable unit I have my eyes on made by Katadyn ( a Swiss company). I have heard that the Katadyn meets all of the criteria required by several military organizations. Worker I am going to PM you about this because I always want to learn more about water. :spyder:

[WORKER#9]

Water is critical. The most important part of buying a water purifier is to make sure it is a purifier! Some are just filters which might be ok for clean running high altitude streams, but filters dont get viruses. where as purifiers are 99.9 effective against all threats. I also keep the water pills as back, PORTABLE AQUA. The purifier I use and own is the First Need water purification system. It offers a good price with proven performance. A couple of these stashed away is as good insurance as you can get. I also have some smaller water bottle type purifiers which dont have the large capacity of the First Need but are nice for travel, and as a back up system. Water is the most Important of all needs, a lot of times when survival is discussed it turns to what one knife would you use, or whats the ultimate survival rifle and on and on. But in reality when you are cramped over and sick as a dog from bad water that knife or rifle is worth less than a fresh roll of toilet paper! Do your research and get into water purification!

[clovisc]

high quality tea tree oil is a good natural antiseptic for water... and has an unbelieveable number of other uses, as well.

[rainman]

I followed the news group misc.survivalism from the mid '90's untill about 2002. At that point, I had archived a lot of great info and didn't mind signing off on the group because of all the &$#* that had to be waded through at the end ( and, for that matter, most of the time there :mad: ). I ended up needing most of my food supplies, ate my MRE's for lunches at work, had to sell most of my firearms, and My BOB was stolen out of my van [\end sad story mode] :D
I now have 40% of what I had, and am rebuilding the rest slowly.
Some great posts on water being the most important , and overlooked, consideration, I'd just like to add that for about a $1.00 you can get about 100-150 coffee filters.
Since you may not have a fresh mountain stream to gather water from (before you use a purifier), it is well worth it to pour the water through a coffee filter first; it will remove a lot of debris that is almost invisable to the naked eye, and will make your purifier last a lot longer. the coffee filters can be flattened, or used to pack around the purifier to help protect it. I recomend keeping it all in a drawstring nylon bag, maybe one a little bigger than the one the purifier may have come in. Extra C-filters can be stuffed around anything else that could use a little more protection.
Now a question, since we have people from so many places here, and a guage, so-to-speak of market supply;
Who here can still find "strike-anywhere" matches, the ones that are in a big box (or even a small one)?
I don't mean the wind/water-proof ones in the camping supply section of_____________, but the ones that used to be sold in almost any grocery store.
Thanks ahead of time,
---Tom

[WORKER#9]

Good tip on the coffee filters, thanks

[rainman]

In an effort to keep this thread alive, and in doing so maybe find out more about "strike anywhere matches", I re-read the thread.
I forgot to mention that after a while, the coffee filters will sort of clog. Actually they should be used one at a time to filter as much water as possible, then not used again. After drying on a branch (or on a line in the tent if it's raining) they can serve a second purpose. Any guesses :D / :o ?
(Remember, save everything.....and here is the part that might get some people to quit reading.... you can wash the coffee filters, again and again)
Beats useing some form of poisonous (or allergic reaction) material...... :eek:
---Tom

[vampyrewolf]

rainman: I find wetwipes work great in the bush.... just buy a refill package and toss it in your bag.

[rainman]

Vampyrewolf, I'm sure they would, maybe even better than TP. But when I think of getting out of town because of a really bad situation, "bugging out", I think of an unknown period of time. maybe a week, maybe 6 mo.
The use of coffee filters, in the manner I was suggesting, would come after a long time (hopefully not at all). It was just one of those worst-case suggestions. Sort of like washing used aluminum foil; if your going to be gone for 3 days, throw it in the recycle bag (or away), if you might be there for a long time, use everything as much as you can.
I think many of the people who left New Orleans were, in fact, bugging out at the time. Since the damage is less then what was predicted, hopefully, they did not bug out, but will have something to return to. I guess I think of bugging out as not being able to come back.
Sorry for the long post.
---Tom

[WORKER#9]

It is amazing to me this thread then a major hurricane and I watch on tv thousands of people with no clean water! I can think of no better evidence of the importance of a good water purifier. And a good working knowledge of first aid. Worker

[clovisc]

yea -- i think the recent hurricaine proves that it's never a bad idea to be prepared for an unthinkably huge disaster.

[Stormdrane]

When I lived on El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Ana CA back in '88-'89, we were given instructions on earthquake preparedness. My dad was an Army officer but we were able to get housing on the marine base. Just about everyone kept a two week supply of food, water, and other necessities in case of an emergency like a major earthquake (it was supposed to be required, though I don't remember them ever checking). In such a catastrophe, it could take up to a week or two to get help to everyone that needs it. Be prepared, or suffer the consequences.

[mikewww]

In an emergency, water can be purified by using regular household liquid bleach. Here is a link to a way of using Clorox : http://www.i4at.org/surv/bleach.htm

Mike

[JohnM]

I think it's common sense to be prepared for events that are possible to happen.
Stuff like power-failures, riots downtown or just very bad weather are very real possibilities where I live so I've made preparations to deal with this type of situation if it occurs.

Another point is I travel to work with the subway and I always have a LED-flashlight and a bottle of water in my bag just incase there is a power failure and I'm stuck in a dark, hot underground train for a couple of hours.

Just common sense imho.

[Michael Cook]

I think I still have rice from my y2k prep. :o