What Do You Prep For: Common Personal Disasters*

Market-Ticker ^ | 3/17/15 | Karl Denninger

[Kartographer]

How many times have you seen someone who survived with nothing more than their underwear? They had no "go bag" sitting inside their sleeping area they could grab that had a few basics in it -- like some sort of lightweight but effective means of preserving body heat. Now consider that if this occurs while in a place not so-populated in the winter time you might well be in serious trouble or even die of exposure!

The other place that such disasters commonly happen is in our vehicles. Do you have a small, easily-toted "get me the F out of here" bag in your car? If so, what's in it?

In today's world of cellphones most people blow this sort of thing off. That's a serious mistake; not only is there no guarantee of a signal but cellphones require battery power and can be damaged in a crash or other incident. Water exposure, in particular, can render your phone instantly useless and in many (but not all) cases a fractured screen renders the phone unable to be used as well.

Never mind a reasonable med kit, which most people simply do not have. Why not, given how cheap this is?

If you broke down -- or had a serious mechanical failure and crashed as a result -- 20 miles from nowhere, how serious would this be? What if you find yourself somewhere that forces you to abandon your vehicle for some reason (e.g. it's mechanically broken beyond your ability to fix it) without assistance? It gets even worse if you are on required prescription medication or are injured and have nothing to deal with your injuries.

[laplata]

If any of you don’t have a Life Hammer, get one or two

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Great idea.

[Kartographer]

The man smart ass flipped responses to prepping threads about Y2K are so patently asinine and plainly show the post total ignorance of what they speak off.

I was in the business at that time and at first I was concerned, but when I saw that companies woke-up to the problem and jumped on it. You survived Y2K because and those companies spent millions of dollars and programers rewrote millions of lines of code. If they had not then you would have wished for more than clean underwear and a can opener and that is the truth of the mater.

[matt1234]

Really you need a backpack with everything needed to get you from your disabled vehicle to home. In the event of a prolonged crisis, I am heading home. Won’t an EMP disable every modern civilian vehicle?

[PA Engineer]

It is good to remind people of the "BOB." Mine is a get home bag and I have one in every family member's car. I also have first aid kits (extensive) and extraction devices.

One of the important considerations in the get home pack is weight. Having backpacked extensively in my younger years I realize we all get older and at times out of shape. I think it is important to spend the extra money on light weight gear.

I agree with Karl on medications (and would recommend at least 7 days), however I disagree on food. Mountain House single servings are very light weight and cheap. They have a long shelf life and I believe they provide more than a psychological advantage in an emergency. All the packs have four days of food with solid fuel to heat water. Everything is very light weight.

One item Karl did not mention is the importance of having slip on shoes near your bed. Window breakage during storms or worse could ruin your preparation plans. Further, invest in fire extinguishers for each room. Many fires can be put out with the aid of smoke detectors before the fire department arrives.

[IMR 4350]

During hurricanes Rita and Ike people were actually calling in claiming Bush had somehow created the hurricane.

They were thoroughly convinced Bush had created the hurricane and the guy on the radio taking the calls couldn’t convince them it was just an act of nature.

They had never been through a hurricane before so they had no clue of what it was like.

They blamed Bush because they thought only the govt could be so destructive.

[Eagles6]

That’s pretty much what thought.

[IMR 4350]

During and after a hurricane about all you have to get info is radio.

A lot of times you can’t even drive anywhere because the roads are blocked by trees/limbs.

Your busy with the clean up after it so you really don’t miss it that much.

After about 8-10 hours of doing clean up work, if your like me a few minutes of reading and you’ve nodded off.

[PA Engineer]

Won’t an EMP disable every modern civilian vehicle?

That is an area I have investigated. Older vehicles from 2002 - 2005 should be able to make it home in "Limp Home Mode." If the roads are clear, you should be able to make it. The ride will stink. One option is also to have tools available to disconnect the battery. Wait and reconnect it. This will reset many of the "computerized" units in older cars. Testing that has been done was very inconclusive. Some vehicles were killed, some damaged and others unaffected. Just not enough research.

I think modern cars built is the last nine years will be hopeless. That is why I am keeping my 2003 forester on the road. I am still concerned about the coating on every vehicle device that has windings.

The walking option is the BOB.

[matt1234]

Thanks for the info on emp. I guess I will plan for the worst case scenario: a very long walk.

[matt1234]

During hurricanes Rita and Ike people were actually calling in claiming Bush had somehow created the hurricane.

Are you sure it wasn't Hurricane George, and those poor callers were just misunderstood? ;)

But seriously, it is sad how easily some people can be fooled.

[IMR 4350]

“But seriously, it is sad how easily some people can be fooled.”

It is. The left has created a society of half wits.

It really is akin to a mob think/group insanity.

[laplata]

Good points.

[PA Engineer]

It really is akin to a mob think/group insanity.

That is why everyone needs to prepare for The golden Horde.

It got ugly fast and that was with all the resources of the US available.

[Secret Agent Man]

Idiots yes.

Scarier are the ones who just can’t wait to start looting and destroying people and stuff.

[Secret Agent Man]

Could get ugly. You’d have to feed ‘em. Pretty soon you’re looking like a walking hot dog.

[Secret Agent Man]

No, not every one will be disabled. And there are things you can do to harden a vehicle. Easily referenced on the internet.

[Secret Agent Man]

If you really want to hedge your bets, vehicles before 1981-82 would be okay, largely. Carburators vs computer controlled fuel injection. Lotsa people sell good condition trucks and such on craigslist.

[PA Engineer]

If you really want to hedge your bets, vehicles before 1981-82 would be okay, largely. Carburators vs computer controlled fuel injection. Lotsa people sell good condition trucks and such on craigslist.

Agreed, however the varnished windings are my greatest concerns with older vehicles.

[outofsalt]

"vehicles before 1981-82 would be okay"

So, I could still ride my lawn tractor!

[WinMod70]

Varnished windings? I’ve been tinkering with cars/trucks for close to 40 years. Never came across the dreaded varnished windings in that time.