Posted on 09/04/2005 8:42:18 AM PDT by tsmith130
Nice list but you forgot one thing.
Since you probably have it in your pocket you forgot to mention your Swiss Army knife. The one that includes the saw blade. Along with the multi tools that little saw will go through brass and mild steel locks.
"Does anyone know where I can purchase some good tasting MRE's? Thank in advance."
don't worry about that, buy some "herbes fines" and tabasco sauce, maybe some italian seasoning, and experiment with them and the MREs beforehand, then you'll know what to do.
Get a copy of the State Emergency Evacuation plan and know the contents. Plan to evac on your own good sense early. Do a google on NEO Packets and follow the guidelines that it talks about. Those are some suggestions you wish to add Travis.
(Of course, you will need a plan to use the stored fuel in the cans on a regular basis, to keep it fresh.)
Todays gasoline that is stored needs to be used every 60 days at a maximum.
thank you good friend"tsmith130"be strong O.K.
When Hurricane Hugo came a hundred miles inland and trashed Shaw AFB, I snagged the battery out of my car, wrapped a little speaker wire around the battery terminals, and attached the ends to the back-up light fixture I stole from the car's trunk, and had electric light in my living room. My neighbors asked how I got my lights on, I showed them, and lights started popping up all over the housing area... Three days later, we got our power back, and I put everything back the way it was.
heavier wire would have let me use more lamps, but what we had was good enough for a D&D game after a day's disaster relief work.
I now keep a spare battery in the house, with wire and such, and I have 3 different APC UPS systems; 1100VA, 700VA, and 300VA. I've also got a 5W solar panel from Harbor Freight to recharge batteries if needed. (I've got GEL-CELL batteries in both cars, now, too.) My computer now is a laptop, and I have quite a bit of info on CD-rom, and textfiles on the computer for later reference. I can build a lathe from pipe parts, for example, if I need one. I've got a walking-beam bandsaw from an article in Fine Woodworking. It can be hand-cranked, or motorized.
We also keep quite a bit of canned food, and 2-liter soda bottles of water, as well.
It gets pretty cold here, in winter, so we have a kerosine heater, 20 gallons of K-1 in 5-gal. containers, etc. Haven't needed that yet, but it could happen, so we are prepared for it.
I like the Mossberg 500, but if I could afford it, I'd go for a Remington 870... maybe after I finish the college thing...
For medications you need regularly, build up a surplus. I've got terrible allergies, and asthma, so when conditions are good, and I don't need my daily meds, I don't take them. I'm working on building up a year's supply, but aren't anywhere near there, yet. I can get by on benadryl, which is OTC and cheap, if you buy the store brand, so we keep quite a bit of that around. Useful for bee & wasp stings, too. Get the elixer, and you can apply it topically, too.
If you want some pointers on things that might be useful, and you like to read Science Fiction, read Niven and Pournelle's "Footfall" and "Lucifer's Hammer" for some hints.
You might also check out some of the reenactor groups. Some of them practice old-tech that can come in handy in a long-term or short-term disaster.
good advice.
I'm considering making a small boat.
say, 12' long by 5' wide. shallow draft.
out of 2" insulating foam, plywood skeleton, and fiberglas shell. "unsinkable" pirogue, basically.
The propane is something I can leave in the two 14x40 Manchester tanks fitted on the vehicle and 3 spare 14x40's on the trailer without it going bad or varnishing up the engine etc etc .....
I converted the 4 speed manual tranny to an automatic as ideling in traffic and moving slow if caught in traffic is easier on a auto tranny with a cooler. Added electric boost fans on the tranny, oil and radiator makes such more reliable. I have a system that allows me to use the propane on the trailer first and the vehicle last.
My original mogas tank on the truck was removed and is now replaced with a 30 gallon water tank. The truck was an old beater I stripped down to bare metal and had the entire frame and body line-X'd. The interior has old corvette reclining seats that will be comfy to sleep or sit in for long durations. The entire cab is lined with dynamat insulation and rubber floor covering, stainless door panels cust custom for a no frills easy ride.
The dash was removed and gutted for new gages that I wanted. All wiring was repaired or replaced and waterproofed to the best of my ability . I added double door seal weather stripping and made it a pretty quiet little ride. Plans and work ongoing but that's just my last ditch plan as I believe my home is a primary shelter, the vehicle secondary with a ruck afoot is last.....
I have an old armored Suburban 4x4 I got a few years ago at a goobermint auction. It's trashed mechanically but the body is sound, It'll need new engine tranny , pretty much a complete drivetrain..... all the glass is OK with no delamination or other danage so I figure that's my next project.
Interior was clean but new carpet, seat covers, and painting some interior trim is needed. Frame off when I can find a way to lift that massively heavy body off the frame. Gonna have to bubba engineer that one carefully.....
Damn, just Damn.
Pictures please. Of the trucks of course.
Got one in my pocket and have for years.
Good advice. The only thing I would add is to have plenty of maps and avoid the interstates.
The sheeple will flock to the interstates, creating massive traffic jams. The highways will likely be less crowded. Also, in the event of car trouble, I'd rather be stranded in small-town America rather than alongside the interstate in a SHTF situation.
Great advice, Travis. We just acquired a 6'x12' stakebed bumper-pull trainer that will serve in the capacity that you described. We're alerady in a fairly 'safe' area - as safe as anyplace is these days - but that doesn't excuse a lack of preparedness.
Since we use the trailer for other things - hay hauling, etc. - we've modularized the stuff we'll pile on, so load and go can be accomplished very quickly. As family loadmaster, it's my job to get it stacked, packed and ready to go in less than 10 minutes.
Just a Toy YOT with a small steel mesh trailer that I use a little john boat as a cover on. Added a old construction gang box in the trailer for gear. The mesh will drain water or vent leaky propane (if any) safely.
Later I'd like to make the truck a real flat bed vs the bubba engineered truck bed I have now. I can add lots of storage . Problem now is weight and suspension upgrades are planned soon along with lightning the body with a custom flatbed. The current bed protects the bottles from viewing unless ya look down an inside. Propane was chose for it's storage longevity, wide availability these days and it ability to be used all the way down to 40C aka colder than a well diggers ass if need be ! Or in temps hotter than I can survive so it was a natural choice for "my needs".......
It's a hobby.......
Fifteen years ago I met a man in NOLA with a tri wheel attachment that he built for his flatbottomed boat. Attach a piece of rope as a handle and off you go on dry land to the next submerged area.
I asked about it and he explained that the city would not flood evenly and this would permit him to travel from wet land to dry land to wet land easily.
This would permit him to get out of the city or travel through it helping other family members during a flood.
I'll bet he is a hero today.
The course list is Here.
I recommend the ones of Family Disaster Preparedness and Itroduction to Incident Command first.It's nice to know the protocols that rescue workers will be following.
Sounds like I need to scare up an old trailer...
L
Hope he made it.... Our is on the trailer hinged as a cover with a locking bar/loop style piano hinge. I can pull it our and remove the boat easily and quickly if need be. We filled the seat boxes etc with foam. The addition of wheels as ya describe may be a futire project. Great idea. Thanks for sharing it.....
I like the Marine Band idea because it's unlikely many folks will be using Channel 82 on the International bands. It also has all the NOAA weather channels built in, so weather updates and Emergency Alerts are available at the touch of a button.
The FRS with the sub-channels on it are great for short range comm.
Of course, spare batteries are a must and rotate them often. FIFO is your friend.
A couple of those small single burner Coleman propane or white gas stoves are handy to have around as well.
Don't forget latex gloves, or nitrile if you have a latex allergy. I get mine at Cosco. 10 bucks for 1500 of them. They have a myriad of around the house uses and there's a big wad of them stuffed into my CERT gear.
If you have it available in your area, I highly recommend CERT training. Not only will it enable you to help out your neighbors in the event of a disaster, but you'll meet all kinds of interesting people who are good to know if the SHTF.
L
Excellent thread idea. So many people have asked about starting a BOB (bug-out-bag), but responses get lost in the five-thousand-post threads. Kudos to you for putting this info in one easily accessible place.
Cool links. Thanks!
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