A few days ago I asked the SurvivalistBoards Facebook group a question, "Name one thing a first aid kit is not complete without." Some of the answers were helpful, and some were not what I expected.
I would like to thank all of the subscribers for helping out with this list.
Anti-bacterial ...
The past 2 days have been spent working on my truck, and working on some jug lines for an upcoming camping trip. When I started thinking about how much time and effort I put into getting the juglines ready, I was a little set back.
After talking to my wife, I ...
This past weekend I decided it was time to organize the ammunition at the Bug Out Location. We had ammo stored in 3,,, 4 different locations, which made taking inventory a pain in the rear end.
My wife cleared off a wire shelf so I could bring it to the camp ...
Deer season is here, instead of grabbing a pack, throwing some random gear in and heading out to the woods, lets take a look at some items that should be considered. The way I look at it, your pack needs to contain everything you need to track a wounded deer, ...
In this article we are going to be looking at making noodles to catch catfish. This type of rig may not be legal in all areas, so check the local laws before you do anything.
Buy some noodles from the local china-mart. The noodles might be seasonal, and should be ...
Our friend Sticks65 over at PlanetBushcraft posted another fire building video. This one talks about using flint and steel along with Crampball Fungi to make a fire. Post your comments in this thread of the wilderness survival forum.
Harder to get the spark to take than char cloth but you don’t have to prepare the crampball like charcloth and can take them strait from nature and use.
Fire with flint and steel is a basic survival skill that everyone should be familiar with. I would like to thank Sticks65 over at Planetbushcraft for posting this description and video in this thread of the wilderness survival forum.
Primitive man was using basic fire building skills for known tens of thousands of years before matches were invented. If it was good enough for cave dwellers, it should be good enough for us.
Here Im using my friction folder to strike a ferro rod,the tinder is birch bark,then I use the same folder but this time im striking a piece of flint down the spine of the knife to get sparks to land on my char cloth.
Which do you prefer, a real map or a electronic map? Call me old school, call me old fashioned, call me out of date, or even not keeping up with the times – but give me a real map over an electronic map any day. Heck, I’ll even take a hand drawn map over an electronic map.
Ok, so why the hatred for electronic maps? Its not that I “hate” electronic maps, there are just too many points of failure.
Electronic maps:
Lets take a GPS and has a built in map feature – your required to have batteries.
The GPS has to have a good view of the sky.
The GPS has to be working properly.
The GPS satellites are under government control, and can be turned off at anytime.
I dont know about you, but sometimes I go hiking / camping in places that have a dense tree canopy, which can block the GPS signal. My GPS is a Garmin Etrex. Its a fairly inexpensive model, and a fairly old model – but it gets the job done (most of the time.)
I do not like to baby my gear – if the GPS gets water in it, its dropped, it just goes bad,,,, I should be left stranded in the middle of nowhere.
A real map:
Maps do not require batteries, probably because it does not need batteries.
Maps do not require a clear view of the sky.
Maps are drop proof – their made of paper.
Maps do not just stop working for unknown reasons.
When I’am on a hiking trip, I like to bring 3 things for navigation – GPS, map compass and topo map. The GPS is used to verify my location, and its double checked on the topo map. The GPS also gives my bearing, which is also double checked with the map. If one or the other does not match, I go with the map.
In my opinion, navigation skills are falling to the wayside in favor of easier ways – like only using a GPS for navigation.
From time to time I see articles or reviews of a GPS – and rarely do I see the person doing the review using a topo map to verify the GPS.
A couple of years ago there was a lady who followed her GPS, which took her to the middle of the desert.
Electronic maps and GPSs are nice, but their no replacement for map skills.
Do you have a survival seed stockpile? I do. In fact, my survival seed stockpile is something that I like to keep an eye on – its on the top shelf of the freezer. I see it every time I open the freezer to look for something to eat.
If your thinking of stockpiling seeds, certain times are more favorable then others for buying seeds.
Early Spring – this is when the feed and fertilizer stores get their seed shipments in. This is usually the best time to buy fresh seed, and it gives you an idea what might be in short supply.
In the early spring of 2010 I went by 2 different seed stores here in Jasper, Texas and both of them told me the same thing – certain types of cucumbers will be in short supply. Which really did not bother me because I had more then enough of those types of cucumbers stocked up anyway.
Late spring early fall – this is when a lot of stores may put their left over seeds on sale. This is a great time to pick up odds and ends types of seeds. Usually, the more favorable seeds were snatched up in early spring. So the left overs might be a mix of “what is that?” type of stuff.
This past weekend my wife and I went to a memorial service for her cousin – he passed away at the young age of 48 from a heart attack. While we were at the memorial services my wife and I got to visit with the cousins in-laws. While we were sitting there talking, I noticed a USMC tattoo on the father-in-laws left arm, just a couple of inches below the elbow. He told me that he had been in World War II and had been part of the Okinawa invasion force.
The father-in-law did not go into a lot of detail about what he saw on Okinawa, it was clear the pain and memories hurt to much to re-live them.
One memory that the veteran shared with me, was after the fighting in Okinawa was over, he was told that about 110,000 Japanese soldiers had been killed. Ok, 100,000 so what, it was just a number.
Several years later, the father-in-law was sitting in a coffee shop in Atlanta Georgia when a marathon was going on. The marathon just happened to have 110,000 people in it.
As he is sitting in the coffee shop years after the war, and he is watching 100,000 marathon runners go be, it hit him as to how many Japanese has died on Okinawa. Talking about watching the marathon almost brought the veteran to tears.
Listening to this man talk – I realized that the generation that fought in World War II is probably the greatest generation this nation has ever seen. We had the founding fathers, and the generation that founded this nation, we had the civil war, and the generation that fought against each other, we had the generation of World War I, the generation of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Shield / Desert Storm, and the generation of today.
The generation that fought against the Japanese, Germans and Italians – in my viewpoint – is the greatest generation of all. Not only did they fight the greatest war the world has ever seen, but they rose up from the ashes and rebuilt. Without them, this world would not be what it is today.
A few hours after the memorial service, all of the family members out out to a nice steak house in Houston, Texas. We had a great dinner and celebrated life.
In an urban survival situation, safe drinking water might be a little difficult to come by. If your family does not live by a canal, creek, stream, river or lake, or have your own private well, how are you supposed to get fresh water?
If your house as rain gutters, you could put some buckets under the down spouts, but that is just common sense stuff. Lets talk about stuff that people might overlook.
To collect a good bit of rain water, your going to need a tarp.
If you have a play set for the kids in the backyard, string the trap up so it creates a funnel going to a bucket.
A kiddie pool can be used to collect rain water.
If you have a truck, spread the tarp across the bed. The bed and the tarp will act like a bucket.
If you have a boat – make sure to take the cover off of it and put a bucket under the drain plug. I keep an 8 foot by 20 foot tarp over my boat. After a recent rain, the rain water had pushed the tarp down between the seats of the boat, which probably collected 30 gallons of water. So not only is a boat something that floats in the water, its also a rain water collection device.
Once you have the rain water, it should be collected and sealed in something. Sealing the water helps prevent 2 things – evaporation and breeding of mosquitoes.
Whats the use of collecting rain water if your just going to leave it exposed to the sun and evaporate? Pour that water into any container you have and get it out of the sunlight. During the summer months, and day time temps get into the upper 90s, its not uncommon for swimming pools to lose about 1 inch of water daily through evaporation. If you collect 3 or 4 inches of water in a bucket, that amount of water could be lost to evaporation in a matter of days.
The Asian Tiger Mosquito loves to lay its eggs in non-moving water. This also includes the water you just collected. Left untreated and exposed, standing water could quickly become a mosquito breeding ground. And the thing about the Asian Tiger Mosquito, they are aggressive feeders that will come out during the day light hours.
Mosquitoes also help spread certain diseases.
If you have some 5 gallon buckets, maybe put the water in the buckets and store them in the garage or storage building? Somewhere out of the sunlight (which promotes evaporation), and away from the reach of mosquitoes.
Even though people might consider rain water “clean” water – it probably needs to run through a filter first. If you collect the rain water in a bucket, you never know what kind of bacteria is living in that bucket. So play it safe and filter all of your water. Everyone that takes survival seriously should have some kind of home based water filter, like a Berkey, or something like it.
I’am pretty sure just about everyone has heard of the planned September 11 Koran book burning. After all, its been on the world news for the past week, its been on the radio, youtube,,, just about everywhere you go, there people talking about the plan to burn 100s of Korans.
Here is my take on the issue, and its a double edged knife:
1 – Maybe it needs to be done. If people are going to attack the USA in the name of Islam, then we should have the right to protest against Islam. How do you protest something? You burn its symbol. This is no different then people in the middle east burning the American flag.
2 – On the other hand, burning the Koran could further damage Christian / Muslim relations. Let us be the better person, stand up, and turn the other cheek.
3 – The Koran is a holy book. From what I understand, it mentions the virgin Mary more times then the Bible does. Out of respect for religion as a whole, lets not burn the Koran.
My personal opinion – I have to favor not burning the Koran, it just seems like a bad thing to do. There are good and bad people in everything we do – there are good Christians, and there are bad Christians, just like there are good and bad Muslims and good and bad Jews.
In the town I live in, there are several gas stations owned by Muslims – I have not met a single one I did not like. Just about every Muslim I have ever met has been friendly, and has extended their hand in peace and friendship.
Its one thing to have disaster plans, its another thing to test those plans several times a year. So when is a good time to test your plans? Personally, I like to observe how things go during holidays and events. Even during birthdays parties, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter,,,,, anytime people gather at my house I like to observe everyone and see how things go. Do we have enough hand soap, were we able to cook for everyone, were we crowded in the house, were the bathrooms accessible,,,,,.
The most recent test was Labor Day, 2010 – during labor day weekend my family and I headed to the camp (also know as the Bug Out Location) for 2 days. Early saturday morning my wife got up and went to the local wal-mart to get some last minute stuff. From her report the store was fully stocked on just about everything besides meat – steaks, briskets, sausage,,,, stuff like that. I figured that people coming into the area would have cleaned wal-mart out.
One observation was how a small town like Jasper, Texas handles an influx of people during the holidays. Were the gas stations sold out of gas, did the stores have plenty of food and water on the shelves, was the traffic flowing at a good rate?
We loaded up the pit, supplies, and headed out. Even though I have a 128 quart coleman 5 day extreme ice chest, the ice seemed to melt pretty fast. A few bags of ice would have given my family about 2 days days worth of cold food.
Citizens of North Carolina, please impeach Governor Bev Perdue. If she is not impeached, please make sure she is not re-elected in the next election.
During the evacuation of Hurricane Earl, Governor Bev Perdue issued the following emergency declaration:
“Upon Governor Beverly Perdue’s declaration of a State Of Emergency on September 1, 2010 Dove Hunters, Concealed Carry Handgun Licensees, Target Shooters and all other gunowners cannot possess, transport or use firearms off their personal property as per N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-288.7″
If the government does not allow its citizens to defend themselves in an emergency, that government should be replaced or removed.
The founding fathers on gun ownership rights:
Thomas Jefferson – “The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
James Madison – “The Constitution preserves the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation”
Thomas Jefferson – “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes”
John Adams – “”Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense”
Thomas Paine – “arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property”
It is the duty of the citizens of North Carolina to recognize tyranny when they see it, and remove it from office during the next election. If Governor Bev Perdue is not removed from office, it sets a poor example for the rest of the nation.
A disaster has hit, your family has been forced to leave the home, morale is down. Now what? There are a few subtle things that people can do to get the morale of the group back up.
1. A good hot meal – not a cold meal, not a cheap meal, not a quick and easy meal – a good, hot, meal. When your belling is empty, everyone will be in a bad mood.
2. Comfort foods – this usually includes stuff like chocolate. When we eat chocolate, our brains release endorphins, which makes us feel good. Chocolate contains anandamide, which activates certain pleasure zones in the human brain – the more we eat, the better we feel.
3. Personal Hygiene – simple stuff like being able to brush your teeth, take a shower, clean clothes, can improve a persons outlook on the situation. When people feel dirty all over, their overall mood can deteriorate.
4. A place to sleep – this is especially true for children. Having a place they can call their own, their own bed, their own little space, is important. Even if its an air mattress on the floor, providing people with a place to sleep is very important for their overall morale.
5. Socialisation – Letting people know that they are not alone, and that they have a support chain can improve their overall mood. Humans are social animals, we are designed to mingle wither others, to talk, to herd, to share experiences and thoughts with each other.
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