Survival ebook (9)
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Transcript of Survival ebook (9)
survivealot.wixsite.com/prepready
Survival Skills and
Survival Equip
Wilderness survival used
to be part of daily life. But
even though we feel
protected inside our modern cocoons, getting a grip on
survival skills is still a smart 'just in case' set of skills to
acquire. Even in today's world, survival skills are not only
for the Backpacker, outdoors enthusiasts or sportsman
any more.
But what are survival skills?
Survival Skills are the techniques and the know-how that
might help you to make it through hazardous conditions
(such as storms or earthquakes), dangerous locations (like
the desert, the mountains, the jungle and other extreme
environments.
As soon as practicable, try to learn the essential survival
skills, for example, ways to avoid getting lost, how to
construct a shelter, the best way to pack a survival kit,
how to make a fire, and how to get access to clean and
safe water are the critical skills to lean for every extreme
environment - whether winter survival, desert survival,
forest, mountain or other environment.
So what should you do if you find yourself lost or stuck in
an extreme environment?
The order of which survival skills to focus on first are
based on basic human needs and the particular
hazardous circumstance you find yourself in. However,
creating a shelter to protect yourself from the harsh
conditions is usually your first and principal task. No
matter whether you create a lean-to shelter or a poncho
shelter - making sure you are safely out of the harsh
weather condition should be your immediate focus. Next is
water.
Getting clean drinking water is perhaps the second most
critical element in surviving a life threatening situation.
Water might be collected in several different ways, one
way in desert or hot climates for example is through
condensation traps or solar stills but however you find
your water, it should be brought to a rolling boil to purify
and make it drinkable via fire. That leads us to the next
critical survival skill and that is knowing how to create fire.
Fire is an extremely useful tool for survival. From drying
your clothing, purifying water and even aiding in the
making of tools and keeping threatening animals or pesky
insects at bay, fire is necessary for both warmth and
protection. Fire will definitely make it more comfortable but
a shelter is more important in most situations.
A First Aid Kit (If you are Prepared!):
My survival equipment includes a critical book on survival
(the U.S. Army Survival Manual) and your first aid kit is
most likely to be the most essential item in any emergency
kit and having the right equipment is imperative for
wilderness survival.
Why a first aid kit?
Because injuries should be tended to as soon as they
occur to avoid further complications or infection.
Your first aid kit should include bandages, antiseptic and
ideally, you should have taken a first aid course and know
the best ways to deal with heat stroke, snake or poisonous
insect bites, abrasions and other injuries. A great first step
is getting the US Army Survival manual which covers most
of the critical information you'll need.
Ideal Foods--- low fat, high fiber foods and artificially
sweetened beverages.
Drinks - Drink all you want of diet sodas, tea, coffee or
Kool-Aid either unsweetened or sweetened with an
artificial sweetener such as Splenda, Sweet 'N Low, Equal,
saccharin or a blend.
Travel In Extreme Winter Conditions:
With skis you can get farther into the back country faster
than any other way, so winter survival skills are crucial for
all levels of ski mountaineering.
Useful skills include lighting a fire, finding shelter, making
water safe to drink, finding and identifying food, treating
injuries, and climbing, swimming, and using specific or
makeshift tools. Almost all Survival Skills are environment
specific and require training in a particular environment.
Learn basic survival skills, such as how to avoid getting
lost, how to build a shelter, how to pack a survival kit, how
to build a fire, and more by using the US Army Survival
Manual
Knowing fundamental survival knowledge will help you
keep your cool in most circumstances. Do your best to
hone your survival knowledge so that you will be efficient
in the essentials for example navigation, creating fire,
getting and cooking food and water for risk-free
consumption, and creating shelters. Get prepared by
referring to the US Army Survival Guide - a great starting
point for ensuring you and your family are ready for any
extreme environment.
A bug out vehicle is a vehicle that you can use in place of
a bug out location. It will always be full of your needed
gear just in case of a natural disaster or any other situation
that might come up and ready to go on a moment's notice.
A bug out location is normally a piece of land or a family
member's home that you have set aside beforehand to go
to in case of any disaster. Some prefer having a bug out
vehicle instead because you always have your gear and
temporary cover from the vehicle with you at all times
which is important because sometimes you might not
make it to your bug out location. The vehicle can be your
shelter and what you plan on staying in if that were to
happen.
A good bug out vehicle will have the gear you need.
Normally it's suggested to have at least 72 hours worth,
but with a vehicle you can easily back in quite a bit more
than this. Be sure to have your proper survival gear, food,
water, medications, and anything else you might need as
you might not be sure how long you will be gone for
whatever the situation is.
It's best to try to get a vehicle that has some off road
capabilities in case you need to go off in the woods where
there might not be maintained roads. Get a vehicle with a
large gas tank. Be smart and keep this vehicle filled up
with gasoline at all times. You never know when you might
have to leave. When evacuating a city, sometimes you get
stuck in traffic for hours and hours. At home keep some
extra gasoline that you might be able to take with you just
in case.
If nothing serious ever happens like a major disaster, at
least you have a vehicle with some basic supplies for the
more probable personal disasters like getting stuck on the
side of the road overnight or going off into a snowbank.
Survival Skills are the secret to whether someone lives or
dies!
2 person 72 hr bug out bag
2 person 72 hr bug out bag
We all know what it takes to survive:
● Food
● Water
● Shelter
But do you know how to survive if you had nothing but a
survival pack? And what would you have in it to ensure
that you could live long enough to get rescued?
Here is a tip that you may or may not know: If I was lost in
the wilderness and I needed to find water I would start out
by heading east or west. Rivers predominately run north
and south so my chances of finding water are greatly
increased by heading east or west.
I also know that water runs downhill, so I would be
checking for low lying areas along the way. I would also be
using the sun to help keep my directions on a true easterly
or westerly course because.. Almost everyone that
becomes lost or stranded in the wilderness tends to travel
in circles.
I would DEFINITELY be sure if it were summer time that I
had a large trash bag in my survival kit. It's the miracle
water bag if you know how to use it properly!
Very large trees can produce up to 100 gallons of water
per day through a process called transpiration . We just do
not see it because of evaporation.
How To Collect It:
Place a large leafy branch of a tree inside of the trash bag
(leave it attached to the tree of course) and tie the bags
opening tight to the limb, to stop the evaporation process.
Then leave it alone throughout the rest of the day and
through the night.(approx.12-14 hrs). Remove the bag
from the limb the next morning and inside you will find...
PLENTY OF WATER --A Tasty Treat For Your Thirst!
Be sure that you acquire the skills that will keep you alive
in any situation, because life is unpredictable. If YOU or
YOUR FAMILIES LIFE were put into YOUR
HANDS...What would be the out come?...It's up to you!
There's no secret that survival is a group effort. While
prepping is a growing movement, by no means is it
anything close to mainstream. This means if you are a
prepper, you're likely having a lonely go at it. There are a
number of reasons for this, all which would make articles
on their own. The point I'm trying to make is that you need
to find people you can rely on if the world as we know it
comes crashing down. So here are some do's and don'ts
as I see them.
DO - Find local preppers in your area. This may include
people from local forums, gun clubs, hunting and fishing
clubs, anywhere online or off you might find like-minded
people.
DON'T - Assume that every prepper is trustworthy. People
are people no matter what their believe system is. You
must find someone you can trust, someone who trusts
you, and people you get along with. Prepping is the end
point but those others come first, or it'll all fall apart.
DO - Recruit family members. No one knows you like your
closest kin, and there's no love like family love. Trust is the
#1 most valuable resource in group survival and your
loved ones have it in spades.
DON'T - Recruit family members just because they are
some sort of relative of yours. Everyone has those aunts,
uncles, cousins and in-laws that are, well, not good
people. I said above that there's no love like family love.
That's true. That doesn't necessarily apply to every and all
family members. Leave those 'family' members that are
nothing but sponges, blowhards and self indulged drama
makers behind. This sounds harsh, but there is no trust
when there is no family love.
DO - Recruit friends. Friends are a fantastic resource and
just like family love, friends can bring trust in spades. In a
survival situation you need someone who you can have
your back to and know you won't get a knife in it.
DON'T - Recruit fair-weather friends. Fair-weather friends
are a lot more common than real friends. These people
think only for themselves and only associate with you
when they want something from you. It's easy to get lost in
the glamour of having a large social group, real or
imagined, but you MUST do soul-searching in this
situation. Take a good hard look at your social circle and
eliminate all those from your list who are fair-weather
friends - when it comes down to eat or die, these people
will as soon kill you to get your things if they think it'll help
them than help you as a group. There is no trust in that.
Now that you've read this, do you have a list in your mind
of who you'd want around you if TSHTF? Keep in mind
that this list doesn't mean these people are preppers or
have to be preppers. These people will be survivalists
when TSHTF whether they like it or not. These are just the
people whom you trust and vice versa. So create your
short list. If they won't prep, fine, prep for them. They will
provide the most valuable resource imaginable, that of the
group. Now, I have my short list. I'm sure you will too.
Mike Em is an outdoors man, hunter and survivalist. He
believes that history can repeat and being prepared for the
worst can mean the difference between life and death.
After all, it's much smarter to be prepared for something
that doesn't happen then the other way around. Read
more about prepping on his website
http://www.rednecksurvivalist.com
I want to talk about bunkers. I want to talk specifically
about their use, intent, survivability and the pros and cons
of a bunker being the central part of your survival plans in
a SHTF event.
Bunkering is an ages old tactic of defense wherein a
person or group of people pluck themselves away in a
small shelter capable of providing security against the
source of harm that is outside. I am guessing the first
cavemen started this idea when large predators would
come near them. I don't know that for sure, but it seems
like something plausible to me.
Today a bunker is much more than a small crevice where
big things can't get you. They range in size and scope
from bad weather bunkers meant to support 2-4 people for
a few hours to massive underground complexes capable
of sustaining life for several years without intervention
from outside sources. These bunkers can be homemade
or commercial made and can range in cost from $10,000
to well over $1 million dollars. The vast majority of people
that are planning to bunker themselves in a SHTF event
are utilizing small to mid size bunkers capable of
supporting 4-6 people for roughly 6 months to a year.
Why Bunkers?
I think many people lean toward bunkers because of
natural instinct. Survival is often associated with hiding or
remaining unnoticed and being underground in an
enclosed container is certainly going to seem like a way to
remain out of sight. Another factor is probably the belief
that it would be easier to survive any chemical, biological,
radiological or meteorological affects that might be
associated with the SHTF event if you can just "batten
down the hatches" and ride it out in your bunker. In a
nicely appointed bunker you can control your temperature,
air quality and sanitation through readily available systems
that can be purchased for bunkers.
The Intent of a Bunker
In my opinion bunkers were always intended for short term
survival of an imminent or ongoing event. It wasn't until the
advent of nuclear weapons that bunkers became "long
term" survival solutions. Prior to Fat Man and Little Boy
being dropped and the beginning of the Cold War there
was never really a reason for staying in a bunker for more
than a few hours or perhaps a day. Once it began
however, there was no turning back.
During the Cold War bunkers were springing up all over
the country. Nearly every town or city in the country had
some sort of plan that involved bunkering for safety. Many
people didn't realize that these bunkers may help them
survive the initial blast but they were not appointed with
the proper supplies for long term survival. These bunkers
had very little in the way of stored food, no blast doors,
inadequate sanitation and no air filtration systems. Private
citizens were even purchasing or building their own
bunkering solutions, which although may have been more
comfortable, wouldn't have provided any more real safety
than the public shelter.
The federal government has bunkers for long term
survival, but most of us wont be in those, so let's
concentrate on private bunkers.
Survivability
This is a tough topic for bunkers. There are SO many
different variables that must be taken into account in order
to accurately determine the survivability of a bunker
scenario. What some people consider strengths, others
may consider weaknesses. Thus goes the argument and
depending on which side of the fence you stand, the rest
of this article may just piss you off. Suffice it to say I am
simply trying to provide information in the hopes that
people reading the article say "Hey, good point" and
become a little better informed. So here we go...
In regards to general survivability I think bunkers are great
for immediate impact events that will hit and be gone.
Again, this is subjective and must be taken with a large
dose of common sense and the term "probability" comes
into play. Most people don't purchase or build bunkers in
case of alien attack, it just isn't a high probability event.
Many people do however build bunkers in case of nuclear
attack, asteroid impact or conventional attack/invasion.
Some people build bunkers to live in during periods of
social unrest and some people build them fully believing
that a SHTF event is coming that will completely destroy
the social fabric of this nation and toss all of the survivors
into a post apocalyptic survival scenario that looks like a
cross between Mad Max, The Road and The Book of Eli.
I personally don't feel that a bunker (again this is a
commercial or private bunker, not a government complex)
is a viable long term survival option for many reasons. I
feel that the graph of survivability in a bunker is a negative
slope decreasing exponentially over time. Let's talk about
the cons of a bunker to get that out of the way.
CONS of Bunker Life
*Note these are in no particular order of importance or
degree
Psychology
First let's talk about the psychological affects of bunker
life. Although many people can eventually get used to
living in the confined quarters of a bunker there are also
many that will never get used to it. I have heard the
argument "sailors do it on subs all the time" but that
argument doesn't hold water with me (pun intended)
because a sub is absolutely HUGE in comparison to the
bunker you are going to plant in your back yard or the
woods behind your house. If you have small children then
you need to really consider the affects on them as well.
One thing you really don't want to do is build your entire
survival plan around a bunker just to have your kids spaz
out on day three, five or ten.
One thing that is reported to happen as time progresses in
a bunker type environment is that the space seems to
shrink in on the person. What is clearly 25 feet of walking
space becomes 15, 10 or even 5 feet to your mind.
Perhaps this could be countered by having a permanent
line the length of the floor labeled with the distance every
few feet... who knows.
If you lose your ability to tell time due to clocks losing
power or watches not working, then your circadian cycle
will get fouled up and time will stretch, according to most
psychological experiments. What you perceive as 1
second may actually be as much as 5 seconds. In one
experiment the subject had to count to 120 by 1, with each
number spaced by 1 second. After just a few weeks in a
cave it took him 5 minutes to count 120 seconds.
Anyone that has ever lived in a small, cramped apartment
knows how quickly you can lose your temper when there
is no where to escape to be alone. I have three small
children... yeah, I would lose my mind. On top of that I
have no idea how they would cope considering they can't
sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time without damn
near exploding.
Security
At first glance the idea of a bunker puts feelings of
security, safety and survival at the forefront of your
thoughts. What could be better than having a hidey hole
that you can jump into during an emergency?! Fill it with
food and batteries and other goodies to keep you alive
and happy and BAMMO! you're a survivor! I have several
problems with this line of thought.
A secure bunker has one way in and one way out,
typically. First though, what if you are in the bunker and
something happens that makes that route impassable?
What could happen? Fire, Earthquake, metal fatigue,
malfunction, blockage externally... there are more but I'll
stop there.
Let's say you don't experience any of those issues,
eventually you will run out of stored foods, water or other
items that you will require. Foraging outside of the bunker
will become necessary, which means entering and leaving
the bunker. Anyone familiar with security operations
knows that this process is dangerous because it can easily
give away your hidden position. If Bill the Bad Guy sees
you leaving or entering he can go get his friends and sit on
that entrance until you return or go out again, thereby
potentially gaining entry to your secure bunker by virtue of
force or coercion.
Even if you are pretty slick and Bill the Bad Guy never
sees you entering or leaving your secret bunker,
eventually you will wear down a path leading him right to
your door. A good tracker will notice the trail before you
do, and even a bad tracker will notice a warn path. You
may be safe and secure and take different paths to and
from the bunker, but at some point you have to converge
on the entrance and there will be a path. Bill the Bad Guy
sees it, sits on it and BOOM, your his.
So let's say you have surveillance equipment watching the
outside and you see Bill sitting on your bunker entrance
waiting to catch you unaware. You still need to go out for
supplies. You can wait till he's asleep and hope to catch
him off guard and take him out, but what if he has friends?
You're a trapped rat. Maybe he gets tired of waiting and
starts searching for a fresh air return for the bunker?
Maybe he decides that you have pissed him off and just
barricades or disables the door? There's no limit to what
can happen and the second someone knows where your
bunker is at is the second your bunker becomes a liability.
Utility
In reality there are very few long term situations in which a
bunker will serve as a proper shelter. Short term situations
abound, so don't think I am knocking bunkers as useless, I
am not. Over the long term your bunker becomes a trap if
you return to daily. It becomes easily identifiable over time
(if used constantly) and the area surrounding it becomes a
tell tale sign of habitation that can't be missed. Once you
run out of stored food you need to start growing food. As
this will probably not be possible internally, planting
externally will become necessary. If you place your garden
near the bunker, well... you can do the math on that.
Placing your garden a good distance from your bunker
seems wise, but then you have to constantly make the trek
to and from, thus creating worn paths, and you also run
the risk of increasing your operational area and running
into people accidentally.
Basically the point is that once you have to leave and
return to your bunker on a regular basis it's advantage of
being hidden is lost. If you come under any sort of assault
or scrutiny you can simply walk away and try to come back
another time, but if you are in the bunker when it happens,
those options are eliminated.
Before anyone goes Rambo on me and says that a
bunker, if constructed properly, should include an area for
cover and return fire I will simply say this, if they know
where you are, the battle is easily lost to you. Yes, you
could out shoot them and survive but the odds are greatly
in their favor if you are bunkered.
PROS of Bunker Life
Bunkers are great for short term survival of life threatening
events. If properly built, maintained and supplied they can
be fantastic places to ride out a storm or event in relative
comfort knowing you and yours are most likely going to be
safe from whatever is happening outside. If you have
enough money bunkers can provide enough space for
light exercise, privacy for adults, decent sanitation and
even entertainment if you have good sources for electricity
and such. If you are going to build a bunker, I would say
build it out for a good 30-60 day survival period if you have
the money to do it.
The greatest thing about bunkers is that once they are
built and stocked, they are relatively easy to maintain if
they have only basic services. The more advanced the
systems, the more regular maintenance is required to
ensure the bunker performs as required when needed.
Bunkers are hidden places to safely ensconce your family
when the SHTF. Now, before you jump on me for flip
flopping please let me explain that statement. It is my
opinion that bunkers should ONLY be used when a threat
is imminent. Once the threat has passed I believe the
bunker should be vacated and restored to pre-use status.
Let's break that out into two different examples to make it
clear:
1) Bill and his family have a bunker behind their house and
the entrance is in the rear corner of a medium sized
garage. A tornado warning is issued and Bill grabs the
family and runs to the bunker. They weather the storm and
once the all clear is given, which they hear on their
emergency radio, they leave the bunker and head back
into the house. Great job, Bill.
2) Bill and his family watch in horror as the global
economy crashes and the United States is plunged into
civil war. The social fabric of this nation is destroyed and
on the other side of the event emerges a country devoid of
central government and rife with lawlessness and strife.
Bill and his family have prepared for this by building their
hidden bunker and stockpiling it. Because they live in the
country they continue their lifestyle and become
homesteaders. Occasionally when someone comes
through the area Bill will send his family into their bunker
to hide while he stays behind to make sure the person
doesn't locate their goods or damage their property. If the
intruder looks as though he is determined to cause harm,
Bill may have to defend himself and his family.
Once the threat is removed, either by force or lack of
interest, the family can return from the bunker when Bill
gives them the sign it's clear.
3) Same global scenario as number 2 above. In this event
a large group of intruders are seen making their way to
Bill's house. Bill and his family can either choose to run
into their hidden bunker, or simply evacuate to a
predetermined BOL and wait to see what happens.
a) Bill and the family run into the bunker and hide. The
intruders find the garden and the well stocked home and
decide to stay. If they find the bunker entrance, they will
try to get inside. If they cannot get in they will most likely
figure there are people inside and try to get them out.
Hopefully the intruders are peaceful and will be fine. Most
likely they are not peaceful and Bill and his family are
trapped like rats.
b) Bill and the family evacuate the farm and head to a
secret BOL that was build two years earlier. From there
they can either continue their evacuation to find a new
place to live, or make plans to retake their farm from the
intruders. Either way they have choices.
Now, some people will say that you can use a story to go
anyway you want it doesn't mean it's true. Those people
would be right. Some people would say that because I
prefer homesteads to bunkers, I am biased and this is all
opinion. Those people would be mostly right.
The facts are simple, if you place yourself into a bunker
and something bad happens, you have drastically
eliminated the choices you have in regards to where you
are going and how you are getting there. If you are
homesteading and trouble comes, you have more choices.
You can fortify firing positions which get you the
advantage, you can build traps and obstacles, you can
rely on help from trained dogs, you can move and use
fields of fire to combat your enemies... choices.
Once you enter a bunker your choices are extremely
limited. If you are unaware of the threat when you enter
the bunker you have given your attacker the element of
surprise unless you have maintained some form of
external surveillance. Even if you know they are out there,
you still have to enter and exit from a specific location,
thus giving your attacker the tactical advantage.
There are factions in the world today that are interested in
achieving world supremacy. Various powers are busy
figuring out how to dominate and destroy other world
powers they clearly have no interest in securing peace for
the world. Many nations are hiding nuclear arsenals, while
others, such as Iran, are developing nuclear weapons
while endeavoring to keep their plans secret from the
other nations of the world.
Emergency Survival During A Civil War
With the use of nuclear weapons, a third world war
breaking out is not that hard to imagine. However, while
this is cause for concern for people, there is an
unfortunate scenario of a more immediate nature that they
should pay attention to.
This article is referring to the potential eruption of a civil
war in almost any nation. It is a constant risk that people
should study closely. This includes not just the church and
world leaders, but everybody who cares about the security
of their families and entire communities.
Wars are deadly, and a war between factions of the same
country is no different. It can affect a good portion of the
population, including children who are too young to take
care of and protect themselves. Civil wars usually come
with abuses on human rights by both civilians and the
military.
A civil war always ends in tragedy, no matter where it
occurs. Millions suffer in Ethiopia and Somalia. Some four
million residents of Sudan were displaced, two million
have died, and over 70 million Ethiopians are starving.
Most recently, Syria has been in the news headlines. This
is what civil war looks like.
Families must craft emergency survival plans regardless
of the type of emergency. Rather than pin their hopes on
the government helping them out, they should rely on
themselves. This is how they will avoid experiencing
suffering, death and separation in evacuation camps
designated by the government.
Every family should think about enrolling in survival
courses that include gun firing and self-defense lessons.
With gun firing, it can be a kind of family activity. However,
the kids need to be warned about the perils of handling
firearms during normal situations.
It makes sense to prepare emergency first-aid kits
containing basic medications for typical illnesses. For
families with special disorders like asthma and diabetes,
other maintenance and life-saving drugs should be added
to the safety kits.
Residents of war-prone areas that are also vulnerable to
other emergencies should pack special kits on top of the
standard first-aid ones. These will be used for storing
durable footwear for the family, an all-purpose knife, basic
toiletries, maps and canned goods.
In preparing for a civil altercation, take only what is
important, particularly the basic necessities. Wars often
leave families displaced, forcing them to survive for weeks
that could stretch into months, walking the roads in an
effort to escape the violence.
Anticipating and getting ready for a civil war does not
mean you want it to happen. You are simply seeing to it
that the family has a better chance of surviving in case
such a tragedy takes place. As the saying goes: better
safe than sorry. That is just what civil war emergency
survival seeks to accomplish.
For more information on emergency survival
[http://emergencysurvivalblog.com] visit The Emergency
Survival Blog [http://emergencysurvivalblog.com].
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dan_Annweiler/1084251
Have you been glued to the tv watching reality-based
shows like The Colony where they must accumulate
survival food supplies or perish? Even in those survival
shows such as Man vs Wild and Survivor Man and such,
do you see some of that. Here are some ideas to ensure
that you still have some nourishment in situations like this
is by preparing in advance.
Develop your own garden. You can raise vegetables and
other edible plants in your backyard. You can raise your
plants in a pot or just plainly on the ground.
Learn they types of foods that you can either preserve, dry
or freeze. More so the first two than the latter as you may
not be able to freeze your food in most circumstances.
So plant foods such as nuts and fruit trees in your
backyard. Your fruit trees can grow larger, and in time, you
can make use of the tree's branches as a shade in the
meantime!
Learn how to preserve the food that you grow. There are
many ways in preserving your food. You can do methods
like food-canning and food-drying or dehydrating.
You can buy your own generator and stock up your
storage room with enough fuel. Also, you can buy a
propane generator to keep your food frozen. You can do
any method as long as your food stays frozen. You will be
able to have food for a few days at least even though you
do not have enough electricity. Keep a supply of water,
wood, charcoal and gas so if electricity turns off, you won't
be able to cook your food if you did not prepare gas and
wood or charcoal.
Seal the secret within your home. Never let your neighbors
know that you have a food supply that can last for six
months. When everyone in the neighborhood knows that
you have an enormous amount of food supply, well, the
next thing that you will know is that all of your food is
gone.
A cupboard is not good enough for your survival food
supply so get something especially for this purpose. You
must need a place wherein people won't easily know that
there is food inside. Also, the room must be safe from
getting damped or getting flooded.
Have a supply of private hygiene items. These items
include toilet tissue paper, soap, towels, toothbrush,
toothpaste, and alcohol. These things make you feel better
and thus works on your psychology and you will be able to
think clearer.
Also save some sweets like candies and cookies in a
resealable container or bags to protect them from other
critters who also want to eat.
Do you know how to cook rice without a rice cooker?
Watching these survival shows, I'm actually happy that my
mom taught me how to cook rice from a pot. Learn how to
cook from without the microwave or automatic cookers.
You can also make your own composting toilet.
Learn what types of food are edible in your neck of the
woods and especially, what are not and learn skills of the
hunters and gatherers of the past. You must know how to
catch a fish. You must also prepare supplies for hunting
since hunting will make your food supply continue.
Go to: Survival Food Supplies
[http://www.survivalfoodsupplies.net] for more information
about this topic. You might also be interested in chaos and
the butterfly effect for more about disaster scenarios.
Article Source:
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4993608
Asking people in the prepping culture a simple question
such as "What is the best survival method for prepping?
Bunkering, Homesteading, Wilderness Survival or Other"
will generate a great many discussions and even more
very intense and well thought out replies and arguments.
Most people will answer this question very quickly based
on their own opinion or position in life, which is realistically
the best way to answer the question. For those of us in the
"business" of prepping we sometimes have to take a step
back and look at the big picture. This is difficult for so
many of us because we have spent years of time and vast
amounts of resources building up our own preps and
knowledge based on our own opinions and situations.
Instead let's try to view this from the prism of a person
NEW to the prepping movement. A person with no
discernible skill sets and no stored foods or items. The
new prepper feels something bad is likely to happen in the
"next few years".
Bunkering
There are still a large number of people out there that are
buying bunkers and building hidey holes to jump into if the
shit hits the fan. Some of these bunkers are fantastic for
severe weather survival but living long term in a bunker is
fraught with issues. Needless to say I am a firm believer
that bunker prepping is a short term solution to a
potentially long term problem. The end result is that
preppers diving into bunkers may be well protected from
initial problems in a SHTF event, but may very well find
themselves behind the 8-ball in a long term event when
their power systems begin to fail, their stored foods run
out, their water runs dry and they begin to suffer from
some of the many psychological affects of bunker life.
Wilderness Survival
This one is tough to discount because people have
survived in "the wild" since the dawn of man and continue
to do so in many parts of the world. The skills involved in
proper wilderness survival are second to none and
obviously provide the Wilderness Survival Expert with the
tools and know-how to live for years off of the land.
My biggest argument about Wilderness Survival/Bushcraft
is that I don't personally believe it is in and of itself a
"prepping" methodology. I believe that wilderness survival
is a very broad set of skills and expertise that all preppers
should have some knowledge and experience in relative to
their specific environment. I personally believe that these
are the skills that are to be called upon at the on-set of
SHTF, or after an event in which your preps have become
unusable or lost to you. Some of these skills such as
tracking, trapping, hunting, fishing etc can be used in
parallel with other prepping methodologies to increase
survivability.
The downfall of Wilderness Survival as a prepping
methodology is the difficulty of living off of the land with a
family in tow. As time grinds on the family will have to
move in order to secure the resources that are required.
Movement itself brings inherent risk but mainly it makes
life quite difficult when you are slowly roaming from space
to space in order to provide enough sustenance for your
family.
Again, I do believe there is GREAT value in the wilderness
survival / bushcraft skill sets. I simply don't believe that
people new to the prepping movement should be looking
to this area as a complete prepping solution.
What exactly are we talking about?
If we were to take the base question: "What is the best
survival method for prepping?" and place it in the context
of a SHTF event that will last years if not decades the
picture will start to become a little more clear. Bunkering
and Bushcraft are not likely contenders for new preppers
when viewing the problem from a long term angle. Once
you have established you are prepping for a long term
event your available prepping options narrow.
"Nautical" Prepping
As of late there has been a bit of talk about bugging out on
boats or even living at sea for long periods at a time. I
have no issues with using a boat as a bug out vehicle. I
believe that it's a great idea if properly utilized within your
bug out plan. I do not believe people should plan a boat
into their bug out plans so much as determine that using a
boat to bug out is more feasible based on their current
situation. If you happen to live near a large body of water
and your bug out plans will take you across large stretches
of that water, then yes, a bug out boat would suit you.
However, if you live 200 miles from the nearest large body
of water and you plan your bug out to utilize a boat
because you just want to use your boat, you really should
rethink your plan.
Living at sea or sailing open waters for long periods is a
different beast altogether. The knowledge and skills and
equipment necessary to accomplish this are vast and not
easily accumulated. If you have zero sailing experience
today, and you are wanting to prep for an event that you
feel could happen soon, this is probably not the route you
want to travel with your prepping plans. If you happen to
have 20 years of open water experience and a $4 million
boat full of equipment specifically designed to survive long
term at sea and the years of knowledge required to keep
all of those systems running and repair them when they
fail (which they will) as well as the knowledge and
experience to captain that vessel across vast stretches of
open water... well then you are probably not reading this
article.
Once again this article is for NEW preppers. I just don't
see the value of the long term open water boating solution
without years of lead time and vast amounts of resources.
Homesteading
This brings mean to the last category that I have listed in
the opening question. In a post SHTF situation the single
most well prepared person in the world is the one that can
live off the land by growing food and raising livestock. Yes,
there are many other concerns such as shelter, small
equipment repair or manufacturing, security, governance,
medical attention, sanitation, etc. The list goes on and on
and on. However, if you grow your own food you can
sustain your own life and have a viable means of trade. If
you raise livestock you will have more food available as
well as goods such as wool, felt, skins, hair, etc. Livestock
produces manure which is also a trade good. Apples,
pears, peaches, cherries, berries, honey, milk... the list is
never-ending. All of this can be grown and raised on a
farm small enough for just a couple of people to manage
it, with enough left for small amounts of trade for other
things.
Although it may take years to learn to produce a high yield
of crops and a large number of livestock the rudimentary
skills are simple enough that even people with very little
knowledge and experience can grow enough to sustain
life. This can also be supplemented with hunting and
fishing where available. Homesteaders also have the
advantage of open space for movement and growth, root
cellars for storage and canning and preserving for long
term food stores.
Conclusion
This is the very base of the argument. In bunkering you
are producing nothing and your finite supplies will certainly
run out. When you emerge from your hole you stand the
very serious likelihood of emerging at a severe
disadvantage. The great expense of a large bunker with
extended survivability is out of reach of most people in the
first place.
The wilderness survival expert can survive on his own. He
can provide items for trade with locals and live a decent
life most likely. Introduce a family into that situation and
things change quickly.
The captain of the SS BugOut will do well and survive as
long as his equipment continues to function and is
maintained. Eventually the years will catch up and the
equipment will fail and parts will be unavailable and there
will be no more materials to make the parts. The captain is
doomed to rely on outside sources for survival in some
respects.
The homesteaders can survive, and have done so for
generations. There is no doubt as to why the rise of
mankind followed so closely with the knowledge and
technologies of small and medium scale farming. Read
your history books and you will find that farms and grist
mills became the backbone of communities that later
developed into towns and cities. How many bunkers have
become a city? How many boats have become a
community?
Before anyone jumps in and says "wait a second,
homesteading isn't easy!" You are correct, however if the
SHTF event occurs six months from now, is your bunker
stocked and ready? Do you have the knowledge and
experience to live in the wilderness? Is your boat outfitted
and are you properly trained to survive open waters long
term? In regards of starting up and being able to survive,
my money is on the homesteader any day.
In the big picture, long term, resources, trade and
community are what will drive survival. All of the above
mentioned methods of prepping will work for short
duration. Some will work longer if the person has the
proper knowledge and equipment. Only homesteading can
be approached with so little training and knowledge and
also provide so much in return.
Alex Newton
Plan and Prep - http://planandprep.com/home
Author - Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alex_D_Newton/1403658
Everyone has some event they are preparing for. Like the
folks on Doomsday Preppers; if it isn't a Super Volcano,
nuclear attack, economic collapse, or even the tragic loss
of a loved one, you are preparing for "something". Let's
say today was the last "normal" day for you, how would
you spend it? Would you run around getting stuff ready
and brace for impact? Would you sit silently in a corner
and forget about the rest of the world? Or would you carry
on like any normal day and try to enjoy it a little more
because you know it may not happen again for some
time? I am asking you these pertinent questions because I
want to provoke thought before we disclose what the most
important prep is.
Have we become so inundated with reading the news for
warning signs of impending doom or scouring the web for
great prices on gear and food that we have become blind
to the most important prep? Yes we have. While this is
easy to do and a trap we fall into from time to time,
hopefully the information I will share will help you avoid
this pitfall. So put down the gear, turn off the television,
and join me for a few minutes of REAL preparedness talk.
Oh, and put down the cell phone, do it now!!
The most important prep is actually free. It doesn't cost a
penny. It is completely natural so there is no shelf life and
no preservatives. It doesn't take up much room in your bug
out bag and no batteries are required. What is it I am
talking about? It is pure, meaningful, and unconditional...
love. I am not going to get all mushy (I will try not to) on
you, but I will state the facts of the matter. I do not claim to
be a mental health professional, so please don't take this
as such. I wanted to speak to our readers as our friends.
My goal is for this article to spark some thought and may
become a call to action for some folks to improve their
relationships with family, friends, co-workers, etc. If you
truly believe that something is going to happen whether it
be a natural disaster or man-made, then you should put
this prep into action soon before it's too late.
If you take a look at everything you have, what is the most
important part of your life? Relationships. The ones you
have with family members, close friends, etc. When you
check on your gear, food storage, or work on skills, do you
ever work on these relationships? Do you set time aside
for your children, spouse, parents, etc.? Do you check on
a friend to see if they are OK? These are some of the
questions I want you to think about. While we may have all
our preps ready to rock in a moment's notice, we may
have the most important things in our lives falling apart in
the background. This is a fail and many will become
casualties.
Again, this is an opinion on what the most important prep
is. Before the shoo shoo hits the fan, you have the
opportunity to create great memories with family and
friends. Because if your worst fear came to pass, these
will be what you can hold onto and no one can take that
away from you. So go with your children and make them
smile. Play games, tell stories, make them laugh. This is
what they will remember. Have a date night with your
spouse. This is the person you chose to spend your life
with. Reconnect and find those things that brought you
together in the first place. Even if you aren't married and
just have a significant other, you can still take an oath of
for better or for worse. There are enough problems to deal
with on a daily basis, so a little kindness goes a long way.
Do you have a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time?
Check up on them. Sometimes just being there to listen is
the best. Someone you know could be going through what
they consider their SHTF moment; the loss of a loved one,
unemployment, financial troubles, etc., but you would
never know. This is what helping each other is all about. It
doesn't need to be with goods and materials, a kind heart
goes a long way.
In the end, adding this positive energy into your preps is
worth its weight in gold. The stress of any SHTF event is
bad enough but when you endure this with people who
you share strong bonds with, it will make survival just that
much easier. So put a little "love" in your bug out/go bag
today.
http://preppercentral.com
Article Source:
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Plan and Prep - http://planandprep.com/home
Author - Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
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