Mentally Preparing for Survival

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A survival kit should be carried by anyone who goes deep into the wilderness. What should be in it? Matches, a blade of some sort, and first aid supplies are among the usual recommendations. When you read the true stories of survival, though, you start to see that it is what’s in a persons head that often determines if they survive or not. What, then, should be in this mental survival kit?

1. Willingness to learn. Even those who know nothing about survival until lost in the wilderness can still learn as they go – if they are willing to. If you’re cold, watch that squirrel dive under a pile of leaves, and try that to stay warm (it works). Notice what’s working and what isn’t, and keep trying new things.

2. Willingness to do what’s necessary. This is one of the most important items in your mental survival kit. Hey, they can eat hissing cockroaches just for the chance to win some money on “Fear Factor,” so you can do it to save your life, right? Spoon with your buddy to stay warm, break open logs to find grubs to eat – do whatever it takes.

3. Positive attitude. This is an essential. In many stories of survival it is clear that those who expected to survive did. Even if you’re not sure you can survive, encourage this attitude by acting as if you expect to.

4. Inspirational thoughts. This is how to have that positive attitude. An easy and enjoyable way to get this inspiration is to read true stories of wilderness survival. Some of the stories are about situations far worse than anything you are ever likely to encounter. Remembering them at the appropriate time is a sure way to see that you can survive. tell them to others too, if you are in a group.

5. Wilderness survival knowledge. You don’t have to go to a survival training school to read and remember that you can safely eat all North American mammals, or that you can stuff your jacket with cattail fluff to create a winter coat. Any little bit helps, so learn a new trick or two each season, or take an edible plant guide on your next hike.

6. Reasons to survive. We all have reasons to want to live, but we need to remember to pull out those reasons when the time comes. Many people have attributed their survival to the constant thought of a loved one waiting for them, or something they want in the future.

Maybe you’ve already done this mental preparation, but it can’t hurt to look over the list above again. Is there anything you need to work on in your mental survival kit?

The Proper Clothing For Cold Weather Survival

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Maybe you don’t need to learn about survival clothing. Maybe you always hike with a spare jacket. Perhaps you never go out into the wilderness overnight, but just for day hikes. Or you bring lots of warm clothing when you do go backpacking.

Nonetheless, hundreds of people die or come close to dying every year from exposure. They thought they were prepared. They didn’t expect their clothes to get wet from falling in a stream, they didn’t think they’d be out there for the night, or they get lost for days.

Coming down from Mount Whitney I met several young men in t-shirts on their way up, determined to get to the top. They had no gear, and not enough time, but they probably made it there by sunset anyhow. They also certainly didn’t make it the eleven miles back to their car before dark. It was below freezing that night, so I imagine they were uncomfortable at best.

Quick Survival Clothing

What survival clothing could they have made in that situation? One of them did have a light jacket. He could have used his t-shirt as a hat (a lot of heat is lost through the head) and filled his jacket with the fluff from the cattail seedheads for insulation. (Cattail down was once used to fill those old orange life preservers.)

Insulation is the important principle here. You can stuff a jacket, shirt, sweater or pants with dry leaves, milkweed down, bracken ferns or almost anything that creates a lot of “dead air space.” It’s better if you have two layers to sandwich it between, but being itchy is better than being frozen in any case.

In a jam, you can also use the flat leaves of cattail plants to weave a vest that will block the wind and some rain. Two bread bags full of milkweed down or other silky plant fibers make warm mittens (tie them at the wrists). A plastic bag full of the same could be tied onto your head as a hat.

Usually, you’ll do better to look first at what you have, before looking to kill animals for their skins, or weave grass skirts. If you have a sleeping bag, it can double as a coat – just wrap it around you. Socks can be mittens, and garbage bags can be made into snow pants.

A garbage bag can also be a raincoat. Otherwise, tie bunches of grass tightly together along a string or strip of cloth, and then wrap it around your shoulders. This will repel a light rain. You can fashion a rain hood of birchbark as well.

In the desert you can make a sun-hat of large leaves, like those from a fan palm. String some together to wrap around your shoulders to prevent sunburn.

You’ll probably never have to use animal skins for survival clothing. You might never lose your shoes and need to glue tree bark to your feet with pine sap, for hiking. Still, knowing how to improvise a few basic pieces of survival clothing can make you more comfortable, and possibly save your life.

Preparing For A Natural Disaster, Terrorists Attack Or Pandemic

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How prepared are you? Will you be like thousands of others and wait until the last minute to stock up on food and water? Do you even have a working flashlight in your home or auto? As we have clearly seen, waiting until it is too late does not work. Grocery stores run out, gas stations run dry and we certainly can’t depend on the government to help.

You need to start planning today, preparing for the unexpected so that you and your family can survive. Official sources always recommend having a 72 hour or 3 day kit. While it certainly helps, it is nowhere near adequate for an extended survival situation. As we have seen a natural disaster can last for more than 3 days. A possible bird flu pandemic may keep you housebound for weeks or months at a time. So how much is enough and what do you need?

You should plan on meeting your family’s daily needs for a minimum of a month, preferably up to 3 months or longer. This can include:

Food—Stock up on the basics. Flour, sugar, non-perishable foods like macaroni products, rice (a 25lb bag of rice is around $6.00 at SAM’s club), dried milk. Canned goods usually are good for a year or two. Start adding to your pantry now by buying a few extra items every time you go to the grocery store. Take advantage of sales, coupons and store brands. Buy foods you can fix easily, don’t need a lot of water or don’t need to be cooked at all. You can also add to your supply long term dehydrated foods that you can supplement your other food stores. They are vacuumed sealed and have a shelf life of 20-30 years. MRE’s ready to eat meals can also expand your food stores. Buy food and supplies in bulk at Sams club or Costco. Rotate your stock so you always have the freshest food available. Also include things like high-energy bars. Don’t forget pet food.

Water—You can store water in large containers, 5-gallon mylar water bags, camping jugs and other containers. You should also own a good water purifier.

Tools—are you equipped to handle minor repairs around your home? Fix your auto? Repair or build needed survival supplies? Tools to turn off natural gas, shovels to dig out, chainsaws to cut up downed trees and other essential rescue tools may be needed.

Energy—there may be interruptions or outages in electrical and other utilities. Do you have an alternative way of heating your home? A way of supplying power to lights and other needed electrical devices? Stocked up on batteries? A portable generator can be used for emergency backup. You will need gas to run the generator. Solar panels are handy for charging batteries. Extra propane can be used for a stove, lights or heat. Have several flashlights on hand. Newer flashlights feature L.E.D. bulbs that burn brighter and last forever. Also look for hand cranked flashlights that don’t need batteries. Include lighting such as oil or propane lanterns.

Medical— a good first aid kit is a must have. Over the counter drugs such as ibuprofen, aspirin, antacids, etc. Also personal medications and other first aid supplies. Don’t forget spare glasses/contacts and contact lens solution. Brush up on your first aid skills.

Household supplies—everything from shampoo and toothpaste to toilet paper, soap, detergent, bleach, disinfectants and everything else you use on a daily basis. Don’t forget hair clippers if you can’t get out to the barber. Have supplies on hand to deal with sanitation and garbage.

Communication—Newer walkie-talkies that have a 10-12 mile range will help you stay in touch with your family in the event your cell phone stops working. Give each member of your family one and tune them all to the same channel. Buy an emergency battery for your cell phone. They are good for about 60 minutes of talk time. Portable shortwave radios will help you keep in touch with the world. A small portable tv will also help keep you informed if the power is out. A hand cranked radio is also a must have.

Camping equipment—stoves, tents, sleeping bags can all come in handy especially if you need to relocate. Pick up camping supplies on sale and used equipment at garage sales.

Bicycles—if you need to get around and there is no gas a bike is the best item to have.

Relocating—if you choose not to stay in your home, then you need a plan on how you will relocate-to another town or remote cabin, etc. You may want to stock your vacation home with supplies and be prepared to “bug out” before travel is restricted.

Figure out how far you need to get away. Think about storing extra gas to provide a full tank and enough for your journey. 3 or 4–5 gallon gas cans, could be enough to get you several hundred miles away. Because of the fire danger it is very important that you store them safely and rotate them on a regular basis. Meaning, if you have 3 filled cans, week one dump that in your gas tank and refill that can. Week 2 dump the second can in your gas tank and refill that can. Week 3 dump can 3 into your gas tank and refill that can. Week 4 start over with can one. Using this system you will always have 15 gallons of fresh gas on hand in addition to gas that is already in your gas tank.

Plan your exit strategy from your city or town. Keep a map in your car with the roads out highlighted. Find all the alternative routes out of your city or town. Stay away from main highways if at all possible. Have copies of the map in other vehicles if other family members need to meet you later. Practice your escape route by driving it at least once.

Store your “bug out” survival supplies in containers that can be quickly loaded into your vehicle. Keep a smaller version in your vehicle at all times.

Start today preparing for the unexpected and if it happens you won’t need to divert your time and energy away from caring for your family, waiting in long lines for essential goods and services or waiting for the government or other aid organizations to come to your rescue.

Pepper Spray-Why It Is So Effective

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When it comes to non lethal self defense weapons pepper spray is right up there at the top of popularity for two main reasons: ease of use and effectiveness.

How It Works

Pepper spray uses Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) which comes from cayenne pepper. Defensive pepper sprays are measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU’s) a common measure of a products’ “hotness”. A jalapeno pepper has an SHU of 5000, a habanero pepper 300,000 and a typical pepper spray will be in the 2 million SHU range.

A one second spray in the face with a 10 % solution of a pepper spray will get you 20-30 minutes away from an attacker. It will cause the attacker to have shortness of breathe, have temporary blindness due to excessive tearing and the eyes actually shutting down, coughing and choking. He will scream from the pain.

You will survive a potential attack and no permanent damage will be done to the attacker. A well aimed shot from a pepper spray has outstanding stopping power. That is why it has become one of the most effective women’s self defense items and crime prevention tools.

Most pepper sprays have an effective range of 6-12 feet. A new gel pepper spray works up to 18 feet. Most models use a fine grain stream. Foam and fogger products are available for those who are unsure of their aiming abilities.

I have seen pepper sprays that can be disguised as pens, pagers, lipstick, and even hand held walking weights. Almost all models are small enough for a purse or to attach on a key chain. Some have velcro straps to attach to just about anything or a clip to hook onto a belt.

Who Uses Pepper Sprays

If you think crime can only happen to the other guy you are wrong. The “other guy” is thinking the same thing and YOU are that “other guy”. There is a reason why they call it self defense. You have to protect yourself.

A violent crime occurs every 19 seconds and an assault every 29 seconds. For would be victims of a robbery, assault, theft, rape, murder, or kidnapping an investment of $15- $25 for a pepper spray is certainly worth the peace of mind and sense of security it provides. No one is safe from the crimes of today be it a personal assault or a home break in.

Women are particularly vulnerable, especially those who work late at night, those in sales positions, real estate agents, and those who live alone. They in particular need self defense products such as an effective OC pepper spray.

Please Note that even though pepper spray is legal in all 50 states, some states and cities have restrictions. Check with your local police department. Literally thousands of police departments carry and use pepper spray. Why wouldn’t you?

Tips For Emergency Preparation During Severe Climate Changes

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Due to global warming and other factors, the changes in our climate have become drastic. We have seen the devastation of properties and cities. Many lives have also been lost due to super typhoons and hurricanes, which caused flooding, and extremely hot weather condition, which caused heat wave. Since we are no longer sure what type of weather will hit our locality, all of us should be prepared for whatever situation certain climate changes and situations would bring.

Tips for preparing for hurricanes and storms

Check your house

Our house is our sanctuary during storms; thus, we need to regularly check the integrity of our roofs, walls, etc even before the hurricane season arrives. Since our house is our only defense against heavy rains and strong winds, we need to ensure that it can withstand severe weather conditions, especially if we live in hurricane prone areas.

Once a hurricane warning has been issued, we need to start boarding up our windows and doors. We also need to shut off our gas and electricity and make sure that all objects that can fall or fly around must be removed.

Prepare for provisions

When a hurricane warning has been issued, you need to make sure that you and your family has enough water and food to last for days. Be sure that the food you will be stocking up are those that can be eaten even without cooking and does not need to be refrigerated. Moreover, you need to make sure that you have enough potable water for you and your family.

Aside from food, you need to prepare for candles, matches, flashlights and batteries. In order for you to be always informed on what is happening, you need to have a battery-operated radio available.

Heed government warnings

If the government has called for an evacuation, do not think twice. Follow the advice of the government. Just make sure that your home is properly secured before you leave.

Tips for preparing for heat wave

Extremely hot weather can be dangerous, particularly for young children, old people, and those with certain health conditions, such as mental illness, heart and breathing problems.

Listen to the news

We need to closely monitor the situation and wait for warnings and bulletins issued by the government. Many people have died because they did not know that there is a heat wave and it was unsafe for them to go out during the hottest part of the day.

Stay out of the sun

It is really advisable to stay indoors when there is a heat wave. If you must go out, you need to ensure that you are wearing proper clothing and have a protection against the sun, such as a hat or an umbrella. You also need to schedule your day well so that you will be indoors from 11pm to 3pm, the hottest part of the day.

Shower up

Take a cold bath or shower several times a day. If you cannot do that, just wash your face and nape with cool water occasionally or whenever you feel hot.

Regularly check on your elderly relatives and neighbors

Old people are usually the ones who succumb to heat wave, thus you need to check your old relatives or neighbors once in a while. See if they are drinking plenty of water and are feeling well. If you cannot physically visit them, you can always call them during the day and constantly remind them to follow health bulletins for heat wave.