Emergency Preparedness

[MyBrokenJeep]

Hey Folks... with the current disaster events, social protests and uprisings, and the like taking place around the world, I am really interested to hear what you all are doing or are planning to do to prepare yourself and your families should/when anything/something like this happen(s) to us.

I am starting to prepare us for as many things as I can think of to prepare for...

I am breaking our list down into a few categories... These are not in any particular order...

1) Food Supply

I have spoken to and emailed with as many "experts" as I can find on this topic. I am finding recommendations that range from a 72 hour food supply to a 1 year food supply. What are you all doing? How long do you think would be enough?

I have reviewed many websites and reviewed many longterm food supply products and offerings. Freeze dried foods seem to be one of the more popular recommendations... the "just add water" option. I am finding a lot of companies offering canned supplies as well. My concern here is that the canned supplies I find are in #10 cans or 5/6 gallon buckets, these are pretty large cans/containers and usually contain more than a day or two supply of meals... I question how those would be preserved for days and/or transported once opened while maintaining their purity, consistency, and integrity.

A couple of the sites I have been reviewing are:

http://www.thereadystore.com/
http://www.efoodsdirect.com
http://www.survival-goods.com/Prepar...pply_s/194.htm
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/

What sort of foods are you storing? rice? wheat?

2) Water Supply

http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=30

Probably one of the most critical and underestimated need we will have is water... both drinking and for sanitary purposes... Water does have a shelf life. The differences in opinion about the shelf life does surprise me a little bit. I am finding that experts say it's shelf life is anywhere from 30 days to 6 months to 1 year.

http://www.quakekare.com/
http://www.survival-goods.com/Emerge...vices_s/40.htm
http://www.providentliving.org/conte...4065-1,00.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Dis...ter&id=3983180



3) Fuel Supply

I know we will need fuel for our vehicles... those that survive a disaster. But we will also need fuel for fires, stoves, heaters, etc.

Do you have any plans, resources, information you can share on this topic?

Anyone have experience with portable solar energy?

4) Personal/Family Protection

Firearms... What are your recommendations here? Handguns? Automatic or revolver? Why? Shotgun vs. Rifle? Why?

From what I have been able to read, a quality handgun is an absolute must! I have read that a revolver might be more reliable than an automatic... true? I don't know... I am no expert on guns.

5) Shelter

Should something happen to your house... What are your plans for shelter? RV, tent, tarp, all of the above?

6) Communications - Before/During/After

I have a CB in my Jeep and one ready to install in my RV and another for my truck... CB radios are pretty much "line of sight" right?

I know there are a lot of folks on here who are HAM radio users... What affect, if any, would a disaster have on HAM operation? Do HAM radios require the use of the towers? I am a novice on this subject and would appreciate learning more.

What about two-way radios?

7) First Aid/Medical

We have what I call the "First Aid Kit to beat all"... that being said, I know that we don't have everything in it we could possibly need but we do have a lot of stuff. I am fortunate enough to be married to someone whose work/job/career focuses on the safety space and she has leveraged that experience and knowledge to build out our kit. What are some of the absolute must-have's that you have in your kit that most may not have thought of?

8) Supplies

When I think of this category, I think of things like a radio, batteries, blankets, bleach (for sanitation and cleaning), clothes (outter wear, underwear, shoes, etc.)...



I apologize if this topic is boring... or if you think it is irrelevant... but, I have learned a great deal from the members of this board and value the opinions shared here (well, most of them...). Any insight, opinions, knowledge, experience you could share with me would be helpful and appreciated and might be helpful and appreciated by others here too.

[dirtman13]

That's quite a list Randy. Thanks for posting those links. They have some good info.

Personally I'm planning on at least a week of rations for my family. When the big one hits 72 hours worth of food is not going to be enough. Cup of Noodles are good too. Cheap and last forever.

For gas I have several 5 gal Jerry cans filled that I rotate through the Jeep so they are always fresh. I figure the Jeep will be the only vehicle capable of driving when this happens.

For shelter we will be using our camping gear. I always have at least 5 full propane canisters plus the 5 gallon one from the BBQ for the stove and lanterns.

You are smart being prepared. I’ll meet you in Big Bear after it hits so we can hunt for deer.:gun:

[Roger]

Wow Randy! Quite a list. We live rural so we will have some different issues than you do living in town.

Food: the government's recommendation for three days worth is not nearly enough. 30 to 60 days is more like it. There's no need to buy "survival" food on line. Canned veggies, canned meat, beans etc. from the $.99 store is fine. also, Rice, dried beans, sugar, salt, flour & some comfort food like candy. Toilet paper & handi-wipes are good to have stored up also. If funds are short, buy a little each week and it won't take long to have a good supply. (I say this not so much for you Randy, but maybe others need to think about stocking up a little at a time)

Water: The blue 50 gallon food grade barrels are great for storing water. A couple of these will last two people a few months. Add a little bleach to the water. Drain & re-fill the barrels every 6 months.

RV's are great survival vehicles.

Firearms: A good high capacity 12 ga shotgun with 18/20" barrell and a bunch of 00 buck rounds can't be beat for home defense. Hand guns is a whole seperate topic. Either revolvers or semi-automatics are good. Make sure whatever you choose is a common caliber. 22LR, 9mm, 45 colt, 45 automatic. Some recommend that all your arms should be military calibers. I tend to agree with that. Both you and your wife should get some fire arm training. Is there a gun range near you? Go and ask questions of the range master. There's lots of fire arm experts here on MJR. Consider what they have to say also if the post up on this subject.

Fuel: propane, gas, firewood,charcoal, store all of it. Be sure to rotate the gasoline.

Misc: A good am/fm portable radio with a crank handle to charge up the internal battery, ham radio has proven itself over and over again in disasters. Forget the CB. Remember, it will be next to impossible to get out of the inland empire. Everyone else will want to do the same. The freeways will be parking lots. Pre-plan a way out that doesn't involve the freeway if you must leave. Better to hunker down at home if possible.

Above all Randy, keep it simple. You need to eat, you need sanitation, and you need shelter. You need to keep someone from taking these items from you. That's about it. I hope this helps and I am looking forward to reading others ideas.

[Gary]

I know I'm not 100% equipped but I'm working on it.

There's enough can food in my toy hauler that I could ration for a month if need be, not to mention whats in the house at the time. I rotate that stock into the house, and use it on outings, and I make a point to restock. I also fill the 35 gallon fuel station and add some stabilizer. I keep the truck full of fuel also, thats enough diesel in the truck tank to get me about 700 or 800 miles out. If the trailer sits with no use, about every 3 or 4 months I'll empty the fuel station into the jeep and refill it again. I also keep the Jeep and quads filled up.

Not sure if it would be best to stay put or make a run for it out into no mans land? How severe the disaster will determine that I guess?

Just in case I make a run for it though I keep a map showing springs and wells in both vehicles and whenever possible I check on some of these water sources on my Jeep outings. Where ever theres a source of water, there will be some sort of eatable critter visiting it.

[MyBrokenJeep]

Some recommend that all your arms should be military calibers.

This may sound like a dumb question... but I am going to throw it out there anyways... What are the standard military calibers?

[dirtman13]

Just in case I make a run for it though I keep a map showing springs and wells in both vehicles and whenever possible I check on some of these water sources on my Jeep outings. Where ever theres a source of water, there will be some sort of eatable critter visiting it.

That's a smart idea Gary. Thanks.

[MyBrokenJeep]

That's a smart idea Gary. Thanks.

Gary, is this information that you was publicly available or is this info that you learned by being out there and finding these sources yourself? If public, can you point us to source?

[dirtman13]

Gary, is this information that you was publicly available or is this info that you learned by being out there and finding these sources yourself? If public, can you point us to source?

I know that my GPS shows wells and/or water sources as part of the software.

[Gary]

Springs and wells are printed on my fold up Auto Club maps. Auto Club hands them out for free if your a member. I'm sure they're marked in the delormo maps also. I've checked a few wells and know where a few springs are and sure enough there's water out there.

The Indians lived in these deserts for hundreds of years. You just have to know where the water is and what food source was available to them.

Anytime your out in the desert and notice a well or spring marked on your map take the time to go check it out.

[Russ Chung]

This may sound like a dumb question... but I am going to throw it out there anyways... What are the standard military calibers?

203mm
175mm
155mm
105mm

[Gary]

Maybe we should plan a run into the desert to check out more of these wells and Springs?

[MyBrokenJeep]

203mm
175mm
155mm
105mm

Good one Russ! I guess I should have been more careful with my question... What are the standard military calibers that I can buy at Turners or another local shop?

[TipsE-Z]

I know that my GPS shows wells and/or water sources as part of the software.

What GPS make/model do you have? My Tom Tom was broken for a couple years and I just fixed it in December; it works great on the highways but seems to struggle off road.

Far as the thread topic; I keep a smaller caliber pistol, high powered rifle, and shotgun on hand with plenty of ammo at all times. After reading this thread I realize that my 3 - 5 gallons of water and perhaps 4 days of food I keep on hand aren't really enough. Thanks for getting me thinking on this one guys. I do have a CB in the Jeep, but I wouldn't say they are strictly "line of site". You can "run skip" with a CB and get pretty good range, and solar events usually help with this. A HAM is a bit easier to talk distance with lower power as you can bounce signals off the Ionosphere and the Moon, the latter being much more difficult. (I've never done it but I've heard of it being done, and seem to recall HAMs talking to one of the space shuttles in the mid 90s)

Thanks again for posting the thread; I'm gonna be stocking up on a lot more fuel and perhaps just rounding everything up so that it is all in one nice neat location.

[dirtman13]

What GPS make/model do you have? My Tom Tom was broken for a couple years and I just fixed it in December; it works great on the highways but seems to struggle off road.

I have a Garmin 60CS and a Nuvi 500. The Nuvi is great for off road and highway. Comes with Topo maps.

[Roger]

You guys gotta think this through. There are what? 15,000,000 people in Southern California? They will all will want to flee So Ca. How many people do you think a spring can support? Those that get there before you won't want to share. You will be better off staying put and banding together with your neighbors to keep looters out of your neighborhood.