Tag Archives: disaster

Hunger is a Powerful Motivator

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I haven’t eaten for the past 60 hours, and I don’t plan on eating for 36 more.

No we didn’t have a disaster or anything. I’m doing a prolonged fast as a personal health experiment (see Post Script below).

fastingDuring this time I can’t help reflecting on the discomfort, distraction, and concerns about going hungry. I’ve never gone this long without food, the longest I had before was less than 24 hours. It’s interesting to see the effects it has on my body, mind, and emotion.

Before I go on, let me define my fast: I’m only drinking water, water with 1/2 lemon in it (once a day), coffee, and I suck on sunflower seeds (but then spit the seed out with the shell). I’m not eating at all, essentially no caloric intake.

The first 24 hours were the hardest. When it was time to eat, I didn’t eat and my body didn’t like that or understand why. That evening I felt like crap and had a bad (hangover-type) headache. I was easily distracted and it was harder to concentrate.

hungryThe next morning I felt better, more normal – but I craved food. I literally salivated at the sight of it (and of course that was the day several friends at work brought me in treats). Fried food looked soooo good… By that evening the headache had returned, but not as bad, and I felt weak and achy. And all kinds of odd sounds were coming from my belly.

This morning there’s been a dull ache in my stomach, I continue to feel achy all over, and I feel like I have little motivation to want to move around very much.

And there’s still 36 hours to go.

Food is one of our top basic needs (along with water, shelter, security, energy, hygiene, and medical). Sure the human body can go several weeks without food, but…

If you haven’t eaten for a while, you can’t think of much else. I know when I’ll eat again, but what if I didn’t? I really struggle with imagining not knowing how or when I’d have my next meal.

When your body is starving you constantly yearn for food, think about how good something would taste, and you wonder when you’ll eat again. But you’d have to conserve your strength because you only have finite physical (and mental and emotional) resources to draw from. Eventually, I believe, you’d do just about anything to get food.

Fortunately food is something that we can now easily acquire and store away. The abundance of well packaged, long shelf-life food products is amazing. Sure we can argue they may not be the best things for you to eat, but they are something to eat if nothing else is available.

Take the time to review you food storage. You can review my previous posts: Store What you Eat (Food Part 1), Long Term Storage (Food Part 2), ‘Course It’ll Always Be There, How Much Do You Need = Math, Momma Bear: Figuring Out How To Make Food Storage Work, and Product Review: Meal Kit Supply MREs.

Make a plan to be able to feed you and your family, before they get into a situation where you’d have to go hungry; because it sucks. Oh and did I mention constipation? Nothing in equals nothing out — another unpleasant effect of going hungry.

Post Script: Fasting For Health

I’m very new to the fasting for health bandwagon, and my personal jury is still out — this is my first time. I read an article the other day: Fasting is beneficial to the immune system: Study shows it triggers stem cell regeneration. I then went to the source study: Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression.

I figured I’d try it. It didn’t cost me anything, and I thought it’d be an interesting first hand experiment. The article suggested 48 to 96 hours, I decided if I was going to do it I’d go big and do 96. I’m hoping it’ll help with my seasonal allergies, strengthen my immune system (though it’s already good), and slowing “the damaging effects of aging” doesn’t sound too bad either.

If it “works” my plan is to fast for 48 – 96 hours every six months.

What if the Disaster was: No Money Available?

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We strive to be prepared for upcoming struggles and/or disasters — big and small. We talk about food, water, shelter, security, energy, and hygiene but we don’t seem to talk a lot about money.

Woman Having Credit Card DeclinedRecently a friend had her bank account frozen. Unbeknownst to her there had been a legal judgement against her and her bank account was to be garnished. She first became aware of this when she went to use a debit card and it was declined. She knew there was several thousand dollars in the account. When she checked her account status on line she found that her money was unavailable to her and the only explanation given was “We have been instructed by legal order to place a hold on these funds.”

Sure in this day and age of credit card visa-declinedcornucopia that many of us carry in our wallets, no big deal — just use another card. But that’s not the point, the point is HER money was unavailable to HER. No notice, no warning, nothing. Whether it was a legitimate or illegitimate reason doesn’t matter to her when she needed to access the money she had placed in the account from her paycheck. Hell, it could have even have been a mistake, but the money still wasn’t available.

I’ve written before that we know that we have basic needs, and that we need them everyday “…but most of us are dependent upon systems beyond our control to supply them for us. We also know that those systems have and will again fail. So if we know we need them why not plan ahead and have extra on hand…?”

Doesn’t this also apply to money we have in the banking system?

It could be a legal lien, a mistake, a bank failure, or even just a relatively long-term wide-spread power outage. Whatever. But if the money that you have in the bank isn’t available to you, it’s a big deal. Sure the problem will likely be resolved soon, within a few days or a week at most — can your family make it that long without access to your bank funds?

There will be those who argue that in a collapse money won’t even have value and won’t matter, and I agree that is true in a complete collapse. But we prepare for the most likely disasters first, and being unable to access your bank funds is more likely than an EMP going off and destroying all electronics and the electrical grid.

I’ve given some thought as to what our family can do (and in some situations already does) to prepare ourselves for this “disaster” / this short-term SHYF (shit-hits-YOUR-fan) situation:

  • have cashHave cash in a secure place at home. You’ve heard it before, but have enough cash readily on hand to cover your family’s expenses for at least one month, preferably three (with a goal of six).
  • Carry cash in your wallet. An extra $100 will allow you to maneuver around most short-term situations and allow you to get back home.
  • Carry more than one credit/debit card, and be sure they are from different financial institutions. Sometimes mistakes happen and credit cards get declined or just don’t work, if you need to use a card to pay have a back up just in case. (see Repetitive and Redundant x2)
  • Consider having small individual accounts for both you and your spouse with some extra money. That way if only one of you is targeted by a legal lien, or a mistake, there will still be banking funds available.

Plan ahead. We know we need, and use, money on a daily basis. Have a back-up plan for what to do if your normal routine fails.

 

Nuts & Bolts by Nick: Tool in focus – Cordless Reciprocating Saw

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by Nick Romaniello -

On December 26th the snow was falling fast and heavy here in Pittsburgh. I opened the curtain and saw a vehicle stuck a few houses down on my steep front road. It’s a spot where cars often get stuck in bad snow, I grabbed my shovel and salt bucket and went down to offer help. The older gentleman inside informed me that in addition to being stuck that he had a flat, and a tow truck may be hours away due to the weather. His Dodge Caravan had the spare mounted underneath the chassis held in place by a metal and plastic retainer and lowered by turning a nut inside the tailgate. The retainer was corroded into place and could not be lowered. I returned to the scene with my trusty cordless reciprocating saw. I slid under the stuck van and within moments had cut through the retainer allowing the spare tire to be removed. In no time the tire was installed, and with some shoveling and salt, the driver was on his way.

Ryobi SawzallI have a lot of tools, but in a disaster situation where I could only take one power tool it would likely be my cordless reciprocating saw. It is commonly called a “sawzall” (original trademarked name) because that’s exactly what it does. With the right blade it can hack its way through anything from metal to wood to plastics and even some masonry applications. Easier to handle and more versatile than a chainsaw and faster than handsaws, a sawzall is a good choice for emergency cutting. In construction it’s used most often in demolition and rough carpentry, but with its wide variety of blade choices the sawzall is able to step in and do the job of almost saw bladesany other saw in a pinch. A corded sawzall is more efficient for extensive work, but battery power will work where and when an outlet isn’t an option. Definitely choose lithium ion batteries over NiCad since sawzall’s are energy hungry. I will make a plug: the Ryobi One+ 18-Volt Cordless Reciprocating Saw (available at Home Depot for about $60 plus battery). I have one that, despite its hobbyist status in the tool hierarchy, has been in my professional tool kit for seven years. The One+ system has multiple tools that operate with the same interchangeable battery and is reasonably priced. A car charger is even available so that the batteries can be maintained on the road. Whichever brand or model you choose, make sure that you also purchase an assortment of blades, including a few “fire and rescue” blades which cut aggressively through a variety of materials.

It is worth mentioning that this was actually the second time I had to perform this exact same procedure on a Dodge Caravan. The first I went out to rescue a friend who’s Caravan got a flat on the interstate in the heat of August with her infant daughter aboard and she was unable to lower her spare. Everyone, apparently Caravan owners especially, should take the time to locate their spare tire, familiarize themselves with how it is deployed, and make sure that everything related to changing the tire is actually in working order. Practice changing a tire in your driveway on a nice day so you don’t have to learn how on the side of a busy road in a snowstorm.

My cordless sawzall is the ‘go to’ tool for all-around cutting, from pruning trees to extracting someone from a wrecked car. Its seemingly limitless abilities should earn it a place in every prepper’s tool kit. But just like the spare tire, be sure to familiarize yourself with it’s operation before you need to put it into use.

 

Sarah’s View: What Are You Waiting For?

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Please accept my apologies for this rant as I know, if you’re reading this, I’m likely preaching to the choir.

There are many articles out there about what the government officials, government entities, and utility companies could/should have done differently to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. I can’t name the number of times I’ve heard some member of the public exclaim how they keep waiting for help and are so frustrated that it hasn’t yet arrived. Now, I don’t mean to lessen the true needs of many, but I’m tired of the helplessness, the lack of personal responsibility and, yes, lack of preparation.

What made the government responsible for your well-being? Especially in a disaster like Sandy where there was warning days in advance. Yes, the government is responsible for those items that you pay for with your taxes – highways, bridges, schools, basic communications. However, they are NOT responsible for you having food, water, clothes, even a house. That is your responsibility.

A friend of mine, who’s been through hurricanes before, posted these recommendations on an online forum I belong to:

  • Make sure you have cash. ATM machines don’t work without power and when stores begin to open they will only be able to accept cash since power and phone lines might still be down.
  • Fill your freezer full of anything you can fill with water.  I was able to turn my freezer into an old school “ice box” and kept my frozen foods frozen for 5 days without power. Probably not as tough given the temperatures in the area, but it was huge when we were dealing with 90+ temps after our hurricane. When I would get ready to defrost something frozen to eat, I would move it into the refrigerator and it would help to keep the refrigerator cool.
  • Make sure your vehicle is full of gas. Gas station pumps do not work without power.
  • Make sure you can charge your cell phone with your car. It was only during the hurricane that I realized we no longer own a phone that doesn’t need electricity to run.

This is incredibly reasonable and sound advice. It makes complete sense to stock up on water, food, cash, gas, and warm clothes when you know a disaster is approaching. But – why is this only sound advice when a known disaster is approaching, but in “normal” life doing these things is odd, weird or extreme?

Our family was fortunate, since we live in the Pacific Northwest and were not directly affected by Sandy; nor were any of our extended family or friends on the East Coast greatly impacted. In fact, we are won’t ever experience a hurricane. We are likely, however, to experience an earthquake. I’ve lived through two big-ish ones and countless smaller ones in the 25 years I’ve lived in Washington. There is no warning with an earthquake; no advanced radar or news reports letting us know what time it will “make landfall”. If we were caught in the “big one” it would almost be reasonable for us to expect the government to swoop in and help, after all we would have had no idea an earthquake was going to strike – how could we possibly have known to prepare?

Yet, we won’t be waiting for the government. We will be prepared. What are you waiting for?

 

Product Review: Meal Kit Supply MREs

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After Momma Bear’s post on MREs (meals ready to eat) we decided we wanted to add more MREs to our preps. We have a couple of cases but, with a family of six, those would go quickly. We decided that we should have one case for each person — eating two MREs a day, this would last six days.

The ones we currently have I bought from a military surplus store. They were already a couple of years old, I have no idea what conditions (temperatures) they had been stored at, and they cost $70 a case. So I was looking for another source when, coincidentally, I was contacted by Meal Kit Supply (after they saw Momma Bear’s post), and asked if I would consider reviewing their product. I said that I would, and a few days later a case of MREs arrived in the mail.

Like Momma Bear said, MREs have improved substantially over the years. My first MRE was in USMC boot camp in February 1986, and if you were starving (and we were) they were…okay. When I went back into the National Guard in 1996, it was obvious they’d done some work to improve them — and they were better. (The last MRE I ate was in 1999.)

When we opened the case from Meal Kit Supply the first thing I noticed is that they were packaged in clear, heavy-duty, plastic bags (instead of the tan military ones). That was kind of cool.

I wanted to get the whole family in on the sampling/reviewing. I wanted them to be familiar with the meals, including how to use the Flameless Ration Heater. So we randomly grabbed six out of the case (case of 12). Instead of trying to explain to them how to use the Heaters I chose to let them watch the video on the Meal Kit Supply website and then see how easy it was to follow the instructions.

Then, in the kitchen, we each opened an MRE. I explained that each had an entrée, side dish, dessert, bread/cracker, spread, beverage, spoon, and condiment packet, and I had everyone identify what they got in their meals. We then, without any issues, activated our Flameless Ration Heater to heat our entrée and then set it aside (it takes about 10 minutes to warm up). We sampled, and then let everyone else try, our bread or crackers with the included peanut butter, jelly, or cheese spread. Once the meals were warm we each went around and allowed everyone else to sample our entrée and side dishes so we each tried everything.

Now I need to mention that my kids (ages 18, 15, 13, 11) aren’t that picky when it comes to eating; they know if it’s put in front of them that’s what’s for dinner and there’s no “I’m not eating this” nonsense. But, overall, Sarah and the kids liked them, and were pleased with the diversity and flavors. Personally I was very impressed with the freshness and overall quality of the food and flavors. Maybe it was the years since I’d last had one, but I remembered them being much less flavorful and more stale tasting.

Once we were done eating we discussed each of them, recorded comments, and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=terrible, 3=not bad at all, 5=pretty darn good). So of the random six we had eaten, here’s our menus (menus may vary), comments and average scores:

  • Spaghetti, Potatoes Au Gratin, Carrot Pound Cake, Cracker, Cheese Spread, Grape Electrolyte Drink Powder (EDP), Cocoa Beverage Powder (CBP): “Spaghetti wasn’t bad, but noodles were kind of mushy” / “Cheesy potatoes were pretty dang good” — SCORE: 3.58
  • Chicken with Noodles, Fried Rice, Vanilla Pudding, Cracker, Peanut Butter, Grape (EDP), CBP: “Not bad” / “Chicken tastes normal” / “Chicken was really good” / “Rice was flavorless and mushy” / “Vanilla pudding was pretty darn good” / “Grape beverage was very good” — SCORE: 3.67
  • Vegetable Lasagna, Applesauce, Fudge Brownie, Wheat Snack Bread, Cheese Spread, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Slightly disappointed with the lasagna” / “Lasagna didn’t quite taste right” / “Need to add flavor to lasagna” / “Brownie wasn’t bad” / “Brownie was pretty tasty” — SCORE:  3.25
  • Chicken with Feta, Potato Cheddar Soup, Chocolate Pudding, Cracker, Peanut Butter, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Chicken with feta was really good” / “Chicken entree was very good” / “Soup was very good, yea very good” / “Pudding was yuck” / “Pudding wasn’t great, but would be better warmed up” / “I like the juice” — SCORE: 4.08
  • Pork Sausage Patty, Hash Browns with Bacon, Strawberry Toaster Pastry, Wheat Snack Bread, Peanut Butter, Orange (EDP), CBP: “Pork was too sweet” / “Pork tasted like real sausage” / “Bacon was nice in the hash browns” / “It’d be a nice breakfast.” — SCORE: 3.58
  • Apple Maple Rolled Oats, Hash Browns with Bacon, Nut Raisin Mix with Chocolate Chips, Wheat Bread Snack, Blackberry Jam, Fruit Punch (EDP), CBP: “Oatmeal had good flavor” / “Mixing in the nuts and stuff in the oatmeal was a good idea” / “Oatmeal was mushy” / “It’d be an odd dinner” / “Blackberry jam was good” — SCORE: 3.33

So Chicken with Feta was the top score and the Vegetable Lasagna was the bottom. But nothing was below 3.25 which is in the “not bad at all” range. Everyone commented that there was nothing they wouldn’t eat, and with some time and creativity they’d be even better.

Pet Approved!

There are many sources for MREs. My only hesitation about Meal Kit Supply’s is that they are a little bit more expensive than some others, at $124.95 for a case of 12 (though that price does include shipping the 22 pound case). But their MREs are guaranteed to be fresh, they are built to military standards but use premium components. And they actually make them themselves overseeing each step of the process, they’re not just the distributors.

MREs are the perfect ‘Week 1 Food’ in a disaster: they’re pre-cooked, mobile, and ready to eat. Meal Kit Supply MREs are 100% U.S. Military food components — the same as the military uses. Now I suppose you could say that’s good or bad, but at least there is a consistent base to compare them to. I was happy with Meal Kit Supply’s service, their MRE’s taste, and was very pleased with the freshness.

 

 

September is National Prepardness Month

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In September the federal government gives preparedness enough of a nod that it gets it’s very own month; though you rarely hear them say much more than: “Get a kit. Make a plan. Be informed.” Of course if everyone did at least that we, as a national population, would be much more prepared to cope with future disasters.

The media has also been talking about preparation, this time in a non-mocking tone. As Hurricane Isaac approached, CNN.com published an article, Keep a hurricane preparation checklist. It begins:

In areas where hurricanes can strike, it’s a good idea to have a closet or an area set aside for storm preparedness storage. There, you can keep items you’ll need in case disaster strikes suddenly or you need to evacuate.

And while this is great advice, what about everywhere else? Aren’t all areas susceptible to having a “disaster strike suddenly”? I think it’s interesting how the media portrays prepping–just prior to an incoming disaster (i.e. hurricane, snow storm, forest fire)–as completely common sense. “Of course you’d want to be prepared, you’d be a fool not to”, they imply. They include a completely practical list of supplies and recommendations of what to do prior to the arrival of the storm.

But what about the disasters we don’t see coming? The ones that give us no notice? No one should need to tell us that every day we need: food, water, shelter, security, and energy. So why not have backup supplies for these daily basic needs, insurance if you will, just in case a disaster strikes without warning? We are all expected, and it’s considered normal, to have home insurance, car insurance, health insurance, and life insurance but we know those preparations are very rarely used (hopefully). So why, when you incorporate being prepared into your daily lifestyle, are you frequently labeled as being on the fringe or a bit of a kook?

So this month, consider using the government’s endorsement of preparedness as an opportunity to talk about prepping with skeptical friends (family). As winter approaches we all tend to think a little more about being prepared; everyone knows that winter storms can knock out power and/or leave us homebound for several days. “Did you know September is National Preparedness Month?” would be an easy way to broach the topic, and then follow-up with something like “If a [fill in the blank disaster] happened here, and you weren’t able to get to the store for several days, how would your family hold up?” Then listen. Commend them on the things they have done or are doing, even if it’s relatively minor. Don’t overwhelm them with everything they SHOULD be doing. Instead, give them one or two ideas for ‘next steps’. If you push too hard then they’ll just push back — and close down to the idea completely. Take this time to plant a seed in their mind. Then live your life as an example.

(Wednesday: A new monthly contributor will be introduced, Rural Relations with Josh,  will write about: Lessons Learned, An Introduction)

Momma Bear’s July Preps

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The end of June brought northern Virginia and lower Maryland a serious, and very sudden, storm that resulted in more than a week without power to over a million homes. While we were not personally without power, there were food and ice shortages at some neighborhood stores as supply chains were rerouted or disrupted. It was a great opportunity to talk to our family about heat related illnesses and to review what we would have done for more than a week without A/C in 100+ degree weather. While we have a fireplace to stay warm during cold weather power outages, staying cool in the summer is much harder without power. We are now considering getting a generator, in part, to run a small window A/C unit. We’re also considering some solar battery chargers to power electronic devices. The least expensive option, which we will probably do first, is to get an inverter for our automobile outlets so that we could charge our cell phones and laptops. I think we are going to plan a “power outage drill” weekend in the fall. It will be an opportunity to see if our planning is really living up to our needs.

The biggest weakness we found in our preparations was that simple drinking water is not always enough when the emergency/disaster is during a heat wave. In a long-term, high heat situation–especially during strenuous activity–a Gatorade-type drink is recommended to replace the electrolytes that are lost. So we have added that to our LTS list (diluting it to half strength which is a better ratio for the body, and helps avoid stomach aches and cramping). You can make your own electrolyte oral rehydration solution. Into a quart/liter of water add: 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon table salt and 1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (bought as salt substitute, e.g. Morton Salt Substitute or Nu-salt) (note: if you don’t have access to potassium chloride double the amount of table salt to 1 teaspoon). Overall though our home is pretty well prepared for a week or more without power. We continue to stock up on alternative cooking fuels (charcoal, propane, butane, and sterno), as well as foods that require minimal cooking, and comfort foods.

After six years out of the country, we have recently purchased fishing gear and licenses (still searching for the perfect boat though). Although none of us are overly experienced fishermen we have begun/resumed fishing — though at this point it’s catch and release. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, the types of fish we have here are quite a bit different from what we are used to so it’s all about practice. Bass and catfish are the most common and they require larger hooks and stronger line than what we use for trout back home. We are fortunate to live near a number of lakes, and the Potomac River, so there is ample opportunity to practice.

My tomatoes are also growing like gangbusters; I picked one yesterday that is over a pound. This past weekend I canned my first batch of ketchup. It is a little on the gourmet side for flavor (meaning the grownups like it but the kids don’t). Next up for canning is fire roasted tomato salsa. My husband, who is quite the city boy, has been blown away by the idea that we are storing food that we actually grew ourselves, and from which I have harvested seeds for next year’s garden. Like Sarah, I have kept a garden journal to keep track of what is and isn’t working. We are already looking forward to next year to try a few different vegetables and probably more containers since our sunny spots are not necessarily gardenable otherwise. We are working as best we can with what we have.

How is your summer going? What are you canning or storing?

(Monday: Building In Redundancies In Case You Aren’t Available)

Be Sure You Have Alternate Routes

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Work Evacuation Plan Revisited
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Several months ago I wrote a post entitled, But I’m Working Now – Creating Your Work Evacuation Plan. As mentioned, both Sarah and I commute to Seattle for work (separately, our work schedules only overlap in the afternoons), and we only work about a mile apart. We had made a plan for how we would meet up with each other in the event of a disaster.

So if we’re both there [in Seattle], she would come up the hill to where I work. My workplace is more secure, further from the water, and away from the downtown congested high-rise area. In case I have to leave work also, we’ve discussed what street she would walk up and what side of the street she would be on.

Recently we had to revisit, and revise, that plan.

So the ‘great work-evacuation plan’ that Sarah and I had come up with failed to take into account that minor detail. And just to clarify, it would be incredibly difficult–if not impossible–to cross the freeway without the overpass bridges; it’s too far down and up vertical cement surfaces. Back to the drawing board…

There are several roads that travel across the freeway going from downtown to Capitol Hill; our primary choice was Pike St. and our alternate was Pine St. (parallel streets). So recently I walked both roads with our plan in mind. Pike St. appears to be a very secure overpass–the convention center is literally built over the freeway there–it is a short bridge, and it is supported as well as possible; Pike St. will still be our primary route. When I looked at Pine St., I found that it is the longest overpass in the area with another street that intersects it right above the freeway; we felt that would be a poor route with a much higher probability of failing. We looked further and determined Seneca St., a few blocks south, is well supported and another short overpass bridge and chose to make that our secondary route. Our third choice is 8th Ave., a tunnel that runs underneath the convention center, then over the freeway. Once across the freeway, we’d attempt to make it back to Pike St. to continue to one of the predetermined meeting points.

I realize this is a lot of detail for anyone not in our situation and makes little sense to anyone not familiar with Seattle. But the point is: Determine your routes of evacuation and make a solid plan, then double and triple check your plan for flaws. Start by mapping it out, then make sure you drive (or walk) your evacuation routes both to familiarize yourself with them and to look for potential problem areas. When you develop your evacuation plan choose three routes, and have three potential meeting points. If you ever need to put your evacuation plan into action, especially if that plan is required to allow you to meet up with your family members, it needs to work.

(Wednesday: Momma Bear)

The City Cousin: Making A Plan

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Contributed by Shawn (aka The City Cousin)
(Shawn is writing a series of posts about prepping in an urban environment.)
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If your car’s tank is almost always near empty, or you are constantly running out of toilet paper, shampoo, milk, etc. then you are not a natural prepper! Fret not, few of us are. As with many skills and mind sets, most have to be learned. Here are some experiences that motivated me, and a system I’ve developed to become better prepared.

I was living in Seattle, in 2001, during the Nisqually earthquake (a 6.8 quake that lasted 45 long seconds). After the initial quake ended, I immediately called my parents to let them know I was okay. Then, I knew we still had electricity because the TV was  on; I checked that I had running water and then filled the bathtub; I checked my apartment and then the building for damage; I moved my truck out of the garage, under my building, and parked it where nothing would fall on it if there were more quakes. All good initial reactions to an earthquake, but how did I plan afterward to be better prepared for the next time? What had I learned? To be honest I didn’t do anything. I felt good, and rather smug, about my actions and resourcefulness after the Nisqually quake. But, I wasn’t really prepared for what COULD HAVE happened.

It wasn’t until I saw the pictures of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, in 2005, that I recognized I have to be prepared for a big disaster and for at least the ‘FEMA suggested’ 72 hours. And, after seeing how FEMA and the military responded in New Orleans–a city that is located much closer to government resources than Seattle–I decided I needed to be personally prepared to handle things for a minimum of five to seven days before outside help will likely arrive to the city.

So my project management experience kicked in and I developed a chart to help guide a household discussion to prepare for likely perils. I again focused on my journalism questions of Who, What, Where, When, and How.

Prepare Short Term (72 hours) Medium Term (6 Months) Long Term (over 6 Months)
Who You, your immediate family, significant others. Condo/homeowners association, neighbors. Neighborhood (consider becoming an advocate for your local government.)
What Select the perils that might affect you: earthquake, flood, tornado, etc. After prioritizing the perils you want to address, prepare for the first one. Then expand to cover the remaining perils. Review what you’re preparing for, have things changed?
Where Preparing your home and/or car(s).  Consider alternative locations. Determine meeting points in case you and your family are separated. You might focus on your home first for the initial 72+ hours then on your car or alternative locations. Develop alternative location(s).
When Set a start date and end date for each Term’s goals.  Costs and preparation for longer term goals can be researched and set. More expensive items can be budgeted for and a priority list  can be developed for when to get them. Set up an annual/regular review to make sure everything is current in your preparations, i.e. check batteries, rotate food and water.
How Research! Read, take classes, use the internet.  For this section one of my favorite online resources is 72hours.org. How also plays into when depending on cost and time needed to prep. Continue learning. Stay informed. Network with others. Review new information.

This is a great exercise for a household of any size to get organized and take the first steps, or for reviewing what you’ve done, or confirming you’re on the right road with your preparations. This discussion will help everyone have input and feel involved (the “buy- in” to the project), and tasks can be assigned based on age and experience. Make lists and write down your goals; studies have shown, when we write things down we are more likely to remember and act on them. Once we have a plan in place, and we know which road we’re taking, we can get prepared.

Next month: I will discuss what I have in my apartment to prepare for the perils I have identified, some of the resources I’ve tapped, and how and where you can store things with limited space.

The City Cousin’s Bio
I come by prepping by growing up watching the example my father set; he was always prepared for whatever situation would arise. Now, as a single man living and working in Seattle, I have opted to live near downtown in a small apartment. For me this is a comfortable space; trying to be “green” it has reduced my use of resources from electricity to gas for my truck. With limited space, I have reviewed what I can reasonably be prepared for in my urban environment.

(Friday: Momma Bear’s April Preps)

Momma Bear: Getting Out of Dodge B.Y.O.B.O.B.

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Bring Your Own Bug Out Bag – How Our Family Did It
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For most preppers, the first baby step we take is to create a bug out bag (BOB). For our family, living outside of Washington DC and very close to the interstate (which is sure to be packed instantly); with the potential bug-out being done without my active-duty husband, we took this step very seriously. Although my husband likes to travel light in the field (with the military), the BOB has to encompass a plethora of unknowns; with a 72-hour usage as the goal for packing. How much water should we take and how much water purification? How much gear should we plan for sleeping rough? How much food do we want to carry? What if it’s cold? What might we need along the route? The list pretty much goes on and on. And with everything, as we practice our drills, we tweak and adjust the items in the BOBs.

But once you accumulate all that STUFF, how do you divide it up between your family members? How do you ensure that each pack is sufficient should you become separated from the rest of the family? With my husband included, we have two men in the family. But us girls… we are kind of wimpy backpackers. Our daughter may be 5’7” tall, but she only weighs 100 pounds on a good day. So we have had to keep the girls’ gear lighter, packs smaller, but still able to meet our needs. We opted not to carry sleeping bags, but instead have military poncho liners and also the foil emergency bevy sack. The heavier items, that were not quite as essential, were distributed between my husband and my son. For instance, do we need a tent on the go? Not really, but life is a heck of a lot nicer in a rainstorm when you have more than a poncho for cover. And my husband can certainly shoulder that extra weight a lot easier than one of us girls can.

Other things that we customized in our bags were the first aid kits, the food items (curse those picky eaters who refuse to eat tuna!), and the quanity of fire making materials for each family member. For instance, our daughter suffers terrible migraines so her kit has special meds in it, plus sunglasses. Our son is allergic to insect bites so he has insect repellent, Benadryl, and cortisone cream. With the meds, I broke them down into tiny little baggies and wrote the directions on the outside with sharpie marker, including how often they should take the meds. And because our kids have only recently begun practicing fire making, they both carry lots of matches, lighters, a magnesium starter, as well as a ton of lint and other light-weight combustibles.

Having a Marine for a husband has assuredly made the BOBs an easier task. Some things I had never considered, or would not have considered as a huge necessity, such as laminating our maps. In case the SHTF, we are looking to move south, away from D.C. We have maps of both Virginia and North Carolina, that we got for free at the visitor centers on the main interstate, and each of us has one in their BOB (kids included). The other thing that the military training helped with was packing the packs. The military utilizes packs with lots of pockets and my husband was positively insistent that certain things go in those easy access pockets: first aid, water, food, weapons/tools. Other things, especially stuff you have multiples of, is removed from the BOB and carried on your person: identification, weapon, fire making items, any item that you could not do without (like migraine meds). Our family utilizes three different types of packs, so when we loaded them up everyone was responsible for their own; that way everyone knows where there things are. And, of course, we regularly break them down and repack them to keep familiar with the gear.

Our household also has pets, which we have not been taking into consideration for bugging out. Unless we are driving out, the cats will pretty much be left to their own devices, but the dogs will go. It is pretty unrealistic to think that we can carry enough food and water for them too, so we are looking to put them to work for us. All of our dogs are pretty good walkers (we have Jack Russells and Weimaraners), and we are looking to train the big dogs in both pack carrying and carting. But I will post about that another time.

Like all our prepping, creating your BOB. requires good planning. Again, a good BOB is designed for 72 hours of mobile usage – getting you away from a SHTF scenario. Focus on who, what and why. Who is the bag for? What do they need? And why do they need that particular item? Last of all, practice walking with your pack and readjust your items/bag as necessary. You want to be well prepared to survive, but you don’t want to break your back because you brought the kitchen sink with you. Happy prepping!

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)