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Even though my fascination with the natural world didn’t start until I was in my late 20’s and stressed out from work and responsibilities, I still remember vividly all of the camping adventures I had with my parents. I have about 20 years of experience in camping, and I’ve gone through all of the weather conditions and all sorts of other tricky situations.

And one of the most common and annoying problems that can dampen your camping trip in no time is if you didn’t come prepared to deal with rain. That’s why I decided to give you a few tips on how to get ready for camping on rainy days or survive them as safely and comfortably as possible.

Make a Wise Choice on Campsite Location

When I was a child, my family had a beautiful tradition. Every year, for my birthday we would go out in the woods and turn the celebration into three-day camping. As I was born during summer, the weather was ideal for this kind of activity. However, on my eighth birthday, the sky just broke. As rain poured, our tent, pitched at the base of a north facing peak, became soaking wet. My sleeping bag, unlike everything else in the tent, did not float. That’s when I learned the first and by far the most valuable lesson – choose your campsite location wisely.

In general, you should look for high, flat ground upon which to pitch your tent. Additionally it is important that the area is well-drained, so you don’t end up swimming in your sleeping bag.  Also, if you can, choose a campsite that is hidden by big trees, which will provide you with natural shelter from both winds and overexposure to the sun.

On the other hand, avoid campsites that are located too near bodies of water or under overhanging branches which will catch water at first and then channel it right to you. Sloping and depressed areas are a bad choice because water tends to flow through and accumulate here. And remember to avoid camping under that one lone tree, because this significantly increases your chances of getting struck by lightning.

Waterproof Your Tent

Your tent will usually be able to prevent water from pouring in when the rain is light.  However, as tens are regularly cleaned, exposed to heat, wind, and all sorts of weather conditions, they wear down bit by bit, which affects their waterproof features. Even the packing and unpacking of tents will produce wear over time.

If you want to stay dry and comfortable waterproofing is an absolute necessity. You’ll need to take care of tent’s walls, floor, seals, and seams and maybe even install a rain fly.

Plastic Bags are a Must-Have

When it comes to rainy days, plastic bags are life savers. They are waterproof, and they will keep the majority of your stuff safe and dry. Make sure to bring plastic bags of all sizes and shapes.

You should use them to segregate clothes and everything else in your backpack, line your bags to protect your belongings and most importantly keep your food dry and protected.

Cheaper plastic bags are usually not reusable, but even those can serve the purpose for a single outing if you don’t have any other choice. However, don’t forget to dispose of them properly after use.

Take the Tarp Inside

If you are a passionate camper, you probably already have a tarp. (You need one in your survival gear even if you don’t plan on camping). They should be placed directly on the ground, beneath your tent. They create an extra layer of protection and barrier against water and when there is no rain, morning dew. You can get a classic woven polyurethane style tarps for not more than fifty dollars.
If you place a tarp inside your tent rather than outside, as you probably do in most of the cases; you’ll find it offers a much better protection from the water this way. As most modern tents come with a built-in floor, this gives you both extra moisture and heat-loss protection.

Insulate the Ground

Except for placing the tarp, you should take care of other types of insulation. Add a bivvy bag will protect your sleeping bag from moisture, and retain a little heat. Doubling up on the sleeping pads is also a good idea. A lot of body heat can be lost to sleeping on the ground, even in a warm desert, where there are real creepy-crawlies seeking warm thing to cuddle up with.

Once you get in your bag and decide to go to sleep, make sure to keep your face exposed. Breathing into the bag may cause down insulation to get wet, which will affect its performance.

Mind the Signs of Hypothermia

Staying wet from the rain for a long time can put you at an increased risk of hypothermia, which often happens when rain or snow surprises you on while off the grid.

The most obvious signs are following: shivering, slurred speech or mumbling, slow and shallow breathing, weak pulse, drowsiness and low energy, clumsiness or lack of coordination, confusion, and loss of consciousness.

If this happens to you, or someone you know, rush them to the hospital. However, before you get there, you should start helping the person by removing all the wet clothing and covering them with dry blankets, clothes, and sleeping bags. Keep them as warm and as calm as you can and monitor their temperature.

Dry Out Your Wet Camping Equipment

All of your wet equipment, from clothing to shoes to sleeping bags to tarps to tents, and everything else, needs to be vented. As soon as you have a chance, unpack your bags and let your stuff thoroughly dry. Otherwise, molds, mildew, and other unpleasant scents will develop, ruin the fabric, and corrode metal items.

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Even though my fascination with the natural world didn’t start until I was in my late 20’s and stressed out from work and responsibilities, I still remember vividly all of

There are only three items that I grab every single day when I walk out the front door. My keys get me in and out of my house and car, my phone is a do-all communication device, and my wallet, which is my secondary tool belt. There are, of course, other items that I often carry. Any time I go for walk very early in the morning, I take my tactical flashlight. If I’m not going into work, I’ll take my pocket knife (I work in a school, where knives are frowned on). I have a multi-tool, but I find that I don’t need it often enough to justify carrying it all over, although it does live in my car or briefcase, and again, I can’t bring it to work with me.

I don’t have any of the highly expensive, woven paracord belts that double as knives, compasses and fishing line, but I do have another tool that most don’t have in their arsenal, and that’s a wallet designed for anything. Here are my four favorite wallet accessories.

Credit Card Multi-Tool

There are dozens of models of Credit Card sized multi-tools, and choosing one is as simple as comparing what you have in your other EDC (Every Day Carry) items to what you’d like to have, but don’t. There are credit card tools that have wrenches, bottle openers, screwdrivers, mini-crowbars, rulers, saws, blades, and more. Some are even designed to be one-time use items that would allow you to break off pieces like fishing hooks and needles in emergencies.

Personally, I went cheap and bought one of these, which is durable stainless steel, but more expensive, higher quality tools exist out there as well.

I use my multitool about two times per month, but probably only because I don’t regularly carry a more functional multitool. This space-saving design makes it worthwhile, however. I used it to tighten the nuts and bolts on my classroom cart, open difficult packaging in a situation where a full-blown knife would get me into trouble, and tighten some screws in an aging bookshelf, all without having to get more complex tools.

The Go Comb

My Go Comb is my favorite of the wallet tools that I carry on a daily basis. I use this item daily.

There’s no true survival purpose to the Go Comb – it’s really nothing more than a credit card sized comb, although some models do have a very flimsy bottle opener attached. That said, there are enough times during my day where I find that my hair looks just a bit out of place, or when I need to look just a little bit more presentable, like when I have an impromptu classroom observation by the superintendent, or when a parent shows up at my office door to complain about their child’s grade. It’s also great for taking to the gym and using after a workout. Taking the two seconds, it takes to run the comb through my hair does a good amount to improve my professional appearance, and has helped me more than once in making a good first impression.

The Credit Card Knife

A lot of preppers love the Credit Card Knife. I think this tool is too light duty for any practical use, as it is designed to be lightweight plastic that folds up to create the handle. Check out a Swiss Card instead.

Swiss Card

Most people know about the Swiss Army Knife and it’s bevvy of features, but fewer are familiar with the concept of a “Swiss Card”. This device is a plastic shell that is, once again, credit card sized, and contains a few basic tools – a small knife, tweezers, a toothpick, scissors, and a nail file. They are often the perfect size to attach a camping mirror, which I did with the use of some Krazy Glue, so I now have a signaling device and a small mirror to use with my Go Comb. The Swiss Card has passed through many security checkpoints undiscovered, and has just enough of a blade that it’s useful. If you, like me, cannot carry a knife with you at work or in certain jurisdictions, then the Swiss Card may be a reliable secondary blade, and as they are usually one piece blades, they are higher quality than the aforementioned Credit Card Knife.

There are multiple styles and brands of a “swiss card”, so shop around for the one you like best.

Wallet Power Bank

There are some versions of power banks, like this one, which can fit inside your wallet. This one is pretty thick, but roughly credit card sized, and comes with all the cords you’ll need built-in. If you don’t mind carrying a thicker wallet, or if you just want the reliability of carrying an almost full charge of your phone in your pockets with no need of a wire, then this may just be a good choice for you. Like the Credit Card Knife, I bought it and tried it, and found that it just wasn’t quite there yet, at a point where I could carry it comfortably and use it enough to justify carrying it. I do not believe that a better (slimmer) option yet exists, but when it does, I’ll be signing up immediately. Extra battery life is something that I prize greatly.

The Katana

The Katana is a kick starter project that is currently in the process of fulfillment, so I cannot speak for it’s quality. I do think it justifies listing here because of the season. It’s winter here in Illinois, and when my family came to visit recently, they found themselves in a rental car that, for some reason, was not equipped with an ice scraper. Fortunately, I was there to get them out, but without help, they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

The Katana is a piece of credit card sized carbon fiber that functions as an ice scraper for your windshields. While I don’t imagine that it will work nearly as well as a plastic scraper, those can break, and this doesn’t seem like it will. Never be caught unprepared in an ice or snowstorm.

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There are only three items that I grab every single day when I walk out the front door. My keys get me in and out of my house and car,

When I was growing up, nuclear war was a “real thing”.  We practiced getting under our little school desks, because they apparently had built in blast and radiation shields.  🙂  Then the Soviet Union threat “evaporated” and suddenly nuclear war was no longer a serious threat.  But now we have that lunatic in tiny North Korea making serious (nuclear) threats against the still somewhat significant United States.  And if he can’t do what he threatens today, he is working his people slavishly to be able to do it “next week”.  Hopefully the threats are a way to keep his people under control and/or extort stuff out of us, and he is not insane enough to think he could survive an attack on us (and hopefully we are willing and able to ensure he does not survive an attack on us).  And hopefully he is not insane enough to not care if he dies (we know he doesn’t care if many of his subjects die).  But that level of insanity does exist, so there is always a chance he would send nuclear bombs our way.

What if he does?  How do we survive?

If we are near enough to a blast, we won’t survive or will be in serious trouble.  How near is that?  That depends on a number of factors.  Perhaps the three most important factors are weather, the size of the bomb, and how far above ground it detonates.  “Size” is actually the explosive force, and it is measured in “kilotons”.  One kiloton is the equivalent power of 1000 tons of dynamite.  North Korea just tested a “hydrogen” bomb (“thermonuclear”, a fusion reaction instead of the fission reaction used by nuclear weapons) and claimed it was “150kt”.  For a 150kt ground burst, there will be a fireball which would tend to incinerate things within a third of a mile.  Then there will be the blast which would tend to shred or flatten things; at a mile and a half away, most common construction residential houses would still be flattened, which could injure or kill those inside.  Heat from the explosion could still cause first degree burns (think “sunburn”) five and a quarter miles away; closer, of course, there would likely be second and even third degree burns.  Then there is the light; looking at the flash of the explosion can blind you temporarily and if you are actually focused on it, perhaps permanently.  It is not that fire, blast, light and heat are missing from a non-nuclear explosion; it is that they are so much less intense.  Remember, nuclear weapons are rated in 1000’s of TONs of dynamite.  And then there is the special gift of nuclear explosions – a buffet of radiation emitted and radioactivity imposed on matter.  Fatal (for 50% of those exposed, without medical attention) radiation emitted by the blast would reach out 1.2 miles as well and dangerous amounts of radioactive particles could surf the winds much further for a period of time after the blast.  A bigger bomb would have further reaching effects of course.  China has 5mt (megaton, 1,000,000 tons of dynamite) warheads and Russia has tested a 50mt bomb, but it is to be hoped that North Korea can not achieve that level in the near future.

The military often prefers to set for an air burst, as the immediate effects have a greater range.  If high enough that the fireball does not touch the ground, there is much less fallout, since pretty much any particulates would have to come from the device itself.  The naturally radioactive isotopes would tend to get into the stratosphere rather than “falling” locally, resulting in a low intensity, long lived, worldwide problem.

Note that a nuclear explosion will produce an “EMP” (Electro Magnetic Pulse) which will bring down the electrical system and fry some electrical and electronic devices.  The higher above ground the explosion is, the wider the area affected by the EMP.

Radiation

There is a difference between “radiation” and “radioactive”.  Radiation is ENERGY which is radiated (as “rays”).  X-Rays are radiation, and for that matter, so is light.  Radioactive refers to something which is emitting radiation, such as a naturally radioactive substance, or material which has had radioactivity imposed on it, such as fallout.  Much of the radiation from fallout is a combination of “alpha” and “beta” particles, and “gamma” radiation.  Alpha particles are very dangerous if the particle (an ejected helium nucleus) is breathed or eaten or gets in an open wound, but the effects from this particle can be blocked by a sheet of paper and often cannot even penetrate intact skin.  Beta particles are moderately dangerous if the particle (an ejected electron) gets inside the body, and its effects can penetrate and damage the skin if the particles are in contact with the skin for any length of time, but normal clothing will provide decent protection from beta as well as alpha particles for a while.  Gamma radiation is equally as harmful as beta, but very much more penetrating.  “Good” protection from gamma radiation is provided by 4 inches of lead, 10 inches of steel, 24 inches of concrete, 36 inches of dirt, 72 inches of water, 110 inches of wood, 5000 feet of air or some combination of materials.  This “safe” protection is computed by using the “halving thickness” of each material (how thick it has to be to cut the radiation intensity in half) between you and the radiation source, with a goal of having 10 halving thicknesses total, reducing the gamma ray intensity to a 1024th (2 to the 10th power) of its original strength.

A little radiation is considered “normal” and won’t hurt you much; typical background radiation and normal medical/dental uses on average takes 18 days off a person’s life.  Whereas a lot of radiation is bad news and the effects are short term.  We need to know how radiation levels are specified in order to understand which levels are of concern short term and which have only “minor” long term effects (increased risk of cancer).  Annoyingly, there are several different but inter-related measurements, which can be remembered by the mnemonic “READ”.  The most basic measure of Radiation is the “intensity” (number of atoms which decay in a given period of time) specified in curies (Ci, English) or becquerel (Bq, metric).  Bigger values are of more concern than smaller values, but this measurement is primarily of interest to those working with radioactive materials.  Exposure describes the amount of radiation traveling through the air, which many radiation meters are capable of measuring.  The units for exposure are the English measure roentgen (R) and the coulomb/kilogram (C/kg).  This is an instantaneous measurement; more useful is roentgen per hour.  Absorbed dose describes the amount of radiation absorbed by an object or person, with units “radiation absorbed dose” (rad) and gray (Gy).  And then there is the Dose equivalent (or effective dose) which combines the amount of radiation absorbed with the medical effects of that type of radiation. Units for dose equivalent are the “roentgen equivalent man” (rem) and sievert (Sv).  Smaller measurements are commonly displayed with a 1/1000th prefix (milli, for instance mR/h) or a 1/1,000,000th prefix (micro, for instance uSv).

When looking into radiation measurements, you are likely to run into R, rad, rem, Gy and Sv as well as /h (per hour) measurements of each of these, which can get confusing.  The ones which are displayed by your meter or dosimeter are the ones of most importance to you, of course.  The three brands of meters I have tried all have mR/h and uSv/h, which are both handy measurements and seemingly the most commonly used.  R/h is good to see how much radiation is present around you and Sv for how much you or others around you have been exposed to (your radiation exposure risk).  Here is how these measurements are related:

– rad and Gy are directly related; 1 rad = .01 Gy and 1 Gy = 100 rad

– rem and Sv are directly related; 1 rem = .01 Sv and 1 Sv = 100 rem

Beta, gamma and X-Ray radiations all do the same “base” level of damage to the human body, while neutron radiation does 10 times the damage and alpha radiation does 20 times the damage.

– For beta, gamma and X-Ray radiations, 1 rem = 1 rad and 1 Sv = 1 Gy

– For neutron radiation, 1 rem = .1 rad and 1 rad = 10 rem and 1 Sv = .1 Gy and 1 Gy = 10 Sv

– For alpha radiation, 1 rem = .05 rad and 1 rad = 20 rem and 1 Sv = .05 Gy and 1 Gy = 20 Sv

R is a measurement of radiation radiating through the air, such as gamma or X-Ray.  The other units are a measurement of absorption of radiation.  Each material absorbs radiation at a different rate, so there is not a standard conversion factor.

– In air, 1 R = .877 rad and 1 rad = 1.14 R

– In soft tissue, 1 R = usually between .92 and .96 rad

My meters also have CPM (Counts Per Minute) and CPS (Counts Per Second), which is an indication of the number of ionization events from alpha and beta particles.  A few counts per time period is better than many counts during the same time period, but there is no universal conversion to a “useful” measurement as these measurements vary based on how the instrument is calibrated.  As an example, calibrated to the commonly used Cesium 137, 120 CPM is equivalent to 1 uSv/hr.

Radiation can cause effects from unnoticeable (increased chance of cancer) through illness, severe damage to the body, and death.  A single (short term) dose of 1000 mSv (1 Sv, 100 rem) will cause radiation sickness but does not (directly) cause death (although 5% of people so exposed will develop fatal cancer later).  5 Sv or 500 rem will tend to be fatal within a month without medical care for 50% of the people so exposed, and 10 Sv or 1000 rem will often be fatal within weeks.

Surviving the explosion

Let’s face it, if you are “close” to a nuclear explosion, you are going to be dead, or probably wishing you were dead.  The only way to minimize the chances of this is to build or have built your own “bomb shelter” or have access to one.  And know far enough in advance that the blast may be coming so you can be in the shelter when the blast occurs. This is not a trivial prep, either in cost or in the amount of trouble you have to go through to get it installed.  On the plus side, even if there is never a nuclear explosion or nuclear incident, it can also protect you from violent weather, and make you and your supplies harder to find by looters, and be a bit easier to defend than the typical house.  A good “bomb shelter” is buried deep, air tight, structurally sound, has an angled entry to prevent radiation (which travels in straight lines) getting in, and a filter system to remove radioactive particles (also any chemical or biological agents) from the air.  A better bomb shelter also has a hidden second way out.

Let us say you can’t afford a bomb shelter or don’t have the ability to install a true shelter or even a hardened structure or room.  Or worse, you have a perfectly suitable bomb shelter but can’t get to it in time.  Try to put something between you and the blast and heat, preferably something which won’t collapse on you.   Since one of the best (or at least most practical things) to protect you from radiation is three feet of dirt, a nice ditch is good to dive into, or even better would be a buried culvert to keep the local fallout off of you.  If you don’t get disintegrated by the fireball or crushed by the blast or a building collapsing on you, or get a lethal dose of radiation or burned by the radiated heat, what can you to do to extend that short term survival for a useful span of time?  Advance planning will make all the difference in your chances.

Since fireball, blast and heat are fairly obvious, and you are still alive, they are no longer of primary concern (unless there are fires burning nearby or “down wind”).  Radiation and fallout are your primary concerns.  Fallout can “fall” on you, so get under cover ASAP, and remove your clothes and put them into sealed containers which are removed from living areas, then wash yourself thoroughly to get any fallout off your skin and out of your hair.  Do NOT use a conditioner on your hair, as this can bind the radioactive particles to your hair.  Treat the wash water as contaminated.  Once you have removed any fallout, check the radiation levels around you using a personal radiation detector.

One of the better choices is the NukAlert-ER, but it is pricy ($750) and has been listed as only being available for government sales since March of 2017.  If interested, contact them anyway and see if you can get on their list; occasionally they may have an extra one available.  They do have a stripped down keychain version which “chirps” to indicate the level of radiation, but the price is more affordable and it is still available for individual sales.  The company, KI4U.com has some good reference materials, some “old fashioned” analog radiation detection equipment, and can calibrate your radiation equipment.  Alternatively, GQ Electronics has some decent digital detectors for very nice prices.  I’ve tried the GMC-320 Plus and it is adequate and the customer service was excellent.  You can get modern meters from China well under $100, but do you really want to gamble that they will be reliable and accurate enough to help protect your life?

Remember, nuclear explosions produce EMPs, so keep your electronic meter in an EMP shielded container when not in use.  There are non-electronic radiation monitoring options as well, mostly “dosimeters” using badges or cards which show cumulative exposure.  These are not optimal, but they are fairly inexpensive and show the more important “cumulative” exposure.  Plus, they don’t need batteries and will laugh at EMPs.  Even with a good meter, having these for backup and long term monitoring is a good idea.  They don’t “turn off”, so keep them shielded (in a sealed bag in the freezer is best) until you want to start accumulating exposure.

Radiation is mindless, you can’t reason with it or trick it or bribe it.  All you can do is block it or get away from it.

Fallout Protection

Local fallout is a fairly short term problem.  The intensity goes down 90% for each time period 7 times the last one.  That is, after 7 hours, the intensity is down to 1/10 of the original intensity.  After 2 days (49 hours), the intensity will be down to 1/100th, and after 2 weeks (14 days), it will be down to 1/1000th, which would be fairly safe.

It is best to stay inside (or at least under cover) while fallout is a danger, although after 2 days, you can make brief forays if necessary.  You will want covering which will prevent any fallout from getting on your skin and block the effects of alpha and beta particles.  Coveralls might be adequate, but vinyl rain suits might be better since they can be easily washed off and cover the head.  Use duct tape to seal any gaps.  Nothing you can wear will protect you from gamma radiation, so keep your exposure time to the minimum possible and monitor the radiation levels you are being exposed to.

It is bad to get fallout on your skin, but it is really, really bad to get it in you.  A CBRN (Chemical, Biological, RADIOLOGICAL and NUCLEAR) rated gas mask would seem to be just the ticket, but there are problems.  Sure, there are a lot of surplus ones out there at quite reasonable prices.  But they are surplus for a reason.  Either they are obsolete, or defective or just so old that effectiveness is uncertain.  A good, modern mask will cost you well over $100.  Best is a mask with two (or even three) filter ports, so you can screw on a new filter before removing the old one.  Plus it will allow the greatest flexibility for use with a rifle.

But wait, the mask itself is only part of the system.  You need the CBRN filters as well; it is best get a mask which uses the NATO standard, 40mm canisters for the best variety and ease of installation.  These are not terribly expensive compared to the cost of the mask, but they do usually cost $40 and up, and you need several.  Under severe conditions, each will only last a few hours, and even “normally clean” air will use up a filter in twenty four hours.  The canisters often have an expiration date; some people claim they are good as long as they are sealed, others say toss them when expired.  I would get new filters when the old ones expired, and use the unexpired ones first (when it was most important), saving the expired ones for when I ran out of the “good” ones.

On the other hand, I would be tempted to not bother with the gas mask at all.  They are expensive, short lived, uncomfortable, difficult to use correctly (particularly under stress), limit your vision, make it difficult to communicate, prevent you from eating, and most prevent you from drinking (some have drinking tubes, and a few have drinking tubes which work well and don’t allow in contamination).  If you wear glasses, you need to make sure they fit under the mask or get a prescription insert.  The purpose of the gas mask is to keep out radioactive particles, and although nothing will do that as well as the CBRN gas mask, a standard filter mask may serve.  There are 95% masks readily available cheap (N95), but I would spend the extra time and money to get the 99% filtration masks (N99).  There are N100 (99.97% filtration) masks which might be even better, but I have not tried them.  The N ratings, as well as R and P for oil resistant versions, are the American system.  The European system is Px for filters which attach to a mask and FFPx for “one piece” masks.   P2 is rated for 94% filtration and P3 for 99.95% filtration.  As for one piece masks, FFP2 is 94% and FFP3 is 99%.  I get my FFP3 masks, made by 3M, from Israel, and they are comfortable, compact and reasonably priced.  A pair of goggles to keep the particles out of your eyes as well is a good idea.

Keep in mind that the particles filtered out are still dangerous, so the used filters should be treated appropriately.

No face mask will work with facial hair other than a mustache without dangerous leaks, so be prepared to get and maintain a close shave.

Breathing in radioactive particles is not the only way to get them into the body to wreck havoc.  If your food or water is contaminated, so are you, so keep anything you plan to eat or drink in sealed containers so no particulates can get in.  And keep it shielded from radiation at least as well as you are yourself.

Treatment of Radiation Poisoning

Too large a dose of radiation and you will be sick, suffer bodily damage or die without medical treatment, which may not be available.  What can you do to reduce the effects of the radiation dose you received?

Potassium Iodide (KI) Tablets

You’ve probably heard of these as a “cure” or “protection” for radiation.  This claim is, to be charitable, inaccurate.  This substance does serve one particular (and important) function after a nuclear explosion.

One of the byproducts of nuclear fission in an explosion are isotopes of iodine.  The thyroid gland gobbles up any iodine it can get, and having radioactive iodine in your thyroid gland is bad news.  The KI tablets, taken before the radioactive iodine can get to you, “fills up” the thyroid gland so little or no radioactive iodine can get in.  That is it.  It does not offer any protection against any other radiation or for any other organ in the body.  And there are risks involved in taking it.  But since any help is better than no help; check with your doctor to make sure your risk in taking KI is relatively low, and have it on hand.  It is available in 65mg and 130mg pills; 130mg is the daily dose for an adult and generally has a score so it can be split into two 65mg doses (for children).  It can also be taken upon notification of a nuclear accident involving fission such as the one at Chernobyl.

Water

Tritium can be “washed” out of your system by drinking lots of water.

Baking Soda

This stuff is dirt cheap, available everywhere, and surprisingly useful for combating radiation.  To start with, it is really good to have it in the water you use to wash fallout from your skin (or your pets), as well as washing clothing and anything else which might have radioactive particles on it.  It is useful internally as well.  The kidneys are particularly susceptible to damage from uranium exposure.  Old military manuals recommended doses of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to alkalinize the urine, chemically resulting in a less toxic uranyl ion and more easily excreted uranium-carbonate complex.

Other Possibilities

There are all kinds of claims about other things to use internally or in soak baths to treat radiation poisoning.  From a medical viewpoint, here are recommended treatments for various radioactive contaminates.  Many foods and other materials show up in individual research with claimed benefits against radiation exposure, and there are even historical indications of successful treatments.  For instance, Japanese patients from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs that daily ate wakame miso soup before the explosions did not suffer the radiation effects that people who did not eat it regularly suffered.

Antibiotics and Medical Supplies

Radiation plays havoc with your immune system.  Having a stock of antibiotics on hand would be useful in combating diseases which attempt to take advantage of your reduced immune system paired with a much less hygienic environment than you are used to.  If you have a good relation with your doctor, you may be able to get prescriptions from him, or there are doctors on the internet that will consult with you and sell you a large supply appropriate for your situation.   If nothing else, many of the good general antibiotics are available from a pet fish store.  Make sure you get the pure antibiotic, not one which includes ingredients to make your fins shinier. Most antibiotics will last much longer than their expiration date if properly stored (dark, cool, without air allowed into the container).  Military studies show that most are still usable after eleven years or more; the exception is the “cyclines” (i.e. Doxycycline) class which some sources say can turn toxic.

Of course you want to have a real good first aid kit with over the counter medications, or even an advanced medical kit.

Supplies for Nuclear Explosion Survival

Other than the stuff already discussed, normal survival supplies are in order.  After all, you will need to survive everything else a disaster can bring as well as radiation and other bomb effects.  Remember, you will want to avoid going outside (except possibly briefly) for at least two weeks, so plan for supplies accordingly.

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When I was growing up, nuclear war was a “real thing”.  We practiced getting under our little school desks, because they apparently had built in blast and radiation shields.  🙂 

No, I’m not talking about the television networks; they can’t kill you, just dim your intelligence and contaminate you with incorrect information.  In the 50’s, the risk was from what were called Atomic, Biological and Chemical weapons, thus ABC.  During the cold war, the term changed to NBC, or Nuclear, Biological and Chemical.  This was to include “hydrogen” (“thermonuclear”, including fusion) and “neutron” (designed for maximum radiation and minimum blast) bombs with the original “atomic” (using fission only) bombs.  Nowadays, the term has been expanded to CBRNe.  This refers to “all” the current “weapons of mass destruction”, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and sometimes “enhanced (improvised) explosive”.  I don’t know why an “improvised” explosive device is considered any worse than a military or other “dedicated” explosive device.

The “Nuclear” concept has the short term (fireball, blast and heat) aspects and the longer term (radiation and fallout) aspects.  “Radiological” is a relatively new concept dealing with the concept of a “dirty bomb“.  This is a standard explosive which is surrounded with radioactive material.  It does not have the destructive power or radiation of a nuclear explosion, but does spread radioactive material around, potentially exposing victims to the radiation, and making the area unsafe until it is cleaned up or the radioactive material decays to a safe level.

Biological weapons attempt to use disease as a weapon against a population; the agent is bacterial or viral or spores (including fungal).  The key to these is that usually there is a period of time between exposure and symptoms, and transmission across a target area is accomplished by “infection” – people with the disease unknowingly (or uncaringly) infecting other people.

Chemical weapons are another anti-personnel weapon which attempts to poison, disable or disorient a population.  This can be a single, basic chemical or a complex mix such as a nerve agent; the chemical can have been developed for non-weapon uses and just be adapted for weapon use, or it could have been developed strictly as a weapon.

Biological Weapons

As mentioned, the long term transmission of biological weapons is via infection.  An area may be contaminated by filling the air with an aerosol form, or covering it with a liquid form, but often it is more effective (and technically easier) to send infectious people into the target population.  The design of these weapons focus on the resistance of the disease agent outside of a host (to make it difficult to sanitize an affected area and infect as many “primary” hosts as possible), the lethality of the disease (maximize the percentage of victims who are disabled or die), the susceptibility to treatment or inoculation (to minimize victims being easily cured or made resistant to infection), and the length of the incubation period (a long time between exposure and symptoms to maximize the period each carrier is infectious and mobile, or a short time to make it harder to combat).

Thus, the trick is to avoid becoming infected.  This generally occurs when the disease agent (bacteria, virus or spore) enters the body, most commonly via the mouth, nose, eyes or a break in the skin.  The disease agent can be in an aerosol form which is breathed or a liquid which gets on the hands and is transferred to an opening or into a wound.  It can also be in what is eaten or drunk.  If you can prevent these common sources of infection, then it would be unlikely that you will be infected, unless someone injects you or you are in long term close contact with a carrier or their environment.  To reduce the odds of infection, use a mask over your mouth and nose which can filter out and/or kill the disease agent, goggles which seal around your eyes, and clothing which will keep the disease agent away from your skin, or at least any breaks in your skin.  Decontamination; that is safe removal and containment of the clothing upon return to a “safe” location, and cleaning any possibly exposed parts of the body, will be of great importance.

Since it is difficult to keep up avoidance of infection long term, a secondary focus is to kill the disease agent not yet (or any more) in a victim, and to quarantine those who are infected.  There are a number of ways to kill disease agents: heat, ultraviolet and disinfectants are the most common.  Victims of bacterial weapons may respond to antibiotics, but often viruses don’t have effective anti-virals.

Note that a biological product, such as Botulism toxin is NOT a Biological weapon, but a Chemical one.  A Biological weapon is one which is “alive” or at least becomes alive in the victim, and works by multiplying to the point where the victim’s system is overwhelmed.  The diseases used tend to be naturally occurring, although the weaponized ones may have been “tweaked”.

Perhaps the most noted modern biological weapon is Anthrax (Bacillus Anthracis).  Others include Smallpox (Variola major), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), Plague (Yersinia pestis), Bunyavirus (Bunyaviridae family – Nairovirus, Phlebovirus and Hantavirus), Ebola Virus and Marburg Virus (another Hemorrhagic Fever similar to Ebola).  Some people think that influenza has potential to be “improved” into a useful weapon.

Anthrax has not only the bacteriological effects, but the bacterium is one of those which also produce toxins.  Treatment varies depending on how you were infected.  If the infection was through a wound or injection, often a long course of Ciprofloxican or a Doxycycline antibiotic will do the trick.  If spores were inhaled, that is a medical emergency which antibiotics alone may not suffice for.  There are anti-toxins being developed for cases where the toxin has been produced in the victim in quantity, but at this time these are still experimental.  Those at risk (veterinarians and other professionals who deal with animals, and the military) can get a vaccine against Anthrax.  They are also working to develop an oral vaccine which might be available more widely.  Anthrax is not as infectious as many diseases, so the optimal way of introducing it into a population is dispersing an aerosol to encourage inhalation of the agent.

Chemical Weapons

Any weaponized material which is not “alive” (or potentially alive), including substances produced by or from biological elements, is considered Chemical.  This material is finite in quantity; it does not reproduce, and works by affecting the body directly.  It can be a gas, liquid, powder or other solid form.  It can be distributed by explosion or other mechanical distribution, or it can be concealed in food or water or many other products.  Effects can be physical damage, death, incapacitation or disorientation; effects can occur ‘instantaneously’ or after a while, and can be permanent or temporary.

When developing a chemical weapon, one tends to focus not only in producing the desired effect, but the “volatility” or how stable it is.  Chemicals which are volatile (unstable) tend to “go away” or become inactive quickly, thus exhibiting low “persistence”.  This might be of interest if you plan to send personnel in shortly after the weapon.  On the other hand, if the goal is to cause as much damage as possible, high persistence would be preferable.

Harassing agents

These are substances that are not intended to kill or injure. Casualty effects are not anticipated to exceed 24 hours, nor do they often require medical attention.  These include tear agents (pain to eyes and irritation to mucous membranes), vomiting agents (produce congestion, coughing, sneezing, and eventually nausea), and malodorants (strong, unpleasant smell with powerful averse effects, such as a skunk uses.)

Incapacitating agents

These are substances that produce debilitating effects with limited probability of permanent injury or loss of life. The casualty effects typically last over 24 hours, and though medical evacuation and isolation is recommended, it is usually not required for complete recovery.  Most are psychological agents which cause mental disturbances such as delirium or hallucination.  A common example is LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide).  Tranquilizers would also be incapacitating agents, but would be other than psychological in nature.

Vomiting. Adamsite (DM) Diphenylchloroarsine (DA) Diphenylcyanoarsine (DC) Other. Agent 15. BZ. Canniboids. Fentanyls. LSD. Phenothiazines. Riot Control/Tear. Bromobenzylcyanide Chloroacetophenone. Chloropicrin. CNB – (CN in Benzene and Carbon Tetrachloride) CNC – (CN in Chloroform) CNS – (CN and Chloropicrin in Chloroform)

Harassing agents and incapacitating agents are considered NON-LETHAL weapons which are temporary in nature.  Note that they can result in the death of a small percentage of people affected due to sensitivity, other health issues or unintended consequence (a LSD victim thinking he can fly and jumping off a building).  All other chemical weapons are considered LETHAL weapons, as they are intended to produce casualties without regard to long-term consequences or loss of life; the injuries they cause require medical treatment.

Blister agents

These irritate and cause injury to the skin, as well as the eyes, or any other tissue they contact (including internal tissues if breathed).

Vesicants – These are substances that produce large fluid-filled blisters on the skin, for example, various formulas of mustard gas.

Urticants – These are substances that produce a painful weal on the skin.  Sometimes they are called skin necrotizers.  The most common is Phosgene oxime.

Blood agents

These substances are metabolic poisons that interfere with the life-sustaining processes of the blood, such as Hydrogen cyanide or Arsine (a compound of arsenic).

Choking agents

These substances are sometime referred to as pulmonary agent or lung irritants and cause injury to the lung-blood barrier, preventing oxygen from getting into the blood.  This results in coma or death from Asphyxia (severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body).  These are commonly gasses, such as Chlorine or Phosgene.

Nerve agents

Nerve agents are substances that disrupt the chemical communications through the nervous system.  The most common method of doing this is by preventing the normal control (destruction) of unintended acetylcholine in the nerve fiber, leading to a perpetual state of excitement in the nerve.  This causes constant muscle contraction and the eventual exhaustion of the muscles leading to respiratory failure and death.  The other method is a neurotoxin, Tetrodotoxin, which blocks nerve cells from firing, preventing muscles from contracting, and again resulting in respiratory failure.

There are a number of “series” of nerve agents.  G series are high volatility agents that are typically used for a nonpersistent to semipersistent effect.  Sarin is an example of this series.  V series (VE, VG, VM, VX) have low volatility and are typically used for a persistent effect or liquid contact hazard.  GV series (GV, Novichok) have volatility between the V and G agents and are typically used for a semi-persistent to persistent effect.  These all affect acetylcholine control.  The remaining class is called T series and is related to the Tetrodotoxin in puffer fish and some other marine creatures.

For those exposed to a nerve agent which prevents acetylcholine control, the military has (or had) the NAAK (Mark 1 Nerve Agent Antidote Kit) consisting of an auto-injector of Atropine and one of pralidoxime chloride.  Each soldier had three kits, one which could be self administered, and the other two which could be buddy administered if convulsions start.  The NAAK seems to have been replaced by the ATNAA (Antidote Treatment — Nerve Agent Auto-Injector) with the same two drugs in a single injector; it appears to not be available to civilians.  However the FDA has recently approved Duodote, a similar single injector system for civilian use.  It appears to go for about $60 each at regular pharmacies, but will require a prescription.

For someone convulsing, the military is (or at least was) issued an additional injector of Diazepam known as CANA (Convulsant Antidote for Nerve Agent) to be applied after the three NAAK kits.

There is currently no (known) antidote for T series nerve agents, which means that someone who would use one of these is probably insane (since it could affect them just as badly as the enemy).

Other agents

Pretty much anything which is toxic or harmful can be used as a chemical weapon.  Consider the “acid attacks” occurring in the UK and other places.  If you ever mix bleach and another product with acid or ammonia, you will regret it (poisonous vapors will be produced).  A large dose of insulin or nicotine can be deadly.  There are plants which are poisonous, such as some species of mushroom and Nightshade (Belladonna).  And so on for a very long list.

One interesting weapon is Botulinum toxin produced by botulism bacteria.  There are several types of this; types A and B are often used medically to treat muscle spasms (or thin lips and wrinkles).  Think Botox.  Type H is the deadliest substance in the world – an injection of only 2-billionths of a gram (2 ng) can cause death to an adult. Fifty grams is enough to kill the population of planet Earth, 50 grams is 1.7 ounces is less than 4 tablespoons.  Another interesting weapon is Ricin, produced from the remains of the castor bean after producing the castor oil.  This weapon acts by preventing protein synthesis at the cellular level. This means cells slowly grind to a halt and essential operations cease, leading to cellular death.

There are various detectors for the presence of some chemical weapons.  The most reasonable tend to be badges or booklets of test papers; more extensive test kits mostly are quite expensive and have a relatively short shelf life.

How to Survive Chemical or Biological Attacks

A guaranteed way it is actually very simple in concept.  Select the people you need or want to have with you, isolate them for a month to make sure they have no diseases, and then move into an air-tight residence with a chemical/biological air filter to bring in safe air, a stock of safe food, and water purification capability.  And never open the door again.  Of course, you might see some problems with this methodology.  First of all, getting that air-tight residence will be impractical for most people due to the cost and bureaucratic impediments.  Besides, even if nobody ever has to leave, which is pretty unlikely, eventually you will run out of something critical and have to go out for supplies.  There is equipment to keep you safe “out there” and you could have an air lock and decontamination setup at the entrance to keep the residence sterile.  But let’s face it, full protection gear is not only fallible, but likely to not go over well with the rest of the public.

Practically, you want to keep your infection risks down by staying away from other people as much as you can.  And remember your PPG (personal protection gear) of mask, and if you can get away with it, goggles.  Plus, have a bunch of exam gloves for whenever you need to touch something which might be infected by the previous person who was near it (which is usually EVERYTHING).  Have hand sanitizer available in case you accidentally touch anything when not wearing gloves.  Having a decontamination system at your entrance, for you AND anything you are bringing in is a critical idea.  Keep a close ear on any unusual medical news, and at the first sign of anything potentially biological weapon related, go to your highest level of infection prevention (essentially, isolation).  And remember, insects can carry disease, so be prepared to keep them out as much as practical, and take care of any which do get in.

Biological safety can be fairly long term; you have to wait for the disease to “burn itself out”; that is, reach a condition where nobody else is contagious and every existing source of the disease is quarantined or destroyed.  Chemical safety is much shorter term, but rather more complicated.  It would be a challenge for a biological weapon to get inside your house unless you bring it in or let it in.  Chemical weapons can get inside rather more easily.  If your residence is not air tight (and the odds are that it is not), you need to have the means at hand to make it more so upon demand.  This often can be done with plastic sheeting and duct tape.  Know what needs to be sealed and have the tools and supplies right there.  A way of filtering what air does come in would be quite useful because otherwise either the weapon can get in, or you will die when all the oxygen is used up.  When you have to go out, you’ll need full protection, and your need for protection is more important than what other people think.  Be alert for violence from those who don’t have protection or are just plain nut jobs.

Basically, this level of protection consists of a CBRN rated gas mask and a suit which keeps the chemicals off your entire body, since some chemical weapons affect the skin, and others can be absorbed through the skin.  Unfortunately, some chemical weapons are designed to defeat the protections against them, so masks and suits need to be continuously improved.  Thus your CBRN mask should be new and a recent model to ensure it has the latest technology and is in a condition which is reliable and effective (that is, not “expired”).  Surplus masks may be cheap, but the odds they will protect you are not favorable.  It will probably cost you at least $200 for a good mask.  You’ll need a supply of CBRN filter canisters as well, at about $45 each and up.  How long a filter is good for is difficult to know in advance, but as an estimate, plan on getting about eight hours out of a filter.  It is best to go for a mask which uses standard 40mm NATO filter attachment; they are quick to install, easier to find, and harder to screw up.  Sometimes you can get “6-packs” at a discount.  Be aware of the expiration date of your filters.  Some people claim that they are “useless” after this date; some people claim they are still useful “for a while” if sealed, and a few filters (which use asbestos, Chromium or other harmful chemicals) might be toxic when expired.

As for the suit, Lawrence Livermore labs are working on “smart” protective clothing which protects against biological weapons and senses chemical agents and increases the protection for them.  This may or may not be available now, but I’ll bet even if you could find it for sale, you would not be able to afford it.  What you might be able to get is military MOPP (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) at least level four gear (lower level gear may be cheaper, but won’t provide as much protection).  This outfit is thick and does not breathe well, which can cause you to overheat, but it does pretty much protect from chemical weapons.  I was not able to find any currently available which guaranteed to be level four or higher, so cannot comment on price or availability.  The ones I did find were in the $50 to $100 range, which seemed suspiciously low.

Furthermore, many stated they were “surplus”, and these garments seem to have a shelf life of ten years or so when sealed in a package, and only a year or two if the package seal is broken.  Even it you did find a high level outfit surplus, it might not be any good by the time you needed it.  There appears to be a better consumer option, generically known as CPO and/or CPU (Chemical Protective Outergarments or Undergarments), which seem to be of a similar level of protection to MOPP level four, and available in the $200 to $350 range for Rampart offerings.  Gore-Tex appears to have an interesting version as well, but I could not find any for sale to civilians.  These garments often don’t include gloves or foot coverings, and some don’t include head covering, so make sure you have the parts to cover these areas as well, and the appropriate materials to seal between them and the suit and the mask.  This might add $50 to $100 to your cost.  If this just won’t fit the budget, simple “impervious” chemical resistant suits, often of Tyvek, may be better than nothing and much more affordable.

There are “full encapsulation” suits which would be excellent against biological agents, but might be “eaten” by some chemical agents.  These run from under $150 (I sure would be leery of the ones in this price range) to well over $1000, plus you would need an air supply, either SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) which would be safe but very expensive and short lived (about an hour max before the tank needs to be refilled), or PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirator) which would still probably add another $600 to $1000 or more to the cost of this solution.

Other Preparations for Chemical or Biological Events

Besides the stuff already mentioned specifically to deal with a chemical or biological emergency, you will want to have all the standard survival stuff.  This is because you want to be sure that your food and water is not contaminated with the weapon agent, and you want to minimize how often you have to go out among potentially infected people or areas to get necessities.  There is a high probability of random violence and looting.  Access to radio broadcasts is critical so you can find out what the status is of the attack and the response to it.  Medical supplies will likely be in short supply.  Personal hygiene supplies will be important; it would be embarrassing to defeat an enemy’s chemical or biological attack only to succumb to your own lack of hygiene.

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No, I’m not talking about the television networks; they can’t kill you, just dim your intelligence and contaminate you with incorrect information.  In the 50’s, the risk was from what

Our family just moved into a new home. It’s in a great neighborhood but is rather small in size with only two bedrooms. In addition to updating the paint and replacing windows, we’ve added an outdoor shed that will serve a number of purposes. My husband works from home, which is awesome. However, it can get a little stressful when he’s taking an important call and our precocious two-year-old is running around and screaming like a crazy person. So, we started looking for some cost-effective solutions.

Our first reason for the outdoor shed was a way to create a home office space for him to work. When we really got to thinking about it though, we realized the shed could offer so much more.  In addition to building an awesome work station for my husband, we ended up adding a lofted bed, small bathroom, and kitchenette and lots of room for storage. So basically, when SHTF we’ll be jumping on the tiny home wagon.

This is how we designed our perfect prepper outdoor shed:

What are we storing?

When TEOTWAWKI hits, our plan is to hunker down. So, you better believe our hidden-in-plain-sight home office turned prepper shed is stocked full of food, medical supplies, water and ammunition.

Stockpiling too much can leave you susceptible to looters. So, we chose to store our goods in an unassuming spot – a home office shed. We built a bookcase into the wall with hidden storage and placed our canned and dry goods there. The space is cool, dry and dark and perfect for our food. We’re also storing important medical supplies and ammunition in the built-in storage space.

Solar Panels

We are millennials so when SHTF we’re still gonna really want power. That’s why we installed solar panels on the roof of our outdoor shed. If the power grid collapses, we’ll be ready. Well…at least I’ll still be able to check my news feeds.

Many see solar energy as cost prohibitive and I did too at first. I was hesitant to believe that purchasing and installing solar panels would fit into our budget. But, in the glorious age of the internet and YouTube, we quickly realized a DIY effort is not impossible and building our own solar panels was really quite doable.

A little research, a trip to your local home center and some sweat equity is all that’s required. You’ll be on your way to harnessing the power of the sun in no time and you’ll take your self-sufficiency and disaster readiness to the next level.

We live in a hurricane prone area, so in addition to building the solar panels ourselves and therefore understanding how they work in their entirety, we’ve stocked extra supplies for repairs in the event a destructive storm comes our way.

When building our outdoor shed / home office / prepper paradise we asked ourselves: why not utilize the all-powerful sun when things take a turn for the worse? In the meantime, these solar panels are helping reduce our electric bill. It’s truly a win, win.

Hideaway Storage Unit in Roof

We were able to control every aspect of building this shed and therefore we opted to add important stealthy storage spaces that would be challenging for the average Joe to locate. For example, we built a hideaway storage unit in the roof of the shed. This is an inconspicuous spot where we can keep important documents and stash away extra cash.

Shed Security Measures

This shed is so important to us on many levels. First off, it’s my husband’s space to get his work done and provide for our family in peace and quiet (SUPER IMPORTANT). Second, it’s our family’s contingency plan for TEOTWAWKI. If disaster strikes, or we can no longer check social media every 2 minutes (which is a disaster if you ask me), our home remains a great spot for us to hunker down.

We’ll have access to food, water, medical supplies, ammunition, our important documents and power. You can’t really place a value on this. And that’s why it’s important to us that our shed remains secure.

There are a ton of ways to secure your outdoor shed and we did our fair share of research(also here) to determine the best method for us.

In addition to installing upgraded locks on our shed, we also opted for an alarm system with video surveillance that immediately notifies us if there has been a break in. We also fixed our shed to the concrete foundation. This helps to protect it against natural disaster like the tropical storms and hurricanes that tend to plague our area.

One of the final security measures we took was to reinforce the entry door with metal bars. This essentially turns the shed into a vault and would allow us to truly hunker down.

Key Cache

This leads to me to the final feature I want to highlight in our prepper paradise (okay, it’s a shed I know!). We all know about survival caches. This is a smaller version of just that. A key to the shed, a pill bottle and a decorative rock are all you need accomplish this final tip for securing your outdoor shed. Glue the rock to the pill bottle lid, slip the key in, dig a hole and voila! Hardly a chance your snoopy neighbor will be able to locate that key hidden in plain sight.

We have found that our outdoor shed has increased our quality of life in the here and now tenfold. Converting an outdoor shed into livable space and a prepper station was both cost effective and an interesting, fun and educational adventure for us.

We also feel confident that this space will continue to provide for our family, especially in this current age of extreme uncertainty. Securing our outdoor shed has given us a significant increase in peace of mind. We know that we are prepped for what lies ahead and that our goods and materials are safe. And thanks to those solar panels, I’ll be able to charge my iPhone to live tweet TEOTWAWKI.

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Our family just moved into a new home. It’s in a great neighborhood but is rather small in size with only two bedrooms. In addition to updating the paint and

Your home should be your castle. For all the talk in the preparedness community about bugging out and heading for the country, unless your home is under direct attack, it is a far better plan to attempt to stay at home. It’s where your food supply is, it’s where your clothes and your tools are, and hopefully you have a solid, dependable roof over your head.

The fall and winter is usually the last time that you’d think about your outdoor areas, but it’s the ideal time to start planning for what you can do this spring and summer to help improve your home’s preparedness plan. Here are some great features to consider when creating your plan:

Food & Water Storage

Your backyard might not be the first place you think of when you start considering food and water storage, but it’s actually quite convenient.

The ideal food storage idea you can have in your backyard is a root cellar. If you’re creating a big one, you simply need to dig a large hole, build supports for the wall, and set up some form of ceiling with an air flow, add an entrance, and you have a walk-in storage solution for many of your vegetables that will keep your produce cool for the season.

Smaller root cellars can be as simple as burying a cooler in a shady spot, or digging a hole and covering the area with something. These are not the greatest or largest solutions, but they’ll work in a pinch.

Putting a survival cache in your own tree is also an option. PVC pip can be used to create an airtight seal that can contain anything you think you might need in order to survive. What’s nice about the cache is that in case of a fire, flood, or home invasion, at least you’ll have something you can use to get you through a tough time.

For Water Storage, a cistern is an excellent solution. Cisterns are usually buried under your lawn, but could be free-standing. In either case, this is something you likely will want to have professionally installed, as mistakes could lead to thousands of gallons of water flooding your property. Either way, these large storage tanks take much of the guesswork out of storing water for an SHTF situation, and are made large enough that they will be useful as water for people, plants and cleanliness.

If not a large cistern, then how about a rain barrel connected to your gutter system. When well managed, rain barrels are a great method of securing a source of water for your survival garden at least, and for your family in a pinch.

You could also consider installing a pond or large fountain, which would be the most scenic water storage choice, although likely the least practical for usage, as the water would require a more significant filtering and cleaning process before use.

Living Space

This past summer, when considering my preparedness plan, I noted that one thing we really needed was a redundant way to cook our food. We have gas appliances in our home, and I have a propane tank attached to the grill outside, but otherwise, we had no dedicated space or method for cooking. We solved this by putting a firepit in our backyard, along with a simple firewood storage box to keep nearby. Now we have a dedicated cooking area that will last as long as we keep getting branches from our trees (in other words, forever).

We ended up using our firepit so much that I installed a pergola, a few garden trellis walls, and a patio stone floor, and now we have almost a “room” outside where we can cool off, warm up, or camp out quite easily with minimal equipment. I’d feel comfortable out there with just a blanket if the weather permits.

My wife and I also like to adapt the kid’s stuff towards preparedness in some way. Our daughter’s play area includes a triangular set of trellises, and during the summer months, we plant pole beans around them to create a kind of teepee. Her tire swing and treehouse are built into our sugar maple, which we tap annually for syrup. She also has a small playhouse with a few built-in planters outside and a living roof that has a few herbs growing on top.

If you have the space for a shed, you could easily build one of those as a guest house, useful for storage, and if it’s far enough away from your main home, an easy bug out location on the premises in case of fire, flood or other catastrophe.

Food Growth & Gardening

Of course, in an SHTF situation, your backyard will serve as your grocery store. Raised plant beds are easy to install in any grassy area, and are perfect for growing all manner of veggies. Simply purchase the wood or bricks you wish to use, and lay them out in the area you choose. Build the wall at least four to six inches deep, and you’ll have enough soil to grow a bunch of different veggies in. If you want to go the extra mile and put landscaping fabric underneath, that may help control weeds, but it’s not necessary, and many people (myself included) have had mixed results.

In addition to raised beds, you can consider creating miniature greenhouses. Build a box with a glass or plastic lid that can be easily raised or propped open so you can work in it, and ensure that that area gets plenty of light. During the winter months, you can plant a large number of vines or crops in these mini greenhouses that can provide fresh foods year round. This is also an ideal spot to start your seedlings in spring.

Once the end of the growing season hits, you’ll be very thankful if you created a compost pile where you can get free dirt and fertilizer. Enclosed three-bin systems are very easy to build, and provide the easiest long-term plan for gathering compost, but a simple garbage can purchased from the hardware store can function as a tumbler. Some people I know don’t even have bins, they simply have a pile covered with a tarp or wrapped in chicken wire. Compost is excellent for growing crops and a good way to reduce the amount of garbage you throw away every week.

In case you don’t have a lot of room, there’s still plenty you can do to garden. It’s possible to grow fruit trees in large pots, or if you have even a little room for planting in ground, you can maximize space by growing vine plants like cucumbers, pole beans and squash on trellises. Espalier is a method of growing a fruit tree next to a wall, and is ideal for creating a smaller fruit tree that actually makes very large and wholesome fruits in a small area. Arbors also work for maintaining a small tree in a controlled area. This method works best for pear plants and apples. It’s easy to grow many veggies in pots as well.

If you have the space and the equipment, there is no better “greenhouse” solution than a Walipini. A Walipini is a dug out section of earth that is enclosed with a clear plastic or glass roof. Underneath, you have a 12-month greenhouse that can help your plants endure in any climate. A traditional greenhouse is an option as well, but may not offer the 12-month guarantee of a Walipini.

We got most of our ideas for our backyard from two sources – Pinterest and our local botanic gardens. Both of these options offer a wide variety of alternative options for growing plants, and their hardscapes are not only beautiful, but often have tutorials attached.

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Your home should be your castle. For all the talk in the preparedness community about bugging out and heading for the country, unless your home is under direct attack, it

Vodka is one of the highest concentrated alcoholic drinks available. Its relative tastelessness makes it a favorite for combining into mixed drinks, and it’s possible to find relatively inexpensively in almost every grocery store in America. Vodka, if used and stored correctly, is also a very important supply to have for prepping, because it has a wide range of possible uses and it never goes bad.

Vodka as a Bartering Supply

When the SHTF scenario finally occurs, one of the surest things that will happen is that alcohol’s value will skyrocket. People crave their vices, even if the vice is not one that causes a physical dependence, and they are usually willing to give up quite a lot to get even a drop of what they know and love.

It’s also a fairly sure thing that, as much as we prep for the future, we cannot possibly deal with every eventuality. You may think you’ve got enough to keep you and your family fed, until you suddenly realize that you have ten boxes of noodles, but no pasta sauce to make a meal with.

Since vodka stores indefinitely, and since it has such a high concentration of alcohol, it’s possible to get a buzz with a very limited quantity of alcohol, and in an SHTF situation, where dependents have been without for so long, it will take very little for them to get drunk. Therefore, you should have little trouble trading a bottle, or even a few sips, for something very valuable when that time comes.

Vodka as a Medical Supply

Like all alcohol, vodka can be used in place of ethyl or isopropyl alcohol in medical applications. Obviously, as a designed food item, the vodka is not quite as good of an alternative as the real thing, but in a pinch, you can certainly use it to disinfect wounds, or rub it on the body over an area you may wish to cut into or sew to reduce the risk of infection.

You could use it to clean your knife or other supplies as well, paricularly needles, or tweezers. Vodka won’t be as effective as other forms of made-to-use medical supplies like hand sanitizer or medicinal alcohol, but it will work well enough.

Alcohol is also useful as an analgesic for tooth pain, and can be rubbed on your skin to treat itches or poison ivy.

Vodka to Make Tinctures

If you grow herbs, or use herbal medicine in any way, then vodka should already be part of your fall purchase list so that you can use it in creating tinctures to preserve herbaceous medicines. The process is simple – in a small, dark and opaque bottle or jar, fill the bottle or jar with herbs (leaves, flowers, roots, or whatever piece you’d normally use). Top off the bottle with vodka, and let it sit for a week or so in order to have the medicine steep into the liquid. After you’ve allowed the mixture to steep, you can strain out the liquid tincture, and store it in dropper bottles, which take up less area and have an adequate measuring system included.

A few tips: you must ensure that your alcohol is at least 80 proof (40% ABV – alcohol by volume) so that the alcohol content can successfully break down the essential plant matter. You must make sure that your storage solution is opaque, as sunlight can damage the medicinal qualities of the tincture. Making a tincture is a method of storing herbal medicines nearly indefinitely if you preserve the bottles in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight.

To take a tincture, you simply add one full dropper to a beverage, or apply underneath your tongue. Because the tincture is an alcoholic product, it will allow the medicine to be absorbed quickly in to your bloodstream, and work quickly and powerfully to fix your ailment. Some herbalists recommend rubbing tinctures into your skin, although this is probably less effective.

Sage leaves, chamomile flowers, and willow bark are easy-to-grow plants that are common in many areas, and have a variety of useful effects. They make great starter tinctures.

Vodka as an Accelerant

Vodka is very high in alcohol content, and as anyone who experimented in chemistry can tell you, alcohol burns hot and quick. You can use vodka as an accelerant for fires (similar to lighter fluid). It does not create a steady, long burn, but it could help you catch a few twigs on fire, and is especially useful if you’re not all that skilled with bushcraft.

Vodka as a Gun Cleaner

If you’ve got a rag and a bottle of vodka, you have all the materials necessary to clean your gun. The alcohol in vodka can break down most of the buildup and gunk that accumulates inside gun barrels and can get all the moving parts cleaned and shined up well.

Vodka as a Weapon

With a rag, a bottle of alcohol and a fire, you have an effective Molotov cocktail, an exploding fire grenade that can deal massive damage to crowds, a vehicle or a building. If you’re in a one-on-one fight, a broken bottle is a very menacing weapon. But beware, glass bottles either do not break easily or shatter completely, depending on a lot of factors. Once again, the movie and TV stereotypes are a myth. On the upside, anyone you injure with this will appreciated that you were kind enough to use a weapon that will fight infection.

Vodka to Keep Warm?

Alcohol in general can make you feel like you’ve increased your body temperature, and therefore, it is often thought of as a way to keep your internal body temperature high. In fact, alcohol does the opposite. You feel warm when you drink alcohol because it actually lowers your internal temperature, causing you to feel like you just walked out on a warm summer day wearing a winter coat. Drinking in cold temperatures can be very hazardous to your health. However, that false feeling, along with the numbing effect, can be an effective method for calming agitated people.

Almost any of the applications here use vodka in unconventional ways, and in almost all circumstances, it is not the primary or ideal way to perform the action. Also, any high proof alcohol will do the job, but vodka is the most accessible and least expensive in my experience. Brandy, Ever-clear or moonshine will all work quite well. When buying vodka, it’s probably best to buy it in glass, not plastic, bottles, and you may wish to choose an organic brand. The higher the concentration of alcohol, the more effective it will be in almost every circumstance listed above.

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Vodka is one of the highest concentrated alcoholic drinks available. Its relative tastelessness makes it a favorite for combining into mixed drinks, and it’s possible to find relatively inexpensively in

Get In Shape

No, really. With absolutely nothing to your name, you can be better off than a quarter if not half the preppers with gear, land, and partners. Want a little ‘for example’? How about the huffing and puffing we hear when folks run from the cold or rain? Or are forced to hustle to catch mass transit of some kind?

There’s the muscle injuries and heart attacks that get warned about ahead of winter storms. There’s a lesser publicized set of aches that even active homesteaders work through at the beginning of spring or late summer and autumn as we get back in to full swing – doing more than shoveling snow, poking in checking on things, hauling feed to the (usually) closer barn than to and around pastures. Every year, there are hikers who end up overextended and in distress.

We shake our heads at news stories when people put themselves in sucky situations. Let’s make sure we’re not one of them sometime in the future.

Get in Shape for WORKING

General physical ability can be helpful, and it’s a leg up, for sure. However, there’s gym fit and there’s street-woods fit. Gear your “workouts” to things you’ll be doing. You can also find exercises that directly relate to activities you expect.

Mix up your walking/packing/jogging/sprint surfaces. If you live rural and plan to cut cross-country, if you’re away from home, sure, focus on the “natural” surfaces around you. Don’t ignore hardtops, but they’re less important for one-time, single-digit day-count packing. If you live or work in a lot of urban environments, though, make your training more fifty-fifty.

Walk on the sides of ditches and in loose leaves to build your ankles up. Sandy beaches offer a variety of challenging textures that can also help seriously strengthen legs and ankles depending on where in the tide line or above it you exercise and run. It’ll be helpful in snow and ice as well, and in tilled gardens or hand-harvesting hay and grains and big bean plots.

Those strong ankles will also be an aid in keeping your balance anytime you lose it – like if you anticipate ever getting shoved or tripped.

If you live somewhere floods are a risk or where you get a fair bit of snow, start plowing through some water if any’s available. You may be able to find times of day or parts of parks where you won’t attract attention slogging through a little stream or knee-deep in lake, bay, or marsh water. You may also be able to find an affordable YMCA or similar pool, although you’ll be “stuck” with waist-high instead of the more-unique pulls of calf- and knee-high slogging. (Please watch for snakes that will be annoyed with you and wear good sneakers.)

Go slow – this isn’t a sprint, it’s preparing you for winter work and bug-outs, not a footrace. Steady, certain steps are the biggie, and developing the muscles. Don’t be too ambitious at first. Rushing is a broken ankle or wrist and be careful waiting to happen. Be smart in cool weather – hypothermia doesn’t require freezes.

You can find gym equipment or band workouts that can help you build muscles for raking and shoveling, swinging an ax, or hauling and pushing carts and wagons. Bands require an investment, and there are contrasting opinions about them, but they’re affordable and compact – exercise anywhere.

Boxing and kick boxing exercises abound on the internet. Both build an enormous amount of core strength.

A gallon of water weighs about eight pounds. (Start with a half-gallon or liter, please.) If we get milk, we can get weights at home without spending an extra penny or having to build in time to go somewhere. When you’re ready for more, look around your environment for pipes, golf clubs, sturdy pruned limbs, etc., that can be used to create a bar. (Duct tape them – sliding weight, even “just” 8-16 pounds, is a recipe for an injury.)

Do Exercises Correctly

Do weight, stretching, and isometric exercises slowly. Use a mirror to check your form. When your form is muscle memory, close your eyes and concentrate on the feel.

Bucking, rocking, kipping or whatever you want to call them are not only cheating yourself. They’re also an injury waiting to happen. You also work more of your muscles, longer and harder, by working them slowly.

Build the Right Strengths

Start with low weights and high reps. Keep those high reps and slow motions even when you advance in weight. Practice holding at each point, and stopping midway for holds, too.

There are the instant-action parts of homesteading and camping/packing/paddling, absolutely: that moment when you heave the pressed hay up and over, to stack or to carry, or slinging a bag of feed up and over your shoulder, shoving off rocks or getting flipped backwards. There are “power pops” when you stress your tool maintenance guy and your body taking bypass pruners to tough wood and at funny angles.

However, many of our tasks are endless repetitions – raking, forking, shoveling, paddling, hauling a rope of a beaver slide or pulley lift to get hay or straw to a loft or hoist an animal for butchering.

In low-power or no-power situations, and low- or no-noise situations, there’s also hand sawing – which is a fast action, but a lot of it. There’s things like rocking a garden weasel back and forth, and push-pull lawn cutting with a rotary mower. There’s the bent or crouched schnick-schnick-schnick-turn-toss-schnick-schnick-schnick of harvesting grains or hay or straw, or gathering small branches or vines, or trimming down tree feeds for livestock.

Do, absolutely, work some of the hand-and-footwork speed drills, too. There are times when higher weights and quick motions do come into play.

I have to have the “snatch” strength to catch that ladder before it tips, or to snag a tree when rotting stuff gives way underfoot, to help somebody on steep trails or slipping on ice, or the harness line when my goofy dog accidentally bounces another dog over the edge of something (most recently it was her brother off a boat dock).

My medical supplies do me no good if I can’t heave my heavy dog over my shoulder and get it somewhere, or drag my family and partners out of something or into something. Maybe it’s a house fire, maybe they slipped off a bridge, maybe a bookshelf tilted. Maybe it’s a large animal, and being able to slam and brace and hold a gate to keep something out and away from them.

Even so, most of those have an endurance aspect. Catching for a moment is only half the battle.

I have to sustain that hold, and I have to be able to pull without losing my grip. I have to scramble with that hold sometimes, or not lose my footing.

Maybe today there’s an earthquake or tornado that starts a fire, some nut-job shooting, or a 500-year flood strikes. If I can’t carry or drag my loved ones all the way out of harm’s way, I lose them.

Maybe today’s task is sitting on the ground or edge of something, digging in heels, straining against a rope and “climbing” to haul something to a loft or my kid/partner/lover/parent out of a well or somebody’s deer pit. If I can’t hold onto that timber we’re hauling, if I slip as belay anchor or lose my grip on that rope, I hurt somebody.

Initial adrenaline will only take us so far. It’s worth getting in shape for.

Prepare Your Body, or Prepare to Fail

All the gear in the world isn’t going to help somebody who can’t get out of a building or down the road, who can’t escape a fire or flood, who can’t evade a mob and then put enough distance between them to beat the police barricade lines.

The best bug-out location on earth won’t help somebody who can’t get to it and keep it going – who can’t lift their kid and that fancy bag up over a fence, who can’t build a shelter against cold, wet weather to keep their family from hypothermia, who can’t lift enough water in big buckets to keep livestock and gardens watered, let alone bathe.

The expensive spotting scope and fancy rifle that found and took a deer doesn’t help the guy who then can’t get it up a hill or across the flats – at all, without injury or heart attack, or “fast enough” in some parts of the world where bears, hogs, and human scavengers like to check out gunshots.

Side Benefits to Exercise

Exercise is also incredibly good for the brain, both in combating stress and depression, and in sharpening our minds and senses. Tired bodies help us sleep better, with sleep hugely important to stress, recovery, mood, and decision making.

When you feel stronger and fitter, you’ll also find your confidence increasing, which in some cases actually decreases aggression and combative attitudes. (Lack of confidence tends to lead to those small-dog yappy-snappy, argumentative people who take everything as a personal insult and a direct challenge to authority.)

That’s going to make a disaster of any scale a whole lot easier to deal with, no matter how active or sedentary it is.

Prep for Retaining & Regaining Strength

If you’re lucky enough to have a bunker, a storm cellar, or a tight compound, don’t forget to stash ways to stay in shape while you’re locked down. You only need a little space and some things that – besides bands – are probably already there. Make sure you also have a variety of exercises, stretches, and drills printed out and stashed.

Not only is endurance and raw strength important, and something that can be easily handled at little to no cost, work on flexibility. Exercises for seniors can be an excellent source there.

Physical therapy exercises are beneficial as well. Don’t forget to print up what they apply to. It can range from post-stroke and nerve damage recovery, to knee replacements and torn ACLs, out to oddballs like whiplash and dislocated fingers and wrists. Not only are many actually pretty fantastic stretching, mobility, dexterity, and strength-building regimens, if there is an accident or injury, you’re prepared for full recovery.

The One Irreplaceable Prep

Every disaster and evacuation, we hear of refugees surviving incredible hardships and long journeys, and people managing incredible physical feats to save their loved ones. But for every feel-good victory, there are losses. Not everyone makes it fast enough, far enough.

Increasing physical ability can be done in two, three, or four 10-20 minute sessions a day, a few times a week. It can cost nothing.

Some of it can be done pumping our fuel or during regular shopping trips, adding less time than we’ll stand in a checkout line or lust over goodies behind glass. Some of it can be done one hand at a time, reading or scrolling the internet with the other. We can keep up with weekly shows/sports doing cals and Pilates and physical therapy on the carpet and kitchen chair, or using a bar hung from a sturdy doorway.

Your body is the one thing there is no backup for. There are no excuses. Not time, not money, not current physical limitations. We can get stronger, and by doing so, improve our chances of survival.

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Get In Shape No, really. With absolutely nothing to your name, you can be better off than a quarter if not half the preppers with gear, land, and partners. Want a

You don’t need to dig an underground bunker to start planning for the next big disaster. Investing in upgraded disaster preparedness equipment is a smart move. Add these tech items to your disaster preparedness kit now, and you’ll be ready for pretty much any eventuality.

Portable Generators

A good portable generator is the backbone of a survivalist’s tech arsenal. Gas-powered generators can keep your lights and refrigerator on when there’s a serious outage. They also allow you to use cellphones and computers to stay connected.

Small 2 kw generators are ideal for emergency preparedness for most individuals. These units are quiet, fuel efficient, and ideal for keeping low-power appliances on for extended periods of time. Keeping the refrigerator, a few lights, and a computer on can be more than enough during a temporary power loss.

Huge hardwired units, on the other hand, can keep most of your home operational during a blackout. With this kind of generator, you can continue your day-to-day tasks like normal.

Headlamps

Having light can make a world of difference in a survival scenario, even if you’re only using it to finish the next chapter of a good book. The best lights on the market have long-lasting LED bulbs and are often USB rechargeable for convenience and flexibility.

Headlamps are the best emergency lights since they keep your hands free for other important tasks. Lights like the Pelican 2765 are ideal for disaster preparedness kits because they withstand impact, dangerous fumes, and water damage, ensuring you’ll have light when you need it most.

Electricity-Generating Wood Stoves

You can’t always count on electricity or gasoline being available, but you can almost always count on having wood to burn. The BioLite CampStove 2, for example, is an exciting piece of technology that uses a smokeless fire to generate electricity.

This stove is ideal for charging a smartphone or powering a headlamp. It can also be used for heat and cooking. The dual-purpose nature makes this piece of tech an ideal survival tool for the worst-case scenario. When there’s no imminent disaster, the smartphone charging capability can also come in handy during camping trips and tailgate parties.

Water Filters

Ensuring you and your family have access to clean drinking water is an essential step in disaster preparedness. Clean water sources are easily contaminated if a storm compromises treatment facilities. A water filter is essential for both short and long-term resilience to a disaster.

While most filters can capture large particles such as heavy metals, potentially harmful viruses can still pass through to your drinking water. For the most consistent results, it’s best to filter out contaminants with a hollow-core or ceramic water filter, followed by UV water purifier treatment. These handy devices use ultraviolet light to kill off viruses that most filters miss, ensuring clean water access over long periods.

Portable Solar Panels

Barring a meteor impact, sunlight should always be abundant after a disaster. Tapping into the sun’s energy for power is a great way to keep your cellphone and lights going when the power is out. Portable solar panels offer a convenient and lightweight power source you can easily stow in the back of your car until needed.

Portable solar panels, reliably generate power in sunny conditions, and their flexible design makes them durable enough to last during a disaster. You can even pair these systems with a battery pack so you can continue using your phone while your panels soak up the sun.

Smartphone Survival Apps

With a reliable backup power source, your smartphone can provide essentially limitless information for many survival scenarios. There are several apps that provide off-line access to critical information for emergency situations, ensuring you can make informed decisions when it matters most.

The American Red Cross offers several first aid apps, including a guide to common first aid issues and a pet first aid guide. The organization also offer several applications for emergency alerts and disaster monitoring for everything from tornadoes to floods.

Home Security Systems

Keeping your family safe doesn’t necessitate a massive disaster. Threats like a home invasion can be just as financially and emotionally devastating as a flood. You can ensure your home is safe and protected with a comprehensive home security system. Bleeding-edge technologies in the security field also offer many benefits for homeowners concerned with preparedness.

Smart home technologies, including automatic locks, doorbell cameras, and smart smoke detectors work around the clock with home monitoring services to ensure your home is completely secure, even when you’re not home. Many systems also interface with digital assistants like Amazon Alexa so you can easily program and monitor your system from any mobile device and any location.

Portable Emergency Weather Radio

It’s not flashy—and it certainly isn’t high tech—but a reliable hand-crank emergency weather radio is one of the best tech items you can include in your disaster planning. Weather radios pick up NOAA weather bands to keep you alert and prepared during any natural disaster, even if your local cell towers are already down.

The best emergency radios double as flashlights, and many newer models include a USB outlet for charging a cellphone or USB-powered light. Most models charge using a hand crank or solar panel, ensuring they’ll work in all weather conditions. An AM/FM receiver can also entertain you with music when you’re waiting for the lights to come on.

As you look to expand your current disaster preparedness kit, consider adding the above-listed items so you’ve got the tech you need to help you weather any storm.

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You don’t need to dig an underground bunker to start planning for the next big disaster. Investing in upgraded disaster preparedness equipment is a smart move. Add these tech items

We as preppers tend to always be prepared for the worst scenarios possible, but what if we are caught in a bad, but not worst case, scenario? As a man who has lived through a few disasters of different descriptions, I would like to share some thoughts with you all.

Imagine the following scenario if you will:

You have just survived a disaster without any casualties or major damage. Your generator is gassed up, plenty of oil and gas to keep it running, non-perishable food, medical supplies, etc. You have your own water well, and with your generator, you are not worried about water supply. You have power, but nothing happens when you turn the faucet on. Why? Because the wind/water/etc. Has damaged your plumbing. Now what?

This is the exact scenario my family faced after hurricane Rita in 2005. The force of the wind shifted the pump house, moving the water tank and breaking the plumbing. Thankfully pvc pipe can be patched relatively quickly. However, as the last freeze taught us, you must be prepared to potentially replace ALL of the plumbing in your home. Always have extra pipe and fittings on hand in the appropriate sizes and materials for your home plumbing system. Do not forget primer and cement if you are working with pvc.

And what of electrical? A disaster can seriously damage your electrical system. Perhaps it will be as simple as capping off an unnecessary leg of a circuit. Perhaps you will need to rebuild a vital part of the system. Either way, having extra wire on hand is a great idea. Not to mention the correct tools for the job, as well as wire nuts and electrical tape.

I am ashamed to admit this, but there was a time when certain among us were caught without a manually operated can opener. Not everyone was born a prepper. Make sure to have extras.

A bathroom can be damaged too. It never hurts to have trash bags and toilet paper stored away. I speak from experience when I say that toilet paper is a wonderful luxury after a disaster.

Something I have not yet obtained, but fully believe everyone should have is a small boat. I lived through the flood of 1994, and did not think the water could ever be higher. Harvey taught us all a lesson. Myself and my family were blessed enough to not have to be rescued, but it was 1” away. Literally, 1” from the threshold. I will be adding a boat to my supplies.

Now let’s think about that generator. You probably have many gallons of fuel stored away, of course with the correct amount of stabilizer mixed in. There are probably cases of oil stored in a safe location as well. But what if this turns into an extended outage? Do you have spark plugs? Spare air filters? Oil filters (if your model uses one)? What about carburetors? From years of being the local guy everyone brings small engines to, I can tell you that carburetors often fail with today’s fuel. Even those that are cared for in the best manner possible. Ignition coils can fail without warning as well. It is worth to know your machinery and have spare parts on hand. You only want to use your backup generator for the few minutes it will take to repair your main unit.

Having your chainsaw in good working order is also very important. There have been occasions where it is imperative that you be able to clear fallen trees or large wooden debris quickly. I have seen outbuildings mostly toppled after storms, and sometimes it is better to just cut them apart in a controlled manner and eliminate the danger of them falling the rest of the way. Assuming you can’t yank them down with your truck in the redneck style, that makes it go faster. The point is, you should always have fresh fuel for your saw, a spare chain, spare spark plug, and plenty of chain oil on hand.

There are some smaller jobs where the hassle and fuel consumption of power tools is just not warranted. For those moments, I always like to have a few sharp axes, machetes, hatchets and the like on hand. Most people have them stored away somewhere, but when was the last time you checked the edge on it? It is easier to sharpen them now with power tools than it will be to take the time and file sharpen them in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

Perhaps these things I have mentioned do not apply in every circumstance. Or perhaps some of you have already taken the steps I have mentioned. My hope is that my experiences may be able to keep even one other person from having to learn these things the hard way. In the end, that’s what is all about. If the prepper community does not endeavor to support and educate each other, we will all suffer in the long run.

This brings me to my final point: people. We all attempt to educate and inform friends and family regarding the world of preparedness. And that in itself is a good thing. What if a young child mentions it to his/her friends? Or a good friend talks to outsiders? Even a spouse with a random comment? This poses two distinct issues. First, people know where to steal from. But have you ever considered political correctness? I hope this inspires you to be very careful before discussing your plans. As sad as it is, you must consider all possibilities in today’s society. Which may, in the long run, be the biggest threat we face. Nature will do as nature does, but people are the most unpredictable thing there is!

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We as preppers tend to always be prepared for the worst scenarios possible, but what if we are caught in a bad, but not worst case, scenario? As a man

Whether strolling through the park or romping in the backyard, there are a number of things that parents and caretakers should know and pass along, especially to young kids.

Recent statistics show that children younger than six account for a disproportionate percentage of poisoning cases, including nearly half of all poison exposures, according to the National Capital Poison Center.

The highest incidence of poisoning typically occurs in one and two-year-old, the poison center says, though all age groups are affected.

This guide will help parents and guardians know how to prevent poisonings from plants and pesticides and respond quickly to help keep kids safe.

Types of Poisonous Plants

The most common – and dangerous – types of poisonous plants found near backyards, parks, and trails include solanine, grayanotoxins, and cardiac glycosides:

  • Solanine can cause moderate nausea, vomiting, headaches or diarrhea. It’s found in a number of different foods and ornamental plants, but most often in Jerusalem Cherry, Nightshade, potato sprouts and unripe tomatoes. If a kid eats a plant that contains a lot of solanine, they might get drowsy, sweat a lot or experience changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Effects most often occur within two to 24 hours.
  • Grayanotoxins are common in azaleas, rhododendron, and other yard plants. If you’re off-road, watch out for Lambkill and mountain laurel. If a child ingests these plants, they might experience burning, tingling or numbness in their mouths. Other common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sweating, and confusion and occur within three hours of exposure. In extreme cases, a child may have a seizure.
  • Cardiac Glycosides are most often found in Lily-of-the-Valley, foxglove oleander and squill. First signs include headaches, confusion, vomiting, stomach pain, and dizziness. Children might also experience changes in heart rate and blood pressure.

Here are some other plants to keep an eye out for:

  • Elephant ear plants
  • Daffodil and hyacinths
  • Larkspur
  • Wisteria
  • Acorn and oak leaves
  • Black locust
  • Mistletoe
  • Hemlock
  • Poppies
  • Poison oak, ivy, and sumac

How to Prevent Poisoning from Plants

The best thing parents can do for kids is to teach them never to pick or eat anything from a plant they find outside, regardless of how good it smells or looks. Make sure your children know to eat plants or fruits from outside only if they have permission and if the plant has been washed thoroughly.

Be careful not to confuse your child by picking items from a family garden and eating them outside. Be mindful of tops of potato plants and green portions of potato, which contain solanine, as well as rhubarb leaves, which are poisonous.

If you have or are taking care of a young child, take stock of backyard foliage before letting the child play. Keep berries, seeds, and bulbs out of reach, avoid using poisonous plants for decoration and eliminate all mushrooms from the yard. Be sure to double-check if it has rained recently.

In addition to regular supervision, consider constructing a safe gardening space within a raised garden or container and placing it in your yard. Fill the space with pesticide-free soil, smooth rocks or other items that are safe and will keep your child engaged.

If you’re planning a trip to the park, take a quick walk through the area and note any plants that may be poisonous. Same goes for any wilderness adventures or hikes. Remember that young kids will be attracted to plants with bright flowers or poisonous berries; avoid these at all costs.

What to Do If Your Child Touches or Eats a Poisonous Plant

If your child ingests a poisonous plant and starts to choke, has trouble breathing, swallowing or falls unconscious, call 911. If your child has come into contact with a poisonous plant but isn’t showing any immediate signs of distress, don’t wait for symptoms to show – call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Be prepared to share your child’s age, symptoms, and your best guess of the plant he/she consumed and, to the best of your knowledge, when the plant was ingested.

If you cannot seek immediate assistance, make sure that your child doesn’t have any fragments of the plant in their mouth and give them only small sips of water. Do not try to make them vomit. If there is any skin irritation, rinse affected areas with fresh water. Again call your local poison center as soon as possible.

Pesticide Safety

Remember that all pesticides carry a level of toxicity and pose a risk to all people, but especially to infants and small children, who are extra sensitive to their toxic effects.

If you choose to use pesticides, read the product’s label thoroughly. Shop around for the least toxic pesticide you can find and keep it in its original container and far away from children and pets.

When applying pesticides, take extra care to keep your children and pets as far away from the area as possible. Remember that the pesticide will take extra time to dry. If your lawn has recently been treated, ensure your children wear closed-toed shoes and sit on blankets or use other barriers between them and the grass. Make sure your kids wash their hands after playing in the grass.

Safe alternatives to combat pests in your garden and yard include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, and natural repellents. Here are a few ideas:

  • Vegetable oil mixed with a mild soap for insects like aphids and mites
  • Mild soap mixed with water for insects like whiteflies, beetles, aphids, and mites
  • Neem oil mixed with mild soap and water to disrupt the life cycle of insects and to protect plants before they become infested
  • Diatomaceous earth as a natural pesticide
  • Pureed garlic mixed with vegetable oil, mild soap, and water to act as an insect repellent
  • Garlic, onion, and cayenne pepper, mixed with liquid soap as a natural insecticide
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Whether strolling through the park or romping in the backyard, there are a number of things that parents and caretakers should know and pass along, especially to young kids. Recent statistics

The internet has become an indispensable part of everyday life. In a disaster scenario, though, it may be one of the first utilities to go. This loss can compromise both rescue efforts by trained personnel and your own ability to look after loved ones.

There’s a solution, though, and it’s one you may not be aware can help: satellite internet.

What Is Satellite Internet?

Satellite internet is exactly what it sounds like: an internet connection beamed directly from a satellite in orbit. Much like satellite TV, satellite internet has the advantage of being available almost anywhere. All you need is a dish antenna and a clear view of the sky.

In the case of disaster prep, satellite internet also offers another advantage: it doesn’t require on-the-ground infrastructure. If a storm or disaster destroys cable lines or cell towers go down, you can still pop out your satellite dish and get online. In a potentially dangerous disaster situation, that’s priceless.

You’ll have some trade-offs, of course. Satellite internet tends to be a little expensive compared to other options. It also tends to suffer from high latency due to the enormous distance the signal has to travel (a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit is at an altitude of +/- 22,236 mi above mean sea level). However, in an emergency, you’re probably not going to be doing much gaming—satellite internet is there when it counts, and that’s really all you can ask for in a disaster scenario.

Why Is Satellite Internet Important in a Disaster?

A storm or earthquake can knock out cable and cellular internet access, but it can’t reach satellites. In the event that other infrastructure is damaged and out of commission after a disaster, satellite internet can still be counted on to work, especially if you have a mobile dish that automatically adjusts. The reliability makes satellite a smart choice for an internet connection in almost any situation.

Here are a few specific ways satellite internet can help in a disaster:

  1. You Can Call for Help When Landline and Cell Signals Are Out

Satellite internet can be used to make VoIP calls when other forms of communication and networking aren’t functioning due to disasters. This can be critical for getting emergency help or letting family know you’re okay.

What’s a VoIP call? It’s a phone call made over the internet, rather than traditional phone lines. It’s often used in business settings because it’s easier to implement advanced features. In a disaster, though, it can also allow you to make contact when phone lines are down.

  1. Emergency Services Can Locate You More Easily

As you probably know from the creepy ads that seem to follow you around online, it’s pretty easy to determine your location based on your internet connection. In situations where other options for determining location (like cell signals) aren’t working, having a satellite internet connection can serve as a way for responders to find you.

Sure, you can buy an expensive satellite locator beacon, but that’s a one-trick pony. Satellite internet can be used for other tasks, as well.

  1. Emergency Management Services Can Coordinate Rescue Efforts

Satellite internet isn’t just useful to disaster victims—it’s also used by emergency management services to conduct rescue operations. Having satellite internet can be an indispensable asset to rescue efforts in your area. Emergency teams can use a satellite connection to communicate with each other and coordinate rescue efforts in the areas that need it most.

Another way satellite internet can help rescue teams is what’s known as telehealth: when trauma teams in one area consult with experts in another area to walk through procedures, confirm diagnoses, and more. Telehealth allows a smaller medical team to gain some of the capabilities of specialized trauma teams like you might find in large hospitals.

  1. You Can Still Have Access If You Have to Evacuate 

If you’re in a situation where you need to evacuate—say, a hurricane or wildfire is approaching—mobile satellite internet can give you a way to get online without needing to worry about cable access. While you could use your smartphone in these cases, either directly or as a mobile hotspot, it isn’t always practical to do so. Some mobile plans have strict limits on how much mobile hotspot data can be used, for example.

In these circumstances, having satellite internet can give you a much-needed connection to the outside world to stay up on news or to stay in touch with family and friends in disaster-affected areas.

  1. If Everyone Is Okay, You Can Stay Entertained

Once you’ve checked in with family and the latest news and made sure everything is okay, you might find yourself—well, a little bored. Sometimes a disaster, like a hurricane, comes through and knocks out power and infrastructure without causing major damage or injuries. In these cases, authorities could want you to stay put, but without internet or phone, you might quickly find yourself a little restless.

Even if cable access and cell towers are down, satellite internet can still give you access to gaming or streaming services to help keep your family entertained and as stress-free as possible given the circumstances. Plus, you’ll be able to check in with your job and even work remotely if possible.

While many might dismiss it as slow and expensive, satellite internet is highly practical for the prepper that wants to be ready for anything. Find a package that fits into your disaster plan and sleep a little easier knowing you’ll have vital internet access and the benefits it offers.

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The internet has become an indispensable part of everyday life. In a disaster scenario, though, it may be one of the first utilities to go. This loss can compromise both