Two months without food?

It's been awhile since I've written about the Rule of 3's in this blog:

An average person may die after
Three minutes without air
Three hours without shelter (in extreme heat/cold)
Three days without water
Three weeks without food

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/04/return-of-rule-of-threes.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/07/rule-of-threes.html

Keep in mind that the rule is about the average person and average events. There are exceptions.

Some drowning victims have survived for 8 to 10 minutes with no brain damage in icy cold waters that send the body into instant shutdown with hypothermia. A similar thing happened to a man in Sweden who was trapped in his car for nearly two months before being discovered.

His doctor explained that besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like state,

"A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that. He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up." 

The car itself, covered in snow, acted as an igloo, so the man did not freeze to death.

Bottom Line

While researching this blog I saw references to a Rule of 4s
Four minutes without air
Four hours without shelter (in extreme heat or cold)
Four days without water
Four weeks without food

This might be more accurate for people in excellent health and fitness but I'll stick with the Rule of 3's for the average Joe.

Survial Kit in a Bottle

"Every survival kit should include a sense of humor"
-unknown

Here's an interesting idea for a survival kit, ThinkGeek.com is offering the "Ultimate Survival Kit in a Water Bottle" for $20. The 32 oz (1 liter) water bottle contains:

• Carabiner
• Multifunction tool
• Multifunction whistle/compass
• Flashlight
• Batteries (2 pcs)
• Survival blanket
• Hand warmer packet (2 pcs)
• Candle
• Box waterproof matches
• Emergency poncho
• 20pc First aid kit
• Reusable zipper-lock bag

I have not bought this so I have no idea about the quality of the flash light, etc. Normally I'd recommend making your own kit but it might be difficult to duplicate the contents for just $20.

Bottom Line

Any survival kit should be customized to your needs. What's the market for the kit above? Hikers most likely. Tossing the above kit in the trunk of your car is better than nothing but you can make a better car kit with little effort. For the car you'll want bottled water (with water!) and powerbars when stranded, duct tape and other quick fix items, as well as most of the items in the hiking kit above (I'd leave out the carabiner and compass - best advice when stranded is to stay with the car so you can be found. Not to wander away and get lost. I'd keep the whistle in case your car goes into a deep irrigation ditch off the road and is out of sight.)

Long Lasting Foods

"Ah Sugar. Oh, Honey Honey" - lyrics from the Archies

I saw online a list of ten foods that would "never" go bad. Although the comments disputed the "never" claim (some items might degrade in a hundred years), still it's a good list for food storage essentials.

1. Vinegar -  useful for cooking, cleaning, and so much more. (see 1001 uses)

2. Salt - salt will last forever if kept dry, it's a water soluble rock

3. Hard Liquor - even if you don't drink, alcohol is useful for disinfecting, numbing pain, or for bartering with those who do drink

4. Cornstarch - not just for cooking. Also useful as a cleaner and deodorizer. Keep it dry.

5. Rice -  Long-grained white rice can last indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place. “They’ve found rice in archaeological digs that you could cook normally,” says Greg Yielding, executive director of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association. Brown rice, which contains oil in its bran layer, can go rancid. It must be refrigerated and will only last three to six months.

6. Vanilla Extract - for flavor in baking

The remaining items are all sugars

7. Sugar - Colonial Americans and the New Amsterdam Dutch before them used sugar cones. Solid lumps of sugar from which they shaved off slices. So don't freak out if your sugar solidifies.

8. Corn Syrup
9. Maple Syrup  - syrup will break down if exposed to extreme heat or cold.

10. Honey - has health benefits in additional to being a sweetener. Honey will crystallize over time but you can "melt" it back to a liquid by warming it slowly.

Bottom Line

If you are making a food storage, here are a few ideas:

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-food-is-enough.html

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/08/food-storage-part-2.html

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2009/01/can-i-still-eat-this.html

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/11/7-mistakes-of-food-storage.html

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/09/beans-beans-beans.html

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-water-is-enough.html

The Lost Art of Survival

“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.” - Oscar Wilde

Civilization is a fragile thing. We depend upon so many skills and talents of others. Consider driving a car. Could you replicate the rubber of the tires, the metal of the exterior, the electronics of the on board computers, the engineering of the engine, the production of oil and gasoline?  Recently I mentioned that ancient Rome used forks but this concept was lost with the Dark Ages. Also lost were heated baths, indoor plumbing, concrete, and many other technologies that made Roman cities famous.

A recent commuting lecture series on "Ancient Empires before Alexander the Great" described an empire in Mesopotamia that was a marvel of central planning with all labor and production organized by the Capitol. This lasted several decades but the next generation of rulers were not as skilled at planning; a drought and crop loss began a cascade of problems that unraveled the carefully made plans and the empire fell apart with food revolts.

Unfortunately the more advanced the civilization, the more dependent we become upon it, and ever less capable of surviving on our own. Most have lost the knowledge that comes from living "the simple life". How to grow food, build a home, make a fire from scratch, etc. I'm always amazed by the stories like "Little House on the Prairie" where a family builds a homestead from scratch.

The loss of basic life skills is not a recent phenomenon. In the late 1800's  Robert Baden-Powell, a Lieutenant General in the British Army, was appalled by the lack of nature skills with city boys drafted into the Army as Scouts. A Scout was required to spy on enemy positions and carry messages through dangerous territory. They needed to live off the land by hunting and gathering, build a fire and conceal it, know how to track others and how to hide. So Baden-Powell wrote a Scouting guide for the hapless soldiers. This book was published in England and became popular with young boys who wanted to play at being soldiers. Recognizing an opportunity, in 1908 Baden-Powell wrote a new book, Scouting for Boys, and began the Boy Scout organization that has spread around the world.

Bottom Line

Despite being a Cub Scout Leader, I would not fare well with outdoor survival. The only animal I've ever killed is fish (and I'm a terrible fisherman). If you want to learn survival skills check out http://www.survivalblog.com/ for daily ideas. A good starting point is Learning Traditional Skills covering the basics of Food, Water, Shelter and Fire.

Rotating Food Storage

"If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith"
- 1 Timothy 5:8 (KJV)

If you build a food storage (and you should :-) it's important to rotate the food. By this I don't mean spinning cans or turning them upside down but rather establishing a system whereby you eat the oldest food first. This is not rocket science but it's not trivial either.

If your food package comes with a use-by date, wonderful! It is becoming much more common to see this. For dood without a date my wife uses a permanent marker to write the purchase month and year on the packaging. Even if the food comes with a expiration date you might want to lable the top or front with big easy to see numbers. It can be a chore tying to find and decipher dates on items.

Once you know the age of your food, you need to organize it. Back-to-front is popular, especially with cans. Put the new can in the back and take from the front. Moving the cans forward manually is a pain so there are many clever inventions online that put cans on a ramp so they automatically roll forward.
The picture at top shows a home made solution from ThenSheMade.blogspot.com.
You can buy can organizes starting at $27 and going up to hundreds of dollars at sites like http://www.shelfreliance.com/food-rotation-systems
Or checkout this 500 can system (homemade) hidden behind the family couch, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCnXfO7YMfk

What about boxes? We use a left-to-right system, place new on left, take from the right. You will have to physically push the boxes to the right as you use them unless you use a "ring buffer". In computer programming a ring buffer is a list that loops back up itself to make a circle. Huh? you say. How can you tell where a circle starts and stops? For that you need a pointer or marker that moves.

Here's an example. Assume you have space for three items. The oldest item will be marked with a color sticker or rock or whatever. Items are purchased in alphabet ordering , a, b, c, d, ....
a
b a
c b a
c b d  (we use 'a' and mark the item to its left a the oldest. 'd' fills the gap left from 'a')
c e d  (use 'b' and fill gap with 'e'. Oldest is now 'c')
f e d   (can not move left from 'c' so we loop back to the start for the oldest item)

This system can be tricky to get used to but has the advantage that only the marker moves; no boxes need be pushed around.

Bottom Line

What food storage system works for you?

The Return of the Rule of Threes

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”-Virginia Satir

This weekend my wife and I had an opportunity to train local Church Emergency Specialists. I chose as my topic the subject matter that started my blog almost two years ago,
The Rule of Threes.

The rule goes like this...

You may survive (on average)

Three minutes without air

Three hours without shelter
(i.e. protection from extreme heat or cold)

Three days without water

Three weeks without food

Three months without hope

The Rule of Threes explains some common survival errors:

1. By using a charcoal grill or power generator indoors during a power outage, you're trading shelter/heat for air and may die of asphyxiation.

2. By eating snow when thirsty you give up body heat and may die of hypothermia before you die of thirst.

3. Likewise don't sacrifice shelter when searching for water. Sunstroke kills faster than thirst.

4. By eating dried food like jerky when water is scarce you are speeding up your own dehydration and death.

Bottom Line

It's useful to keep the priorities in mind - we tend for focus on hunger pains and thirst and overlook core principles like air and body heat which are more subtle but silent killers.

My early blogs provide additional information on the topics of air, heat, cold, water, and food:

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/07/carbon-monoxide-poisoning.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/hypothermia.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/hyperthermia.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/heat-exhaustion.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-water-is-enough.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/meals-ready-to-eat-and-other-options.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/survival-kitchen_12.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-food-is-enough.html

Bottled Water?

“Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.”-Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (Hungarian Biochemist, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine)

When creating food storage, the 800-pound gorilla is not the 800 lbs of wheat. That is fairly easy to buy and maintain. The real difficulty is the 800+ pounds of water you’ll need. The bare minimum amount of water for survival is one quart or liter per day. This is clean drinking water and does not include teeth brushing, washing, toilet flushing, etc. Many sites recommend 2 quarts per day per person. FEMA recommends a gallon a day per person – rightly assuming that most of us are not used to strict water rationing.

Assume a family of 4 and FEMA guidelines – so 4 gallons a day for the family. A one week supply, 28 gallons, would weigh 28 * 8.35 lbs = 234 lbs. A water supply for one month is just over 1000 lbs.

How can you store this much water? A friend of ours had a clever idea. Just like the song, “99 bottles of beer on the wall”, the wall of their garage was filled with 2-liter soda bottles that had been emptied, cleaned and filled with water. The plastic in these bottles is extremely durable, unlike gallon milk jugs that start to degrade and leak within a year. Keep the bottle out of direct sunlight and discourage bacteria growth by adding a few drops of bleach; 2-3 drops per liter so 4-6 drops in a soda bottle.

Another obvious solution is buying bottled water. But you’re actually better off saving tap water as described above. Bottled water costs four times as much as gasoline and is just as safe as spinach, hamburger, peanut butter, and other foods “regulated” by the FDA. There has been safely recalls of bottled water in the past. Your local drinking water is frequently tested and heavily regulated by stake and federal regulations.

Bottom Line

Here are some resources for more information on water storage.
http://www.theepicenter.com/tow02236.html
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/safewater/
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/food.asp
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2010/01/27/does-tap-water-go-bad.htm
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2010/01/25/does-bottled-water-go-bad.htm

Jamestown

Their houses are all built in the shape of tents, with very high chimneys.- Christopher Columbus speaking of the Indians

After the failures of the Virginia Colony at Roanoke, King James of England granted proprietary land charters in 1606 to two competing branches of the Virginia Company, the Plymouth Company (New England) and the London Company (Virginia), in the hopes of establishing a permanent settlement. Immediately, the the Plymouth Company sent the ship, Richard, to the New World but it was captured by the Spanish near Florida. In 1607 the Plymouth Company tried again with two ships and 120 colonists. Called the Popham Colony, they settled the area of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River. They lasted one year before sailing back to England.

In 1607 the London Company founded Jamestown, the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America. It comprised three ships after a particularly long voyage of five months duration across the Atlantic. Many in the group were gentlemen unused to work, or their manservants, equally unaccustomed to the hard labor demanded for establishing a viable colony. Two-thirds of the settlers died before ships brought supplies and experts in 1608. In the "starving time" of 1609 - 1610, only 60 of the 500 colonists survived.

Jamestown’s relationship with neighboring Indians was a strained coexistence. Initially the Indians were friendly and we get the story of Pocahontas, the introduction of crops like corn and the origin of the Thanksgiving dinner. But after 15 years of mistreatment the Powhatan Confederacy attempted to eliminate the English colony in the Indian Massacre of 1622. The attack killed over 300 settlers, about a third of the English-speaking population.

The true miracle of Jamestown is that is survived at all. Between St. John’s in 1583 and Jamestown in 1607 there were no fewer than eighteen failed attempts at European colonization.

Despite a terrible beginning, Jamestown did survive and eventually Virgina would become the largest and most prominent of the 13 colonies; home to leading men like Washington and Jefferson. It’s also interesting to note that the territory claimed by the Virginia Colony was huge. It consisted of not just the Commonwealth of Virginia but also the entire states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, most of Ohio as well as disputed claims to the lands of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Bottom Line

In modern times we take survival for granted. Family members won’t die if the crop fails. We are not sickened by drinking the local water or by mosquitoes. Infant mortality is low and Indian attacks are rare.

We also take our tools for granted. Hammers, ovens, sewing machines, etc. Imagine a Robinson Carouse existence on a desert island when you have to get by with only what you can make yourself.

It’s hard for me to say if the early settlers were brave or ignorant or a little of both. Certainly courage was needed to move to the New World and endure the trials of the sea voyage and hunger. But there was also a lot of false optimism and failure to adequately plan and failure to anticipate the difficulties of building a settlement from scratch. When the second supply ship arrived in Jamestown, the company representives expressed anger that the colonists had not found gold or other means to pay for their supplies. The leader John Smith wrote back to the London Company,

"When you send againe I entreat you rather send but thirty Carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons and diggers up of trees, roots, well provided; than a thousand of such awe have [gentlemen speculators]: for except wee be able both to lodge them and feed them, the most will consume with want of necessaries before they can be made good for anything."

It was the worst of times, but after Jamestown colonizers appear to have found the secret of successful colonization through trial and error.

1607 Jamestown, Virginia
1607 Sante Fe, New Mexico
1608 Quebec City, Canada
1610 Hampton, Virginia
1610 Kecoughtan, Virginia
1610 Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, Canada
1614 Albany, New York
1620 Plymouth, Massachusetts
1623 Portsmouth, New Hampshire
and so on with dozens more settlements in the early 1600’s.

Five unusual items for your emergency supplies

“The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision -- whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment.”- Richard M. Nixon

Here’s another fun story from the October 2009 edition of Popular Mechanics.

Beyond First Aid Kits: 5 Unexpected Survival Kit Essentials

1. Beer (or other gifts)

Remember yesterday’s blog about surviving the aftermath of Hurricane Ike? A man in Galveston found that beer was great for recruiting help: “Need your neighbor to help you clear trees out of your yard? A case of Bud is a better motivator than a $20 bill when all the stores are boarded up.”
Don’t drink beer or smoke? Then stock other items to share with helpers – bottled water, chocolate, candy, diapers, etc.

2. Handheld CB Radio

CBs will work when cell phone towers are down and may reach emergency crews and tow trucks
that you need.

3. Contractor Bags

Thick, sturdy 3-mil contractor bags are tough to store sharp debris, drag heavy objects, act as water barrier for leaky structures, and serve as a poncho in a pinch.

4. Glow Bracelets

With no electricity, houses and neighborhoods are really dark at night. One Ike survivor says, “I used them [glow bracelets] to mark the location of radios, flashlights, batteries and door handles.”

5. A Good Book

Remember Daryl Jané from yesterday who was stuck in his Jeep for two weeks? He says, “It gets so boring after a while. If I’d had a book I would have been set.” I suggest keeping THE “good book”, scriptures, in your glove compartment. It never gets boring.

Bottom Line

The items above all deal with surviving the aftermath. Barter for cleanup, means to call for help, tools for cleanup, tools for dealing with the dark, and something to overcome boredom. Don’t forget that 72 hour kits are just the beginning. It will be far longer before life returns to normal.

Wild Plants

“Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible." – naturalist Euell Gibbons

If it comes down to death by starvation or eating an unknown plant, I suspect most people will risk eating the plant. And the risk is high. Even “experts” make mistakes and die from eating poisonous mushrooms. Poison hemlock has killed people who mistook it for its relatives, wild carrots and wild parsnips.

Suppose you do find a “safe” plant species to eat. It’s still possible to make an unhealthy mistake. Keep the following in mind when harvesting from nature:

• Plants in public areas or alongside roads may have been sprayed with pesticides. Wash them completely.
• Plants growing near polluted water can become infected with Giardia lamblia and other parasites. Boil these plants to kills the parasites.
• Avoid any plant or fruit with signs of mold, mildew, fungus, or rot
• Avoid ALL wild mushrooms
• Cashew nuts are delicious when properly prepared but poisonous when picked from a tree as cashew apples. “Raw” cashews are coated in the same chemical that gives us a rash from poison ivy. Likewise some plants are safe when cooked but not when eaten raw.
• Just because one part of a plant is safe, does not mean the entire plant is edible. Leaves, stems, roots, buds, seeds and flowers should be treated separately. For instance, rhubarb stems are tasty but the leaf blades are poisonous. Apple seeds contain a low (very low) level of cyanide. Don’t eat tomato plant stems & vines or sprouts from potatoes.
• What’s safe for you may kill your pet. Chocolate, onions and garlic can be deadly to cats and dogs.

Bottom Line

Tasting even a small piece of the wrong plant can be the last thing you do in life. However, if you must experiment or die, here are some guidelines called the Universal Edibility Test [based on Wilderness-Survial.net]

1. Separate the plant into its basic parts of leaves, stems, roots, buds, seeds and flowers.
2. Test only one part of a plant at a time
3. Smell the food for strong or acid odors. Avoid anything with a strong almond smell (cyanide).
4. Before eating, test for contact poison by placing the plant part on the inside of your elbow or wrist for 15 minutes. You do NOT want to swallow a rash inducing plant like poison ivy.
5. Prepare the plant part (steam, boil, cook, or raw). Some awful tasting (bitter) plants like acorns are improved by mashing and boiling.
6. Put a pinch of the food on the outside of your lip for 3 minutes. If it creates a burning or itchy sensation, cross that plant part off your list and restart the test with a different plant part.
7. Place the food on your tongue for 15 minutes. DO NOT SWALLOW. Spit out any saliva. If there is any reaction or numbing then spit out the food and reject the plant part.
8. Assuming no reaction from the above tests, swallow the food and wait 8 hours to detect any after effects.
9. If you feel ill during the 8 hours, induce vomiting.
10. If no ill effects occur, each a ¼ cup of the food and wait another 8 hours.
11. If still no ill effect, the plant part, as prepared, is probably safe to eat.
12. Eating large portions of “safe” plant food on an empty stomach may cause diarrhea, nausea, or cramps; for example green apples and wild onions. Eat plants in moderation.

Emergency Home Supplies

Overheard while camping…
1. I'm sure that's not poison ivy
2. Who brought the bug repellant?
3. I thought you packed the toilet paper!
4. The salesperson said this tent was super easy to set up.
5. I'm sure these mushrooms are edible...

As a follow-up to my earlier post on 72-hour kits, the following is based upon a list for emergency home supplies provided by J.R. Pullum on the Amazon Survival Community forum:

(1) Food: At least thirty days of canned food. Buy low salt soup/veggies so you don’t get overly thirsty. (If you use packaged foods instead, you’ll need extra water to prepare them)

(2) Stored Water: At least thirty days of bottled water

(3) Found Water: Water Purification tablets and chlorine, Buckets

(4) Light & Fire: Flashlights with extra Batteries, Candles, Kerosene lanterns, Matches, Bic lighters

(5) Medical: Complete First Aid Kit including Potassium Iodide tablets for radiation exposure, surgical masks & rubber gloves, anti-bacterial soaps, mouth wash (Listerine) as a disinfectant, personal medicines, aspirins, Tylenol, antibiotics, deodorants, blood Pressure / diabetes, etc. Don’t forget to buy a First aid manual with great how-to pictures.

(6) News: Radio and batteries

(7) Repairs & Misc: Duct tape, Rope or twine

(8) Eating: Disposable utensils (Paper plates, Plastic spoons, Knives and forks)

(9) Hygiene: Toilet paper, Pre-moist washcloths, Toothbrush and paste, Portable camp toilet

(10) Money or an alternate form of trade (Gold).

(11) Boredom: Games, playing Cards, scriptures or other books

(12) Basic tools: Pliers, Screwdrivers, Hammer, Pry bar, Saw, Shovels to bury waste

(13) Shelter: Blankets or Sleeping bags, tent for shelter (In the event of sudden home evacuation)

(14) Cooking: Sterno stove with canned fuels. Grill or Propane stove

(15) Information: Buy a survival guide and a survival cookbook

(16) Everyday Clothes: Socks, Underwear, Extra pants and shirts

(17) Extreme weather gear: Raincoats, winter coats, Boots or heavy footwear

(18) Hunting: Fishing poles and/or Harpoons, Bow and Arrows or Spears to gather extra food.

(19) Defense: Consider guns and ammunition, a club, hunting or survival knives, etc. for home or campsite defense weapons

(20) Nice to have: Geiger counter.

Bottom Line

If you buy these items on sale, individually, it need not cost much. Don’t just buy these items, put them in a bag or closet and forget about them. Keep the tools and equipment accessible and use them as appropriate. Practice camping and cooking indoors or out. [Warning: some camp stoves require LOTS of ventilation for your safety]

Just remember to put back or restock the items you use.

Nuclear War

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room." - from the movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

I've recently read two books about life after a nuclear war. The first was a classic called Alas, Babylon, written in 1959 by Pat Frank. The second was One Second After written by William R. Forstchen this year. Both follow the efforts of a former soldier to rally his town and pull people together to survive the coming hard times after America is hit by nukes. In both cases the town is outside the fallout zone so radiation is not a primary concern. Instead the enemy is roving bands of bandits and the harshness of nature when people are deprived of electricity and modern devices like cars, refrigeration, and medicine.

But beyond the common background, these books are as different as the island adventure/survival stories of Robinson Crusoe vs Lord of the Flies. In Alas, Babylon (like Crusoe), American ingenuity and virtue wins the day as people work together and rebuild civilization. In "One Second After" like "Lord of the Flies" the baser side of man is seen when push comes to shove. It's dog eat dog (or literally man eat man).

Author William Forstchen wrote a darker book to show how overly dependent Americans have become upon technology. In his book three EMPs (Electromagnetic Pulse bombs) are exploded high over America by persons unknown and everything electronic is fried. Every plane in the air crashes. Every car after 1988 or so is useless (the onboard computer chip is dead). There is no refrigeration and soon no food. Near the end the hero of the book is told he did well with his town's survival ratio of 20% after one year of starvation.

Bottom Line
One thing that stood out from me in these books is how local civilization became with no cars, no radio, no TV, no phone, no computers or Internet. Your world contracts to where you can walk to. Each town becomes an island of independent survival. It reminded me of American in the 1700's. In a history of the American Revolution lecture I'm listening to, the professor constantly talks about the role towns and town legislatures played. The states held a lessor degree of authority and federal government was non-existent until about 1787. Quite a reversal of today's world.

A Survival Attitude

'May You Live in Interesting Times' - a curse of disputed origin

From the web site, we live in INTERESTING TIMES , comes a list of survival advice entitled, A wee bit more on survival. I like the list because it focuses not on things but rather upon the psychology of survival. I've tweaked it a bit as follows...

1. Perceive & believe: take in the raw data from your surroundings, trust your senses. Don't fall into denial at the scope of disaster or death.
2. Stay calm and use humor, fear, anger, etc to help you maintain focus
3. Think, analyze, plan. You need a plan but it does NOT have to be the grand master plan. There may be too much confusion to see "The Big Picture" so plan what you need for the next manageable step towards your ultimate goal.
4. Take correct, decisive action. Be bold (but not careless)
5. Celebrate your successes. It is easy feel helpless and useless when so much is lost or many are dead. Give yourself full credit for each little victory, each life saved, each item found. Count your blessings and be grateful to be alive
6. Keep your mind busy: Work, sing, count things to avoid the lethargy that comes from shock. Let nothing break your spirit.
7. Don't surrender and never give up. If one thing doesn't work, try again, or try something different.
8. Do whatever is necessary. You may not like it, but if you can do it, and if it might help your plight, do it.

Bottom Line

During a crisis it is important to believe that you will succeed and to take action. Let nothing stop you. DO NOT trust officials to advise what is "best". They may be wrong or they may be thinking of the greater public good and not your personal welfare. For example, during a dirty bomb attack (either biological or radioactive) the official response it to keep all victims confined so they don't spread the disease or radiation. If you are one of the victims I doubt you'd agree to being kept on the scene and out of a hospital; waiting hours for a hazmat team to assemble and build a decontamination "tent".

A Solar Powered Water Purifier

“Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (Hungarian Nobel winning Biochemist)

There is something new in the realm of water purification. A Swedish company called Solvatten is trying to market a solar powered device that uses solar heat, UV rays and a filter to create safe drinking water. It looks like a suitcase that opens up to expose solar panels. Water is poured into both side of the suitcase through a “dirty” black cap and 3-5 hours later “clean” water is poured out of the white cap. It works with sun or clouds but not with rain. There is also an indicator inside the device that informs you when the water becomes “safe”.

Bottom Line

I know only what I’ve read online about this device but the inventors appear to have a great idea. Solvatten pitches this as a “green” device that will save wood that might have been used to heat up water for purification. The device is supposed to last 5 years and the filter can be replaced with cloth fabric like a sari. If true, this makes the device practical for isolated areas of the world. (imagine trying to ordering a replacement filter and have it shipped to a desert region of Africa). More details can be found on their FAQ page.

Learning to Fish

"Give a Man a Fish, Feed Him For a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, Feed Him For a Lifetime" - Lao Tzu

I'm a terrible fisherman. The other male Kibbles in my family: father, uncle and grandfather all love to fish but I've never had the knack. Two years ago I went creek fishing in Idaho with dad and he caught several nice trout. I don't think I got one bite.

If you saw the movie Crocodile Dundee II you may remember the opening where Paul Hogan fishes by tossing a stick of dynamite into the water and the dead fish pop up all around the boat. As the camera pulls back you see a Coast Guard boat approaching, siren wailing, and that the coastline is New York City.

If I had to survive by fishing I'd follow the example of Crocodile Dundee. Securing food is of a higher priority than having a good time or playing "fair". Since I don't have any dynamite on hand, I'll have to rely instead on the techniques covered in Fishing at the End of the World.

• Jug Lines - setup involves nothing more than a jug, a line, a hook and a sinker (no bait?!). Set afloat dozens of jugs and those that bob have caught a fish.
• Limb Lines - lengths of line with the end opposite the hook secured to an overhanging tree limb. This technique is probably better suited for rivers because limbs overhanging lakes will more than likely be located in shallow water.
• Trotlines are simply limb lines with more than one hook per line at different depths.

The article Fishing at the End of the World continues to discuss hooks, lines, fishing location, best time of day, and cleaning the fish you catch. Don't miss it!

Bottom Line

Don't confuse fishing as a sport or hobby with fishing for food to survive. The techniques described above (as well as net fishing, fish dams, fish traps) are strictly regulated and illegal in many states. So you might find it tricky to practice but some day your life may depend on knowing these "unsportsman" skills.

Practical Survival Skills

"We cannot think too highly of nature, nor too humbly of ourselves"
- Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)

The blog Code Name Insight has been publishing practical survival tips the past month:

"The survival skills I am talking about here are not the go out into the wilderness and live off the land survival skills. Although these skills are extremely valuable, this first series will focus on general survival skills that the majority of the population will be able to use."

Survival Skill #1--Find Stuff
Ideas for surviving without money include Dumpster diving, Beachcombing, finding items tossed and along the road.

Survival Skill #2 Ask for Stuff

"Kids and panhandlers are good at this because they have very limited resources, so they ask and ask and ask. If someone says "no" they will ask someone else"

"Be known as a person who always has a good home for unwanted things."

Survival Skill #3 Fix Stuff

"For those on the edges of society (ie: low on cash but with ample time and creativity) throwing something out because it doesn't work or you don't like it isn't an option."

Get Close to Nature - 10 Ways We Are Disconnected From Nature

• Most people "cannot provide the most basic food stuffs for themselves."
• "Nature is reality"
• "Living close to nature requires a wide variety of skills"
• "Nature is anything but dependable which means that people learn how to be flexible."

Survival Skill #4 Make Stuff

Food, Furniture, Jewelry, Clothing, Medicine, etc.

Bottom Line

Today we experience the world through computers, video games, VCRs, and channel TV. Many of us have lost touch with the "real world" and would suffer withdrawal shock if required to live without electricity. Go outside, get your hands dirty, rediscover life outdoors.

Fear as a Motivator

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - FDR

A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, Survivalist businesses surge in uncertain times, noted that one business that is doing well during our recession is the business of selling survivalist goods.

"Once seen as a radical and paranoid ideology, survivalism is expanding as a business, and growing fast. Lehman's, an Ohio retailer of home self-sufficiency equipment, has recorded large sales increases, with water-pump sales up 95 percent and sales of home agriculture equipment up 50 percent from last fall. "

(BTW - if you're ever near Kidron, Ohio visit the Lehman's store. It's in the heart of Ohio Amish country and specializes in "old fashioned" equipment because that is what the Amish live by. Hurricane lanterns, wood burning stoves, hand cranked washing machines - it's like a museum but you can buy what you see. We bought some syrup for home made rootbeer, wicks for our lanterns, and other spare parts.)

"Fear is a factor that often draws people into preparedness. Pandemic, economic disaster, climate change, world war – these are some big-picture threats that some folks want to be able to counter."

"... but there are many more in America who are simply involved in preparing for down times, lean times, or disaster," says Mr. Rantala, a former US intelligence analyst. "It's logical. It's common sense."

I agree! See New Year Predictions?

Bottom Line

Doug Ritter, executive director of Equipped to Survive, says people need to be serious about how they go about purchasing peace of mind. "Are you willing to bet your life on a piece of equipment?"

Personally I recommend buying simple things that work like Cooking with Cast Iron. And also Learning Survival Skills. Diversify and have backup plans, don't put All your eggs in one basket.

The Art of Fire Starting

Buttercup: "That's the fire swamp! We'll never survive!"
Wesley: "Nonsense! You're only saying that because no one ever has.”
-The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Sometimes you just have to start a fire without matches. Perhaps your single engine plane goes down while you’re flying over the Alaskan wilderness or you lose your backpack in a tussle with a bear. Or it can be as undramatic as an extremely windy or wet day which render your matches virtually useless.

For detailed descriptions of the methods below check out 9 Ways To Start a Fire Without Matches

Friction Based Fire Making

• The Hand Drill fire method is not for the faint of heart. It’s probably the most difficult of all the non-match based methods. It requires bone dry wood, tireless hands, and gritty determination. It can take 15 minutes or more to build up enough heat.
• With the Fire Plough technique you cut a groove in a plank and rub a sturdy stick up and down the grove to create enough heat to ignite some tinder.
• The Bow Drill is a variant of the Hand Drill. The spindle stick is attached to a bow like device for faster and easier spinning. It is harder to set-up but easier to create the spark.
  Flint and Steel It’s always a good idea to carry around a good flint and steel set with you on a camping trip. They will work when wet.

Lens Methods

• On a sunny day you can focus the energy of the sun with a magnifying glass, eyeglasses, or binocular lenses. You can intensify the beam by adding some water to the lens. Angle the lens towards the sun in order to focus the beam into as small an area as possible. Put your tinder nest under this hot spot to ignite.
  Note: reading lens or far sighted eye glasses will work. Near sighted lens won't focus light in a point.
• You can create emergency lenses from a water filled balloon or condom. Keep the size small so you can manipulate the water lens to be as round as possible. The focal length is very short, you'll need to put the lens just 1 to 2 inches from the tinder.
• You can also carve a lens from clear ice with a knife. The ice must be perfectly clear, about 2 inches thick in the center with tapering edges. Polish the surface of your ice lens with the heat from your hands.
• Coke can lens. Polish the bottom of a soda can with chocolate, toothpaste, or ash to make it super shiny. Tilt the bottom of the can towards the sun and place your tinder about one inch away to light it.

Batteries and Steel Wool

• You can ignite steel wool but stretching it out and then connecting it to both ends of a battery. A 9-volt battery works well for this.
• Another battery solution: if you are in a broken down car your car's battery and or alternator can make a ton of hot sparks by causing an arc. Even a “dead” car battery will spark.

Bottom Line

Creating a spark, while vital, does not a fire make. You also need tinder that will ignite easily and hold the flame long enough for you to pile on small twigs to grow the fire. Excellent natural choices for tinder include tree sap, dry leaves, grass, pine cones, moss, and fungus. Man-made tinder includes charcloth or other fire starter products that you should carry in your survival kit. One survivalist recommends coating cotton balls with some petroleum jelly. Another person recommends soaking your tinder with an alcohol based bug repellent or hand cleanser to help it light. Dryer lint makes good tinder and I'm told you can light snack food like Cheetos and pringles chips.

Principals behind a good Survival Kit

"Readers will learn about the eight categories of gear: Fire and Light,
Signaling, Water and Food, Shelter and Protection, Knives and Tools,
Multi-purpose Items and Miscellaneous Items, and what to pack into a kit for their pocket, glove box, four-wheeler, trunk, small plane, backpack, and more." - Amazon.com description for "Build the Perfect Survival Kit"

Several years ago my wife & I attended a class held at a local sporting goods store on "Building the Perfect Survival Kit" by John D. McCann. It was an amazing experience and I highly recommend John's book on the subject.

As the quote above indicates, John builds a kits following two principals

1. Satisfy the rule of 3's with the right tools
2. Select the contents based on the kit size

Small kits fit on a hiking hat, a belt or inside an Altoids tin. Large kits can fill a back pack or a supply chest on a boat or bus. The kit size forces compromises: you won't fit a tent into an small tin but you can address the need for shelter by having a compact space blanket.

The "Perfect Kit" satisfies eight categories:

1. Fire & Light - can be used for warmth, cooking, medical sanitation, protection from animals and signaling. This is the most important.
2. Signaling - Includes whistles and mirrors to help rescuers find you. Old CD's make great signal mirrors and can be cut to size.
3. Navigation - maps and compass
4. Water & Food - in small kits this can be line and hooks for catching fish and some foil for cooking
5. Shelter - space blankets and rain poncho
6. Knives and Tools like a mini saw
7. Medical - First Aid supplies
8. Multi-purpose: items which can serve many uses like DUCT TAPE. More on this in another post.

Bottom Line

The perfect kit is tailored to your abilities and your needs in the size space you have available. Review your kit to make sure it supplies fire, warmth/shelter, means to obtain safe water, food or means for obtaining food, first aid and useful tools.

The PM Survival Guide

"Survive Anything!" - Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics, the magazine, maintains an amazing survival guide on their website at www.popularmechanics.com/survival. Topics include:

• How to Survive Anything Mother Nature Throws at You
• 5 Steps to Get Ready for Disaster (Not Stuck in It)
• 22 Steps to Save Yourself When Natural Disaster Hits
• 7 Steps to Eat, Drink and Be Smart When Worse Comes to Worst
• 4 Steps to Power Your Home When the Grid Fails
• 5 Steps to Fix Your Home After a Crisis
• 107 Pieces of Survival Gear for Your Car, Home and To-Go Bag
• The 10 Worst Disasters of the Last 101 Years

Bottom Line

The PM Survival guide also contains several quizzes to test your knowledge. Try them out and see how well prepared you are.