Destiny Survival

Archive for March, 2009

In early March I ran a contest for my subscribers to the DestinySurvival Dispatch and offered a deck of Emergency First Aid cards to the best short piece on a survival/preparedness topic.  My thanks to each one who entered.  Here’s the runner up entry, which includes practical advice and deserves publication here.

Everyone should keep a small first aid kit handy at all times. This is a must have item for any situation. One of the items you should have in your first aid kit is petroleum jelly. Not only is it good for protecting chapped lips, it makes an excellent aid in starting a fire.It can even be rubbed into a bandana or elastic bandage and then wrapped around a stick or wooden pole to make a torch for signaling at night or to light your way if it is necessary for you to travel at night. Being able to improvise different uses for items in a survival kit is a necessary skill for survival.

- Riverwalker

You can read more from Riverwalker at http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/.

Earlier this month I ran a contest for DestinySurvival Dispatch subscribers and offered a deck of Emergency First Aid cards to the best short piece on a survival/preparedness topic.  My thanks to each one who entered.  Here’s the winning entry.

I have carried and found comfort in the PSK (personal survival kit) I carry every where I go for the last two years. It has been an evolving kit. Sometimes I think about the weather or some other event and decide I need to add to the kit. It becomes enlarged with the added gear and I find it too bulky to fit my BDU pocket and downsize a little. Finding the right mix of stuff to put into is not an easy task. So I made a couple of rules for myself.

 First I decided the kit must fit my pocket comfortably. An Altoids tin fit the bill for this size kit. Then I decided to make some items ride on my key chain and make room in the kit for other items. With the size constraint I was able to focus on the situations I was most likely to encounter and what I needed to have available.

Lastly i watched a video, "Survival Beyond the Ten Essentials," by Gene Ward. This is a great video for some bare bones simple survival advice geared to the general public. After watching this common sense video I put my kit together again and was able to focus on more creative uses of what I had and what was always available in the area. I recommend it to anyone who uses the out doors and is not schooled in survival. I think it is a very good first video for anyone wanting to get more insight into the survival and preparedness mind set.

- Michael

Congratulations to Michael.  We’ve been in contact, and his prize has been sent.  Furthermore, I couldn’t have found the video Michael mentioned without his help.  It’s not widely available.

Gene Ward, who put this 35 minute presentation together, shows such a kit can provide all of the tools necessary to build a quick emergency shelter, start fires, and help rescuers find you in the shortest possible time.

You can order “Survival Beyond the Ten Essentials” from REI by clicking on the logo below and typing item 733029 in their search box.  That takes you right to the page where you can place your order by adding the DVD to your cart.

Thanks, Michael, for sharing this nifty idea.

Editor’s note:  It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Prell and his survivalist friend Karl.  (Prell is addressed below by his first initial.)  As usual, they’re doing something innovative that’s related to survival.  View pictures in the short video.  Please feel free to leave any comments and questions.  – John

Dear G.

              Here are some pictures of domes we have made. I figure we may need them for personal shelter and to store some of our possessions in. With clear plastic they could be used for growing plants, of course.

Both are made of schedule 40 PVC in three quarter inch size.  Hubs were a problem at first. Then someone suggested using lids from 5 gallon pails. Someone figured you could wire the struts to the lids using twist wires. I bought a little tool at the hardware store, a hook  that swivels on a handle. It is used to secure rebar before concrete is poured. The lids are very strong and flex to give you the curve the domes need. Also, the lip at the edge of the lids gives you an angle too.

The second dome uses sections of 4 inch diameter PVC pipe for hubs. Holes are drilled for the struts using a 1 and 1/8 inch spade bit. Can you see from the pictures how the struts are held in place? Each end of a strut has two holes drilled through it and galvanized nails are pushed through the holes, one inside and one outside the hub. You can put this design together without any tools. Seems like it would be loose, but the curved form of the dome creates tension and makes the parts lock up.

What do you think G? Could these little shelters be used by the New American Peasant?

If anyone is interested I can supply details.

Karl

Click here for info on domes without hubs.

            Once again we’ve had some pretty crazy weather this spring so far.  Blizzards in the Dakotas and heavy rains in other parts of the country.  Warm weather one day, winter revisits the next.  Maybe it’s not so unusual, since spring is a volatile time of year for weather, but it means being on the alert for changing conditions.

            That’s where a weather radio with alert function comes in handy, and these days  the alert feature is being used for more than weather.  For example, you may hear Amber alerts and emergency announcements about immediate dangers from chemical spills or forest fires.  I’ve heard TV and radio stations promoting weather alert radios, and I think it could be partly for this reason.

            Yes, several media outlets hype their ability to give you the best weather coverage, including the availability of text alerts via cell phones.  However, most often you’ll get official alerts faster from the National Weather Service on a weather radio.

            Of course, you can’t always be near a radio or TV, and there are times when you might be in an area where cell phone service isn’t so good.  When you’re asleep, you’ll likely miss announcements from radio, TV and cell phone.  A weather radio alarm will wake you right up, I can almost guarantee it.

A very good option when you’re away from home is a portable radio you can take when you’re traveling, camping, boating, etc.  You can program a weather alert radio to receive alerts from the location where you’ll be.  Click here to find county codes from the National Weather Service.  If you don’t have codes programmed, you can at least tune to the strongest weather station signal where you are and listen to the forecast and any updates when skies look threatening.

You want a portable weather radio, such as the Oregon Scientific Alert Monitor with cradle.  We’ve featured this radio before, but its features are worth mentioning again.  Here’s what one online description says about it.

“This portable Public Alert Radio provides emergency alerts anywhere in the U.S. When traveling, boating, hiking or working outdoors, use the WR103NX to receive weather information and emergency broadcasts from the National Weather Service. With the non-volatile memory built-in, no need to reprogram your SAME codes when the batteries run out. Includes convenient stand (to hold unit) and AC Adapter.”

To order the Oregon Scientific Alert Monitor with cradle, click on the picture of the radio below.  That takes you to the Amazon.com page for more info and a place for you to order.There’s no better time to get one than the present.  Your survival depends on staying informed and staying safe.

            Harmony House Foods has added four new items to their growing collection of delicious freeze dried foods.

Succulent Blackberries

Orchard Fresh Pears

Super Sweet Corn

Green Peas

            Harmony House offers their products in jars and containers you can see through, so you know what you’re getting.  You’ll also know how much you’re using so you can know when to order more.  You don’t have to buy in large quantities, though they have several collections of fruits, vegetables, beans and more which you’ll want to have because they’re too tempting to pass by.

Harmony House Foods is committed to offering you the highest quality products, free Shipping on $99+ orders, and they give you a 100% Satisfaction guarantee.  Click on the Harmony House banner below to go to their home page.  You’ll see plenty of enticing items there, but you can start the order process for any of the four new items mentioned here by typing the key words in bold above into their search box near the top of the page.  Who says storage food for your survival kitchen is boring?

            The population of people with disabilities is growing, and disasters or other emergency situations can present problems unique to each person or family.

            I recently became aware of a white paper entitled “Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities: Best Practices considerations,” prepared by the Arizona Office for Americans With Disabilities, dated April 2008.  I don’t know anything about this organization, but a quick run through of the paper shows it’s mainly aimed at improving services to the disabled by state and local agencies in times of disaster or crisis. 

            One of the recommendations is to make shelters more accessible and available, since many disabled people don’t require hospitalization or a nursing home.  Another recommendation says pharmacies should make available 7-14 days of prescription medications for extenuating situations.  Other subjects include special identification for the disabled, accessible transportation, and other services.  Appendices include numerous resource listings, particularly in Arizona, since that’s where the paper originated.

The overall tone of the paper is to increase awareness and encourage cooperation among various organizations and agencies.  It looks like a model for other states to follow, if they’re not doing so already.  In fact, if you know of such efforts or have thoughts of your own on this important subject, please let me and other readers know by leaving a comment.  You can view or download a copy of this white paper by clicking here.