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CHAPTER 1
Project 1: Bug out Bag (BOB)
Personally, it would take a very severe reason for me to evacuate or "bug out" from my home in the first place. Leaving the house would entail me having to leave many of my in-place systems and make me more vulnerable to outlaws and well-meaning (and not so well-meaning) bureaucrats.
However, just because I don't want to evacuate from my homestead doesn't mean I won't have to evacuate. I don't want any kind of disaster to befall my family, but measuring risk says I should be prepared "just in case." This leads me to the subject of disaster evacuation kits.
Any prepper or interested party with access to the Internet has probably noticed the love of acronyms as they relate to kits and gear. You have BOB, INCH, GOOD, GHB, EDC, IFAK, 72-hour kits, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line gear. The confusion just piles on.
The reality is, it's pretty simple: It's all related to the things you need to survive under different scenarios. The concept of a 72hour kit comes from the US military and is based on the fact that American soldiers are resupplied so often that they only need to be self-sufficient for three days at a time. This level is what the US government recommends for all citizens, because in the event of a federally declared disaster it will take FEMA approximately three days to get a supply system organized to provide relief. A 72-hour kit should have basic cooking, lighting, shelter, water, and food to survive for three days.
EDC, or "everyday carry," means the things you have on your body every day. BOB, bob, or B.o.B means "Bug Out Bag." A BOB is a small bag that is basically a portable 72-hour kit. The idea is that if a fire or something broke out and you had to leave right now, you can throw on your shoes, grab your BOB, and have whatever essential medicines, food, and clothes you would need. A good idea is to have copies of vital records in your BOB (project 1), so that you won't lose them if you don't have time to dig around in your filing cabinet.
A GHB, or "Get Home Bag," is practically the same as a BOB, but philosophically the opposite. A GHB is a portable kit containing the essentials you would need if you had to find an alternate route home if disaster struck while you were away from home. I keep a GHB in my vehicle, as well as my wife's. Due to the nature of cars, my GHB is actually a box that has a lot of stuff for light repairs, minimalist camping, and a walk home. Space and weight are not issues in the car, so I have things in my box that I can pick through to make a bag that best fits my situation.
Many people keep firearms in their GHBs and I understand that; however, if you have an assault rifle or other long arm and change into a multi-cam "uniform," you're going to attract unwanted attention. Consider a more concealable approach to defensive weaponry. In a disaster I want to blend in until I have to stand out.
A GOOD bag, or Get out of Dodge bag, is a larger BOB, but still small enough to carry. It's pretty much interchangeable with a BOB, just larger in scope. Some preppers have GOOD trailers or GOOD vehicles that are pre-packed. I use big plastic totes with a color code system.
An INCH bag stands for "I'm Never Coming Home." It's more of a Mad Max/The Road/The Postman type problem where you have to take what you can carry, but all you own is what you take. My INCH bag would contain everything in my GOOD kit, plus extras like my hand-reloading press, more tools, and some small reference materials.
IFAK is an "individual first aid kit," also known as an "improved first aid kit" depending on the branch of service. This individual kit is part of a new military soldier initiative. It's a one-pound kit that addresses major blood loss and airway distress.
Line gear is also a military concept and centers around the gear you would need to complete a mission. It's not exactly applicable to citizen preppers, but it is related.
1st line gear is your EDC and focuses on what you would carry on your person. This would include your clothing, knife, weapon and, maybe a small survival and first aid kit.
2nd line gear is your "fighting load," which for me fits in a messenger bag. In this bag I can carry items like a flashlight, a hand-held radio, batteries, and calorie-dense energy bars. It also can go with me almost everywhere and gives me more capability without sacrificing a lot of maneuverability.
3rd line gear is your pack — sustainment items you need for a longer term. You're not going to fight wearing your rucksack; you would drop it and depend on your 1st and 2nd line gear during the fight and then go back and get your pack to refill your empty magazines.
It is important that you take some time to develop a plan that fits into your personal situation. All things being equal, less gear that you can use well and have on you is better than lots of gear you cannot use and do not carry.
That being said, today's project is to look around the house and assemble a small 72-hour kit to get you by until you finish your incremental disaster kit. Put in this kit everything you would need to survive 72 hours using the contents of this kit alone. Then schedule a weekend to try it out. Turn off the power and the water and see exactly how hard it is. This will show you the weaknesses of your kit, while putting you in a situation that could happen after a large winter storm or other natural disaster.
CHAPTER 2
Week 2 Shopping List
To Buy:
[] Heavy cotton or hemp rope
[] Duct tape
[] 2 flashlights with batteries
[] Matches in waterproof container
[] A leash or carrier for your pet
To Do:
[] Complete a personal assessment of your needs and your resources for meeting your needs during a time of crisis. For example, if you have essential medical needs such as an oxygen concentrator, how would you power it? If you have a generator to do so, do you also have fuel?
Project 2: Bug out Binder
Prepper or not, everybody should have a binder of important documents. After Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav I became aware of the difficulty many evacuees were having in relocating and becoming employed. You see, many of the Gulf Coast evacuees did not have their identity documents on them when they were forced to leave their homes.
You may not have to evacuate due to a natural disaster, but everyone is at risk of a house fire, or just needing to be able to find important documents in a hurry.
It is very simple to buy a binder and some plastic sheet protectors to build a file that contains:
• Birth certificates
• Social Security cards
• Immunization records
• Diplomas
• Marriage/divorce documents
• Medical records/lists of needed prescriptions
• Insurance paperwork
• Mortgage documents
• Passports
• Retirement accounts
Additionally, I like scanning those documents and putting copies on a thumb drive and CD. They do not hold the same legal weight as an original copy, but they do help.
Because of the simplicity, the importance, and the likelihood of use, this is one of the very first steps a person should take to becoming prepared. Probably the only thing more important would be to sit down and discuss with your family what your concerns are and what threats you think are the most likely to impact your area and your family.
CHAPTER 3
Week 3 Shopping List
To Buy:
[] 1 gallon water (for each person)
[] 1 can meat (for each person)
[] 1 can fruit (for each person)
[] Feminine hygiene supplies
[] Paper and pencil
[] Map of the area
[] Aspirin or nonaspirin pain reliever
[] Laxative
[] 1 gallon of water for each pet
To Do:
[] Create a personal support network that can help you identify and obtain the resources you will need to cope effectively with disaster.
Project 3: Water Storage
As a prepper, it's easy to get tunnel vision, focusing on storing food, learning skills, and acquiring gear. I find that there's a tendency to forget about the most basic needs because they are always there in the background.
The most overlooked resource is water. For pure survival water is second only to oxygen. We can only last a few hours to a few days without it, yet not many people store it in any quantity.
FEMA and the Red Cross have long suggested storing 1 gallon per person in your household per day for three days, but that is not enough. That small amount is going to be used up quickly in just drinking and cooking.
This project focuses on water storage to meet the base amount of water in your house to fulfill the ready.gov ideal of 72 hours.
The first thing you're going to need is something to store your water in. I use 5-gallon jerry cans. I like them because they are a good trade-off between size and capacity. However, many people I know use 2-liter soda bottles since they are a lot easier to carry, even if they are not as sturdy.
Do not become tempted and try to use milk jugs, as it is impossible to clean out the milk residue and it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. Whatever you use, ensure it is food grade, clean, and able to be sealed.
Fill your container with clean water, the purer the better. Add bleach. FEMA guidelines recommend 1 teaspoon of nonscented bleach per quart of water. The bleach and water mix should smell slightly of chlorine. It's safe, since the chlorine loses its effectiveness over time and will eventually dissipate (just like the chlorine in your drinking water). However, since the container is sealed, the chlorine kills any pathogens in the water, and new bugs cannot contaminate the water.
Take precautions when filling and capping; make sure you don't contaminate the container with your hands.
Store your water in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. This not only protects the plastic but also keeps algae from growing in the barrel if any survive.
This water does not have a shelf life, but some plastics can leach into the water, so twice a year (when I set the clock for daylight savings) I dump the water and refill the containers.
CHAPTER 4
Week 4 Shopping List
To Buy:
[] Patch kit and can of seal-in-air product for the tires of mobility aids such as cars, bikes, trailers, and wheelbarrows
[] Signal flare
[] Compass and local maps
[] Extra medications or prescriptions marked "emergency use." There are several online resources to help you learn how to do this
To Do:
[] Develop a personal disaster plan.
[] Give copies of the following lists to your network:
• Emergency information list
• Medical information list
• Disability-related supplies and special equipment list
• Personal disaster plan
Project 4: Tin Can Stove
In this project we are going to show you how to make a tin can stove; this type of stove has been around about as long as tin cans have been created, but it reached its peak of popularity during the Great Depression. Now its popularity is mostly with frugal backpackers and Girl Scouts.
Personally, I feel that this stove has some pretty severe limitations: it's extremely hot, has little in the way of regulating heat, and its heating surface is small. However, as a way to begin to find new ways of using old things, upcycling, or making a MacGyverism, this stove is a good way of exercising your mind.
Materials:
• #10 can (empty, of course)
• Multiple tuna cans (also empty)
• Cardboard (lots of strips as wide as the tuna can is tall, you'll need a lot more strips than you think)
• Paraffin wax blocks
• Wick
Tools:
• Tin snips
• Can opener
• Double boiler
• Matches
• Razor or study scissors for cutting cardboard
• Gloves and other appropriate safety equipment
Procedure for stove:
• Using a can opener, punch air holes around closed end of can. (Don't punch any air holes in the side you will have toward you, or smoke will blow in your direction.)
• Using tin snips cut a rectangle opening at open end of can, large enough to allow a burning tuna can to be pushed into, and pulled out of, the stove.
• Optional: use a metal coat hanger to fashion a damper on the stove opening using the scrap metal from cutting your opening.
Procedure for tuna can burner:
• Cut long cardboard strips as wide as your tuna can is tall.
• Tightly roll the strips into a small spiral.
• A piece of cotton wick inserted into the center of the cardboard helps in lighting the burner later.
• If you need to add more strips, overlap the end of the strip coming off the spiral with a new piece of cardboard so that it stays together on the roll.
• Insert the spiral into the tuna can. This works best if the spiral is slightly larger than the can so that you must force it to fit. The more corrugated cardboard you can force into the can, the less wax you will need and the longer and hotter the fire will burn.
• Once you have made as many burners as your hands can stand (I can make about 6 before my arthritis makes me stop), melt the wax using a double boiler.
• Once the wax is melted, line the tuna cans up side by side and carefully fill them with wax. It takes a surprising amount of wax to fill the cans, especially if you did not fully pack the cans with cardboard.
• Let wax cool.
Procedure for using stove:
• Only use this stove outdoors, as it burns hot and with a lot of smoke.
• Place the stove on a surface that will not burn or be damaged by high heat.
• Light the tuna can burner and as soon as it flames place it inside the stove.
• It will only take a few seconds for the closed end of the can to reach cooking temperature, so don't touch it once the burner is inside (I learned this the hard way).
• Using a skillet is best, but you can cook things like hamburgers directly on the stove. It is too hot to cook things like eggs.
• Once cooking is complete, you can remove the stove and extinguish the burner.
CHAPTER 5
Week 5 Shopping List
To Buy:
[] 1 gallon water (for each person)
[] 1 can meat (for each person)
[] 1 can fruit (for each person)
[] 1 can vegetables (for each person)
[] 2 rolls toilet paper
[] Extra toothbrush
[] Travel-size toothpaste
[] Special food for special diets, if needed
To Do:
[] Make a floor plan of your home including primary escape routes.
[] Identify safe places to go to in case of fire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, and flood.
[] Practice a fire drill, tornado drill, and earthquake drill with your network.
Project 5: Mylar Bag Clamp
As I get more involved with personal disaster preparation and I store more dry bulk foods, I keep looking for ways to make what I am doing simpler and easier while still being cost effective. I have been searching for a solution to holding a full Mylar bag over the edge of a board while I try to juggle the bag, the iron, and the board without dumping everything, burning myself, or taking so long with the seal that I exhaust the absorbers.
This is a cheap and easy solution that holds your bags shut and allows you to make a strong seal using an iron.
All this clamp consists of is two 2x4 scraps and a hinge. On each board, I cut at a 45-degree angle along one of the long sides to allow a sharper area for sealing.
Since I sealed both 1- and 5-gallon Mylar bags, I cut the 2x4 into two sections that were a little longer than the open end of a 5gallon Mylar bag. Using a simple hinge from my scrap box I connected the two 2×4 sections together.
By clamping the open ends of the boards together, it holds the bag, which makes it much easier to iron. By facing the mitered edges of the board together, the "sharp" point also makes a crisp seal.
Since I made the boards longer than needed, later I plan on drilling a small hole between the two boards, so that I can insert a vacuum sealer hose inside the bag and can partially evacuate the air before sealing so that I can use a smaller and less expensive O2 absorber.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "52 Prepper Projects"
by .
Copyright © 2013 David Nash.
Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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