Basic Survival: Level 2
How do you survive when disaster strikes? With only a few simple "preps" your odds will increase significantly!
Last week I wrote a post about basic survival where I divide survival into 3 categories:
- You get lost or injured out in nature or your car breaks down.
- A local emergency or disaster disrupts normal life. This could be a power outage or severe weather like a hurricane. Help is still available from surrounding areas.
- Zombie apocalypse! I don't believe in an actual zombie apocalypse but there are many different more likely scenarios that can cause TEOTWAWKI!
The first post dealt with a Level 1 scenario (Basic survival: Level 1). In this post, I will share some basics about a Level 2 scenario.
In a scenario on this level, some or all of the utilities and conveniences you are used to are no longer available to you. Maybe the power is out or an approaching hurricane forces you to take shelter in your basement. No matter what has happened you can make your life a lot easier by having an emergency preparedness kit ready when you need it. Water, Food, First-aid and Tools cover the most important categories you need to put in your kit.
Water
- You need water and cannot rely on getting it from the faucet. Bottled water is good, make sure you have at least 1 gallon per person for no less than 3 days.
- If you know something is about to happen you can (and should) fill available containers. Your bathtub is a great large container that you might not think of.
- It might be a good idea to have a filter or purification tablets to purify water if you need it.
Food:
- Keep at least a 3 day supply of food in a place that is not likely to flood or otherwise be contaminated. It is a good idea to have mostly food that does not need to be cooked.
- Store food that you would normally eat and rotate it so it never gets old. This way you don't have to deal with new food that is different and maybe not very appetizing. This is especially important if you have kids.
- Store plenty of easy to eat, tasty and calorie rich snacks like chocolate or granola bars, dried fruit, and nuts. A jar of peanut butter is also great to have.
- If you keep foods that need cooking, like rice or pasta, make sure you have a way to cook it. A camping stove and plenty of fuel is always a good idea to have.
- If you have canned foods make sure you also have a can opener.
First-aid:
- Get a first-aid kit - and learn to use all that is in it!
- If you use anything from this kit, replace it immediately! Even better, get 2 identical kits and keep one always fully stocked.
- Make sure to include any medication, that you take, in this kit (rotate medication to keep it fresh).
- It is a good idea to take a class in first-aid as it is useful not only in serious survival scenarios but a great skill to have in your everyday life!
Tools:
- Flashlight and spare batteries.
- Battery operated emergency radio. It is important that you can listen to emergency broadcasts. There might be information vital to your survival. If you are in the US choose a radio that can get the NOAA-weather channels. Again make sure you have spare batteries or a way of charging it (like a built-in hand-crank).
- Your cell phone is an important help if the network is working. Make sure you have a way of charging it in your kit. A smartphone can also be a good distraction and comfort if you have a game you like or a good ebook. Just make sure you can charge it before you start using it for anything other than emergency communication. If you have no signal turn the phone off or put it in flight mode.
This list could be made much longer but if you start by getting these basics you have a good base level of preparedness. If you like it and are willing to spend more time and money it is always possible to add more and increase your level of preparedness.
The goal for a level 2 survival scenario is not to be self-sufficient for a long time - just long enough for help to get to you. 3 days is often mentioned as a good start but increasing that to 5 days, a full week, or more is not a bad idea.
Summary
Store 3 or more days of Water and Food.
Get and learn how to use a First-aid kid,
a radio and some basic tools.
Signal for help.
Stay warm.
Thanks for reading.
@FanStaF
Voted up and Resteemed. Excellent Advice. A way to say thank you for always commenting on my site to. Have a good one fanstaf.
2 resteems!! You just made my day! Thank you! (too many exclamation points but that is how I feel right now!!)
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This is great @fanstaf do you have any tips for surviving a whirlwind of four hungry children in the morning ;)
Watch out Bear grylls, there's a new kid on the block and he goes by the name of @fanstaf
I suggest feeding them and sending them outside! Bear Grylls is a role model for me in many ways.
Thanks for reading.
This is very important and useful information, thank you for sharing :)
Thank you for reading. I agree that it is important. The prepps I suggest here doesn't cost much and should be easy for most people to manage. Yet even this little will make a huge difference.
I think now I will be prepared for every disaster on my travels :P :P