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Hydrogen peroxide and the prepper
Bob - July 23, 2021 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/hydrogen-peroxide
Good morning,
Above article is informative and encompassing.
Under section titled “Alternative … for uses” at subsection “Wound Cleaning”, I believe a secondary definition of “sterile” is being used.
As a disinfectant or for oral hygiene, do get preliminary guidance from a colleague EMT, DDS.
Not in article but Walmart’s on the counter H2O2 is 3% USP and the 7-11 brand small bottle is also 3% USP.
Hopefully link is of value for preparedness.
Read MoreClarkson’s Farm, a TV show about a man learning how to start a farm
Josh CentersContributor - July 23, 2021 I’m wondering if any other The Prepared readers have watched Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime? If you haven’t, it’s a great show. Jeremy Clarkson, mostly known in the UK for Top Gear and other car shows, has owned a farm for years and recently decided to farm it himself.
While it’s not strictly a prepping show, it touches on a lot of things of interest to preppers, like growing grain crops, raising livestock, and permaculture. Even if you can’t usually stand Clarkson, he’s in very different form here and undergoes something of a personal transformation.
Read More“Founder” of Wilderness Medicine Died
Bob - July 20, 2021 ———————-IN MEMORAM———————-
Dr Paul Auerbach, considered the “founder” of wilderness medicine died.
Cannot post the NYT obit because it’s paywalled. Perhaps some have access. The NYT obit is titled “Dr Paul Auerbach, 70, Who Pioneered Treatment of Wilderness Emergencies”
He was the author/co-author-ediitor of “Management of Wildrness and Environmental Emergencies” (along w/ Edward Geehr). He also cofounded the Wilderness Medical Society.
An excerpt from the obit: “Paul literally conceived of the subspecialty of medicine,”
Read MoreHow to prevent and treat heat exhaustion
Gideon ParkerStaff - July 18, 2021 Yesterday I attended an outdoor graduation ceremony and was outside in 80+ (27C)degree weather for 2-3 hours. I sunblocked up, wore long jeans, a cotton t shirt, and a baseball cap. I had brought plenty of snacks and drank so much water during those few hours and it wasn’t until I went to the bathroom and got out of the direct sunlight that I realized how hot I was. I hung out in the shade for about 30 minutes to cool down before heading back out there.
Now I am more prone to heat exhaustion because of my spinal cord injury. I guess when ½ of your body isn’t functioning properly, it can’t regulate temperature as well as an able bodied person. If you are younger than 4, older than 65, obese, or are on certain medications you can be more prone to heat exhaustion as well.
I felt fine all day and came home and felt fine when I went to bed. It’s during the night that the heat exhaustion finally kicked in. I wore a hoodie, slept under the sheets and comforter, and was still freezing cold. I woke up around 4:30am and felt like I had a fever of 105! My entire body was so hot, I could have cooked an egg on my leg. I stripped down to just a sheet and after a while was able to get to bed again once my body wasn’t cooking itself.
This morning I feel achy, cold, shivering, dizzy, fatigued, and have a headache.
Here’s what I’m going to be doing today to try and feel better:
Took some ibuprofen to lower my fever and help with the aches Drinking a ton of water Drinking coconut water (not as processed as Gatorade, natural sugars, tons of electrolytes) Apples are so delicious with how juicy they are and the sugars inside Taking some magnesium supplements to replenish those electrolytes. Wearing cool and loose clothes. Although I am shivering pretty badly so I am wearing a hoodie again.Here’s what I am going to do next time to be more prepared and prevent this from happening:
Wear white or lighter colored clothing Bring a small umbrella for shade Wear a better hat with 360 degree protection instead of just protecting the front like a baseball hat does Bring a bandanna and wet it and apply that to my skin to promote evaporation Wear shorts and some sandalsIn Argentina they have a tradition of taking a siesta during the hottest part of the day. All businesses shut down from like 12:00-2:00 or 3:00pm and everyone goes home and they take a nap, watch TV, and just conserve their energy. They then go back to work and reopen for a couple more hours. They have things down and understand to take it easy during the hottest parts of the day.
Be careful out there with the temperatures increasing as summer comes.
Did I miss anything? What do you do to stay cool during the summer?
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How I became a newbie ham radio operator (during a pandemic)
Jonnie PekelnyContributor - July 14, 2021 I want to tell you what it’s been like over the last few months becoming a ham radio operator, which I did mainly for prepping purposes and with no previous background in engineering or other related subjects. I didn’t have a lot of money to throw at this project, and I wasn’t interested in a new, time consuming hobby, so my approach has been a minimalist one. In fact, for a long time I assumed that ham radio would inevitably become an expensive rabbit hole and so ruled it out for myself, concentrating instead on getting a simple NOAA radio. But then some of you on this site clued me in to the fact that it was possible to get by with a relatively cheap handheld ham radio and that there were courses and materials to help people prepare for the FCC amateur radio license tests.
Studying for the Exam
If I was going to own a ham radio, I definitely wanted to get licensed with the FCC. Currently, the lowest level of license for amateur radio operation in the US is the technician’s license. This is the minimum qualification necessary to transmit on amateur radio. (Unlicensed operators can only listen).
Passing the technician’s exam involves taking a test comprised of 35 questions on which you have to score a minimum of 75%. The questions concern various subjects such as basic electromagnetic theory (Ohm’s Law), safety, amateur radio etiquette, etc. I used two main sets tools to study for the test.
The first was the HAM CRAM course offered by outdoorcore.com for $49. It promises that students can go from zero to license in six hours using the course. (A blog post from the creator explains how to study for the ham radio exam.) The course took me longer, primarily because it uses a lot of mnemonics to memorize information that might be on the test, but I’m a person who learns best by getting some understanding of what I’m studying, so I frequently delved into various subjects more than the course would encourage me. The other tools, which work in tandem with the ham cram, are the flashcards and practice quizzes at hamstudy.org/tech2018.
All in all, I spent several weeks (maybe three?) doing a little studying on most days. The studying was comprised of going through the ham cram modules and doing a lot of practice exams, as well as occasionally looking up terms and explanations on the internet. I also had one or two Zoom calls with Joe Bassett (W1WCN), the creator of the course. It certainly took me far longer than six hours, but I never felt overwhelmed or inundated.
Call me obsessive, but one of the things that helped me most to get my practice test scores up was going through every single flashcard in the total pool of 400 and something and reviewing every answer I got wrong. After doing that, my test scores went up dramatically until, by the end, I was routinely getting scores in the mid to high 90s.
I must say that getting up to speed with the test did not make me feel that I had learned electromagnetic theory or that I would immediately be able to sit down and operate a ham radio. Apparently, that’s okay. Joe says that the test doesn’t measure aptitude for operation, so much as it does aptitude for learning.
Taking the Technician’s Exam (During the Pandemic)
After the studying comes the exam itself. First you have to find a radio club or other organization that administers the exam and sign up for one of their sessions. (The club charges some money for this — I believe $10 in my case and the FCC also charges $15 for issuing the license). I found my session through hamstudy.org. My test was administered by GLAARG (Greater Los Angeles Amateur Radio Group), about which I had read positive reviews.
Taking the exam during the pandemic is a surreal and painstaking experience. I can’t speak to how it was done in the “before times,” but apparently it was usually in a large classroom. During covid though, people have to take the exam remotely and all manner of mechanisms are put in place to make sure that nobody cheats. The clubs display a plethora of rules for test takers on their pages, some of them in bold and red, looking rather intimidating. The rules try to exert as much control as possible over the remote test environment. There are rules about cameras, calculators, mouse devices and room setup — and the rules are not the same for every club!
To begin with, you have to take the exam in a space with no pets and no other people and one with a closing door. The space also has to be free of clutter. All these requirements together immediately ruled out most spaces in my house, as they do for a lot of people. (I considered doing the test in the kitchen, but it has no door.) Many of the organizations that hold these exam sessions helpfully suggested doing the test in the bathroom, which I actually did!
Many organizations administering the exam require the use of two cameras — one pointing at your head and the other at your hands, to make sure you don’t cheat. I did set up two cameras (by attaching my cell phone to the back of a chair with a rubber band!), but it turned out that GLAARG was a little less paranoid than most clubs and only required one camera.
Exam takers are let into the general Zoom session in the order they asked to be admitted, so it’s good to come to the session early to avoid a long wait. First stop after being admitted is the breakout room where an officer of the club explains how the test will proceed and then does a preliminary inspection of the space with each applicant, one at a time. We had to point our camera at the ceiling and swivel it all around the room (bathroom, in my case) to let the examiners see that there are no papers hanging around with answers to test questions. The examiner looked at our computer and our mouse. We were also told earlier not to look away from the screen in any manner that would suggest that we are looking somewhere or to someone for answers.
After this introduction we were let in one by one, each to our private exam room. Three examiner observers were present there for each one of us. They performed a second inspection of the space, much like the first. After this, the test itself was straightforward and proceeded in the same format as the study quizzes, which were familiar to me by then. The examiners are there to monitor the test takers and give them instructions. The actual test, once you start it, is administered by the software itself and looks very much like the practice quizzes with exactly the same wording of the questions. The online test is also graded immediately by the software, so you know right away if you passed and how many answers you got wrong. I was happy to pass with a pretty high score. From there all I had to do was wait a few days for the FCC to issue me my license and call sign. That was exciting.
These Are Not Your Childhood Walkie Talkies
I got my technician’s license in January. By this time I had two handheld radios in my possession (the Yaesu FT-60R and the BaoFeng BF-F8HP) which I had been asked to review, so I had to learn how to use them first. Here’s one thing to consider if you’re thinking about getting a ham radio: these are not your childhood walkie talkies, or even a CB radio your parents may have had in their car if you’re of a certain age. If you are getting a ham radio for use in emergencies, don’t think that you’ll be able to pull it out with minimal skills and training and start using it on the spot. You don’t need to become an expert at ham radio, but you do need to learn at least basic use of your equipment and practice with it with actual people.
Having to write a review of my handhelds had its pluses and minuses for me. On one hand it meant that I really had to learn the ins and outs of these two radios, which I might not have done to quite such an extent if I was just learning to use them for myself. On the other hand, I learned a lot. Mainly, I read the manuals for both radios, played with the knobs and buttons and asked Joe Bassett lots of questions, some over email and some over Zoom. Having him to mentor me has been extremely helpful.
At the end of the day I will be keeping the Yaesu FT-60R. I have also been playing with the Echolink app on my smartphone. Echolink software allows licensed ham radio operators to communicate over the internet. I was initially skeptical about the value of this. Don’t we have email and chat and social media for that now, not to mention Zoom? But it turns out it has its uses.
On a purely frivolous note it’s kind of fun to tune into stations across the globe and hear ham operators talking to each other in Afrikaans or listen in on a meeting of hams in Australia. It’s a different slice of life than you might find on websites or on social media. Also, however, Echolink allows me to connect to remote stations and participate in activities with groups which my little handheld radio could never reach on its own.
Finding Fellow Hams and Training
It turns out that, once you get your license and learn to use your radio, no delegation from the local ham radio community shows up at your doorstep to welcome you to the club and offer training. Far from it!
My interest in ham is primarily from the angle of emergency preparedness. In my area I had to dig around the local resources to find who coordinates the local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group. This turned out not to be so easy. The local clubs have not been forthcoming with that information. In fact the local clubs have been haphazard (to put it generously) in their responses of any sort to me. If I ask several questions, they sometimes respond with enthusiasm, but no answers and sometimes not at all.
The gist of what I’ve gotten from the main ham radio club in my area is that I should join it before I get any information about what it offers or how it’s connected to ARES. To be honest this does not make me want to cough up $40/year to join! Apparently, this kind of lack of communication and followthrough is not uncommon.
With the help of my mentor I eventually did find the weekly ARES net (meeting of ham radio operators on the radio) and have been participating in it as time allows — without joining any clubs. The level of training offered by the local ARES is disappointing, however. It essentially consists of roll call over the local repeater (an amateur radio repeater is a station that amplifies and retransmits signals, allowing radios with weak signals a much wider radius of communication). The same roll call is then performed on a simplex frequency (simplex refers to direct communication on a radio frequency, not using a repeater). It’s good for a raw beginner, but doesn’t seem terribly useful for learning how to handle myself on the radio in an emergency.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to join an ARES group in Florida that IS doing some training. (This is where Echolink has been most useful.) Now, you might think, Florida? Don’t you live in California, Jonnie? I do. But training is training on a certain level. If I can learn how to follow protocol in an emergency, I might be of some use to my local hams when one comes.
In Conclusion
To sum it all up: is it possible for a person with no special previous training to become minimally proficient as a ham without spending a huge amount of money or time? Yes. Is it going to be as easy as the pros say it will be? Probably not. At least for me, ham radio did for a while take up most of my prepping time and energy, but now I think I’m coming to the end of that. Should you just get a radio and not worry about licensing or training? DEFINITELY NOT. At the very least, get your technician’s license and learn the basics of how to use your radio before an emergency strikes. Also, be aware that ham radio is a social activity and requires entry into a different culture. You will have to scope out the new turf and learn the rules, even if you do it very part time. Is it worth it? You will have to decide for yourself. For me it has been, and it’s stretched my mind.
Jonnie
KN6NHL
Read MoreAirline travel, what carry on preps do you all include?
CR - July 14, 2021 Hi All! With travel resuming (I traveled throughout last year domestically too, fun, creepy, empty airports) I thought I’d ask the question of what all you travel with on an airplane, specifically carry on. Usually due to space & weight constraints my preps don’t go much beyond proper clothing, etc. for the journey & destination, but I kinda always feel exposed without some goodies that are prohibited on the plane, so what do you all do? Also I’m a little gal, so can’t load up too heavily or I’d look like a turtle.
Read MoreConfused about vaccine info (Discussion)
Bed - July 14, 2021 Full disclosure: I’m not a conspiracy nut. I don’t buy into the conspiracies of the vaccine turning your body into a magnetic, injecting tracking metals into you, et cetera. I fully believe in getting vaccinated for diseases that spread easily and/or very negatively affect people, but I’m trying to figure out as much as I can about the COVID-19 vaccines before talking to the rest of my family about getting them (they’re not conspiracy nuts either, just hesitant like me).I’d post stuff like this on other social media platforms, but they’re usually ‘echo chamber’-y (Reddit being the worst example in my opinion).
I’ve been researching a lot about the vaccines, but I’ve been getting all kinds of conflicting information; misinformation, disinformation, lack of information, et cetera. Like, I hear about how the RNA vaccines cause prion diseases (which was proven false a lot, but my mind likes to research further and second guess a lot), or how the mRNA vaccines came out too quickly (even though it’s been said that the idea and concept has been studied for decades).Basically, I don’t exactly know what to believe anymore with what’s out there for public viewing. I’m not sure what’s right, and I’m not sure what’s wrong. I’m not scared or fearful anything like that, just really really confused and trying to make sense of it all.
Read MoreNews article: Rural Ambulance Services At Risk As Volunteers Age And Expenses Mount
Bob - July 12, 2021 https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/07/05/1012418938/rural-ambulance-services-at-risk-as-volunteers-age-and-expenses-mount
Good morning,
Hope all continue to have a happy and SAFE Indy Day celebration.
Linked article explains the rural situation in one state but applicable most other areas.
Please ignore any “pure” politics gleaned from article. Medicare and Medicaid are in transition.
Emergency chief Campbell has a quality setup. EMS paramedic Gordon and EMT Rinehart have a good logistics setup … better than my ALS [“Advanced Life Support”] trailer resupply system for our emergency shelter.
The pictures again validate the Chinese adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.
This is a good article to contemplate for disaster planning.
Read MoreJosh’s Farm Update: July 2021
Josh CentersContributor - July 12, 2021 With Redneck offering regular updates from his farm, I thought it was only fitting to update everyone on how my mini-farm is doing. It’s been a rough summer. I spent a couple of weeks away because my wife was in the hospital, but thankfully everything lived. But I haven’t had as much time for maintenance as I would like.
First, the raspberries. Two are doing great. I think one is either dead or dormant because I foolishly ripped out additional shoots thinking they were lookalike weeds. They didn’t have spines like the other raspberry plants. Oops. If it doesn’t come back, I may replace it with a strawberry. Ben Falk recommends planting a variety of perennials next to your house as well as in the field, so you have indicators letting you know when they’re ready to pick.
I have six raised beds. The first two are up against my house. The first bed was supposed to be growing lettuce. I tried the MIGardener technique of sowing thick bands of lettuce to fill the bed. Sadly, that didn’t work well at all, so now I need to replant it with something else. However, my marigolds are doing great.
However, the herb bed with rosemary, parsley, and dill is doing great. The dill has been surprisingly useful for fermenting, so I’ll definitely grow it again. If only I could get it staked properly so it doesn’t fall over. I tried cilantro in this bed, but it just wasn’t having it.
Pole beans are doing well, though they haven’t produced much yet. The PVC trellis has not held up well. I had to support the center with a metal t-post and even then it still falls apart at times. I’ll build something much more substantial (and less plastic) next year. I hung a bird feeder to help with a slight Japanese beetle infestation, but the birds aren’t taking the bait.
On the other side of the beans are a bunch of pepper plants and they’re already giving me some little peppers, which my oldest son will be very excited about. I have some experimental chard that was swallowed by the beans, and some small basil plants in between the peppers.
Cucumbers look terrible and have struggled with disease, but are producing well. The peppers alongside them are producing as well. This bed struggles to stay moist, probably because it is a completely no-till bed. The beds I double-dug or broadforked are doing much better.
On the other side of the cucumbers and peppers are some onions, lettuce, and golden giant amaranth. The amaranth has shaded the lettuce and kept it from bolting. Unfortunately, the last bunch I picked was incredibly bitter, probably due to heat. The rabbits like it though.
This mess of greens is German Pink tomatoes. They’re coming along nicely and I’m just waiting for them to ripen. The purple thing is basil, which I need to trim. The other purple stuff is “chinese spinach,” a type of amaranth. This bed was double-dug and then filled with compost and doesn’t dry out often.
The sweet potatoes seem to be doing great in this bed. A thick layer of grass clippings and a living mulch keeps it continually moist. I stuck a few marigolds in there that have grown above the canopy.
Next up: chickens, rabbits, grapes, and trees.
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incredible story of quick thinking and skill that leads to a saved life
pint of beer - July 11, 2021 want to read about an incredible story of a father and son who used their intuition and skill to save someone at sea? this story really was inspiring to me to be alert, aware, and tap into what i know in order to better help others. it’s seriously a good read.
https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2021/07/08/roanoke-father-son-duo-rescue-missing-boater-40-miles-off-north-carolina-coast/
if put into that same situation, i’m afraid i wouldn’t have had the split second decision making that these two had and the knowledge and skill that would have been required to find him. it sounds like they did everything perfectly and it paid off. i’m trying to think about what i’m exceptionally good at and how i too might be able to use that someday to save someone’s life. i don’t know too much about first aid, but just having a kit and basic knowledge may save someone someday.
i think forum member bob is a boater in that part of the woods/ocean. maybe he can pitch in his thoughts
Read MoreReport from the front lines of the heatwave apocalypse
matthew.Contributor - July 10, 2021 Greetings from eastern Washington state, where each of the past three days have broken all previous heat records (and it’s still June!). Today will hopefully be the first day in nearly a week where the high will not reach triple digits, but the forecast predicts high temps in the upper 90s/100s for at least the next 10 days, so we have a ways to go. We’ve had several days where the temps have reached 110+, and have seen widespread planned and unplanned blackouts. I’m sure you’ve all seen the headlines, but know the heatwave we’ve been experiencing throughout the Pacific Northwest is unprecedented. I’ll add that there is another looming disaster that I fear might push things over the edge; there is a nation-wide chlorine shortage that is hitting the west coast particularly hard. I wouldn’t be shocked if boil notices were issued soon. It’s easy to imagine how a boil notice during 110 degree weather with rolling blackouts, along with the forest-fire smoke we all know is coming, will create a downright dangerous situation.
I, like many in this region, don’t have air conditioning. I’ve lived in the PNW for several decades, and other than a week or so each summer, AC simply isn’t needed and has not been a part of building plans. Our usual high temps for this time of year are in the upper 70s, so right now we’re running about 40 degrees hot. I’ve taken measures to insulate and make my 100+ year old house as efficient as possible, and when the temperature is “normal” we do quite well. We have storm windows, efficient siding, an attic fan, energy-efficient curtains and shades, etc. We have done the eco-friendly responsible thing, but it is clear that that approach is no longer sustainable if this weather persists. We really have done everything right, which is why this is so frustrating and humbling.
Perhaps the biggest challenge has come from the fact that our “low” temperatures each night are only getting down to the high 70s. This all but makes the “open up and cool your house down at night” approach futile. Each day I’ve watched the interior temperature in my home rise: at 5am we’re lucky if the interior temperature is lower than 85. By 5pm the interior temperature has been reaching the upper 90s. The house is simply cooking, you can feel the heat in the floor as you walk barefoot, or in a plate that you pull from the cabinet. The house, and everything in it, is heating up and retaining that heat. Our front door has become so warped that it is nearly impossible to close and lock. The siding on a neighbors house is literally peeling off. The room temperature in our kitchen is so high that the refrigerator is running non-stop, pushing its motor harder than was ever intended. Our attic temperature is so high I’m terrified of fire. On a wider social/infrastructure scale, the electrical grid is not at all equipped to deal with the combination of heat and electrical use (hence the planned and unplanned blackouts), asphalt roads are literally cracking and buckling, and tap water is running warm and tastes terrible.
My preps have helped a bit: I’m double-filtering our water and have plenty of water stored, so we should be okay on that front for a bit. I’ve covered the south and west facing windows with cheap mylar emergency blankets. It’s made the house look like a baked potato wrapped in tinfoil, but has likely kept the interior temps down a bit. We have very strategically placed fans all over the house, and have been doing all the recommended things to keep cool. We have a generator to power things if the rolling blackouts turn to days-long blackouts. But that all said, if the weather were to stay like this for several more days I suspect we’d soon have interior temps over 100, and perhaps eventually reach temps hotter than the exterior highs. It’s become very clear that air conditioning, along with an independent means to power it in case of grid failure, is a vital prep for this new world we live in.
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CERT alert for activation; my loadouts
Bob - July 9, 2021 Good afternoon,
Am on alert for CERT activation re Elsa … don’t know current category of Elsa.
Re assignments, I asked to work identification of types of downed trees eg palm, camphor, balsa – at least the bark …
Want to mention my basic loadout preps. The old boots are saddle soaped. Will of course be be carrying the Wellingtons (rubber boots). 3 pair of gloves one pair for anti-slip grip. Others for mere work.Two cans of DEET needed as a minimum. Don’t forget you local area’s snake bite prevention protocols. My helmet has 2 lights and 2 lights on load-bearing suspenders. Will carry a megaphone.
My advanced level non-basic loadout: Entenman coffee crumb cake. Will pre-cut since this is a best-seller with those of us working the palm tree identifications, if any. Fall-back is Trader Joe’s chocolate chip cookies. A six pak of V8 spicy needed to break the monotony.
Continue the prepping !
Read MoreMost compact folding disposable N95 masks?
snewkes - July 9, 2021 I have good ones for keeping at home and taking with me when I know the air is bad (wildfire season), but they’re too bulky for carrying with me on a daily basis just in case (of an earthquake, for example). I also have this style of folding mask which is more compact but honestly still too bulky to carry around on a daily basis because they’re too long to fit anywhere I would carry them and if I fold the ends in to fit them in a shorter space (not sure if that’s ok or would compromise the mask long-term) then they’re too thick.
What are the most compact ones out there? As long as length & width are small enough to fit in a jeans back pocket (not actually where I intend to store them, just trying to give an idea of the size I have in mind), thinness is the top priority.
I’m ok with the protection being somewhat lesser since I’d only use it in an emergency situation where I’d be getting out of the area as soon as possible, as long as it’s good enough to be worth carrying at all.
Read MoreDo you shoot with both eyes open??
Sir Henry - July 8, 2021 Ever since I first held a gun, I’ve always been trained to shoot with one eye open and one eye closed. But after watching this video called How to Shoot with Both Eyes Open, I have changed the way that I train and shoot.
Here are some key points that are made in the video that just make sense
During a situation where you are needing to use your firearm, your fight or flight adrenaline response will kick in and your primal instinct will be to open both eyes wide open to absorb as much information as possible. The natural response is not to close one eye and precisely aim. We have two eyes to gain better sight picture, better field of depth, and to let more light in. Closing one eye cuts this down. Your field of vision is cut by a third when you close one eye. Try squinting one eye and see how much of your vision is now gone. What if there was an enemy coming at you from that blindspot?? Or even just for safety out on the range, wouldn’t you rather have that additional third of vision to keep an eye out for a loose kid or dummy who thinks he can start walking down range to retrieve his target when everyone else is still shooting?? When you are squinting one eye for long periods of time when shooting, you get fatigue in your face. And for me, in my eyes as well. When I’ve spent a day on the range, the squinted eye and side of that face is tired because that’s not a muscle I use regularly. This technique can even be used with a rifle and a scope and can allow you to track your target or animal easier.Now this is not something you can pick up and master after your first day at the range practicing this technique, it took me many times, but it will come. I’ll let the video explain how to train for this, so go watch that, but here is my experience.
After seeing this video, I emptied my gun and practiced what to expect while at home. Closed one eye and then opened the other and practiced gaining that sight picture following the advice given in the video. On the first day at the range, I shot a few rounds like normal and then tried the slightly squinted eye technique. I was able to hit the target a few times with both eyes open. Over the next two times to the range I was able to gain that sight picture faster and more accurately until it was second nature. I’m sure with continued practice it will be a better and safer way to shoot.
I wanted to share this technique with you all to see what your thoughts were and if anyone else practices this way of shooting.
Read MoreHarvesting seaweed as an emergency food source
Bob - July 8, 2021 How to Harvest Seaweed
Good morning,
Above linked article is a couple of years old. Still, it is a good foundation document.
Someone around here wants to start seaweed harvesting as part of his “survival” program. Couldn’t find the current article I was looking for but this link can get one started.
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Stocking a pet first aid kit with meds
pnwsarahContributor - July 8, 2021 Hi Prepping Friends,
I have a tiny bit of spare time to give to prepping today, and I decided to go through my dog’s first aid kit and make a “DFAK” kit in kit builder. (Inspiration: I got a tick a couple of weeks ago, which my friend successfully removed with her intense survival knife, and while her ability to do that without leaving any tick head parts in my leg or making me bleed was impressive, it was pretty stressful for both of us, and I felt dumb when I realized later that I had a purpose-built item in my DFAK… and when you don’t remember what preps you have, odds are good your memory isn’t the only thing that needs to be refreshed.) Turns out, lots of things had expired, the Vaseline had leaked everywhere, I had two bottles of eye wash in there for some reason, and all the vet contact info I had was for animal hospitals in a state where I no longer live. Good dog, bad prepper!
The real bummer is the several expired prescription pain medications I had left over from various veterinary procedures and mishaps— which in turn has made me realize that, short of hanging onto these until they expire, I don’t really know what pain medications I should (or even could) be keeping in my DFAK. Certain OTC drugs for people are safe for dogs, like Pepcid AC and Benadryl, but those are for GI upset and allergies, and most household anti-inflammatories are actually lethal to pets. So… what happens if SHTF and you need a canine painkiller?
As it happens, my dog is getting a check-up next week, so I can ask our vet what suite of medications she would recommend keeping on hand for emergencies, and if there is any way to get them without a prescription— or if one can just get a prescription for as-needed use, or if there is even any point, since a safe-to-use painkiller will not address the pain from a serious injury, and/or because in the absence of definitive care, we need the evidence of pain to asses whether the patient’s condition is improving or not (sounds terrible, I know, but field medicine is probably really different when your patients are non-verbal). I will post what I learn on this thread. In the meantime, though, I’m betting that there are some folks out there who are as hardcore about pet parenting as they are about prepping— and/or some vets or techs— who may have given these questions and tradeoffs some thought. So… what meds do you keep for your dogs? What should I ask my vet about?
Looking forward to receiving your collective thoughts and wisdom, as always!
Read More🔥 Is it heat exhaustion or heat stroke? 🔥
Jay ValenciaContributor - July 5, 2021 I’ve read a few articles about the heat wave some of us are currently living with. It’s not super bad where I am, but it’s definitely not fun. I found this while looking for warning signs since I’ve been wearing a mask so often.
Got any hot weather tips?
I’ve heard spicy food is actually a good idea to stay cool?
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Millbank bags for BOB water purification?
LadyKaos - July 1, 2021 example:
https://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/the-brown-filter-bag—the-millbank-bag-is-back-29422-p.asp
in the past when backpacking/wild camping etc I have used these to get clean water, my method is to let the water run through the bag, then boil it or use a water purification tab, I liked it because it was simple and easy, and it never made me ill so I assumed that it must work, although I’ve never seen “millbank bag” on anyone’s BOB list, is there a good reason for this?
Read MoreNRG-5 Emergency Rations: What do you think?
César López - June 29, 2021 Some time ago I was talking to a friend of mine who had recently bought a box of BP-ER Emergency Food.
https://www.amazon.es/Emergency-Exteriores-campamentos-Supervivencia-situaciones/dp/B07NPWBN1V
By this time I was doing my research on emergency food as well, but I thought that NRG-5 Emergency Rations where better:
https://www.amazon.es/Tactical-OPS-Alimentos-Emergencia-Emergency/dp/B08WCQ8MGV/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=nrg-5&qid=1617536159&sr=8-12
My friend got the BP-ER because he had read that they tasted better and had better long-life (Althought the lot of NRG-5 I bought lasted even more than him’s). I bet for the NRG-5 because they had better nutritional values that other rations (I mean, minerals and vitamins).
We could met and tasted them. My friend was right, BP-ER are tastier (as long as emergency food could be) and they had better looking than NRG-5. We tried to feed the ducks at the park we were meeting and they seemed to dislike both of them. On the other hand, my 2-year-old girl, love them.
I’m still with the NRG-5 because of the nutritional values. The only thing that really bothers me about the NRG-5 is that they are not Coast Guard approved. I checked this using the instructions you gave in this post:
https://theprepared.com/gear/reviews/ration-bars/
Resuming: Does anybody tried NRG-5 and, if you do, what do you think about them?
Thank you very much.
Read MoreWhat have you shot before and what were the results?
Robert LarsonContributor - June 29, 2021 I was reading The Prepared’s latest article titled What common or household objects will stop bullets? and it got me thinking about all the things I have shot before.
I’ve enjoyed shooting soup cans and old milk jugs full of water. Much more satisfying than your traditional paper target. There are a few memorable objects I have remembered shooting however.
While in college, my friends and I drove out to a local outdoor trash gun range to test and destroy some things. The first was a DIY silencer using a pillow. This is something I’ve seen in a few movies before where the person places a pillow in front of their gun and can take people down without any noise.
I took an old pillow and taped it around my .22lr rifle and set up an audio recorder so we could compare the volume levels on the computer to see exactly how quiet it actually made it. From what I remember, it didn’t help at all.
While out on that same trip, my roommate had an ancient laptop that he didn’t want to throw away and have someone take his data. So we helped him destroy the laptop with a few rounds of our guns. Probably not the smartest thing to be shooting at a laptop battery… Can’t remember if we removed it before or not.
The last memorable thing that I’ve shot before is a cheap plastic disposable water bottle. Normally these would be absolutely destroyed by every round possible, but I had a few rounds of rat/snake shot that I wanted to try. It’s a pretty neat round and is filled with little pellets like a shot gun shell, but in a .22lr form factor. (here’s a random internet picture of one)
When I shot this at a plastic bottle, it went through the outside and many pellets didn’t make it out the back side, resulting in the bottle capturing the little pellets inside the bottle. Has anyone actually used one of these rounds on a rat or snake? I don’t feel like it has much power to actually kill it and that sounds kind of mean to have a wounded critter running around.
Anyways… What all have you guys shot before besides paper or steel targets? I think this will help us gain a sense of what will happen if we get in a fire fight with a bad guy inside our homes. From The Prepared’s article, it sounds like pretty much everything in our home will react like a paper target during a shoot out.
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2020 National Household [Preparedness] Survey
Matt Black - June 29, 2021 I stumbled across this while grabbing some CERT training materials. Not new, but interesting data about the changes in US preparedness culture. Given that this was written back in September of 2020, I’m interested to see how much this data may have changed in the wake of the intervening 3-6 months of the pandemic and vaccination efforts.
Overall, the estimated number of preparedness actions taken has increased from 2019.68% of NHS respondents have taken 3 or more of the 6 basic preparedness actions; an increase of 6% from 2019.
For the second year in a row, the percentage of people reporting four of the six basic actions increased.
The number of people who indicated that they talked to others about getting prepared increased from 45% to 48%.
The number of people who indicated they participated in an emergency drill increased from 49% to 56%.
NHS data shows that, when individuals indicate that they’ve taken one preparedness action, we can expect that they will take additional preparedness actions.
NHS data shows that preparedness actions can vary by stage of preparedness, hazard areas, and even demographics. As such, customizing preparedness messaging based on these factors will likely result in more effective messaging.
2020 NHS Data Digest: Summary Results
Read MoreHeat wave vs my food/water stores
Lowell - June 27, 2021 It’s gonna be real darn warm in Seattle/Puget Sound. The water storage article says that heat is one of the main enemies of water storage, and I can’t find the spec right now but remember reading that upgrade pick for food supply is best stored between something like 50 and 65 degrees F.
My home, like many in Seattle, has no A/C — should I expect my food & water stores to go bad? The water I can change out post-heatwave (a hassle, but possible), but the food stores can only be replaced by re-purchasing. As climate change continues, I expect temperature changes to become more extreme, and I don’t know how to mitigate the effect of these temperature changes against my food/water stores without a full HVAC system.
Read MoreFun ways to teach kids outdoor/survival skills
Jay ValenciaContributor - June 27, 2021 I have three kids ages 7(female), 10(male), and 12(female). I grew up in boy scouts and loved learning different skills such as tying knots, camping, starting fires, cooking, etc…
What are some fun activities that I can do to get these kids off the couch and teach them a skill that can maybe save their life someday, create memories, and get their little brains working?
Read MoreFall gardening – great food + great practice for survival gardens
RedneckContributor - June 21, 2021 I love to garden & especially love growing food in the fall. Seems like all the fall crops are just super nutritious and so easy to grow, such as kale, collards, turnip greens, broccoli, peas, etc. I find them easy due to the fall weather. You plant them early in the fall, when it is still a bit warm out. The seeds quickly germinate in the warm soil. Then as it cools, the cool loving plants thrive as the warm loving weeds, disease & insects go away. You can grow the same crops in the spring, but I find them harder to grow because the timing is opposite. In the spring, the seeds might struggle germinating in the cool soil and as the plant matures, it warms up and the weeds, disease & insects attack.
As a prepper, I think it vital to practice growing what might be essential during a severe crisis. In such a crisis, growing food during the ENTIRE growing season will be necessary… thus the need to produce nutritious food in the cool weather.
Curious what others here are currently growing? Right now I’m growing Tuscan (Lacinato) kale and collards. In the past have grown turnip greens, mustard greens, broccoli & snow peas. The most mature kale leaves are about a foot long & ready to be picked. Tonight will cook them like an Italian creamed spinach with parmesan cheese.
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Survival, prepping and ageing (and we are all ageing)
UbiqueContributor - June 21, 2021 I keep a running list of prep related topics on my desk, beside my computer. Ideas and thoughts are jotted down and crossed off as they are written about.
This topic has been on my list for a while now. I tried ignoring it and even regretted noting it. I didn’t want to write about survival, prepping and ageing as the sole domain of a 55 plus topic.
I added “and we are all ageing” to the topic title, because this topic is for all of you, regardless of your age. Every day, we all age.
I wanted this post to be for everyone because every day if you are alive, you are ageing. The issue of ageing is one that must be considered by preppers. There will be needs and priorities that change with age and this will affect how you prep.
None of us know how long we are going to live nor how we are going to age as time passes.
We hope to remain vital and independent, until one day, when we are really old, they roll us out of our home feet first and straight to a funeral home. Instead of a long drawn out death in a care home or hospital, our bodies had the good sense to pack it in while we slept, thereby avoiding any pain or awareness of our death.
Some days when I feel much younger than my years, I think my final, feisty words to the ambulance attendant will be “not without my BOB.”
It is necessary to understand how ageing affects us from without and within in order to prepare and cope with the changes that happen as we age.
Age is relative, like money, power and beauty. The similarity among all of them ends there.
Age marches steadily on from the time of our birth. Regardless of our place in society, power, beauty, wealth or lack of thereof, age is the great leveller on the playing field we call “life.”
There is also the issue of ageism to contend with. One day life is normal but one birthday too many, and people are treating you like the village idiot.
Ageism is usually accompanied by its nasty buddy, patronization. For those who haven’t had the joy of this experience, just wait. The first time someone calls you “ma’am” or “sir,” your head will spin around to look for whom they are talking to.
One day you will hear the words “at your age” or “you’re doing well for your age” directed at you. Those words aren’t compliments. You have just been categorized and neatly filed away into someone’s mental “cabinet of preconceived notions.”
At that moment, you will realize that people are making judgements about you because of how you look. It will hurt because you know they will go no further to actually get to know you. You have just lost a part of your identity and entered a shadow world, where the aged are treated differently and often barely tolerated.
You also realize that it is happening sooner than you thought it would.
There is a part of you that worries about how you will now be regarded in a disaster by preppers and non-preppers alike. It is what I call the “ice flow” moment, where you see yourself gently floating down the water on a chunk of ice because the tribe of survivors no longer considers you of any value.
Age does not necessarily bring wisdom any more than youth experiences the best years of their lives. But age can bring experience, depending on the life one has lived. The history of the person, their experience, is the greatest teacher. If they happen to be wise and can offer insight about their experience, consider it a bonus. Not everyone learns from their experiences.
It’s amazing how age can assert itself when you least expect it.
When my husband and I work on projects outdoors, people notice. This time I actually had a neighbor from the senior’s apartment across the street comment: “I don’t know how you do it. I could never care for a property the way you do.”
It was nice to hear the compliment, but he doesn’t realize how conscious we are that everything we are able to do today could be gone tomorrow. One stroke, or other health issue could change everything. That is true for all of us regardless of our current age.
In the last several days, I planted annuals and we put in a 7-foot garden fence. It was a long, nonstop push to “get ‘er done” before the forecasted high heat arrives. We lugged heavy weight, shovelled and drove posts in with a post pounder.
As I drove the post pounder down, I wondered should I be doing this at my age? It’s a ridiculous question. Instead, I chose to focus the sheer joy of physical labor in the fresh air.
“Should I be doing this at my age” is a question that you will find yourself asking throughout your life. It originates from the “committee in your head.” They are an opinionated, judgmental little group consisting of every negative comment ever directed at us or that we have directed toward ourselves. It is criticism and judgement personified.
As I worked outside the years fell away, and I felt like I could do this forever, that is until I stopped working for the day. That’s when the pain and reality set in. Then I rested and went out and did it all over again the next day. The alternative is to give up the pieces of myself that function because of muscle soreness and a cranky back.
One of the hard parts about ageing is observing how your peers are ageing. I look at people in my peer group and it isn’t so much about how they look. It is more about how old they act. It’s like they have given up on living and are just waiting around to die. They are teaching me because of how they are choosing to live through their experience of ageing.
Prepping as we age is about adaptation. It is knowing when to adapt in our youth in order to avoid injury that can cause problems like osteoarthritis later in life.
In the garden, I realized that the raised beds need to be raised much higher, like trug style planters for salad type crops. I need to alleviate the strain on a prematurely arthritic back. (Note, you can acquire physical conditions that are normally considered age related at a much earlier stage of life.)
I use positional changes as I work to avoid straining certain parts of my body. Walking it out intermittently as I work helps to prevent strain and injury.
My future plans are to raise certain items, like the refrigerator, for easier maintenance. I plan to avoid falls and minimize stair climbing by revamping storage upstairs. Moving items to and from the basement to the main floor will be handled with a simple basket and pulley system.
Some days I wonder if there will come a time when I make a conscious choice to stop prepping.
I don’t like being vulnerable. Prepping has represented independence and strength to me. I hope to stay prepared and vital to the end and adaptation is the best chance for me, and you, to do so.
How are you adapting and changing your prepping as you age?
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