Discussions
Reply to: What can we learn from the war in Ukraine? Posted March 4, 2022
Reply to: Long term experience with reccomended Novoo waterproof power bank? Posted March 4, 2022
Reply to: C. Crane Skywave and Skywave SSB out of stock – What is the best alternative? Posted March 4, 2022
C. Crane Skywave and Skywave SSB out of stock – What is the best alternative?
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Posted March 1, 2022
Reply to: Massive far side sun explosion Tuesday Posted February 19, 2022
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted December 18, 2021
FYI – Notice of Non-Conforming NIOSH Approved N95 Masks from ALG Health
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14
Posted December 18, 2021
Reply to: Selecting water purification strategies, method and equipment for bug out and bug in scenario Posted May 8, 2021
Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted May 8, 2021
Prepping with bad eyesight
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Posted April 25, 2021
Reply to: BOB plus Get Home Bag? Posted April 25, 2021
Reply to: How to barter Posted April 25, 2021

This is such a great post and topic to have brought up – I believe these types of aspects of a medium to longer-term survival situation are highly overlooked but really important! I think “trading” is an option, but ONLY if you have trusted and established relationships with other people before the crises occurs.  Otherwise you do risk robbery and worse by trying to interact with strangers.   For example – you’re into preparedness.  As part of your preparedness journey you find other people / families who are also into preparedness in your general area.  Perhaps you have a great garden and they have some chickens, cows and goats.  You build a relationship over the months and years.  When a crisis occurs, you could easily trade your garden output for eggs, milk, etc. My plan is definitely not to barter or trade with strangers during a crisis situation.   However I would give food and assistance to people where I could and not ask anything in return.  Regardless of the risks, I personally believe that’s the right thing to do.

Reply to: BOB plus Get Home Bag? Posted April 25, 2021

Great post and question – I am working on putting together my get home bag, it will probably take months to save up and purchase all of the gear but I feel great to have gotten that process started after a long time of thinking, planning and getting the final list together. I relied heavily on The Prepared lengthy and detailed guide / article talking about bug out bags – that is a great place to start and tailor from there. I agree though, it would be great to have a detailed guide / article on get home bags. I am by no means an expert, so I’ll just share my thoughts and approach. I plan on going on an overnight hike by myself sometime this summer once my bag is fully together to test my pack list and hopefully identify any critical missing items. Basically I think there is at least a 95% cross over between a get home bag and a bug out bag. Instead of making myself a get home bag AND having a bug out bag (containing 95% of the same things) at my house, I am going to create a small “addendum” pouch that will contain a few extra days worth of clean clothes, a mental hygiene item (like a pack of cards), a small luggage lock, etc. So if it’s a bug out scenario I grab that addendum bug out pouch and my get home bag and I’m all set. I think this idea works for me in particular because I have a long commute to work each way, and I live in northern New England which has quite extreme winters.  That combined means it could take me 2-3 days to get home, longer if I had to avoid highways and roads and hike through deep snow in the woods.  Therefore my get home bag has to be pretty robust, especially in the winter. My husband thinks the entire concept is nuts so he refuses to let me make him or carry a get home bag. However, I am going to make him a bug out bag, as well as bug out bags for my two small children that I will keep in our house in case it’s needed. Just as time consuming and difficult as determining what you are going to have inside your get home bag, is determining what brand, make / model of each item you’re going to put in your bag. The Prepared has great gear reviews that I have used. I also look at Outdoor Gear Lab, as I used them a lot when making expensive rock climbing and ice climbing gear purchases in the past. Another thing to be aware of – REI has a “used gear” section for gear that is returned. I would NEVER buy used rock or ice climbing gear, like ropes, harness, belay devices, etc. But backpacks, hiking shoes, tents, winter jackets, hiking pants, sleeping bags, etc that have been lightly or even never used is great, in my opinion. Especially because you hope you never have to use the stuff in your get home bag or bug out bag. But you have it there if needed. For example – I researched which backpack I wanted for my get home bag and landed on the Women’s Osprey Fairview Trek 55. I checked the REI website for used options and found one in basically “new” condition that was about $75 cheaper than if I had brought it new. REI also offered returns on the used items you purchase, so if you get it and think there’s a problem with the product or you don’t like it you can return it no problem.

Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted April 24, 2021
Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted April 22, 2021
Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car
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Posted April 22, 2021
Reply to: Communication strategy during disaster Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: Communication strategy during disaster Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021

One thing that I haven’t seen discussed in this thread (sorry if I missed it!) is lighting.  Lighting may not be as big of an issue if your plan is simply to throw an escape ladder on your window frame and descend to the ground outside.  But what if that isn’t an option for whatever reason (having to help family members or perhaps your planned exit is blocked by fire), and you have to travel through rooms, hallways and down stairs to get out?   Between smoke, soot and other airborne debris, it may be impossible to see at all?  Ubique mentioned the example of somebody having to crawl on the floor to get out of the building.   Given the visibility challenges during a fire, I was wondering what the best prep would be for light to help improve visibility for rescue or escape? Would a headlamp help or hurt the visibility challenges?  I have seen some fire emergency kits contain glow sticks – are glow sticks the recommended prep to have on hand if you have to navigate a building to escape?   I want to include lighting in my fire kit preps, but unsure what is the best option. 

Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021
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C. Crane Skywave and Skywave SSB out of stock – What is the best alternative?
7
13
Posted March 1, 2022
FYI – Notice of Non-Conforming NIOSH Approved N95 Masks from ALG Health
3
14
Posted December 18, 2021
Prepping with bad eyesight
11
11
Posted April 25, 2021
Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car
21
15
Posted April 22, 2021
Communication strategy during disaster
16
10
Posted April 19, 2021
Selecting water purification strategies, method and equipment for bug out and bug in scenario
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14
Posted April 19, 2021
War with China – thoughts and how to prepare
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9
Posted March 10, 2021
So the UK coronavirus variant is more deadly…now what?
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Posted January 22, 2021
Dealing with a spouse / significant other who thinks prepping is nuts
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Posted January 22, 2021
Had “The Preparedness Talk”
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10
Posted December 18, 2020
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Reply to: What can we learn from the war in Ukraine? Posted March 4, 2022
Reply to: Long term experience with reccomended Novoo waterproof power bank? Posted March 4, 2022
Reply to: C. Crane Skywave and Skywave SSB out of stock – What is the best alternative? Posted March 4, 2022
Reply to: Massive far side sun explosion Tuesday Posted February 19, 2022
Reply to: What are you asking Santa for this year? Posted December 18, 2021
Reply to: Selecting water purification strategies, method and equipment for bug out and bug in scenario Posted May 8, 2021
Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted May 8, 2021
Reply to: BOB plus Get Home Bag? Posted April 25, 2021
Reply to: How to barter Posted April 25, 2021

This is such a great post and topic to have brought up – I believe these types of aspects of a medium to longer-term survival situation are highly overlooked but really important! I think “trading” is an option, but ONLY if you have trusted and established relationships with other people before the crises occurs.  Otherwise you do risk robbery and worse by trying to interact with strangers.   For example – you’re into preparedness.  As part of your preparedness journey you find other people / families who are also into preparedness in your general area.  Perhaps you have a great garden and they have some chickens, cows and goats.  You build a relationship over the months and years.  When a crisis occurs, you could easily trade your garden output for eggs, milk, etc. My plan is definitely not to barter or trade with strangers during a crisis situation.   However I would give food and assistance to people where I could and not ask anything in return.  Regardless of the risks, I personally believe that’s the right thing to do.

Reply to: BOB plus Get Home Bag? Posted April 25, 2021

Great post and question – I am working on putting together my get home bag, it will probably take months to save up and purchase all of the gear but I feel great to have gotten that process started after a long time of thinking, planning and getting the final list together. I relied heavily on The Prepared lengthy and detailed guide / article talking about bug out bags – that is a great place to start and tailor from there. I agree though, it would be great to have a detailed guide / article on get home bags. I am by no means an expert, so I’ll just share my thoughts and approach. I plan on going on an overnight hike by myself sometime this summer once my bag is fully together to test my pack list and hopefully identify any critical missing items. Basically I think there is at least a 95% cross over between a get home bag and a bug out bag. Instead of making myself a get home bag AND having a bug out bag (containing 95% of the same things) at my house, I am going to create a small “addendum” pouch that will contain a few extra days worth of clean clothes, a mental hygiene item (like a pack of cards), a small luggage lock, etc. So if it’s a bug out scenario I grab that addendum bug out pouch and my get home bag and I’m all set. I think this idea works for me in particular because I have a long commute to work each way, and I live in northern New England which has quite extreme winters.  That combined means it could take me 2-3 days to get home, longer if I had to avoid highways and roads and hike through deep snow in the woods.  Therefore my get home bag has to be pretty robust, especially in the winter. My husband thinks the entire concept is nuts so he refuses to let me make him or carry a get home bag. However, I am going to make him a bug out bag, as well as bug out bags for my two small children that I will keep in our house in case it’s needed. Just as time consuming and difficult as determining what you are going to have inside your get home bag, is determining what brand, make / model of each item you’re going to put in your bag. The Prepared has great gear reviews that I have used. I also look at Outdoor Gear Lab, as I used them a lot when making expensive rock climbing and ice climbing gear purchases in the past. Another thing to be aware of – REI has a “used gear” section for gear that is returned. I would NEVER buy used rock or ice climbing gear, like ropes, harness, belay devices, etc. But backpacks, hiking shoes, tents, winter jackets, hiking pants, sleeping bags, etc that have been lightly or even never used is great, in my opinion. Especially because you hope you never have to use the stuff in your get home bag or bug out bag. But you have it there if needed. For example – I researched which backpack I wanted for my get home bag and landed on the Women’s Osprey Fairview Trek 55. I checked the REI website for used options and found one in basically “new” condition that was about $75 cheaper than if I had brought it new. REI also offered returns on the used items you purchase, so if you get it and think there’s a problem with the product or you don’t like it you can return it no problem.

Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted April 24, 2021
Reply to: Recommendations for emergency stove fuel in Get Home Bag stored in car Posted April 22, 2021
Reply to: Communication strategy during disaster Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: Communication strategy during disaster Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021

One thing that I haven’t seen discussed in this thread (sorry if I missed it!) is lighting.  Lighting may not be as big of an issue if your plan is simply to throw an escape ladder on your window frame and descend to the ground outside.  But what if that isn’t an option for whatever reason (having to help family members or perhaps your planned exit is blocked by fire), and you have to travel through rooms, hallways and down stairs to get out?   Between smoke, soot and other airborne debris, it may be impossible to see at all?  Ubique mentioned the example of somebody having to crawl on the floor to get out of the building.   Given the visibility challenges during a fire, I was wondering what the best prep would be for light to help improve visibility for rescue or escape? Would a headlamp help or hurt the visibility challenges?  I have seen some fire emergency kits contain glow sticks – are glow sticks the recommended prep to have on hand if you have to navigate a building to escape?   I want to include lighting in my fire kit preps, but unsure what is the best option. 

Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 21, 2021
Reply to: How to escape 2nd floor bedroom in case of fire Posted April 20, 2021

Thank you Ubique!  I truly appreciate the refresher on basic fire safety – I had forgotten about that rule regarding hot door knobs.  This is a good reminder for me, being prepared isn’t just about having the tools, it’s also having the background research and knowledge.   Where I was going with the fire resistant gloves – my master bedroom is on one side of the house, and my two children’s bedrooms are on the other side of the house, separated by a hallway about 15ish feet long, with the stairs to the lower level of our house in the middle of the hallway.  My biggest concern is waking up in the middle of the night to the fire alarm going off, to find the only path to rescue my two children (the hallway between our bedrooms) is blocked by fire.  Given the layout of my house, this is a real possibility. If that were to happen, I would have to escape from my bedroom window via fire ladder and then have a way to get up to my kids bedroom windows to rescue them independently from the outside.  I am looking at some telescoping ladders that could be used to access their bedroom windows on the 2nd floor from the outside.  The recommendations of window breakers was helpful as I would need that tool to break their bedroom windows. The link to the one telescoping ladder I was heavily considering is below.   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MFDHC1W/?coliid=I345V0M4JW5HLY&colid=1RJXTW4WFLRLA&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it  I actually had to call 911 for the fire department recently because of a close-call related to our wood burning stove.  It took the fire department about 10 minutes to get to our house.   I figure if my kids need to be rescued, I can’t wait for the fire department to get to my house, it will be too late. Does anybody have any recommendations on how to deal with the above scenario, regarding being unable to get to my children inside the house and having to rescue from the outside?  Other ideas besides the telescoping ladder?  I am not that strong, so the telescoping design seems to be light weight and easier to manage for me.

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