Category: Sanitation

Letter Re: Family Preparedness: How to Protect Your Infant Child

Good morning Mr. Rawles, In regards to the “Family Preparedness: How to Protect Your Infant Child“, I just wanted to comment that wool diaper covers need to be washed less often, do not smell at all and two is all you need. Plus, they are just more comfortable for infants than plastic, no matter how cute or functional. They also breathe better and keep baby warm even when wet, which is important if you are changing less often than usual. Mother-Ease diapers are handy – no folding, no velcro, and they are one-size fits all. You can also buy doublers …


How it Started to Where I Am, by C.C.

Introductory biographical note: The author is 64 years old, father of nine children, BSAE Aeronautical Engineering, Ex-Army Infantry Training Officer (1970-1974), former Gym Trainer (1996-1997), Firefighter and EMT training and certification (2009-2010), Real Estate Broker/Owner Phase I I began realizing my vulnerability in 1998-1999, when Y2K-induced turmoil was a potential real possibility. I began, in all haste to find and prepare for the possible disaster that might come when the clock struck 12:00 midnight and 2000 would ring in. My first step was to find enough land that would be secure enough for my family and to design a place …


Three Letters Re: The Disappearing Suburban Basement

Jim: One question comes to mind, does his basement have a restroom, or is he relying on a honey bucket? Also, how does he intend to deal with cooking odors [both good and bad?] Might be a huge tip off in a SHTF situation. Thanks, – Greg L. Sir: Most of us have furnaces, A/C and hot water heaters in our basements, and they require seasonal maintenance by outside contractors. The description from Jeff W. sounds like he may have restricted access to these devices (180 degree turn at the bottom of the steps), or they’re not in the basement… …


Letter Re: Saving in the Hard Times, for the Harder Times

James Wesley, Mrs. C.J. had some excellent ideas in her article, and I’d like to add a couple of suggestions about laundry/cleaning supplies. Since we have a septic system, I’m always mindful of the substances we’re putting into the ground. The Internet is a great source of recipes for homemade cleaners of all types, using ingredients that are a lot cheaper and safer than the store-bought items. For example, I use a few drops of tea tree oil (an antibiotic) and a squirt of Ivory Liquid in a spray bottle, add water, and have a great all-purpose cleaner for the …


Showering with Just One Gallon of Water, by The Survival Nurse

In a TEOTWAWKI situation hygiene is going to become very important. As an E.R. Nurse I see hygiene problems everyday. I can’t begin to describe the things that I have seen… and I probably have post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result. Do you know that homeless alcoholics care very little about their personal hygiene?? A few years ago I learned a nice lesson on personal hygiene that I wanted to pass on. It may not be a new idea to some but I think it would be very useful to a lot of people who haven’t considered hygiene/showering post-SHTF.  Ten …


Letter Re: Sanitation–It Takes Picks and Shovels

Hi James, Since I returned from Haiti, I have given a lot of thought about the field sanitation problems that would occur when the Golden Horde after a disaster starts entering an area to set up camps. I live in a pretty remote area that would be attractive to people leaving larger communities. This area is one where hunting and winter snowmobiling is popular. What can be envisioned is people who can make it this far, who are familiar with the few water resources, and the limited game would probably wind up. There is also a national wildlife preserve nearby …


Letter Re: Some Comments and Personal Experiences in Haiti

Jim, Concerning the lack of sanitation at some Haiti evacuation camps: Porta-john [chemical toilets] are nice, but must be pumped out, cleaned and refilled regularly in order to remain usable. A simple solution I have used on the farm is to cut out the bottom of the john’s holding tank. Then we dig a hole and position the outhouse over the hole. As it is used, we occasionally throw a little lime or wood ash into the hole to control smell and bugs. The outhouse is on skids and is easy to move by hand, so when the hole is …


Three Letters Re: Some Comments and Some Personal Experiences in Haiti

Sir: I thought that you and your family might be encouraged by the following: There was an extraordinary occurrence in Haiti on February 17th. Here is a blog entry with a YouTube link about a nationally declared three days of fasting and prayer in Haiti. Amazing grace. The final sentence in the entry is the most sobering: “The only sadness that I feel today is for our nation. While a nation that has long been under Satan’s domination is turning to God with total commitment, our nation, founded on Godly values, has rejected God and is rapidly trying to forget …


Two Letters Re: Cost-Effective Emergency Water Treatment

Jim, Having been a small municipal water system operator in Upstate New York, I have some experience with basic water treatment. The link provided in ” Chris in West Virginia’s” article is sound in regard to using Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione. One would want to use a test kit to measure residual chlorine in the water and maintain the level between 0.3 and 1ppm after initial treatment. To treat water, chlorine is added until the level is at least 0.5ppm after an one hour contact time. It is critical that the chlorine have time to interact with the water and some method …


Letter Re: Your Post-TEOTWAWKI Diaper Insurance

Sir: A quick note about cloth diapers: Many stores (Wal-Mart and its French-owned counterpart at least) have flannel sheets on sale right now with twin sets running between $6.24 and $10. Woolrich is one brand and they seem to be of decent quality. That is a lot of fabric for little money. I picked up a half dozen sets. They provide warm bedding, but large pieces of fabric, often in dark or natural colors could have many uses. I will set aside at least 2 sets of the chocolate brown ones to make more cloth diapers for the baby we …


Three Letters Re: Your Post-TEOTWAWKI Diaper Insurance

Mr. Rawles, Regarding the blog entry “Your Post-TEOTWAWKI Diaper Insurance,” I wanted to add that the problem with the messiness of cloth diapers can be lessened by using disposable liners. Special liners are sold for use in cloth diapers, however a more cost effective solution is to dry out cheaper baby wipes and use those [as liners]. Thank you for your diligent service to the survival community. Keep up the great work. Sincerely, – JD in Richmond, Virginia Jim, I love your blog site. About the article about cloth diapers — they are easy to make and cheaper than bought …


COA Analysis of Common Survival Strategies, by JIR

Having spent a lot of years on military planning staffs, I can’t help war-gaming scenarios. In short (as you know well) Course of Action (COA) development is a big part of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and is a fairly reliable way of looking at possibilities and choosing likely sequels, given scenarios. In effect, a way of war-gaming out the future. There are a number of horror scenarios that seem to me to be fairly probable and they keep going around and around in my head as I try to sequence them and assign probabilities to each one. I …


Death and Dying in TEOTWAWKI, by Snowman

Most of the SurvivalBlog.com articles focus on the “how tos” of living in or preparing for survival situations. We all understand these needs. However, there has been much less discussion on preparedness for death and dying. I have worked in the medical profession since 1975. I have worked with people in various stages of death and dying in hospitals, hospices, operating rooms, clinics and accident sites. While most of us are doing as much as possible to prepare and stay alive in bad situations we know that our options may be greatly limited in future scenarios. Death and dying are …


Letter Re: How Hygiene and Sanitation Have Increased Human Life Spans

Sir; While obtaining law doctorate, one of my classes was Health Law, which is two parts navigating your way through the morass of Federal intrusion. One part was actual policy. But, I digress. Only one thing of significance stuck in my mind from that whole class: “Of the forty years increased life expectancy enjoyed in the past one-hundred years, 35 of those years are the result of improvements in hygiene and sanitation. Five years are due to clinical medicine.” I translate that to: “you owe more for your health to the trash man and plumber than you do your doctor.” …


Ladies’ Needs in TEOTWAWKI–Thinking Beyond Menstrual Supplies, by Jeanan

I’m kind of a weird woman, not really a “girly” girl. I grew up on horseback, helping my Daddy out in his oilfield service company shop (my job was to clean old parts), and playing cowboys and Indians out with my brother. I like my guns and my motorcycle now, and I’ve been preparing for a SHTF scenario for almost a year. My career is also kind of weird, I repair musical instruments. School band instruments, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, that sort of thing. My husband is also an instrument repair technician, and we began our own business about seven years …