Category: Water Purification

Poll Results: Why are You Preparing to Survive?

Here is the first round of responses to this question: Those who are well educated enough to see a societal collapse of some sort or another in the making fall into two groups, the merrymakers and the preparers. The merrymakers don’t see life worth living post-SHTF, so they live it up now. We on SurvivalBlog are the preparers and have chosen to survive, but why? Our children? To rebuild civilization? Because the collapse will only be temporary? Because we can and we’re stubborn with a stronger than normal will to survive? The following is just the first batch of responses. …


Letter Re: Lessons From an Unexpected Grid Down Weekend

Hi Jim, We just had a bout with Mother Nature and lost power which appeared at first to be for some time. I am happy to report that my “list” generated from this un-expected “grid-down” weekend was very very very short. I attribute this success and wonderful feeling to what I have gleaned from your publications, SurvivalBlog, and a few very good friends! We were without power for about 40 hours and really only had two “needs”. I was actually “disappointed” when the power came back on. J Oh, and we did not use the power generation until hour 38 …


Poll Results: Best Occupations for Both Before and After TEOTWAWKI

In no particular order, the following are the first batch of responses to my poll question on the best occupations or home businesses for both before and after TEOTWAWKI: Locksmith/Home security systems installer/repairman — Beekeeping Small scale vegetable gardening. Growing herbs (medicinal) — 1) Electricity: a. Recharge batteries for folks, rebuild the bad batteries, and lots of folks don’t know squat about electricity for lighting, etc. Got several methods: Solar, miscellaneous generators powered by hand, animal, wind and even the old one lung gas engine with that darn heavy flywheel. b. Also use the above for communications when there aren’t …


Letter Re: Yet Another Article Touting “Mobility” for Survival

Dear Jim: See this piece on Survival Preparedness as: “The Ultimate “Contrarian” Investment for 2007 — Be Prepared” The author knows a lot about economics (excellent web site), but one can certainly critique his “Batman in the Boondocks” or “mobile refugee” survival strategy. Regards, – OSOM JWR Replies: I’m dismayed to see such strategies proposed again and again, usually by folks who have never actually attempted to fill–much less actually shoulder–their “everything that I’ll need” backpack. It is incredibly naive to think that anyone can “head for the hills” with just what you can carry, and survive for an extended …


Letter Re: Chlorine Bleach and Its Uses

Jim, Chlorine bleach is a great multi-use item to store.  It can be used to treat water, disinfect/clean, deodorize latrines, and probably lots of other things. Here are some quick numbers: Water purification: 16 drops (1/8tsp) per gallon/4 liters.  Let stand for 15 minutes, retreat if water does not smell of Chlorine.   CDC recommends a fresh 1:10 to 1:100 solution for cleaning up blood spills FEMA recommends 8oz of  bleach to 5 gallons of water for killing mold and 4 oz to 5 gallons for disinfecting flood-contaminated articles: (That’s 125ml / 20liters and 250ml / 20 liters for metric folks) …


Letter Re: Making Farm Field Water Runoff Water Drinkable

James: I’ve considered as an emergency water supply the steady runoff from the cornfield behind us. It’s always at least a steady trickle even in the driest part of summer. Will a Katadyn filter or similar remove pesticides or other chemicals from it? Or should I plan on a small water still? – Mike JWR Replies: If working with field runoff, first use a pre-filter to remove sediment. Just a couple of thicknesses of T-shirts over a five gallon bucket works fine as a pre-filter. Using pre-filtered water will greatly extend the life of your primary filter. Next, to filter …


Letter Re: Alternate Short Term Sources for Drinking Water

Jim, An inexpensive way to store a couple hundred gallons of water is simply in install an extra water heater. Electrics are cheap (a couple bucks a gallon), and don’t even need to be electrically connected. The fresh water continually flows through, and can be drained down for short-term needs during an interruption. If installing in new construction, it’s even easier, and an electrical connection means that you have hot water in the event of a natural gas interruption. Plumbing and valving should ensure that the tank can be gravity drained, and that either heater may be taken out of …


Letter Re: Earthquake Preparedness and Charity

I just thought I’d share some notes on my efforts. In the suburban setting I currently live in, I feel that my biggest day-to-day threat would be from a major earthquake hitting nearby. I would view this as a short-term emergency (2 weeks, perhaps) with somewhat localized impact. While there could be mass looting and rioting, I don’t feel it’s that likely in my particular neighborhood, although I do maintain a stock of arms, a bullhorn, spotlight, extra batteries, etc. My current target is to have a 1-month supply of food items, with a mix of ready-to-eat canned foods and …


The Top 7 Items Left Off of Survival Lists, by David in California

There are many useful survival/preparedness lists out there. All have the usual items and practices in common (survival knives, fire starting materials, food storage methods, etc.), but over the years I’ve also noticed several gaps in common. These tend to be of the nasty “I wish I’d realized I would need this item before” variety. This is especially alarming as these gaps could be remedied in most cases very inexpensively or even just with a little forethought. 1. Bleach. No, it’s not a substitute for a proper water filtration system, but in a pinch it does just fine and it’s …


Radiation Protection Factors for Dummies – by L.H.

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When building a homemade fallout shelter in a basement, or on a cement slab inside the first floor, it is important to understand halving thickness and protection factors. First of all, after a nuclear detonation, there will be light, heat, and a blast wave. This essay assumes that you will be out of that target area, with your home and roof intact. If you are close to targets, you may need better shelter than this improvised model. At the end of this essay I will list a few sources showing target maps, fallout maps, blast areas, etc. Fallout is the …


Archives of JWR Radio Interviews on Pandemic Preparedness Available

For two successive weekends, I was interviewed by Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute on her shortwave/webcast radio show. The topic of both of these two hour interviews was family preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic. These interviews are available for free download from Republic Radio in a variety of audio streaming formats at: http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Geri05.html


Letter from “Dr. November” on Disinfecting Water

As far as disinfecting water, rather than bleach I’d recommend calcium hypochlorite (available as swimming pool chlorine or shock.) It’s somewhat cheaper, easier to use, doesn’t taste quite as bad (it’s what the military uses in large disinfection systems), and if you get a pool water test kit (the basic one) you can measure the residual chlorine. Just mix some calcium hypochlorite with water in a plastic squeeze bottle and add to the water you want to disinfect: Take a small sample out with the test kit and get something between 5 and 10 ppm (7-8 ppm is ideal.) A …


Letter from The Army Aviator Re: Katadyn Versus Berkefeld Filters

Here are some useful specifications: Katadyn Drip Filter 0.2 micron ceramic depth filter (Note: This is the ABSOLUTE filtration specification, NOT the Nominal filtration rating.) British Berkefeld Big Berkey With filtration rating efficiencies of >98% down to 0.2 microns >99.9% at 0.5 microns >99.99% at 0.9 microns (Spectrum Labs). Note: Berkefeld’s ABSOLUTE filtration specification is 0.9 microns. (See the above line.) I ‘ve watched the PR advertisements regarding Berkefeld and just sat there shaking my head. I was sent some Berkefeld filter replacements which were touted as equal to Katadyn’s but a much better price. NOT! When I read the …


Letter From The Army Aviator Re: Polar Pure (Iodine Crystals) Water Purification Bottles

I checked and REI was cheapest @ $10.50 ea. Called my local REI and they had none, but they checked and found that they had 244 in their one and only distribution center. They quoted two weeks for delivery. I ordered my six. But assuming perhaps 2 in stock at each store [JWR adds: Unlikely, given recent events] that’s less than 500 available nationwide. That’s less than 1 for every 12 SurvivalBlog readers… I wonder which future ransacked city their distribution center is in? Hope it wasn’t New Orleans. Kind of unsettling how some things are really pretty scarce already. …


Letter Re: Where to Get Iodine Crystals?

Jim, Iodine crystals for disinfecting water are available as a trade product called “Polar Pure” from most of the regular backpacking supply places such as REI. It comes in a small bottle with a screened top, you fill it, shake it, and then decant a capful or two of the supersaturated solution into your water. The bottle has full instructions and also a thermometer so you know how long the water should sit before use. The cost was about $8 or so, last time I bought any. – “Doc” JWR’s Reply: A highly recommended product! One little three ounce bottle …