Category: Water Storage & Filters

Letter Re: Thoughts on Beginning Preparedness

James, There have recently been some really good posts on SurvivalBlog. I found B.J.H.’s Thoughts on Beginning Preparedness very interesting. Not just because of useful information, but because it highlighted the differences between each of us and our situations. My first survival/TEOTWAWKI book was When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency by Matthew Stein. It made sense to me, so I started with lots of extra house/car keys, hidden appropriately. Next was Bug Out Bags (BOBs) for the whole family, and emergency bags in the cars. Then I started stockpiling food and water for …


Thoughts on Beginning Preparedness, by B.J.H.

Preparing for the end of the world as we know it is an understandably daunting task, especially for a beginning prepper. The path to securing yourself and your family should ultimately end in a self-sufficient rural retreat, but there are many steps down that path. It is easy in the beginning stages of your preparation to feel discouraged by the shear size of the task in front of you. The amount of information to be taken in, the sudden awareness s of your vulnerable present condition, the list of tools you never knew you needed, and the anticipated financial and …


Low Cost Preparedness, by J.E.

We, in the U.S.A., live on a knife edge.  Most of us take our life of ease (compared to the rest of the world) for granted, The ones who don’t are preppers and survivalists.  The television and radio give almost instant notification of the latest earthquake, hurricane, fire, or whatever and that makes many of us casual about disaster.  We get used to hearing about it so we ignore it beyond a “Gee that’s too bad!”  After all, disasters only happen to “the other guy.” Prepping for the individual and the way we go about it is different in almost …


Waking Up and Getting Prepared, by Matthew G.

I live a very average suburban life similar to many people across the country. Commute to work, office job, suburban home with wife and kids. It’s easy to forget how fragile this lifestyle is and how little it takes to remove all the things you come to depend on. Recently I had an afternoon that showed me just how easy these conveniences can go away and the difference a little preparedness can make. After picking up my daughter from day care I drove home to find myself locked out of the house. We were having new keys made and I …


Letter Re: The Disappearing Suburban Basement

Sir, Regarding the water problem in the basement: In our own basement, we have the traditional electric (grid powered) sump pumps. However, the previous owner had installed a water-powered back-up sump pump. As long as there is cold water pressure, this pump works beautifully. After using battery-powered back-ups for years, I’ve found this to be virtually maintenance free, while serving it’s purpose well. For most folks, a power outage in a severe thunderstorm is the most common cause of basement flooding. At least for a short period of time, such a water-powered back-up should work long enough for you to …


Letter Re: A Suburban Bug-In Problem (Or Maybe a Resource)

Since the 1950s many homes have had them. Since the 1970s many building codes have required them. What? A sump pump. Yeah, that thing in the hole in the corner of the basement that kind of hums every once in a while. You don’t think about it much do you? But it keeps your basement floor dry. If the electric goes out, for any reason, for very long, you may have a big problem. I have seen over a foot of water in a 30×25 foot basement after just a mild spring rain. They make “battery back up” auxiliary pumps, …


The Disappearing Suburban Basement–Part 2, by Jeff W.

In part one of this article, I outlined the process I used for the exterior of my home to create a hidden retreat for my family, and maybe a few lucky friends, should we experience some event in the nation which would precipitate the need to “go underground” for a short time. With the exterior of our home finished, and the basement retreat fully camouflaged from possible intruders, looters, or those looking to pillage and do harm, I turned my attention to outfitting our basement retreat into a space converted to provide shelter, defense, and storage. The only true access …


Transitioning to a Seven Day Bug Out Bag, by Firefighter Charles

I was standing in the living room, watching CNN and saw the devastation of Haiti when it struck me how important a bug out bag was..  I listened to how help is coming and arrived almost immediately.  Logistical issues hampered “helps” immediate aiding of the people in Haiti.  Chile got hit  by a massive earthquake as well.  With Chile’s government not wanting any support at first, watched how Chile succumb to riots and looting in just three days after the quake.  Haiti broke down as well after five days of no food, water, or shelter.  Many people in Chile had …


Letter Re: Desert Water–Where is It?

James: I live in Prescott, Arizona about 80 miles north of Phoenix. We are at over 5,000 ft. altitude, in the mountainous high desert, where the temperatures are usually about 20 degrees F lower than down in the valley. The local creeks still have some water flowing in them from the rain and snow we received this past winter, but the flow is now down to a trickle and they will cry up completely soon. We actually get some decent rain storms during the local monsoon season, usually around July, but we’re not allowed to trap it in reservoirs because …


Desert Water — Where is It?, by Knun

Let’s all hope that the information contained within this article is never used. To put it simply, for most suburban type folks, we would be in a world of hurt if we actually had to use this information during a SHTF situation. Mitigating a basic need such as water should be at the forefront of our preparations. Since preventing ourselves from being in a situation that would require the skills I will describe is ten times better than using them. With that in mind I have also described techniques to minimize the need to utilize these skills. If you live …


Two Letters Re: Lessons From the Tennessee Floods

First things first, please accept my heartfelt thank you for your excellent web site and all of the information you have helped disseminate to folks such as myself. My heart goes out to the people of Nashville and the disaster they are facing from the flooding. However, the logical part of me is astounded by all of this as the media and government (http://www.nashville.gov/oem/preparedness/wcd.asp) in Nashville have been repeatedly warning people to prepare for a major flood since 2005 and have held numerous public meetings in conjunction with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The warnings were not from …


Living Like TEOTWAWKI Could Come at Any Time, by Mrs. C.J.

If you even so much as glance at the news or if you’re like me and check out The Drudge Report every morning, you can’t help but realize the world is becoming more and more uncertain. It seems that anything could happen at the drop of a hat and without little, if any, fore-warning. Volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods seem to be changing or taking the lives of unsuspecting people almost daily. The threat of nuclear warfare is always just beyond the horizon. If we ever experience an EMP, we could be without power and [utility-supplied] water for months. Most …


Three Letters Re: Use the Ground You Live on for More Than Walking

Jim Explanations about constructing homemade slow sand filters are on numerous web sites and have been for years. Typically, they use 5 gallon buckets with layers of sand (sometimes they specify the size of the grains of sand), gravel and charcoal. A little bit of research will show how to construct one to experiment with and to maintain for use in an emergency. Typically these are not very effective against water that is contaminated by chemicals. While barrels will allow you to filter more water, you will not be able to move it and there will be the problem of …


Letter Re: Spring Location Web Page

JWR: I came upon the Find A Spring web site the other day, thought it might be interesting. Water being one of the most important assets in a great time of need, just maybe it is closer and better than your tap. Look up the closest natural spring to your location at Find A Spring. Bring all your water carrying gear and try it out to see how it tastes. Some of these springs mention sulphur or other tastes. You might find that it is the best water you have ever tried, best of all it is natural and typically …


Letter Re: Using Pipe Infrastructure to Your Advantage

Beneath many of our very feet are hundreds of miles of underground piping which utilized correctly can provide valuable resource in the event of a TEOTWAWKI situation. Storm drainage pipe siphons rain water from urban areas into surrounding streams and rivers. Accessed through manholes and curb gutters water runs off the street into basins and concrete piping. (Concrete piping varies in size, however most urban areas use diameters 36” and upward.) In the event of a G.O.O.D. situation slipping into some form of drainage would at least allow stealth movement for a decent distance (remember water always flows toward the …