CW4 sent in this list of Bank Failures so far this year:
Syringa BankBoise ID 34296 Sunwest Bank January 31, 2014 January 31, 2014
The Bank of UnionEl Reno OK 17967 BancFirst January 24, 2014 January 28, 2014
DuPage National BankWest Chicago IL 5732 Republic Bank of Chicago January 17, 2014
U.S. Scalia Says Internment Ruling Could Happen Again– K.R.
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More from the Ukraine: Ukrainian protestor kidnapped, CRUCIFIED and has part of his ear cut off before being dumped in a forest after a week of torture – T.
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AF Cheating Scandal Grows to 92 Missile Officers
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S.F. sent in the link to this excellent explanation: No Country for Old Fishermen
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R.I.P. – the results are starting to come in. Here is a pretty good independent test that attempts to replicate FBI tests.
Videos of the actual test are posted on the web pages along with the write up. It’s just about what I would have expected, and I don’t believe I will be buying any.
“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that’s no reason not to give it.” – Agatha Christie
Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 51 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
Maple syrup is a gift of nature. Like all good gifts, it must be received. That happens in late winter and early spring in the New England and the Great Lakes regions. Since autumn, temperatures below 45 degrees have caused the trees to store sugar as starch. Around the end of February and into March, the sun begins to warm the maple trees even while the nights remain quite cold– below freezing. This fluctuation in temperature begins a pumping action in the sugar maple trees, which I interrupt by gathering sap.
The Tree Sugar Maple (also known as Rock Maple or Hard Maple) trees are the most common source of sugary sap. I am told that Black Maples are also especially good for tapping. Usually, Red Maples and Silver Maples should be avoided, if their sap is not as sugary, which consequently takes longer to evaporate. If my red and silver maples test below 1.5% sugar, I will avoid them. Their taste is also not as light and sweet. The Sugar Maple leaf is distinctive by its five-fingered leaf with deep “U” shapes between the fingers. The traditional Canadian Maple leaf symbol is quite similar to the sugar maple leaf. The leaves of Red and Silver Maples have distinctive jagged edges and “V” cuts between fingers.
I find that determining the type of maple tree by its bark can be as much art as science. In some trees, the Sugar Maple bark looks like elephant skin. It can be difficult to discern one variety from another. Another cue to discover your Sugar Maples is that their branches tend to branch off lower to the ground (six feet or so) when mature. An important consideration of a great producer is its crown the collection of branches at the very top of the tree. A great crown will draw a great amount of sap up from the roots and truck. Leaving nothing to chance, I mark my Sugar Maples in the autumn, before the leaves fall, with a small dot of spray paint.
The University of Maine has excellent resources on selecting trees, harvesting sap, and making maple syrup at: www.extension.umaine.edu
Tap Using a 7/16″ bit, I drill a two-inch hole at a slightly uphill angle into the maple tree about three to four feet above the ground. I usually see sap immediately begin to wet the opening. Clean the tapped hole of any sawdust or debris. Using a rubber mallet, gently tap a 7/16″ plastic spile into the tree. The spile should be firmly seated in the white wood but not split the tree. Tap on warm days to avoid splitting the tree.
Connect the spile using a food grade plastic hose inserted into a 5-6 gallon pail which sits on the ground at the base of the tree. Some older stainless steel spiles permit hanging the bucket from the spile. That doesn’t work with the modern plastic variety, so I just put the collection buckets on the ground with a piece of wood on the cover to keep everything stable. The bucket requires a lid to prevent rain and snow from ruining the sap. On the side of the rim of the bucket, near the top, drill a hole for the plastic hose to go into the side of the bucket. My first year, I drilled a hole through the top of the cover, which was not a good idea since rainwater and melting snow contaminate your sap. Your collection operation is complete! It is that easy.
Responsibly tapping maple trees for sap does not damage the trees. The proof of that are the generations of “sugarbush” harvesters that tap their Maples every year. It is important to rest a tree every three or four years, arborists say. It is also important to tap only trees that are mature. The Michigan and Maine state websites about harvesting maple syrup agree that only trees with trunks more than 10″ in diameter should be tapped. If a tree is 10-20 inches in diameter, it has a circumference of 31″ to 61″ and can support one tap. A tree 20″-25″ has a circumference of 64″- 79″ and can support two taps. Over 25″ diameter trees can support three taps. A tree should not be tapped with more than three taps under any circumstances. Over-tapping a tree can starve it of the needed sap for its survival. Excess openings (taps) in the tree can also allow pests and infections to enter the tree.
The sap-rising temperatures– 40 degrees or so– will create pressure inside the tree and cause the sap to flow. Day and night, the running sap will drain into your collection bucket. During periods of great temperature fluctuations, I have harvested five gallons a day from a productive tap.
A sweet sap will be about 2% sugar and is measured in the field using a hydrometer. You will need to buy a long or short hydrometer ($10-$20) and a stainless steel cup ($18-$22) to hold the sap while testing. I buy all of my supplies from Sugar Bush Supply company www.sugarbushsupplies.com. I have found them them to be 100% reliable, fairly-priced, and knowledgable. Sap that is less than 2% is still usable, but it will take longer to evaporate and can result in a darker, more molasses-like syrup. The Grade A Amber syrup comes from the sweetest sap.
Evaporation
As soon as possible, boil your sap. If it stands for more than two or three days, especially in warm weather, it can become milky and affect the taste of the syrup. For my sap, I use a 125 gallon, food grade, polystyrene holding tank that I purchased from Leader Evaporators atwww.leaderevaporator.com . Making maple syrup is about evaporating the water out of the sap. Roughly speaking (depending on the sweetness of the sap) 43 gallons of sap yields one gallon of syrup.
The sap is boiled to 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water. At sea level this temperature is about 212 degrees Fahrenheit. So, since I am near sea level, I bring my sap to 219.5 degrees, when it becomes a clear amber yellow. Boiling above those temperatures will often result in gritty bits of “sugar sand” in the syrup and a cloudy product. Also, the longer the sap is boiled, the darker it gets. Inferior sap will yield a syrup that is “Class C”, brown, and molasses-tasting. The highest prized syrup is the golden, clear, light syrup.
In the past when doing small batches, I used an electric stove to boil my sap in stainless steel pots from Walmart. The evaporation/boiling process took about seven hours to turn 18-20 gallons of sap into two quarts of syrup. Because I will have several hundred gallons of sap this year, I decided to boil most of it on an outdoor steel box wood stove in the woodshed. I will use the stove top for the finishing process of taking the thickened sap to 219.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Filtering and Bottling
Syrup should be filtered when it’s hot. I use homemade filters, but they can also be purchased at Sugar Bush Supply and other supply companies. The syrup should be bottled at a temperature of at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent bacteria and fungi. It is capped immediately and left to cool. I use 12 oz and 8 oz glass bottles, but there is a wide variety of containers, caps, and labels. Just make sure your jars and bottles are sterile before filling them. Bottles should be filled to near the top, minimizing the amount of air in the bottle. The bottle or jar can then be laid sideways to cool, creating a nice seal with the cap.
Reverse Osmosis
I have been reading and thinking about using a reverse osmosis (RO) machine to extract much of the water from the sap before I boil it. Most of the literature claims that the reverse osmosis filtering systems can extract up to 60% of the water out of the sap. Obviously, this would reduce the boiling time significantly.
However, I am concerned that the sugar in the raw sap would foul the filters frequently. If I have to replace filters every hundred gallons of raw sap, for example, that would require a lot of work and maintenance. For me this is a hobby, not a job. I am not convinced yet that using the RO filters makes sense for my small operation.
Clean Up
After the season is over, clean all of your hoses, spiles, and buckets with a hot chlorine-water solution. Use one part chlorine to twenty parts hot water. Then store your requipment in a dry, clean place. Cleanliness is critical in the process. Whenever I handle the raw sap, I usually filter it to remove any visible debris. Then, boiling it kills any unseen germs, bacteria, and contaminants.
Final Product
You are finished! Your maple syrup is delicious, pure and 100% natural, with no additives of any kind. I am told that maple syrup, like honey, will last for many years when sealed and stored in a cool, dark place.
Combined with your labor and a few materials, your maple syrup is a gift of nature.
Hugh,
I thought that the readership of Survivalblog would like to know that I am currently burning diesel fuel that was bought in 2005. The fuel was stored in 55-gallon drums located in a cool, dark place and treated with FPPF super fuel stabilizer. I also intentionally bought my fuel in the winter months. The fuel is being burned in Cummins 12-valve engines. The fuel is low sulfur, not ultra low sulfur, so only time will tell if the same results can be expected from the new fuel that was introduced in 2007. – sj
I read with interest DDR’s article “The Joy of Canning”. Most of her advice is spot-on and an excellent primer for new canners. I commend her for such a comprehensive article for novice canners. However, she includes some potentially dangerous advice that can invite the risk of botulism. For example, she correctly writes, “Vegetables and meats are considered low-acid and should always be processed in your pressure canner. This is also true of your soups, chilis, and most sauces. I find that it’s a good idea, when in doubt, to pressure can just to be safe.” Then, she contradicts this advice later in the article when she writes, “By the way, I water bath can my spaghetti sauce, even though it contains onions, peppers, and oil, because tomatoes are so very high in acid.”This is INCORRECT. If her spaghetti sauce contains onions and bell peppers, then the food MUST be pressure canned in order to prevent the deadly disease of botulism. The acid in tomatoes does not negate the fact that onions and bell peppers are low-acid and must be pressure canned.
The rule of thumb for canning mixed-ingredient foods is to PROCESS THE FOOD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INGREDIENT REQUIRING THE LONGEST PROCESSING TIME. In this particular case, bell peppers canned in quarts require processing for 45 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure (adjusted for altitude). Pressure canning these low-acid ingredients for less time or water-bath canning them invites the risk of botulism.
Even without the addition of low-acid ingredients, sauces made with modern, hybrid tomatoes are often too low-acid to be safely canned in a water-bath. It is recommended that citric acid or another acidifier be added to increase the acidity in order to safely water-bath can. And as I mentioned, if there is anything else added to the sauce (such as bell peppers or onions), then the sauce MUST be processed in accordance with the ingredient requiring the longest processing time.
DDR also mentions canning butter or high-oil items, both of which are items that should not be canned at home. While DDR claims she’s never poisoned anyone yet, I’d like to remind her that “past performance does not guarantee future results.” There are some things that home canners shouldn’t can at home, even with a pressure canner, and even if those products are available commercially. Commercial canneries have additives, preservatives, and processing controls that are not available to home canners. They also have professional processing equipment that we can’t duplicate at home.
The foods not recommended for home-canning include:
The reasons behind the inadvisability of canning these foods are generally due to one of two things: either scientific research has demonstrated that home-canning of such foods is potentially hazardous, or the only way to can them is at such high pressures that the results are unpalatable. In other words, if it’s not possible to kill off botulism spores while producing a palatable product, then the food is placed on the “not recommended” list.
There will always be people who think the rules don’t apply to them, or believe they’re special enough to refute the science behind safe canning. This is the kind of sloppy canning techniques I continuously warn about. Remember, past performance (“Granny always did it!”) does not guarantee future results. Canning is a highly developed science, and to assume the rules don’t apply to you is asking for trouble. Be safe. – Patrice Lewis
Treasury Sells First Floating Rate Notes In Heavily Subscribed Auction – G.G.
Jamie Dimon’s Raise Proves U.S. Regulatory Strategy is a Joke – B.R.
JPMorgan Loses 44% of Gold Inventories in 4 Days! – RBS
Items from The Economatrix:
U.S. Mint Gold-Coin Sales Jump 63% in January; Silver Triples
Celente – No Way Out As Global Ponzi Scheme Collapse Begins
As Predicted, Tapering Prompts Market Dive
The Dow Has Already Fallen More Than 1000 Points From The Peak Of The Market
There is an EMP awareness, and specifically the HEMP threat from a nuclear Iran, event that is being hosted today, Feb 6th in DC featuring Sen. Ted Cruz, Amb. James Woolsey, Frank Gaffney and others (to which you are invited):
“American Security and the Iranian Bomb: Analyzing Threats at Home and Abroad.“
Event Details:
You can also see a live webcast of the event at Homeland Threats.
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You can store almost anything in a mason jar, but getting a small amount out of it isn’t so easy when you have to unscrew the whole lid. The Kitchn has a neat hack to attach a flip-out pour spout to your mason jar with little effort. – RLH
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You will have to look at this entire page to get the full grasp, but the concept of the TED presentation is outstanding….and outlines the project. – RBS
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Wake Up And Realize That YOU Are America – SDS
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There is a heavy market campaign in progress over the R.I.P. bullet. I haven’t worked with any myself, though I understand the physics behind it. I can’t see where it is any different than products that have been on the market for years. It’s essentially a Glaser Safety Slug. The concept is to have a projectile that performs like a shotgun, yet actually holds together until impact. You end up with a light projectile that is frangible. I’m sure it performs well when it comes to ballistics gel, but that’s not real world performance. What happens when it hits bone? What about performance after penetration through windshields, glass, plywood, sheet metal, and heavy clothing? I’m not seeing anything new and innovative from it, except a slick marketing campaign that may be positioning the company for bad PR. Anybody remember Winchester Black Talon ammunition?
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In case you didn’t know it, you’ve been splitting wood all wrong. Actually, this gadget looks pretty intriguing. I may just have to try one myself. Be sure to watch the video. Sent in by T.P.
“The hunter has a purity of heart that exists nowhere else. I think he is not defined so much by what he has come to be as by all that he has escaped being. You can make no distinction between what he is and what he does. And what he does is kill. We of course are another matter. I suspect that we are ill-formed for the path we have chosen. Ill-formed and ill-prepared. We would like to draw a veil over all that blood and terror. That have brought us to this place. It is our faintness of heart that would close our eyes to all of that, but in so doing it makes of it our destiny. Perhaps you would not agree. I don’t know. But nothing is crueler than a coward; and the slaughter to come is probably beyond our imagining. Should we think about ordering? I’m famished.” – Cormac McCarthy, The Counselor
Today we present two entries for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 51 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
The Personal Survival Kit (PSK) is everywhere. If you Google it, up come 10,400,000 entries. What is it? Peace of mind, a force-multiplier, a breath-mint tin full of miracle producing ingredients, or maybe not! The PSK can be purchased ready-made online or in any camping store. These kits are diverse in contents and in price range, some being quite expensive. They are interesting but rarely are they exactly what any specific real-life survival situation requires. You will always have to add or subtract components in order to achieve the ideal kit. It is better to take the time and make your own PSK. The self-made kit will make you think about what survival is all about. The process of selecting each component will put you in direct contact with its function and your commitment to its possible future use in your hands.
The plethora of Internet how-to videos is presently making the self-made PSK the hot topic. Some are thoughtfully assembled and presented, but most go more in the direction of nonsensical fantasy, uselessness, and unrealistic imagined survival scenarios. Many presumed essential components of these PSK’s would unfortunately not save anyone’s life.
The Real PSK
Everyone has their own personal contingency. The Personal Survival Kit will neither save you from an E-5 twister, a category five hurricane, or an earthquake registering a 9.0 on the Richter scale, nor from floods, forest fires, or civil unrest. The most important tools to have with you in an emergency are practical experience and prudence.. You will ultimately have to save yourself in every survival scenario. The PSK is a wisely selected collection of effective back-up tools that will serve you once you decide what you will do next. It is there to support your resolve to take action and survive.
One foundational principle of survival is to know where you are and be able to locate yourself on a basic road map. If you had to abandon your vehicle and walk home, which way would you go? Wherever I travel, especially when driving, I keep a general sense of homeward direction. I still use hard copy maps and a compact road atlas. Even if I know where I am going on a repeat trip, without any need for a map, I habitually pay attention to directions with a sort of mental compass. Everyone, especially those who don’t have an innate sense of direction, should include some navigation aids in their PSK, since getting out of a bad situation usually involves moving and going.
Wherever my work takes me, I always have at least a minimalist PSK in my vehicle driver-side door, in my shoulder bag, or sometimes in my pocket. Your own PSK can be kept in your vehicle storage compartments, in your boat, in your aircraft, in a pocket in your backpack, or best of all, on your person in a pocket or purse.
A PSK Means Foresight
In an emergency situation, the immediate objective is positive, can-do, survival attitude. In the face of contrary predicaments, survival means to keep safe, keep dry, keep hydrated, keep fed, keep warm, keep alert, keep visible or invisible, keep connected, keep healthy, and stay alive. The last 36 months have produced enough extreme situations, both nationwide and abroad, where many people probably wished they had some sort of survival kit.
Building your PSK
Your PSK should be intentionally compact and practical, so as to avoid any excuse to leave it behind. If something were to happen where the PSK was your last resort, your life might depend on what’s inside. Every item should be your own personal choice. Even though budget priorities command how we invest in equipment, you can’t afford cheap. Doubtful and unproven components are not an option. Better-than-nothing is an unacceptable survival attitude.
Good Survival Books
Any comprehensive survival book covers the PSK. I have benefited from John McCann’s “Stay Alive” and “Building your own PSK”. Also good is the Tom Brown series or military handbooks. Ex-military authors usually cut the fat and get down to essentials. The PSK is a big fad right now, and there is a confusing array of things to buy, based on TV survival shows. Many of these highly commercialized gadgets are glorified toys. They are endorsed by survival stars who are actors. I would not entrust my life to any of them.
Basic principles
It comes as no surprise that the little phrase “God helps those who help themselves” exists in every known language. In survival scenarios, it frequently happens that little things make the big difference. Read, study, take notes, and learn now because the government’s emergency system cannot always save you. Your PSK is for you and yours, in line with your life’s immediate situational duties, your employment, and your extended range of activities. Most specific components can be had at reasonable cost, from ordinary sources such as grocery stores, drugstores, and hardware stores. Camping or military surplus stores offer a variety of specialized items, as well as imported knock-offs. Be selective and buy what really works. Online sources are located by using clear and precise search words for the item you want.
What is your PSK really for?
Question its ultimate purpose. Should your PSK help you to be more visible or more easily found? Will you be lost and, hopefully, the object of “search and rescue” efforts? In some scenarios, you want high visibility; bright, orange-colored and reflective items should be sought for the container and contents.. When stranded at night, it is good to be able to shine a light on yourself to oncoming traffic or potential “search and rescue” personnel. Shiny PSK components add more visibility. If bright colors are only preferred because you are concerned about dropping and losing your PSK contents, then put minimal landyards on the items you fear losing.
Modeled after military-issue PSK’s, should your kit be of the tactical type, to be able to disappear with you? Are you escaping and evading SHTF pandemonium or WROL disorder? Is wilderness or desert near where you live and work? Can you discreetly camp or make a fire where you are going? Is your situation more likely in an urban context? Your survival kit should be specific to your area of operations. PSK’s are as diverse as their owners and their respective contingencies.
The Container
The small tin format, immortalized by the Altoids breath-mint dispenser, has become the model. Despite the genius-level examples I have seen, I do not consider this to be completely serious or adequate. If your PSK absolutely has to fit inside your pocket, then be ready and willing to forego a lot of useful survival items. By going a little bigger, the greater benefits would exponentially outweigh the inconvenience. Worthy and larger variants to the Altoids tin do exist, such as watertight plastic boxes made by Otter, Pelican,and Plano. These run the gamut of either bright or subdued colors as well as camo.
Metal containers either larger or smaller than the breath mint tin are widely available. Larger would be ideal for a more developed PSK; smaller would be good for mounting on an edge tool sheath, such as a fixed blade survival knife or a machete. Smaller tins can be sub-containers inside the main container.
USA-made military organizers and pouches with buckles or zippers can be used for the PSK container itself or as a quickly identifiable storage case. These come in virtually any size, color, and configuration, with varying amounts of internal fixtures and sub-compartments. By themselves, they are good if soft and silent is a priority. Just be sure your choice will resist the elements.
My personal preference is for the metal tin concept, which is crush- resistant, and able to be put on a fire for boiling water or cooking. The shiny inside surface can be polished and used as a signal mirror. It should be waterproof, either with an internal gasket or sealable with heavy tape. Every shape and size can be found online. Sources are numerous, such as BestGlide.com or SurvivalResources.com, which offer many of the common sizes. Trangia.se and EcoLunchBoxes.com make larger sizes.
I tape my PSK tin shut. Tape can be re-used for other purposes in survival. Gorilla brand is available at any big-box home improvement store. PatriotOutfitters.com offers tactical tape in military colors and various widths. Go around the edge of your container several times so as to have more tape available for multi-tasking. Ranger bands made from bicycle inner tubes will keep your PSK closed but if the inner tubes are old, these bands will fail. Small diameter elastic shock cord is considered a multi-use survival item by the USMC. It can be used to keep your PSK closed, if you do not want to use tape. If you wrap paracord or anything else around the outside of your PSK, it must be able to slide off easily, allowing your kit to quickly deploy. Taping my PSK shut also reminds me not to borrow things from inside that I’ll forget to put back.
As it is for the container, so should it be for the contents. I like metal sub-containers. To me, metal PSK items seem better– more robust and less toy-like. My kit incorporates various metal items like a titanium whistle, brass button compass, zinc alloy flashlight, stainless steel signal mirror, and an aluminum match case.
PSK Tools
One foundational principle of survival is to know where you are and be able to locate yourself on a basic road map. If you had to abandon your vehicle and walk home, which way would you go? Wherever I travel, especially when driving, I keep a general sense of homeward direction. I still use hard copy maps and a compact road atlas. Even if I know where I am going on a repeat trip, without any need for a map, I habitually pay attention to directions with a sort of mental compass. Everyone, especially those who don’t have an innate sense of direction, should include some navigation aids in their PSK, since getting out of a bad situation usually involves moving and going.
The compass is one of the survival big C’s : cutter, cordage, container, combustion, communication, compass. Navigation is for the scenario where you are either lost and needing to get your bearings, trying to get a sense of location on a map, or trying to move in a line towards a precise objective. The cardinal directions of the compass will be indispensible. Two accurate compasses should be part of the PSK; one primary compass should be kept on your person and a back-up one kept inside the kit.
Every PSK wants to have the ingenious little button compass made famous in war movies. Brass is best for the button compass. Cheap plastic ones are unreliable and a gamble, at best. I’m not sure if I would entrust my life’s destiny to a $1.99 plastic button compass. The Francis Barker NATO brass button compasses are pricey, but they are trustworthy, while keeping in mind that button compasses are meant only for very general navigation. Only one button compass, from USA-made TruNord.com, is as accurate as bigger ones and worthy of total confidence in all conditions.
The next size bigger is the watchband compass. This compass is excellent, accurate, and much better than even the good button compass. Cammenga, TruNord, and Suunto.com make these.
Add a playing card size plastic laminated map of the USA, or cards with more specific maps, depending upon where you live and work or where you will be traveling. Copy and print them from map websites. The smallness of such map cards seems somewhat futile, but it is a big help in giving a general geographical sense of where you are, and is usually sufficient for getting your bearings.
Slavomir Rawicz’s somewhat contested, but believable, biography “The Long Walk” was particularly long because the escapees from the WWII Siberian gulag did not know where to go. They did have a cobbled PSK of sorts, but only sketchy knowledge of their whereabouts in eastern European and Asian geography.
In survival, even the smallest help can change everything for the better. You can print out survival instructions from the Internet and make your own quick information cards. If you are injured or compromised, someone else may have to utilize your PSK. Avery.com makes plain cards and labels any size to print out and add to your PSK.
I do not keep a complete note pad in the PSK, but rather just a few loose Rite-in-the-Rain pages. Shorten the length of a pencil and sharpen it so it fits into your PSK container. I use a woodless, solid graphite pencil from the arts and crafts store. Sharpen the pencil with a metal sharpener, which will multi-task to make wood shavings from whittled sticks for fire tinder. In a pinch, you can remove and sterilize the pencil sharpener blade for first aid use.
Add some surveyor flagging ribbon to your PSK in your choice of color (bright or subdued) for marking your way so as to avoid walking in circles, if you are disoriented. The true story of German officer Clemens Forrell’s escape from a Russian prison camp “As Far as my Feet will Carry Me” dramatizes this delirious episode. It frequently happens to hunters while they concentrate on stalking and inadvertently lose their bearings. Most hunters do not look at a compass when they start out in the direction of their game. Reversing the bearings to come back to camp becomes impossible. It only takes a minute to look.
A good knife is your number one tool. If you put one inside this kit, you have three choices– a folder, a multi-tool, or a small fixed blade. However, if your PSK attaches to a fixed blade sheath, the knife can be a big as you want. Do I really need to put a knife inside my PSK? What will be my eventual demands and expectations of an edged tool? Do I want a snap-off cutter refill blade or disposable scalpel blade only for fine cuts, or a broader use standard knife? If I choose a folder, can I still baton and process firewood without stressing and breaking it? Are there other blades and useful tools folded inside the valuable handle space? Can a small skeletal knife be made bigger with the addition of an improvised handle? There are plus-and-minus determinants for each type of tool.
Ultra compact PSK-specific knives are now being produced by quality knifemakers, including the American Redoubt knife-making superstars (TOPS, Buck, CRKT), and also the common USA-made brands like Kershaw, ESEE, and Becker. They range from three to six inches in length or longer. Internet sources can be found by entering the search word “PSK knife.” Besides a multi-tool, which I carry on my person, I like the military variants of the Swiss Army Knife for my PSK. They are available in black, green, or camo. My SAK has a decent stainless steel blade that allows for one-handed opening and includes a saw, while other tools fill up the handle space. I add various grits of folded wet-or-dry sandpaper in the PSK for edge tool sharpening and other uses. Small sharpening stones removed from fold-up holders are very effective but less compact. Credit card size diamond sharpeners are excellent but a little pricey.
Small multi-tools do fit well in the PSK tin, but how useful are they in a survival situation? Miniature/tiny fold-out blades and tools are not always ideal. A little extra room allowed for medium-sized tools could make a huge difference when the heat is on. Beyond the blade and pliers, everyone wants tweezers and scissors. The original Slip-N-Snip folding scissors are still made in Sweet Home, Oregon. SliverGripper.com produces Uncle Bill’s heavy duty tweezers. Although a sewing needle or knife tip can aid in the removal of splinters and other foreign elements that penetrate the skin, traditional tweezers are still the best. Cactus grows in my area of operations, requiring sufficient tweezers. A mini-tin of PRID traditional black drawing salve is a good follow-up to cactus run-ins and splinters.
The urban PSK tends to downplay the knife, since this can usually be carried separately. In its place is a combination tool or mini-prybar. These range from a truly functional miniature prybar to a wedge-shaped keychain accessory. Leatherman Piranha, Planet Pocket Tool, and Widgy Pry-bar are USA-made examples. Although their realistic prying force is surprising, the principle is to have an alternative to knife blades, which were not meant for leverage prying. In desperate emergency situations people panic and demand the impossible from whatever tool is in their hands. Urban PSKs frequently include other city-specific implements. VigilantGear.com offers versatile lock bypass tools. UltimateSurvival.com offers the saber-cut survival saw, which acts as a mini hacksaw.
Fire is an essential survival objective; it’s one of the big four– fire, shelter, food, and water. If fire-making is within your contingency, be sure to have multiple ways to make the fire that will warm you, protect you from animals, allow cooking, and purify water. Fire is useful for signaling with smoke during the day and flames at night.. Dry wood makes black smoke; wet wood makes white. The decision to build a fire should be the conclusion of much thought regarding necessity, safety, and discretion.
In an urban scenario, metal-cased tea lights or small emergency candles fit in the PSK. The more real beeswax content, the longer the burn time. Light the candle, drip some wax on the intended fireproof emplacement, and it should stick in place, standing up. Compelling words on beeswax. A lip balm candle idea is great.
Fire starter petroleum-impregnated cotton is still the favorite choice. You can put some in dedicated sealed drinking straw segments. I do not commit cotton balls or cotton wads from vitamin bottles to being greased up for fire starting until the need arises. I keep some form of first aid petroleum separate for the same idea of multi-tasking. Lip balm or ointments from first aid squeeze tubes work for fire as well as their intended purpose, but they are bulky if you want them in your PSK instead of your pockets. Purchase the single-use flat wrapped versions of these first aid items. Foil-wrapped single-application antibiotic ointment takes up little room. Add any of these to cotton balls for fast fire starting. Multi-task Remington gun wipes, alcohol wipes, military issue Trioxane, or Esbit, and WetFire cubes are all good fire tinders for open-air fires. Avoid breathing the fumes.
Ferrocerium combination magnesium bars with an attached ferro rod, even the original military-issue, are over-rated. I have rarely had the chance to light a fire in idyllic, windless conditions. Magnesium shavings blow away, and the attached ferro rod can only be repeatedly struck on the same face. A good ferro rod is a major player in survival fire making. A plain one, without a handle and or plastic housing, is best; it’s the most compact, long enough to be firmly held by a gloved hand, and can be struck from either end. The minimalist ferro rod will not take up valuable space in the PSK. Camping Survival.com, Going Gear.com or Firesteel.com offer the best sizes.
Coated blades and some stainless steels will not spark a ferro rod. To make the ferro rod spark well, the striker must be bare metal that is sharpened square with a burr on the edge, whether this be the back of a carbon steel tool blade or a dedicated striker. Practice by lightly scraping your finger across your intended striker. If it grabs your skin, it will do the same on a ferro rod. My back-up striker is the larger P-51 military can opener I filed with a square edge. How many uses does the can opener have? See “The Army’s Greatest Invention: the P38 Can Opener”.
A compact disposable Bic-type lighter fits perfectly in the PSK, as well as any available clothing pocket or purse; the more the better. Refillable windproof or metal survival lighters are more durable but require extra lighter fluid. When making a PSK, it is practical to wrap things like extra tape and small diameter cordage around tubes. But common sense says not to wrap anything around a disposable object such as a lighter. Better to wrap material around something you will not throw away, like a metal matchcase. Put a small cable tie at the on-button of your PSK lighter to prevent it from inadvertently turning on while stored, since items in compact kits are generally very tightly compressed against each other. Break the cable tie only when you absolutely need that particular lighter. Additional cable ties are useful for other purposes. They also come in multiple colors for marking things for specific uses.
NATO matches are frequently poor quality of unknown manufacture. Household strike-anywhere matches are surprisingly dependable. The Eco-green ones are not. Get the windproof-waterproof UCO long matches at camping supply stores.
Keep matches in a waterproof metal container, if the plastic ones may be an issue. It makes sense to have fire-making elements stored in fireproof containers. Matches are used once, but the container can be re-used for other things. Original Marbles brand or old Boy Scout brass match containers are available, if you search around. The new ones you buy today are poorly made copies and are not waterproof. The long UCO matches need a slightly longer container. NuMyth and Exotac make watertight aluminum containers. K&M, a highly respected ma-and-pa American Redoubt enterprise, makes military grade brass containers.
If fire cannot be made, what else can give you energy or warm you up in a pinch, at least to prevent hypothermia? Plastic sheeting or reflective mylar sheet materials, such as a survival blanket or a bivy bag, are my first choice. Wrap up, sit down, and, if possible, light a candle inside this thermal environment. It is not luxurious, but you will keep fairly warm. Grocery store tea-lights work, but not as well or as long as the UCO beeswax tea lights.
Tea bags can be sucked on to increase alertness. Salty bouillon cubes are my favorite quick revitalizer. If you can light a fuel cube and put water in your PSK tin to make real bouillon, this is well worth the extra effort. Chewable vitamin tablets or hard candy help as well. Datrex.com still produces the classic miniature ration bars with a 5-year shelf life. In extreme military survival, the patriotic Tootsie Roll has a special history of its own; it story is a A “must read”.
Single AAA battery nano flashlights or coin-size lithium battery-powered keychain lights will fit in the PSK. Energizer makes a metal-cased high tech key chain light. The original Photonlight.com is based in Blachly, Oregon, but beware of the fakes. Solar-powered keychain lights are absolute fakes, as well. Good lights require good batteries that need to be kept fresh. Before I entrust any light to my kit, I try it out for a while, keeping it in my pocket. Keep spare batteries in the kit. When packing your light into the PSK container, be sure nothing pushes against the on/off button.
Everybody puts a signal mirror in their PSK. Even though anything shiny and reflective can be used for signaling, a dedicated mirror is more efficient. I’ve used both plastic and steel signal mirrors. If you are not familiar with signaling by sunlight, you can glue instructions on the back. An interesting credit card size steel signal mirror is available from American Redoubt located at SilentSignals.com.
The dangers of dehydration make this the biggest of the “four big survival concerns”. Water wisdom: the dictum, “don’t eat unless you can drink,” is still one of the golden rules of survival. This is why, in general, most survival kits contain little or no food, though hydration is essential. Water and food procurement possibilities do remain primary ends of the PSK. Various military and survival authorities dispute how long a human can go without food. But all agree that hydration is critical. In survival, never pass up a water source if you find one, collect some and purify it while moving. If you find something better later on, you can always discard the less desirable water.
You need two water specific items: a container and a method of purification. Beware of fast-acting water purification tablets. The best tablets require several hours of waiting for full effect. They come wrapped and sealed in foil, and identified with a printed expiration date. Be sure to know how many you have on hand. You can add packets of powdered sports drink mix to mask the iodine or chlorine taste. Space is a primary issue according to PSK principles, but essential items such as water purification should have a primary place.
A compact filter-straw water purifier is a good addition to the PSK, if there is sufficient room. Not all filter-straws are created equal. Beware of the cheap ones. Water is life. DownUnder Military-approved Sure Aqua Survival straw is imported by Colorado-based SurvivalMetrics.com. Good straws are more expensive, and slightly less compact, but they are proven. They cease to function when their time is up, so there is no guessing about how much water they will purify. The cheap ones reach their expiration limit and you ingest any combination of deadly bacteria. Water filters are very sensitive to what touches them, so be sure to practice at home. Recognize how one small error could spell disaster, since bacteria is only microscopically visible. Remember also that wet water filters will freeze in extreme cold conditions.
Avoid the common cheaply-made zip-lock style water bags. Aqua-Pouch, Nasco WhirlPak, and Loksak make survival-specific water bags for the PSK. They have space-saving, zip-lock style closures. The PSK tin makes for an ideal vessel for boiling water. A coffee filter or tablet-size compressed survival towels, which (once unwrapped) become washcloth size or bigger, serve as pre-filters. EZ Towel, Ultimate Survival Technologies, Hoods Woods or Uni-Tissue make these. A compressed sponge made by Miracle Sponge at Dick Blick.com, powderless nitrile surgical gloves or sterilized balloons can be used as makeshift water vessels.
This is another one of the four survival elements. Animal trapping and fishing seem like a time-consuming gamble, but certain situations allow for this with much-appreciated results. Better to have the means and not need it than to be completely without and suffer a missed opportunity. Keep some brass or stainless snare wire, which can be used for many things besides snares. Craft stores sell all kinds of fine gauge wire. Maybe add an ESEE AH-1 arrowhead, an impressive miniature spear.
Gripping examples of real-life extreme survival food gathering are found in one famous WWII story of the Norwegian commandos “Assault in Norway.” BBC sponsored a re-enactment led by survival celebrity Ray Mear, with many failures. See The Real Heroes of Telemark. Hunting for food in a survival situation can be very trying. Practice first. Learn how to skin and cook unusual and less desirable animals you might trap, which would normally not very appetizing. Declassified military instruction film demonstrates these skills.
Fishing obviously presumes being near natural bodies of water or canals. Be sure your mini kit is what catches the local fish– the bait they like, right size hooks, and appropriate line. Braided filament such as Spider Wire has many uses besides fishing, whereas monofilament degrades quickly. Soft tree bark, bits of wine bottle cork and foam ear plugs will float for makeshift bobbers. Store your fishing kit as a sub-kit in something like an Altoid small tin. Smaller slide-top tins are available on-line at Papermart.com and others under the search : small metal tins.
SurvivalMetrics.comoffers a head bandana with established survival instructions printed on it. My choice is a piece of cloth from fabric stores where good materials like silk, wool, linen, can be found by the yard, in bright or subdued colors of your choice. Any bandana should be sized so as to double as a cravat-scarf for a first aid sling. The bandana also serves as an effective pre-filter for water collection.
A painter’s clear plastic drop cloth is light and compact. You can get them in various mil-thicknesses and dimensions. Ultra light is less re-usable. Close up your shelter with this and light a fire out front, if it is feasible. This mini-greenhouse keeps you warmer than in an open lean-to style configuration. If you are in a natural duff-debris shelter, put the painter’s drop-cloth down as a water barrier, either on the ground or overhead as a cover, adding more debris for insulation. This is much better than a mylar blanket, which should be saved and used around you as a personal wrap.
If you pack a larger-size PSK and include a tarp, pre-tie cordage to corners and most often used tie-offs in between corners. The tarp should thus be ready to deploy quickly. Space blankets, plastic sheets, and trashcan liners and ponchos that lack grommets can easily be used as tarps as shown at.
This is the iconic survival item. Though many knock-offs exist, http://GrabberWorld.com still makes the original Mylar blanket. Blaze orange or O.D. green are available on one side, if visibility is wanted or unwanted. Hypothermia is overcome by wrapping yourself in the blanket to create a thermal barrier. Add a metal encased tea candle to heat up the inside. An excellent instruction on the space blanket is available. U.K.-based Blizzard Survival.com has a full range of space blanket configurations. They are widely available at U.S. suppliers. They make the mylar ponchos and vests that fold up for a compact PSK, too.
Pre-cut single or double shoelace lengths of cordage. Then make quick-release braided chains. Coiling will knot up when you try to unravel it in a hurry. 550 military-invented paracord is touted as the best for a PSK. The inner strands can be used for filament or other low-strength applications. Paracord bracelets deploy easily, yielding about 8 to 12 feet. I carry my cordage outside of my PSK. Better to keep some extra around your neck or waist, or wrap it around the PSK so as to slide it off quickly. Despite all the praise for 550 cord, there are other PSK-specific options. AtwoodRope.net makes the compact 3/32″ cord. Nylon twisted or braided masonry line, bankline, decoy line, or 65-pound spider wire braided fishing line will all easily do the job, as well as 550 cord, where strength is less important. The 550 paracord does remain a backbone of any PSK, whatever length you choose, but you will never regret additional smaller cordage.
Stay away from the brightly colored toys, key chain, and water bottle ornaments. They are dangerous when any trust is placed in their effectiveness. Get the real thing, so it can be truly put to use, if the need arises. I wouldn’t keep any carabiners inside the PSK; instead, attach them on the outside of the carrying case. If things need to be clipped together, use a small Nite-Ize metal S-biner or any size split ring. They are more effective than toy carabiners.
Neatly-folded aluminum foil is a popular PSK item, but it is next to useless for repeated use. Aluminum foil melts and burns in a hot campfire. Heavy foil, used in backpacking stove windscreens, is better and obtainable through online suppliers. Fold up a small aluminum foil baking pan and you will have something for boiling water if you opt out of the metal PSK container.
The compact G.I.-issue wire saw is often a misnomer. Make sure it is the real item based on the original medical-use Gigli wire saw. Every manufacturer uses survival, military, and/or commando buzzwords. Knock-offs will quickly fail and even break in your hands with a little stressing. There are dubious claims that these saws will cut bolts and padlocks. There is also a pocket chainsaw, utilizing field-made handles, that works fairly well. Tests prove that all survival saws are fragile, and their proven use varies. See Survival Saws. What do you need to saw? If padlocks, bolts, and door hinges are barriers in an urban scenario, try a plan-B alternative passage first. The saw on the multi-tool or SAK should be enough for most woodland survival sawing purposes. The wire saw is compact and worth a chance, if it can be used properly. Practice with one; you may or may not like it. Quick-use firewood can be broken with hands and legs.
Reality survival is intense and improvised. Minimalism is nearly always the right measure for survival. Your PSK should be enough. Elaborate tools made in the field seem to be less essential in a true survival situation. They appear to be more at home for extended primitive camping and bushcraft recreation.
Will you have time, along with a cloudless sky, to sit and magnify sunlight to make a fire? Fire making is best covered by the ferro rod, matches and lighter. However, if you use reading glasses, the magnifier will help if your glasses are lost.
The survival tin cannot always double as an Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK), but some minimal space-saving items are useful and welcome. A small assortment of Band-Aids, Steri-strips, a patch of Moleskin, Burn-Aid pads are thin and lay flat in the PSK. Anti-staph alcohol wipes such as Hibistat multi-task for a variety of clean-up needs. Betadine wipes and triple antibiotic singles take up little space as well. Single-dose pain relievers and both allergy and sting medicines fit inside any PSK. Add assorted sewing needles with eyelets big enough to take braided fishing line and dental floss. Not sure if I would ever suture myself, but at least for repair, the humble needle and thread saw the beginning of everything you are wearing. A few safety pins can be added to the repair items. Foil wrapped single-use scalpel blades are my preference over safety razor blades, they can be easily resharpened for non-medical repeat use. Scalpel handles can be re-sized for your kit. In wilderness survival scenarios, most people are justifiably worried about insect and snake bites.
Your PSK will be a diminutive giant of preparedness in your travels, wherever you need to go. Choose your components based on your personal situation. Upgrade and improve your collection of small but effective tools, use them, and be familiar with their multiple uses. Peace of mind will ensue, knowing that you have an effective real-life kit ready to support your plan of action. R.B.
I awoke around 9am on Saturday, August 18, 1992. I work the grave yard shift. The news was still about Mt. Spurr, located about 78 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska and on the west side of Cook Inlet. Little did I know the next four days would be some of the more interesting days of my life.
[Seismicity remained low through July and the first half of August. Seismic monitoring of the volcano was somewhat compromised by the destruction of the crater rim station. Despite repeated attempts to reinstall the crater-rim station, the closest seismometer was now 4.8 km away. Only one shallow and two deep events were recorded between 12 August and 17 August. Perhaps the 27 June eruption “opened” the conduit, and allowed magma to rise undetected.]
I worked, then, as an aircraft mechanic for a major airline at the Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska. I was slated to go to work at 6pm that night and did what any father does on a Saturday with his boys.
[At 1538 on 18 August a 16-min episode of weak tremor including several LP events began. At 1548 a pilot reported an ash-rich plume. The main eruption began at 1642 when strong tremor was recorded on all Spurr stations. By 1658 a subplinian column thrust through low clouds to reach 11 km altitude. Large bombs were thrown 750 m above the vent Ultimately, the radar-determined plume top reached about 14 km — pilot reports were higher. Small pyroclastic flows descended the east and southeast flanks of Crater Peak. Some flows were dry and hot, and left coarse, clast-supported deposits with lobate, steep-fronted margins. Other flows mixed with snow and ice high on the cone and were more mobile and cooler. A late shower of mostly lithic blocks as large as 1 m were hurled as far as 3.8 km southeast of Crater Peak. The southeastward distribution of these deposits was controlled by the position of the vent against the northwest crater wall. More than 170 lightning strikes were detected by the AVO lightning detection system during the second half of the eruption. Eruption ended after 3 hours and 28 minutes at 2011, but intermediate and deep crustal seismicity increased afterward to levels comparable to those of mid-June.]
In the afternoon the Emergency Broadcast System activated on both the television and radio, warning the residents of Anchorage of the impending ash plume and instructing people to take shelter in their homes, to tape all door and window seals, and to place wet towels on the floor at the base of the door. We were also warned not to drive our vehicles for the next 24 hours or more because of the expected ash fall, and if we had to drive after the ash fall, to drive slowly so as to not stir up the ash that fell.
[The volume of August tephra is about 110×106 m3 (40×106 m3 DRE). Upper-level winds took the tephra plume east-southeast directly over Anchorage where sand-sized ash fell as thick as 3 mm. Beyond Anchorage, the axis of the plume crossed the Chugach Mountains and followed the coast toward Yakutat Bay. At Yakutat, 550 km downwind, ash fall was significant; at Juneau, 1000 km downwind, the plume was opaque enough to disrupt air traffic. Ash fall forced the closing of Anchorage International Airport for 20 hours. Air-quality alerts were issued during the ash fall and on the following day, as vehicular traffic resuspended the ash.]
When I heard the warning I informed my wife and children that I would be going to work early and to stay indoors until I came home. As I went to work people were hurrying home to avoid the approaching dust cloud. As I drove west on International Airport Road and as I crossed the bridge over the Minnesota Parkway, I looked to my left toward the Kenai Peninsula and could see the approaching ash cloud and the lightning flashing inside of it. The first thought I had was “is this how the end of the world will look like” and, ”what did I get myself into.” I made it to the maintenance office and checked in with operations to let them know that the maintenance department was manned and confirming that all flights to Anchorage were suspended until further notice. I called the other mechanics and informed them I would man the office, and they were to stay home. Four years later, I learned that this incident would be one of many items that would be used against me to terminate my employment, reinforcing the saying “no good deed goes unpunished”.
As the ash cloud approached, I went outside to experience it firsthand. Before the cloud arrived, it became eerily quiet. There was no bird noise to be heard. In fact there were no birds to be seen. Usually there are seagulls in the area and swallows flying around catching insects, and looking under the jet ways at their mud nests you could see two heads poking out of their nests. There was lightning flashing from cloud to cloud and as the ash cloud overcame me, even though I was under an overhang, the odor of sulfuric acid was strong and my exposed skin had a slight burning sensation. Breathing was uncomfortable, and my eyes started to burn from the acid in the air. In fact, it became downright uncomfortable being outside within a few minutes. I went back inside for the night. The next morning I drove home very slowly. We were warned not to use our windshield wipers to remove the ash from our front windows because the silica in the ash would scratch the windshields; we were instead to use water to wash the ash off the windows. In a few hours there were no gas masks, face masks, painter’s masks ,or anything like them in the town of Anchorage. Also gone were air filters and oil filters for most popular makes of vehicles. The best type of air cleaner for a vehicle is the oil bath type of air cleaner; AMZOIL sells a good oil-in-foam vehicle air cleaner. Many people sprayed rags with WD-40 and loosely placed them either into or tied around the intake horn of their air cleaners in the hope of trapping the abrasive silica and keeping it from going into their engine. During this event, which closed Anchorage Airport for 20 hours, the following night a KLM passenger 747 flew through the ash cloud on approach to Anchorage. They did not see the ash cloud in the dark night and, depending on who or which account you listen to and believe, the ash (which is mostly sand) entered the engines and coated the jet turbine blades with molten glass from the ingestion of the sand (ash) through the engine into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust. Three engines shut down from air loss and imbalance as the molten glass coated the turbine blades unevenly. The last one had a severe power loss. This airplane was coming out of the sky! The APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) was started by a quick-thinking flight engineer. This is necessary to provide air to the “Air Starters” on the jet engines to get them started. Long story short and many stained panties at about 5,000 or 10,000 feet (depending on who you talk to), the airplane landed at Anchorage International Airport. It stayed parked at the base of the tower for many months, until Boeing mechanics came and replaced all four engines, the APU, all air ducts, the air conditioning packs, and all of the windows. The ash cloud sand blasted the windows (the pilots’ windshields and the passenger windows), turning them opaque.
In an effort to help speed the city’s cleanup, the City of Anchorage announced that residents could go to their area fire station and get old fire hose, a nozzle, and a hydrant wrench to wash the ash out of neighborhood driveways and streets. Some people swept up the ash to sell to pottery makers and glass blowers. Not to contradict Hollywood, but a fire hydrant usually cannot be opened by a vehicle hitting it. The plug is spring loaded closed so you must turn it backwards (counter clockwise) to push the plug down into the pipe. I live close to a hydrant, so in my shed I now have a hydrant adapter where I can hook up two hoses to the large outlet of the hydrant. My system includes lever (ball) valves for both hoses, 650 feet of hose (enough to reach both of the neighbors’ houses on either side of me if there isno fire department response in a SHTF event), hose nozzles, and a hydrant wrench. I don’t have these for my neighbors’ benefit but to save my house from being burned down if their houses catch fire.
What did I learn from this event? At the time, I wasn’t considered a “prepper,” but up here you never know when the big one will hit again. We had some food, water, and oil lamps in the event we couldn’t get to the grocery store for a few days or if power was cut, since our electricity is from natural gas turbine generation. There was some concern at the time about power. We had our camping gear for cooking. We have two Coleman two-burner propane camp stoves, several one-pound bottles of propane, and a hose with an adaptor to attach to a 20 pound (or larger) bottle with a splitter to allow the use of two stoves at once. You can buy these at most camping stores. Painter’s masks were gone in a matter of hours, so we now have 100 paper painter’s masks and gas masks for our family. Vehicle air filters for the most popular brands were sold out in hours as were some oil filters. So I now have extra filters (more than two) for all of my vehicles, plus oil and grease. I have a double metal wall locker in my garage with all of this as well as windshield washer fluid, 50/50 antifreeze, RainX, wiper blades, spare hoses and belts, clean cloth rags, and other automotive items. Also, if I was uncomfortable being outside during the event, so will your animals. Bring them inside or provide shelter or some sort of protection for your pets and livestock. Have various size tarps or a roll of visqueen available for quick emergency shelters. With visqueen, take a stone, fold a piece of visqueen over it, and tie a rope around it. Now you can tie it up or get tarp kits at the camping area of your favorite store. Fortunately, there was no adverse civil activity during the event. This could be that at that time, most of the people here had some sort of cache of food, and many of us have at least one or more firearms and the will to use them. Also, I have in my home two sets of plastic window insulation kits. You can get these kits at hardware stores. They have double back (carpet) tape and a very clear plastic sheet. You place the tape around the window casing or trim inside of your home then use a hair drier to shrink it. This, in the winter, gives another layer of insulation for your windows or, in this case, another seal to keep the ash out. They give you some protection, andthey are clear enough to see through.
While this event was, for many of us, simply a minor inconvenience, it was serious for the elderly and people with asthma and other respiratory health issues.
Few people live near a volcano, yet there is always the threat of the large caldera known as Yellow Stone or Mount St. Helens to come alive again. Also, some of these tips could be used in a “Polar Vortex”– winter for most of us.
[Notes from Alaska Volcano Observatory]
Dear Editor,
I am a Geologist. I wanted to give the short answer as to why the New Madrid Fault complex is dangerous. And this IS the short answer.
That’s the short version. For some idea of what severe ground shaking can do, see the Anchorage 1964 quake. Sincerely, – I.K.
Dear Hugh,
As we remain in a long lasting frigid winter in northern Ohio, I question how anyone could maintain long term diligence in a listening/observation post that is partially open to the elements. I struggle with ways to provide a heat source without compromising a tactical location. I have read survival blog for many years, but have not seen this important concern addressed. Perhaps you will find this a notable concern, and I request this be forwarded to the masses to solicit ideas for solutions. Thanks for your consideration. – B.B.
HJL Replies: I’ve never served in the military, but I’m sure those readers who have can shed some light here. It seems to me that being in an LP/OP is not that different that sitting in a duck blind. I have spent many a cold morning sitting in a hole in the ground with partial shelter on the sides. Sometimes we had overhead shelter and sometimes not. When the temperature would drop down to 0 degrees or below, I often wondered to myself why I was even there. Of course, there was humor too, making fun of the icicles growing of the end of each of our noses. We tried all the gadgets, from battery-powered socks to Coleman fuel-powered hand warmers. The battery powered socks worked, but they were a novelty that soon broke. The Zippo hand warmer worked well though. I used only one and would put it in my trigger hand pocket. If I started to lose feeling in that hand, I would remove the glove and shove that hand into the pocket to warm it up. I would also shift pockets if the other hand needed it as well. There are some general rules that you have to abide by to stay warm though. You will need more layers than you would otherwise, and they must be layers. Sitting in one position, you won’t have the opportunity to move around and generate warmth. You must have enough layers on so that you stay warm sitting still. As the temperature fluctuates, you need to be able to peel layers off or put them back on so you don’t sweat or freeze. You also have to stay off the cold ground. You need padded seats that won’t collapse to become flush with the floor when you sit on them. You also need to get your boots off the ground when you can to help with cold feet. Blankets work well on multiple levels. They help keep you warm and they can break up your visual pattern. I also used mittens as well as glove liners. I had a pair that had a slit in the palm that would allow me to pull my hand out to use the shotgun.