Category: EPrep

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Eprep Isn’t “Once and Done”

And involves a LOT more than just the time I spent today reorganizing and resupplying/rotating out/in items in both my EDC bag and BOB. Need also to recheck the pantry (for “shelter in place”–the most likely scenario), our PII folders for quick evac, GOOD-y boxes*, update FAKs and trauma pack, etc., etc.

In fact, for “shelter-in-place” scenario, a LOT of supplies need to be checked/updated. Update will? Yeh, but that’s a bit down on my list.

*GOOD-y Boxes: “Get Out Of Dodge”-y *heh* include more food, clothing, etc., as well as places to quickly file documents cleaned out of the safe, hard drives (which include ebook copies of much of my hard copy library, pictures, etc.), notebooks, etc.

The difficult thing about GOOD-y Boxes is maintaining enough transport space in vehicles. *heh* Have to leave room for pets and their carriers (in the case of the cats) and supplies.

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Mischief Managed?

Well, not quite. More “wood chucking.” Sorta-kinda-almost “good enough” fitness watch buzzed me to say I had been at my optimal heart rate for 20 minutes. *meh* What does it know? Five minutes later, *bzzz* “Relax.” Yeh, says you. A few minutes later: dizzy. OK, OK, I give in.

At least it was nice weather for it. High 40s, still ice on the wood, etc. Maybe this afternoon will be time for more “wood chucking.”

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Alternate Uses for FAK Items

Really irritating rash on forearms and swelling around my eyes (especially under the right one, and above my left) for the last few days. Some relief from antihistamine tabs and topical ointments, but still irritating, so. . . applied some Oragel (‘cos it was the only topical benzocaine I had _open_ and on hand–a topical pain reliever in one of my FAKs; had some Solarcaine but was an unopened pack). Relief. I’ve still not used either tube of that Oragel 2-pack for its intended purpose. . . *heh*

Another: Despite QuickClot, et al, bandages/gauzes, for some puncture wounds, after last night’s Stop the Bleed class, I still feel comfortable using a combo of WoundSeal on regular gauze, and a tampon if needed, after a tourniquet and before a pressure bandage (like the Israeli Bandage here). Sure, if the wound is bad enough, packing it with QuickClot gauze first might be just the ticket, but WoundSeal + tampon for some is a handy (and relatively inexpensive) backup, and might avert tearing up and packing a wound with a dirty t-shirt or bandana if QC there’s not enough gauze and/or sponges for multiple wounds.

OTOH, my FAKs are outgrowing some of my smaller kit bags. *shrugs* I’d rather carry a better-equipped FAK than more food (and I can always locate and clean water, given the locales I frequent). Don’t really need to be all that concerned about weight/size issues on home kit and car kits, though, so as our home and car FAKs seem to be transitioning to trauma kits, not really a big deal. Will still keep the small kits for minor things, I suppose, but a slightly larger FAK for even just day hikes is in the making, as well.

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Updating First Aid Knowledge Base and Practices

My last formal first aid instruction, before last night, was… 45 years ago for a Water Safety Instructor certification. while it certainly came in handy 25 years later when I needed to perform CPR on my Wonder Woman (a success story for CPR there!), it would have been good to have had today’s updated “hands only” CPR training, since she had aspirated some food beyond my reach (and knowledge) for extraction prior to the breathing part of CPR in my prior training. *shrugs* The ER doc caught it and lavaged her lungs, and–almost miraculously–averted pneumonia, but it might have been better w/o the breathing part. Maybe. *shrugs*

Still, udating. . . Attended a “Stop the Bleed” class taught by an ER/Trauma center nurse last evening to check and update my first aid knowledge base/practice. Attendance was by reservation of one of the 50 slots. When I signed up in March, I was the 37th person (my Wonder Woman was the 38th). Good review and update. But the thing is, of the 38 who were signed up as of March 18 (and who knows how many of the remaining 50 seats after that), only 12, counting the two of us, were there.

I assume the rest bled out before they got there.

*sigh*

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“Preppers” Ain’t Crazy, Well, at Least Not Most of ‘Em

I see a common misconception pretty often (Well, it’s common, so I would. *heh*) It goes something like this:

“Preppers are individuals who believe that, in the near future, life as they know it will be challenged or changed due to a major event.”

No, cupcake. “Preppers” are people who think that being prepared to deal with a wide range of emergencies should they occur is just the intelligent thing to do. Heck, preparing in advance to be able to deal effectively with a wide range of possible natural or man-made disasters IF any of them should occur, is certainly better than playing grasshopper and then mooching off others should, say, an extended power outage from a winter storm or a major flood occur.

While I’m sure there are a few tinfoil hat wearers who meet the pejorative criteria stated in the misconception, but I believe them to be the exception, not the rule. Yeh, I know a few whose tinfoil hats seemed to cause brainwave malfunctions leading them to not just go “off-grid” but move to third world countries to escape “the coming collapse of civilization,” but I can count those few on one hand and have fingers left over. 😉

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Transitive Property

The old “Prepper” adage that “Two is one and one is none” makes some sort of sense, I suppose, in that if one only has one of a particular thing–tool, equipment, whatever–and that “one” is lost, broken, or stolen, then “none” is what one is left with.

But consider the transitive property of the adage. IF 2 = 1 and 1 = 0, then 2 = 0. Therefore, one could as easily say “n. . . is 2 is one is none,” and so no matter how large a number of [whatever] one has, it is equal to. . . nothing.

This is a principle that escapes hoarders.

🙂

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So, what am I missing?

EDC/GOOD bags: general.

  • EDC bags for each car containing food, clothing, etc., for a day or so, plus FAK, knives and multi-tools, DOPP bags, etc.1, with car-specific items in a separate trunk “box.”
  • Another 60L bag big enough for two of these EDC bags plus vacuum-packed clothing and food for two additional days.
  • Water bottles, enough for a day, and SODIS water purification systems.
    One small-caliber hand gun with 50 rounds (for light weight and compact packing/and holster for concealed carry).
  • Tablets, phones, chargers (car and small solar) and external batteries have pockets available in 60L bag.
  • Small”rocket stove” with multi-fire-starting and fuel options.2
  • Space blankets and ponchos
  • USB flash drives/bracelets with scans (in pdf format) of important data and documents, plus medalert bracelets with downloadable records.

(Emergency supplies in local [at home] storage are MUCH more copious, of course, but still probably not good for more than four months in food, outside a growing season. That needs some supplementation.)

So, should I include a “scout rifle” as well in or attached to the 60L GOOD bag?

Oh, neglected this: 72-hour supply of pet food, water, appropriate bowls, etc. Carriers for cats. (45L bag for pet supplies with room for another small pack containing data/devices.)

Methinks I probably ought to make provision to grab the NAS that has backups of important data, as well.

OK, that pretty well takes care of one to three days emergency prep.

Hangup bag packed with “dress” clothes–call it the “Funeral bag,” because not all short-notice trips are life-challenging emergencies.

1Collapsed roll of toilet paper included with regular DOPP bag goodies (toothcare, soap and shampoo, general toiletries, etc.)

2Lint and wax tinder, matches, fire steel, lighters.

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Lil EDC Tip

Have instructional cards (cheat sheets, EPrep “Cliff Notes” as it were) for various things, like fire-making, basic first aid, etc., in your EDC bag, in case YOU are unable to access your EDC bag and have to ask for help from someone else.* For example, my EDC bag has a small set of instructional “fire-building cards.” They’re waxed 3×5 cards with instructions and a few matches affixed to the cards via the wax (so, the matches are also waterproof, more or less). . . 😉 Each of them separately packaged in nicely flammable envelopes, containing a bit of waxed dryer lint.

Even Dunning-Kruger-ites should be able to start fires with those resources.
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You, of course, should already have all the info in the cheat sheets down cold.

Note, also: my “EDC Bags” are bags I keep in my car for emergencies away from home, but they are essentially smaller versions of 72-hour kits. Since I also have car-specific emergency kits in the trunk/rear package area (the latter referring to a hatchback), these kits are tailored for more personal items, and can also double as very (very) short term bugout bags. . . or “Get home bags.”

Micro-mini kits I carry on my person (knives, multi-tool, VERY simple and limited first aid, etc.) should be enough to get me back to my car (and my car and its kits, back home).

Since we live in an area with VERY low risks, apart from weather risks which can usually be anticipated, preps like this combined with our home preps should generally be sufficient.