Oct 23, 2010

New Website Under Construction

I'm building my own website, so I haven't had a lot of time to write anything. My apologies to everyone for that. The new site will be:
www.cvsprep.com

It's still under construction as I want a good home page, this blog and a forum so that we can have more and better discussions about topics that perhaps I'm not thinking of but that you are.

If anyone knows anything about this feel free to give me a holler. I think I'm over my head right now, and may need to seek professional help.

Oct 12, 2010

My Daily Kit

Here are some pictures of the kit that I carry with me everyday. You can see what it looks like fully packed. The bag is a Maxpedition Versipack and it can carry far more than it should! I've also added a 5.11 First Aid Kit that I've custom stocked, and a dual mag pouch also 5.11.



I think I've over loaded mine a bit, as it is a bit heavy to carry around all day. I'm not sure how much it weighs but it feels like about 15-20lbs. The problem is all of the individual items are very light so I can't figure out what to eliminate.



Here is me carrying it, with my children. You will notice that they are not dressed as woodland commandos. We were just taking a day trip to a local zoo.



And here is what all fits in this beast.

I'm not sure if you can see all of the details, but I carry gear for myself and my two girls in this bag, as I must support them as well in an emergency.

I don't want to say that everyone should carry the same load that I do, in fact I need to lighten it up a bit. But you can see that in a fairly small bag, you can carry a huge amount of gear. I'm not sure what you would call this type of kit. It's definitely not going to get me through 72hrs all by it's self, but I can easily go 24hrs with a bit of work, supporting me and my kids, which is sufficient to get us home from any distance where I didn't include our BOB bags. I also carries everything that I need on a daily basis. Actually one thing that I forgot to include in this pic is my wallet. I used to carry around a butt pack with keys, wallet, pens, phone etc., but now with kids, I have a lot more that I need to have on hand, so I went for a bigger bag. I think women invented it and called it a purse, but Maxpedition managed to make it look manly-ish

If a few of you ask, I'll add closeup pics of some of this gear, and describe what you looking at.

Oct 11, 2010

Teaching Children

I have to fix my mothers sink. It's not a big fix, just cleaning out the spigot filter. But, I'm going to get my kids to help. I'll have them get the tools by naming and describing them, and have them watch what I do so they can learn to problem solve and hopefully learn how something in there world works. After they leave tonight i will add to this post to let you know how it goes.

'K, the sink went well, but something else happened. I got my kids some cheap $2 Chinese junk flashlights a while back from Harbor Freight and they stopped working after 3 days or so. My oldest daughter found one of them and wanted to play with it. So, I got some new AAA Batteries for it, but still couldn't get it to work. My daughter asked to see it and after a couple of minutes pointed out so corrosion on one of the connector pads for one of the batteries. A few minutes of cleaning got rid of most of that, then I instructed her on how to put the batteries in properly. (Always look for the teachable moments) When I had her put it back together it actually worked!!! For about 30 seconds.

It really was more than I expected for Chinese junk, but the best use was getting to teach my daughter the wy and how things work.

Oct 10, 2010

Taking Children ANYWHERE

Pack a complete change of clothes for each child. Shirt, pants, underwear, socks, shoes if you can afford them.

Saturday I took my kids out, and my youngest decided to pee her pants. Unfortunately their go bags were in my car and I was driving my mothers vehicle instead. We weren't going too far (20-30miniutes away) so I decided to forgo swapping the bags around. My mistake. We were forced to leave immediately because I had to strip everything off from the waist down of my little one as it was soaked. So endith the day.

I occurs to me that kids of any age could end up in a situation where clothes have to be changed. Falling in mud, getting in a fight, spill food at a party, potty accident, stepping in something nasty, whatever. And most of the entire outfit may need to be changed...You know, thinking about this while I write suggests that the same may be true for you and I as well.

Oct 5, 2010

Emergency Binder

I haven't discussed this yet but you should have an Emergency Binder in your home or car readily accessible. I have written one that I am going to give to you. The links are below for a RTF, PDF And DOC versions so get whichever one you can use best.

Look it over before you print anything, as not everything is suitable to you and some of it you may need two or three copies of. Please remember to keep a digital copy if you can on a flash drive or USB on your key ring,and DO NOT let this fall into anyone's hands who doesn't need to see it.

RTF Here

PDF Here

DOC Here

Oct 4, 2010

Earthquake Survival Kit

OK I was talking to a friend of mine on Facebook who lives in the DC area while the rainstorms and flooding was occurring. I think it's abating now, but it got me thinking. I've been putting this off for a while, but here is an overview of prepper supplies that you should have. This list is by no means complete, and you should build you own kits according to what you need. Don't but a pre-built kit made by someone else as you don't know what is in it, if everything works, or how to use some of it.

You should assemble you own stuff so that you know what you are putting in and it will be what you need. Also you will have a chance to try different things out to find out what works and what doesn't. Wind up flashlight for example; I've gone through three different kinds and haven't found one yet that works as advertised.

According to FEMA this is what they recommend for an Earthquake Kit. I use earthquakes because I'm in California (Sorry about our state) and that kinda the standard, but you will see that it's kind of universal, and will work for most disasters, but with everything, modify it to your needs.

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm
4 Have Disaster Supplies on Hand

* Flashlight and extra batteries.
* Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
* First aid kit and manual.
* Emergency food and water.
* Nonelectric can opener.
* Essential medicines.
* Cash and credit cards.
* Sturdy shoes.

Below is also some lists of relevant equipment. One of these days I will go through ans write down everything that I personally use or carry, but for now, these general list should do to start. Please keep the BOB Bags in your car. They don't do any good in the closet.

BOB Bag (Individual Adult)
General list, please customize to you and your child’s needs

Food and Water:
6 Boxes of Aqua Blox Water Boxes
6 - 400 Calorie Food Bars (2400 Calories)
10 Water Purification Tablets - each tablet purifies 1 liter of water
Water Filter

Light and Communication:
Am/FM Radio with Headphones and Batteries
Rechargeable Squeeze Flashlight
36 Hour Emergency Candle
Green Emergency Glow Stick 12 hour
5-in-1 Survival Whistle - compass, signal mirror, flint starter, waterproof container, lanyard, and shrill whistle

Shelter and Warmth:
Emergency Survival Sleeping Bag - Recommended over common "space blankets"
16-20 Hour Body Warmer - heat up in minutes with an average temperature of 130 degrees.
2-Person Tube Tent with Rope
Emergency Poncho with Hood
Fire Making Kit include water proof matches, lighter, magnifying lens, tinder in small film can

Tools:
Multi –Tool or Swiss Army Knife, Leather Palm Working Gloves, N95 Respirator Dust Mask - NIOSH approved or scarf, 50 Feet of 550 Cord

Hygiene and Sanitation:
toothbrush, toothpaste, wetnaps (Baby wipes), bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner, dental floss pick, deodorant, twin blade razor, comb or brush, 4 maxipads, and washcloth. 3 Tempo Pocket Tissue Packs

First Aid:
Portable First Aid Kit – Whatever you choose to put in here, double the amount of Band-Aids, and triple the number of 2 inch gauze pads.

Other:
Notepad Pencil Deck of Playing Cards for Entertainment, Infectious Waste Bag, Emergency Survival Kit Information

BOB Bag (Individual Child)
General list, please customize to you and your child’s needs

Food and Water:
6 Boxes of Aqua Blox Water Boxes
12 - 200 Calorie Food Bars (2400 calories)

Light and Communication:
Rechargeable Squeeze Flashlight
5-in-1 Survival Whistle
Compass
Signal mirror
Flint starter
Waterproof container
Lanyard and shrill whistle
3 Green Emergency Glow Sticks - lasts for 12 hours each

Shelter and Warmth:
Polar Fleece Blanket
Emergency Poncho for Children
16-20 Hour Body Warmer - heat up in minutes with an average temperature of 130 degrees.
Two changes of socks and underwear

Tools:
Warm Winter Gloves
Large Scarf to replace Dust mask or scarf

Hygiene and Sanitation:
Hygiene Kit - Includes soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and 9 wet wipes. 3 Tempo Pocket Tissue Packs

First Aid:
(Sample-Please make your own) 42 Piece Pocket First Aid Kit - contains 42 pieces - 10 spot bandages, 10 sheer junior,5 sheer medium, 5 sheer strips, 2 antibacterial, 3 clear strips, 2 fabric strips, 1 extra-large, 2 alcohol pads, and 2 gauze pads

Entertainment:
Activity Coloring Book with Crayons - contains pictures to color and activities to help keep a child's mind occupied
Children’s Toys - jump rope, ball, and a jax set

Blackout Kit In case of power outages
(Not including your Food and Water storage)

Same as Bug Out Bag plus:

Cooking:
20-60lbs of Charcoal
Propane cans or tanks plus stove attachment
Cords of wood

Light:
Candles
Tea Lights
Large Target store candles but not the ones with 3 wicks
Citronella candles
Flashlights
Head lamp (for walking around hands free) at least one per person
Batteries
Storm Lanterns with fuel

Communication:
Windup radio

Entertainment:
Reading material
Board games

Power:
Generator/fuel