Get'in Home - nothing more important

For almost any situation we might discuss the overriding desire for everyone is to ‘get home’. Does not matter if the situation is a broken down car, earthquake or alien invasion we all just want to get home. Everyone has the place they call “home” be it where you live now or grandma’s house we all have the place we consider home. For most of us this where we put our heads down at night but everyone’s situation is different.

Think of the place you call “Home”, you're going to have to narrow it down a bit by adding in distance. Why? Because if you live in Florida but consider ‘home’ to be a place in Oregon this distance is too much for what we are talking about here. Let’s then figure out how far away you are from home on a regular basis. Most people live within 20 miles of where they work and for the most part we do not travel further than 20 miles from the house on a regular basis. Of course everyone is different and you might not fit into the average. I know I don’t, I’m 60+ miles from home at work five days a week. Let’s use the 20 miles as a base line.

When we do the planning for this we are going to want to do this on the “cheap”; sure the internet is full of list of items you “need” to get home and you can spend hours filling a pack with things you “need”. What do we really need to get home? Remember we are talking about getting home not fighting of the zombie hordes or restarting society from scratch. For almost all of us this means the worst case scenario is something has happened and we got to walk home. Think about this for a moment, you are going to have to put one foot in front of the other till you reach your doorstep.

For most of us this is not going to happen, we can call friends or family to pick us up, take a cab, ride a bus or find some other means of transportation. Yet there is a chance each of us could face this situation, be it from a natural or manmade emergency, so let’s plan for the worst and hope for a easier solution. When was the last time you walked three miles, five miles, ten miles or the twenty miles we are going to use for this? Let’s all be honest with ourselves, you do not have to tell anyone else, we haven’t walked that far in a long time or maybe we have never walked that far!

On average most people walk about 3 miles an hour, if we have to cover 20 miles that’s…… let me find the calculator……. I would take us roughly 6 hours of steady walking to make the 20 miles! Odds are we are not going to able to walk for 6 hours straight. This means we have to plan for the worst case scenario. 20 miles = 2 days of walking. “WHAT? It would not take me that long!”. I can hear you yelling at me already. Remember worst case, anything else is a good day. If we divide the walk up into two days, to allow for obstacles or other delays we only have to walk for roughly three hours both days. This gives us plenty of time to deal with anything coming up, does not really tax us physically and gives our family a longer time frame before they begin to worry. If we tell our loved ones 2 days and we make it home in 1 they have not even started to really worry and we are home already, win – win!!!!

What do we “NEED” to get home with? Remember we are focused on getting ourselves home and nothing else. First thing we need is something to put our items in. Almost all of us have an old backpack, knapsack, bag from a store, gym bag or some other container we can put stuff in. If you ride a bus, train or vanpool to work you can find a container and store these items at work. The idea is to find something you already have and repurpose the item.

Once we have a container then we need to go through the closet and find our old pair of shoes or boots we tossed in the back. Old sneakers with the holes in them or work boots we left in the garage are great for this! What we want is something we can wear which is already ‘broke in’ Those dress shoes or especially high heels you wear everyday are not made for walking this far in!!! If you cannot walk due to poor footwear, you are not going to get home.

Go back to the closet, this time look for the old jacket or hoodie you do not wear anymore. Try to find something which will keep the weather at bay and help keep you warm. If you live in an area where it snows find something appropriate to the climate (I suggest moving hahaha). While you’re in there also find some old pants to roll up and put in the bag. Before you roll the pants up put a tee shirt, underwear and some thick socks on top of the pants and roll them all up together. You now have a change of clothes in case your normal work attire is high heels, knee length skirt and blouse. Remember these clothes need to be loose, comfortable and durable. Now is not the time to be fashionable!

Now let’s break out some Ziploc bags, I love these things! In one toss a few dollars and a couple dollars in change. The amount of money to put in the bag? Twenty dollars or so; enough money to buy lunch and most definitely enough to buy a few bottles of water. In another bag toss in a lighter or two. In another put your old driver’s license or another form of picture ID along with a copy of your medical insurance card. If you want throw all of these items into one bag and put these in your get home bag. The reasons for these items? You want to be able to start a fire if you need to, buy things if you cannot use your credit or debit card and be able to check into a hospital if need be. Writing important numbers down on a piece of paper or card and putting this with your ID is also a good idea. Find an old flashlight, put some batteries in a Ziploc and toss those in the bag.

For most of us these items are going to be enough to help get us home and not weight us down as we try to get home. If you live somewhere there are no stores for miles you are going to want to modify what you pack into the bag. For us city and suburban dwellers we are still going to have access to things we need along the way. This means we do not need to carry five gallons of water with us but we do need some change to buy a bottle of water before we set off.

To earn some bonus points and if you got room, toss an MRE or camping meal into the bag. Maybe a poncho, Leatherman tool or a knife and if you really want to like yourself later some paracord. Just remember you are going to carry what you pack so do not go overboard!!!!! Of course we can upgrade our pack later, heck you can go all “lightweight super hiker” if you want when you have the money. For right now we are just trying to put something together which will help us tomorrow.

Please keep in mind what the purpose of this bag is, to get you home! Of course we can add things to the bag. There are tons of things we could add, water filters, fishing gear, compass and all sorts of other items. If you “need” these items to cover the distance you have to travel then do so. We do not want to add anything we do not need and if you pack a lot of stuff you realize you do not need later, dump the stuff or give it to someone else who might need it during a situation. Our goal is to get home and nothing else!

As Always,

Stay Safe!!!

Je Suis Charlie

Following the events in France I was contemplating how to address the situation. After thinking long about the subject I will stay out of the politics, belief systems involved or any of the other subjects which cause people to pick a side or stop thinking clearly. Those are conversations for a different forum.

In previous postings we have discussed ideas for dealing with ‘Active Shooters’ and hostage situations. For this posting I thought we needed to focus on other ideas or concepts to help us if we find ourselves in these types of situations.

First we must acknowledge there are people who want to do harm and even kill others out there. You must seriously think about this for a moment, even if you become uncomfortable thinking about this. None of us want to acknowledge there are others out there who wish for nothing more than our death. Yes they want you dead! There are people who want you and your family dead! You do not have to agree with or even understand their reason for wanting your children, spouse and you dead, you just have to realize these people are out there.

Acknowledging the idea people want you dead is the first step in not becoming a victim. The next step is to remain aware of the threat. By this I do not mean walk around all day paranoid of every person you met or going into full “Mad Max” mode when you hear a car backfire. The idea here is to do things which will increase your odds of going home to your family and almost nothing is more important than making it home to your family!

If you see something that is just ‘Not Right’, report it!!! No matter what the outcome. Do not let political correctness stop you from reporting something. If you see two guys wearing ski masks, load bearing vests (military vest) and armed, call the authorities!!! Yell, scream, run and tell as many people as you can!!!! Use your cell phone to call the authorities, not to take video!! If you make people aware of the danger odds are more lives will be saved. Give others a chance to react to the situation by making them aware of what is going on.

Awareness is one of the biggest tools we can sharpen to assist us with these situations. We need to tune our awareness to the exits from our office, awareness of what is happening around us and the awareness to take action when something happens. “Awareness to take action?”, YES! You have to be aware of when it is time to run like the four horsemen are chasing you! Inaction will get you killed!!!!

When I say ‘RUN’ I mean ‘FUCKING RUN’ like your life depends on it!!! Because your life does depend on it!! Run as if you are planning to run all the way home. “RUN FORREST RUN!” applies here.

Have the awareness to not run into a position from which you cannot get out of. There is video tape of people in Paris running to the roofs of the building being attacked. Having been in Paris I understand there was a chance they could have gone across to another building in some places. For most of us the buildings are not this close together. Be aware and do not run yourself into a position with no way out if you do not have to go to that position. Being in a dead end just makes it easier for the bad guys to hunt you down and SLAUGHTER you.

Be aware others are not prepared to respond to bad situations. You might find yourself having to lead people out of the danger area. Be aware they are going to be scared, be aware they are trying to come to grips with what is happening (something you should already have thought of) and you might have to yell, scream, push, shove and even drag others to safety!!!! Worry about hurt feelings later!

During the event or immediately after the event you might have to preform first aid on people. Learn basic first aid. Most injuries are survivable in situations like these. Not all gunshots are fatal and if basic lifesaving actions can be taken quickly people can survive. Direct pressure to a wound can make a difference. Just by placing a cloth over a wound and pressing on it as hard as you can you might make the difference for someone. Learning how to apply tourniquet is a valuable skill which could save a life. Wrapping a belt around a damaged limb and tightening it down can slow the blood flow enough to keep someone alive till help arrives. If you do not know how to perform CPR, learn. This might be the difference between a mother making it home to her children or dying in front of you!!!

Be aware you are on your own till help arrives. You and the people around you will have to deal with the situation until people can arrive to help. Take positive, proactive steps to ensure you can make it home. Waiting for help to arrive or for some authority figure to tell you what to do will simply get you killed. Do not wait for “someone else” to decide your fate; take responsibility for yourself and your own life!!

Most people are not prepared to deal with situations as have happened in Paris. Almost no one is ready to deal with armed men firing at them, the chaos of people being opened up by bullets passing through them or the thoughts of facing their own death at the hands of another human being. Being aware of what could happen and acknowledging what could happen before something happens gives you the ability to make decisions faster which could be the difference between living or dying.

I realize these are thoughts or subject matter most people do not want to discuss or even think about. We have to discuss and think about these things. The predators out there count on people not being prepared mentally to deal with their actions. They count on surprise to work in their advantage. Predators want you to freeze, do nothing and allow them to do what they want before you can react. Awareness goes a long way toward countering this advantage. If they cannot surprise you, you have already upset their plan and making the other person change their plans is always a good strategy.

As Always,

Stay Safe

Food storage – four ways

“An army travels on its stomach.” Is a true concept, no matter if Napoleon was the first to be quoted stating this idea or not. (History buffs will understand this) When we are planning for a bad day one of the first things we have to consider is how to feed ourselves and loves ones. Aside from water and shelter, food is one of your top priorities. No matter the situation, loss of a job, fire, flood, earthquake or alien invasion your stomach is going to be one of the first things you have to address. If you have ever been truly hungry, I do not mean you haven’t eaten in a few hours but you haven’t eaten all day and you are not sure when or from where you next meal is coming you understand the type of hunger I am discussing here.

To address this subject a good suggestion is to have a multi-level approach to food storage; one which does not rely on a single source of food or a small selection of food types. You want to have as much variety as you can; short and long term storage and try to do all of this on the cheap.

BUY MORE
The first angle to a well prepared food plan is purchase more of what your family eats every week. By using coupons, buying in bulk and other creative means we try to purchase items our family regularly uses. Warehouse stores are great for this especially for items which do not go bad quickly. An example of this would be pancake mix. You can save money by buying ten pounds of mix at Costco than by buying five pounds at a regular grocery store.

You can also save money by buying none food items at the warehouse store and putting the savings toward buying extra food items. Say buying a giant pack of toilet paper at the warehouse saves you five bucks over what you would spend at a grocery store, take those five bucks and put it toward canned goods or other items your family uses weekly. The idea is to buy items for one more meal, one more day, one more week, etc. etc.

Just keep in mind your available storage space for these items!!!! Most of these items rely on refrigeration and if you buy more than you can store you have wasted money and resources!!!


EMERGENCY FOOD
These are the types of meals you can grab and go. Military meals, hiking meals and any other type of food which is portable and made for what can be considered the medium range of storage time; most of these types of meals can easily be stored for 3 to 5 years without any major concerns. Of course these meals cost a bit of money if you try to buy a large quantity all at once. A workable suggestion is to buy one or two meals at a time.

MREs are somewhere around $70.00 for a case of meals, 12 meals. Individual hiking type meals are around $7 or $8 a piece. If you can pick up one hiking meal a month that is one more meal you have or if you can save up the money and buy one case of MREs you have 12 meals. Doing the math, adding in the number of family members you have, can get scary when you realize the price of what you might have to invest. Remember, one meal at a time!!! Say for January you decide to cover breakfast for just one day. Maybe there are four people in your family, that’s two hiking meals or roughly 20 bucks. This can be all you spend for the month and all of us can come up with $20.00 without breaking the bank!!! Yes you can!!!

LONG TERM
These are food items made to be stored for an extended period of time, 20 years or more. These are you’re really bad day food stores! If you have to break into these something bad has happened. At first look these items might seem expensive but you have to remember they are special made to last for the long haul. Some of these items are buy and forget, well all of them are buy and forget hopefully!!! The trick here is to buy as many items as you can which are the same as your family eats every day. Keeping things as close to “normal” as you can really will help with lowering the families stress level during a bad situation.

I personally look to Auguason Farms for items in this category. They have quality items for reasonable prices. The customer service I have had with these folks is OUTSTANDING!

http://www.augasonfarms.com/?avad=49183_b7daf6cd

Using the same idea as before, just buy one item a month if this is all you can budget. You will be surprised how quickly your pantry fills up!

GROW YOUR OWN
This probably is the most fulfilling way to address your food storage needs. It sounds kind of cliché to say but growing your own food has a special feel to it. Learning how to tend to a garden and eating things you grow yourself allows you to learn new skills and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Trust me you will have some disappointments before your get accomplishment!!!!!!

I personally have learned to make jams from our fruit trees and have had to learn about making soil right to grow food. There is way more to growing food then just throwing seeds in the ground and pouring water on them. Plus it gives me and the kids something fun to do. Every kid enjoys an excuse to get dirt and play in the dirt!

Grow whatever you can. Even if you live in an apartment on the fifteenth floor you can still grow things on a balcony or just in the kitchen window! Fresh herbs and spices can be grown in almost any window and fruit trees can be grown in pots!!!

Growing your own food also allows you to learn how to make food from scratch and gives you more of appreciation of exactly what goes into those meals you pick up at the drive thru. You might also find this is when you want to learn about preserving food. Odds are you are going to grow more food then you can use and you will naturally want learn how to preserve the excess for later use. This is when you have a reason to learn about canning and other methods to preserve food.

Remember, nothing ever started without taking the first step. Build your food storage one meal or item at a time. You will be surprised by how quickly you will be able to feed your family for an extra day, two days, a week and then a month. There is a sense of security which comes with being able to feed your family for a month without having to go to a store. Should there be a bad day you and your family can stay safely at home instead of venturing out to find food others desperately need!!

As Always.

Stay Safe!

$20 - pasta @ Von's

Errands for the day took me past Vons today and I stop in to see what I could pick up for twenty dollars. I rarely shop at Vons and had to spend time looking around to find what I wanted. Which I guess is a good thing, I now know where most of the major items are in the store if I was ever in a hurry and walked in there.

I wanted to focus on pasta type items I could pick up. Since I do not shop there often I had to take extra time to read the price tags and compare different items. Which is something we should always do when shopping, this little trip reminded me of this. In this case I found no name items, which were cheaper, right next to better known brands. Comparing items allows us to buy more for less, in most cases there is absolutely no difference other than the box items come in.

The advantage to buying pasta in the box is you can cook as much as you need right then. With some premade boxes you kind of have to cook everything at one time. Having the box also let's you season the food to your liking. Especially useful when you have a picky eater in the house!!!! In addition to picking up a few boxes of pasta I decided to purchase a few different flavored sauce cans. I could have used the money for more pasta but adding the sauce gave me some easy to make meals. Pasta by itself is really no fun to eat!!

Having different types of flavors lead me to buy the different types of pre-made boxes. Even with the Top Ramen I wanted to make sure there different flavors. One package is shrimp and the other is regular flavored.

With any of these items you can add other items from your cupboard to create different or larger meals. Something as simple as adding items from your can goods or staple items can aid in making any of these items a complete and filling meal. Remember when you are shopping for "emergency food" you can find cheap, tasty and healthy meals for your family.

You just need "one more meal"!

When I went to check out the cashier was nice enough to run a generic "club card" through the scanner. My original price was $19.52 and I saved five dollars or so after he ran the card. Being a regular shopper at stores can pay off over the long run. Had I known the discount was coming I could have added more items to the total purchase!!! When I was comparing prices I could see the price for club members and I figured this into how many items I bought. I will take the five dollars and save this for next time I go shopping for stuff.

When we are able, as in this case, we should shop to ensure we have a variety of flavors in our pantry or storage. Eating the same thing every day gets really old, really fast. Anyone who has been money challenged for a while or in the military can attest to this! Once you get tired of eating the same thing you start to eat less. Less you eat the lower your energy level will be and eating less can even affect you immunity. You could find yourself in a deadly downward spiral of eating less, having less energy to do things (like find food) and at some point you will not accomplish any task to better your position. This is something we do not want to happen during any event. Something as simple as having three different types of sauce could make the difference.

Next time you go shopping make sure and compare prices and if you can become a ‘member’ of the store to save additional money. Money you can use in other areas to assist you and your family to be better prepared.

As Always,

Stay Safe

New Year - new start.

Hope everyone had a good New Year and holiday season. I took some time off and hung out with the family!

Let's all do something positive this year and instead of "promising" ourselves we are going to do something then not doing, let's just do it. Through out the year let's do one thing a month which are going to be helpful for everyday life and during an emergency. Nothing overly complicated and in most cases something we can easily pick up or do. When these ideas come up do not procrastinate JUST DO IT!

Next time you are at the grocery store, yes the very next time you find yourself in a grocery store, market, gas station or liquor store, buy a lighter or a pack of lighters. You will find them in most cases near the register. If they are not right there take a moment and find out where they are. The point is, do not walk out of the place without at least one and hopefully more than one lighter.

Why? Because we need a source of fire, sure we could use a rock and piece of flint…… but why if we have lighters to use. Having the ability to start a fire with a couple of pieces of wood is an OUTSTANDING skill to have and I encourage everyone to learn how it is done. What we need is a quick and simple way to make fire. Especially if we have little ones to care for!!!

Last thing you want to be doing during a situation is trying to light something. "Something" might just be a candle after the power goes out or a fire to warm yourself when your car stalls in the woods. No matter the situation quicker and easier in this situation is the best. Having to use friction in order to make a flame should be the last option in a several option system. If you have family with you during a bad day, you are injured or you simply need the flame ASAP, doing it the “cool” way is not an option.

Now you got a lighter and unless you are a smoker you are not use to carrying one, what do you do with it. Place the lighter in what you carry every day. Purse, briefcase, backpack or even a diaper bag, the idea is to have at least one and hopefully more than one handy when you might need it. Ideally you would just toss one in your pocket but most people are not use to carrying one.

Next place to put one, remember we are shooting for buying a pack of lighters, is in your car. Put it in the glove box or center console. There is room in both of these for at least one and if there is not we need to have different discussion! Then we are going to sneak into our significant others vehicle and do the same. Let them know it is in there after you put it there. odds are they won't bother to move it once the lighter is there and will only think about it again if they need it.

Last place we want to stash one or more is somewhere in the house. Not out in the garage under the box of clothes you will never wear again. Somewhere you can get to them if the power suddenly went out. Desk drawer, junk drawer or anywhere else you could find the lighter in the dark.

For extra points this month pick up a box or two of matches!!! Strike anywhere matches are better than strike on box matches but for this either will work. Get a box and put it in the kitchen somewhere. If you get two put the second box in the garage.

If you have time or walk past a camping section somewhere look for a magnesium fire starter or something similar. Pick up a couple and then try them at home. Takes some practice before you can get a fire starter. This is why these should be our last choice for emergency situations.

Why do we need fire? With fire all sorts of other things are possible;
Cold, start a fire.
Hungry, cook some food. You can skin a squirrel, great! Without fire it is going to taste kind of gross and might make you sick.
Thirsty, with fire you can boil water to make it drinkable.
Signaling, a fire can do this for you.

Fire is a foundation to so many other skills and abilities. Pick up a pack of lighters, couple boxes of matches and a fire starter tool. Next BBQ practice trying to start a fire with these instead of lighter fluid and a blow torch!!!

As Always,

Stay Safe!!!