My list:

Terran · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 1:01 am Post subject:

I think a portable tent could be helpful, especially where you may encounter wind and cold. Wind and cold and its windy don't forget to factor in the wind chill factor. Then it feels alot colder than where it really should be.

A sleeping pad will also help too, put that below your sleeping bag. That will help reduce the transfer for heat into the ground. Therefore keeping you warmer while in your sleeping bag.
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jato · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 1:21 am Post subject:

Yeas Terran.

Water, food, shelter, clothing & defense should be addressed.
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Specop_007 · Expert Joined: Aug 12, 2004 Posts: 6073

Shelter
Water
Food

Thats the order. You can die from exposure faster then anything (aside from a 8 pound mace in the head Very Happy

), dehydration next and lastly starvation.
As for tents, pony up and get a good one. My friend is a hiker in the truest sense, he's backpacked/hitchhiked Canada, US and a good portion of South America. He put it best
"When the only thing between you and the rain is a peice of fabric, you want a good peice of fabric. You want a DAMN good peice of fabric!"
He also advised getting the best tent poles you can find as well.

jato · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 2:39 am Post subject:

gg3 · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 4:12 am Post subject:

Did someone forget to mention sanitary supplies? Toilet paper, lots of it. Soap. Rubbing alcohol, or better yet, strong beverage-alcohol but consider it to be a sanitation supply, and for drinking only where there is a valid medical reason, i.e. not for "social consumption." Feminine hygiene suppiles if you're married & your wife is with you. First aid stuff. Etc., the usual list. Iodine, bandages, you know the drill.

What you carry depends on how you plan to get around. Advance stockpiling in a fixed location is always good, i.e. relatives' rural properties; and then plan to get yourself there if the SHTF.

Even if you don't smoke, tobacco is a good trading item; the best bet being a decent grade of handrolling tobacco, which people can roll into cigarettes or smoke in a pipe.

NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 588

NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 588

jpatti · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:56 am Post subject:

NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 588

Spec...

Are you sure freeze dried food lasts for 30 years? And if it does do you have any reputable site that I could buy from?

jato · Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2004 9:55 pm Post subject:

seahorse · Expert Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: Arkansas

As for food, look up white rice - it last virtually indefinitely and cost very little.

Everyone's list looks like they're planning on a camping trip. However, the reality is you probably won't be out navigating the woods with a silva compass and roughing it. You will be in a house somewhere trying to survive a depression. Trying to live in the woods should always be the last option, since most people couldn't do it under the most ideal circumstances very long. So, realistically, plan on how you will survive living in a home, there's millions of shelters (look at all the houses around you), there's simply no need to run first and foremost to the woods, unless for safety reasons, there's not another city or friends house to run to.

Make a list of things that will help you survive a depression living where you live. If you don't want to live there, move now, not later. Don't worry about a fire making kit, buy a bunch of cheap lighters. There are all kinds of combustibles in a home to make a fire kit, so unless you are making an outdoor survival kit, you don't need a special fire making kit for your house.

Even living in a house you may need a sleeping bag, though, bc you may not be able to afford the utility bill to heat your house. You may also need a way to purify water if your local sewer system shuts down for any amount of time. You can boil it on your stove or use commercial bleach to purify it (using proper ratios), or use iodine, any number of ways. I doubt you will need an axe living in the city somewhere. Spend the money you would use buying an axe on stocking up on some food or ammo to protect your house if necessary.

By extra locks for the home. Have some extra fuel on hand for an emergency get away in the car. Do have an evacuation plan and a place to go to away from the area where you live, have another place in your local city, but also a place to go to out of your local city if need be. Consider getting a passport now, while you can still get one.

Buy some good first aid equipment, and usual things like pain killers, vitamins, etc. As for a good first aid bandage, go online and buy several of the new "Quik Clot" bandages for serious deep wounds/artierial bleeding (about $40 each). Developed by the military to stop serious bleeding wounds.

Everyone talks about buying guns, so if you are going to buy a gun, that means you are going to be shooting and someone may be shooting back, consider buying some type of cheap body armor. If you really think you may be shooting to save your life, you need body armor.

Here's the urban survival list:

(1) sleeping bag;
(2) good medical kit with Quik Clot bandages (1 per person) and a box of tampons which make great bandages; lots of iodine and saline to flush wounds; and honey as a natural antibiotic (read on the internet about honey and wound care);
(3) 50 lb bag of white rice ($12), vitamins, cannister of salt (last indefinitely), lots of sugar (stores indefinitely); honey (minimum 5 yr shelf life and doubles for wound care), lots of peanut butter (at least 2 yr shelf life), dried milk (stores many many years if stored at or below room temperature);
(4) 10 gallons of extra gas mixed with fuel saver (buy from Nitro Pak) to make it last longer, this is for your get away if necessary;
(5) gallon of bleach for water purification;
(6) package of cheap lighters or matches;
(7) rally point for evacuation if necessary.

gg3 · Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2004 4:23 am Post subject:

If you're staying in the city, don't forget plywood, and then cut it to fit over all of your windows and overlap the frames. 1/2" thickness is minimum, 3/4" better. Drywall screws and a battery-powered cordless screwdriver to screw 'em in fast if trouble comes near. You want to screw the plywood into the window frames, which are wood, not into sheetrock. Also get something to go between the plywood and the window itself for camouflage to make it look as if you don't have your windows plywooded.

Then figure out a method for seeing outside to get a good view on each side of the house Door-type peepholes might be installed in the plywood in places that aren't obvious, but better yet some kind of through-the-wall periscope, or discrete cameras mounted up and in the corners (disguised as outdoor lighting fixtures, or combined with same).

NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 588

Thanks for the post seahorse!

What about beans? I've heard that thrown around a little. How long do beans last?

seahorse · Expert Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: Arkansas

As far as food storage, dry beans last a long time, years in fact. When storing food, keep it away from light (keep it in a closet or under a bed), keep it as cool as possible (cellar, basement, under a bed or closet, preferably not in a garage that gets hot, not in an attic), and keep it as dry as possible (moisture grows bacteria).

As far as securing your home, which is your first line of defense, having some plywood on hand to make it a little safer is good - along with proper locks etc. If you are going all out and actually planning on what is called a "deliberate defense" of your home by the military, store some sandbags, chicken wire, and always have a fire-extinguisher (remember, gov't services may be down).

Quick lesson on a deliberate defense of the home - if the home is two stories, always plan to defend the upper stories, not the base floor (its harder to attack up than down). Use your sandbags to make a bunker or safe room in your main line of defense. Use your chick wire over windows to keep people from coming through them or keep them from throwing things through them, but wire also allows you to shoot out your windows.

For those of you buying guns and planning for a defense, always buy some form of cheap body armor (can't afford to get killed), buy smoke grenades (common for life boats etc). Smoke obscures your retreat away from the home should the home become untenable. The use of smoke is underestimated and rarely discussed, but has to be an integral part of any defense.

Buy Quik Clot bandages, betadine for wound care (any animal pharmacy supplier) as well as Sugardine for wound care.[/quote]