Basic Survival

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Basic Survival
By Nelson J Galan

​Why be Prepared?

The truth is that being prepared for emergencies is the best, if not the only way to ensure you and your family's safety and security. Looking around we see a world that is in deep trouble. From financial turmoil, to global terrorism, to increased severity of natural disasters - everything seems to be getting worse. Disaster can strike quickly and without warning so it has never been more important for you to be prepared. Having at least the basic knowledge, skills and equipment, to give you and your family the chance to survive is crucial because depending on the government, be it local, state or federal is iffy at best and you should never, ever put your life or the lives of your loved ones in the hands of some faceless government bureacrat or agency that may or may not care about you, be incompetent or have some kind of hidden agenda. Being prepared and having a well thought out and planned response to disaster is your responsibility and your safest course, and may mean the difference between life, death, or ...

What should I know about preparing?

There are an estimated 3 million "Preppers" in the United States alone. Most are everyday people from all walks of life that have a sense of upcoming danger, are students of history or simply feel that being prepared in uncertain times is both logical and prudent. Preparing is a lifestyle change in most cases and it can also get expensive if you don't discipline yourself. But it really doesn't have to be. Anyone can begin preparing by making small changes in how they purchase goods, store supplys and practice practical skills. One more thing. There's alot of prepping advice out there with many people telling you that their way is best. You ultimately have to decide what works for you and your family. Most prep advice is pretty similar so do your research and customize your preps to fit your needs.

How do I start?

First thing's first. You need to make a plan. And not just a plan, but a plan that is practical, realistic and very flexible. Ask yourself what are you most concerned about that might actually happen? Give this some thought and take into consideration your surroundings and your geographics. Are you vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, hurricanes, blizzards, wild fires, mud slides, or tornados? It's ok if you're concerned about multiple types of catastrophies, but focus in on the one most likely to occur in your area first and start planning from there. Doing this will put you on the path to self reliance and help to develop what I call, your subconscious survival checklist (SSC). Once your initial plan begins to take shape, you can incorporate other concerns such as pandemics, financial collapse, civil unrest, terrorist attacks (dirty or biological), zombies (hey it can happen ... only think of rabies or mad cow disease rather than dead people rising from the dead) and expand your preps to include specific scenarios.

Survival 101 The Initial Plan
STEP 1 ... Write down your plan!

But first, commit the following to your SSC. If you have prior notice of a localized natural disaster such as a major hurricane or wild fire, and you have the means to ... get the hell out of the way. Simple. Logical. In many cases, life saving. When in doubt, get the hell out. Your home or property are not important. Your family and you, are!

Now break out the note pad and pen or pencil and start writing. I can't stress that enough. As you write out your plan, it's a good idea to skip a line or two between your inititial instructions. You'll probably go back and fill these in with updated notes as your plan grows.

Your checklist should start with sudden emergency escape routes (SEER). SEER is my acronym intended to help keep you safe in the event of everything from a sudden natural disaster to a home invasion. Any other prep won't mean a thing if you can't get out of harms way in a hurry, if needed. So list every exit way out of your home from every room. From there list every path from each exit to your designated safe location, i.e. 'n.e. corner of the block' or 'uncle Joe's house'. Make sure you write down addresses and phone numbers. Then go through your plan with your family and make sure everyone knows every exit, path and safe destination. Write down notes of obstacles or any impediments and practice run your routes until everyone has them down pat. Using travel and city maps with your marked routes works great.

While you're in the initial planning stages of your SEER, it is important to remember that preparations must never be single minded. In order to be ready as soon as possible (ASAP), a prepper must multi-task. A few basic preps I highly recommend doing as you're formulating your initial plan are preparing your food & water supplies, your first-aid, your emergency shelter gear, your communications equipment, your transporation & defense equipment. Not neccessarily in exact order, but simultaneously.

Food & Water

The biggest advice I can give anyone about food is probably the most logical, yet for some reason the hardest to keep focused on. Commit this to your SSC. Procure what you like! When you go to the grocery store or big box outlet (recommened), buy the foods you normally eat. If you get a hell of a deal on lima beans, but you can't stand them, you'll have added misery in when "shit hits the fan" (SHTF) scenarios. Why do that?

Your initial preps should come from your local food venders. Canned goods like meats & vegetables, stews & soups, nutritional and power bars and foods like rices, jellys, peanut butters, beans, jerkys, crackers, nuts, etc. can be purchased when doing your regular shopping. I would set aside ten to twenty dollars every visit, if possible, in order to begin your preps. Just remember to bargin shop and look at the expiration dates. It goes without saying that you want to buy stuff that is freshest and has the furthest out expiration date as possible. As you build your food supplies, you'll rotate through them based on the expiration dates. Another reason to buy the foods you like to eat.

Water is extremely important in your preps. Even if you have good water from your faucet, you cannot count on that in an emergency. Therefore water bottles and stored water are vital to your survival. At minimum, in your initial prepping phase, I would buy two cases of 20 ounce bottles of water and several 5 gallon water cans to fill. As soon as you get home, fill them up and seal them properly. Most emergency agencies recommend 1 gallon of water per day per person. In you're initial preps, 96 hours is the new magic number (up from 72) experts now advise as a minimum to have stocked. I would goal for 30 days. As your survival plan grows, so will your water storage. Buying water purification tablets, filtering bottles, filtering straws and bleach is a priority. Don't skip this.

First - Aid

Whether you face a localized natural disaster or 'the end of the world as we know it' (TEOTWAWKI), it is imperative you have solid first-aid knowledge and better than average first-aid gear. Start your list with the basics and go from there. Prescriptions, over the counter pain relievers - asprin/non-asprin, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, insect bite cream, birth control, bandages, anticeptics, sterile gauze and pads, first-aid tape, eyewash, tweezers, alcohol cleansing pads, burn spray, exam quality gloves, anti-biotic ointments, sterile eye pads, inflatable splints, scissors, providone- iodine, anti-biotics, absorbent gauze and compresses, cpr kits, first-aid manual, snake bite kit, powdered charcoal, poisen ivy - oak- sumac cleaners, instant cold compresses, triangular slings and a face shield. This will get you started but I advise a comprehensive medical kit as your main medical gear, with every member of your team carrying at least one small basic kit and there should be at least one kit in your vehicle. Don't be intimidated by the amount of first-aid items I've listed, there are many kits on the market that are relatively inexpensive and contain most, if not all these items and more. The next step is to get familiar with the medical usages and applications of your kits and items in case you need them. First-aid also requires practice. Don't forget that.

Emergency Shelter

Even if you want to stay in your home (BUG-IN), having emergency shelter is important. Staying out of the elements will help keep you healthy and alive. I remember talking to a friend who survived Hurricane Andrew. He chose to bug-in expecting his brand new house would hold up to the furious storm. It was a miscalculation he'll never forget. He ended up living in a make-shift tent he constructed from 2x4's and a tarp that he had used to cover his now missing boat. And that's where we start. Aquire a tarp. Simple, lightweight and multi-purposeful. You can fold it up in stick it in a go-bag or backpack. You can use it as a tent, a windbreak, a sunshade, or even a litter. You also should consider a tube tent which is also lightweight and easily storable as well. Get more than one depending on how many people are in your party. Remember to shop for the environment you anticipate using your shelter in. Flashlights with batteries, a propane camping stove, lanterns, fuel, rope, paracord, insect repellent-DEET, binoculars, toilet paper, sleeping bags, stick matches, fire starters, solar blankets and glow sticks should be part of your initial preps. Also, remember that in many cases your vehicle will do just fine so comfort items should find their way to the trunk along with your other camping/survival gear. If you absolutely must run your vehicle for heat, remember to use a carbon monoxide detector.

Communications

Communication starts at home, but can get pricey so start with what you can. An all weather emergency/hazard warning radio is a good idea to have and highly recommended. An all weather/hazards alert crank radio should be a part of your bug-out equipment. Also, hand held two-way radios, a CB radio for your vehicle, a CB base radio for your home/shelter, a handheld GPS, a GPS for your vehicle, a cell phone, a portable am/fm radio, flashlights, a solar battery/device charger, rechargeable batteries and an internet connecting device such as a lap top or smart phone. Don't overlook the low tech. Paper, pencil's, permanent markers, chalk, spray paint, air horns, signal mirrors, whistles, flares and flashlights are all equally as important. If you need rescue or your party gets seperated, these lowtech items may help you immensely. I would also recommend caution tape and contagion signs. In the event of a bug-in in a long term catastrophy, deploying these and spray painting your home with warnings such as "morgue", "all dead inside" or "contaminated" may help to keep looters or others away. In order for that to have the best chance of success you must keep a very low profile.

Transportation

Prepping your get away vehicle is of the utmost importance. Getting out of danger and heading to the farthest or safest and/or most secure location with the greatest of speed usually means ground transportation and for most folks, it means the family car, truck or SUV. Therefore, as you're formulating your initial plans, make sure you do not ignore your vehicle and while you're doing that, consider any other means of transportation you may have at your disposal. Four wheelers, motorcycles, boats, RV's and bicycles all may be useful or even a better option depending on what emergencies and/or planning scenarios you may ultimately be faced with. Understanding this, you should make sure all your options are properly prepared. Your vehicles that can, should be stocked with many of the supplies we already covered. Food, water, medkits, lighting, solar blankets, GPS's etc. But they require other preps as well. For starters, make sure they are fully fueled at the end of each day. I know with todays fuel prices that can be a challenge but if you can budget to where you top off nightly rather than wait until you're low, you may be able to pull this off. It's important so give it a shot. Being able to drive 300 miles or so without having to stop and find fuel is optimal. Make sure you keep maps with your get away routes and destinations in your car along with any phone numbers or addresses you need. Do not identify map points on it like, "weapons cache" or "buried silver here". Use code words only you and/or party understand for those sensitive locations. If you don't want to indicate the location of your final destination either, simply conceal your map point meaning or leave it off altogether. But, you must be sure everyboby in your group knows where the end point is and what to do/where to go from the point you stop marking your evacuation route.

Make sure your vehicle is maintained properly. Your fluids, tire pressure, spare tire(s), battery, belts, heating/cooling systems, radio, and windshield wipres are in good working order. Make sure you have an extra fuel can, fuses, bulbs, warning triangles, jumper cables, tire puncture repair kit, tire sealent, an air compressor, a manual air pump, a jack & tire iron, electrical tape, emergency beacons, and a tool kit with screw drivers, wrenches, a life hammer, flashlights with extra batteries, an ice scraper and a digging tool. Finally, commit the following to your SSC. When SHTF roadways may become parking lots. Understand this! Plan your escape several ways using several routes. Call your local emergency management agency and ask them what the emergency evacuation routes are and use all this information to determine the threshold of your escape time table. If you wait too long, you may be better off staying than being caught in the open.

Defense

Unless you have a former nuclear missile silo or an underground bunker built to withstand armageddon in your backyard, you should plan on protecting yourself and your family against attack. We already touched on possible deterrent strategies and deterrent would be the preffered method of dealing with looters or marauders. Confrontaion should be avoided if possible. But the time may come when confrontation is the only option. Be it an invader in your home or property, a raider on the road or a pirate on the water you must be prepared to meet their force with maximum effectiveness. You also have to be ready to meet the dangers of feral or agressive dogs or animals. Investing in stun guns, tasers, and bear pepper spray, is a must. Other defense items such as guns, rifles, shotguns, full tang knives (the knife extends through the full length of the grip portion), machete's, aluminum baseball bats, hatchets, axes, bows and crossbows are advisable and also double as survival and hunting tools. Gloves, elbow and knee pads, as well as googles and helmets should be on your list. Consider skateboarding helmets, spelunking helmets, rock climbing helmets, baseball batting helmets with faceshields or hockey helmets (I know you were wondering). They won't stop a bullet but they'll protect your head from blows, falls and flyng debris. Or you can invest in tactical helmets.

As for your guns; The .22 long rifle bullet is a perfect prepper bullet for many applications such as critter and small game hunting. They're cheap and so is their ammo. Plus they're relatively quiet. I recommend at least one .22 LR handgun and rifle. For better defense, I would consider weapons with NATO caliber rounds. If SHTF most of the weapons that will come with the first responders or military personnel will be 9mm, 5.56 or .223, 12 ga., and 7.62 or .308. This is important in the event that you run low on ammo and need to scavange. If conditions get horrific, the rounds you take off the dead must be of use to you. Still, it's a good idea to check with your local Sheriff or Police Department. Some Departments use the .40 caliber handgun and a few still use the .357.

Gear

In emergency situations, the better you are outfitted the better chance you have at staying safe. You'll need backpacks or go-bags for SEER, bug-out and reconaissance situations. Make sure those include water, food, ammo and first-aid, plus the other essentials for your escape or trip. Packing your backpack for worst case scenarios is a good idea but keep in mind the weight. In an emergency you may have to travel long distances, or flee rapidly and being overloaded will present you with either having to drop your pack, suppiles or worse. Larger carry bags or gear bags can be used for vehicle bug-outs or bug-in storage. Those should carry your larger bulkier equipment.

You should have no-rip/stop-rip type clothing. If you're in an emergency situation, keeping your clothing as intact as possible will help minimize cuts, scrapes and insect bites, keep your skin shaded or keep you warm. Plus easily ripped clothing won't last very long so ... well who wants to be in a disaster while in the buff? Always have a change of clothes including extra socks. Keeping your change of clothes in a water proof bag is best. Make sure you have sufficient cold weather/hot weather clothing including jackets, thermals, scarfs, gloves, headware etc., depending on your environment and/or your bug-out destination.

Footwear should consist of having two good pair of running shoes or sneakers, tactical boots, hiking boots and or hiking shoes, wetsuit booties and mud or swamp boots. You should carry the pair of your choice in your go-bag while ensuring you have the remaining pairs in your carry bags or containers. I keep a set in my truck, in my car and in my office.

Tactical belts and vests help to keep your tactical gear organized while still within reach. Every member of your group should have something along those lines. It's not just about guns, but about access to emergency equipment without having to dig through a pack. You decide the items you think you'll need and stock your vests, belts, cargo pockets or pack pockets accordingly.

Bugging-in VS Bugging-out

Circumstances beyond your control may force your hand on whether to go or stay in an emergency. In the event of a natural disaster that gives ample warning such as a hurricane, you'll probably have enough time to make arrangements out of the storms path or bug-out to a predetermined location such as secure or remote property. For most everything else your decision will have to be made on the fly. Planning helps you make those decisions wisely. Be prepared for all options and no options. It's your call so do your research. Don't over reach. Use common sense and be realistic. Your goal is to make your situation safer not worse.

Regards

You should have enough information to get you started, but this is just the begining, there is much more to consider. Prepping is an on-going art and as situations around us change, so must we. Remember that there is a lot of good information out there so be diligent and prep wisely. Train yourself and your group in defense, navigation, communication, building, first-aid, farming, trapping & hunting and seek out other like minded neighbors. Never be boastful about your preps as discretion is your best defense against those who would look to seperate you from them. Don't forget hygiene items or your pets and get in shape. Get your body fixed by taking care of that toothache or the needing of glasses and try to get your blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol down through diet and exercise.

The better shape you're in, the better chance you have at survival and the better chance you have at keeping your family safe. In the end, that's what it's all about.

Good Luck and Regards from Liberty33