Disaster Preparedness

February 23, 2008 on 12:57 am | In disaster preparedness |

I’ve been thinking for a long time about improving my preparedness for an emergency situation. I have food in the pantry to last a short time, but no water, which bothers me. Plus, a lot of the food I have needs to be cooked.

According to the American Red Cross, I should have at least three days worth of food and water on hand at all times. They go on to say that the food should be of the ready to eat variety and require no water or cooking. It seems to me that three days food is actually too little based on the length of some recent emergencies. Katrina anyone?

As far as ammunition goes, I’ve got a decent amount for the guns that I have, but not enough to last in a prolonged emergency. As soon as I get ahead financially I intend to rectify that situation.

As for the gun situation, I have a decent shotgun and some old, but still very capable mil-surp rifles and decent handguns in common calibers. I have to say though that I’m considering selling the SKS. No matter what I do I can’t seem to hit the broadside of a barn with it. *sigh*

I’d like to get peoples opinions on what consumables and ammunition I should be stocking for a “rainy day”. I feel uncomfortable in my current situation, supplies wise.

Any suggestions?

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  1. Your question about what to keep in an emergency supply kit is a good one. A lot of people aren’t sure what they really need. We have an emergency kit calculator at our website - http://www.axcesspoints.com. You enter your household members (age, gender and disabilities) any animals - including livestock - and we’ll calculate the exact quantity of items you need. You have to open an account to get to the calculator - but no credit card is required - and we don’t spam you. Try it out. In fact, if you send me an email, I’ll give you a code that will give you free access to the entire online safe deposit box that lets you keep your entire emergency plan on line and give access to other trusted family members. Karlyn@axcesspoints.com

    Comment by Karlyn — February 23, 2008 #

  2. Great thoughts about the emergency kit. I think you need to consider not only food, water, and ammo as necessities, but a “go” pack in your car for any crisis. I figure you may not be at home when you at forced to contend with a natural disaster or islamo-fascist terror attack.
    I would be willing to share my list of goodies in the pack if it would help. Keep up the great work!
    larsen1517@yahoo.com

    Comment by Talking Moose — February 25, 2008 #

  3. The emergency kit is an excellent idea. I worry about an adequate suply of ammunition too although I think I could confidently band with my friends for mutual protection if it came to that. I think the most difficult component of an emergency supply kit would be a safe source of heat here in the north.
    This water supply question has a really simple answer. Although it would take a disaster of bibical proportions to disrupt our municipal water supply (I work part time for our city and am amazed at the redundancy), in my house I have a water heater. It holds approximately 30 gallons of water. Between 2 bathrooms I have another approximately 5 gallons of water in the toilet tanks (assuming I wouldn’t use any of it to flush).
    My sister is a Mormon and if I understand her correctly about their church doctrine, members are expected to store a significant supply of food in their respective homes. She told me she uses resealable 5 gallon buckets and is always rotating her supplies through her family’s meals. She is in her 60’s and has been doing this for years. I have never really examined this practice closely.

    Comment by Anonymous — February 25, 2008 #

  4. Food, depending on what you are wanting to prep for: TEOTWAWKI or things like hurricanes. That will determine how much and what you are going to store on hand.

    Many people, and I agree, say to store food you normally eat. A good example would be if you like tuna fish sandwiches. Then stock up, date and remember to rotate, on tuna fish. In this fashion it will not come as a shock if you had to live off of your stores for a while.

    A BOB (bug out bag/bug home bag) is a good thing to get squared away. Just in case you ever have to leave your home (fire or storm, etc) or walk home from work.

    Also having some gear for the car is a good idea. Tool kit, road flares, strobes, first aid kit, fix a flat, towing cable, blanket, etc. My grandpa did this and I never understood it until recently. It was just natural for his generation to have things on hand just in case you gotta fix something or wait.

    Start slowly (I am) and do not let it seem over-whelming. Rome was not build in a day, nor will your preps.

    Sorry about your SKS. I know how much you like your rifle. Gonna see if a gunsmith can find and correct the problem?

    Comment by Jennersen — February 26, 2008 #

  5. Thanks to everyone who commented! I’ve some good information now and I’ll keep you all updated via the blog on my progress.

    :-)

    Comment by Yuri — February 27, 2008 #

  6. Here is a site for very in depth look at setting up Bug Out Bags & other serious emergency preperations.

    http://www.neardeathexperiments.com/

    Comment by RickR — February 29, 2008 #

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