SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

Kerosene Lamps – An Awesome Gift

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Time’s running out, and if you haven’t found that hard to get person a gift yet, you could be in potential trouble!

Here’s an idea that will hopefully help. Try giving a Prepping gift, like a kerosene lamp! Wally World has a nice selection of kerosene lamps at prices that should fit into any budget. There are various decorative glass styles, but they even have the old outside barn style too.

This, with a bottle of lamp oil, would make the perfect Prepping gift without breaking the bank. The lamp oils even come in various scents if you want add a special touch.

If the time comes when it is needed in a power outage, you’ll be thanked many times over! Kerosene lamps are much safer than candles, and were used in our recent past for many years. Good common sense must prevail in their use though, as with any item that uses fire.

For a long while they were the only source of night time light that there was. The Amish still use them to light their homes to this day.

Most of the lamps come with instructions on how to trim the wick. Remind the gift recipient to pay close attention to it and do it for the best lighting results.

Should I Go To Urgent Care? [5 considerations]

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If you’re like many people, you avoid the emergency room like the plague; not because you’re afraid, but because you don’t want it to turn into an all-day event.

If you ask emergency staff, they’ll tell you that it’s not unusual to have to wait up to eight hours to be seen. This is because anyone more critical than you will be pushed to the front of the line. If you need to be seen for an illness or injury that isn’t life threatening, don’t ignore your problem; take a trip to urgent care.

1. When You Can’t See Your Physician

If you have a family doctor and your illness or injury isn’t life threatening, he or she should always be your first call. In the event that you can’t get an appointment in a satisfactory amount of time, or your doctor’s office is closed, your nearest urgent care center can be a fantastic option. Rather than sitting idly and suffering with your issue, have someone take you to an urgent care center for proper medical attention.

2. Who Will Treat You?

Many people are concerned that they won’t see a “real” physician if they visit an urgent care center. According to Dr. Sarah Holder of the Quick Care Clinic at Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas, most urgent care centers are staffed by physicians, nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants. These are often the same types of professionals who would see you in an emergency room or in your doctor’s office.

3. What You Can Get Treated For?

There are very few regulations when it comes to urgent care centers in terms of what they can and can’t treat you for. What this means is that you can often find the same type of care at an urgent care center as you would in an emergency room. Most urgent care centers offer imaging, lab work, urine and fecal tests, and other routine screenings. If you find an urgent care facility that doesn’t offer these things, it’s not because they aren’t permitted to do so, it’s because they’ve chosen not to do so. Your urgent care center will be able to treat you for almost every minor illness and injury.

4. Urgent Care versus Retail Clinics

If you are sick, it’s important to understand the difference between the type of clinic you can find in your local pharmacy and an urgent care clinic. Retail clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and treat common, minor illnesses and injuries. If you have something a bit more serious, like pneumonia or a broken bone, these retail clinics will refer you to an emergency room or urgent care center.

5. Insurance

Just like hospitals and your doctor’s office, urgent care centers accept most major medical insurance plans. If you have insurance, it’s always a good idea to find out whether there are restrictions in your policy as to where you can be treated. If you can’t find this information in your insurance packet, call your local urgent care center and find out if they accept your medical insurance. If your insurance provider will not cover your visit, you’ll need to be able to pay your bill in full on your own.

Urgent care centers can be a great source for treatment of your illnesses and injuries. While it’s not unusual to wait for hours on end in an emergency room, you’ll never have to sit for hours in an urgent care facility. Don’t suffer with an illness when you don’t have to; you can receive proper, caring attention at your local urgent care center.

How To Assemble A Survival Binder

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Way back in the ‘70s I started my own 3 ring survival binder, which became binders over the years. Well, my house burned two years ago and poof, a lifetime of information collecting gone. Two strokes and my memory leaves something to be desired.  Such is life…

We all have different families, challenges, live in different areas under different circumstances, but we all believe in being prepared or we wouldn’t be here. And we are all preparing for different scenarios. Some of us are preparing for floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes, while others for a nuclear catastrophe or economic collapse.

No matter how extensive your library, no one book will cover this all! And there is so much valuable information out there, but how do you remember where it all is and what if the electricity goes off and the library is not available? A personalized survival binder is the answer.

When I started mine, the personal computer was science fiction! I hand copied information, cut and pasted magazine articles and photocopied from books. Today, most information you need is available on the internet and can be easily printed, or copied and pasted into a document. And there are so many excellent websites and resources available it can be mind boggling!

Three ring binders are inexpensive, especially if you shop at your local Salvation Army or Goodwill. I use a hole punch and just the computer paper I am printing on, or photocopying onto. If I’m handwriting things, I like the pre-punched ruled notebook paper. You can also create a digital survival library, by downloading pdf copies of survival guides and handbooks, which can then be stored on a thumb drive, external hard drive, cloud drive or even emailed to yourself so you always have access from any computer.

I divided mine into categories like: First Aid, Water, Alternative Fuel and Energy, Recipes (beans and rice), Wild Edibles, Natural Remedies, you get the idea. Gardening and Food Preservation are separate binders for me. But you could easily have individual binders for all of your categories.

So, as you are wandering the Net and see good information, consider creating your own Survival Binder!

What Do You Need For Seven Days of Self-Reliance? [List]

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Natural or manmade disasters can occur!

What are the basics for you to survive without electricity, water service, heat, cooling, or sewage disposal for seven days in your home?

If you have your Bug Out Bag stocked and ready to go and have a 72 hour In-Home Survival Box prepared, along with a Get Home Bag in your vehicle you are almost there!

Now it is up to you to decide how comfortable you (and your family) want to be for a week without power.

Here’s what you need to add to the 72 Hour Box for In-Home Survival:

  • Toilet paper—at least two rolls per person.
  • Additional water—at least one gallon per person per day.
  • More paper plates, plastic utensils and paper towels.
  • Four more days of canned and/or non-perishable foods. Your BOB and Get Home Bag probably only contain energy bars.
  • More sturdy garbage bags for sanitation.
  • Another roll of heavy duty aluminum foil.
  • More replacement batteries for radio, flashlight and lantern.
  • A box of baby wipes for sponge baths.
  • Baby powder for a dry hair wash and general freshener.
  • One reusable emergency blanket per person if in a climate that gets below freezing.

Comfortable Self-Reliance for One Week

  • A portable heater with enough fuel for a week. Be sure to have a working carbon monoxide detector.
  • An extra bottle of propane for your grill for three seasons of cooking outside. A camp stove with extra fuel for inside cooking.
  • Add comfort food to your supplies—chocolate, popcorn, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, marshmallows… Whatever will store well and taste good to you and your family. A good quality manual can opener.
  • A popup tent for “camping” in your living room or outside if the weather is nice.
  • A plastic, passive solar camp shower.
  • Two coolers in case you can access ice to keep your refrigerated goods from spoiling and dry ice to keep your frozen foods from spoiling. If not, have a block party!
  • More flashlights and lanterns.
  • Decks of cards and games.
  • Some wine or spirits to relax with.

Thriving Off-Grid for One Week

  • If you have a natural gas furnace, a natural gas garage heater mounted in the basement or upstairs – will it work without electricity? Heat rises and there will a comfortable area near the heater—these usually cost less than $300 installed. Be sure to have a working carbon monoxide detector.
  • Upgrade to a gas range and you will have burners, and, check before you buy, an oven to back in or use as an extra space heater.
  • A generator of at least 3500 watts

So it is your choice! Survive, be comfortable, or thrive and potentially be able to help others during a disaster!

How To Create Your 72 Hour Kit or Bug Out Bag

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Even Ready.gov recommends that every American should have a go bag packed and ready to leave at a moment’s notice if told to evacuate.

Why would you ever have to evacuate? Consider what we have seen on the national news recently:

  • Wild fires
  • Hurricanes
  • Earthquakes
  • Natural gas explosions
  • Hazardous waste truck and train accidents
  • Floods
  • Industry and warehouse fires

This pack is meant for you, and your family, to survive on your own for 3 days. It could happen to you!

Every BOB is individual. It could be a backpack, a carry bag, or a small rolling suitcase with handle. It must be easy for you to carry! And it should be set next to the doorway or at least near it so that if police or National Guard comes to your door you can just grab and go.

What it contains should also be individualized for you, your family and your pets. Essentially it should have food, water and supplies to allow you to survive for at least 72 hours.

Here is a basic list for you to consider:

  • Prescription medications and spare glasses
  • Copies of important family documents like identification (copy of your driver’s license or birth certificate and social security card), insurance policy declaration pages, and bank account records. Family phone numbers and emails. Create a survival binder and put it in a waterproof container or bag.
  • Enough cash and change to pay for gasoline, tolls, motel and food for three days.
  • A small first aid kit.
  • A sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. If in a cold climate especially, consider adding the Mylar emergency blankets.
  • One complete change of utilitarian clothing, including sturdy shoes, per person. Rotate seasonally for appropriate wear.
  • Water AND a portable water filter—like a Life Straw.
  • A survival whistle (compass, waterproof match holder with matches and flint, signal mirror). SOS in Morse code simplified version: short/long/short.
  • A pack of wet wipes, antiseptic wipes, and zip lock baggies for personal hygiene.
  • Paper and pencil/pen for leaving notes.
  • Food: Consider energy bars or MREs (meals ready to eat). It has to be portable and you can eat it without cooking it.

Auxiliary Considerations:

  • Children or Infants?
  • Formula and infant food.
  • Disposable diapers.
  • Entertainment for the kids and food they will eat.
  • Toddlers plus can carry their own backpacks.

Pets?

  • Pet food, water, and portable dishes.
  • Pet carrier (small dogs and cats).
  • Leash and muzzle (Even for the most well behaved dog to protect the dog! Some people fear dogs and if you encounter an aggressive dog yours is less likely to be shot if muzzled).
  • Doggie potty bags and scooper.
  • A dog can carry its own pack as well. Practice with the dog!

This is a VERY BASIC list! So much can be added. But if you have this minimum and shelter, you can SURVIVE! Practice with your family at least twice a year!

The 72 Hour Home Emergency Kit

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Everyone needs to be able to take care of themselves for at least 3 days if any number of natural or man made disasters should occur. Consider the potential for blizzards, ice storms, severe thunderstorms, wind storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, gas leaks, even something as mundane as transformer failures or traffic accidents taking down power poles.

And a three day power outage (And we have seen three week power outages in the U.S. as recently as Superstorm Sandy for tens of thousands of people.) can be a disaster!

What are the basics for you to survive without electricity, water service, heat, cooling, or sewage disposal for 72 hours in your home? What is the least you need to survive this?

Think about a basic “survival box.”

The 72 Hour Box for In-Home Survival

  • An LED flashlight with extra batteries.
  • An LED lantern that is solar powered, hand crank or battery powered, with extra batteries.
  • One gallon of water per person per day. More if you have a way to cook.
  • Three days of canned, or non-perishable food, that can be eaten without cooking or minimal preparation and a MANUAL CAN OPENER.
  • Paper plates, plastic utensils and paper towels.
  • A battery powered radio with a NOAA Weather Radio tone alert, and extra batteries. Some emergency radios have solar and hand crank assist.
  • Toilet paper, moist towelettes, antiseptic wipes, sturdy garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation. If it looks like the electricity will be off for more than 12 hours, line your toilet bowl with a garbage bag (or put 2 together for sturdiness), fold over and put down the seat. You can tie shut after every use if need be.
  • Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, if notified to do so.
  • An N95 reusable dust mask to filter the air if needed.
  • Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place (This is considered specific to a nuclear disaster, but is important to survival in the winter as well to create a warm room.).
  • Heavy duty aluminum foil—to heat food with a candle in the oven, to face shiny side outward on windows in the summer to reflect excessive heat, to face inward on windows in the winter to reflect heat inside.
  • Whistle to call for help. SOS in Morse code, simplified version: short/long/short.
  • A Mylar emergency blanket will reflect back 90% of your body heat. Ideal for winter if you put one under your sheet facing up and one over your sheet and under your blankets facing down.

72 Hour Survival Items for Children

  • Formula and infant food for at least 3 days.
  • Disposable diapers for at least 3 days.
  • A handheld fan to keep them cool.
  • Warm blankets and emergency blankets to keep them warm.
  • Toys and games to entertain them.

Survival Items for Pets

  • Pet food and water for at least 3 days.
  • For sheltering-in, a “potty” corner with a lined tray and plastic baggies.

This is the absolute minimum you need to survive for 3 days without assistance. Do you have these items in your home? Easily accessible? Where you can find them in the dark if need be?