SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

What Are the Best Ferro Rods?

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Best Ferro Rods

The ability to create fire can literally mean the difference between life and death. Whether you are in a wilderness survival situation, an unforeseen emergency on the road, or even just trying to make a quick campfire to cook dinner while on a weekend camping trip, being able to quickly create a hot fire with minimal supplies is invaluable.

That’s where a Ferro rod is worth its weight in gold.

The Short Answer:

1. überleben Zünden Fire Starter

  • Comes in 3 diameters and lifespans
  • Ultralight and designed to be carried
  • Raw hardwood handle
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The überleben Zünden Fire Starter is just about the most versatile, portable, and outright functional Ferro rod you can get for a reasonable price. It is constructed with a raw hardwood handle meant to season over time, and one of three available diameters that will give you anywhere from 12,000 to over 20,000 strikes per rod. The manageable 5-inch length includes nearly 3 inches of spark belching Ferro rod. 

With a shower of 5,000-degree sparks, the überleben Zünden Fire Starter is able to start a fire in just about any conditions. Wind, rain, and snow will not stop this Ferro rod from shedding countless bits of molten metal onto your tinder pile.

Once your fire is raging, use the paracord to hang some clothes out to dry. The striker doubles as a multi-tool, able to act as a tinder scraper, map scale marker, micro ruler, hex wrench, and bottle opener.

Other Great Ferro Rods

2. Swiss Safe 5-in-1 Fire Starter

  • Comes in 5 colors
  • Includes 2 sets of firestarters
  • Multi-function tool
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If you are looking for a great little Ferro rod that can be stored just about anywhere and comes in at less than twenty bucks, the Swiss Safe 5-in-1 Fire Starter just might be for you. Even better, it’s a two-pack. Just rained? No problem. Break out the Swiss Safe 5-in-1 Fire Starter and get your tinder going, the rest of the wood will be dry in no time.

The dual Ferro rods are rated for over 16,000 strikes and because it is an alloy that included magnesium as well, the sparks burn at over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Each toolset comes with the rod, striker, 450lb paracord, and features a built-in compass, and a 150dB safety whistle. Not only will this get your fire going in any conditions, but the compass and whistle are handy extras in a bad situation.

3. Bayite 4 Inch Survival Ferrocerium

  • 4-inch rod provides portability and effectiveness
  • Hardened striker is designed to maximize the spark shower
  • Drilled one-piece rod is super strong
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Bayite Ferro rods are some of the toughest Ferro rods on the market. The wide variety of diameters and lengths gives you the ability to find the perfect balance of portability and spark volume. With sizes up to six inches long and a half-inch diameter, you have the ability to drop a steady flow of molten metal onto your tinder bed, getting that fire raging no matter what kind of weather you are out in.

The rod comes coated in a protective coating that scrapes off with a few simple strokes and gives you access to the ferrocerium firestarter beneath. This is a perfect addition to your bug out bag, tackle box, scout pack, cooking gear, and just about any other set of preparatory equipment you have that you might use out in the bush. This rod is a great match for all your kits.

4. Fire-Fast Trekker

  • 2 in 1 Ferro rod and magnesium booster
  • Hardwood handle for a positive grip
  • 550lb rot-proof paracord
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The Fire-Fast Trekker is a unique Ferro rod in that it comes with the usual rod and striker, but it also includes a built-in military-grade magnesium rod to give an incredible boost to your fire in the early stages. Just use the hardened striker to scrape a little magnesium off into your tinder bed, and then make your sparks and the magnesium will be ignited by the 5,000-degree sparks and will add an intense burst of flame to your fire.

The 9.5mm diameter rod is three inches long, so it is extremely portable. The handle grip can even be scraped to produce dry tinder in an emergency. The rod is good for thousands of starts, so you will always be able to get warm or cook a hot meal with the Fire-Fast Trekker in your bag or pocket.

5. AOFAR AF-381 5-in-1 Fire Starter

  • Each box is a 2-pack
  • Paracord leash that doubles as tinder
  • Built-in emergency whistle and a navigational compass
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For a budget set of emergency Ferro rods, you really can’t go wrong with the AOFAR AF-381 5-in-1 Fire Starter set. They pack quite a few features into a pretty small and portable package. They also come in a two-pack by default, so you can enjoy one and give one as a gift, or merely stock up twice as fast for yourself. Keep on in the glove box, one in the tackle box, one with the camping kitchen supplies, it’s hard to have too many emergency supplies.

The AOFAR AF-381 5-in-1 Fire Starter combines a straightforward Ferro rod set, with a compass, safety whistle, and survival paracord rope. The 5-inch rod and unique 3-inch scraper put out an impressive shower of sparks for such a small tool. Works every time, no matter the weather conditions.

6. Texas Bushcraft Fire Starter

  • Robust ⅜” diameter Ferro rod
  • Paracord lanyard includes survival strands
  • Compact size fits just about anywhere
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The Texas Bushcraft Fire Starter is a super sturdy Ferro rod and scraper set. Not only will it send 5,000-degree sparks, but the thick three-eighths inch thick rod and an even thicker wooden handle grip make sure that it happens quickly and easily. The rod is rated for over 15,000 strikes, so if you lit 3 fires every single day, you would be lighting fires for almost 14 years!

Small enough to fit nearly anywhere, the rod and scraper of the Texas Bushcraft Fire Starter are attached with more than 10 feet of 550lb paracord that includes 3 survival strands of waxed cotton tinder, polyethylene fishing line, and waxed thread. Doubling as a versatile multi-tool, the scraper features additional functions of a map scale, bottle opener, hex wrench, tinder scraper, rod scraper, and micro ruler. 

7. Holtzman’s Ferro Rod

  • Convenient necklace or lanyard carrying
  • A scraper that incorporates multiple tools
  • 40-inch paracord lanyard
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If you find other Ferro rods to be a bit, dainty, and if storage space isn’t at a minimum, you are probably perfect for the Ferro rod from Holtzman’s. The super-chunky half-inch diameter, six-inch-long ferro rod is perfect for folks with big hands, difficulty gripping smaller items, or those who might need an extreme spark volume.

The six-inch drilled Ferro rod comes with a multi-tool scraper and military-grade paracord to bind them together, and it even comes in a very sleek and elegant gift box. The scraper also includes a bottle opener and a ruler, and the rod is rated for more than 12,000 strikes. With that many uses and a robust half-inch diameter, the Holtzman’s Ferro Rod is sure to stand up to the abuse of the wilderness and will last for years.

Ferro Rods for Firestarters

What To Look For

Created sometime around the turn of the twentieth century, ferrocerium is an alloy of iron and the rare-earth element cerium. It is pyrophoric, meaning that when fragments of it are exposed to air, they spontaneously ignite.

Ferrocerium is extremely brittle, and when the striker is scraped down the rod, it scrapes and chips off tiny fragments that then ignite in the open air and burn around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Ferrocerium is often known by the misnomer “flint” when encountered in familiar objects like cigarette lighters and strikers for cutting or welding torches.

No matter if you are looking for a Ferro rod for your glove box, your bug out bag, or your standard camping gear or wood cooking supplies, it all starts with looking at what options are out there. But when you search, it seems like there are hundreds of them, page after page, and it feels like it might start to get complicated. Sure the number of different options out there can be overwhelming, but we’ve taken the time to evaluate some of the absolute best Ferro rods on the market, and why people love them. 

When it comes to choosing the best Ferro rods, there are a few factors to consider before you pick one.

Length: longer ferro rods give you more sparks

The length is an important consideration since it will impact how you can store it, and how easy it is to hold securely during use. It will also factor into the overall spark volume. Shorter Ferro rods can be stored, packed, and transported more easily, but give a shorter stroke, thus producing a smaller volume of sparks. 

Larger bars are easier to grip firmly and provide a longer scraper stroke. The downside to the thicker or longer bars is that you can’t as easily carry them as a necklace or keychain, and if you are storing them with gear or in bug out bags, they will take up a bit more space and have a bit more weight.

Diameter: not critical

While the diameter of your Ferro rod is going to impact its performance and its life expectancy, it is not exactly a make-or-break factor. The diameter will also affect the spark density, for example, if you have a half-inch diameter rod and a quarter-inch diameter rod of the same length, the half-inch rod will put out more spark per stroke than the thinner rod.

  • Thinner rods – Thinner rods will be lighter and are more likely to be able to be carried as a keychain or necklace. The spark density per stroke will be negligibly less than from thicker rods, but not to any significant degree.
  • Thicker rods – Thicker rods will have a bit more mass since they are comprised of a significant percentage of iron, but unless you are concerned with the difference of a few ounces, that won’t be a huge issue. Thicker rods will have a bit higher spark density than thinner rods and may provide a more sure grip in the absence of an attached handle.

Extras: nice but not necessary

Many Ferro rod sets will include some extras. Often this will be things like paracord, multi-tool scrapers, and so on. Since these are extras, and not considered necessary for the operation of the Ferro rod, they should not hold too much weight in your decision. But, all other things being equal, free stuff is always good.

  • Navigational Compass – Like some survival watches or whistles, some ferro rod firestarters will offer a built-in navigational compass. Often it will be molded into the grip or the hilt. This is nice if you have a separate compass since it can then help you eliminate redundant gear.
  • Multi-Tool Scraper – Scrapers are often designed to fit the specific diameter of the Ferro rod they come with, this is to help maximize the exposure to the rod surface. Sometimes the scraper will also be given additional functions. They can contain ruler markings, map scale markings, hex wrenches, flathead screwdriver blades, bottle openers, and more. 
  • Survival Strands – This is an extra that is often braided into the paracord or the lanyard. Survival strands can include things like polyethylene fishing line, waxed cotton tinder, sewing thread, twine, or monofilament.
  • Multiple Ferro Rods – The only thing better than finding a great Ferro rod, is finding out you get two for the price of one! Some manufacturers of smaller rods actually give you two sets, so not only do you have the one you wanted in the first place, but you have an extra or spare for a second location.

FAQs

Q: How do I use a Ferro rod?

A: Using a Ferro rod is pretty straightforward, and only requires a few steps, but the key lies in your preparation. Before you begin, you will want to make sure you have a sufficient amount of dry tinder on your tinder bed ready for the sparks, and increasingly large twigs and sticks to feed it as it grows. If you are in a particularly wet or rainy location, or if dry tinder is not readily available, you may want to consider using a few magnesium shavings or a little bit of powder to drop your sparks on to give your fire a boost to dry your tinder.

Once your tinder and wood are ready, to operate your Ferro rod:

  1. Hold your Ferro rod at about a 45-degree angle, with the far end as close to your ember bed as possible. Sparks will be coming from that end, do you want it placed and pointed where your fire should end up.
  2. Grab your scraper, and hold it as close as possible and comfortable to the end you are holding. Many scrapers will have a special notch or cutout that is designed to be used for fire-starting, if yours has this use it, if not, use a hardened square edge.
  3. PULL THE ROD BACK NOT THE SCRAPER. This is a very important step and technique. By holding the scraper stationary and pulling the rod back, you keep the sparks focused on the tinder. When you run the scraper down the rod, there is an inconsistent distancing, so you will have large amounts of sparks lost due to under or overshooting the tinder.

Q: Are Ferro rods safe?

A: As a matter of fact Ferro rods are quite possibly the single safest way to start a fire. Not only are they the most reliable way to start a fire, and are usable even after being submerged in liquids, and after sitting for years and years without maintenance, but they do it all without worrying about having a dangerous or even flammable fuel. Since they themselves don’t burn, there are no fumes or smoke to worry about. As long as it is used properly, the sparks are only discharged away from you and toward your tinder pile, and there is an extremely small chance of burns. 

Ferro Rod Tips And Tricks

Duct Tape

If you have a bare bar or a bar without a handle, wrapping a small strip o duct tape around the top end can provide a few benefits down the road. Aside from being a good grip in adverse or wet conditions, but it is a piece of duct tape. It can be used as a portable repair item for a rip in your pack or shoe, even wilderness first aid. Duct tape can help hold a bandage in place or a wound closed. Another thing it is great for is a source of flammable material. Fray an edge and pull off some sticky strands, and you have a bit of dry flammable material that will catch fire easily and burn hot for a short period.

Every Inch Counts

Your entire Ferro rod is usable as a firestarter. Every ounce of that bar can be transformed into spark in the field. Remember that you can scrape with pressure but no speed to scrape material from the bar into a small pile to assist in starting fires in very wet locations. Once it has been collected into a small pile, put a little spark in it and look out. It should produce a prodigious amount of very bright and very hot molten metal. The resulting fireball should be enough to force your tinder bed to catch. 

No Scraper No Problem

Nearly every Ferro rod will come with a scraper, probably already attached to the rod by some paracord. But, if you needed the paracord and then lost the scraper? Well, if you have any other hardened steel implement, you can use that. One of the best things to use if you don’t have a scraper is the square spine of a hardened knife blade. This is particularly useful because while some of the Ferro rods will have a handle or a grip on them, the strikers almost never have such. Using a survival knife you are comfortable with allows you to leverage the knife handle for removing more material from the bar ad making more sparks.

Keep It Round To Keep It Around

As you use your Ferro rod, you will undoubtedly have some irregularities in how to use it time after time. Over time this will cause “speed bumps” in your rod, they will actually be more like gradual ripples or dents. This is both a good thing and the beginnings of a bad thing. On one hand, this is good because it tells you two things, firstly it tells you that your technique needs a little adjustment, and secondly, it tells you where and how you need to adjust.

So when you examine your Ferro rod, and you see some ripples or uneven thickness it is an indication that you are applying an inconsistent pressure or speed at some point during your strikes, and the deeper ripples show you where you are pressing hardest, or moving slowest. Look at the dips and ripples and see if you can make an effort to apply more even pressure, and pull the rod at a more even speed. 

To fix the speed bumps, take a standard metal file and grab a comfy seat outside. Guide the file over the Ferro rod while rolling and rotating the rod constantly to keep it rounded. If left unchecked, these speed bumps can get deeper and deeper, eventually leading to a failure where the rod breaks at a thin, weak spot. Make sure you do it outside away from anything flammable since filing down the rod will create sparks as the material is removed.

Use It

It sounds silly, but you would be surprised how common it is to buy a piece of gear, stow it away where it belongs, only to never practice or become comfortable and effective at using it. You don’t buy a hunting rifle to not use it, you practice to make sure your skills stay sharp so when the time comes to fill the freezer you can do it effectively. 

Your Ferro rod is the same way. You will probably not wear it out by practicing and becoming effective with it, since most are rated for at least 12,000 strikes. Use it any time you need to start a fire, practice your stroke and pressure several times a month. Make sure that if you need it in a survival situation, you will be able to confidently use it, and have a fire growing in just a stroke or two.

The Bottom Line

When it comes down to it, being able to start a fire is a skill that could save your life one day. As you are aware, not all fire starters are the best for every situation. Matches are useless if they’re wet, lighters run out of fluid.

Your best bet for being able to start a fire any time, anywhere, is a Ferro rod, such as the überleben Zünden Fire Starter. They come in 3 different sizes so you can pick the right one for your needs.

Ultimately, the best Ferro rod really comes down to your needs and personal preferences. Firestarters come in various sizes and some come with other survival tools. Whether you’re heading out for a weekend of camping in the mountains or you want a firestarter to keep in your emergency kit, there is a Ferro rod out there for you.

Gardening and Our Off Grid Greenhouse

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A greenhouse is not essential to gardening, but it sure makes a difference in being able to start plants earlier. It also may even be able to give you the option of trying plants suited to a zone or two warmer than you could produce without a greenhouse.

This off-grid greenhouse is tucked into the west and north sides of the hill, leaving it with both east and southern exposure, an ideal location. The greenhouse itself has the clear roof panels. It was built first and the larger building with the solar array was added later—more on that tomorrow!

The asparagus fronds left to go in August shield it on the south face from the intense heat that time of year.

Note to the left of the greenhouse how the grapevines stretch out along its face. These also shield the greenhouse during summer on its south face, as do the berry plants next to the front door which faces east.

On the flat, tillable acreage is the garden. Horse drawn implements are lined up along the fence.

They also had a single horse breaking buggy. When I first saw it, I thought it was a fore cart (A horse drawn cart which is used to hitch other implements too. That way you can use more modern farm implements. Some fore carts have battery power and even gas engines to run modern equipment.) as I have one that I have used not only for breaking horses to drive, but to haul logs from the woods up to the wood lot.

Mine is a convertible fore cart using both a pole for a team or thills for a single horse. Many Amish mow their lawns with a fore cart hitched to a series of reel mowers. A fore cart is the way to go if you are actually going to use horses.

They had a 7 foot deer fence around the extensive gardens. Costly, but necessary if want a harvest in the wilderness. An antique wheel barrow adds to the ambience.

An old drive through granary was converted to common storage and garden tool storage.

Having taken a tour of the greenhouse and gardens, the last leg of our journey on this homestead will be the home based businesses that allow the residents to remain on the homestead without an outside income.

This is part of an off grid series, where I take you on a tour of the off-grid home without solar assist and a walk around the farm.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the other posts featuring their: home without electricity, masonry heater, off grid water system, and homestead businesses.

My hope is that you will enjoy the experience as much as I did and perhaps learn, or remember, a bit of an older/newer lifestyle.

5 Critical Components of Our Off Grid Water System

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Although many people would not want to rely on the off grid water systems that we have put in place, here are the major pieces of our water around our off grid homestead:

1. Drinking Water

The primary source of water for this home is the rainwater catch cistern. However, with much of the North being in a drought since August of 2011 the cistern is not as full as it should be, along with a shortage of ice for the ice house.

For years the homeowners’ carried their drinking water from town. The land cooperative decided to spend the money and drill a deep well, with a solar assist pump, not only for drinking water, but bathing and irrigation of the gardens. Although these homeowners’ continue to use their cistern as their primary water source, they do have the option of the deep well water also.

Off Grid Hot Water
The wood cook stove is an essential component to this off-grid home. But what I want you to note is the white water reservoir to the right of the stove.

2. Hot Water, Showers and Bathing Off Grid

This is a truly ingenious system for taking a shower! The reservoir is filled with hot water from the cook stove (Or depending on how fast or how many are going to take a shower, half cold water and the rest hot water.) and gravity feeds to a shower in the basement directly below the reservoir next to the “ash catch” room.

A simple lever is used to access the heated water into the shower. And even though there are teenagers in the home, the parents note that there are no problems with long, extended showers that so many teens are prone too! The basement is also unheated, so that may be a factor as well.

Below is a picture of the upstairs “washroom”. It is located between the master bedroom and the open loft area of the children’s rooms.

A simple pitcher and wash basin are the fundamentals for face and hand washings and brushing teeth. I am not sure whether this is plumbed into a gray water system or has a five gallon bucket below the vanity curtains. That is an extra hand mirror on the side of the vanity and behind is a closet covered with more muslin curtains.

The claw food bathtub pictured above is seldom used anymore, but when the wife was pregnant she said she spent many hours in it trying to relieve the ache of back pain related to pregnancy and working in the fields. It is located kitty-corner from the wood cook stove in the kitchen. Now it just holds the laundry basket.

3. Our Water Well

Although this home is totally non-electric, solar grids on the greenhouse are used to pump drinking and cooking water from their 300’ deep well up to the house.

All other water is pumped by hand from a cistern beside the house used to collect rain water.

4. Off Grid Toilets

Beside the water room is a half-bath with a flush toilet. This is usually only used in the winter and flushed with a pail of water. Again it had the pitcher and basin for washing hands.

Note this nice rustic, traditional outhouse. It is built on a side hill and has a porch. The inside is “papered” with all kinds of pictures cut from various magazines!

5. Off Grid Laundry

This homeowner prefers to do laundry in town when they make their weekly trek to the library for homeschooling and internet access. However, they dry their clothes at home. Here is the obligatory clothes line. If this doesn’t bring back memories of wind fresh sheets, I don’t know what will.

I remember hanging clothes on the line during the winter. They freeze dried! I would bring the jeans into the house and stand them up against the wall until they thawed and finished drying over a chair. This suspended wagon wheel in the living room next to the masonry heater is for drying clothes! How charmingly inventive!

(Off grid laundry ideas and off grid washing machine recommendations here)

This is part of an off grid series, where I take you on a tour of the off-grid home without solar assist and a walk around the farm.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the other posts featuring their: home without electricity, masonry heater, gardening efforts, and homestead businesses.

My hope is that you will enjoy the experience as much as I did and perhaps learn, or remember, a bit of an older/newer lifestyle.

Living Off The Grid Without Electricity – How One Family Does It

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Off Grid Living Without Electricity

I recently visited a land cooperative of 4 families owning 60 acres in a northern state. These families came together with a common dream of owning land in the country over 15 years ago, but that is where most of the commonality ended.  Each family has a home site, but also cooperatively makes decisions about land use.

One couple started building their home themselves in 1995. It is completely off grid, not even having solar energy and completely without electricity–by choice!

The thing that I find so unique about this off grid home, and the family that owns it, is the total absence of electricity. Most off-grid homes have an alternative source of energy that provides electricity—solar, wind, hydro…

What does no electricity mean? No cell phone, no radio unless battery powered, no TV, no lights, no running water… So many of the things that we are prepping to maintain, this family has chosen to either do without or found a non-electric alternative.

The pay-off to this homeowner built homestead? The only bill they have is ¼ of the property taxes on 60 acres of land!  Think about it, what would you be willing to give up for the freedom of having only one bill a year?

So, What is Life With No Electricity Like?

As I walked up the hill along the stone path to this homeowner built homestead, it felt like I was coming home. In the crisp fall air, the scent of herbs and flowers from the planters in front of the home drifted on the breezes to welcome me.

The ever present stump and axes heralded the sustainably harvested wood for heat and cooking I was to encounter inside.

I entered the front door to be greeted by the masonry heater and wood cook stove. The antique oil lamp hanging above the wood box would be lit in the evenings to greet the residents’ home.

To the left was the living room with an antique—working–player piano that would fill the long winter evenings with music.

The Off Grid Kitchen
The wood cookstove on the left is the heartbeat of the entire off grid kitchen. Notice the hand pump sitting on the counter, and the extensive food stores in the distant pantry.

The Off Grid Kitchen

As I turned right into the kitchen I remember my great-grandparents’ kitchen, with the hand pump connected to the rainwater-filled cistern (the ram pump had long quit working by then), the aroma of baking bread coming from the wood cook stove, the careful tending of the fire, and the cheery glow from the mantels of the oil lamps flickering in the evening as grandpa would tell us stories of times past.

The wife had just finished baking squash bread and the aroma was heavenly.

The interior of this rustic home has the patina of recycled barn boards. The windows too are recycled and conformed to allow the breezes to flow through the home and cool it in the summer.

Off Grid Hand Pump In The Kitchen
An old blue hand pump can be seen here on the counter, reminiscent of times past.

Note the owner-built kitchen island with locking wheels, drawers on the side and curtained storage beneath, the blue hand pitcher pump next to the sink, antique hutch to hold glassware, and the ever present cast iron cookware hanging from the wall near the stove.

The wood cook stove is a true antique, refurbished by a professional restorer. All the food preparation and preservation on this homestead takes place on this stove.

This picture shows the tiled counter tops, pitcher pump and the ever present oil lamp. After a sip of hot apple cider and a bit of that delicious squash bread, I entered the combination prep room, bathing and storage area off the kitchen.

Wheat Grinder for Off Grid Cooking

The gleam of blue hued Mason canning jars filled with pantry items and spices was only rivaled by the wheat grinder firmly attached to the wood countertop.

I was invited down to the unheated basement. The conversation had gone to how the warm winter had provided no ice for the ice house and a propane refrigerator had been purchased to off-set this inconvenience. More Mason jars filled with the gardens’ produce lined the chill storage area.

Food Storage for Off Grid Living

It was obvious that this home had been carefully planned to be not only a sustainable retreat, but also of comfort to the family it housed. For me, it was a link to memories long forgotten.

Sharing The Land With Others in An Off Grid Community

As mentioned earlier, they are one of four families sharing 60 acres together, with each family choosing to live slightly differently. Some families choose to have solar panels or other means of electricity on their property.

One family that started a few years later and have a full solar array next to their home. Two of the families visit on weekends and help when they can on communal buildings. Someday they may decide to build, but not in the near future.

There is a communal house on the property that is shared by families, visitors, and interns when they visit, and there is even a teepee.

Shared Housing For The Off Grid Community

This is part of an off grid series, where I take you on a tour of the off-grid home without solar assist and a walk around the farm.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the other posts featuring their: masonry heater, off grid water systems, gardening efforts, and homestead businesses.

My hope is that you will enjoy the experience as much as I did and perhaps learn, or remember, a bit of an older/newer lifestyle.

Prepper Lessons From Hurricane Sandy

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Like so many other people, I am watching the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Horrified by the lack of preparedness in the population and inspired by the acts of courage and practical helping—like the citizen freeing up the storm drains with a ski pole, draining millions of gallons of water from his neighborhood.

I feel for the people who are going through this disaster, in part because of the flood of 2007 in southeast Minnesota that we got caught in. For us, it occurred in August and the power going out for a week was more of an inconvenience than a life threatening problem. But for these people, no heat could mean hypothermia and death, especially for the children and old people who are most vulnerable.

The stories of courage and heroics are profound and heartening. But the stories that are being reported of looting and burglaries are equally disturbing. And I thought to myself, if an evacuation were called for here and the whole of the upper Midwest were devastated, would I be prepared?

Yes, I have a bug out bag, but I’ve neglected to pack it like I should (No insurance papers or contact lists. I’ve dipped into the $500 that was in it for other preparedness supplies, planning on putting the money back, but what if something happened today?

We live paycheck to paycheck, as did many of those people who were advised to evacuate couldn’t, because they couldn’t afford to. In talking with our county emergency people, if there was a nuclear emergency we are far enough away that we would be advised to shelter in place–hence the plastic and duct tape stored in the basement. However, after a factory burned in town and half the town was evacuated, I got to thinking about evacuation scenarios.

We have a major interstate highway that winds through this very small city (2,500–largest in the county) and many hazardous waste trucks that go through. What if one of those hazardous waste trucks overturned? Would I be ready to “grab and go”?

So many of these people can’t even access their canned foods, because they don’t have a manual can opener in the house. They have never even thought about how to heat up a can of soup without a stove to use. What to do about the toilet when it doesn’t flush? And heat without electricity is always a problem.

And the same people, and states, who were complaining about big government, the deficit, and the sovereignty of state governments, are now clamoring for FEMA to feed them and give them heat, and to pick up not just 75% of the tab but 100%!  As evidenced by Governor Chris Christy hugging President Obama—what an iconic moment! Without the National Guard, the federal government, and the Red Cross, where would these people be?

As a nation, are we not strongest and best when we pull together through hard times? And where is the preparedness movement in all this? I’m sure I missed a few sites, but where is the effort to reach out and at least give ideas on basics like cooking, cold weather survival, dealing with waste, etc. without electricity?

What can I do to help, as an individual?

I don’t have extra money to donate, but I do have blood.  And today, I am going down to give blood at the Red Cross’ impromptu blood drive being held to help replenish the Nation’s blood supply. I’ve been searching the internet for simple, can do, alternatives to cooking without electricity—note the brick rocket stove and windshield reflector solar stove. How can we stay warm without electricity? I just heard that 4 people have died from carbon monoxide poisoning while using their generators—they were prepared with generators, but not carbon monoxide alarms.

On the local level, I am working with the emergency people to bring a preparedness event to our small community before winter sets into the Great North.

Preparedness, by its very nature is thinking about what to do BEFORE things happen. Being self-reliant; not government reliant. Being able to help your neighbor (Yes, I am not one of those people who thinks I can stand alone. I am part of a community.), not having to depend on your neighbor to help you.

And what of our churches? Have you asked if your church has an emergency preparedness plan and how they will help the community in time of need? Do they have a non-electric alternative heat source if something happens in the winter? Do they have a generator and carbon monoxide alarms, and gasoline stored, food, where they could be of service to their congregation in a time of need? Churches so often focus on giving, but are they prepared to help their congregation?

So much of preparedness is alternative thinking, what if thinking. You may be in an apartment, live in a home in town, or on a homestead, but the thinking is always the same, “What if… And am I prepared?”

5 In 1 Survival Whistle Review

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In my opinion, the survival whistle is the one thing everyone—man, woman, child—should have on their night stand, in their “safe room/tornado shelter”, the car, the purse, bug out bag, when jogging, when hiking or camping, whenever… It can be heard from over a mile away and is such a distinctive sound that it catches people’s attention immediately.

I have bought all of mine (yes, I give them to family and friends) for just a few dollars. That is a reasonable price for something that could save your life! It has five different functions:

  • Shrill signal whistle
  • Compass
  • Waterproof interior compartment for matches, candy for a princess, or an emergency aspirin for me
  • Signal mirror
  • Flint on the side for striking matches to make a fire

Way back when—in the dark ages—it seemed like I learned in Girl Scouts that the SOS signal was a short burst, longer, then another short burst.

I checked out Morse code on Wikipedia: “For emergency signals, Morse code can be sent by way of improvised sources that can be easily “keyed” on and off, making it one of the simplest and most versatile methods of telecommunication. The most common distress signal is SOS or three dots, three dashes and three dots, internationally recognized by treaty.” Well, I think they just shortened it for girls! Either way, I think it would work as a signal for help!

A whistle? How could that possibly be useful in an emergency situation? Let’s consider several scenarios…

  • Tornado, hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, flood has collapsed your home and you are trapped. A whistle can be heard much farther than a voice and bring rescue personnel to you sooner.
  • In a fire, with potential smoke inhalation restricting your breathing, a whistle may be the only way you can call for help.
  • Out jogging and a dog bites your calf and you need help NOW. A whistle can be heard farther away than a shout and the shrill sound may actually deter a dog from continuing the attack.
  • Your car plunges off the road and is hidden in darkness or brush, the sound of a whistle carries especially when combined with a repeated signal.
  • If you are in an apartment and someone is attempting to break in, the shrill call of a whistle will wake up others in the building and perhaps prevent a potentially deadly break-in.
  • Out hiking, camping, or hunting? Lost? You have a compass, signal mirror and (matches not included) the potential to make fire, and of course the whistle.
  • And if you keep a baby aspirin in the waterproof compartment, the anti-coagulant could save your life if you feel a stroke or heart attack coming on.

I’m sure you can think of other potential scenarios, but you get the idea.

The survival whistle: Inexpensive, versatile, and effective. Consider this humble device to be on YOUR front line of defense.