Survival Gear

While boiling water is generally the best way to purify it, this won’t work for water pulled from a hot tub or swimming pool. Boiling won’t remove the chemicals present in the water. Thus, you’ll want to know how to easily distill water.

You’ll need a large pot with a lid, a large heatproof cup or mug, and string. Fill the pot 1/3 to 1/2 with water from the pool. After making sure the top of the lid is clean, turn it upside down and tie the cup to the lid in such a way that the cup will remain upright while suspended from the string. Place the upside down lid over the pot and make sure the cup doesn’t go into the water. If the string is too long, adjust it accordingly.

The lid should fit tightly on the pot, leaving no gaps. Bring the water in the pot to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Do not remove the lid from the pot until the pot is cooled down.

What will happen is the steam from the boiling water will condense on the lid and drip into the cup. Naturally, you’re not going to be able to distill great quantities of water at one time using this method. But if you’re only source of water is either from the ocean (saltwater) or from a swimming pool that has been treated with chemicals, distilling it will make it potable.

I came across this rather clever method of open fire cooking online the other day and wanted to share it with y’all.

As the pics indicate, you take a log and cut it lengthwise in several places, but don’t go all the way through to the end of the log. You want it to spread out a bit without coming completely apart.

I imagine you could go two different ways with regards to fire. You could set this log into the middle of a campfire and let it get going, then use it for cooking. Or you could use tinder in the cuts to get the log burning on its own.

You’ll not want to start the fire at the top of the log, of course. Just get it burning in the slots you cut and let the natural chimney action draw the heat up to the pan.

I’ll be trying this out myself very soon and will report back with how well it worked.

For some preppers, the line between stocking up and hoarding can get a bit blurry. To the uninitiated, having ten cases of toilet paper socked away in a spare bedroom might sound excessive, yet to a fellow prepper it seems like common sense.

Preppers tend to abhor throwing away anything that might be useful down the road. After all, we can’t ever really know what we’ll need and what we won’t, right? Coupled to that is the fact that many survivalists are pretty darn creative people and we can frequently envision all sorts of ways to use what others might just call junk.

However, we do run the risk of just plain having too much stuff. This can lead to genuine safety issues. If you have so much stuff that you can’t easily move from one room to another, let alone evacuate the house quickly if there were a fire, that’s a problem.

If you’ve purchased items simply because while you know you have three of them already you can’t find any of them, that’s a problem.

If you go to start a project and it takes you so long to gather all the materials from various locations around the house and garage you lose all ambition to actually do the project, that’s a problem.

If you know you used to own a cat, but haven’t seen him since he ventured into the spare room a few weeks ago, that’s a problem.

If you qualify for any of the above, you’ve probably crossed over from prepper into hoarder. While it will seem daunting at first, for your own sanity and well being, make it a priority to start scaling down the possessions. Start small, if need be just with one shelf or even one box. Get rid of the stuff that is doing you no good right now or has no intrinsic or sentimental value. Make a rule that you cannot purchase anything else until you’ve gotten rid of x amount of stuff.

While it won’t be an easy task by any measure, you’ll appreciate the end result.

Today we have something of a guest post here. I have a good friend named Jon Merz. In addition to being an outstanding author of several great books such as the Lawson series, he’s been a student of ninjutsu for twenty years. I recently asked him to write a short article for me for inclusion in my upcoming book, Prepper’s Home Defense. I thought I’d share the article with you here as well.

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As a student of authentic Ninjutsu for over twenty years, I can tell you that the art is extremely well-suited to preppers. Ninjutsu is based on natural body movement and practicality over flashy movements. Anyone can do it. You don’t need to be in Olympian shape and the moves rely on simple actions that produce devastating results. Think minimum effort maximum results. Developed as it was on the battlefields and during covert action in feudal Japan, Ninjutsu remains as applicable today as it was when Japan was embroiled in civil war.

Ninjutsu encompasses every aspect of combat – from unarmed striking, grappling, joint locks, and throws to improvised and unorthodox weapons, weapons retention skills, and up to and including strategic application and mind sciences. As legendary as the myth of Ninjutsu invisibility is, for example, it is based on pragmatic practices that work on many levels. Obviously everyone knows about how to conceal themselves using the seven Ss of Shape, Shine, Shadow, Silhouette, Sound, Speed, Surroundings, but what about the concept of “friction” with your environment?

Traditional Ninja used “traveling disguises” when on missions that enabled them to blend in with their environments. Disguised as entertainers, monks, merchants, fortune tellers, and masterless samurai, they were able to ensure they did not stand out in a hostile territory. Modern Ninjutsu practitioners employ similar concepts to reduce their own “friction” within an environment. Do you know how to order wine and sample it? Do you speak a smattering of other languages? Even a simple greeting can help ensure you blend in. Modern ninja try develop themselves to the point where they can seamlessly move through everyday life without causing any friction – and by friction, I mean knowing what to do and how to act and how to appear such that you never stand out unless you want to. The highest level of this development is to become the “gray man,” the person you see on the street or in a hotel or anywhere…and then five seconds later, you can’t remember them.

The practicality of Ninjutsu, combined with its higher teachings, makes it a fantastic method of self-protection for anyone interested in preparing for what might be coming.

-Jon F. Merz has trained with Mark Davis, Chief Instructor of the Boston Martial Arts Center in Boston, MA (http://www.bostonmartialarts.com) for over 20 years and is a 5th degree black belt in the art. Jon’s personal website is located at http://www.jonfmerz.net.

A concern many survivalists have is what to do with folks who show up after a disaster, with their hands out and asking for help. Could be family, friends, or even strangers. I’m not talking about those who show up looking to rob the joint. Rather, those who genuinely need help, whether due to their own lack of preparedness or whatever.

One idea that has been making the rounds again is putting together small survival kits you can hand out to those people. Basically, it is a way to turn them away without too much of a negative impact on your conscience. Most of us probably aren’t going to be in a position where we can provide three hots and a cot to anyone who shows up. Instead, these minimalist survival kits could be given to these folks so they at least have some sort of chance at survival.

Note: I’m not saying I agree with this idea 100%. There are a lot of factors to consider when planning on this strategy. One of the biggest is that if you are handing out these kits, it tacitly confirms you not only have preps, you have enough excess supplies you can afford to give them out.

What could go into a kit for this purpose? Here’s my suggested list.

–A one liter bottle of potable water.
–A few water purification tablets, with instructions.
–A bit of non-perishable food, such as a few granola bars or protein bars, some crackers, maybe a can or two of tuna. If adding canned goods, maybe include a P-38 can opener.
–A handful of strike anywhere matches with some ready to use tinder like dryer lint.
–One or two space blankets.
–Inexpensive pocket knife.

With the exception of the water bottle, all of those items would fit into a gallon size ziplock bag. If you’re feeling particularly generous, you might toss in a roll of toilet paper, maybe a pack of gum, and/or a crank flashlight.

Again, I’m not advocating every one of my readers start assembling these charity kits. What I am suggesting though is this might be a means of helping your fellow bipeds without inviting them inside to partake in all you have stored.

If a disaster were to hit right now, are you dressed for it? If you have just enough time to grab your Get Home Bag, how far could you really walk in the shoes on your feet?

This is something I often see overlooked when people post lists of the contents of their kits. They have several ways to make fire, enough food for a few days, a water filter or two, but little or nothing in the way of practical clothing.

Most folks spent a third or more of the day either at work or commuting to and from. This means you have better than a 30% chance that you’ll be at work if disaster strikes. People who work in the trades (carpenters, construction, plumbing, etc.) are a bit better off in that their work clothes are going to be durable. However, you white collar workers in your suits, ties, and skirts are going to be hurting units if you have to hit the trail in your work clothes.

With my job, I’m fortunate in that the dress code is “business casual.” I can get away with cargo pants, comfortable shirts, and walking shoes. On occasion though I do have to put on a coat and tie. Either way, I’m covered as I have two bags in my trunk. One is my Get Home Bag and the other has a complete change of clothes. Short sleeve shirt, flannel shirt, cargo pants, socks, undies, boots. If something happened that necessitated me to head out on foot, I’d either change first if circumstances allowed or just grab both bags and change at the earliest opportunity. If I’m changing on the run, I’d just ditch the fancy clothes and not even try to bring them along.

If you’ve not done so already, I’d highly suggest you add practical clothes to your bug out kits.

Charcloth is material, usually 100% cotton, that has been cooked almost to the point of combustion. It is one of the best items to have on hand if you are trying to get a fire going. You can use it with any method of lighting (flint/steel, battery, etc.). Best of all, you can make quantities of it yourself in a short period of time and quite easily.

You’ll need a metal container, such as an old Altoids tin. Stick with something small until you really get the hang of this. You’ll also need your charcloth material. Pieces of denim from worn out jeans works well, as do cotton t-shirts. Cut or tear the material into small rectangles, a bit smaller than the inside of your metal container.

Punch a small hole in the top of the container using a nail or drill. Pile in your material, keeping it fairly loose. You don’t want to compact it down tightly. Close the container’s lid.

For your heat source, you can use anything from a propane grill to campfire coals. But you’ll need to do this outside as things will get smoky. Place your container over the heat and let it cook. The time this takes will vary depending on the heat source but after a period of time, you should see smoke start to come out of the hole in the top of your container.

After several minutes, the smoke should actually ignite and you’ll have a small flame coming from the hole. If need be, adjust the height of the container relative to the heat source, or adjust the grill burner setting, to keep the flame a few inches high.

Keep cooking until the flame dies out and the smoke begins to peter out. Remove the container and let it cool completely before opening. Properly made charcloth will be black and flexible. If it isn’t entirely black, you’ll need to put it back on the heat to cook longer.

When using charcloth, what you’ll do is throw sparks in some fashion onto the cloth. Those sparks should ignite the charcloth fairly quickly, though you’ll not see flames, just glowing embers. Move it to your tinder and gently blow on it to get the flames going.

As promised Friday, here are the answers to the quiz.

1) How to stun an attacker without permanent injury?

a. Swiftly hit the back of the attacker’s neck with the side of your hand.

b. Poke the attacker’s eyes as hard as possible, while saying, “Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.”

c. Sharply jab the area just below the attacker’s ear lobe, above the bend of the jaw.

2) How to find water by using vegetation?

a. Water is usually found near broad-leafed vegetation.

b. Water is most often found near blooming vegetation.

c. Look for water where vegetation is tallest.

3) How to make an open wound stop bleeding?

a. Apply a mixture of peroxide and baking soda to the wound. Do not cover it for at least the next three hours.

b. Wrap and hold the wound below the heart for ten minutes, then raise it to the heart level for twenty minutes. Repeat this process until the bleeding stops.

c. Fill the wound with clean gauze, apply direct pressure, and elevate it for five to seven minutes.

4) How to survive on the least amount of water possible?

a. A normal adult male needs about 8 pints of water a day but can survive on 3.

b. A normal adult male needs about 6 pints of water a day but can survive on 1.

c. A normal adult male needs about 2 pints of water per day but can survive on 1/2 pint.

How did you do? Did any of the answers surprise you?

Some time ago, I picked up a board game called The Worst Case Scenario. It is based on the popular series of books by the same name. The critical element of the game consists of answering survival related questions. I thought it might be fun to post a few of them here.

I’ll provide all the answers on Monday. If you’d like to play along, leave your answers in the comments below. The questions are all multiple choice. Feel free to explain why you believe your answer is correct.

1) How to stun an attacker without permanent injury?

a. Swiftly hit the back of the attacker’s neck with the side of your hand.

b. Poke the attacker’s eyes as hard as possible, while saying, “Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.”

c. Sharply jab the area just below the attacker’s ear lobe, above the bend of the jaw.

2) How to find water by using vegetation?

a. Water is usually found near broad-leafed vegetation.

b. Water is most often found near blooming vegetation.

c. Look for water where vegetation is tallest.

3) How to make an open wound stop bleeding?

a. Apply a mixture of peroxide and baking soda to the wound. Do not cover it for at least the next three hours.

b. Wrap and hold the wound below the heart for ten minutes, then raise it to the heart level for twenty minutes. Repeat this process until the bleeding stops.

c. Fill the wound with clean gauze, apply direct pressure, and elevate it for five to seven minutes.

4) How to survive on the least amount of water possible?

a. A normal adult male needs about 8 pints of water a day but can survive on 3.

b. A normal adult male needs about 6 pints of water a day but can survive on 1.

c. A normal adult male needs about 2 pints of water per day but can survive on 1/2 pint.

It occurred to me this morning that I don’t often ask my readers about how things are going.

So, let me take this opportunity to ask, how are you doing lately?

Any success stories related to prepping you could share?

How about challenges you’re facing and not sure how to overcome?

What concerns do you have related to prepping, disaster readiness, or survival?

I always love to hear from my readers. Fill me in on how things are going for you lately. How can I be of service to you?