There’s more than one?
I live in Michigan.
What is the worst that can happen?
Oh, wait.
The lions are playing.
Baby, if I can survive another season of that, I can survive nuclear war.
<-----------------has no contingency plans.
<----------------------not concerned.
<----------------------------All the bad stuff happens on TV in other places.
<-----------------------lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaalalalalalalala
A shotgun or center fire rifle, along with at least 1000 rounds of ammo, should be at the top of anyone’s list.
Check out Jim MacDonald’s Jump bag page:
http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/emerg_kit.htm
Lots of good ideas there.
I was lead emergency warden at two different jobs in the mid-90s. I learned to take emergency preparation very seriously.
I have a Red Cross backpack in my house, with water, food, batteries, first-aid kit, glowsticks, and so on. (The food expires this year and needs to be replaced soon.) When I got a new pair of glasses, I put my old pair in the backpack. I also have a couple of battery-operated radios, extra batteries, and several flashlights, the last of which are hanging from most of the doorknobs in the house so I can find one quickly no matter where I am.
I have a smaller version of the above in my vehicle, along with a fire extinguisher. I have three fire extinguishers in the house: two in the kitchen, one in the basement near the furnace.
One interesting addition that was mentioned by the emergency coordinator during my warden training: I have a plastic drawstring bag with a pair of shoes and a pair of gloves tied to a leg of my bed. The idea is that if there’s an earthquake, there’s going to be broken glass everywhere, and if it happens at night, it’ll be really dark. The bag tied to the bed allows me to find protective necessities even in pitch blackness.
There was a thread here a couple of weeks ago asking whether people have fire extinguishers in their houses. I mentioned that they’d be a pretty good gift idea, and I made a mental note to give a few this Christmas. I’ll now be adding first-aid kits and survival packs to the list. Who knows, I might save a life. Y’all should consider doing the same.
I figured I’d just roam the wastelands wearing just the leather clothes on my back…like Mad Max.
I don’t have one and don’t think it’s worth putting one together. The location of the home I live in means we don’t get the usual natural disasters:
hurricane
volcano
earthquake (yeah, I know about New Madrid, but it’s not likely to happen without some warning)
tornado (because of the location of our house, built into a hillside and hunkered down low in the topography–the house has survived 2 tornados unscathed)
flood (we’re about 200 feet up from a creek; the recent 500 year flood in 1993 didn’t come close to getting us and you get advance notice of these anyway)
terrorist bombing or biological warfare (no real targets near here)
We’ve got canned goods in the house as a matter of course. The most likely disasters (tornado and flood) have happened here in dramatic fashion in the past and not cut off the water supply. We have a first aid kit and flashlights and a radio and a fire extinguisher. And a literal arsenal of guns for self-defense if the shit really hits the fan. We have the rest of the things on your list just lying around. And I’m not going to pay $500 out of my own pocket to lay by an extra set of prescription meds down in the storm cellar for “just in case,” especially since they’d only be good for a year or two. (If your meds are “life or death,” I agree that you should have a spare set because emergencies can arise in situations far less dramatic than a natural disaster.)
I think it’s reasonable for people to keep an emergency kit if they live in an area where there’s a credible risk of disaster. And if I had advance notice of a disaster, I’d assemble one quickly. But I’m not the “plan for every contingency” type. I don’t freak out about risks that are a million-to-one.
I guess I’m the Mad Max type.
If you’re in an area where water is not likely to be in short supply (near lake, river, ocean, ect) you can subsutite freese dried camping food for canned food. It also would be a good idea to keep a water filter pump around. A good activated charcoal ceramic filter can remove damn near everything. Anything else left over can be killed by boiling.
Good points.
No one should be without the following:
-
Katadyn™ water filter
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Iodine water purification tablets such as Polar Pure
There’s very little reason you should have to find neccessities in pitch blackness – just get yourself some rechargeable flashlights and plug them in around the house. In the event of a blackout during an emergency, the moment power is cut, the batteries kick in and the lights come on automatically. The only reason this wouldn’t work is if the wall collapsed, or a big piece of furniture fell on it and crushed it.
Anyone in the U.S. who hasn’t done so, should check with their local police or fire department and ask if they offer CERT training. There are CERT programs in every state – even in Puerto Rico and Guam! This list shows 1,954 programs, but isn’t comprehensive, because it relies upon self-reporting and not all departments get around to listing themselves. CERT-LA also offers a directory of CERT programs on their site.
Some communities charge a nominal fee (in the city where we live, we paid $20/person) and others offer the training for free (as does the city where I work, and also trained in, so that I’m authorized to assist if an emergency happens during work hours). At the end of the course you’ll be trained in Disaster Preparedness, Fire Suppression (both with fire extinguishers and actual fire hoses), First Aid (including CPR and infant CPR), Search and Rescue, Triage and Disaster Psychology. I highly, highly recommend this course.