I frequently stress the importance of well-balanced preparedness in my writings. All too often, I've seen people that go to extremes, to the point that these extremes actually detract from the ability to survive a disaster situation. These range from the "all the gear that I'll need to survive is in my backpack" mentality to the "a truckload of this or that" fixation. But genuine preparedness lies in comprehensive planning, strict budgeting, and moderation. Blowing your entire preparedness budget on just one category of gear is detrimental to your overall preparedness.
Another common mistake that I see among my consulting clients is an over-emphasis on either very old technologies or on the "latest and greatest" technologies. In the real world, preparedness necessitates having a bit of both.
At the Rawles Ranch we have both 19th century technology (like hand-powered tools) and a few of the latest technologies like passive IR intrusion detection (Dakota Alerts), photovoltaics, and electronic night vision. My approach is to pick and choose the most appropriate technologies that I can maintain by myself, but to always have backups in the form of less exotic or earlier, albeit less-efficient technologies. For example, my main shortwave receiver is...
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Archive for July, 2009
Gear Up — Appropriate and Redundant Technologies for Prepared Families
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Community Disaster Recovery–Asking the Right People the Right Questions
Monday, July 27th, 2009I was pleased to see this post over at the Mountain Steps blog: A letter to our county commissioner about emergency preparation for hyperinflation. It is commendable to make such inquiries, but it is essential to ask detailed questions. Especially when contacting elected officials, vague, general questions tend to elicit vague, general answers, and hence most likely no action will be taken.
It is also essential that you do some research first, to direct your inquiry letter or phone call to the right individuals. Flunkies don't create or change policy, they just implement it. You need to direct your letter to someone that has the authority to make policy, and has the budget to implement it. (In some cases, this will mean separate contacts to whomever controls the purse strings.)
I recommend that you ask detailed questions, such as:
Read the rest of Community Disaster Recovery -- Asking the Right People the Right Questions.Summer Storms
Sunday, July 26th, 2009Summer is thunderstorm season, and thunderstorms bring lightning, heavy rainfall, hail, and tornadoes. Resulting fatalities, property damage, and losses from business interruption are significant. Natural hazards can't be prevented, but emergency management can protect life, mitigation can reduce property damage, and business continuity planning can speed recovery and reduce operational impacts.
Although those of us lucky enough to live in Southern California don't often think of summer as bringing harsh weather, the reality is that for much of the country it can spell trouble. Luckily, the people at Preparedness, LLC have...
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Although those of us lucky enough to live in Southern California don't often think of summer as bringing harsh weather, the reality is that for much of the country it can spell trouble. Luckily, the people at Preparedness, LLC have...
Read the rest of Summer Storms.
Distance Traveling by Waterways, by Jason C.
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Often looking into the past can help solve new problems. If roads become unusable for travel, or vehicles are not available we must start looking at new solutions, or old ones in this case. Paved roads as we have today are a fairly recent innovation. Even 100 years ago very few were paved and often subject to damage by rains, floods, and environmental conditions. Winding cattle trails, wagon tracks, and horse paths were the main travelways on land.
And today's roads can easily become dangerous and impassable during bad weather, earthquakes, and mudslides. But there is an alternative for almost everyone. Water!
The continental US has numerous large rivers that for the most part are very navigable. There are also large chains of lakes that offer great travel options. If you look at any map of the US you will see larger cities and towns close to rivers and lakes. This is because [in the 19th Century] traveling by water often made more sense then by land, and trade routes and communities grew up around these waterways.
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Controlling Pain Where There is No Doctor, by Bill R.
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
Some of you are probably asking yourself what this has to with Survivalism.
Pain is our brain's way of letting us know that something is not right. You touch a hot stove and it warns you to pull away. With any number of things that can set off TEOTWAWKI, The result will be the same. Traumatic, stressful, pick your favorite term; it’s all the same. Increased stress levels in the body create tension.
We have all heard the term ”your psychology affects your physiology”, nothing could be more true. I think it is an excellent idea to go through practice drills in as many what if scenarios as you can fathom.
One of the things I have not seen accounted for however is the effect of stress and pain has on our daily routines. The moment the hammer drops we will probably get by on adrenaline for a short period. The first part is...
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