This third diary will cover crisis management basics, affording the cost of preparing and how to prepare a Bug-Out Bag for times when staying at home just isn’t an option.
Part 1
Planning for a crisis... any crisis.
What is a crisis anyway? A crisis is any event which disrupts daily life in a way that requires you to do without common services, including police, fire and EMS, or utilities such as electricity, water, phone service and trash collection for a period of time ranging from hours to days or even weeks.
Crises can be small or large, ranging from the merely inconvenient – the 2003 northeast blackout; to life and property threatening – earthquake, tornado, etc.; to catastrophic – 9-11 or NOLA. Not every crisis will cause a breakdown in civil society, nor will it necessarily drive you from your home.
The list of possible crises is not long, but pretty scary:
Weather: Blizzard, ice storm, hurricane, tornado, heat wave
Other natural disasters: Flood, earthquake, tsunami, fire, landslide, mud slide, avalanche, sink hole
Man-made disasters: Civil unrest, war, nuclear war, terrorism, work stoppage
Accidents: Nuclear accident, chemical spill, explosion, blackout
Disease: Epidemic, pandemic, bioterrorism
Some of these are more likely in some places than others. If you live in parts of California, your tornado risk is low, but your earthquake risk is high. The opposite is true if you live in Kansas. The only certainty is that a crisis of some kind can happen anywhere.
Thus we come to the basic rules of crisis management:
1. Crises happen.
We can’t control the weather or the planet, other people or events. And yes, it’s true: most of us have never had to deal with a real crisis. We may have spent, and may continue to spend, our entire lives without serious incident, never needing to manage during a crisis. But are you willing to bet your life – or your family’s lives – that you never will?
2. Since crises will happen, Plan Ahead.
Make a plan and take needed steps BEFORE the crisis hits. It’s no good just knowing what you should have done about dealing with a flood when you’re standing neck deep in water. It is far better to congratulate yourself on your cleverness while sitting in your boat with food and water close to hand.
3. React, but DON’T PANIC.
Since you’ve made a plan, follow the plan. Be deliberate; act with appropriate but not undue urgency. Keep your wits about you.
4. Ride it out.
It’s all you can do. Keep yourself and your family as safe as possible. Take care of your needs. Deal with events. Wait until it’s over.
Making your plan
Or, rather, plans. No one plan can handle all contingencies. Planning to dig in and sit out the next disaster is fine. But what if it happens during the week when you and your spouse are at work and the kids are at school? What if you’re out of town? And what do you plan for?
As with any sort of planning, analyze your situation: Where you live, what are the most likely local events?
As an example, let’s say you live in southern California. You face the possibility of earthquake, fire and, possibly, mud slides. You also face a slight chance of tsunami if you live close enough to the ocean, a chance of civil unrest (the L.A. riots of a few years ago), and utility outages (the next Enron), and everyone faces the possibility of terrorism and pandemic.
That gives you a start in deciding what materials you are likely to need. Several events (unrest, pandemic, outages) will keep you at home for an unspecified period of time. So plan for as much food and water as you can store, as well as other needs like medical supplies including N-95 or N-100 respirators to protect you from flu transmission, entertainment (nothing like a six year old with cabin fever), etc.
Other events may force you to abandon your home: fire, mud slide, earthquake, etc. You need to plan for a bug-out, which includes deciding where you will go, preparing a bug-out bag for every member of your family and securing your home for the time you are away.
Your third plan is for what to do if you are not at home when a crisis occurs. The basic plan is for everyone to head for home. If that is not possible make sure everyone (the kids especially) know whom to call to get a message through. Give them several options: Often the car-pool list or soccer or little league contacts list are a good start. Learn where your town plans to house refugees during a crisis: It’s likely to be a school, borough hall, or some other large building. The most likely scenario is that the kids will be taken there from school by the authorities. If you work a long way from home and rely on highways to get there, spend some time learning the back roads home: in a crisis, highways will be parking lots. Decide on a couple of alternate destinations if you just can’t make it home: Aunt Marge’s house; your friend, Bob, from work. Make sure those phone numbers are on your contact list.
Make a contact list including you, your spouse, local relatives and distant relatives and distant and local friends, all with contact phone numbers and e-mail (sometimes if local phones are out, you can get a call or e-mail through to Uncle Dave in Ottawa. If Dave can let your wife know you’re OK and where you are, it’s just as good as if a closer relative can. Also include local police, fire and EMS numbers, as well as local refugee shelters (provided by your town’s EMS) and you and your spouse’s work and kid’s school numbers. Anything that can provide a point of contact for you and your family will help.
Make sure every member of your family (and friends) knows the locations to which you will bug out. Decide on second and third locations to go in case a road is blocked, a bridge is out or you just can’t get to your first choice for any reason. Make sure the people there (if any) know you will be coming if they hear of a crisis in your area. It’s just not polite to show up at your sister Mary’s, unannounced, planning to dig in for three weeks. Once you arrive safely, try to contact people at the other locations to let them know where you are. If you end up at location one and your spouse and kids end up at location three, STOP. Stay there for at least a day. Everyone is safe (presumably). No need to go back out into possible danger just yet. Wait to see how things play out before you decide what to do next.
In the end, no plan is perfect, but it’s better than not having a plan at all. Do your best. Think ahead. Take action now.
Part 2
What about the cost?
Yes, all this preparation costs money and much of it (let’s hope) will never be needed. Three months of food costs several hundred dollars (at least), a good quality medical trauma kit costs a lot and you have to learn how to use it. Preparing for both staying at home and bugging out costs a lot of money.
In the end, you have to decide how much you’re willing to invest, and how much you CAN invest. But you don’t have to do it all at once. Go out today and buy a flat of 24 one liter water bottles and put them aside. You just made sitting out 2-3 days of a crisis that much easier. Do it again next week. It just got easier again. Make your crisis planning part of your budget. Spend $10 a week. Or $25, or $5. Whatever you can afford.
And it also costs thinking about the worst that can happen, a thing many of us are loathe to do. Do it anyway. Spend the time and thought. To put it as bluntly as possible, your life and your family’s lives could depend on what you choose to do. Thinking about losing everything is scary. Actually losing everything is worse.
Doing something is always better than doing nothing. Taking action is better than hoping for the best.
Part 3
About Bugging Out
Bugging out is what you do when it is no longer possible to stay where you are. Though apparently obvious, this is a very important, and easily overlooked, concept. Bugging out is a very specific tactic used to ensure your and your family’s safety. In many, if not most cases, the safest thing to do is STAY AT HOME or wherever you happen to be: work, the supermarket, etc. Unless your location is directly threatened – by flood, fire, a cloud of toxic fumes, Martian tripods or otherwise – STAY THERE and dig in. If you absolutely cannot remain where you are, bug out fast and keep going until you reach a PRE-DETERMINED safe location.
Three kinds of bugging out
There are basically three ways to bug out: by car (if you’re lucky enough to own a boat, helicopter or cold-plasma hover jet, they are just alternates to the car), on foot or as a guest of the authorities. If you have a choice, bug out in your car. If the authorities corral you, you have few options: take what they let you take, do what they say to do.
Bugging out in your car
Your car provides shelter, speed and storage space for more supplies than you can carry alone. Even if you are forced to abandon the car, at least it will have got you farther, faster, than you would have on foot.
Don’t plan on using major roads and highways. Face it, if you’re bugging out, so is everyone else. The highways will be parking lots. Learn the back roads around your home and all the way to your safe location if you can. Plan alternate routes. Bring a compass and, if you get lost or stuck, KNOW which direction you need to travel. Work your way there. Try not to get blocked in.
Have second and third safe locations planned ahead. If a bridge is out, a road is grid-locked or your first choice is just not going to be an option, go to the second. Or third.
In my experience, there are basically two kinds of car people: those whose car trunk is as pristine today as the day they bought their car (my wife), and those whose trunks are an archeological odyssey of monumentally complex proportions (me). In either case, you should consider setting aside (or shoveling out) a portion of your trunk for emergency materials. Your car should always have everyday emergency materials and a few things that will make bugging out easier.
Everyday emergency materials
Always have these in your car:
Jumper cables (at least ten feet long and heavy duty. Don’t buy cheap ones.)
Extra oil (2-3 quarts)
Spare fuses
Road flares (3)
Reflective triangle (2-3)
Flashlight
Windshield washer fluid
Radiator coolant
Basic tools: vise grips, rubber mallet, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, multi-tool, buck knife
Duct tape (gaffer’s tape is better, if you can get it)
Electrical tape
Snow brush and ice scraper (if it snows where you live)
Map case with local and area maps
Bungees (2-3)
3 foot long 3/4” steel gas pipe to use as a lever when removing lug nuts
Wet wipes
Goop hand cleaner
Towel
Old blanket to use as a ground cloth
Flat fixer
Emergency materials:
In addition to the basics it’s a good idea to have some emergency materials in your car:
Emergency drinking water (2 one liter bottles. Swap them out every two months; water goes bad in a car thanks to temperature extremes.)
Emergency food bars (at least 2,400 calories worth)
Emergency 20- or 40-hour candle for light and warmth (comes in a tin)
Matches or lighter
Heat sheet, bivvy bag or space blanket
Wool blanket (or synthetic if you’re allergic to wool)
Neon orange or pink emergency signal sheet
In addition, keep car Bug-Out Bags near your individual Bug-Out Bags. Car Bug-Out Bags can be simple duffels (or trash bags) that contain extra water, food, clothing and other essentials. Just toss them in the car and go.
Part 4
The basic Bug-Out Bag
First of all, what is a Bug-Out Bag? Well, some people call it an emergency travel kit, some a 72-hour survival kit, an e-Bag, or a Grab-n-go bag. In short, your Bug-Out Bag should contain the necessities you think you’ll need to get from your home, office, semi-permanent traffic jam, etc. to a PRE-DETERMINED safe location within 2-3 days of WALKING.
What a Bug-Out Bag is not is an “everything you will ever need if society falls apart and you are left to make it on your own for the rest of your life,” nor is it a “I’m down behind enemy lines and need to survive while fighting against hostile forces for an indeterminate amount of time” bag. Though some of the “Bug-Out Bag” contents lists I’ve seen online seem to think one or both of those definitions are apt.
A Bug-Out Bag will also be useful if there is a mass evacuation as might occur due to flooding or other natural disaster, chemical spill or terrorist event. The down side of this is that the authorities often limit what you are allowed to bring in such circumstances, so it may not be possible to bring your fully framed, four-foot tall 2-weeks of wilderness camping back pack with the built-in tee-vee.
There are four basic rules to preparing your Bug-Out Bag:
1: Make it modular.
Decide what is (1) essential, what is (2) very important, what is (3) important, and what is (4) nice to have. Pack accordingly. If you need to leave something behind in a crisis or because you are so ordered at gunpoint by a nervous 18 year-old national guardsman, you almost certainly won’t have the option of digging through your bag and choosing what you most need right then and there. Build your bag so you can extract the essentials quickly and leave the rest behind. It helps to keep your essentials and very important stuff in separate ditty bags, fanny packs or other, smaller bags, inside your Bug-Out Bag to make them easy and fast to separate.
2: Make the bag light enough to carry at your current physical fitness level.
It’s no good putting together a fully accessorized ALICE pack weighing 60+ pounds if you can’t make it a mile with it on your back. After you put your pack together, try walking it around the neighborhood. If you’re reduced to a panting, sweaty lump after a mile, re-think your pack. On the other hand, walking a mile or two every day with your Bug-Out Bag on your back might be a great way to get into shape. If you’re 40+ and sedentary, talk to your doctor before trying this or any other exercise regimen (which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, just try to avoid giving yourself a coronary).
3: Your bag is your bag.
If there is something you think you will need (or want) that you don’t find on this list, include it anyway. You have to live with your choices, not me. Then e-mail your ideas to me. Hey, I might have missed some really good content ideas.
4: Plan for more than your bug-out bag.
Plan where you are going and what to do if that location is blocked (i.e. have second and third destinations). Plan what you’ll do if you can’t even leave the house or your car. Plan WITH your family, friends, neighbors, local EMS, etc. The more people who are prepared and the more people you know you can trust, the better. Be willing to risk being thought of as the crazy survivalist friend now. Later, they’ll carry you on their shoulders through the streets, cheering and praising your name, and erect a life-sized bronze statue of you in their front yards to memorialize you eternally for saving them from certain death by starvation and exposure. Or not. But they’ll probably thank you. Probably.
The Bag
Before thinking about what you’re going to put in your bag, you’ll need to consider the bag itself. Get the best bag you can afford. It should have padded straps, a belly band and enough room for the contents you choose. It helps if there are several compartments for modular storage. Talk to people you know who hike or camp, they can probably give you valuable pointers on packing light and what to look for in a good bag. Most of the bags you’ll want to consider are called “day packs.” Larger bags are great for week-long camping trips, but are arguably too big for a Bug-Out Bag. On the other hand, if all you have is your old high-school book bag, that’s fine too. Don’t put off getting prepared just because you don’t have the exact MARPAT desert camo pattern ALICE pack with the built-in Camelback reservoir you saw at that cool web site you visited three months ago. Prepare now. Upgrade later. Some possible bags are included in the links ate the end of this diary.
The contents
The list of contents, like the pack design, is modular. It’s broken down into sections. Each section covers a potential need during your trek to a safe location. Not everything listed here needs to be, or should be included in your pack (mostly because it would end up weighing about 600 pounds). Carefully consider each item in each section and decide which is most important for YOUR needs, expected obstacles or circumstances. Choose only what you will most need or want.
Personal papers
First of all, originals of your important papers should all be kept in a safety deposit box at your bank. If you choose not to do this, get a fireproof lock box and keep it in a safe location at your home. Many of the residents in NOLA didn’t do this basic chore and had to do a ludicrous amount of back filling (many still haven’t finished) in order to make insurance claims, apply for and get government services, etc.
Remember this government and the insurance industry will do everything in their power to deny you your rights under contract and civil law. Without documentation, you are toast.
Bring COPIES of your driver’s license, birth certificate, will, home insurance and life insurance, health plan ID card (both front and back), savings & checking account numbers, passport, copies of prescriptions for all your personal and family meds, home deed and car registration and insurance card, (DO NOT bring actual stocks, bank books, financial papers, pass codes, etc. as they can get stolen. Put those things in a safety deposit box.). You want to have enough ID to keep from getting detained as being suspicious if you get stopped by the authorities. You also want backups of your important papers should your bank be under water for six weeks. You should also have, in a different location on your person, your actual driver’s license, health insurance card and passport. Consider a “money belt” or neck lanyard worn inside your shirt for your important papers. Keep the copies easily accessible (to you, not anyone else) in a side pocket of your Bug-Out Bag.
Useful ID note: Write your name, address and a contact phone number on your arm using a water proof marker. That way, if you get sick enough or injured enough to fall unconscious or whatever and cannot identify yourself, a rescue worker can ID you and notify family and/or friends.
Also consider having PDFs of your vital info on a data stick kept in your bag or pocket.
Cash and credit
This is a judgement call. I recommend around $200 in various denominations (including a $10 roll of quarters) stashed in several places around your person and Bug-Out Bag. Keep two credit cards in separate places.
Only keep around $40 in your front pants pocket and pay for things from there (don’t keep money or valuables in a back pocket or exterior pocket of your Bug-Out Bag. Pick Pockets are expert at taking things from such places). If you need to buy something expensive try to use credit. If not an option, determine and prepare the needed amount before you buy and have as close to exact change as you can. Replenish your front pocket stash as needed when you’re alone. Avoid revealing that you don’t have enough to buy something and then going back with more money to buy it later. You might as well just announce that you have a hidden stash. Don’t ever let anyone see you take money from your hidden stash.
It might also help to carry a dummy wallet in your back pocket and your real wallet somewhere else. A dummy wallet contains $20 - 40 in various bills, an old driver’s license and several expired credit cards. If someone mugs you, give them the dummy wallet.
Some money goes in the essentials bag
Food and water
Your Bug-Out Bag should contain enough food and water for four days, or one more day than you plan to travel. This should be in the form of the lightest, easiest to prepare and smallest foodstuffs available. Water is the heaviest essential you will likely carry. Be prepared to bring two gallons for a four day trip (two quarts a day). That’s about 15 pounds right there. Anything other than water for drinking is a waste of weight. Whether you choose bottled water, packets or boxes or some other way to carry it is up to you. Don’t plan on using your water for anything much more than drinking.
For food, consider concentrated food bars. Several companies make 1200, 2400 and 3600 calorie food bars intended for a 1200 calorie a day emergency diet. They don’t weigh much (about 8 oz. for a 1200 calorie bar) and pack easily. Two 2400 calorie bars are enough for four days. On the other hand, you’ll probably want a little more to eat. There are several options but, since space is limited, plan for the most calories in the smallest volume. A PowerBar has about 1/4 the calories, by volume, compared to a food concentrate bar. A granola bar has even less, but either can be a good alternative or adjunct to a concentrated food source. On the other end of the scale calorie tablets can add calories and vitamins with very little volume. A few small fruits can provide a nice change of pace and won’t add too much weight or volume.
In the end, you should pack enough concentrated food for four days and augment with small volume lower calorie choices: two 2,400 calories concentrates, 3-4 PowerBars, a few granola bars and an apple or two should do for a weight of around 3-4 pounds. Add some calorie tabs just in case.
Tea bags, instant coffee or juice mixes can also add flavor to your water without much extra weight.
A 2,400 calorie concentrate bar goes in the essentials bag, along with a one liter water bottle
Note that, at this point, food, water and a decent pack weigh in at 20+ pounds.
First aid kit
(Goes in the essentials bag)
The number of first aid kits on the market is dizzying. You can get everything from a wallet or plastic bag containing a few band aids and antibiotic ointment to a full EMS trauma kit that’s a backpack all by itself. You’ll want to go for the low end of the scale. You may want to build your own (I did). Honestly, the pre-packed kits are pretty cheap. You probably have enough items around the house to build an equivalent kit and still have enough left for household scrapes and cuts. On the other hand, there are a few items you may want to invest in as well. A minimal kit should be as light as possible and contain:
Band aids 4-6 each of small medium and large and 2 each of knuckle and fingertip
4 x 4 gauze 3-4
1/2” tape 5-10 yards or so. Get as small a roll as possible
Antibiotic creme 1 small tube or 3 packets
Alcohol wipes 3 packets
Nitrile gloves 1 pair
Moleskin pads 1-2 for blisters (If you’re not an experienced hiker with solid calluses, you WILL need this.)
Steri-strips 3-4 (much better than butterfly closures for bad cuts)
Sting stick 1 for bee stings, etc.
Sun screen 1 small tube or bottle.
Aloe 1 small tube or bottle. (For when you forget to use the sun screen.)
Tweezers For splinters and ticks
Pain killers Tylenol, Advil or aspirin as you like. Bring 8-10 in their own small bag, bottle or box.
Immodium 2-4
No-doze 1-2
Benadryl tabs 1-4
Antacids 1-6
Personal meds Bring a 1- or 2-week supply. You can get food at the other end, but meds? Maybe not.
This can all fit into a sandwich bag or small zippered bag (many women have several small make-up bags they don’t use – they get them free when make-up is on sale. Such bags make good, small first aid kits.) Another functional small first-aid kit box is a traveller’s soap box: the waterproof kind that holds a single bar of soap.
Anything beyond this kind of small kit is up to you. Pack whatever you think you might need and can use (i.e. no point in packing a blood pressure kit if you don’t know how to use it). Carrying a full-sized trauma kit means carrying two heavy packs and is, thus, impractical.
Clothing
Clothing is the second heaviest thing you will pack, after water. Clothing should be based on expected weather and changed out of your bag as the seasons change. In summer you may need just 1-2 t-shirts, 2 changes of underwear, 3 pairs of hiking socks and a spare pair of jeans. You might include a windbreaker, light hat and light rain poncho. In spring, fall or winter, you might also want long underwear, a heavy flannel shirt, watch cap, balaclava, heavy gloves, scarf, etc. Remember to layer clothing since walking raises body temperature quickly. In winter you want to maintain core body temperature and reduce heat loss from the top of your head. You may find that heavy parka quickly gives way to a sweater and watch cap while you’re walking.
Invest in a good pair of hiking boots. Use them several times to break them (and your feet) in. Coat them with water repellent. Put extra laces in your Bug-Out Bag. Don’t keep the boots in your bag, keep them next to it. Grab them and the bag at the same time. You’ll want to change into your boots at the first chance you get and store your everyday shoes in your bag. Even if you have time to change shoes at home, put an extra pair of sneakers in your Bug-Out Bag. If your boots get really wet, you may need them.
Keep heavy clothing out of the bag. Your parka, like your hiking boots, should be kept next to the bag, not in it.
Spare socks and underwear go in the essentials bag
Personal hygiene
Don’t expect a hot shower every night, but that’s no reason to neglect hygiene. You can easily go three days without shaving, but you should still pack a tooth brush and tooth paste, a small bar of soap and a small towel. It’s worth using some of your drinking water to brush your teeth and wash your face and hands. It’s better if you find washing water along the way. Depending on why you’re bugging out, decide whether it’s safe to drink or brush your teeth using such water.
Tools
Okay, this is where it gets dicey. What conditions are you expecting? Are you bugging out through the suburbs or the woods? Cross-country or down highway nine? Do you expect to find shelter or make it? The following list is a good place to begin, but your actual choices will depend on what you think you’ll need and what you think you can carry. Tools can be very heavy. Be choosey.
Folding knife: A 3-4” Buck knife or equivalent. One- or two-bladed. A very good all-around tool.
“Swiss army” knife: There are many variations on this tool. Choose one that seems right for you.
Multi-tool: Leatherman or equivalent. This or the Swiss Army knife. Probably not both.
Fixed-blade knife: Do you really know how to use it, or do you want it because it’s hella-cool?
Machete: Probably more useful than the fixed-blade knife. A reasonable compromise between a
hatchet and a knife.
Camp hatchet: A light hatchet for chopping wood and shelter making. Think machete instead.
Sven saw: A take-down tree saw that folds into a metal tube. Unless you really need straight, clean
saw cuts, the machete is probably more useful.
And any other tool your little heart can imagine: hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches. A jack hammer. In the end, be serious. What will you likely NEED in three days? I pack a Buck knife, multi-tool and machete. Oh, and a knife sharpener. And I always have my small, two bladed pocket knife.
Weapons
Another dicey area. So many Bug-Out Bag lists on the net describe people carrying outright arsenals with them. This seems to be more fantasy than reality. Face it, if you REALLY need 500 rounds of ammo, and four or more different weapons, you’re probably not going to win the fight anyway. Yeah if you’re down behind enemy lines and need to survive for an unspecified period of time against a hostile enemy forces actively searching for you, you need one set of stuff. If you’re humping it to uncle Dave’s house 40 miles away, you need different stuff.
Yes, I recommend bringing a weapon. Pick a good, light pistol. If you really want to, choose a backup that uses the same ammo. Bring 2 full clips for each. Done. Anything more and you’re in Rambo fantasy land. In any circumstance that might require a weapon, try to get away first. For that matter, try to avoid getting into such a situation in the first place. Stay out of dead ends, bad neighborhoods, large crowds of unruly people. Be inconspicuous. Don’t be a jerk. Plan your route and alternate routes before hand.
And if you don’t have any guns that’s okay too. It’s up to you to decide whether to arm yourself or not. You probably won’t be encountering roving bands of Australian body-builders in bondage gear with purple Mohawks trying to steal your gazz-uh-line – at least not for a few years yet. You can probably hump 40 miles with minimal difficulty even during the worst of troubles as long as you’re careful and plan ahead. Or bring along a baseball bat if it will make you feel better.
Signalling
Sometimes, despite the best laid plans of mice, you get into trouble or just get stuck. It’s a good idea to carry a few items for calling for help.
Your cell phone: If the nets are still working.
Cell phone charger: Get a battery back-up charger for your brand of phone. Try it before you need it.
Red Bandanna: Simple, but effective. Get a neon orange one too.
Signal mirror: A small metal mirror. Sweep it side to side. The flashes can be seen for miles.
Light stick flare: At night, a chemical light stick designed for high intensity light can been seen for miles.
Flashlight: Even if you don’t need it for signalling, bring a good flashlight anyway.
Road flare: Easy to get and highly visible even in daylight
Pocket flare: A self-contained, one shot flare gun
Whistle: Get a high-intensity NATO type whistle. Or get one from a cereal box.
A small flashlight, an eight hour light stick and a whistle go in the essentials bag.
Sleeping
You may need to pass at least one night in the open. Bring something to wrap up in. Use your bag as a pillow.
Heat sheet or space blanket: I like heat sheets better.
Bivvy bag: A variation on a heat sheet, this is a thermal sheet made into a light sleeping bag.
Ground pad: The amount of heat you lose into the ground is significant. A definite Need.
Part 5
Fire making
You may or may not want to make a fire while you’re stopping for the night. Upside is that a fire is comforting, provides warmth and allows you to cook food. On the other hand, most, if not all, of your food requires no cooking. Downside is that a fire will attract other people, some of whom may not be friendly. Also a fire can get out of hand as you sleep. (A later diary will deal with fire making in detail.)
There are a few solid rules about making a fire in an urban or suburban setting.
- Don’t make your fire near something that can catch fire. Keep away from wooden buildings, sheds, dry grass, dead plants, etc. Also, look up: don’t build a fire under overhanging branches or anything else that could catch on fire.
- Build your fire downwind from a wind break (wall, car, brick building, etc.)
- Don’t build your fire on asphalt. The heat will release petroleum fumes which can make you sick.
- Clear an area at least six feet around your fire place (12 feet across). Remove all sticks, leaves, paper, trash, dead grass and anything else that might catch fire and spread fire. Remember that fire can jump: just because something isn’t right next to the fire doesn’t mean it can’t catch fire (this includes you).
- Build your fire inside a ring of stones (or debris), or in a fire pit. An overnight pit should be about a foot across and four inches deep. This means either dug four inches into the ground, or build up four inches of stones around the edge.
- Check the ground for gasoline and oil spills. Don’t build a fire on gas, grease or oil.
- If you can, keep a bucket or other container of water, sand or loose dirt near the fire. If the fire jumps, put it out immediately. Don’t use your drinking water for this.
- Sleep at least three feet away from your fire. Tamp your fire down and bank it before you go to sleep. Sleep between the windbreak and the fire.
- PUT YOUR FIRE OUT and make sure it’s out before you move on.
When it comes down to it, making a fire is pretty easy. You just need a fire source and fuel.
Fire sources:
Lighter: Butane or Zippo. I bought Zippos for the utility and discovered one bad thing about them: they go dry pretty quickly. Now I keep the Zippo in a plastic bag with a small fuel can and keep a butane lighter for general use.
Matches: Get water- and wind-proof matches at the camp store. Keep them in a water-tight box.
Blast match: There’s a link for this below. It’s amazing. So much better than a flint and steel it’s almost scary. Do not strike it near your face, you could lose your eyebrows.
Tinder: Try several things; shave a dry stick with your knife. Use dry grass or moss (has to be really dry). Bring cotton balls soaked in alcohol and keep them in an old 35mm film canister. Soak 1” bits of cotton string in paraffin wax. Use char (will explain in fire diary).
Fuel:
Collect unpainted wood or branches for your fire.
Avoid paper, cloth and cardboard except as tinder to get the fire going. They burn too fast and don’t give much heat.
DO NOT burn the following:
Coated paper or cardboard, rubber, plastic, painted wood, foam rubber, vinyl, and anything other than wood or charcoal (if you can get it).
Remember to stop and begin your camp well before the light fails. If you need to make a fire pit and collect wood, you don’t want to be doing it by flashlight. Look for a good campsite (having one planned ahead of time because you scouted your route is even better) throughout the afternoon. It’s better to lose some mileage making a really good camp than not have a suitable place because you waited too long to look.
Other useful stuff
You don’t need to bring all this stuff. Think about what you might need and pack accordingly.
550 Para cord: 25 - 50 feet. Great for making shelters and replacing broken shoe laces.
Compass; Get the best you can afford. Cheap compasses are not reliable.
Local map
Candles: 2-3 six inch candles. Maybe a canned 20 - 40 hour candle.
Dental floss: Generally useful even for things other than getting stuff out of your teeth
Deck of Cards: Because 3 days is a long time
Book: ditto
Insect repellent
Pencil & notebook
Sharpie marker
Trowel
Rubber bands
Chalk (for leaving notes)
Clothes pins
Plastic tarp with corner grommets for shelter
Radio (hand cranked so you don’t run out of batteries)
Travel sewing kit
Trash bags
Tin foil
Wet wipes
Glasses (a spare pair: your old, previous prescription works well)
Glasses repair kit
Sunglasses
Prepare a Bug-Out Bag for every member of your family. Don’t forget diaper bags and extra wipes if needed. Also bring a favorite toy for each kid.
Make sure everyone, and especially kids, has ID. Definitely write their name and contact info on your kid’s arms in waterproof marker.
It will take more time if you’re bugging out with kids. Plan accordingly.
Bug-Out Bags
http://www.campingsurvival.com/...
http://www.defenseknife.com/...
http://www.buysomethingawesome.com/...
Blast Match
http://www.amazon.com/...
Next diary: Not sure yet... Fire making and...?