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In this Discussion
- 1234 March 2011
- Clever_girl March 2011
- distant_shoe March 2011
- Dr_William_Hayward March 2011
- ed_chigliak March 2011
- flossy_log_lady March 2011
- lml__0_0__lml March 2011
- lolo March 2011
- Matthew April 2011
- MirandaJuly March 2011
- Nick March 2011
- panda_pantalones March 2011
- swamp_knobbler_mahan March 2011
- the_owls March 2011
- ThickeningAgent March 2011
- UncleBoatShoes2011 March 2011
- YoursTruly March 2011
- zin March 2011
emergency kit!
in light of the recent tragedy in Japan, and the fact that Oregon pretty much has the exact same kind of fault just off its coastline, I was thinking it would be smart to make a disaster emergency kit. there are the obvious things that places like the Red Cross suggest, but I am trying to brainstorm and think up other would-be-needed items.
for instance, assuming that service wasn't interrupted, i could imagine that my cell phone would be vital to have. but that would only be good for as long as the battery was good, so i'd need my charger as well. i also know that i get pathetically weak and headachey when i don't have coffee, so maybe some instant coffee or caffeine pills would be good (though perhaps the adrenaline of a disaster trumps caffeine withdrawals?)
what else? I admit that I'd probably be pretty useless in the case of an emergency or disaster (luckily my girlfriend is a hard-core nature survivalist and trained in CPR!!!)
for instance, assuming that service wasn't interrupted, i could imagine that my cell phone would be vital to have. but that would only be good for as long as the battery was good, so i'd need my charger as well. i also know that i get pathetically weak and headachey when i don't have coffee, so maybe some instant coffee or caffeine pills would be good (though perhaps the adrenaline of a disaster trumps caffeine withdrawals?)
what else? I admit that I'd probably be pretty useless in the case of an emergency or disaster (luckily my girlfriend is a hard-core nature survivalist and trained in CPR!!!)
Comments
It's so legit that computer stuff (docs at least, don't know about other stuff) can be backed up with shit like Dropbox or even just a flashdrive on your keychain. One less thing to have to freak out about in the event.
I would also suggest copies of drivers license/passport, to stick into the emergency kit. You obviously can't leave your wallet in there.
DVD of "Wet Hot American Summer"
Seriously though: Some cash? Like fifty bucks? I don't know
hard copy of phone numbers--parents, partner, family, friends, landlord--in the event your phone doesn't work (or no cell phones work, like what if it is an asteroid???) and you have to use a "pay phone," whatever that is
TAMPONS
CIGARETTES FOR BARTERING IN THE POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD
CONTACT SOLUTION
what if there's nowhere to even plug your shit in?
I guess if that's the case, we're getting into territory where you wouldn't really need your cell phone anymore, anyway.
zombie apocalypse territory
which reminds me:
HATCHET
Whiskey
Cyanide pills
:(
My childhood home phone number, yes. But not their current cell phones.
hand-crank stuff is a great call, also jugs for water.
-iodine tablets for purifying water
-lara bars
-stockpiled antibiotics
THIGH MASTER
THOSE JEANS THAT MAKE MY BUTT LOOK HOT
MAJOR PRIORITY OF DYSTOPIAN FUTURE WILL BE BREEDING
I WANT THE REAL STUDS
CONDOMS
for all the raping. If movies set in post-apocalyptic futures have taught us anything it is that all remaining women will be immediately herded up into massive sex slave harems
which reminds me
HANDGUN
Guns will be a total necessity. Not just handguns. Full on automatic machine guns and shit. The Road is our guide.
We will also need a cool hidden bomb shelter with Doritos and Mtn Dew.
I don't really remember the status of guns in that book. Doesn't the Man get shot in the leg with a flare at one point? Or is it an arrow, and he RETALIATES with a flare gun? I can't remember. And do the cannibals on that flat-bed semi-truck have guns or do they just have the power of greater numbers??
I feel like a mastery of bow and arrow would be better than gun because pretty quick all the bullets are gonna be snapped up.
It also depends on if the disaster leaves most of humanity intact (the Road)
or if it decimates humanity (The Stand, etc.)
in the one, resources are a major problem, thus massive competition
in the other, you have all the resources you could ever need, and I guess the major problem is loneliness?
But you need a way bigger emergency kit for option A than for option B
I thought the cannibals had guns, but now that I'm thinking about it, they probably just had DIY weapons and the power of greater numbers. Either way, you probably want something that will help you avoid hand-to-hand combat. Ammo/arrows are key.
atlatl
blowgun
vagina dentata
I am struggling with what to put the emergency kit in. a backpack makes more sense if you have to run away in a hurry (leaving your hands available to ride a bike, dig out of a mess, help someone walk, etc) but then you can't put nearly as much stuff in the pack as you can a big box.
I also think that bicycle supplies are a great call.
also also, the movie The Road is very excellent if you haven't seen it.
Everything CC writes is amazing though
I didn't see the movie. It's hard for me to see adaptations of books that are really meaningful to me, although I love Viggo.
I think backpack is a great call, for all the reasons you list. It can be a big backpack!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire
one very important thing i did learn, however: (factory) bottled water, even in plastic, will stay good for several years as long as the seal is not broken. but water that you bottle yourself, that isn't vacuum-sealed and done in perfect sanitary situations, will only be good for two weeks before funky bacterias start to grow in it. water that has been sitting in plastic bottles for a very long time might start to taste funny, but at least according to the FDA is still safe to drink. so if you are thinking you should stash away some water in your bomb shelter, use store bought bottled water that hasn't been opened.
this is how you have water on, like, crazy outward bound-style backpacking trips.
Find a source of water--rain, river--put some iodine tabs in, boom, its purified.
crucial!
unless you are envisioning a dystopian vibe where all the water is dried up and the earth is a smoking hot wasteland, in which case, yeah.
that's really interesting about bottled water, though! I really am surprised by that.
Y'all, there is this store right near me SPECIFICALLY FOR APOCALYPSE SUPPLIES!!
Haven't gone in yet.
http://www.portlandprepared.com/
http://www.helium.com/items/2117269-magnetic-field-changes-signal-major-quake-for-west-coast
fucking terrifying.
Also GLOBAL NUCLEAR DISASTER, anyone? Do you love how Japan is like "EVERYTHING IS FINE. PLEASE DON'T LOOK OVER HERE" but then nuclear inspectors are like "RADIATION DANGER MAXIMUM" and "EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY" and "MASSIVE RADIOACTIVE CLOUD HEADED FOR CALIFORNIA" but then U.S. health officials are like "PROBABLY POSES NO DANGER"
that's one of the more troubling "probably"s you'll ever hear in your life
great job on not realizing how scary nuclear power is, World. "Well yes, if anything damaged the reactor there would be a hideous global disaster, but what could possibly damage the reactor? That's never gonna happen, high fives"
Guess what, I realized that when I was like 9.
"WHY IS EVERYONE ON EARTH SUCH A GODDAMN IDIOT?"--David Rees
whoah! two more days!! good thing my emergency kit is almost ready!
The quake will come someday, as will death.
In the meantime, watch out for cars. Cars are fucking scary.
Do this:
Moved to LA and a couple months later there was a 7.3 out in the desert and that was in the middle of the night and pretty crazy. Waking up and being disoriented and eventually realizing what's happening. Later that day there was like a 6.5 and I remember that one happening and the lighting fixtures swaying crazily and just looking at my mom and being like "What have we gotten ourselves into" (the LA Riots happened like 1 month after we moved there as well. GREAT TIMING!)
Then there was the big Northridge quake a couple years later, and that one was closer to the city and killed like 70 people. My best friend's sister lived real close to the epicenter and their apartment got totaled and so we helped her salvage and move out and that was a trip, seeing all the damage.
If you are driving you are actually less likely to feel the earthquake. I drove through a couple in my day. I think I actually knew it was happening one time I was driving. You could tell if it was a big one. You would probably want to slow down and it was be much more awesome if you weren't on a bridge, overpass, elevated road.
I have heard some interviews with that predictor dude, he's a total dummy. He was predicting a huge quake in Cali a couple months ago and some big people on twitter Retweeted him and people started to freak out. Then when the day passed that he predicted he just kept amending and saying it would happen in a couple days. He's a kook!
It is a crazy time for quakes we've had 2 of the 5 biggest quakes since they've started recording (1890ish) in the last year, but earthquakes have always happened on this planet. Check out this list of historical quakes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_earthquakes
The planet rumbles. It's crazy and in some ways great that humans can't tame it in anyway.
candles
solar/crank charging/ battery/charger/radio/flashlight/strobe device
100 MRE rations
water tablets
100 feet of twine
40 feet nylon rope
10 lighters
1 dzn sterno cans
2 tiny emergency mylar blankets
also
a storage unit off of the "main grid" ie that you can get to without taking a major highway
this storage unit should have a padlock
this is where you keep your duplicates of valuables, information, pictures, further survival needs like an ax, more rope, a shot-gun and DIY shells/gun powder
things for re-building survival life outside of the city
your safety deposit box should be in a small rural town in a local bank a day's hike away, not in a downtown bank
all digital data will wash away and disappear within less than a decade
if you care about something, make it physical via printing, even optical media (dvd) is maybe not the way to go. unless you keep a drive that can read the media along with the storage media
DAT DATA DUMPS
DOCUMENTS, PICTURES, BOOKS AND VINYL RECORDS, in plastic sleeves, or in airtight containers
DIGITAL VIDEO DISCS & VHS TAPES AND PLAYERS KEPT AWAY FROM MAGNETS
THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT SUPPORT YOU WITH RICE BAG DROPS FOR AT LEAST 2 WEEKS AND POSSIBLY NEVER
http://robwalmart.bandcamp.com/track/vegan-biscuit