The news reports we are hearing of the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey are heartbreaking. Tens of thousands of people in coastal areas in Texas have been evacuated from their flooded neighborhoods, if they could get out at all. On NPR a woman spoke of having to wade out of her house in water that was mouth high and that rescuers simply told her to keep her mouth shut as she waded to the boat through the dirty water.

Other people have said that they did not get enough information about how serious the storm would be. They simply did not know the risks they were facing in staying in their home. If they did know the risks, maybe they didn’t truly believe how bad it would be. Some people think that hurricanes are just a joke. I grew up in Florida and I have been through a couple hurricanes when I was younger person. And people who have not experienced hurricanes, as well as people who have been through some less severe hurricanes, can tend to think that the warnings or overblown. So I understand the attitude of “Oh, it’s probably not going to be that bad.”

The media is bad about over-blowing dire warnings. Like, the total solar eclipse in Oregon that happened recently…the state was predicting clogged roads, grocery stores running out of food, gas stations running out of gas, and emergency responders not being able to get through to people. It turned out to not be that bad. So, yeah, I get it.

The problem is, it’s hard to tell when you really will be OK in your home and when you will not be OK in your home. So what can we learn from a disaster like Hurricane Harvey?

Number one. Plan to take care of yourself because no one else will do it.

911 will not answer. The ambulance will not come. The firetruck will not come. Plan ahead to get yourself out of the area on your own with whatever resources you have because, bottom line, in a serious situation help will not come.

If you live in a place that is prone to flooding consider getting a small rowboat. Or a kayak. Or an inflatable raft at the very least that you can keep packaged up in your garage or underneath your bed until the time comes that you need to deploy it.

Stock up on portable food and water. This does not mean cans of soup, jars of peanut butter, and gallon jugs of water. Those are nice to have, but not practical in a flash flood/hurricane situation. Because if you have to leave on that inflatable raft I just mentioned, you will not be taking 50 pounds of food and water with you. This is the time to have water in pouches and high calorie food bars and bricks. Put a few in the bottom of your bag to survive on.

There are shelters in place for the Harvey victims but in the Houston area the news report said there are 10,000 people in the convention center. That is twice as many as the Red Cross planned for. They only planned for 5,000 people. There’s not enough food, not enough blankets and not enough space for the people who are in shelters. Again don’t rely on the government to help.

Remember your pets. Some people were forced to leave their pets behind, although news reports had pictures of people walking out carrying their dogs. No one wants to have to leave their pets behind but if it is a question of your survival or the survival of your family and leaving when you have to leave you, may be forced to make that horrible choice.

If you live in a flood-prone area consider investing in an inflatable life vest for your beloved pets. If you do have to leave them behind the inflatable vest could be their lifesaver. If you are able to take them with you the inflatable vest can make your trek easier. If you have pets an aluminum rowboat would be a better choice than a kayak or inflatable raft for your bug out vessel.

The other thing you must do is keep yourself informed. Many younger people nowadays don’t watch the news and don’t read the newspaper. They may only get their news from Facebook. Their knowledge and awareness of a deadly situation could be very minimal. It is up to you to keep yourself informed. Monitor websites you trust. Don’t just talk to your friends. Download some emergency apps like the one from the Red Cross. Sign up for weather updates from your local news station. Make sure you know what is coming to your area. If the authorities say it is going to serious, heed that warning. It is better to be prepared for an event that does not become life-threatening then to be unprepared for an event that is life-threatening.

Right now, I’m in pretty decent shape. I don’t take any prescription meds. I only wear glasses for reading. I don’t have any chronic health issues and other than tendinitis in my shoulder I don’t have any aches and pains. But here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re under increased risk for an earthquake that might happen anytime between now and the next 50 years.

If the earthquake happens tomorrow, I figure I’ll be fine. I can carry a heavy pack. I can walk anywhere I need to. I have physical strength and don’t rely on medications or other external factors for my general health. But what happens if the earthquake happens 30 years from now? I’ll be an old woman. There’s no way I could realistically carry a heavy bug-out bag very far. I wouldn’t be able to protect myself against physical violence very easily. Does that mean that senior citizens have no options?

No. But it does mean that life post-SHTF will be harder for a senior. It means you might need to rely more on your family and neighbors than you would normally if you had a choice. Here’s what you must do in order to increase your odds.

Keep yourself in as good a shape as you can. Age and genetics will roll over all of us. But if we can keep our weight down and our strength up, that’s going to go a long way toward not being a victim. Take daily walks. Lift weights when you’re at home watching TV.

Get a firearm and know how to use it. Close hand-to-hand combat with a knife or baseball bat or stun gun or whatever other non-lethal methods you might use are not realistic for a senior citizen. Get a gun you are comfortable handling and learn how to use it. If you already have one, great! Keep practicing so your skills stay sharp and keep ammo at home that is accessible.

Stay put rather than bug out. Do whatever you can so that you can stay in your home. This is where your reserves of food and water are crucial.

Join groups and train now while you can. Join a neighborhood watch or preparedness group so that you already have a network of folks in place who will check on you. It’s a lot easier to get involved and prepare BEFORE something happens than after an emergency event and you need help. If you’re still active and able, help your neighbors so they’re willing to help you when the time comes.

Get backups of medicines. Some insurance companies let you refill prescriptions for 3 months in advance. Some don’t. Do what you can.

Don’t stop gardening and canning. You may no longer have space for a garden. If not, you can still go to a farmers market or grocery store and buy produce in season. Take it home and can it. You’ll feel better knowing you have jars of green beans and corn and tomatoes right in the cupboard. If you don’t eat them in a timely manner, give them away as your Christmas gifts or make a meal out of them for your church. Then replace them. If you garden, save your seeds.

Make a plan with your family. You should always do this regardless of where your family members live. Designate one or two people outside of your area that you will communicate with. If you have space in your home or land, have your place be the gathering place if your other family members have to bug out.

Get to know your neighbors. If you have older neighbors who are ex-military (many seniors are) then quietly ask them if they have any plans in place for an emergency situation. You may be surprised that some seniors are already prepped for emergencies. If they’re not already prepped, you may have found an ally and you can begin to get more prepared together.

Remember how you did things before electricity. If you’re a senior, you likely have a wealth of knowledge on how to do things “the old fashioned way.” Planting by the signs? First aid when there’s no doctor available? Any herbs or natural remedies your parents gave you that worked? Write them down in a notebook that you can keep with you. If there’s something you want to remember, write it down. Or look it up online and print it out. Keep it in a binder.

Keep emergency gear on hand that is simple. Everyone needs some emergency gear like a light source and a water filter of some kind. When you choose to invest in these pieces, get stuff that is simple to use and is not heavy. Ease of use is important. For instance, crank flashlight might be an obstacle because they have to be cranked for a long time. A solar charger would be a better option for a senior prepper.

What other tips do you have for a senior prepper? Have you helped out your older family members?

All of us at some point have underestimated how cold it would be when we were camping or out in the backcountry. Maybe an unexpected storm arose and you just didn’t have enough clothes. One time when my in-laws were visiting we all camped out on the Oregon coast. This was in summertime, mind you, and we are aware that it would get cold there, even on sun-shiny days.

We warned everyone to pack well and bring warm clothes. As it turns out, we were all cold the whole weekend. Everyone needed one more layer, and we just didn’t bring enough warm clothes. I learned from that miserable experience. Sleeping when you’re cold is no fun, and waking up on a chilly morning when you’re already cold is downright unpleasant. Here are some tips for keeping yourself warm no matter where you are.

First things…bring enough clothes. Bring a hat and gloves. Bring a scarf if you have one. Bring extra socks. If your socks get wet and you sleep in them because that’s all you’ve got, you could be setting yourself up for hypothermia.

Investigate your sleeping bag. If you have a down-filled bag and you’ve had it for some time or it’s gotten heavy use, it might just not be as warm as it once was. The down compacts and clumps up over time, and those air pockets that work to keep you warm diminish. Even synthetic insulation will tamp down over time.

When it’s time to replace your bag, know that there are a ton of styles out there now. There are square cut sleeping bags which maximize space. Mummy bags (which I prefer not to use because I feel constricted), have narrow shoulders and hips to reduce weight. Some of them do have more room near the feet. And there are even hammock sleeping bags. Depending on your size, you may need a bag that is made for a larger person so that you have some room to move inside of it. Backpacking bags minimize weight, while sleeping bags for car camping maximize comfort. Decide how you’ll use the gear.

Whatever bag you choose, get a polar fleece liner. Slip it inside your bag. This not only helps keep your warmer, but keeps the inside of the bag more clean.

Stuff a pillow case with extra clothes for a pillow to avoid having to bring one. Some sleeping bags have a “pillow pocket” to allow you to do just this. Or, stuff it with an extra blanket.

You lose a lot of heat through the top of your head. Either wear a comfortable cap or invest in a bag with a built-in hood. The nice thing about the hoods is that they work just like a sweatshirt hoodie…you cinch the drawstring around your neck and it keeps your heat in and the hood on your head.

Add some long johns to your night clothing. Wearing an extra layer under your sweatpants or hoodie will help. Wool or silk longjohns are a little more expensive but really do work to keep you warmer.

Bring along a hot water bottle. If you have a campfire going as you ease into sleep, warm up some water and fill up your hot water bottle with it. Put it down by your feet or hug it to your belly and you’ll feel toasty for most of the night. I use a wrap on my water bottle that I sewed from an old towel with a drawstring from an old shoelace added. It insulates it so that the heat lasts quite a while.

Sleeping on an air mattress helps because you’re insulated from the cold ground. Sea to Summit makes an easy-to-inflate small and lightweight insulated air mat that we’ve tried and liked a lot.

What’s the best sleeping gear you’ve discovered? Let us know how you keep yourself warm. And yes, we’ve heard this before…sleeping with someone else does help!

We all look up at the sky every day. But how many of us know what the clouds can tell us about weather? If you’re out on a hike or happen to be stranded somewhere, what is going on above you can help you predict what your next moves should be.

Clouds are given different names based on their shape and how high up in the sky they are. The basic cloud types are cirrus, cumulus, nimbus and stratus. Clouds in the (roughly) middle of the sky are called alto- clouds. All together, there are about 100 cloud types based on combinations of these and some other descriptive names.

Most of us probably know what rain clouds look like. But what’s the difference between cirrus and altocumulus? And what can their appearance tell us about what weather is coming around the corner?

Let’s take this cloud quiz and find out. Below are photos of 10 cloud types. with a list of the 10 names below it to choose from. Write down your guess for the type of cloud shown in the images and their associated weather. Then scroll down below the photos for the answers.

List of Cloud types
1. Cirrus
2. Stratocumulus
3. Altostratus
4. Cumulus
5. Lenticular
6. Cirrocumulus
7. Nimbostratus
8. Asperatus
9. Altocumulus
10. Cumulonimbus

There are 10 basic classifications of clouds:

• High clouds: Cirrus, Cirrocumulus and Cirrostratus

• Middle clouds: Altocumulus, Altostratus and Nimbostratus

• Low clouds: Stratocumulus, Stratus, Cumulus and Cumulonimbus

Working from left to right across each row, here are the answers:

Row 1. Left –  Lenticular

This photo was taken over Northern Ireland. These clouds are somewhat rare and are called lenticular because of their flat shape, like a lens. They only occur where large objects such as mountains or sometimes very tall buildings or bridges disrupt the flow of air over the surface of the earth. Therefore people who live in geographically flat areas likely will never see one. Sometimes they look like UFOs and have been mistaken for such, especially among people who did not realize that clouds can take saucer shapes.  They form under very specific conditions when moist air flows horizontally and then moves up and down over the mountains or other structures. They form in the moist layers of rising air. Weather-wise, they don’t cause problems unless you are a pilot or paraglider. If they grow large enough they can produce precipitation but generally they are just an indicator of air turbulence.

Right – 2. Asperitas

This is sort of a trick questions, because until recently, these clouds did not have their own name. Back in May 2017, a new cloud type was added to the International Cloud Atlas for the first time in 30 years. It’s called an asperitas cloud, and I think you should consider yourself lucky if you see one of these cool but rare shapes. The asperitas cloud is a type of roll cloud that means “roughness.” They got their name because they look sort of like waves on a choppy sea. These clouds look dark and stormy but almost always dissipate without producing severe weather.

Row 2. Left –  Cirrus

Cirrus clouds are high up in the sky and are thin and wispy. They often look like “horse’s tails.” Don’t worry if you just see a few random cirrus clouds. If there are a large number of cirrus clouds in the sky, that is an indication that there is a warm front approaching. In this case, stormy weather is on the way. After the cirrus clouds appear, the next band of clouds will be the rain clouds. When cirrus clouds appear in front of a cold front, it is because the upper atmosphere is so windy that the sirrus were blown off larger rain-bearing clouds and rain and high wind is on the way.

RightStratocumulus

These are large, dark, rounded clouds that appear at lower atmospheres. They can’t get taller because dry, stable air is above them, preventing them from moving upwards. Most often, stratocumulus produces no precipitation or when they do, it is light rain or snow. However, if weather has been mild and then they appear, it means stormier and windier weather is on the way. If the weather has been story and then they appear, it means that the weather is likely improving soon.

Row 3. Left – Nimbostratus

The nimbus clouds are all rain bearing, so it is a good idea to learn to recognize these types if you’re going to be away from shelter for long. They are low-forming clouds that are dark and don’t have very many features. They are mostly just masses of vapor. Nimbostratus is not associated with thunderstorms, but it does predict steady rain that could grow more forceful. If the clouds don’t move away from the area, the rain could persist for several days.

Right – Cumulus

Cumulus means “heap” or “pile” in Latin. It’s where we get the word “accumulate.” These clouds are “heaps” of fluffy, cotton ball-like vapor that is usually flat on the bottom, so that to me is an easy way to remember this cloud formation. They may appear by themselves or with other clouds, or in distinct rows and patterns. Cumulus clouds form low in the sky and are often formed in front of other cloud formations that follow them. If cumulus begin to stick together and grow upwards, they can form rain-bearing clouds but they generally do not produce precipitation on their own. By themselves, they indicate fair weather.

Row 4 Left – Cumulonimbus

As mentioned before, nimbus clouds are always rain bearing and cumulus are “heaps” of puffy cottony clouds. So these are tall, towering clouds with a puffy appearance that always means rain. When you see these during storms they may have that classic “anvil” shaped” thunderhead appearance. These clouds can and often do produce lightning and can even turn into tornadoes. The picture shown is a subtype called a cumulonimbus calvus. The cloud consists mainly of water droplets. Since it is so tall, water at its top may turn into ice crystals as the cloud grows. As more water droplets turn into ice at the top of the cloud, the top is still puffy but the outlines of the cloud become less sharp. When there are a lot of these ice crystals, these clouds can produce hail.

Right – Cirrocumulus

This is another example of the cumulus “heap” clouds and is also one of the most common. These clouds look like individual cotton balls placed seemingly randomly or in rows along the sky. These are high-altitude clouds that contain only a small amount of water droplets that may have already turned into ice because the clouds are so high up in the sky. These clouds can sometimes produce rain high up in the atmosphere that may never actually fall to earth. Cirrocumulus are often transition clouds and appear at the beginning and end of a weather pattern that is changing. If the Cumulonimbus cloud as described above starts to break apart, these clouds can be seen, which probably means the weather is improving.

If these clouds form along with cirrus or cirrostratus (a high level, thin cloud of ice that often causes a halo around the sun or moon) that means rain is coming in 8 to 10 hours or possibly longer depending on the wind speed. If the only clouds are patches of cirricumulus by itself and it has been stormy already, it means that the weather is improving. As long as no other clouds move in, the good weather should stick around for a while.

Row 5 Left – Altostratus

This photo shown is actually a subtype of altostratus called altostratus undulatus. The strat- part of the name means the clouds form in sheets or layers. They are usually features, low clouds but the undulatus type cane be wavy. Often, the altostratus becomes nimbostratus, and that means rain is on the way soon. If they form along with icy cumulonimbus, it can mean that a snowstorm is in the near future.

Right – Altocumulus

As we said before, cumulus are very common clouds and there are many subtypes of these clouds. Cirrocumulus are white, like cotton balls. Altocumulus is a mix of water and ice and they can look more gray. Alto means these clouds form high up in the atmosphere. These clouds are what sometimes look like “fish scales” in the sky. These “mackerel skies” are the subject of weather poems like “Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry.” When mackerel clouds move in, rain is six to 12 hours away. For altocumulus in general, these clouds on their own rarely produce rain unless it is high up in the atmosphere and doesn’t make it to earth.

Hopefully you enjoyed this cloud quiz! Next time you’re on a hike or camping, or even just sitting on your back deck, look up. You may be able to figure out whether you should plan that cookout for tomorrow or wait a few more days.

To make a really good fire starter you only need a little bit of time and two ingredients…petroleum jelly and cotton balls. Well, we tried the method three different ways to test out how well it actually worked.

We used cotton balls, which are the standard advice told to people to use, and we also used cotton pads. We also fully soaked some pads and balls and left some balls just lightly coated to see the difference in how they performed.

To make petroleum-soaked fire starters, the typical advice is to melt petroleum jelly slowly and over a small controlled flame. The whole point is that the petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) is flammable, so you have to be careful when melting it. Well, to get over this hurdle and to avoid using fuel to make fire starters, I put out a container of petroleum jelly that only had about an inch of PJ left in the bottom on a table in my yard on a day that was projected to get to 100 degrees. I figured the heat from the sun would melt it just fine without me having to do anything else to it.

And it did. That worked fine. I put it out there at 11am and at 2pm it was liquidy but not totally melted. Since I know that the late afternoon hours are the hottest part of the day, I just waited a little longer. by about 4pm the PJ was melted enough that I knew it would work. I happened to have a bag of cotton balls in my cupboard along with a bag of cotton pads. The cotton pads are about an inch and a half in diameter and round. I had the idea that the pads would work better than the balls, and also allow me to stack them and possibly put more in my tin that I could with the balls. I tried both.

I took a pair of tweezers and dipped the balls and the pads in the PJ and then removed them onto a piece of wax paper to harden. One of the mistakes I made was letting some of the balls soak up WAY too much Vaseline, but I also thought this might have some advantages.

I used enough pads and balls to use up all the melted PJ and then when the melted stuff was soaked up I took some pads and balls and wiped them around the inside of the PJ jar to get all of it up. Since it was going to be super hot over the next few days, I put them in the freezer on the wax paper to fully harden up and to leave them there until I could go back and deal with them again.

The first one we lit (we being myself, my partner and our 10-year-old) was a fully soaked cotton ball. It did take more to get it started, but it burned for about three times as long as the dipped cotton. So, the advantage here is if you have a reliable flame source like a match or lighter, and your tinder is slightly wet perhaps, fully soak your cotton balls because you’re going to get a stronger flame that is going to last longer to get everything else going.

The typical advice is to just DIP the balls into the PJ and not SOAK them in the PJ because the idea is you want to be able to “fluff” up the cotton ball to be able to expose the cotton inside as the tinder to catch your spark. This will definitely be the best approach if you are using a handmade fire starter like a flint and steel or something where you’re going to have to work hard to get a spark and you want it to catch right away. In our test, the dipped cotton ball lit up right away but did not burn very long. In this video you can see that the less soaked ball lit up right away but the flame is not nearly as intense. This video also shows us using the flame to light one of the pads, to see how that one goes along. You can see that as soon as the wax paper it was on touches the flame it burns away and then the pad catches.The video ends right when the pad catches, but it burns for 10 minutes more beyond what you see here.

The third test was a cotton pad. These absorbed a lot of PJ so I didn’t bother trying to fluff it up. It started faster than the fully soaked ball and, here’s what I got excited about…it burned for even longer than the fully soaked ball. The pads are woven, and they are in two layers with a little air space in between, The circular nature of the pad and the size of it, and I think, just the woven structure of the cotton in general, kept it burning for a lot longer. I also liked that it was flat, as opposed to round like the ball. I felt that gave me more stability as it was resting on the surface, so I wasn’t worried that it would roll away or something like that.

When it was time to remove the soaked pads and balls from the freezer, I placed each pad in a small piece of clean, new wax paper that I wrapped around it and then placed in a round plastic container. This was so they wouldn’t stick together. I placed a layer of the balls on top and then closed the lid. I had some balls that didn’t fit, so I placed those in an Altoid tin. The was paper that the fire starters were on had some PJ on it still, so in order to not waste that I rolled it up and then cut it into sections that I also stuffed into the tin. These will work for fire starting too.

Bottom line, the PJ soaked balls are a great fire starter, I’m not sure I’d say they are the ultimate though. I really liked the pads.

Last week we wrote about a new concept for the Muadib, a “cruise ship” that’s made to cruise on top of desert sands. Today we have another one of Imaginactive’s newly announced concepts. I think this one might give some of you the shudders.

It’s called the Snefel. It’s a “medical vehicle.” It’s super mini. Super mini, as in…designed to sail through the human blood vessel system. I think most of you are thinking right now, “No thanks!”? The idea of robotic nanotechnology has been floated around for a while. But the idea of a tiny robot cruising through my blood vessels is totally unappealing. Let’s look at this more.

If someone has a Snefel inserted into their body, here’s how they would work. The Snefel wouldn’t just cruise around unaided for the rest of the patient’s life. It would be inserted, a doctor would guide it around, and then it would be removed. If it would be removed after a quick artery tour I might be OK with that. The Snefel would have unique proteins on it that matched those of its human host. These proteins, which make it look like a red blood cell, would mean that the body would not attack it.

The robot would be about the size of a white blood cell, which puts it in the range of 12 to 15 micrometers (µm). 15 micrometers i 0.000590551 of an inch. In comparison, a human hair is greater than 17 micrometers but usually smaller than 180 micrometers. Yes, the Snefel is small…and one primary reason is that they would be extra dangerous if they were used and got stuck in a blood vessel or somehow blocked one.

There are a three different functionalities of these Snefels. The functionality of the Biop model is that of a VR camera. The camera would transmit images to the doctor to be able to see where problem spots are or to be guided during certain procedures. Examples of where this micro-view would come in handy are delivering the embryo at the proper place during artificial insemination. Some surgeries would also be safer and done faster, if the surgeon had an “inside view” so to speak.

The functionality of the Skout model is that of a delivery robot. this one would contain a tiny dose of medicine that it would deliver right to its target when it was in the proper position. The Skout could hyper-target the exact spot, like a tumor or blood clot, that needs medicine, rather than giving it to the whole body. The Skout woould have a tail that would propel it similar to that of a tiny tadpole.

Finally, the functionality of the Subu model is that of construction worker. It would be used to repair blood vessels, dig through clots, collect blood samples, and study them to transmit information. The concept explains that the Subu would be perfect for hemophiliacs, diabeticss, or people at high risk for blood clots.

The Subu, unlike the others, would actually remain in the body. It would cruise around, on patrol, and when a problem is detected, it would either be able to fix it or call for help. How it would call for help isn’t explained. Maybe it was one of those “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” necklaces? I kid. But, it would somehow summon either other robots that were already in the body to start the repair work or it would sound an alarm on the outside somehow.

Snefel Biop nano robot for the blood stream Snefel Skout nano robot for the blood stream Snefel Subu nano robot for the blood stream

New ideas were recently announced from Imaginactive, a company who creates prototypes of products that should exist but don’t. The other one of their products we wrote about was the Paradoxal, a concept for a commercial supersonic/hypersonic passenger aircraft that can fly Mach 3 in a suborbital trajectory.

Now they’ve come up with the Muadib. If you’ve ever read the Dune books, you probably already know where this is going…Think of the Muadib as a cruise ship but on sand. This “ship” was designed to cruise deserts or other vast expanses of open land. Tourists would be able to live in this “Cruise” ship” while on their vacations. They could enjoy the sights of the Sahara or Sonora Desert, for instance, while still retiring to their climate controlled room, cold meals, and on-board entertainment at the end of the day.

This ship, if you could afford it, would be the ultimate bug-out vehicle, because it would let you go to the remotest reaches of the desert or grasslands without sinking in. Solar panels would give you power. And a canopy could be extended over the ship to protect it from sandstorms and to provide shade. Gas could run its turbines, also.

Since you wouldn’t need your pools to be heated while in the desert, the Muadib would cool them down instead. Air conditioning, of course, would keep the internal air comfortable. The ship would be able to harvest water from the air conditioning unit…no need for a sweat and urine recycling body suit as in the Dune books…and the ship would even be able to dig for water under the earth’s surface. Designers created a grow room inside the ship where some of this water could be used to water food crops.

Since this is a luxury vehicle after all, the Muadib would have a star-gazing deck and panoramic observation platform. Because what’s the point of being all the way in the middle of nowhere if you can’t see anything! If you brought your ATV, drone, or small helicopter, it could be stored in the ship’s on-board garage until you were ready to go out for a spin.

The concept page of Imaginactive.org explains that this could be for luxury vacations or science expeditions, to take researchers to remote places where it wouldn’t make sense to build a permanent structure.

Please make it real.

Images from imaginactive.org

Muadib desert cruise ship Muadib desert cruise ship Muadib desert cruise ship

Good for this girl! I read on MSN News that a 12-year-old girl from Massachusetts used a tourniquet method she read about in the Hunger Games books. The girl, Megan Gething, and a friend, Mackenzie George, also 12, were playing near their home when Mackenzie slipped and gashed her leg open on a metal pump. Her leg was spewing blood out of a 10-inch-long, 3-inch-wide gash, according to the report. Now, that would totally freak out most 12-year-olds, in my opinion, but the quick-thinking Megan remembered a scene from the Hunger Games book in which a tourniquet was used to stop bleeding.

She used a pair of shorts and wrapped them around her friend’s leg to slow the bleeding. She asked another girl who was with them to run for help. When Megan’s father arrived on the scene, he helped move the injured girl back to their house, where she was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

As it turns out, the girls were walking alongside a muddy bank and Mackenzie was trying to retrieve shoes that had been left alongside it. She slipped and fell down the muddy part, and slid into some metal embedded in the bank. Ouch! By all accounts, if Mackenzie had been by herself, or Megan hadn’t known what to do, she could have bled out.

Do you ever feel that sometimes you’re being given messages that you can’t ignore? I’d been thinking a lot about vulnerability if me or my family gets injured and there’s no help, either from a SHTF situation or if we’re in an accident or whatever. Then survivor guru Dave Canterbury came out with a new book, Bushcraft First Aid, then I got to interview Tom Kaleta of Blue Force Gear about their Micro Trauma Kit NOW!, which holds items designed to treat the top three most common battlefield (or concrete jungle) injuries. It’s all adding to to the message that we need to be prepared to take care of ourselves, from the minorest scratch with a Band-Aid to serious injuries. The more you know, the better you can help yourself, your family or anyone you encounter who is injured…maybe on a hiking trail, in a car accident, or even, as we are hearing about with this shooting of Senators in Virginia while they were playing baseball, on a baseball field.

Take a first-aid class. But don’t stop there. Give your kids some basic knowledge. I don’t really care how they learn. It’s fantastic that a scene in the Hunger Games helped prepare young Megan Gething for this scenario, and hopefully the millions of other young people who read that book learned something too, but that’s only one small part of self-preparedness. There’s a lot to learn. You’re on your self-preparedness journey, first aid is a path you can take along with your kids.

I grew up in Florida, where we were all told to prepare for hurricane season. June through September, and sometimes but rarely in May, people in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic States are at risk from hurricanes. My family were not anywhere near “preppers” and we never talked about emergency preparedness. The extent that I can recall from childhood of being prepared is that my Grandmother urged us all to have a suitcase packed that we could grab and go with if we needed to. I never packed a suitcase and I don’t think my mother ever did. And looking back, I’m pretty sure the only thing in my Grandmother’s suitcase was a nightgown and a change of clothes.

Well, now that I’m an adult, I take emergency preparedness much more seriously! Not only do we have supplies at home, each driver in the family (two adults and a 19-year-old) have their own cars with emergency gear bags in each car. We all work in different places across town and live a bit out in the country, so having a car bag is the minimum that I feel we need. I feel good about this, but I also have some random supplies that are in different places.

For instance, in my car’s glove box is a glassbreaker multitool and an LED flashlight. In a cabinet in our laundry room is a crank lantern and two Luci solar lights. These we keep accessible in the house in the event that the power goes out. My partner has medications that we don’t have backups of, that are on our dresser in the bedroom. (Emergency prep lists always tell you to take backups of medications, but insurance doesn’t pay to fill most medications more than once a month, so having extras of expensive meds is not likely for most people anymore.)

I also have sleeping bags in a closet and an envelope with a little cash. In the laundry room is a stash of candles and lighters. Does your bug out bag have a hairbrush and toothbrush and toothpaste in it? I’ve met many people over the years who focused on just the emergency supplies in their bug out bag and not little things like hygiene. If there was an evacuation call or some other emergency where I needed to leave the house quickly and take as much as I could in my car, I might not remember all of these things since they are all in different, separate places. While I could get by without them, if I had these things they would serve as backup gear or extra peace of mind.

Therefore, I recommend that you all take stock of the things you have around the house that might not be in your proper bug out bag but that you would want to have with you in the event of an emergency. Here’s a list of things that I would want to have with me that go beyond my basic bug out bag that I’d like to grab if I have time. What does your list look like? Print your list out and keep it in a handy place where whoever is at home can find it.

Extra lighters from candle closet
Medications
Magnifying glass – for fire starting (my kid likes to play with this so it’s in a drawer in the living room)
Glassbreaker multitool from car
Knife from desk
Complete change of clothes, with gloves, hat, jacket, scarf, etc depending on the season
Money
Toothpaste, toothbrushes for everyone
Playing cards – there are some in my bug out bag but why not take another pack?
Notebook and pen/pencil
Phone and charger
Lanterns
Luci lights
Paracord – there is some in my bug out bag, but we also have some extra in the laundry room where the candles and other in-house emergency supplies are
Bug out bags from in the house
Water jugs
Blanket
Sleeping bags and pillows
Hair comb
Lotion – I like soft hands, ok?
Sunscreen and lip balm – these are in my medicine cabinet but not in my bug out bag
Snacks – jerky, granola, cheese sticks, peanut butter, crackers, cans of soup, etc., that you may have at home that you can grab quickly.
What else?

All serious preppers and even people who aren’t preppers at all have heard of the Global Seed Vault. This is an underground vault located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, which is the westernmost part of the Norwegian archipelago. It borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea. It truly is a remote place, although it is actually a fairly large island and is permanently populated.

This site was chosen for the Global Seed Vault as a place to store the world’s repository of food-bearing plant seeds. It was believed that the permafrost that exists on the island would provide “fail-safe” protection for the stories of seeds. Currently the vault holds more than 880,000 samples of seeds ranging from basic global food staples such as rice to unique varieties that are used only in certain areas. The idea was that these seeds would be safeguarded for use in the future in the event of a “doomsday scenario” such as an asteroid strike or a nuclear war. No word on how the average human in, say, the hills of Appalachia were supposed to acccess the seeds in this vault. But I guess it was supposed to make everyone feel better that they were sitting there. I kid.

But seriously. News reports now reveal that the seed vault has been breached by water from the surrounding melting glaciers. The Global Seed Vault is basically a concrete bunker in the side of a mountain. After a year of higher than normal temperatures, meltwater entered the entrance to the seed tunnel and then froze, so it was “like a glacier” when workers tried to walk into it. The reports went on to say that the water stayed at the entrance of the cavern and that the seeds were not in danger. Still, it is alarming. Alarming also is the thought that the designers of this seed vault, who say they planned it to keep the seeds safe for future generations, would not have arranged it so that melting water was not a problem. Maybe they need to rethink the design of this vault to prevent this from happening again. I personally believe that climate change is a real thing. And I support the work of the seed bank.

But you know what is the most important thing? That you, yes YOU, start saving heirloom seeds from your garden plants. Or at least stocking up on some seed packets of non-hybrid plants. We’ve written in the past about why only certain type of seeds work for seed storage. Learn more about that here:

  1. Why Your Survival Seeds Should Be Heirlooms
  2. Another Reason Why Seeds Should Be Part of Your Survival Kit

 

Image of the seed vault from telegraph.co.uk credit AFP