Survive In Place Sample Lesson
The Ultimate Step-By-Step guide to creating your Urban Survival Plan
Top 10 Mistakes
Found in Most 72-Hour Kits
Here’s the second installment of the top 10 problems with 72 hour kits and how you can fix them:
If you missed the top 5 yesterday, here’s the link:
http://urbansurvivalplan.com/644/top-10-72-hour-kit-mistakes-part-1-of-2/
6. Bad Equipment. Almost every 72 hour kit that I’ve bought or reviewed has had bad equipment in it. Some of the worst offenders have been multi-tools that don’t work, matches that are brittle and break, knives that are dull, bandaids/tape that doesn’t stick anymore, survival blankets that are worn through, and pumps (both water and liquid fuel camp stoves) that have dried out seals. The only way to know that bad equipment won’t bite you in the butt is to test out all of your equipment every 6-12 months.
7. Can you use your equipment? If your firestarter is a glass or fresnel lens, can you make it work? Will it work in the late afternoon/evening? On a cloudy/smokey day? What would you do at night? What happens when you eat your survival rations? Can you stomach them? Do they keep you full? (If not, throw in some fiber capsules) Do you know how to start a fire with your flint and steel? Does everyone fit in the emergency shelter that you have? Can you carry your 72 hour kit/go bag if you have to leave your car on foot?
In short, you bought a 72 hour kit/go bag to keep you alive in a worst case scenario. Does it does it do any good to carry around a bag full of stuff that doesn’t work and that you don’t know how to use? Don’t trust anything. Take the time to test out the equipment that you expect to save your life. If it doesn’t work, find a replacement that does work. Testing your equipment will mean that you’ll have to replace some and it means that you’ll have to repack it, but until you know everything works and that you can use it, it doesn’t do much good to carry it around in your car.
8. Water. Do you have 1 gallon per person per day and 1/2 gallon per animal per day? (2 people and 2 dogs would require 9 gallons for 72 hours. At 8.35 pounds per gallon, that’s almost 80 pounds of water taking up 2000 cubic inches!!) If not, do you have a way to collect and purify more? Do you have an empty 1 liter bottle, collapsable bucket, or water bladder? Do you have one for both dirty and clean water? Do you know if your body can handle water that’s been purified with iodine?
9. Pets. Do you have 72 hours of food for your pets? Are you going to feed them your emergency food? Will they eat it and can they digest it? Can you eat their food if you need to?
10. Bags that are all jumbled together. Most 72 hour kits have everything thrown in the main compartment. Everytime you need something, you have to sort through all of the contents. Consider taking some ziplock freezerbags or packing cubes like Eagle Creek to separate the different catagories of supplies. Make sure to mark everything VERY plainly. I like doing this by writing on a strip of duct tape or athletic tape. One method you can use to separate everything is the following system:
Fire
Shelter
Water
Food
Medical (prescriptions, pain, stomach, etc.)
Trauma (bandages, splints, tweezers, scisors, wound irrigation, etc.)
Security
Tools
Pets
Clothes
Here’s the trick to getting this all done. Print yesterday’s page and this page and underline or highlight everything that you need to do. Then, pick the easiest item, do it RIGHT NOW and then cross it off when you’re done! (Crossing off to-do items is great for the mind.) If you can fix more than one issue in a day, that’s great…keep going. If not, make a decision to fix one or more problems each day until they’re all taken care of.
After going through this process, two things are going to happen:
1. Your 72 hour kit(s) will be much better stocked.
2. You will have more confidence and peace of mind since you KNOW that your 72 hour kit will support you and your family in an emergency rather than just guessing and hoping that everything will work out.
If you’re interested in the difference between 72 hour kits and GO bags, what you need for your kits, and a systematic approach to stocking them without breaking the bank, check out my Urban Survival course, “Survive In Place” at www.SurviveInPlace.com It’s a 12 week course delivered directly to your inbox every week so that you can complete it in your own home at your own pace. In addition to 72 hour kits, we discuss the psychology of survival, how to fortify your house against gangs of looters, how to form a mutual aid team to watch each others’ backs in an emergency, and how to hide your preparations to protect you and your family from thieves now and looters later.
It’s unlike ANY other book or course on survival that you’ve ever seen. It’s a full blown course that will take you step-by-step through the process of getting prepared for urban survival. Every chapter is designed to be completed in a week and it will give you a “Here’s what to do next” set of action steps to complete. Please read more about it by going to www.SurviveInPlace.com
Until tomorrow,
David Morris
SurviveInPlace.com
UrbanSurvivalPlan.com
(Twitter.com/SurvivalDave)
I look forward to getting the rest of the material, we have been doing what we have learned, great stuff so practical,
I got this link sent to me today from someone I respect, I watched it and it seems to tie into what is coming. I would like to hear what you think?
http://www.ignatius-piazza-front-sight.com/2009/09/11/ignatius-piazza-dont-just-remember-911-uncover-it/
Dave, I greatly appreciate the professionalism of the course. I’m a Viet-Vetran, all that I have learned from your program has brought back memories of the importants of survival and preparedness. Great course.
GREAT STUFF!! I’m a Korean vet (USMC) and I have read quiet a few “suvial books” but your course is the best yet….andis more up to date than most of what I have seen. Your course covers a LOT more about having to “stay put” for various reasons. MANY Thanks,
Windell
Thanks David!
David Morris clearly epitomizes the old adage that if you do something you love and are passionate about it, you can make a living doing it. I am a survivalist at heart, and I read things from many different sources, but I have never found any author/mentor like David Morris. In addition to the SurviveInPlace lessons I have enjoyed immeasurably, everyday my email is filled with matters of interest and importance from this man.
I don’t know if it will be one day or one decade until the of the many things I’ve learned from Mr Morris will go from a “passion for preparedness”, to literally life-saving, but I know the day will come where I most likely will say David saved my life.
Keep up the great work my friend!
Tom
Dave, Thanks for providing this absolutely critical information. I think everyone needs to be prepared for natural or man-made disasters. I watched the link from Bruce (Ignatius Piazza). It was horrifyingly realistic,and reminded me of just how brave soldiers are to face this kind of thing daily. However burns and traumatic injuries can happen anywhere. We have a farm and have seen a few gory injuries over the years. I was really impressed with the field dressings they used and am wondering where they can be obtained.
I will be signing up for your course as soon as I can convince my husband that I’m not going overboard and becoming a “survival nut”(personally, I would rather be a survival nut than an unprepared nut…)Thanks again!
OUtstanding! I’ve read both articles and I am sold. Will start the program first thing in the morning for sure.
I live near Cleveland. Any ideas how to store water in your vehicle during the winter months? My basic idea up til now is to keep a large metal coffe can and use the (indoor safe) propane heater that I keep in there during the winter to melt ice or snow. Any ideas for something more useful?
Also, during the winter months, is it ok for canned food to freeze and unfreeze, or do they become unsafe?
Any knowledge or suggestions where to find this info would be greatly appreciated.
[David's Response: I live in a mountain town and have the same problem...very hot summers and cold winters. We keep boxes of water in our cars and they haven't broken yet, but I always expect that they will. I would get some of them, put them in a ziplock freezer bag, and keep them in your car.
Remember that indoor propane heaters still produce CO and CO2, but they turn off when the oxygen levels get too low. So you want to make sure that you stop using them if you start getting tired, decide to sleep, or get a headache.
Your strategy of using the coffee can in front of your heater will work, although it won't be too efficient. It doesn't take very much heat to keep a car warm, and you could melt (clean) snow more efficiently by heating a small cup of water with a candle, trioxane bar, or small camp stove. Heat the small cup of water to almost boiling and pour it into the bigger container of snow/ice. You can also heat a small amount of water to boiling and add snow/ice until it is just cool enough to drink. This way, you'll be heating your core from the inside rather than heating the entire vehicle.
On the canned foods, you bring up a BIG problem with winter vehicle survival. There are three answers to it:
1. Carry multiple kinds of food, cans, bars, freezedried, etc. so that you have options.
2. Frozen cans (or previously frozen cans) are normally considered safe if you can verify that the integrity of the can was not compromised. If the can has leaked or if the can doesn't make any sound when you open it, you need to realize that the seal MAY have broken at some point in the past and that spoilage/bacteria growth may have happened. Sniff the contents to make sure that they don't smell rancid and don't be afraid to cook the food longer than normal to attempt to kill of bacteria.
3. Rotate your vehicle food often. This won't keep it from freezing/getting too hot, but it will keep the can from weakening due to excessive repeated freeze/thaw cycles. It will also be the best way for you to KNOW the difference between cans that are still sealed and cans that leak. It will also help you figure out which foods/brands/can designs will work best in your region.
David]
try using emergency heater packs for cold weather use. you can find them at walmart. also I use a clark jungle hammock as shelter and have found it easy to use,lightweight and compact.
Thanks Dave, great information, keep up the good work.
Les
I have been doing all this already so I’m in good shape. I can’t wait to hear the how to fortify my home part.