Chart from “Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, and Human Performance in Continuous Operations.”  Col. Gregory Belenky.
USAFA.edu/isme/JSCOPE97/Belenky97/Belenky97.htm

So, after 3 nights without sleep, the person who took three 30 minute naps is operating at almost twice the level of the non-napper.

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Costco “Meal Bucket” search:  http://urbansurvivalplan.com/meal

Costco: http://www.costco.com

Jetboil: http://www.jetboil.com/

Inexpensive sunglasses – http://zennioptical.com

Members Forum: http://urbansurvivalplan.com/membersarea

Let me know your thoughts and ideas on this lesson by commenting below. Here are some examples:

“Hi David, Excellent lesson! I knew my kits were not complete but struggled with a coherent plan. Thanks. Two tips: For those driving sedans or SUV’s the space under the rear passenger seat is hidden and a good place to store ‘valuable’ parts of the car kit. Also, my Jeep has the spare tire bolted to the inside of the cargo area. Loosening the bolt allows the tire to tip and the indentation between the tire and the car is where I store some extra valuables which are out of sight. I’m telling everyone about your course. Excellent material at a very reasonable cost.”
-Tom

“The pace on the lessons are fine, and are helping us prepare better. We started our survival kits about a year ago, but we see that we need to add to it.”
- Charlie

“This is a wake up call. I had never thought of a bug out bag for the car, truck or house. I’m working on them right now.”
- E.J.

Thanks!

David

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Skills Assessment:
http://ezs3c686f6ab98a7b817ebe7e8576ee91b49.s3.amazonaws.com/lessons/skillsassessment.pdf

Online atlas – www.nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp

Graffiti resource – www.gangsorus.com/graffiti.html

Crime reports – www.crimereports.com

www.spotcrime.com

Google maps – www.maps.google.com

Hazardous incident maps – hazmat.globalincidentmap.com

Members Forum: http://urbansurvivalplan.com/membersarea

Let me know your thoughts and ideas on this lesson by commenting below.  Here are some examples:

“Greetings David,  As a father, husband and health care professional (Nuclear Medicine X 33 years) OF AGE 54, I can tell you that any intelligent person would appreciate, and benefit from, your course.  Even those among us who think that they “know all about that stuff” will gain insight via your reminders and practical experience pointers.”
- Bob

“The information you present is so important that I’m trying to do it all but just get further and further behind.  This lesson came way too fast….. Thank goodness that my husband is on board and is very capable.  Hope he’s close when the time comes.  Thanks for all you do.”
- Nancy

Thanks!

David

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Prioritized list template – www.SurviveInPlace.com/spreadsheet

Dr. Mercola – NaturalHealthCenter.mercola.com

Members Forum: http://urbansurvivalplan.com/membersarea

Let me know your thoughts and ideas on this lesson by commenting below.  Here are some examples:

“I’ve ordered the course and have just finished reading lesson 2.   I find the lessons easy to red and comprehend – as I expected. What I find even more interesting are the “little tidbits”, or even aside comments, throughout that touch on issues or items that do not come to mind logically, but that could prove absolutely essential in an emergency.
Keep up the good work! ”
- George

“Good info. Good Pace. Good Google Docs to track our supplies.
God Bless and stay safe”
- Dave

“Your Survive in Place lessons have been very educational and useful.   I think you are going at the right pace.
The tips on communication and water in the freezer in lesson 2 were great.
Since 2007 I have been seriously preparing our survival supplies.   With all the reading I have done, your lessons have shown me I still have much to learn…..I look forward to your reply and future lessons. ”
- Phil

Thanks!

David

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Primitive solar still design from US Army Survival Manual:

www.watercone.com/product.html

Basic sand-gravel-char purification system design:

http://www.velvitoil.com/Charmake.htm

Wood Gas generator:

http://www.sawyerproducts.com/SP162.htm

Sawyer bucket filtration system:

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The Ultimate Step-By-Step guide to creating your Urban Survival Plan

Terrorist Attacks and Pandemic Flu???

Flu season is ramping up and you’ve only got a few short weeks to get your preparations in order.  There are some VERY simple things you can do to drastically reduce your chances of contracting any strain of the flu.  I’ll tell you a few simple ones in just a minute.

First, what do terrorist attacks on schools and the flu have in common?

Last year, militant Islamic websites were suggesting multiple simultaneous attacks on schools.  They assumed that the FEAR caused by 5-10 attacks, regardless of the success or the number of fatalities would cause parents to take their kids out of school in massive numbers.  The result would be a huge drop in the workforce for as long as they could make people believe more attacks were coming.

To put it short, in addition to the loss of life and innocence, the economic cost would be devistating.

With pandemic swine flu, people are over-reacting to non-severe cases and the media is underplaying severe cases among otherwise healthy people to keep the general population from panicing.

Similar to the terrorist attacks, no matter how bad the actual effects of the virus are, most of the consequences of the flu virus becoming a pandemic will be the result of people taking action based on FEAR.

I’m of the school of thought that it would be GREAT if everyone in the country could catch the weakest strain of H1N1.  Right now, even people with the weakest strains are being quarantined, keeping people from catching it and developing antibodies that could protect them from the more aggressive strains.

As I discuss in the pandemic lesson in SurviveInPlace, the flu virus is relatively weak and gets killed very quickly by direct sunlight.  One of the reasons why the flu spreads more rapidly in the fall and winter is that people in the Northern Hemisphere start spending more time indoors.

This has a multitude of effects that I discuss in detail in the course, but one of them is that when people with the flu breathe or sneeze indoors, the sun can’t kill the virus in their spittle.  (By the way, the virus can stay airborne for 11-17 minutes after being sneezed)

If people keep reacting the way that they are now, it’s very likely that when the number of H1N1 cases start to spike this fall, we’ll either see school shutdowns or mass incidents of parents taking their kids out of school to keep them from getting the flu.  I understand this, but one of the consequences of this is a decrease in the workforce due to parents staying home…just like what the terrorists were trying to accomplish with their attacks.

This won’t be like when kids are home for holidays and breaks and go to movies, shopping, and other social activities.  When parents take their kids out of school to avoid the flu, they’ll likely avoid densily populated areas (warehouse stores, mass transit, sporting events, etc.) and probably won’t even do as much shopping as they normally would.

So, what can you do to prepare, regardless of how bad the flu season is?

Well, I want to tell you straight out that this is ALL speculation.  I don’t have a crystal ball.  Frankly, I pray that I’m wrong, and that H1N1 fizzles out and it doesn’t have any economic impact on the country.  That being said, the steps that you can take to prepare for it are very simple and fit in with the rest of the SurviveInPlace course:

1.  Have a reserve supply of food/water/herbal medicines on hand.  Ideally the same foods that you normally eat.  If you can, make it a point to stock up on 2-4 weeks of non-perishable food in the next few weeks.  This way, if you decide to self-quarantine, you will be all ready to go.

You should have these supplies in place anyhow, but if you you’re opposed to “hoarding”, keep this in mind:  If nothing happens with H1N1, you can eat up the food in December to free up money for Christmas.

2.  Carry hand sanitizer with alcohol and aloe.  Use it often, especially after opening doors, shaking hands, etc.  If you don’t use a sanitizer with moisturizer in it, you are very likely to develop micro cracks in your skin that will allow viruses and bacteria direct entry into your system.

3.  Wash your hands regularly throughout the day.

4.  Carry a pen to use rather than the “leashed” one at stores & your bank.

5.  Use a paper towel to shut off water & open doors in public restrooms.  Consider carrying an extra few for when you run into air dryers.  (Remember that less than 1/2 of men wash their hands after using the restroom.)

6.  Try to telecommute and/or explore ways of making money from home.

7.  Avoid touching your face unless you’ve just washed your hands.  Pay particular attention to your eyes, mouth, and nose.

And…a GREAT couple of tips from a fellow student (THANK YOU!).  I was able to verify them and want to share them with you:

1.  Drink tea or warm liquids every day.
2.  Gargle twice daily with salt water.
3.  Use saline spray or a neti pot to irrigate your nose, sinuses, and throat with salt water.

Why?  Because the H1N1 virus needs time in the back of your throat to reproduce enough to reach critical mass and overwhelm your immune system.  By using salt water and/or warm liquids, you can wash many of the virus particles out of the throat and into the stomach, where stomach acids will kill them Black Flag DEAD!

As a bonus, this approach is MUCH like getting an immunization.  Since there will be fewer active virus particles left, your immune system will have a chance to adapt and figure out how to kill the virus and increase your immunity.

Please share any other PROVEN H1N1 tips, tricks, and ideas that you have, as well as first hand accounts from medical personnel.

Also, please take a second and tell me what you’ve done to improve your immune system and prepare yourself for the flu season and the threat of a pandemic.

In the meantime, if you have any interest at all in Urban Survival, you really need to check out the SurviveInPlace Urban Survival course.

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 the special offer that I have for you on my Urban Survival course, “Survive In Place.” at 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 proven flu prevention and treatment strategies and 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.

Other people like you who’ve taken the course agree that it is the best book on surviving disaster in an urban environment that they’ve ever read.  Here’s what Doug in California had
to say:

“In 23 years service in the Air Force, I completed both arctic and jungle survival training, many combat/battlefield skills courses, and I served under daily fire in Vietnam. I think I’m fairly well prepared to survive the environmental hazards.

However, your course has significantly broadened my perspective when it comes to urban survival and surviving both the good and malicious intent of my fellow citizens. Thank you so much for digging out the information and for shortening the learning process.”
-Doug (Retired Air Force) in California

All I can say is, “WOW!”  Thanks, Doug.

To see the special, limited time offer and get signed up, go >>SurviveInPlace.com<< right now.  Make sure to scroll down to see your special offer.

Sincerely,

David Morris
SurviveInPlace.com
UrbanSurvivalPlan.com

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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)

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The Ultimate Step-By-Step guide to creating your Urban Survival Plan

Top 10 Mistakes
Found in Most 72-Hour Kits

I’ve tested and reviewed dozens of 72 hour kits and go bags for myself, friends, families, and clients and it amazes me how most of them have the same basic problems.

Fortunately, most of them are easy and inexpensive to fix and I’m going to tell you how you can identify and fix 10 of them. Here are the first 5…

1. Medications. If you have medications that you have to take on a regular basis, you need to keep at least 3 days worth in your 72 hour kit. Many drugs break down in the extreme heat of a car, so ask your pharmacist how long they’ll stay safe in your car and how long they’ll stay effective.

As an example, if your pharmacist tells you that a certain drug will last for 3 years at room temperature, but only 2 months if you keep it in your car, then you should use the drugs that are in your car every month or two and replace them with fresh drugs.

The life expectancy of your drugs will, of course, be different depending on where you live and the season of the year.

2. Footwear/clothes. If you ever wear flip flops, heels, or dress shoes, then consider carrying a pair of quality shoes/boots in your car.

Stick in at least one pair of quality socks and underwear as well.

Remember the pictures and videos after 9/11 of people running barefoot, holding their $500 shoes? Imagine how your body would feel after doing that for a few miles.

3. Clothes for the wrong season. You should either carry clothes for both summer and winter, carry convertable clothes, or change the clothing contents of your kit every spring/fall. Shorts won’t help much in the winter and insulated cover-alls won’t help much in the summer.

4. Young children. If you have young children, they add a HUGE level of complexity to any survival situation. Can/will they eat your survival food? Do you have spare clothes/diapers/wipes for them? Do you have a way to manage their pain from teething/injuries?

Do you have a way to transport them? It might be worth learning how to use a regular bedsheet to create a wearable baby sling. If you have a stroller with inflatable tires, do you carry spare tires and/or a tire repair kit?

5. Pain. If you aren’t good at handling pain, learn proven techniques from someone you know who has done natural child-birthing, a midwife, birthing coach, or doula.

In addition, consider carrying ibuprofen, anbesol, or even prescription pain medications. If you are concerned about a hurt pet, consider getting livestock lidocaine. (It requires a vetrenarian’s prescription, but costs a fraction of human lidocaine.)

I’ll be back with the next 5 items tomorrow, along with a simple trick for fixing all of these items quickly and easily.

Until tomorrow,

David Morris
SurviveInPlace.com
UrbanSurvivalPlan.com
(Twitter.com/SurvivalDave)

P.S. If you haven’t signed up for the Survive In Place 12 week online Urban Survival course, now is a great time. Learn more by going to www.SurviveInPlace.com In addition to a full lesson on 72 hour kits, we cover how to fortify your house, build up supplies without your neighbors knowing, training your mind for survival, and forming a team of like-minded people without giving up operational security. Click on the link above to learn more.

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Hey, it’s David from SurviveInPlace.com.  So, you know by now that I watch VERY little TV.  That being said, there is a lot to be said about watching other people make mistakes, “armchair quarterbacking” their decisions, and gaming the situation in your head to figure out what you would do in the same situation.

We’ve got a great chance to do this with, “The Colony” on Discovery.  In “The Colony: Recon Mission”, like in the other episodes, there are actually some good survival lessons.

1.  Know natural cures for common ailments. In this episode, Joey is knocked out with a kidney stone.  In addition to knowing ways to prevent kidney stones (proper hydration, citrus, etc.) it would have been very helpful for him to know that forcefully jumping up and down could help him pass the stone MUCH quicker.  Natural cures could be the difference between pain/death and a successful survival experience.

2.  Bad attitudes are toxic. Cantankerous Michael yells at others and he yells to himself when he’s alone.  This serves no purpose.  It changes brain chemistry, hormone levels, and makes everyone around him less productive and less cooperative.  When you look at him on TV, you can see the negative effects of decades of poor mental discipline, and it’s sad.  In a survival situation, you need to isolate or eliminate bad attitudes immediately.  Isolate them geographically, eliminate them through counseling, or eliminate them through banishment.

If you’re the one with the toxic attitude, pray, exercise, set goals, and practice the discipline of being a pleasant person.  Everyone will enjoy being around you more…you’ll even enjoy being around yourself more

3.  “Looting” a house where people live is STEALING! This week, they sent a “recon” team out to find supplies.  They went to a trailer park, identified a house where someone was living, and went in and took supplies anyhow.  Fortunately, the owners were actors.  I would have eliminated the threat as efficiently as possible.  As we covered in the Katrina lesson in SurviveInPlace, I can see taking items necessary for my survival if I am positive that they have been abandoned, but what the colonists did was stealing…pure and simple.

4.  The downside of conflict. The colonist thieves made it through the episode uninjured only because the actors in the show were instructed not to hurt them.  With 2 colonists vs. 7 others, they would have likely been injured quickly if the conflict escalated to violence.  They wouldn’t have had  x-rays to accurately set broken bones, sterile conditions to clean wounds, sutcher kits to sew up cuts, and their poor nutrition would have extended the healing process.  We go over field expedient medical treatments in the course, but they aren’t a substitute for high quality trauma care.

5.  Desperation leads to stupidity. Michael made a comment after trying to steal from the other group that it felt odd being seen as a marauder after spending weeks trying to protect the colony from outside marauders.  Make no mistake…they knew they were stealing.  As they went up to the trailer, either Michael or Vlad said that people lived there.  They just made a bad decision out of desperation.  They went in, looked for food, and stole fuel anyhow.  It is unlikely that they would have sunk to this level if they would have been hunting and gathering for the past several weeks, rather than completing fun “survival” projects and waiting for their cans of food to dwindle.  In a survival situation you’ve got to constantly be working to improve your situation in terms of shelter, fire, water, food, security, and medical.

The timing of “The Colony” couldn’t be better.  I released a comprehensive 12 week course on Urban Survival earlier this year that deals with the urban survival topics covered in “The Colony” and many more.  To read more about it, please go to SurviveInPlace.com.

Let me know what you thought about the episode below.  Also let me know what lessons you learned from watching it.

If you want to watch episodes of The Colony, here’s the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/the-colony/

-David
(Twitter.com/SurvivalDave)

P.S.  If you haven’t signed up for the Survive In Place 12 week online Urban Survival course, now is a great time.  Lear more by going to www.SurviveInPlace.com

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