Monthly Archives: July 2013

July 11th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

How to Treat Minor Injuries Without a First Aid Kit

Everyone should have a first aid kit somewhere in their house and/or car if possible. However, if you find yourself in extenuating circumstances, there are certain things you should still be prepared to do.

It’s worth pointing out that nothing stated here is an acceptable substitute or a replacement for having proper first aid gear and training. Treating burns, broken bones, or bleeding without proper equipment should be the backup of your backup of your backup plan. That being said, planning for every contingency is just good practice. So if you find yourself in the middle of the woods without your first aid kit, and obvious exits are North, South, and Dennis, here’s what to do.

Stop Bleeding Without Bandages


If you’re dealing with smaller cuts and scrapes where blood is flowing, the first order of business is to clean the wound. Wash it off with any clean water source you have available. Next, you’ll want something to soft and absorbent to place on the wound. Paper towels and napkins can do, as well as strips of clothing if they’re clean. It’s important to make sure you don’t infect the wound you just cleaned. For tiny cuts, you can also use super glue to quickly seal the fleshy fissure.

Also, if you’re in a pinch, you can use tampons in place of cotton balls. In what may be one of the most obvious-once-you-think-about-it hacks, tampons happen to be very good at soaking up blood. They’re also useful for nosebleeds if you don’t have any other options laying around.

Once you’ve found a good absorption pad, you can use any form of tape to adhere the pad to the wound. If you don’t have any tape, tie a piece of cloth tightly around the wound. Be careful not to cut off circulation, or make the knot too tight.

For larger wounds, you’ll want to skip cleaning the wound, as it’s more important to stem the loss of blood, rather than preventing infection (though both are important). With heavy blood loss, keep the wound elevated above the heart to slow down the flow, apply an absorption pad or your hands if nothing is available directly to the wound, and use pressure points to slow the flow of blood.

It’s extremely important to know when to use a tourniquet. Using one should be a last resort option as it’s designed to prevent death from loss of blood. Improper or inappropriate use of a tourniquet can result in damage to the cut off portion of a body and, depending on how long it’s on, may even result in the need for an amputation. Keep this in mind before applying one.

Stabilize a Broken Bone


Broken bones can be extremely tricky, because you can cause more damage than you fix if you treat it improperly. For closed broken bones—that is, injuries where a bone is broken, but does not break through skin—the first thing to do is stabilize the wound. Do not try to straighten the bone if you can avoid it. While this needs to be done to heal, the bones inside the body are very sharp and can cut blood vessels, muscles, and cause all manner of nasty damage if you try to set the bone wrong.

Instead, keep the bone steady. Don’t let it move if you can help it. Try to find something to stabilize the bone. If you’re able to keep the person still and wait for help to come to you, try to keep the wound elevated above the heart to help prevent swelling. When you’re far from civilization, you may need to create a splint using straight and sturdy sticks, fastened with rope or fabric to keep bigger breaks steady.

As much as possible, try to ice the break. This will help keep swelling down and prevent further internal damage. Place ice in a bag—never directly on the skin—and keep it on for twenty minutes, then off for twenty. Rinse and repeat. Rinsing optional.

Soothe Burns

For minor burns, the first thing you want to do is cool the affected area. Burns retain a lot of heat (for very obvious reasons) so the first thing to do is reduce the heat before more damage is done. Run the burned region under cool (but not freezing) water.

Once the burn has cooled down, you’ll want to wrap it in something protective that won’t stick. You want to give the burn enough air to breathe and keep any loose fibers or foreign objects from getting in it. Gauze is ideal, but you don’t have any on you, right? In place of that, again paper towels or a clean cloth will work.

For second-degree or higher burns, try to get professional medical help as quickly as possible. Very small second-degree can be managed without help, but anything larger than a couple inches should be treated professionally as soon as it can. If you’re dealing with a chemical burn, also be sure to clean off the burning chemicals. Use like methods to do the cleaning, too. If it’s a dry powder, use a dry brush to clean it off. If it’s a wet chemical, run it under water to rinse it off.

Relieve Pain Without Medication

Pain relief is going to be a very subjective case. Without medication or sedatives, treating pain for things like broken bones won’t be very feasible. For minor pain like headaches or soreness, there are ways to minimize pain, or just generally keep your body healthy enough that it stays out of pain in the first place.

For starters, stay hydrated. It should go without saying, but we need plenty of water to live well. When you don’t get enough fluids, muscles dry out, joints get creaky and your whole body gets tense. Water isn’t a pain reliever in the same way aspirin is, and you can’t just chug a gallon to make your sore back go away, but by getting into the habit, you can reduce long-lasting pain.

Another alternative is copious amounts of vitamin C. Several studies examining cancer treatments found that high concentrations of vitamin C can help reduce pain. Consuming extra vitamin C can sometimes help. A lack of vitamin D can also cause some pain, so look into eating some food rich in vitamin D as well.

Keep in mind, you’re not popping pills to immediately reduce pain, you’re treating underlying causes to make your body more healthy. If you’re in pain, you might be able to get some small relief immediately, but more than anything you’ll be helping your body be in a better condition to feel better overall.

Of course, if you’re reading this now and no one around you is bleeding, in pain, or has broken bones, chances are you have time to prepare properly. There are plenty of guides out there for putting together first aid kits, so take a look at those. Also, the Red Cross offers an app with plenty of emergency first aid instructions and contact information, so download it and keep it handy.

Via: lifehacker

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July 10th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

How to set a broken bone in an emergency

Obviously, if you have a broken bone, you’ll want to go to a professional to have the bone reset.

However, imagine that you are out hiking or are in an emergency situation, and you break a bone. What can you do to set the bone or at least hold it in place until you can get some help?

Fractures
There are two types of fractures – open and closed. Open fractures typically have a bone protruding through the skin and includes an open wound. A closed fracture has no open wound.


If you have an open fracture, it is recommended that you manipulate the injury as little as possible. This is due to the fact that you can mess up nerve and blood vessels.

If you notice that there is a lot of swelling, numbness or discoloration below the break, this may be a sign that a major blood vessel has been severed. If this is the case, you’ll need to control the internal bleeding, allow the person to rest and provide them with lots of fluids.

If you feel that you need to quickly place the bone back in position you can use a tree notch to assist you in holding your arm in place while you adjust.

If the broken bone is in a very muscular area (ie. thigh), you’ll need to create a splint until you can get some help. Here is an example of a splint that you can make in the wilderness:

  • Get two forked branches or saplings at least 5 centimeters in diameter. Measure one from the patient’s armpit to 20 to 30 centimeters past his unbroken leg. Measure the other from the groin to 20 to 30 centimeters past the unbroken leg. Ensure that both extend an equal distance beyond the end of the leg.
  • Pad the two splints. Notch the ends without forks and lash a 20- to 30-centimeter cross member made from a 5-centimeter diameter branch between them.
  • Using available material (vines, cloth, rawhide), tie the splint around the upper portion of the body and down the length of the broken leg. Follow the splinting guidelines.
  • With available material, fashion a wrap that will extend around the ankle, with the two free ends tied to the cross member.
  • Place a 10- by 2.5-centimeter stick in the middle of the free ends of the ankle wrap between the cross member and the foot. Using the stick, twist the material to make the traction easier.
  • Continue twisting until the broken leg is as long or slightly longer than the unbroken leg.
  • Lash the stick to maintain traction.

Note: Over time you may lose traction because the material weakened. Check the traction periodically. If you must change or repair the splint, maintain the traction manually for a short time. (Courtesy of Wilderness Survival.)


Dislocation
Dislocated bones are when bone joints have been separated. They can be very painful. They can push against nerve and blood vessels causing nerve tenderness and your circulatory system to have trouble.

You can tell if you have a dislocated bone because it will be tender along the joint, have swelling, discoloration, limited range of motion and sometimes deformity.

You can use simple weights to pull the bones back into place. If done properly, the pain should decrease and allow for natural function and circulation.

After you place the bone back in place, you should leave it immobilized for a few days. You can create a simple splint – holding the area in place to ensure proper healing.

Video


Please remember that these techniques can be used in extreme situations and we recommend that you seek out professional assistance if it is available.

Via: thereadystore

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July 9th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Prepare for a large-scale nuclear EMP attack over North-America

An EMP event on the USA would look like this:


(Map courtesy of RichardCYoung.com)

 



This is a guest post by Seamus Finn.

Hello fellow survivalists / preppers, this is Seamus Finn, writing to you from the beautiful, French-speaking province of Québec, Canada.

Some of you might already have considered the risks of a large-scale EMP attack over North-America. To the few of you who have not, this is but a small amount of information that might help you survive an EMP-related TEOTWAWKI. The author does not consider himself to be an expert about this matter, but would like to share his little bit of wisdom about what he sees as the most potential survival scenario to happen in the next few years, months maybe.

First of all, here are some frequently-asked questions about EMP attacks.

1: Would an EMP affect items that are unpowered at the moment of the pulse?

Answer : Yes, it would definitely ruin any unpowered, printed-circuit, technological item that remains unprotected at the very moment of TEOTWAWKI.

2: Would a homemade Faraday cage protect my equipment?

Answer: It depends. Most industrial/military Faraday cages rely on a self-sufficient, internal power-supply that would, too, remain unaffected by an EMP attack because it is self-protected inside the Faraday cage. Most homemade designs I have seen consist of a .50 caliber ammo box or an aluminum/steel trash bin that is linked to a car battery or some other non-reliable apparatus. The idea of making a survival Faraday cage is good, but the cage needs some specifics to be considered :

The size of each hole in the cage must be smaller than the wavelength of the pulse/excess charge.

The power supply of the cage must be DC and placed inside of it, because the 3 waves of particles that follow an EMP attack can last from 2 to several minutes, so it’s very likely that a power-supply located outside the cage would only protect the content for about 5 nanoseconds.

It needs not be grounded. Actually, it is better not be.

Partial Faraday Cages (such as a microwave oven or a car) MAY protect items that are inside.

Since it is impossible to really test a Faraday cage, don’t rely on it too much.

3: How likely is it that a rogue country would detonate a nuclear device above North America?

Answer : Well, if I was a psychopathic, red-button-owning, aggressive dictator, I definitely would. Most countries do NOT have sufficient nuclear power to set ablaze large countries such as the United-States or Canada. The best and most reliable way to ruin these countries, considering they completely depend on electricity, would be to launch a 1MT nuclear warhead in space above North-America (see graph), rather than destroy MAYBE 0.1% of their industrial capacities with above-ground-detonations like in Hiroshima.

So here comes the main topic. I know very few survivalists who would completely refute the risk of such an attack on American soil (or space). Since it is one of the most credible man-caused TEOTWAWKI scenarios, I strongly suggest that every survivalist consider it when prepping. In this matter, this text will focus on how to adapt to the possibility of an EMP attack and the best ways to survive it if it were to happen.

The very first thing to do when prepping for such an event is to acquire skills and knowledge about the way an EMP attack would affect a post-industrialized country such as the United-States. Know that electric centrals would stop generating power. Most cars would completely stop working (forget about your nice automatic transmission sedan or pickup truck, pals), television, radio and Internet news networks as well as government emergency signals would be off, there would be no more running water and oil/gas facilities would stop working. Since urban citizens do not produce their own food, the cities would be full of hunger-driven rioters and raiders. It would be a nightmare to live in a city after the first 48 hours. Considering this, a good prepper needs to plan his bugging out routine according to the situation. Rural citizens, on the other hand, would be mostly unaffected by riots and chaos, unless there is a large city less than a hundred miles around.

A good prepper needs to learn skills and knowledge about how to work things out when completely off the grid. Basic skills such as gardening, power-generation, raising livestock and building structures are essential, but gathering and preserving food, as well as treating water on a long-term basis must not be neglected.

So now, how can someone survive such a crisis? Let’s focus on getting out of the city for a minute. Remember, your car doesn’t work. Actually, less than 1% of the cars would keep working after an EMP. Only some pre-90′s cars would not be affected by an EMP attack. And let’s say the pulse happened during the 4pm rush-hour. ALL roads are blocked by idle, useless vehicles. So unless you go by foot or on a bicycle, you better bug-in. Plan on having a good-ol’ pickup truck and pray that the blast would occur at night. Still, let’s say you don’t have a running vehicle. You must go by foot. How far is your bug-out location? 50 miles? A hundred miles? You better have cached supplies on the way, or you might just die of dehydration while bugging out. Is your flashlight affected by an EMP? If so, forget about nighttime traveling, you’ll be walking with the sun, pal. Buy yourself an oil lantern or risk having a shortage of light, especially during short days in winter.

Okay, you’re at your BOL, what now? Did you buy/build a manual water pump inside your shelter? If not, you’ll need to walk all the way to the nearest stream and then back to your shelter with several gallons of water, which is very energy and time-consuming. Did you plan on having a radio working? If not, better start building a Faraday cage right now. No guarantee it will work, but it’s sure as hell better than NOT having one. Don’t forget to install your power supply inside the cage, or you’ll have a very bad surprise when the grid goes down. Sun goes down again; do you own candles, lanterns and other “antiques”? Did you spend most of your prepping budget on high-tech gear? A 200$ red-dot rifle sight is good, but you could also buy a basic scope instead. Or about a month of food supplies for the same price.

All these questions, a rural prepper must also ask himself. To rely on electricity is to trust international corporations and a corrupted government when it comes to basic needs such as eating, drinking and heating your home. A hobo stove is good, but a cast-iron wood stove is better, and you can use the chimney conducts to heat ALL of your home with these hot pipes. And you know the best? It’s less expensive than your brand new, flat-screen TV! WOW!

On a serious note now: remember Katrina. If a regional-scale event caused such a chaos on a mid-sized city, imagine what it would do if the whole east-coast was to be in the dark for a year. Most people would DIE or evacuate. Some would die trying to stand their ground, others would bug-out and maybe make it. But what if help never comes? What if you spend a whole year waiting for federal troops to restore order, while you had NO WAY of knowing that they have been sent away in another country for a large-scale war?

If you think you are ready for an EMP attack, you are wrong. You can only be less unprepared. Be wise, be self-sufficient, be geared, and pray that it never happens.

——————–

Colors on the image:

It’s a color scale, ranging from white (no effect) to purple (maximum effect), depicting the effects of an atmospheric EMP burst. I’ve somehow managed to lose the unit scale while editing the picture, but I can describe the effect by memory.

The light-blue to pale-blue area would be rather unaffected by the burst, it’s the “ground zero”, or as I like to say, “sky-zero”, comparable to the eye of an hurricane.

The orange circle is the radius of a 25 000 “forgot-the-unit-name” effect, which is, basically, total disruption of electric power.

The red “U” and the smaller, dark-red band, below the blue “sky-zero”, whould be the area most affected. As you can (or cannot) see, it reaches from Thunder Bay (Canada), to Hâvre-Saint-Pierre (Canada), encompassing the major cities of : Montréal, Ottawa, Albany, Boston, Providence, New-York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charleston, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit.

The orange circle reaches as far as Winnipeg, Des Moines, Raleigh, Halifax and Kuujjuak. Impressive range for a single burst, isn’t it?

As most of you, Americans, know, most nuclear plants on the eastern seaboard are located within the orange-red area, which is another hazard caused by an EMP.

———–

Keep in mind that this is written from a “Canada” view point/event.

—————–

Check out this scary government report:

Critical National Infrastructures Report – (EMP) Attack

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf

—————-

An EMP event on the USA would look more like this:


(Map courtesy of RichardCYoung.com)

——-

 

Via: thesurvivalistblog

 

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July 8th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

How To Make Your Own PVC Water Well Hand Pump

 


Check out MeAndMother2 9 part, Make Your Own Hand Pump for a Water Well using PVC plumbing parts  video series.



PARTS LIST and SCHEMATIC

DIAGRAM AND PARTS LIST>> : http://www.repentnow.com/waterwellpar…
It uses ordinary plumbing parts except for two 3/4 inch stainless steel balls in two valves. Find balls on ebay or go to www.precisionballs.com

Here is a link to the schedule 80 3/4 x 3/8 bushing adapter:
http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/9839-099-3-4-x-3-8-schedule-80-cpvc-reducer-bushing-flush-style.html



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July 7th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

How to Get Your Family Interested In Preparedness

One of the biggest problems preppers have to deal with is the lack of understanding or even opposition towards prepping coming from their own families. I was lucky enough to have my wife and kids` support from the very beginning, but I hear so many stories of fellow American patriots being considers lunatics and paranoid simply for being passionate survivalists and looking after their family`s future…

If you`re confronting with the same issue or know other preppers who do, here are some things you should consider before trying to win your loved ones over to your team. Remember that a wrong approach might make them turn against preparedness even more and possibly forever, so make sure you`ve analyzed the problem thoroughly and have chosen the right way to approach your spouse and kids.

First, you need to identify the reasons why they`re not supporting you. I`ve made a list with the most common reasons (mostly prejudice that can be easily eliminated by having a good, argumented  talk) and :

1. Prepping is for paranoid people

Oh, haven`t you heard this a gazillion times so far? I, personally, am tired of hearing comments about how crazy preppers are and how they all believe a giant meteorite will hit Earth and squish us like bugs.

But when these comments come from the members of your own family, it`s not just annoying. It`s hurtful. And disappointing. It makes you feel misunderstood, mocked and… well, betrayed. Unfortunately, when you feel this way, you tend to act in ways that make it all worse. You tend to defend yourself and what you believe in more and more passionately, which makes them believe they were, indeed, right: you are paranoid and a bit looney.

So instead of trying to convince them prepping is crucial for your family`s future, try an argument that`s more practical from their point of view. You see, people who believe survivalists are conspirative theory freaks like to think of themselves as very practical and down-to-earth. So the best approach is explaining the advantages of prepping in terms such as developing skills and gaining knowledge.

When you`re prepping, you don`t prepare for disasters and crises only, but it`s a good training for living a better, more balanced life, as well. You learn how to manage a budget, how to make a thorough, step-by-step plan that takes into consideration multiple scenarios, you learn how to keep your calm in stressful situation, you develop your problem-solving and decision-making skills. These are all things you can use in your day to day life, so even if a disaster isn`t going to hit, it`s a good way to develop useful skills and learn something new.

2. Prepping costs too much money

I had this talk with my wife when I started the prepping craze. She was worried we`d spend too much money on supplies, bug-out bags, tools and weapons. Luckily, I knew this would be one of her major worries, so I had already made a budget plan for the first six months and followed it closely all throughout this period, as I promised her: no more than $40 a month.

In 6 months, our pantry was full and diverse, we each had a DIY bug-out bag and I`d already started implementing some home defense methods that didn`t cost me a dime. I had everything I needed around the house or I got the scraps off a building site right outside town. Needless to say that in less than two months, I had my family on my team, helping me with the weekly survival shopping, with storage and rotation and even with changing door locks or moving furniture around the house.

So if your family opposes to prepping due to “low budget”, I strongly recommend you to make a solid financial plan (as detailed as possible) and then to follow it closely. If you keep your promise and show them you can prepare for disasters and crises with a fixed amount of money per month, you`re going to win their trust and their enthusiasm. If you can`t follow the plan and exceed the budget, however, you`ll just prove them preparedness is as costly as they thought. So stick to your budget.

3. Prepping takes too much time

People have this wrong impression that prepping is everything survivalists do, but you and I both know that`s not true. Whether we have regular 9-to-5 jobs or we`re unemployed or retired, prepping only takes us a few hours per week. Sure, at first it takes a bit longer, until we`re done with the whole survival plan. But afterwards, when we know exactly what we need to do and what we need to buy, it all gets much easier. Routine takes over and prepping become one of your habits, like reading the news in the morning or taking a walk in the afternoon.

Just as I suggested at #2, I think making a timesheet that you can present to your family would be the best way to show them it will not interfere with their program. Plus, the more they get involved, the faster it all gets done and the more time you get to spend together.

If you`ve got young kids, you can make prepping a lot of fun for them, by including them in your activities. You can assign tasks and organize mini-contests, you can let them choose what to participate in or make an Activity Lottery, where no one knows what task they`ll have to do next. No matter what variant you choose, make sure they`re having fun and learning something new and interesting every time.

4. Prepping is just a hobby

When your family sees prepping as your hobby and not a way to secure their own future and well-being, they won`t find any use in getting involved. After all, you don`t go to ballet with your daughter just because she`s into it and you don`t go skateboarding with your son because he thinks it`s cool.

What you`re dealing with here is a lack of knowledge that prevents your family from seeing the big picture. What you can do here is explain them, rationally and in an argumentative manner, exactly why prepping is much more than a hobby and why they should get involved. Don`t get apocalyptic about it, or you`ll lose credibility. Just give them facts, show them what happened to unprepared people in past events and how much difference prepping can make.

Warning: At first, it may be hard for them to assimilate and accept all this info. But after they`ve thought about it for a while, it`s very likely they`ll come to better terms with the idea of prepping and join you. Just give them time and give up.

5. Prepping is absolutely useless

If that`s your family`s opinion about preparedness, then you`ve got a very tricky issue on your hands. Ignorance is a very difficult “illness” and you can`t heal it with arguments and explanations. Usually, when a person is ignorant about a specific matter, he/she doesn`t respond well to rational arguments and tends to have a defensive behaviour.

What I advise you to try if you`re dealing with this sort of attitude is the emotional approach. Ignorance may be blind to technicalities, but you can still melt it if you touch a sensitive chord. Show them powerful images of people who`ve lost everything to disasters, tell them what can happen to them if a disaster happened and caught them unprepared and make sure you give them examples: “Imagine you were at work and your daughter were at home when a flash flood hit. How would you feel if you knew she`s completely helpless, without her mommy, when all hell breaks loose?” Dig into their emotions and make them see what they risk if they don`t prepare.

If this doesn`t work, then I honestly don`t know what could… This should be the last card to play in any of the situations above, in case no other strategy works. I truly hope these methods will make a change in your family`s behaviour and attitude towards preparedness and you can all become an unbreakable team. Times are about to get even rougher and we, survivalists, need all the help we can get. Especially support and unconditional love from our families.

By Alec Deacon

 

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July 6th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

5 Reasons Why You Should Keep Prepping

As passionate as one might be about survival, it`s impossible not to have a “no more” moment at some point. That moment when you`re tired of stacking cans, of rotating, of eating survival food just because its expiration date is round the corner… When you`re sick of hearing other people call you paranoid and obsessed… When your family gets bored or tired of helping you out and they leave it all to you.

That`s when you feel like giving it all up and start living the comfortable, careless survival-free life. Forget about stockpiling, planning survival escapes, making bug-out bags and constantly looking for new survival techniques, tips and tricks.

Don`t worry, that`s all normal. Probably every prepper or survivalist has gone through a moment like this, at least once in their lives. But what`s important here is what you decide in that very moment… your state of mind… your goals. If you don`t keep your eyes on the prize, if you forget why you`re doing this in the first place, giving up will come easily. And that`s a shame, because you`ve worked so hard for this…

So I`m going to try to help you keep prepping, no matter what. And I will do this by reminding you, over and over again, why you`re a proud survivalist and why you should keep being one:

#1: You`re doing this for your family

This is why you`ve started doing this in the first place. To keep your family safe and protected at all times, even if a megastorm wiped your entire town, even if the food crisis turned the U.S. into zombieland…

No matter what happens, no matter how unexpected, you should be able to provide maximum security for your family. That`s the best way to show your love to them, even if they don`t understand it right now. They`ll understand it one day. And they`ll love you even more for building this incredible shield around them.

So if, at some point, you`re on the brink of giving up… just look at your loving spouse, look at your kids, look at your grandkids… and then you`ll remember: it was all for them. So it`s worth it.

#2: You`re not letting “them” win

The government hates preppers. They`re independent, they cannot be controlled; they pose uncomfortable questions and demand their rights be respected. You may not realise that, but people like us are truly a thorn in their side.

So why let them win? Why be one of the sheeple? Why let them take over you and your family? The whole thing about prepping is the independence it gives you. Independence from Americans` greatest suppressors: our leaders. So don`t go back to being another one in the crowd. Stand up for your rights, build your own future and yes!, be a thorn in their side.

#3: You`re using your free time wisely

Do you know what most Americans do with their free time? They watch TV. Mainstream media, of course. They listen to fake news, fake talk shows, fake reality tv. And they believe it. They`re brainwashed.

On the other hand, you`re doing something amazing with your free time. You`re building something. Not just for you, but for your family. Not just for now, but for the future. Now just here, but wherever you go. It`s not just about a pantry full of survival food. It`s about the skills you gain, the things you learn, the information you`re exposed to.

Being a survivalist means you`re a truth seeker, a fighter for freedom. And, trust me, there aren`t many like you out there.

#4: You`re educating your kids and grandkids

This is the most important thing you can do for them: teach them how to be independent. It`s a skill they will use their whole lives, no matter where life takes them. By the looks of it, the U.S. will go from bad to worse and not only that the government is not doing anything to make things better, but they`re actually doing their best to burn the country to the ground.

So the best gift you can give to your kids and grandkids is to show them how to build their own lives without depending on anyone else. This way, you make sure they grow the ambition to follow their dreams and also the strength of character to stick to their principles.

On the other hand, if you give up on prepping, the little ones will believe it`s ok to give up on your principles. Especially if it`s hard work to stick to them. And that`s the opposite of what they should learn. You should teach them they have to fight for their dreams, even if it takes a lot of effort and time to get there. So go teach them the right thing!

#5: It`s for your peace of mind

Even if sometimes you go crazy with all the stockpiling, rotating, being “on a budget”, making plans and worrying about the future… You have to admit it`s far less stressful just knowing that you`re more prepared than 95% of Americans than to stop preparing and live with the constant stress that you`re not prepared for anything.

Yes, it gets really tough from time to time. But remember that you`re doing this for your own peace of mind, as well. So try to relax and look on the bright side. Your family will be safe and sound when the next disaster hits. They`ll be warm and well fed, healthy and secure. What more could you wish for? Now go and give them a hug. And keep prepping! You`re doing a great job.

By Alec Deacon

 

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July 5th, 2013
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17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse – Don’t be Unprepared

The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming.  They don’t understand how our financial system works, they don’t understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems.  As a result, most Americans are simply not prepared for the massive storm that is heading our way.  Most American families are living paycheck to paycheck, most of them are not storing up emergency food and supplies, and only a very small percentage of them are buying gold and silver for investment purposes. They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008.  When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs.  Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes.  Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again.  Right now we seem to be living in a “hope bubble” and people have become very complacent.  For a while there, being a “prepper” was very trendy, but now concern about a coming economic crisis seems to have subsided.  What a tragic mistake.  As I pointed out yesterday, our entire financial system is a giant Ponzi scheme, and there are already signs that our financial markets are about to implode once again.  Those that have not made any preparations for what is coming are going to regret it bitterly.  The following are 17 signs that most Americans will be wiped out by the coming economic collapse…

#1 According to a survey that was just released, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.  But most Americans are acting as if their jobs will always be there.  But the truth is that mass layoffs can occur at any time.  In fact, it just happened at one of the largest law firms in New York City.

#2
27 percent of all Americans do not have even a single penny saved up.

#3
46 percent of all Americans have $800 or less saved up.

#4 Less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses.

#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up.  Today, the average income for the bottom 90 percent of all income earners in America is just $31,244.  An increasing percentage of American families are just trying to find a way to survive from month to month.

#6 62 percent of all middle class Americans say that they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.

#7 Small business is becoming an endangered species in America.  In fact, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed at this point.  That means that the vast majority of Americans are depending on someone else to provide them with an income.  But what is going to happen as those jobs disappear?

#8 In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent.  Today it is up to 154 percent.

#9 Today, a higher percentage of Americans are dependent on the government than ever before.  In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government.  So what is going to happen when the government handout gravy train comes to an end?

#10 Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps.  Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

#11 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population owns any gold or silver for investment purposes.

#12 It has been estimated that there are approximately 3 million “preppers” in the United States.  But that means that almost everyone else is not prepping.

#13 44 percent of all Americans do not have first-aid kits in their homes.

#14 48 percent of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies stored up.

#15 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.

#16 One survey asked Americans how long they thought they would survive if the electrical grid went down for an extended period of time.  Incredibly, 21 percent said that they would survive for less than a week, an additional 28 percent said that they would survive for less than two weeks, and nearly 75 percent said that they would be dead before the two month mark.

#17 According to a survey conducted by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation, 55 percent of Americans believe that the government will come to their rescue when disaster strikes.

Just because you are living a comfortable middle class lifestyle today does not mean that it will always be that way.

If you doubt this, take a look at what is going on in Greece.  Many formerly middle class parents in Greece have become so impoverished that they are actually dumping their children at orphanages so that they won’t starve…

Scores of children have been put in orphanages and care homes for economic reasons; one charity said 80 of the 100 children in its residential centers were there because their families can no longer provide for them.

Ten percent of Greek children are said to be at risk of hunger. Teachers talk of cancelling PE lessons because children are underfed and of seeing pupils pick through bins for food.

If the U.S. economy crashes and you lose your job, how will you and your family survive?

Will you and your family end up homeless and totally dependent on the government for your survival?

Get prepared while there is still time.  If you do not know how to get prepared, my article entitled “25 Things That You Should Do To Get Prepared For The Coming Economic Collapse” has some basic tips, and there are dozens of excellent websites out there that teach people advanced prepping techniques for free.

So there is no excuse.  You can trust that Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama have everything under control, but as for me and my family we are going to prepare for the giant economic storm that is coming.

I hope that you will be getting prepared too.

By Michael Snyder

 

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July 4th, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Lentils: Superfood to Stock Up

Lentils are one of the most nutritious and easy to cook legumes you can find.

 

Their small, flat round seeds are easy to cook, requiring little water to rehydrate, and less fuel than larger beans to cook. These facts may seem unimportant, but they make a big difference when fuel and water become scarce resources.

 

Lentils are packed with nutrients. It’s close to the caloric value of pasta, but it has amino acids, iron, vitamin B and C, calcium, magnesium,
phosphorus, fiber and twice the amount of protein that pasta has.

 


 

Lentils taste good and can be fed to small children as one of their first foods. Lentils go well with pasta and rice, or as soups or stews. It’s not hard to make a nice stew using some meat leftovers and some vegetables. Lentils can even be sprouted before eating for added vitamins.

 

Via: Surviving In Argentina

 

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July 3rd, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

What If The Collapse Never Comes?

What if the collapse never comes?

A reader asked this question in the comments of a recent post . What if we spend all this time and money preparing for a collapse or disaster that never happens. Then what? We’ll have wasted our lives, time and money he says.

One example given was Mel Tappan (1933–1980) – Tappan was a stable fixture of survivalist movement before his death at age 47. The commenter thinks, Mel wasted his life planning for a crash that never came.

I doubt Mel would feel this way, but I guess we’ll never know.

I’m sure a lot of people have abandoned the idea of preparedness when the crash failed to happen within their allotted time frame (the year 2000 millennium bug “Y2K” for example). This is natural and I’ll admit it’s happened to me more than once. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay on target and motivated.

When you think about it, collapse and disasters happen every day, albeit on a personal or local level. Job loss can cause a personal economic collapse and natural and man-made disasters can be sudden and deadly (the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma for example) – these types of disasters are becoming more common place.

I see survival planning as an insurance policy for the future, and a way of life (and it can also be a lot of fun if you’re doing it right).

How many home owners have paid insurance premiums for 30 or more years, yet their home has never flooded or burnt? How many have dropped their policy only to have their home destroyed by fire months later?

But what if I spend all that money stocking up on survival food only to throw it out when it passes the expiration date?

What’s that you say? Why would you have to throw it out? You have to eat – don’t you? If you eat and rotate you should never have to throw anything out. Let me say that again – If you eat and rotate you should never have to throw anything out. Got it? Good.

All you’re doing by stocking up is buying in advance and when you consider the fact that you’re eating at last year’s food prices, stocking up is a no brainer because it’s only going to get more expensive. If you’re throwing food away you’re doing something wrong.

If you learn to prepare food using basic foods, such as beans, rice and whole grains you’ll actually be saving money, eating better and learning new skills.

By learning skills and doing things yourself, you not only save money, you gain independence and a feeling of self-worth and pride in your accomplishments. This is valuable no matter what the economic or surrounding conditions.

Survival planning and self-reliance also has many health benefits, and we all want to be healthy and live longer.

By raising a garden, hunting and foraging, you not only eat healthier, you get off the couch and get some exercise and again you save money.

I don’t think a life including survival planning is a wasted life. There is no need to hide in a bunker or live in fear as some seem to think – it can be a lot of fun, you can save money and probably live longer.

What do you think?

Is prepping a waste of life?

Via: thesurvivalistblog

 

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July 2nd, 2013
post by policysup | | 0

Stab Wound Management


Given the media outcry against gun ownership, it’s easy to forget the wounds that are caused by knives and other sharp instruments.  Trauma incurred from these injuries may be minor or major; penetrating trauma such as caused by a stab wound should not be discounted as a major injury; it can be life-threatening, depending on the organs and blood vessels damaged

Penetrating trauma is divided into perforating and non-perforating.  A perforating wound is one in which the object causing the damage goes into one side of the body and then exits through the other side.  A wound from .223 or NATO .556 would, commonly, be an example of this type of penetrating trauma.

One of my first classes in medical school showed a slide of Major General Henry Barnum, who received a minie ball through the hip in the battle of Antietam.  Years later, he could still pass a thin rod from the entry wound all the way out the other side.  General Barnum’s hip, incidentally, is still on display in the National Museum of Medicine, where it has been for over 100 years.

Bullets and other high-speed projectiles cause damage related to the shock wave produced as the bullet passes through the body. This is called cavitation.  Many bullets will fragment in the body as well, sometimes causing damage further from the entry wound than expected.  Luckily, low speed projectiles such as knives will not do this. Your concerns are related specifically to the area of entry and the structures located directly in the path of the offending instrument.

Stab wounds are an example of a non-perforating wound:  the projectile causing the damage enters the body and either stays there or exits where it entered.  Most knife wounds would fit in this category, as the knife doesn’t pass entirely through and out of the body.  Some sharp instruments might do this, say a crossbow bolt or a spearhead, but let’s assume that you’ll be unlikely to see these. Most knife wounds you’ll see will be minor lacerations.  Blood loss and failure of damaged organs will be the major issue to deal with.

A little about blood: Blood carries oxygen to the tissues and organs and removes waste products. It is made up of several components, including:

  • Red blood cells: These cells carry oxygen to body tissues.
  • White blood cells: These cells work to, among other things, fight infection and disease.
  • Platelets and other clotting factors: These allow blood to coagulate and lessen blood loss.
  • Plasma: A yellowish liquid in which the above are suspended.

Your immediate action upon encountering a victim of a wound with a sharp instrument may save their life.  Bleeding from arteries and internal organs can be very brisk.  If you are a typical 180 lb. (about 70 kg.) adult, you have approximately 9-10 pints (about 5 liters) of blood in your body. Athletes and those living at very high altitudes may have more. You can’t afford to lose more than 40% of total blood volume without needing major resuscitative efforts.  To get an idea of how much blood this is, empty a 2 liter bottle of fruit punch or cranberry juice on the floor.  You’ll be surprised at how much fluid that represents.

Hemorrhage (bleeding) is classified by the American College of Surgeons (of which I am a Fellow) as follows:

Class I:  Hemorrhage is less or equal to 15% of blood volume (1.5 pints/3/4 liter) in an average adult male.  A person donating 1 pint of blood is giving slightly less than 0.5 liters, for example. At this level there are almost no signs or symptoms, although some may feel vaguely faint.

Class II:  Hemorrhage is 15 to 30% loss of total blood volume (2-3 pints/1-1.5 liters).  The body tries to compensate at this point with, among other things, a faster heartbeat to speed oxygen to tissues.  This patient will appear pale and skin will be cool.  They will feel weak.

Class III: Hemorrhage is 30 to 40% loss of total blood volume (3-4 pints/1.5-2 liters).  At this point, the heart will be beating very quickly and is straining to get enough oxygen to tissues and blood pressure is low. Smaller blood vessels in extremities are constricting to keep the body core circulation going. This patient will be confused, pale, and in hypovolemic (low blood volume) shock. Blood transfusion is usually necessary.

Class IV:  Hemorrhage is more than 40% of total blood volume (greater than 4 pints/2 liters). The heart can no longer maintain blood pressure and circulation.  Without major resuscitative help at this point, organs will fail and the patient will likely be comatose and die.

In most circumstances, sharp instrument injuries will be minor.  After controlling bleeding, your goal is to clean the wound thoroughly and dress it.  Wound closure may be an option in some wilderness cases, but most backcountry stab wounds will be dirty and should be left open (subject of another article).

If you’re attending to an actively bleeding wound from a sharp object, you will need a level head and quick action.  This is, sometimes, not as easy as it sounds; most people not accustomed to dealing with these issues on a daily basis will experience a type of paralysis that may waste precious time. If modern medical care is available, contact emergency services immediately.

In the meantime, follow these steps:

  • Assess the safety of the situation.  Make sure the situation is secure; it makes no sense for you to become the next casualty.
  • Put on gloves if possible.  Your hands are full of bacteria and you will reduce the risk of infection by doing so.  Non-latex (nitrile) gloves are superior in avoiding allergic reactions to latex, more commonly seen than you’d think. If no gloves are available, plastic bags/wrap or, at least, hand sanitizers/soap will be useful if you have to touch the wound with bare hands.
  • Verify the victim’s breathing and mental status.  Clear airways if obstructed and determine if they are alert enough to help you by following commands.
  • Remove clothing carefully to fully inspect the wound and identify other injuries. Make sure that you have a bandage scissors or EMT shears in your medical pack.
  • Elevate the feet above the level of the heart and head (the “shock position”) to increase blood flow to the brain.
  • If the sharp instrument is still in the body, don’t remove it.  It may be providing pressure on damaged blood vessels and decreasing the bleeding.  Stabilize the wound in place with dressings or in any way you can.  If there is no chance of emergency services reaching you, such as in a backcountry trip in an underdeveloped country, you may have to remove it at one point or another.  Don’t do this unless you are where the bulk of your medical supplies are.
  • Apply pressure with some type of dressing, even your shirt if necessary.  Most non-arterial bleeding will stop with steady pressure on the wound. If the sharp instrument is in place and help is on the way, place pressure down on either side towards the blade to prevent it from slipping out and decrease bleeding.
  • Elevate the injured area about the heart.  Make it more difficult to pump blood out of the body.
  • Some recommend applying additional pressure with your other hand to major arteries about the level of the wound (especially for extremities).  These areas are called “pressure points”.  For example, a major artery (the popliteal artery) is found behind the knee.  Pressure here might decrease bleeding from a lower leg wound. There is an entire map of pressure points for most parts of the body.
  • If this fails, consider applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.  Tourniquets are to be used only when absolutely necessary, as they also stop the circulation of undamaged arteries and veins.  This will cause damage or death of tissue beyond the level of the wound if left on too long.  They also, after a very short time, hurt like a son of a gun. If a tourniquet is on, you may choose to loosen it after a period of time to determine if the body’s clotting mechanisms have stopped the bleeding. Unfortunately, this can sometimes cause further bleeding, so this is mostly a strategy for when help in NOT on the way. If you are transporting a patient to a modern medical facility, make sure you mark a “T” on the victim’s forehead or otherwise notify emergency personnel.
  •  In certain circumstances, the use of blood clotting agents such as Quikclot or Celox may be helpful.  They are effective in stopping bleeding, although they are sometimes difficult to clean out later.  We keep these products in all our medical packs, even individual first aid kits.
  •  Once bleeding has subsided, don’t remove a dressing unless you have to.  There are clots that can be dislodged if you do, and this may restart the bleeding.  Add additional dressings on top if help is on the way. In survival situations, you will eventually have to change and clean wound dressings.
  • Secure everything with a pressure dressing, of which there are various on the market.  The Israeli Battle Dressing, known as The Emergency Bandage in the U.S., has a hinge which can apply up to 30 pounds of pressure if used properly.
  • Keep the victim warm: Throw a blanket or a coat over them.  If help is coming, keep them as still and calm as possible to avoid further bleeding.  Monitor breathing, pulses, and mental status.
  • An unconscious patient should be placed in the “recovery position”.  This will, among other things, allow fluid to drain from airways and help them breathe.

All of the above may not be necessary if you practice preventative measures.  In other words, don’t run with scissors.  With some foresight, you may be able to avoid a mishap that could turn into a tragedy.

Dr. Bones

Via: doomandbloom

 

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