Emergency preparedness, camping, and interesting and helpful websites

Last night, on Gia Scott’s Dawn of Shades, I promised to post the websites that we were talking about on this blog.  (My guest was the mysterious Mississippi Hippy and the topic was outdoor survival, emergency preparedness, and outdoor/camping skills.)  I use a LOT of websites, some recently, some were favored in days gone by.  They are all worth checking out!

Emergency preparedness (food storage):  www.foodinsurance.com (recommended to me, but I have not shopped with them.)  www.beprepared.com (I like this company, have shopped with them, and will be shopping again with them…what more is there to say?) 

Camping: Each state will have a website for their state parks, with individual sections for each state park.  Typically, the address is going to be something like www.statename.gov/parks but its much easier to use a search.  Just make sure you are accessing the state’s own website!  Other sites may have interesting and relevent reviews and comments, but may not be current in their information.  For car camping, I LOVE state campgrounds.  Why?  They usually cost about 1/2 to 3/4 of what the national park’s campgrounds in the area are charging, offer better facilities, have more polite staff, have more interpretive programs that are of interest to children and families, are more tent-friendly, and are better maintained.  Even 30 years ago, I learned that state campgrounds were far better–at that time, hot showers were unheard of at any national park campground.  Today, many national park campgrounds will offer things such as flush toilets and showers, but they are NOT tent friendly.  Requirements consistently require that the tent be erected ONLY on the tent pad, which at about 10×10 is far smaller than a family tent, resulting in sometimes over a foot drop as the tent hangs over the edge of the pad.  Sites in Mississippi that I have visited were also prone to flooding during relatively minor rainstorms, resulting in not only campsites being flooded, but the roads within the campground as well.  I do enjoy primitive camping in national parks, where it is permitted, but I recommend steering away from national park campgrounds unless you have a camper.  So much for the image of a tent camping in the national parks!

Other camping and hiking information–I used to LOVE www.gorp.com and got excellent destination information for hikes and camping trips that made me look like a pro even in unfamiliar territory.  Last time I checked…that lovely feature was gone.  I haven’t been back recently to see if it has been reinstated on their website.

Current favorite is www.backpacker.com  Even though I don’t backpack right now and don’t know if I will ever be able to again, the information is good solid information about a lot of gear that tent campers find relevant even when car camping.  Their magazine is also highly recommended–great information!  There is really a shortage of websites, magazines, and communities devoted specifically to tent campers.  Those of us who cling to our tents with every penny pinching muscle we have…seem to be becoming a rare breed.  There seems to be more backpackers than car camping tenters these days, if the web is reflecting reality.  RVers seem to rule the campgrounds, and while I enjoy a comfortable stay as much as anyone, I cannot afford to haul a 6000 lb travel trailer every weekend to some destination.  I cannot afford a vehicle to tow such a trailer anyhow, let alone afford the gas to drive it anywhere.  It’s just plain good sense to tent camp in terms of environmental responsibility.  And yes, I whine when its really hot and humid.   GM whines when its cold and rainy.  We make a good pair!

I use Google Earth to look at terrain and maps at home prior to venturing out into new territory, largely so I have an idea where things are in relation to each other and the general lay of the land…it’s the next best thing to being there.

As for emergency preparedness, here’s my routine for storm season, our largest threat on the Gulf Coast and we’re now in the early stages of the worst part of it.

1) keep your vehicle in good repair, well maintained and with good tires

2) keep your vehicle fueled at all times, do not let it have less than half a tank of gas (in my case, half a tank means I can drive about 200 miles.)

3) keep your important papers and files in a grab & go box of some kind.  I happen to use a portable hanging file folder box with a hinged lid.  Everything really important from birth certificates to titles are stored inside of that box.  It’s easy to add files, find files and transport.

4) have your emergency backpack packed and ready at all times.  keep it with you (we carry ours in the van normally.)  Each person needs their own backpack, and it should be appropriately packed for that person and their ability to carry it.  Mine is very heavy for me right now with my limited ability to carry anything, as it weighs in at 27 lbs. (Yes, we weighed it.)  Its an inexpensive internal frame pack with a waist belt and chest strap.  GM has a limp and back issues, but his weighs about 38 lbs.

5) have extra supplies packed into a “drop bag.”  This bag includes extras that would be nice but aren’t essential for immediate survival.  This bag goes if you can take it, but your real needs are in the backpacks.  This drop bag will have extended supplies, additional clothing, food, and comfort items.

6) be prepared for stay-at-home emergencies as well.  The H1N1 scare turned out to be nothing, but it may not always BE nothing.  There may be times when it makes sense to stay home and wait out a problem, whether it is a pandemic, job loss,  or other problem.  Every family should keep a full year’s supply of food on hand, but if this is not possible, at least 30 days should be stored in the pantry.  Having recently suffered from “economic stress” myself, as well as having moved, and gone through my stored foods to remove items that needed used or were spoiled by insects or the integrity of the can, I recently calculated that we had approximately 22 days of food on hand.  We are also going to switch to dehydrated foods packaged for long term storage after ascertaining that loss of supplies due to spoilage was an unacceptable event that was happening all too quickly and too often.  Previously, we had been using traditional grocery store supplies, with a 6 month rotation.  We were regularly suffering losses as high as 75% per 7 day unit (it was packed in 7 day boxes) in that 6 month time frame.  Not only was that wasted money, but what if we had needed that food 5 months after the last rotation and discovered that it was unusable?   At the same time, even though it would be much easier, we cannot afford to buy the 12 month units from any of the emergency food supply companies.  We have VERY limited space for storing this food as well.  We will make our purchases a case at a time, choosing foods that we will actually also USE in our day-to-day life.  We want to make sure we want to eat the stuff, after all!  We will also supplement our long term storage food in #10 cans with more stable grocery store products that we pack using a vacuum sealer.  Sugar, salt, some flour, and some other grain based products will be sealed with oxygen absorbing packets and tested after 12 months of storage.  We already know the sugar and salt will store well in this way, but flour and grain products may become stale or become otherwise less-than-palatable.  Hard candies will also be vacuum sealed for storage–these items can be stored for very long periods of time without much degradation of quality.  I grew up eating candy in the 60s and 70s that had been made for World War II and packaged in small drums.  Those red or yellow lozenges had little flavor besides sweet, but we loved them anyhow! 

Certain items that we find to be “comfort” items such as coffee, tea, and artificial creamer, are not available from the long term storage companies.  These items will have to be purchased from traditional grocery sources and regularly rotated.  Oils and shortenings are also not suited to long term storage, and must also be sourced from grocers and regularly rotated.  Dog food is also needed by dog owners, and once again…must be sourced from traditional sources or additional meat and fats must be stored to allow for their calorie needs to be met.  Since dehydrated meat is very expensive, I’m likely to vacuum pack traditional kibble for them, with additional oil being added to my supply lists to add to compensate for missing calories and fat in the kibble.

Being prepared mostly is about thinking ahead and using common sense.  Skipping your car payment to allow for purchasing MREs does not illustrate common sense unless you have inside information that a disaster is arriving.  Since few people ever receive prior notice to an emergency, we’ll assume that we won’t have much notice that it is going to arrive.  At the same time, in a world  where jobs are uncertain, natural disasters are potential threats, and rumors of potential pandemics run rampant…having at least that 30 day supply on hand does illustrate common sense.

Here’s some things to think about:

1) most cities will run out of food, both in stores and warehouses, in less than 72 hours if supplies are cut off and cannot be delivered.

2) some of the first things that stop during an emergency situation is utilities such as telephone, natural gas, electricity, water and sewer.   How will you have lights, something to cook on, or a way to keep warm without these utilities?

3) during emergencies, hospitals, pharmacies, and doctors are often unavailable.  How long will you be able to survive without these facilities?  Do you have your medication on hand?  Can you handle minor injuries and illnesses with your first aid supplies? 

4) A group can share supplies, knowledge, skills and provide security.  Do you have a local network for your own little survival group?  Have you got a plan?

5) Do you have a plan for your family in the event of an emergency?  Have you practiced, even by sitting around the table and going over who would do what and why?  On the Gulf Coast, we typically have about 3 days before landfall when we know whether its apt to hit our area and evacuations of vulnerable areas begins.  Depending on a person’s occupation, they may be required to perform certain duties for their job before leaving to return to their own families.  In the meantime, who is going to be preparing one’s home and vehicle for the incoming storm?  Who packs what for evacuation?  Who makes sure that there are adequate supplies, whether you are staying home or evacuating? 

6) THINK about emergencies…even wildly unlikely ones.  Talk about them with your family, friends, or survival group.  Talk about what you should do, could do, or would do.  Assess risks for various actions and for the various members of your party.  Sometimes things you never dreamed could be real…can turn out to be suddenly very real.  There are many stories of people being suddenly confronted with over 6 feet deep water in and around their homes as they were forced to swim to safety, including the very elderly and very young when the surge from Katrina suddenly struck their homes.  The ones that survived had family members who had thought about the situation and were able to make a decision on how to ensure everyone escaped safely in the brief moment that was available to make that decision.  The ones that didn’t survive were the ones that no one made a decision fast enough or made the wrong decision.  Floods, fires, riots, pandemics, civil wars, travel restrictions, infrastructure breakdowns, power outages, terrorist attacks, mud slides, plane crashes, avalanches, earth quakes, winter storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, chemical spills, oil spills…we’ve seen all of them happen in the past few years.  What kinds of situations could happen in your neighborhood?