So, do you have a survival kit prepared? What's in it?

[Connonym]

I'm looking at this list below and thinking that I guess I need just about everything in my house to survive. I've got about 20 gallons of bottled water and some granola bars. I'd better hope disaster never strikes here.

ETA I cribbed this list from somewhere online. I don't personally have anything but water and granola.

Water
Store water in plastic containers such as soft drink bottles. Avoid using containers that will decompose or break, such as milk cartons or glass bottles. A normally active person needs to drink at least two quarts of water each day. Hot environments and intense physical activity can double that amount. Children, nursing mothers and ill people will need more.
• Store one gallon of water per person per day (two quarts for drinking, two quarts for food preparation/sanitation)
• Keep at least a three-day supply of water for each person in your household.
Food
Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food. Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation, or cooking and little or no water. If you must heat food, pack a can of sterno. Select food items that are compact and lightweight.
• Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
• Canned juices, milk, soup (if powdered, store extra water)
• Staples—sugar, salt, pepper
• High energy foods—peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars, trail mix
• Vitamins
• Foods for infants, elderly persons or persons on special diets
• Comfort/stress foods—cookies, hard candy, sweetened cereals, lollipops, instant coffee, tea bags
First aid kit
Assemble a first aid kit for your home and one for each car. Include the following in your kit:
• Sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes
• Two-inch sterile gauze pads (4-6)
• Four-inch sterile gauze pads (4-6)
• Hypoallergenic adhesive tape
• Triangular bandages (3)
• Two-inch sterile roller bandages (3 rolls)
• Three-inch sterile roller bandages (3 rolls)
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Needle
• Moistened towelettes
• Antiseptic
• Thermometer
• Tongue blades (2)
• Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant
• Assorted sizes of safety pins
• Cleansing agent/soap
• Latex gloves (2 pair)
• Sunscreen
• Non-prescription drugs
• Aspirin or nonaspirin pain reliever
• Anti-diarrhea medication
• Antacid (for stomach upset)
• Syrup of Ipecac (use to induce vomiting if advised by the Poison Control Center)
• Laxative
• Activated charcoal (use if advised by the Poison Control Center)
Contact your local American Red Cross chapter to obtain a basic first aid manual.
Tools and supplies
When creating a disaster supply kit, many people often forget day-to-day supplies that could help make a crisis situation safer and/or more comfortable.
In addition to food, water, and medical supplies, include the items on this list:
• Mess kits, or paper cups, plates and plastic utensils
• Emergency preparedness manual
• Battery-operated radio and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Cash or traveler's checks, change
• Nonelectric can opener, utility knife
• Fire extinguisher: small canister, ABC type
• Tube tent
• Pliers
• Tape
• Compass
• Matches in a waterproof container
• Aluminum foil
• Plastic storage containers
• Signal flare
• Paper, pencil
• Needles, thread
• Medicine dropper
• Shut-off wrench, to turn off household gas and water
• Whistle
• Plastic sheeting
• Map of the area (for locating shelters)
• Sanitation
• Toilet paper, towelettes
• Soap, liquid detergent
• Feminine supplies
• Personal hygiene items
• Plastic garbage bags, ties (for personal sanitation uses)
• Plastic bucket with tight lid
• Disinfectant
• Household chlorine bleach

• Clothing and bedding—include at least one complete change of clothing and footwear per person.
• Sturdy shoes or work boots
• Hat and gloves
• Rain gear
• Thermal underwear
• Blankets or sleeping bags
• Sunglasses

• Special Items—remember family members with special needs, such as infants and elderly or disabled persons.
• For babies—formula, diapers, bottles, powdered milk, medications
• For adults—heart and high blood pressure medication, insulin, prescription
drugs, denture needs, contact lenses and supplies, extra eye glasses

• Entertainment—games and books
• Important family documents--keep these records in a waterproof, portable container.
• Will, insurance policies, contracts, deeds, stocks and bonds
• Passports, social security cards, immunization records
• Bank account numbers
• Credit card account numbers and companies
• Inventory of valuable household goods, important telephone numbers
• Family records (birth, marriage, death certificates)

Suggestions and reminders
• Store your kit in a convenient place known to all family members. Keep a smaller version of the disaster supplies kit in the trunk of your car.
• Keep items in air-tight plastic bags.
• Change your stored water supply every six months so it stays fresh.
• Rotate your stored food every six months.
• Re-think your kit and family needs at least once a year. Replace batteries, update clothes, etc.
• Ask your physician or pharmacist about storing prescription medications.

[bertha katzenengel]

1. shoes, a flashlight, and a battery-op radio, all by the bed

Our emergency would consist of tornado/hurricane.

Back home I'd have an earthquake kit: gloves, rope, food & water for 3 days for everyone in my household, first aid, battery-op radio, extra shoes, "space" blankets, etc., etc....

[pokerfan]

18. I keep a kit in the car

sleeping bag
tent
stove
folding shovel
old unregistered cell phone (and cigarette adapter) for calling 911

Everything else fits inside a small bag:
pencil & waterproof paper
swiss army knife
cord
loud whistle
couple of butane lighters
magnesium/flint firestarter
LED flashlight
fishing line and hooks
signal mirror
compass
safety pins
iodine water tablets
duct tape
first aid kit
ziploc freezer bags (water canteens)
slingshot

[bertha katzenengel]

28. add steel wool to your kit

I've just learned that steel wool will hold sparks for helping to start fires. Who knew? So maybe add a ball of steel wool to your kit.

[KitchenWitch]

2. I have an earthquake/wild fire kit.

Crackers
Canned Chicken
Packaged Trail Mix
5 cases of bottled water
Batteries
Masks (to block smoke)
Radio
First aid kit
Baby Wipes
Purell
old towels
Flashlights
And some other things that do not come to mind right now.

[DS1]

3. Lots and lots of sausage

[KitchenWitch]

6. A trashcan full?

[dolo amber]

4. Duct tape, plastic sheeting

And what was it...cans of tuna...?

/obv

:patriot:

[Lyric]

5. My foolproof survival plan:

Rob the McManson across the divide between the trailer park and Yuppieville.

[Zavulon]

7. Well,

I've got two weeks worth of canned food, 50 gallons of water, a shoebox full of new batteries, a radio, a handheld TV, lighters and matches, a Swiss Army knife, a Leatherman, two flashlights, a huge first aid kit and two loaded pistols with four boxes of ammo.

Oh, and a bottle of my daily multivitamins, so that I can keep producing really expensive urine.

I appreciate your list, though. I see some things I need to add.

[Elidor]

8. Beer

Beer for sterilizing wounds
Beer for lubrication
Beer for nutrition
Beer for recreation
Beer for bathing
Beer for flotation and buoyancy
Beer.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. X, smokes and pR0n

[Forkboy]

10. Nothing. I plan on killing people like you to get what I need.

:evilgrin:

[Kool Kitty]

23. That's the spirit!!!

Sounds good to me.

[PVnRT]

11. Cocaine, midget porn, and a cube of PBR

Fuck yeah.

[NJmaverick]

12. Impressive list and sound advice.

For your family, you also might want to have altnerative meeting place both close by and distant. That way if you have an area wide distaster and your home becomes unreachable you can all find each other again.

[Phillycat]

13. Power tools, handcuffs, and a cowboy hat.

Hey, we're going to be bored. :shrug:

[Oeditpus Rex]

16. Figures

You're my Dream Woman, and you're married. x(

[Phillycat]

19. I'm actually totally insane, don't worry.

You're not missing anything. I don't know how my husband puts up with me! :rofl:

[snooper2]

14. half ounce of weed...

and papers...and case of water :)

[Rambis]

15. Keg of Smithwicks keg of Guinness and a trash can full of sausage

party!

[LeftyMom]

17. It depends on the emergency.

For people whose likely emergencies might require staying at home with no access to supplies, that's a good list. The likely emergencies here are flooding, possibly requiring evacuation of the home, and getting trapped in the car by flooding (or by heavy snow in the mountains.) None would require being stuck home for more than a few days. Keeping a lot of medical supplies would also be silly, I live close enough to a hospital that even in a severe emergency getting there wouldn't be a problem.

For being stuck at home during street flooding, the main thing is to have a good pantry of food, including some things that are preparable without power during short power outages (here in the city, power outages don't tend to last long even in severe weather- SMUD is pretty good about getting things up and running fast.) And water, in case the water treatment facilities fail- but you only need enough for cooking and drinking, dodgy water can be used to flush toilets, etc. In a more severe flood, I'd just need to get documents and stuff, move the rest upstairs, pack up kid and cats and go to my Dad's (neither he nor I live in flood-prone neighborhoods, to that's fairly unlikely absent a catastrophic levee failure- but we live on opposite sides of the river, so one house or the other would be fine.)

So I keep a lot of food around, I have a good first aid kit in the house and a smaller one in the car, and in the winter I keep a few blankets, some water bottles and snacks and a bag of kitty litter (for traction) in the car if I may have to drive in snow, in addition to the usual repair kit, flashlights, etc. Oh, and I have a centerpunch within reach of my drivers' seat, because people sometimes drive off of levee roads around here.

So one thing I'd suggest is to plan for YOUR likely emergencies, not use a generic list. If your area is prone to blizzards, you'll need food and water for being stuck in your house for a while, if it's prone to earthquakes you should strap the furniture to the walls and know where your gas shut-off valve is. Around here either of those would be silly and a bit wasteful, but being prepared for flooding is smart.

[BooScout]

20. Yep.........7 pubs within walking distance.....

That's all the survival gear I need.

[LanternWaste]

21. Mine has...

Mine has...

Two packs of smokes (and extra lighter)

A bag of Twinkies

Cassette tape of 'The Best of the Eighties'

Three cans of Mr. Pibb



(sorry-- it's late in the day, almost time to go home and I'm hungry. I also need a life, but that's a topic to hijack another thread with...)

:hi:

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. wow...that's a long list

[petronius]

24. I have guns - the rest of that stuff I'll just take from better-prepared neighbors

Actually, I figure my backpacking gear doubles as a survival kit; it keeps me alive for weeks in the wilderness, so it ought to do the trick in post-apocalyptic suburbia...

[Mugu]

26. That'll be our little secret.

I have enough supplies to last for months in any weather. And if I run out of something, I have a battle rifle that I'm quite proficient with, tons of ammo, and lots of anti-gun neighbors.

Regards, Mugu

[petronius]

32. That's what "speak softly and carry a big stick" refers to, right?

My neighbors all think I'm a nice guy - they'll never see it coming... Muaa hah hah hah! :evilgrin:

[mokawanis]

25. wilderness survival stuff

Tent, knife, large pack, h2o filters, good boots, compass, gps, rain gear, 1st aid, warm weather and cold weather clothes. I don't own a gun.

[xchrom]

27. chanel #5 -- i'm gonna get stinky with no shower.

[dembotoz]

29. damn girl-how bad is the flooding by you????!!!!

survival kits??
do we need to send a boat?
saw in the paper they are using the dells ducks (ww2 landing craft) to evacuate folks in baraboo....

[Connonym]

30. I don't actually *have* anything on that list (except maybe by accident)

You'd need a whole room in your house to store that much shit!

You going to Drinking Liberally next week?

[dembotoz]

35. gonna try

circulating papers for a guy running for assembly up heere.
Depends on whether we are in good shape or not.

OH hell--Meeting with some dems-yes i will be there.

[Dogtown]

31. My Fundy neighbors

(and that's ALL of my neighbors) tried to compel my agreement with their Y2K chore list.

When they asked what I was prepared to do, I replied, "Take your shit away."



This post doesn't add to the discussion, but damn, that was fun.


:evilgrin:

[achtung_circus]

33. more stuff

Water

3 days is a MINIMUM. And include water purification tablets. Water requirements are very much affected by weather conditions and activity levels, so use this guideline as only that; a guideline. Revise it to account for you possible requirements.

Food

3 days is a minimum, 6 is better. No one will starve in 6 days so the focus should be on the comfort foods, crackers and jam, peanut butter, Granola, tea and coffee. Avoid cans- they are heavy if you need to move. Look at dehydrated foods if your climate provides some water. This doesn't work so good in the desert.

First aid kit

This first aid kit strikes me as undersized. Plus take a first aid course.

Tools and supplies

A hand cranked radio or solar or both removed need for batteries. You can also get adaprors for them to charge cell phones. A Leatherman tool is extremely useful. Depending on topography, consider a small ax (not a hatchet) and a folding pruning saw to provide firewood.

And of course the list misses the most important thing- a brain. The knowledge and ability and practice to actually use this kit is more important than the kit itself.

[One_Life_To_Give]

34. Missing Duct Tape and Plastic Sheets

Thats it Homelandf Security will be on your case for leaving off these two.

[arcadian]

36. porn and beer

n't