What would you do if there was an emergency?  Would you be another of the many people standing helplessly in the middle of the street, or would you be able to look after yourself and your family, and even help others?  The key is preparation.  Read on to find out how to make your own emergency survival kit.
The purpose of an emergency kit (or bug out bag as it is also known) is to attend to any immediate needs (such as first aid, rescue, warmth and protection), intermediate needs (such as food, drinking water and essential washing water) and longer term needs (such as getting to a safe place, contacting other survivors).  It should contain the supplies you need to look after yourself and your family for at least 72 hours.  At the same time, the kit
must be portable and fully stocked at all times.  You’ll need to keep it where you can easily get to it, and it must be in a strong bag or similar.

What should the kit contain?  Well, to an extent, it depends on your own situation and where you live.  Someone who lives in a desert area will have different needs to someone who lives in sub-Arctic conditions, so needs to adapt the contents.  If you live in a rural area, you will need different supplies to someone who lives in an urban area.  Also, if you have young children, or elderly people in your family, their needs should be taken
into account when putting together your kit (for example baby formula).

As a minimum it should contain the following:

• Water purification tablets – if there is an emergency, water is very likely to be contaminated.  With purification tablets, you can disinfect water for drinking, cleaning wounds and washing.  They are available at camping stores.  One brand is Puratab.
• Water – this is very heavy, buy some plastic bottles of water from the supermarket.
• First aid kit – I make these up by buying a high quality commercial kit and then removing cotton wool and other useless materials and adding antiseptic cream, imodium and anti-gastro antibiotics.  Remember to include a first aid guide, and get some basic first aid training.
• Reflective foil blanket – these fold up into a tiny space and reflect body heat.  They can also be used to protect against the heat of the sun, as a groundsheet, or to capture rain.
• Lighter – to make a fire.  This is the easiest way, don’t think that you can rub two sticks together to make fire!
• Food – you need food that has minimal bulk and high nutritional value, such as dried foods, biltong (dried meat), soup, dried fruit, MRE (meals ready to eat) and chocolate (a high energy, compact food).
• Basic cooking utensils and cutlery
• Flashlight and batteries – get one with an LED bulb – they are more robust and use far less energy than older types.  I recommend a high quality brand like Maglite.
• Sunblock
• Antiseptic hand cleansing gel – you need the waterless type.  This prevents the spread of bacteria
• Toothpaste / tooth brushes
• Map and orienteering compass
• Battery powered radio
• Multi-purpose tool – Leatherman or similar.  They typically include a pair of pliers, a knife and a screwdriver or similar.
• Crowbar – for freeing survivors or opening cars
• Folding shovel

You can customise your kit based on your own needs and survival environment.  You can buy compact or camping versions of many of the
utensils, and purchase most of these things at your outdoor store.  Remember to rotate water, batteries and food based on shelf life.

Do you have any other items that you recommend for an emergency survival kit, or any suggestions?  Please submit your comments.

Tags: how to regain your freedom, resilient community, subversive

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Daily subversive tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.