Survival Basics |
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Important Facts: Water
There are some basic needs that every human being, animal, or mammal need.
The first and most important is water, without it you will dehydrate and die. Life expectancy without drinkable water is roughly a couple weeks or less, so first you need to locate drinkable water or water that you may be able to filtrate. There are several ways that you can filtrate water without going and buying all that high tech $3,000 water filtration system but we will get to that later. The first thing is to find a map of your local town, city or county. This will help you to locate potential water sources in the area that might be within walking distance or not to far of a drive. With all the pesticides, chemicals, and other toxic things that leak into our water system its important you choose a source that would be less contaminated. Don't choose a water source that runs throught the middle of your city, unfortunately everything gets dumped in here. You don't want to choose a source that is within a heavily farmed area, this proves to be high in pesticides. You want to look for a place that has little to no traffic, is some sort of stream or river. Running water has a smaller chance to grow bacteria and other harmful bugs your body does not like. If the water is running is natural cleans itself (as clean as it can be) while it makes its journey from the bigger body of water.
Hint: Store enough water for a week for every person that lives in your house. You can purify and bottle your own, with empty 2 liter bottles, milk jugs, or other containers you may have around your house. Ensure you properly wash containers before hand or they will cause bacteria to grow ruining the water before you can drink it. (distilled water works good, but costs money)
Once you have located a source you must find all the containers you have that can be filled with water. Making less trips saves energy and allows you for more time to focus on other tasks. If you have water at your house or residence, there is a chance that your water could be contaminated. A good rule of thumb is if your unsure, "boil" the water first before drinking it. They make tablets and other such devices that you can pick up at your local hunting or appliance store that do the same thing. If you have no power we suggest building a fire and boiling the water outside before consumption. Boiling the water kills whatever may be growing in the water supply, especially once the power goes out. It sit's stagnant inside your homes pipes and starts breeding harmful stuff that can make you sick. The last thing you and your family need is to become ill, in certain situations there won't be a doctor handy to give you a wonder drug.
There are ways to filter water if you have no way of boiling, or using a purification system. The link below will take you to a more in depth look at ways that you can filter your water in the event that none of the above situations apply. I.e. stranded in the wilderness, plane crash, natural disaster, or any other situation that would take you out of your creature comforts.
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Food
Food is another important item that needs to be taken care of immediately, this is the second most important on our list. There are many items that have an extended shelf life that you can start picking up as they come on sale at your local grocery store. In the event something happens and you can't get to food for a few days or even a week you'll have some that you can sustain you and your family on. The pictures to the right illustrate pantry's that are stocked with canned food, dry goods, and some perishable items. It is also good to buy meat in bulk and store it in a deep freezer if you have one. If not, you can pick up a smaller type for a few hundred bucks that will hold enough frozen goods for a week or more. This is a great choice if you hunt for food as well, game can be prepared relatively easily and inexpensive and lasts for months.
Hint: Just like water, every family needs a week or more of food stockpile. Items such as rice, dry beans, wheat and freeze dried goods are great inexpensive items that have a long shelf life. Give you the most for the money, and goes along way.
This would be a great time to look at your supply of fishing equipment, hunting gear, or any other means that you can use to help produce food. This also includes seeds for planting, worst case is to have these items and not need them, than need them and not have them. If you live in the city or another well populated area of your county or state in the event of a food shortage never attempt to gather food from the grocery store. Reason being is in larger population food shortages, loss of power, and loss of drinkable water will create fall in social order.(riots) Keep in mind that big cities rely on their food supply being shipped into stores from other locations. What do you think will happen when they have no food to ship? Just like water people will kill or be killed when it comes to food. So just to be on the safe side, think smart.
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Shelter |
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This part is mainly focused on the fact that you have no shelter around you and would otherwise have to build your own. There are many ways to build great shelters that could keep you warm and serve as a centralized survival location. If you are in the wilderness, its best to find natural cover that was made by nature. When looking for places keep in mind rain, wind, and other natural events. Look for big rocks, tall trees, or some other form of natural cover that would help in defending you against the elements. Fallen branches, old railroad ties, |
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Basics
