Top 5 Greatest Survival Gadgets
Technology is a wonderful thing. While you can survive without any of these products, they certainly can make your life much simpler.
1. Grundig FR200 Self-Powered Emergency Radio
5 Simple Steps to a Comfortable Home
Heres a small list of things that will keep you comfortable if you need to stay inside your house for a few days.
1. WATER – 1 gallon jugs of water at the grocery store cost about $1 a piece. Water is one of those things that you never realize how much of it you need until you don’t have it. Stock up on 10 – 15 gallons, and find a nice out of the way place to store it. If you have a chest freezer like I do, line the bottom of it with bottles. This does two things other than just increase your water supply – it saves energy by decreasing the amount of space need to be kept cold in your freezer, and it will keep your frozen goods cold if your power goes out for days, if not weeks.
2.FOOD – The next time your at the grocery store, take an extra $5 or $10 and buy a few cans of generic soup and vegetables. Dried foods, such as Ramen noodles are great to have around – and cheap. Pack these all into a box and put it somewhere out of site, in the basement or in a closet – this will keep you from digging into it when you’ve got the munchies. Many of us think we have enough food stored already in our pantries, but these items usually turn out to be canned corn, beets or beans. While you can survive on these, think about food that you actually enjoy eating – morale is more often than not the biggest part of survival.
3.LIGHTING – While candles are always great to have, but sure to keep a good supply of flashlights and batteries throughout the house. A candle may light a path, but its easier to turn on a flashlight than to find a lighter or match, and the candle in the dark. Keep fresh batteries in the flashlights, and have a few tucked away. If you do opt for candles, look for long lasting 8+ hour candles ($4 at Walmart) or use trick birthday candles. The trick candles do exactly what they’re supposed to do — they don’t blow out, which is always nice.
4.HEAT – If you’re a camper, you probably already have small propane stove, like a Coleman double burner. Keep a few extra bottles of propane tucked away. These are great to cook on, or melt snow with, but remember – DO NOT USE INSIDE. For inside your house, keep plenty of quilts and blankets in closets. You’d be suprised at how much heat you the human body creates , and its just a matter of keeping in around you. Later, I’ll show you how to make your own candle powered heater – also safe to use inside.
5.ENTERTAINMENT – Like I said earlier, morale is a huge part of surviving. A deck of cards, a few books or magazines, and a few silly board games can keep people easily entertained for hours.
A little planning..
..goes a long way.
Currently, as I type this, I’m sitting in my house in the middle of a snow storm. The roads are closed leading out of town, and even in town the roads are not really passable. Grocery stores were not able to recieve their shipments, as this is the second large blizzard in less than a week. Shelves are empty, snow shovels are sold out – not to mention slowblowers.
Luckily, we still have power and heat – but one never knows how long that will last. This storm has blown over semi-trucks, trees, and completly covered cars with snow.
There are, without a doubt, people stuck in bad situations all over this beautiful state of Colorado, in both cars and houses. With a little planning, they could be living comfortably (relatively), even without power, water or heat.
This is my mission. From your house, your car, or if you’re dropped off by helicopter in the Rockies, you’ll soon learn to survive with relative ease by taking a few simple steps, and learning a few simple techniques. Good luck.
