Katrina changed your BoB philosophy?

rayfloro said:
I'm thinking of getting a satellite phone
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Ray, did you look into up-front prices and monthly subscription fees? Wondering what they cost ... a company out here had to send a bunch of 'em out to New Orleans since nothing else was working.

On a different comms note: some friends and I have been thinking about how to get in touch in an emergency. We're all within 10 or so miles of each other. If cell phones and regular phones are out, there's satellite phones ... anyone else know of any options? I'm guessing ham equipment doesn't go that far if the repeaters aren't working.
 
fixer27 said:
Hardy har har. :D
Couldn't you go across the river to get into Jersey? I know "not if you can
help it?" :p
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Now you're with the program.
Anything across the Hudson river is the Wild West!
NJ is the most populated state in the union. The crowds would just get worse.
If you've ever flown over the east coast at night, it looks like one city from DC to Boston. OK the lights thin out a bit here and there, but there aint no big dark patches.
Last plane trip at night was from Charleston WV to Pittsburg to NYC.
Lots of lights under us the whole trip.

Joe, 10 miles between you and your neighbors.
Do you have a decent line of sight?
:graspstraws:
Take a page from history and start a tire fire send smoke signals.
Once you see the second fire, you know you're both 'online' then you could have a basic code. 1 yes. 2 no. 3 come here asap. Etc.

Whole lot cheaper than VHF.
;)
That'd work but if you lose the antenna you're back to smoke signals
:Shrug:
 
allenC said:
We both agree that we will NEVER allow ourselves to be forced in to some place like the SuperDome.

Allen.
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You might if an authority happens to be pointing his loaded weapon in your direction, with finger on trigger. Several people said they were evacuated from their homes and/or driven into the SuperDome basically at gunpoint.
 
My BOB got a little bigger (it stays in my vehicle) - more water and food, more soap and disinfectant, and more medicine (water purification, anti-diarrhea and pain meds).
 
How about a 9v AM-FM radio?

The problem with communication and information is a serious issue in an emergency and with no phones and TV to find out what is going on outside leads to dispair and confusion. Possibly a trunked frequency scanner to monitor public works and law enforcement to see what is REALLY happening.

Some disasters allow for enough time to prepare and bug out if needed but others like earthquakes do not.

I started a small basic kit after the CA quake in '89. Now it is more tailored to each vehicle in case of being stranded to more robust preparation at home with enough provisions and security to last many weeks. Sin

Since we also own a small RV, this is also another means to establish a home front should there be reason to leave long term.
 
Another mod I’m making for my BOB is individual identification tags to be attached to each family member. In the event we become separated, God forbid, there will be an easy way to have needed information. The tag might include: Name, blood type, address, emergency phone numbers, etc. I'm thinking about printing them up and then laminating them. The ID cards will have a hole in them. I'll keep a zip-tie taped to the back of each card. If a major emergency takes place, I'll remove the zip-tie, and then secure the card to the wrist.
 
pastorsoup said:
Another mod I’m making for my BOB is individual identification tags to be attached to each family member. In the event we become separated, God forbid, there will be an easy way to have needed information. The tag might include: Name, blood type, address, emergency phone numbers, etc. I'm thinking about printing them up and then laminating them. The ID cards will have a hole in them. I'll keep a zip-tie taped to the back of each card. If a major emergency takes place, I'll remove the zip-tie, and then secure the card to the wrist.
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Thats a great idea, especially if you have, pets, children, or elderly to keep track of.
 
Another thing I realized from watching the hurricane coverage...we have become information dependent.
Almost all of the people on scene were looking at the world through a straw. They could only see the small immediate picture. They were denied the big picture. The cops, the victims, anyone without that link to the outside world was informationally lost.

There could be someone giving out food and water 3 blocks away, but if no one walked by with some, you'd never know.

That portable radio is a great idea, even if it is another 'mouth to feed'.
 
Another mod I’m making for my BOB is individual identification tags to be attached to each family member... The tag might include: Name, blood type, address, emergency phone numbers, etc. I'm thinking about printing them up and then laminating them. The ID cards will have a hole in them. I'll keep a zip-tie taped to the back of each card.
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IMHO your choices for which information to include on the personnel tag are on the mark.

But I would be looking at something more durable than laminated paper -- like aluminum dog tags such as the military uses. Durability is the name of the game for them. Figure that the military needs ID that can survive the body wearing it taking a bullet/mortar/bomb hit, decomposing with body fluids covering the ID, and the dogtag being retrieved after possibly extended periods of wet without becoming illegible.

You can get customized dog tags at Brigade Quartermaster in stainless steel. You can have 5 lines of text with up to 15 characters per line.
 
Yes. I'm going to switch to a backpack. Right now I use a duffle type bag with a shoulder strap. But for walking,standing in line etc. it became clear a pack is the way to go.Plus leaves you hands free to hold the kids or a shotgun.
 
Hasn't changed for me.

I live in the hills out of the flood zone. I have a garden and 85 acres of woods I could hunt in if things got bad, plus a herd of milk goats and chickens for eggs.

The only hard thing would be depending how long everything was out I might run out of grain for the goats and have to turn them out to browse in the woods, but I usually keep about a month supply of feed and 3 to 4 months supply of hay in my barn.

I have a gas well on the property and can light my house with solar and gas, and I also have 2 natural gas powered refrigerators.

Also on our place we have city water, but also have a dug well and a drilled well. The drilled well also has a hand water pump.

If the gas well should go belly up we also have a cabin that sets even higher with a wood stove that requires no electric and is flat on top and you can cook on it. Also have dutch ovens and stuff to cook over a fire so we're set.
 
RokJok said:
IMHO your choices for which information to include on the personnel tag are on the mark.

But I would be looking at something more durable than laminated paper -- like aluminum dog tags such as the military uses. Durability is the name of the game for them. Figure that the military needs ID that can survive the body wearing it taking a bullet/mortar/bomb hit, decomposing with body fluids covering the ID, and the dogtag being retrieved after possibly extended periods of wet without becoming illegible.

You can get customized dog tags at Brigade Quartermaster in stainless steel. You can have 5 lines of text with up to 15 characters per line.
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RokJok- that makes a lot of sense. I didn't even think to have dog tags made up. I think that's the route I will go and have them ready in the BOB to deploy to family members if an emergency takes place! :thumbup:
 
RokJok said:
IMHO your choices for which information to include on the personnel tag are on the mark.

But I would be looking at something more durable than laminated paper -- like aluminum dog tags such as the military uses. Durability is the name of the game for them. Figure that the military needs ID that can survive the body wearing it taking a bullet/mortar/bomb hit, decomposing with body fluids covering the ID, and the dogtag being retrieved after possibly extended periods of wet without becoming illegible.

You can get customized dog tags at Brigade Quartermaster in stainless steel. You can have 5 lines of text with up to 15 characters per line.
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Except the link takes you to "EMERGENCY SURVIVAL FOOD TABLETS"
 
rick melear said:
The problem in New Orleans is the classic example if a welfare state. People that have never been responsible for caring for themselves are suddenly lost when required to. When the zoo keeper is away the animals will run wild and you better be prepared to fend for your self.

Why is it that we seem to hear so little about Biloxi and other areas that are far more devastated than New Orleans?
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Those other areas certainly have a welfare state of their own, but they have something(s) that NO and LA apparently don't:
1) More overall hurricane experience, leading to a higher percentage of people who evacuated and more competent authorities.
2) Local and State authorities that took some action, instead of relying on the Federal govermnent to fill something other than its intended role.
3) Less concentrated drama to draw media attention
4) A different mindset than the majority of those who stayed behind in NO.
 
Katrina hasn't changed my BOB philosophy: my BOB is designed to get me from Point A to Point B in 5 days or less, and will do that almost anywhere I choose to use it. As to whether I'd stay or go, it would depend on where I felt I stood a better chance of survival.

In Katrina's case I would have been gone days before it hit; if I couldn't have gone, and was able to survive the hurricane itself, I would have concentrated on making my position tenable until I was ready to hitch a ride with the National Guard. My supplies on hand would hold me over until that time.

What Katrina did change in my household was my wife's attitude. She's always maintained this tolerant amusement toward preparedness, always with an abstract acknowledgement that it might someday come in handy. She's now considerably more aware of the possibility, especially after some of the first-hand reports that came in from my family along the MS coast.
 
All these years I've been sharing with the wife what would happen in an event that affected a large area like a city. She thought me a bit paranoid and put up with my preparedness stuff and helped a little, but I could see she didn't really think we'd need it. Then Katrina hit and she's been watching on television, as the news broadcasters were showing exactly what I was telling her would happen. If nothing else, she is a little more appreciative of what I've been doing.
 
Cardimon, Sorry for any indirection the link caused. I get the dog tag page okay clicking the link in IE6, but other browsers may not. Again, my apologies if you're not seeing it.

You can find the Brigade Quartermaster dog tag webpage by doing a search from BQ homepage using the two following quoted strings (including the quotes) in the keyword field: "dog tag" "chain set"

HTH

As for the spousal awareness issue, it's too bad we can't let them "sink or swim" in an emergency just once with the other unprepared masses so they'll get the message and get involved with the preparedness process. But the marital repercussions in the aftermath when things settle down again would be too intense to consider it seriously, eh? ;)
 
RokJok said:
Cardimon, Sorry for any indirection the link caused. I get the dog tag page okay clicking the link in IE6, but other browsers may not. Again, my apologies if you're not seeing it.
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I found the dog tags after a search. :)

IE6? You mean you haven't switched to Firefox yet? ;)
 
hollowdweller said:
Hasn't changed for me

I have a gas well on the property and can light my house with solar and gas, and I also have 2 natural gas powered refrigerators.
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Would you mind telling me how one goes about getting a personal gas well? And how I could do so? I would make sure EVERYTHING I have was converted to nat. gas.
 
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