Recently, during a strenuous long hike, I caused a stress fracture in my left foot. It wasn’t severe enough that I couldn’t finish my hike but by the next day, it swollen and very painful. After x-rays and the doctor’s confirmation that it was a small fracture on the outside of my foot, I was told to just try to say off of it, keep it elevated and take ibuprofen to address the pain and inflammation.
This was a real inconvenience and the pain was no fun but I knew I need to do everything I could to try and speed along the recovery process.
The ibuprofen was especially helpful when I went to bed as the pain was intense enough that it would keep me awake. Then one night, I was in trouble. I had run out of ibuprofen! I tried Tylenol but it just didn’t do the trick. I could hardly wait for my wife to go to the store the next day and pick up some more ibuprofen.
But what if the circumstances were such that there wasn’t a store to go to? What if we didn’t have access to the typical over-the-counter medications we’ve all become so accustomed to?
Luckily, there are several alternatives to such medications that we most likely have in our kitchens or bathrooms right now. In fact, more and more people are turning to home remedies rather than using pharmaceutical medications that may contain harmful ingredients and synthetic chemicals.
Some of these remedies might seem very strange to you, especially if you’re used to popping a pill for every ailment, but people have been using them for decades–in some cases, centuries–to great effect.
Before you laugh at these home remedies and consider those who use them crazy, try them out for yourself. You’ll quickly discover that they really work! Here’s a list of unusual remedies and how to use them.
Hydrogen Peroxide for Ear Infections
Ear infections are painful and disruptive, but hydrogen peroxide can help clear up the infection. Lie on your side and pour a cap full of hydrogen peroxide into your ear. Let it sit and bubble in your ear for 5 to 10 minutes. It feels strange, and you’ll hear popping sounds.
The popping you hear is the peroxide softening the wax and killing bacteria in your ear. Place a tissue on your ear and let the hydrogen peroxide drain out. Earwax will easily come out with a Q-tip. You can use this remedy just to clear out your extra earwax, but the hydrogen peroxide works quickly to remove any bacteria or stop a virus from growing.
Lemon Balm Tea for Cold Sores
Lemon balm contains antiviral properties that can help cure cold sores that are caused by the herpes virus. You can make lemon balm at home with some dried lemon balm.
All you need to do is add 2 to 4 TBSP of dried lemon balm herb to a cup of boiling water. Let it cool a bit, and then dab the cotton ball into the tea. Apply it to your cold sore several times per day.
Sugar for Hiccups
Hiccups aren’t bad for you, but they’re really annoying! They’re caused by a spasm in your diaphragm. A simple, but unusual, home remedy is to swallow a teaspoon of sugar.
Scientists don’t know exactly why this works so well, but it’s speculated that sugar affects the vagus nerve which connects your brain and stomach, stopping the diaphragm from spasming. Now every time you get the hiccups, you’ll have an excuse to eat pure sugar!
Yogurt for Bad Breath
Halitosis is the official name for bad breath, and no one enjoys it. Believe it or not, the cure isn’t chewing on a pack of gum – it’s yogurt. You need at least two servings per day of yogurt because it contains probiotics, but make sure you purchase yogurt that doesn’t contain sugar.
Eating yogurt will change the environment on your tongue so that bad bacteria doesn’t continue to grow and stink.
Baking Soda for UTIs
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are painful, and it’s best to cure them sooner rather than later. A UTI can turn into a bladder infection. Baking soda is a home remedy because it makes the bladder environment more alkaline, which prevents bacteria from multiplying.
Simply mix 1/4 TSP of baking soda into an 8-ounce glass of water. Drink this solution as soon as you notice the starting symptoms of a UTI.
Olives or Lemons for Motion Sickness
Motion sickness, or any nausea, leads to the extra production of saliva, which makes you feel even more nauseous. If you notice motion sickness, eat a few olives.
It works because the tannins in the olives stop nausea by drying out your mouth. Lemons are a quick fix for motion sickness as well.
Olive Oil for Eczema
Eczema can cause you to itch and feel uncomfortable, and it can flare up anywhere on your body, even your hands! Olive oil is an ingredient in many skin creams and products, and it’s full of antioxidants.
All you have to do is rub the olive oil on the area of your body with the eczema flare up. Olive oil is wonderful for many ailments.
Chocolate for a Cough
Finally, a reason to eat more chocolate! Dark chocolate can help you stop coughing if you’re having a coughing spell.
2 ounces of dark chocolate contains theobromine, the same ingredient found in OTC cough medicines. Theobromine relaxes the nerves that are responsible for the cough reflex.
Garlic for Allergies
Garlic is one of those things every home remedist knows is a godsend. Instead of using OTC antihistamine medication, you can use garlic to eat and cure up allergy problems.
It works because garlic contains a lot of the antioxidant quercetin, which is said to reduce allergy symptoms. Onions work as well.
Cloves for Cuts
Cloves are a fantastic home remedy for tooth pain, but did you know that cloves can help heal cuts and skin wounds? Sprinkling clove powder over the cut can stop the spread of bacteria.
Another option is to apply clove oil to the wound. This remedy works because clove oil has high levels of eugenol, which is pain-relieving and has antiseptic properties.
Honey for Chapped Lips
Raw honey belongs in every home remedy kit because it contains dozens of healing properties. If your lips are chapped, don’t turn to Chapstick! Instead, dab a bit of raw honey on the chapped area.
Make sure you rub it on just like you would Chapstick. It will nourish and hydrate your lips, plus everyone loves the taste of honey. Make sure the honey you select is raw and organic.
Duct Tape for Warts
Wrapping warts in duct tape is one of the best ways to get rid of them. Make sure you clean the area well and put a slightly bigger piece of duct tape over the wart.
Remove the tape every three days. Remove any dead skin with a nail file or pumice stone. Keep repeating this procedure until the warts are gone.
Vinegar for Swimmer’s Ear
Ear problems can ruin your day because the pain radiates into your jaw and throughout your entire head. You will want to get rid of swimmer’s ear quickly. An old home remedy for swimmer’s ear is to put a drop or two of vinegar into your ear.
Grandma will swear to you that this remedy works because the acidic properties inside of vinegar can kill off the bacteria inside your ear. To use this remedy, you need to dilute white vinegar in distilled water. Then, add three drops into the ear giving you problems three times per day.
Pine Syrup for Sore Throats
Making pine syrup is easy, and it works wonders for sore throats. All you need to do is gather up a cup of freshly-washed pine needles and blend them. While you’re doing that, boil some water, corn syrup, and a bit of salt. Mix in the needles and let them steep for a few hours.
Make sure to keep it in the fridge for at least a month. Then, you will have it when you need it.
Beets for Constipation
You’re probably thinking this remedy seems a bit far out there, but give it a try. Take some fresh beets and steam them. Then, eat them when you feel constipated. Don’t drain the water you used to steam the beets. Instead, drink the water because it contains vitamins that help your body process out the waste.
Just be aware that it’s possible your urine or stools may turn bright red. That can be scary if you aren’t expecting it! It’s nothing to worry about; it’s just the natural dyes in beets.
Toothpaste for Bug Bites
Bug bites are itchy and annoying. One simple home remedy is to put a small amount of toothpaste onto the bug bite. Toothpaste has a cooling effect because of the peppermint oil that lessens the pain and inflammation. You can also try applying peppermint oil to the bug bite if you don’t want to use toothpaste.
Unusual home remedies are worth a try, especially because you’re used to pharmaceutical medications. These remedies might seem strange, but they work really well!
Should the time come that requires evacuating one’s home for an extended period of time and living off-grid, there are a myriad of potential health issues that could become as deadly as any gunshot or knife wound. One of the greatest killers of all time is that resulting from untreated infections.
It’s hard to imagine with today’s medical treatments, medicines and antibiotics that basic wound infections could be any kind of threat. But, remove your access to such treatments and antibiotics, a simple cut on your hand or leg, once it becomes infected, can kill.
Penicillin was discovered by Scottish chemist Alexander Fleming in 1928. It’s estimated that penicillin has save the lives of more than 200 million across the globe. It saved the lives of 12 to 15 percent of Allied Forces during WWII. Since that time there have been many additional antibiotics discovered that have equally saved the lives of many hundreds of millions around the world.
So what does one do when antibiotics are not available? Are there any alternative treatment methods that could save lives and eradicate wound infections?
Treating wounds using alternative healing methods will become a vital skill when there is no doctor around. Besides providing you with the much-needed food, your pantry also holds two items that will help you treat wounds: honey and sugar. These two ingredients are beneficial for cleansing and healing traumatic wounds. Treating wounds with honey and sugar is an ancient method of healing that has been tested over time. The ancient Egyptians were the first to document this process. The healing proprieties of sugar and honey are mentioned even in the Bible, Koran and Torah.
People around the world have used honey and sugar to cleanse and heal traumatic wounds; in particular gunshot wounds and battle injuries where a loss of flesh leads to infections.
How does honey and sugar work for treating wounds?
Sugar is a short chain, soluble carbohydrate composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It has many names and it’s also known as glucose, dextrose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, and lactose. Sugar has high osmolality, and it’s able to draw fluid out of the wound. It reduces water content in the injury and inhibits the growth of bacteria. It is also helpful in removing dead tissue while preserving the tissue that is still alive.
Honey is a viscous, hyper-saturated sugar solution made from 75-80 percent sugar and 20 percent water. It is very effective at killing staphylococci, including the community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, within a few hours. Honey also has anti-inflammatory activity and its ability to absorb water provides antiseptic action. Scientists believe that the healing proprieties of honey are derived from its ability to produce hydrogen peroxide from the glucose oxidase enzyme found in its composition.
Treating wounds step by step
You first have to make sure the wound has stopped bleeding and that it’s very clean. Cayenne pepper can be applied to stop the bleeding, but I must warn you that it will sting like hell. You will then have to clean the wound with a mild soap and warm water or a saline solution. Pat the area dry until there is no moisture inside the wound. Honey and sugar react and bind with calcium and if calcium is not available because of bleeding, no clot can form.
Pour granulated sugar directly on the wound and make sure it gets down as deep into the wound as possible. The sugar shouldn’t just be sprinkled on the surface and outer rim of the wound. If the wound is too large, you need to apply honey first and then add sugar on top (you can mix sugar and honey until you make a thick paste).
Cover the wound with a clean bandage and secure it with tape. The dressing will prevent the honey and sugar from leaking out and it will keep the wound protected from external debris and bacteria.
Change the bandage and repeat the cleaning and sugar application once a day. You will have to do it more than once per day when you notice the bandages are wet from the removed fluid.
Alternative to using honey and sugar
Although there are many reasons one should store honey, the chances are that not everyone has this fantastic food at hand. There is an alternative to honey for treating wounds and it involves using cooking oil.
You will need to combine three parts of powdered sugar and one part of cooking oil and mix the ingredients until the mixture is uniformly smooth. A thick layer (1/2 inch) of this mix will have to be applied directly to the wound. This alternative works just as well and science backs it up.
Sugar will dehydrate all bacteria and prevent it from reproducing. If the bacteria die, no infection can occur. The oil coats the outer bacterial membrane and prevents water and foodstuff from entering the cell. It also prevents egress of cellular waste products. As a result, the bacterial cell withers and dies.
A few words of advice:
1) CAUTION – This is a homemade remedy. Therefore I recommend you should research anything you read. You will be assured of its use and the accuracy of the information provided.
2) Commercial honey is not as effective at treating wounds as raw honey.
3) If you apply cayenne pepper to the wound to stop bleeding, be prepared to experience pain. It does sting and some people cannot tolerate this pain.
4) Manuka honey is the best type of honey that one can store and it’s even being used by the New Zealand army forces.
5) You should avoid using this treatment for infants as they can develop botulism from honey.
Mixed together, honey and sugar or sugar and cooking oil can provide a healing alternative that is available for anyone. The paste resulting from mixing these ingredients can be applied directly to an open wound. It is a healing method guaranteed to stave off infection and hasten the healing process. This healing method has been used for centuries and it won’t fail you when the need arises.
Source: http://prepperswill.com/treating-wounds-with-honey-and-sugar-an-easy-healing-method/
Experience is an excellent teacher but often the cost of such experience can be extraordinarily high and even catastrophic. So rather than having to personally deal with each potentially devastating consequence of every possible personal experience, we can show true wisdom and learn from the experiences of others.
Unfortunately, far too often we catch ourselves saying, “That would never happen to me” or “I’d be smarter than that” or “What’s the big deal? Can’t people just take care of themselves?”
Even though there is an overabundance of examples of individuals and families experiencing terrible consequences of their poor decisions or lack of good judgement in the preparedness aspects of their lives, far too few of us take heed and try and learn from such experiences.
One prime example of this deals with the devastating wildfires that are sweeping through many areas of California. As of the date of this blog, there are 16 wildfires raging throughout the state of California. The city of Redding has been hit especially hard where 90,000 residents have had to evacuate due to the wildfires.
According to local officials, “Thousands have fled a terrifying wildfire, the so-called Carr Fire, as it tore through an area of northern California after tripling in size to 28,000 acres. Late yesterday, crews found the body of a bulldozer operator, who had fought to contain the fierce blaze. The wil
dfire crossed the Sacramento River and now threatens hundreds of homes on the western fringes of the city of Redding. ‘It’s just chaotic. It’s wild. There’s a lot of fire, a lot of structures burning,’ said Scott McLean, a Cal Fire spokesman for the crews battling the wildfire.”
As individuals, there’s not a whole lot we can personally do to stop a wildfire. It is far beyond any one individual’s ability to control such a devastating event. So what can we learn from the experience of others who are caught in such a difficult situation?
According to some reports, “Roads out of the city were jammed with motorists trying to escape the flames, social media postings showed. Thousands of residents were forced to flee the blaze.
Residents of western Redding who had not been under evacuation orders were caught off guard and had to flee with little notice, causing miles-long traffic jams as flames turned the skies orange.
‘When it hit, people were really scrambling,’ McLean said. ‘There was not much of a warning.’”
That last line should cause us to evaluate our preparedness levels. “When it hit, people were really scrambling. There was not much of a warning.”
In most cases, there is very little warning that extreme danger is imminent. We usually assume such events would unfold like the forecasting of an approaching hurricane where one might have several days to prepare. I happen to live in earthquake country and unfortunately, there will be no warning before an earthquake strikes – one must simply be prepared assuming it could take place at any minute.
Many of those who fled the wildfires in the Redding area lost everything as their homes were consumed by the fires. Even though “things” can be replaced, there are items of sentimental value as well as medications, important documents and survival essentials that could all be lost if proper preparation and practice are ignored.
What would you do if you had only ten minutes to evacuate your home? What would you take? What would you leave behind?
Under stressful, panic circumstances, ten minutes may feel like 60 seconds and as a result, precious lifesaving preps may be left behind never to be used. Now there is little that can be done to alleviate or remove the stress that will naturally occur when such a sudden event takes place but one can make the few available minutes far more productive in taking the items that are most important and potentially lifesaving.
There are two basic levels of emergency evacuation preparedness that each individual and family need to understand and embrace if we are to learn anything from the experience of others.
1) Essential life-sustaining bug-out-bag. This is a project where you can take the time to make sure all the essentials are safely packed away in a backpack for each family member. The items would include water, food, emergency light and heat, shelter and first aid just to name a few of the basics. Each kit should have enough food and water to last f
or at least 72 hours. Personalize each backpack to the needs of the individual.
What is equally critical is where you keep your bug-out-bags. If you store them away somewhere in the basement or garage where they eventually get covered up by stored Christmas decorations or miscellaneous “junk” we accumulate over time, under a panic scenario, we may not be able to locate them.
Make sure they are in a closet or room close to an outside door and check them often to make sure any expired items are replaced and they are easily accessible to everyone in the household. Now everyone knows exactly where to go to get and take the essentials of survival.
2) Important and meaningful documents and items. This area can be quite a bit more involved and time consuming depending on the number of items you choose to include in this category. This is definitely an area that cannot be left till the last moment of you will potentially spend all your precious little time trying to locate just one or two items.
The best method I’ve seem is an old-school approach that can easily be modified or updated to reflect what’s most important to you. It all revolves around the simple 3X5 cards we’re all very familiar with.
This is how it works: Enter each room of your house and list on a 3X5 card the items in that room that if possible, you’d want to take with you. Now you have to be careful and keep the list very brief. Remember, almost everything in your home can be replaced. So on you 3X5 card, list only the critical items in order of importance so if there’s only enough time to grab one item, the most important one is at the top of the list.
Make this a family project. Get everyone’s input and make sure everyone’s in agreement as to these additional important items. Review the location of each item. It may be helpful to list the specific location of each item on the card as well.
Now it’s essential to keep this card in its specific room in a location where’s it’s easy to find by everyone. Over time, you want need to update the items on each card. Every three to six months, it would be wise to go through a dry run with your family to make sure everyone not only knows where the bug-out bags are but understands how the 3X5 card system works.
Now, should a stressful emergency evacuation be required, you can with confidence assign each family member to be in charge of one or more rooms of the house and gather the items on the list. This will significantly increase your ability to remove all the most precious items from your house in the most organized fashion possible.
Don’t forget the gear bags! The last thing you want to have to deal with is how to carry all the additional items out of your house. You shouldn’t have an issue with your bug-out-bags as all of your survival gear is neatly packed inside a backpack. But what about all the other miscellaneous individual items you’ve listed on your 3X5 cards. You need a way to easily pack them up and haul them out of your house.
Keep an appropriately sized empty gear bag in each room that is designed specifically to hold the items listed on the 3X5 card. This will greatly speed up the process of gathering and removing everything that’s important to you.
Through the tragic events of these wildfires, we have one more opportunity to learn from the experience of others so we don’t need to deal with the painful consequences of not being properly prepared ourselves.
If you’re reading this blog, I’m assuming you have some level of interest in preparing for uncertain times. You may not consider yourself a “prepper” but none the less feel it’s prudent to carry a food insurance policy the same way you have life, health and auto insurance.
Even though inside you may feel yourself leaning towards becoming a prepper, the unfortunate sometimes negative connotation that term congers up in some people’s mind may be dissuading you from ever wanting to identify as such.
You don’t want to be looked at as a fanatic or a doomsayer. You simply want to do what you feel impressed to do by way of preparing for the potential of very difficult times ahead. If this is your goal, you must get the rest of your family onboard if you want your prepping to truly make sense.
Here’s a very important fact: you might think that you can take care of your family by yourself, but you can’t. At least, you can’t do it without their help. One person by themselves, trying to take care of a family of four or five people who don’t have a clue about how to survive is too much for anyone to take on.
What this means is that when that survival situation comes, family members have to actually help, not just sit around complaining because their smartphone isn’t working or because the Wi-Fi is out.
They’ll need to become active parts of your survival team; preferably active parts who actually know how to do something.
It’s About Attitude
Survival is more about attitude than anything else. If you look at any military manual on survival, it’s going to start out with a chapter or two talking about attitude. Think about that for a moment. The US military, which can spend whatever they need to in developing survival manuals, starts out by talking about attitude.
Why is that? Because they recognize the importance of attitude in survival. We see this in elite military forces as well, such as the Navy Seals. While Seals are superbly trained and honed to a fine edge, their biggest asset is that they don’t know how to quit. The Seal motto of, “The only easy day was yesterday” enshrines this attitude. They know that they go into the hard situations, because it takes a team with their dedication to get the job done.
Granted, you can’t make your family have the attitude you want to. That’s just not possible. Their attitude comes from their innermost being, and you can’t control that. But you can influence it; and you should. You should do whatever you can to impress the importance of survival and being ready to survive on them, without going so far overboard that you shove them away.
Start with a Family Meeting
A good place to start is with a family meeting, where you lay your cards on the table. This is where you want to make sure that they understand why you are a prepper (or maybe still a closet prepper). They may not like it; they may not want to be part of it; but they need to understand why.
Avoid getting overly dramatic in this meeting. Talking about simple disasters, like hurricanes, is much more effective than talking about the end of the world as you know it. Your goal is to get them on-board with the idea of being ready when any disaster strikes.
Train Them
You may never be able to convince your entire family to make the financial commitment necessary to start prepping. I seriously doubt that there are many teens in America today who would rather receive a survival kit or bug out bag for Christmas, than their favorite video game. You might get them excited about a new gun or even a hunting bow, but I doubt you’ll get them excited about a month’s worth of freeze-dried food.
But that’s not anywhere near as important as getting them interested in learning the necessary skills for survival. The right skills trump a huge stockpile any day, even though that stockpile can be very useful. In the long term, survival is more about knowing what to do, than having the stuff to do it with.
Many survival skills are actually fun and interesting to learn. Hunting, fishing, camping – those are all things that people enjoy doing.
Get Them the Gear
As I mentioned earlier, your family might not be as excited about you giving them survival gear and supplies as a gift. I’m not going back on that. But there’s nothing that says you can’t give them the survival gear and something that they’ll like as well.
I’ve given all my adult children emergency kits to keep in the trunks of their cars. I’ve also given them various small pieces of survival gear as stocking stuffers every year. In doing so, I’m getting them a little closer to being prepared. But I also give them other things, that I know they want, so that it’s not just about giving them what I think they should have.
Get Them Involved
I said something earlier about avoiding the drama. I’ve always tried to do that. Yes, prepping is a big deal and if we are ever faced with another disaster we have to survive, that will be a big deal too. But that doesn’t mean I have to make it a big deal before the fact. All that will do is alienate people who I need to get onboard.
My softer approach has gotten everyone in my family involved in prepping. We’re all in this together. It has taken time, but bit by bit, I’ve gotten them involved.
There are many interesting things in prepping; things that can even interest the non-prepper. Gradually, they’ve all been bitten by the prepping bug. It has taken time, but thank the Lord, we’ve had that time. Now I don’t have to just depend on what I’ve got here in my home to take care of my family, they’re starting to get with the program too.
When Will Your Family Be Ready?
Let me wrap this up by saying something you may not like. That is, your family is never going to be fully ready for a disaster. There’s really no such thing as being totally ready. Part of that is because none of us know what disasters we’re going to face.
All you can do is work on getting ready and getting your family ready, hoping that when the time comes, you will be ready enough.
Real life isn’t like an adventure story. You can be sure that when the time comes, you’ll find that there are key items you didn’t stockpile. But with enough training, you’ll be able to overcome that lack and still find a way to do everything you need to do.
So don’t worry; just do the best you can. That goes for your family as well. Don’t worry about how ready they are or how much onboard they are. Just do whatever you can to get them ready. The rest will happen, when it need to happen, whenever that might be.
Several years ago, I was a scout leader and loved to take the scouts on campouts. My son was not old enough to be a scout yet but I would take him with me regardless. I loved having my boy with me and felt it would be a great learning experience for him to associate with the older scouts and learn skills both from me and them as well.
Along with shelter building and starting a fire, there was another skill that was critical at every campout – latrine building. I know, typically for boys there is no need to build anything fancy – any bush will do. But in an attempt to keep the area clean and sanitary, building a proper latrine was critical.
I remember the first time I took my son on a campout with a friend of mine and his boys; he was around 4 years old. My son informed me he nee
ded to go to the bathroom. I simply told him to go find a tree and take care of business. His response kind of surprised me – he didn’t want to. I guess he’d never gone to the bathroom in the woods before and the thought it was not appealing.
After a little coaching and encouragement, he got the hang of it and it’s been hard to stop him ever since!
Then there are those occasions when you’re in the hills and your digestive tract lets you know you have very little time to get prepared for what is about to happen. That’s when you realize you didn’t prepare for such an event and you don’t have any toilet paper. Such events can be quite uncomfortable but they can also teach you valuable lessons.
It’s been said that toilet paper will be worth its weight in gold when it’s in very short supply. I don’t think this is far from the truth. Toilet paper is a modern luxury that people tend to take for granted until the moment they reach for it and find nothing but a cardboard roll. When that happens, they would gladly pay top dollar for a few squares. I remember having to pay several dollars to a toilet paper scalper in Tijuana, Mexico when my young daughter insisted she couldn’t hold it any longer.
You know you’ve been there. Of course, all you have to do is waddle around the house until you find some more toilet paper or at least some paper towels. But what if you don’t have any more? What would you do then?
This is why it’s important to store plenty of toilet paper. But that’s not enough. What if the crisis lasts a long time and you run out? What if you have to abandon your home? What if your toilet paper is destroyed by flood or fire? In case that happens, you’ll need to consider some substitutes for toilet paper.
Here’s a list of possible alternative to our beloved toilet paper. It wouldn’t hurt to try these out so you’ll know what to expect.
1) Any Kind of Paper
We’ll get the most obvious one out of the way first. If you don’t have any toilet paper, just use another kind of paper. Paper towels, newspapers, phone books, notebook paper, printer paper, envelopes, etc. Look around the house and see what you can find. (By the way, most magazines don’t work very well because of the gloss coating.) It’s always best if your crinkle up the paper first by wadding it up a couple of times. This will make the paper softer and more absorbent.
2) Wipes
Before you start yanking paper out of your printer, wrack your brain and look for any wet wipes or baby wipes in the house. If you do, they make great toilet paper.
3) Sponge
These were used in Roman times. When the people finished, they would wash the sponge with water and vinegar so they could reuse it later. But even if you do this, damp sponges are still breeding grounds for bacteria. If you go this route, you’ll need to either boil the sponge or soak it in bleach water before rinsing it out and using it again.
4) Rock (Yes, a Rock)
But not just any rock. You’ll have to find a smooth, flat (but not sharp) rock like the one in the picture (it’s not as big as it looks). With it you can do what’s known as the “scrape method,” which was very popular in ancient societies. Stir the rock in water to remove excess debris before scraping again.
5) Water
In many countries, toilet paper is unheard of, and instead, people wash with water. To do this, use a plastic cup or another pouring device. Fill it with warm water, pour it into your cupped left hand, and do the necessary cleaning.
Obviously, you’ll want to wash your hands thoroughly when you’re done. You could also use an irrigation bottle so you can spray the area clean without having to touch it as much.
6) Cloth
This method is more accurately referred to as “family cloth” and is used by people who are trying to be as frugal and/or eco-friendly as possible. The idea is to use cloth rags to wipe yourself, and then wash them afterward so you can continually reuse the fabric.
Soft fabric from old flannel diapers or nightgowns works best for this, but you can also use towels, washcloths, or even old T-shirts. Whatever you chose, simply rip the fabric into suitable sizes and trim them with pinking shears to prevent fraying.
Used in connection with the water method mentioned above, this could be an effective way to get by without toilet paper indefinitely. Just make sure the fabric doesn’t accidentally get flushed down the toilet.
Instead, put it in a sealed container next to the toilet and once you have enough for a load of laundry, wash them. But don’t mix them with your regular laundry.
7) Corn Husks
Because the pioneers grew and harvested so much corn, corn husks were one of their most popular toilet paper options. The leaves, when green, are relatively soft and a good size for bathroom or outhouse use. They can be dried for using during the winter months, and if that’s too rough you can always soak them in water to soften them again before use.
8) Plant Leaves
If none of the above options are available, or if you have to bug out to the wilderness and use up all the toilet paper in your bag, you may have to turn to nature’s toilet paper: leaves. There are several types of leaves that are large enough that they can be a great alternative to toilet paper.
Maple Leaves
Specifically from the broadleaf maple. The leaves are large, don’t have irritable hairs, and are easily identifiable in the woods. Maples also produce an abundance of leaves, as anyone who has had to rake up after a maple tree can testify. Broadleaf and Sugar maples have the largest leaves, but in a pinch a mountain or vine maple could also be used, though the small leaves of these varieties would be awkward for an adult to use.
Mullein Leaves
This low growing, biennial plant flourishes in dry and sandy soils. Its leaves are a fair size and coated with a soft fuzz. The fuzz can be an irritant or a benefit, so use caution when using this plant and wash with water if irritation develops.
Large Leaved Aster
Also known as “lumberjack toilet paper,” and for good reason. The large, smooth, heart-shaped leaves are perfect for wiping, and the plant can be found in abundance across the eastern United States and Canada.
Cottonwood Leaves
Specifically, the larger leaved variety. It has smooth leaves that would make the perfect emergency toilet paper. The leaves are a little on the tough side, so they won’t tear during wiping. Cottonwood also has a bit of an anti-pain effect, and the leaves can be used for things like emergency bandages as well.
Hazelnut Leaves
Hazelnut also makes good emergency toilet paper, though they’re slightly on the small side. Also, they have a bit of fuzz on them which could potentially be irritating for people with sensitive skin. They’re very soft and completely non-toxic.
There are several other types of leaves that could be used for toilet paper such as dandelion and others, but before you use them or any of the leaves mentioned above, make sure you have real-world experience identifying them in the wild.
Back in 2005 when hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area with a vengeance, my son and I happened to be in the area for business. Are we experienced the devastating force of that hurricane, we learned firsthand many valuable lessons of how to survive as well as the dark side of human behavior.
There were several miracles that occurred that made it possible for us to escape the area after the hurricane hit. One of the very sad images I still can clearly see is a group of people huddled in a hotel lobby waiting for the government to rescue them. We had a hard time understanding why these people didn’t just take the matter in their own hands and figure out a solution to the problem as my son and I were doing.
I came across this article I wanted to share that does a great job in addressing why one should never rely on the government to save one’s family in the event of a major disaster.
“Hello, I’m from the government and I am here to help…”
If these words sum of your survival “plan,” you should go on ahead and start kissing your loved ones good bye right now. The government is NOT prepared, and by the time their underlings start rolling down your street, it will likely be to take and not give, supplies.
The government is not prepared to render aid to all American people immediately after a national disaster strikes, and beyond. The massive stockpile of food, potable water, and medicine you might think the government has to distribute, simply does not exist.
The aftermath of natural disasters in 2017 alone proves that the problems with getting aid to emergency sights is not just a lack of available stockpiles, but also involves budgetary and logistical hurdles as well. Local and state governmental entities will be as overly taxed as federal agencies, and equally hampered by a lack of resources, funds, ability to reach areas in either the immediate or surrounding, disaster area.
In all likelihood, when the government does arrive in your neighborhood, it may be to find more essential resources to keep itself and “top priority” areas going. Your guns could be the first thing to go, especially if martial law has been declared. The redistribution of vital materials, “for the public good” should be something we all are thinking about as we prep….and covertly store our preps.
Disaster Warnings
How much of a warning the government has before disaster strikes will directly impact both the amount of aide that can be distributed and how long it will take to deliver. Having time to coordinate with state, regional, county, and local governmental entities and businesses that sell fuel, food, and water, will increase the possibility that aide could arrive within days or weeks, if the disaster is not a nationwide event.
The chance of having more than a 24 hour warning before disaster strikes is likely only going to happen if the incident is sparked by a weather related event, like a hurricane, tornado, or flooding. The ability to detect solar flares before they happen has only existed for about two decades and is still not perfected.
Do not count on the Emergency Alert System (formerly known as the Emergency Broadcast System) to utter more than a single warning before a SHTF incident – if that. The once simplistic emergency response system went high tech about a decade ago…making it incredibly vulnerable to cyber hackers.
Terrorists who are able to hack into the EAS could potentially send out false information to not only the general public, but to the first responders who would be rushing into ground zero to help in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Ponder for a moment, how much more devastating the 9/11 attacks or the Boston Marathon bombing could have been had the first responders intentionally been given false information – or instructions designed to lure them to an area for stage two of a terror attack to take place.
If the power grid goes down, as would happen during a solar flare, EMP, nuclear attack, or catastrophic natural disaster near Washington, DC, the ability to enact the Emergency Alert System might not exist.
The change over from the Emergency Broadcast System to the high tech Emergency Alert System permits the President of the United States to tap into a direct link to the EAS to issue an alert. To date, no president has conducted a live test on the new system, so whether or not it works or how hard it would be to hack, is basically unknown. Some security tech experts maintain hacking into the EAS system would not take the skills of a seasoned cyber hacker. If a hacker garners access to the root server of the Emergency Alert System, the ability to thwart or alter warnings messages, has been gained.
Governmental Priorities
The government’s first priority will not be to feed, house, and render medical aid to the American people. Maintaining order will be the number one priority of all levels of government during and after a SHTF disaster. If our freedom must be infringed upon to get the task completed, that is what will be done. One of the most revered presidents in the history of the United States did just that, and we now celebrate his birth with a day off of work every year.
President Abraham Lincoln has long been heralded for saving the union during the Civil War. He may have done that, but the Constitution was trampled upon to achieve the lofty goal. There is a distinct reason many Southerners refer to what happened between 1861 and 1865 as the “War of Northern Aggression,” and they do not have anything to do with cherishing the abhorrent act of owning other human beings.
Contrary to what most public school history textbooks tell you, the Civil War began brewing not over slavery, but after more than a decade of tariffs being levied upon the South alone. Politicians of the 1800’s were no different than their modern counterparts when it came to holding onto power and money to spend that was not their own. Prior to taking a vote on secession, President Lincoln had the entire Maryland State Legislature arrested.
To keep America intact and collecting increasingly high export tariffs, the Constitution was violated in the following ways by Lincoln during the Civil War:
1) The Navy was ordered to blockade domestic ports. Such an act must be ordered by Congress, but during the Civil War the president usurped the power of the governing body in an effort to starve the South into submission.
2) President Lincoln ordered the military attack on Fort Sumter without congressional approval and refused to call Congress back into formal session after the attack has taken place. Sumter was not just any fort, it was a primary tariff collection depot.
3) General William Tecumseh Sherman was issued an order by President Lincoln to embark on his march to the sea – burning down whole towns (including hospitals) and “requisitioning” food and other goods from Southern residents, as he saw fit.
4) Lincoln again circumvented Congress when he suspended the writ of habeas corpus. This allowed the arrest of Americans without bothering to file a criminal charge against them – and to hold them without the benefit of a trial indefinitely. When ordered by the United States Supreme Court to immediately restore the writ of habeas corpus. Lincoln not only ignored the mandate without consequence, he ordered the arrest of the justice who dared to issue it. Approximately 20,000 Americans were arrested after the writ was suspended during the Civil War.
5) More than 300 newspapers, the only form of a free press at the time, were either commandeered and then shuttered, by order of President Abraham Lincoln. Some of the publishers and editors of the newspapers who reported negative articles about the handling of the Civil War, were arrested for merely exercising their right to free speech.
The very protections our Founding Fathers wrote into the Constitution to forever prevent a loss of freedom or for tyranny to rear its ugly head in America, were cast aside by a single man and then soundly forgotten by the history books.
If you think such a thing could not happen again, for the sake of keeping order, you would be delusional. The government will once again be acting in the ends justify the means mode during a SHTF scenario.
What We Should Expect The Government To Do In An Effort To Maintain Order
● Declare martial law
● Impose a curfew
● Restrict movements of Americans – enter the definite possibility of FEMA camps here!
● Requisition all functioning vehicles, or even horses, if the SHTF disaster was caused by an EMP or solar flare.
● Take control of the food supply
● Suspend the writ of habeas corpus…again
● Shut down the free press
The effective mission statement on FEMA’s own website should be viewed as a harbinger of what to expect during a large-scale disaster:
“A secure and resilient nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk.”
I can just about guarantee you folks that rural areas will not be anywhere near the top priority list for recovery aid during and after a doomsday disaster. When the agents from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA show up in rural areas where most preppers live, they will be looking for food – because this is where is grown and raised, and for guns, because we have the highest percentage of ownership on a geographic scale.
Who will be the government decision makers after a SHTF disaster? That question has far too many variables to offer even an educated guess. We could be way down the presidential line of succession after a doomsday disaster. The HMIC could be the director of the Department of Transportation or the deputy director of Bureau of Land Management – in essence, an unelected appointee with less experience than a small town mayor, when it comes to managing a population of any size
I am not one prone to conspiracy theories. My description of the typical government response is based upon past precedent, agency priorities, and logic. The government will not think it’s out to get you, but protect you while maintaining order for the “public good.” That, my dear fellow preppers, is the recipe for a freedom-infringing and very dangerous scenario, indeed.
Source: https://modernsurvivalonline.com/dont-wait-for-government-to-save-you/
Being prepared for an uncertain future is much more than just having a little extra food and water stored. There are so many possible trigger points in today’s world that preparedness needs to become a mindset and not just a something to check off your to-do list. When one embraces the need to make preparedness a life-long process and not just an event, then one truly becomes an asset rather than a liability. I’m afraid far too many are relying on the government or others to rescue them in times of need. It may be helpful to take the time to consider possible events that one could face in the next five years.
Natural Disasters (weather related)
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Heavy thunder storms
Flash flooding
Mud/rock slides
High winds
Hail
Severe winter weather
Avalanche
Extreme high heat
Drought
Wildfire
Natural Disasters (non-weather related)
Earthquake
Volcano eruption
Tidal wave/Tsunami
Man-made Disasters
War (conventional, biological, chemical or nuclear)
Toxic material emission or spill (from a train, semi-truck or nearby plant)
Riot or other civil disorder
Nuclear plant melt down or other nuclear disaster
Terrorism Fire
Government action against you
Stock market crash
Severe depression
Plague or disease outbreak
Personal Emergencies
Kidnapping
Mugging, robbery or other criminal attack
Unemployment
Financial disaster
Death in family
Home destroyed by fire
Random acts of violence
This is certainly not a definitive list of possible events that could create a need to rely on your preps, but it’s a good starting point. As you consider these possibilities, you may also want to consider the underlying purpose for your preps – that of basic survival. If your preps will not provide the essentials of basic survival, you will want to re-think your priorities.
When it comes to survival, it can be reduced to “The Rule of Three”. You may be military, firefighter, law enforcement, rescue worker or just plain folk with an inordinate amount of common sense. Regardless, it never hurts to revisit the basics. And all of the basics can be summed up in ”The Rule of Three” which says, absent sudden death (such as an accident) or terminal illness, your survival is generally contingent upon you not exceeding:
3 minutes without breathing (drowning, asphyxiation)
3 hours without shelter in an extreme environment (exposure)
3 days without water (dehydration)
3 weeks without food (starvation)
Starvation
Most preppers‘ are stocking food. You will note that starvation is the slowest form of death among the Rule of Three. You would likely have three weeks before you starve. Your level of physical exertion has an impact on the body‘s caloric requirements. Personally, I might survive starvation for five or six weeks as I‘m carrying a lot of extra weight (just in case!). Don‘t call me over weight, call me prepped! Keep in mind, your survival strategy must consider the likelihood of you being separated from your food supply in an emergency. When that happens, stay calm, focus on any immediate threats or hazards and remember that you have three weeks to implement Food Plan B or Plan C. You do have a Food Plan B and Plan C, don‘t you?
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs much more quickly than starvation. As such, water supply is much more critical to address in an emergency. Consider that in a temperate climate and without exertion, the human body requires approximately 2.5 liters of fluids per day. In extreme heat this requirement goes up significantly. Diarrhea can lead to rapid, catastrophic dehydration as well. Given that water is far bulkier to store and/or transport than food, and that dehydration is potentially a far more pressing concern than starvation, your ability to procure water in an emergency should supplant food in your ranking of survival priorities. Stated simply, water is far more important than food. What is your home-base plan for water? What is your mobile plan for water?
Exposure
Exposure occurs far more rapidly than dehydration. Hot or cold, you could find yourself unable to function in less than three hours. Immersion in cold water, such as breaking through ice, could reduce your time to act down to mere minutes. So what‘s your shelter strategy when you‘re away from home-base? In the north, temperatures can fall to minus 40 F in the winter. If you have an accident on a slick road late at night in such conditions, you will likely not be waking up ever again unless you have prepared for such an eventuality. Exposure kills in hours, or less. Countering exposure is your number two priority for survival in any emergency situation. Yet most preppers are not thinking about exposure while stocking their pantries. Prepare for exposure.
Asphyxiation
Asphyxiation kills in three minutes. This is the emergency situation that gives you the least amount of time to react for your survival. This is your Priority One survival issue. An interior fire is the most common cause of asphyxiation. Do you have a home escape plan in the event of a fire? If not, make one – it might save your life. Unless you‘ve been in a burning building, I guarantee that you cannot imagine how blinding the smoke is nor how quickly a structure can become fully engulfed. If you have children, periodic rehearsal of the escape plan is mandatory. In the unthinkable event of a fire, panic is inevitable. Rehearsal helps to moderate the flight reaction, which might otherwise lead to death.
While fire is a common cause, there are other causes of asphyxiation worth your consideration such as carbon monoxide poisoning – usually from a combustion source in the home. This has also occurred in vehicles stranded in snowstorms. Vehicles were left running so the heaters would work and accumulating snow shrouded the tailpipe resulting in vehicle exhaust entering the passenger compartment.
Other poisonous fumes can cause asphyxiation as well. Tanker trucks, rail cars, chemical and other industrial plants often have hazardous materials that, in an emergency situation, could cause you grave bodily harm if exposed.
Take some time with your family and review “The Rule of Three” as it might relate to a variety of emergency situations. Assuring our families have the understanding and skills necessary to survive life threatening occurrences will provide peace of mind that we’ve done what matters most as we continue with our life-long process of being prepared.
I was concerned to learn Nicolas Maduro had just won his second six-year term as president of Venezuela. There is so much corruption, greed and lack of concern for the Venezuelan people that the country may implode at any time. Inflation is through the roof, the lack of food and basic supplies is putting the populati
on into starvation. And now, even the military is beginning to desert due to lack of food.
I came across this interesting article in the Associated Press by Fabiola Sanchez entitled “Empty Stomachs Drive Venezuela Soldiers to Desert in Droves” that describes the real life threatening dilemma even the military is facing.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — He enlisted in Venezuela’s National Guard to earn a ticket out of poverty. But little more than two years later, his monthly pay is worth only about $2, forcing him to moonlight at a tire shop, and he has put in for a discharge.
“I don’t know what everybody else does to survive,” said Ruben, a 21-year-old sergeant, who fearing retaliation agreed to speak about his situation only if his last name was not revealed. “If I don’t get out of this, I’ll starve to death.”
Not even Venezuela’s once-proud military is immune to the oil-rich country’s deepening economic crisis of food shortages and skyrocketing prices, and while top commanders deny there is any discontent, analysts say thousands of soldiers are asking for honorable discharges or deserting their posts by simply walking away.
Since taking office after the death of Hugo Chavez, his mentor who installed Venezuela’s socialist administration, President Nicolas Maduro has sought to lock in support from the armed forces by pampering troops with outsized bonuses and awarding loyal officers with top government posts.
He is counting on the backing of the military to ride out any turbulent reaction if he is declared the winner of Sunday’s presidential election, which has been condemned by much of the international community for barring some of his leading critics from running.
But as Venezuela quickly goes broke and hyperinflation pulverizes the paychecks of civilians and soldiers alike, discontent is penetrating the barracks, raising doubts whether the troops will remain trustworthy as their stomachs growl.
With the opposition defeated and the economy worsening at the hand of the increasingly authoritarian government, many Venezuelans — as well as the Trump administration — are looking more to the military, which has historically stepped in as the calming hand during moments of political crisis.
Ruben, thin and downcast, spoke to The Associated Press after crossing the street from Caracas’ sprawling Fort Tiuna after handing in his discharge papers, copies of which he still had in a manila folder under his arm.
He said he couldn’t feed his pregnant wife and 2-year-old son on his National Guard pay. He sought work changing tires on days off, earning double the roughly $2 a month he takes home from the military. He said he plans to make the side job fulltime once he is discharged.
He’s hardly alone.
On the Caribbean island of Margarita, soldiers in olive green uniforms and rifles slung over their shoulders openly wander the market each morning begging merchants for fruits and vegetables.
In the western city of Maracaibo, Ruth Bravo, 21, said she sent her husband into the army for food benefits so she and her two young children could eat. But such help seldom comes, forcing her to beg on the streets each day for survival.
Even the rations served in military mess halls have dramatically diminished in size and quality. To compensate, soldiers are often given leave several hours during the day to hunt for meals off base, several told the AP.
Soldiers once made up a privileged class at the height of Venezuela’s oil boom under Chavez, who himself was a former tank commander. They had access to quality housing, cars and home appliances at subsidized prices.
But the largesse has dried up under Maduro, who has tried to compensate by giving top-ranking officers an even bigger slice of power. They head nearly half of Venezuela’s ministries, including control of the primary food-supply program.
Most notably, six months ago Maduro named Maj. Gen. Manuel Quevedo to revive the state-run oil company, PDVSA, and its plummeting production though he had no previous experience in the industry.
The 150,000 men and women serving in Venezuela’s military are now the lowest paid in Latin America, with monthly salaries worth only to $2 to $12, said Rocio San Miguel, a Caracas-based military analyst. Base pay for troops in Colombia begins at $75, while soldiers in Mexico earn $300 to start.
Nobody knows exactly how many soldiers have deserted. But San Miguel and other experts say they number several thousand.
In addition to the economic strains, many soldiers fear being deployed again to hold back masses of angry protesters calling for a new government. Experts say desertions surged in 2017 as the National Guard clashed with anti-Maduro protesters almost daily for four months, leaving more than 140 people dead and hundreds more injured and arrested.
There has been a spike in court martials. A handful of soldiers and officers were jailed in 2017 on suspicion of various crimes, yet 90 have already been arrested so far this year, experts say.
Aging, paunchy generals regularly flank Maduro in televised events in a show of strength, but in private they are more inclined to grumble about his leadership, said Alonso Medina Roa, a lawyer who defends some of the military detainees.
Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who commands Venezuela’s armed forces as minister of defense, announced plans in March to bolster conditions for soldiers struggling with economic challenges. But he denied there was widespread unrest in the ranks and ridiculed rumors of a brewing military coup.
“The Bolivarian armed forces won’t be divided by anyone,” he said, speaking at the nation’s biggest base in the capital of Caracas.
Adm. Remigio Ceballos, head of the armed forces’ strategic command, denied any mass exodus of soldiers, emphatically telling the AP: “Not at all, that’s a lie.”
Families of soldiers paint a far grimmer picture.
Odalys Bermudez, wife of a National Guard sergeant, said she relies on “miracles” to feed her four children aged 5 to 12. Some days, the gaunt 30-year-old borrows money from friends, or she sets up a makeshift shop outside her apartment near the military base in Maracay.
“I sell any little thing, whether it’s ice cream or cookies,” she said. “Anything I can get to fill the hole in my stomach.”
We can learn from the sad and difficult experiences of others. Living in a dream world convinced that similar things could never happen to us here in the United States is folly. As the Venezuelan people are now experiencing, there is nothing more valuable than food to feed one’s family – absolutely nothing! Now is the time to prepare, not after the need has arisen.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/empty-stomachs-drive-venezuela-soldiers-desert-droves-041847163.html
I have one of the most wonderful mother-in-law’s I could have ever hoped for (and I’m not just saying that because I fear she may read this). She loves having her family around her and has always treated me as one of her own sons. She runs a tight ship and insists on having everything in its place and order is paramount. This is why there’s been one thing that’s been very difficult for me to reconcile through the years, namely that of warm milk! Yes, you heard me right, warm milk.
You see, my wife has six siblings and now that they’re all married, when we get together there’s quite a crowd. Whenever we eat as a group and milk is part of the buffet, often the milk jug is left out on the counter for hours. Now I don’t know about you, but when I pour a glass of milk, I expect it to be ice cold. I love cold milk. Now on the other hand, for me there’s nothing worse that expecting a crisp, cold swig of milk and end up with a mouthful of room temperature milk. If I were alone, I would definitely spit it out.
Now with today’s technology, we’re very accustom to our dairy, produce and meat products coming out of the fridge cold. But what if we didn’t have a fridge or our fridge didn’t work, how would we keep our food cold and keep it from spoiling?
Well, one way to address this problem is to look at how our forefathers kept things cold. In England in Victorian times and before (and probably in other countries too) not everyone could afford the luxury of delivered ice – and anyway poorer people could only afford to shop for the bare necessities every day and these got quickly gobbled up by the much larger households of the time!
What people needed was a safe place to store food overnight or until mealtime. This was usually called a ‘cool pantry.’ The pantry was often located on the coldest (North) facing wall of the house/cottage, and often had a tiny window high up. This window was often protected by a sort of metal sieved screen to keep the flies out. On the inside, the walls where shelved, and on the shelves were kept perhaps a jug of milk or cream, cheese in a specially shaped china wedge, perhaps a ham or other cold meat, rashers of bacon, a pot of butter or a few slices of cold pie or brawn. The cooler temperatures in there would have been enough to keep the food cool for 2/3 days (we probably wouldn’t risk it nowadays!)
Before electricity, there were a few different ways of keeping food before refrigerators. Most recently (just before modern refrigerators became very common) people used iceboxes. These were like refrigerators but instead of being cooled electrically, they were cooled by having actual ice in them.
Before that was available, people had cool cellars and some had ice houses where ice could be stored (under sawdust or straw) and kept cool for much of the year. These places could keep some food cool.
But mostly, in those days, food was preserved some other way – by smoking, salting, or drying it.
Most houses used to be built with cellars. A cellar was dark and cool, and food could be kept there so it wouldn’t spoil. People also canned fruits and vegetables, and preserved meats in barrels with salt. The wealthy had ice houses, where they stored ice and they were also cellars. They would have an icebox in the house, and put the blocks of ice in there.
If one lived close to a stream, placing some food items in a screened container in the cool stream water would offer the refrigeration needed to preserve many food items while keeping animals from eating the food.
But what if you don’t have a cool cellar or access to ice or a cool stream, how then could you practically keep food at least cool if not cold. The answer is evaporation. Check out these videos on how you can make your own evaporative cooler called a Zeer Pot to help preserve your food.
It may be worth your time to spend a few dollars and pick up some unglazed terracotta pots and experiment with your own Zeer Pot refrigerator now so you’ll know what you options and limitations are in the event of an off-grid survival situation.
A wicked wind storm blew through our area last spring with winds over 70 mph. There was significant damage to roofs and trees in throughout our neighborhood and community. A large section of shingles blew off our roof and one of our mature 40 foot weeping willow trees was blown over. It was a real mess everywhere.
As a result of the storm, the power was off for about 12 hours. Now since it was spring time, temperatures were mild and the lack of power was in no way life threatening. What did become evident very quickly was just how dependent we are on electricity for virtually everything in our lives.
You know what it’s like when you forget to wear your wristwatch and you are constantly looking at your wrist throughout the day expecting to see the time and then are quickly reminded, you aren’t wearing a watch. The same thing happened to us during that 12 hour period of time. We were constantly flipping switches, simply out of habit, expecting lights or appliances to work.
Yes, it was aggravating and frustrating at times but we knew the inconvenience was only temporary. Then the thought came, “What if it was permanent?” What if electricity was a convenience of the past and we had to learn to survive without it? How would we survive or could we?
Unfortunately, our electrical grid is susceptible to a variety of threats that could disrupt the flow of electricity for many months to many years. They range from natural disasters, terrorist attacks and an EMP, an EMP attack being the most devastating.
A great book to read detailing the traumatic conditions following an EMP attack is “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen who has a Ph.D. from Purdue University with specializations in Military History and the History of Technology.
It is estimated that 90% of the population of the United States would perish in the first year after a nation-wide EMP attack primarily due to the lack of food. So what is an EMP and how can we prepare?
EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse, which is considered a short burst of electromagnetic radiation. This kind of burst can come from a variety of sources, including our own sun, but in this case we’re talking about a pulse from a nuclear detonation that occurs at an extremely high altitude.
As nuclear physicist Dr. Yousaf Butt explains, these pulses affect everything in line of sight of the nuclear blast. For example, a blast at 60 miles up can affect a 700-mile radius on Earth.
EMP bombs do not cause casualties directly. The blast happens much too far away from people. Their power comes from interfering, disrupting, or damaging electronic equipment. That could mean power grids going down, cars and planes losing power, computer systems going berserk, and possibly even losing emergency backup power at facilities like hospitals.
Here’s a great video describing the details of an EMP attack and the probability of just such an event.
Unfortunately, if there was only one word that could describe what an EMP attack on the United States would be like, ‘devastating’ would be it. One of the thoughts that cross many prepper’s minds is what electronic devices will work after an EMP attack. The rest of your life would literally change following an EMP attack. That is not an exaggeration because life would literally return to the Dark Ages.
Should an EMP device be detonated high enough in the atmosphere, the entire power grid across most of North America would collapse. What does this mean for you?
It means there will be no more electricity. It means your TVs, computers, and phones will no longer work. It means your cars most likely won’t. It means airplanes would no longer work and could fall from the sky. Electronic banking would no longer be possible. The supply trucks would stop rolling. The economy would collapse.
And when that happens, you can guarantee there will be chaos. The once peaceful and delicate community you live in now will become a war zone. People will take to the streets looting all the stores and restaurants and businesses in the area.
The normal people you once knew could become savages. Many may turn on one another for food and supplies. Organized raiding parties would form and prey on the innocent. Every single second of your life would be focused on survival and keeping an eye out for threats. What’s worse is this catastrophe is not something that could be solved in a short time period.
The United States is woefully under prepared for an EMP attack. Even the most conservative estimates are that it would take at least TEN YEARS for the country to recover. During that time, over 90% of the American population would die due to starvation, dehydration, disease, murder, and suicide.
This is what would happen when literally nothing works. No more electronics, no more power, no more heat and electricity, no more vehicles, no more internet, no more cell service.
If you want an almost surefire way of knowing what will work after an EMP attack in regards to electronic items, using a Faraday cage at the time of the EMP blast is your best bet. Named after Michael Faraday, a scientist who lived in Great Britain in the 1800s, a Faraday cage is simply any container or enclosure that can shield the contents inside from an electromagnetic field. Faraday cages are also incredibly cheap and easy to make using materials you likely already have.
For example, you can build a Faraday cage out of nothing more than a galvanized metal trash can and cardboard, or you can build one by covering a cardboard box with at least three layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. With both of these examples, wrap your electronic item in a towel and then in plastic wrapping before placing it into the cage for added protection.
Since you won’t be able to recharge your electronic item in a power outlet after an EMP, invest in a solar charger to go with it.
Does a Faraday cage guarantee that your phone or laptop will still work after an EMP? No, but it greatly increases the likelihood, and for that reason alone is worth building.
An electromagnetic pulse attack upon the United States would be very bad no matter how you slice it. But you can become more prepared by stocking up on items that will work after an EMP attack. So while your car may not work, an older model of car may. While your phone or laptop won’t work after an EMP, protecting it in a Faraday cage may be able to save it. While you won’t be able to access information online anymore, you can still access the same information through physical copies of books.
Please take the time now to learn more about the possibility and effects of an EMP so you can be properly prepared. If you had to choose just one thing to do to prepare for such an event, securing enough food for your family for as long as you can afford would be the absolute best action to take. Remember, the vast majority of deaths are not a result of the lack of electricity but the lack of food. Having sufficient food reserves for your family will help shield against almost any potential event or disaster.
Source: https://lifehacker.com/what-is-an-emp-bomb-1820610036
