28 Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Notes

28 Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Notes

This page is presented to give our customers some ideas

about preparing for emergency or disaster situations.

First let me say that I am no whiz on this topic, there are

many people out there who know a lot more than I do.

I will float ideas about equipment, supplies and offer my own opinions.

There are other sources much better suited for learning how to use

these items.

Please take everything you see on the internet, including this page,

and use some common sense to see if it sounds accurate.

Many people are more than willing to give you advice, be it on-line,

in print form or face to face.

You and yours are the ones to suffer if the advice is wrong - not the

"expert" who was giving it.

To prepare means to make or get ready before it is needed.

It does not mean to make or get ready after things go sour.

My mother always said "Don't leave the house without a clean

handkerchief." Well, I am in my fifties and there is a clean hanky

in my back pocket. She never needed to mention clean underwear

as that went without saying.

Being prepared does not mean buying some items and throwing

them in the closet or garage. The time to learn how to use emergency

equipment, techniques and supplies is now, not when someone is

bleeding, freezing, thirsty, hungry or just plain scared.

The time to find out if what you have will work in a crisis is now.

There are many kinds of disasters we face: ice and snow storms,

hurricanes, floods and out here in California - earthquakes.

Emergency situations can last from a day, and in some cases, like a

big earthquake, can last for weeks.

Priorities are of the utmost importance.

If you are into camping or backpacking, many of the items you already

have and know how to use can be of value in an emergency situation.

At the bottom of this page will be some links to companies that sell

and/or manufacture products that we have and can recommend.

This is my list in order of importance.

First Aid, a person can bleed to death in a few seconds.

Shelter, exposure to the elements can cause permanent injury

or death in a short period of time.

Water, you cannot live long without water.

Heat, you need it to cook with and in adverse weather conditions

it will be needed immediately for survival.

Food, depending on one's health, physical exertion and the

environment, you can survive for days without food.

First Aid

My suggestion, take a first aid and and C.P.R. course.

This will give you a starting point as to what to do in an

emergency. It will also help in deciding what supplies to

have on hand. If you, or anyone in your family takes prescription

medications, please consider that pharmacies may be out of

commission for a while.

Adverse weather can also keep you from getting to the pharmacy.

This includes planning for your pets.

Some first-aid supplies have a limited shelf life, please take this

into your planning.

Shelter

Do you have warm clothes, sleeping bags, extra blankets or maybe

space blankets (those metalized plastic sheets)?

In the case of an emergency where homes and buildings are toppled

it might be nice to know how to make an emergency shelter.

Heavy painters plastic drop-cloths, an axe or hatchet, a coarse toothed

wood/pruning saw and regular wood working tools might come in handy.

Don't forget some rope and heavy cord.

Along the lines of shelter, folks living in areas which are very cold and

are subject to power outages might consider this:

Many heating systems will not work without electricity, even though a

supply of propane, natural gas, wood pellets or heating oil is available.

Now is the time to consider a backup power source to run your heating

system as wll as to contact a licensed electrician to find out about the

installation of an electrical sub-panel and transfer switch dedicated to

your heating system.

One suggestion would be to use a gasoline, diesel or propane

powered generator outside.

Another is to use a battery charger to maintain a battery bank in a

safe location which would power up a d.c. to a.c. inverter.

If you choose this route, make sure that the inverter will safely operate

the motor and controls on your heating system. Some heating

systems are very sensitive in the quality of incoming power.

Water

Storing water.

My first suggestion is to store drinking water. A simple way is use

empty bleach bottles (don't rinse them out) and fill them with water

and squirrel them away. You can find sources that say the water

will keep from two to ten years. I will keep my opinion to myself.

There are commercial water preservatives available.

Collapsible five gallon plastic water containers are worth looking

into if you are planning to be on the move during an emergency.

If you have the room, new fifty-five gallon food grade plastic drums

are available from on-line retailers and auctions - make sure they

are unused. Just put some chlorine or a water storage treatment

product in the drum and fill it with clean tap water. Drum pumps,

bulb-type siphon pumps and simple siphons (using plastic tubing

and a foot valve) are available from twelve to twenty-five dollars.

To over-state the obvious, locate your drum out of the elements (if

outside, out of the sun) before filling it. A full drum can weigh around

450 pounds. If there is a chance that the drum will freeze, fill it to

about 85% capacity. This will reduce the chances of the drum splitting

if frozen.

Obtaining water.

This is more problematic. Using a solar still, water can be pulled

from damp soil, vegetation and urine. This method is very

dependent on available sunshine, ambient temperature and water

content of the soil / plant matter. Even commercially made solar

stills also have limited production capabilities and in my opinion,

this is a last ditch option.

If you are near surface fresh or salt water there are methods to

make it potable (drinkable). Plastic food grade flexible tubing,

collapsible containers and a hand pump are worth keeping in an

emergency kit.

Making water useable.

Boiling fresh water (check around to get boiling times) can kill most

organisms. Filtering water using activated charcoal/ceramic filters

can remove most, if not all, organisms and some man-made

contaminants. A solar still can help but is of limited capacity.

Stove-top distillers and water-makers which start with salt water or

questionable water are another option. Bear in mind that the stove

top units require fuel to product heat. When using a still, please

consider that light organics (such as petroleum products) can carry

over into the clean water output - this can be reduced by having a

corrugated bubble cap on the top of the still. The hand or battery

operated water makers, which start with salt water, use a membrane

and operate on reverse-osmosis which makes for a complicated

device that can require a lot of maintenance. Water purification

tablets are also available for use with fresh water.

Heat and Light

Now things become a little more complicated.

First off - any method that produces heat or light by burning

fuel consumes oxygen, and in most cases produces

carbon monoxide.

Another example of how I am a Master of the Obvious - we

need oxygen to breathe and carbon monoxide is a deadly

poison.

It is bad enough when we do something wrong and hurt

ourselves - it is much worse when we hurt others due to

our lack of smarts.

Heating and cooking.

There are many options for heating. Just make sure that the

method/device you are using is safe for indoor use or will only

be used outdoors.

The two fuels that come to mind are kerosene and propane.

Please read the following closely: in my opinion, white gas

appliances should not be considered for indoor heating,

even the catalytic type.

Heating.

Kerosene heaters have been around since the middle of the 1800's.

They have a tank which holds the fuel, a wick which draws the fuel

into a burning area and a protective housing. Many parts of the world

still use kerosene as a heating and cooking fuel. Kerosene heaters

used to be very common in the U.S. until "cheap" energy relegated

it to remote or specialty use.

There are many kerosene heaters available on the second hand

market, both used and new in the box. A few are still being

imported by on-line retailers.

Do not operate any type of heater near anything that will burn.

There are three basic types of kerosene heaters available.

The first, the blower type shop heater which is readily available and

has no place here as they use electricity and are made to heat

large areas using lots of fuel.

The next type is the portable convection heater which draws cool air

in the bottom, heats it and releases it through the top and sides.

This could also be called a space heater. They are available from

8,000 btu's to over 20,000 btu's.

We use a Kero-Sun "Moonlighter" which is about 8.700 btu's

and has a glass sleeve which allows you to see the flame and

produces a soft light. They look great and with a plastic wick guide,

changing the wick is a breeze.

We also use a Perfection heater and changing the # 500 wick is

very simple.

Please note that the Perfection heaters Do Not have a safety

cage around them. The heater housing gets hot and can burn

careless fingers.

Also, unlike most modern kerosene heaters, the Perfection heaters

Do Not have a safety shut off which is designed to retract the wick

if the heater is tipped over.

The third type, my favorite, is the radiant heater. It heats up a

chamber, metal or glass, and the heat is reflected out of the front

of the heater. These are especially nice as they heat people and

objects. We use an Alladin Tropic 281. It produces a lot of heat

where you want it. I have not changed the wick so I don't know how

difficult it is.

Kerosene heaters produce a lot of heat for the amount of fuel used.

Please remember, kerosene is flammable/combustable

and should always, let's say that again, always be stored

in a safe place.

The best kerosene to use is clear water-white (K-1) as it has less

impurities, will produce less smell and will give the longest life

to the heater's wick.

I avoid kerosene that has a red dye in it as this clogs up the wick.

We use a Mr. Funnel filter funnel which separates water and

particulates when fuel is poured through it.

Before purchasing a kerosene heater please check to see if

replacement wicks are available.

A few things to look at when purchasing a kerosene heater in person.

If the wick needs replacement the cost will run from seven to sixteen

dollars.

If it has electronic ignition, and the wiring is good, does the igniter

work - replacement ignitors run from four to six dollars.

Does the wick move up and down smoothly. Does the fuel gauge

work. Does the fuel tank leak.

If the fuel tank is removeable, does the valve leak when full and

inverted.

Look in the fuel tank for signs of rust. We also prefer using a

heater with a drip pan to help catch spills.

ONLY use kerosene fuel in a kerosene heater - NEVER use

gasoline or other light fuel products as you can wind up

with a worse disaster on your hands.

Propane heaters are another option. They are mostly available in

the radiant types with a few convection models being made.

Many use piezo-electric matchless lighting, matches should be on

hand in case the lighting mechanism fails.

You can use small 14 ounce bottles, 16 ounce bottles or larger

(refillable) twenty to forty pound tanks.

A propane radiant heater will, not can, get hot enough to

burn you. We have a 45,000 btu radiant heater on top of a

40 lb propane tank directed at our packing area. I have

charred my jacket a couple of times by not paying attention to

what I was doing.

Some radiant propane heaters can also be used as a stove.

These are specifically made for both heating and cooking.

A gentler form of propane heat would be a catalytic heater.

These have no open flame but should still be treated with care

as they have a hot surface.

Cooking.

My first fuel choice would be kerosene.

For cooking there are many options when utilities are unavailable.

There are a number of single burner stoves available (my favorite is

the Kero-Sun model K which is long out of production). Some are well

made and replacement wicks are available for most models.

One to three burner kerosene stoves are available but they are not

really portable.

Modern kerosene stoves are available which use one large wick,

and some use many small wicks for greater efficiency.

All of these should be looked at closely as the quality varies greatly.

Some kerosene heaters can be used to cook with. They are like the

multi-tool you carry in a belt pouch - they will work sort of okay but not

as well as a dedicated tool. Please don't send me e-mails of distress.

I have been carrying a multi-tool for years.

My second fuel choice would be alcohol based fuels.

Alcohol or Sterno (gelled alcohol) are probably the safest liquid or

semi-liquid fuels available.

Please note that alcohol fuels are poison and are not made

for consumption.

Alcohol fuels still consume oxygen but are well suited for indoor use.

Many ultra-lightweight backpacking stoves use alcohol.

A warning, an alcohol flame is invisible in bright light (that is one of

the reasons gasoline is added to alcohol motor fuels).

A down side to alcohol is that it does not have a lot of heat energy

per pound when compared to other liquid fuels.

At lower temperatures it does not perform as well as gasoline/

naptha fuels.

Origo alcohol stoves have been widely used in boating applications.

They are well made, reliable and do not use a pressurized fuel tank.

The model 1500 single burner is designed for use in a boat's galley

so it is a little heavy but I like it. Origo has also made a number of

alcohol stoves for camping and hiking, they even made a two burner

model that folds up like a Coleman stove.

An older Sterno stove is a good and inexpensive option when

considering this type of fuel. I prefer the older models as they

are more stoutly made than those commonly available.

In most cases a micro alcohol (ultra-light backpacking) stove

would not be recommended.

You can get plans on the internet for do it yourself alcohol

high efficiency stoves from new paint cans. The ones made

from soda cans are not recommended as they are easily

crushed and are designed for for small cooking applications.

My third choice is propane.

The safety and mechanical properties are the same as for

propane heaters.

When considering a propane stove, the amount of burners

needed will be dependent on the type of cooking and the

number of people you are providing for.

A suggestion, I would recommend that if you are considering

a propane stove that you look at older models which can be

found in excellent condition.

You would want to look closely at the connections, valves and

hoses if any for deterioration. Also check to see that all of the

parts come with the stove. I have seen a few beautiful mint

Primus and Bernzomatic stoves for sale that were missing parts.

The few current production stoves I have seen show less

quality than the older ones. We have a few one and two

burner propane stoves, the newest is twenty years old.

These older stoves are built like a tank. Their heavier

construction does add to the weight of the stove.

My fourth choice would be mult-fuel solid fuel stoves.

This would be the first choice for us but as solid fuel

stoves require some skill to light and keep running they

are down on the list as far as suggestions go.

There has just been an earthquake, hurricane or some

other disaster, but wait - all around you is wood, some

dry and some not so dry.

There are many types of solid fuel burning stoves available:

wood (leaves, twigs, charcoal and Esbit). Some use very

advanced burning techniques which I will not go into. Suffice

it to say than many are extremely efficient and produce little,

if any, smoke. Some even use an electric fan to increase

efficiency (I am not keen on battery operated stoves in an

emergency).

Again, practice with your solid fuel stove before you need it.

First off, Never use one of these indoors.

The following is a list of stoves I have used, handled or both.

You might want to do an internet search for more information.

Pyromid

PyroDuo

PyroBachi

Rocket Stove (portable)

Bush Buddy

Bush Wacker

Trail Stove

And there are many small backpacker stoves that can be

packed flat and assembled into a solid fuel or alcohol stove.

My fifth choice would be a white gas stove.

The upside of a white gas stove is that the fuel has lots of heat

output per pound and they work well in very cold environments.

The downsides are that the fuel is expensive, can be difficult to

find, very flammable, a leak can become a new disaster, the fuel

tank needs to be kept pressurized with a built-in pump which has

a seal that can either wear out or dry out.

NEVER use a white gas or automotive gas fueled stove or

lantern indoors.

There are conversion kits available which allow the use of

propane in some white gas stoves.

A note on dual-fuel and multi-fuel stoves.

Dual fuel usually means white gas or automotive gasoline.

Multi-fuel can mean white gas or automotive gasoline, but it

can also include kerosene. Some multi-fuel stoves that burn

kerosene require a generator (which pre-heats the kerosene

so it will ignite in the burner) - make sure it is included with

the stove. Most multi-fuel stoves need to be pre-heated when

using heavy fuels such as diesel. Some have a pre-heat pan

which uses liquid or paste alcohol. We have a couple that allow

you to dribble some of the fuel into a pan, light it and when it

just about burns away the burner should be hot enough to

volatize the fuel from the tank for proper burning.

My last choice would be solar cooking.

This is low on the list because they are bulky, depend on fairly

warm ambient air temperatures and on the available sunshine.

There are basically two types:

The solar oven which is an insulated box with a glass top and

sometimes has reflectors around the glass. The cooking container

is placed inside the box. These are sourt of though to keep aimed

at the sun for maximum heating.

The solar cooker has a fan (like an old-fashioned photographic

flash gun) of reflective plates or sheets. The cook pot or pan is

suspended at the focal point (where the sunlight reflecting from

the plates comes together) of the cooker. Some of these have

a pivot to keep the reflector assembly aimed at the sun.

I did not go into solid fuel tab stoves - they are nifty and compact

but the fuel is expensive and should only be used outdoors.

A note on extending your available cooking fuel.

You might want to look into hay-box type cookers for

"retained-heat" cooking.

You start cooking a pot of food and after five to twenty minutes

(depending on the food and container size) you pull it off the

stove and place the pot in a heavily insulated closed box

where it continues cooking on its own.

Lighting.

My first choice would be 12 or 24 volt d.c. lighting

Only a couple of our lights are considered portable such as

the Flexcharge Nite Stick shown here:

14 Portable & Emergency Fluorescent Light by Flexcharge

and the Thin-Lite VFI-30PT shown here:

mod. VFI-30PT

You might look around the internet. A small solar panel,

charge controller and battery should not cost much. For

a small simple and reliable charge controller I would suggest

the PV 7 - 12 volt by Flexcharge.

Please look for the best quality you can find. When something

fails in everday use it's a drag, in an emergency situation it can

be life-threatening.

My second choice would be propane lighting.

All of the propane lighting I have seen or used, use a consumable

(and fragile - don't forget the spares) mantle, like white gas lights.

You might want to look into an older propane lamp. If it has

electronic lighting make sure that it can still be easily light using

matches. You can hand-carry propane lanterns when using small

cylinders and also mount them on the top of a large propane

tank using a P.O.L. (Prest-O-Lite) post for area lighting.

My third choice would be a kerosene lamp or lantern.

A good quality standard wick type (hot-blast or cold-blast) kerosene

lantern is pretty simple. Just make sure to have extra wicks

on hand, maybe a spare globe and use clean fuel. You might

look into a pre-1970's lantern as most made since then are

imports, some of which can have leaking/weeping bottoms from

improper rolling and soldering of the bottom.

Pressurized kerosene and multi-fuel (kerosene, white gas,

automotive gasoline and even alcohol) lanters are available.

These put out a lot of light but can be complicated. I would not

recommend one of these unless you are willing to learn how

to properly use it.

Many people like kerosene wick type mantle lamps, so do we.

They produce a tremendous amount of light, as well as heat,

for the amount of fuel used.

These do have some down-sides. The chimneys and mantles

are very fragile (you should keep spares on hand). And they

should be used with a bug screen on the top of the chimney.

I learned about bug screens after replacing a few mantles that

were destroyed by flying insects that were incinerated by the

heat coming out of the chimney and then crashed into the mantle.

For most people a wick type kerosene lantern would

be the best choice.

My last choice would be a white gas lantern.

There is not much to say as they have basically the same

strengths and weaknesses as the stoves.

Fire starting methods and tools.

There are about a zillion methods of both primitive and

modern ways to start a fire.

We will only mention ones here that I have used.

Matches.

Paper book matches - don't bother.

Wood matches - not bad if kept in an air-tight container

and not allowed to get wet. A drag in the wind or rain.

Wood matches that have been soaked in wax or a sealer - a little better.

Windproof/Waterproof matches (also known as life boat matches).

These are nifty, once lit some will even burn under water.

These are not "strike anywhere" so don't lose the container they

came in as the striking strip is on the box or bottle. You want to be

very carefull with these as the match head is usually over half the

length of the match.

Fire starting tools.

Magnesium fire starter. A rectangular block of magnesium with a

sparking rod on one edge. Scrape of some chips/curls of

magnesium onto your tinder and the strike sparks onto it.

The magnesium burns very hot and is very bright.

The downside is that the chips are very light and

the wind can carry them away. I have had a Doan's fire starter

for years and they work well. Also they are waterproof.

Fire steel (ferro cerium). You rapidly scrape sparks from the fire steel

onto a well setup bed of tinder. These work well and are water proof.

Also available with a plastic handle and attached steel scraper as

well as in spring loaded versions.

Magnifying glass / fresnel lens. These are pretty self-explanatory.

Fire Piston. These gems consist of a cylindrical body with a hole

bored most of the way through. Usually the hole has a brass sleeve.

A wood or metal piston with an opening in the end holds a small

piece of tinder (char cloth or other tinders). The piston has a rubber

o-ring or string wrapped around the end. When the piston is forced

into the housing, the air is compressed and heated, and the tinder

is ignited. This takes some practice and you really want to have a

good bed of tinder in your fire-makings. A little breeze even helps

the tinder glow hotter. When you show someone hows these work

it always amazes them.

You should always practice making a fire with any method you

choose. Now is the time to figure it out, not when your hands are

shaking from the cold.

Food.

Thre are basically four types of food to consider for use in emergency

or disaster situations.

Please remember, the higher the temperature the food is stored at,

the shorter the shelf-life will be.

This may be another example of my stating the obvious, but it should

be said.

Every day food.

The foods you have in your pantry and cupboards are the first to use.

They have the shortest shelf-life. If the power goes out, once you

open your refrigerator or upright freezer it goes down hill from there.

If you have frozen meats and a smoker, you can smoke the meat to

extend its life. Drying fruits and vegatables will also slow down

spoilage. A chest type freezer may be good for a few days once the

power goes out and you open it.

MRE's (meals ready to eat)

These military type foods are convenient, especially if you have

MRE heaters which are activated with water. The shelf life is not

so great and they are more affected by storage temperature than

other storage foods.

Dehydrated (Air-Dried)

When the moisture (most of it) is removed using air-drying

dehydration methods, the cells and texture of the food collapses.

Some losses in nutrition can also follow. This changes the look,

feel and tast. The up-side is that once a container of air-dried

food is opened it does not spoil as fast as its freeze-dried

equivalent. The collapsed food does not absorb moisture from

the air as fast.

Freeze Dried

Freeze dried food is food that has been frozen, then placed in a

vacuum chamber. When a vacuum is pulled, the frozen water

sublimates (changes directly from a solid to a gas without entering

the liquid phase). This pretty much maintains the texture, color, taste

and nutrients. Freeze-dried foods usually won't last as long as

air-dried foods once the can is opened. The open voids in the

food absorb moisture from the air much faster.

And again, please don't forget your pets. Keep a good supply of

their food on hand. If your pets are not accustomed to eating people

food, feeding them from your food supply can be a problem. You don't

need your pets to have the runs in an emergency situation.

Something to think about.

If you decide to prepare for the unknown, and practice the skills you

will need to meet the challenge - in the process you will learn alot

about yourself.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

John

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