Personal contingency plan - Page 3

ScratchMonkey · 12-09-2007, 05:49 PM

I need to snake a long USB cable from the server to the emergency backpack so the latest backup is always there to grab.

**CingularDuality** · 12-12-2007, 06:08 PM

OK, so this thread, along with Ms. Utah, renewed my interest in improving my preparedness. I just found this in the forums I linked to earlier:

Quote:

Questions to help you prepare....
1. What hazards are you susceptible to?
a. Natural
i. Tornado
ii. Hurricane
iii. Flooding
iv. Wind Storms
v. Earthquakes
vi. Ice Storms
vii. Wildfires
b. Man-made
i. Pipelines
ii. Railroads
iii. Aircraft Accidents
iv. Industrial Plants
v. Truck Accidents
vi. Water Treatment Facilities
vii. Terrorism
2. If a public safety official knocked on your door and said you had 5 minutes to evacuate - what would you grab?
3. You’re at work and a gasoline tanker explodes on the highway between your work and home - do you know how to get home?
a. This actually happened a few weeks ago on the only highway between Denton and Dallas and shut the entire highway down for several hours
4. You wake up in the middle of the night and encounter the following scenarios - what do you do?
a. your house is on fire
b. you have a foot of water in your house and it is rising
c. you have six inches of raw sewage in your house – this happened to a friend of mine and six of his neighbors in Lewisville, they were forced out of their houses for three months
d. their is an intruder in your house
e. your weather radio is going off saying there is a tornado headed for your neighborhood
f. you have lost power and it is 28 degrees outside, there is an ice storm so you can’t get drive, the power company says it will be at least two or three days before they can get it restored
g. you smell natural gas
h. the pipes under the kitchen sink have burst
i. your roof has blown off
5. You are driving down the road and:
a. Your tire blows out
b. The tire on the car in front of you comes off
c. The car in front of you gets hit from the side
d. You hear on the radio that a tornado/wildfire/explosion has struck your neighborhood
e. You come across a major accident and there are people severely injured and no other help is there
6. You are at mall/church/school and someone starts shooting people.

In today’s world none of these scenarios are far-fetched at all. While it is impossible to foresee every disaster that might occur you can start being mentally prepared by thinking about the above scenarios and thinking about your response. Another way to mentally prepare is to watch the evening news and put yourself in the shoes of the people that are being reported about and think about how you can prepare for what they have already faced, how you would react, and learn from their mistakes. Good judgment comes from experience and experience typically comes from bad judgement.

Thread here: http://www.jobrelatedstuff.com/forum...&f=17&t=607581

**dawolf** · 12-12-2007, 06:21 PM

Interesting read: http://www.schneier.com/essay-155.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Schneier

This essay is my initial attempt to explore the feeling of security: where it comes from, how it works, and why it diverges from the reality of security.
...
It makes no sense to just look at security in terms of effectiveness. "Is this effective against the threat?" is the wrong question to ask. You need to ask: "Is it a good trade-off?"

Hambergler · 12-13-2007, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawolf

Interesting read: http://www.schneier.com/essay-155.html

Good points.

Quote:

# Most people are more afraid of risks that are new than those they've lived with for a while. In the summer of 1999, New Yorkers were extremely afraid of West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne infection that had never been seen in the United States. By the summer of 2001, though the virus continued to show up and make a few people sick, the fear had abated. The risk was still there, but New Yorkers had lived with it for a while. Their familiarity with it helped them see it differently.

# Most people are less afraid of risks that are natural than those that are human-made. Many people are more afraid of radiation from nuclear waste, or cell phones, than they are of radiation from the sun, a far greater risk.

# Most people are less afraid of a risk they choose to take than of a risk imposed on them. Smokers are less afraid of smoking than they are of asbestos and other indoor air pollution in their workplace, which is something over which they have little choice.

# Most people are less afraid of risks if the risk also confers some benefits they want. People risk injury or death in an earthquake by living in San Francisco or Los Angeles because they like those areas, or they can find work there.

# Most people are more afraid of risks that can kill them in particularly awful ways, like being eaten by a shark, than they are of the risk of dying in less awful ways, like heart disease--the leading killer in America.

# Most people are less afraid of a risk they feel they have some control over, like driving, and more afraid of a risk they don't control, like flying, or sitting in the passenger seat while somebody else drives.

# Most people are less afraid of risks that come from places, people, corporations, or governments they trust, and more afraid if the risk comes from a source they don't trust. Imagine being offered two glasses of clear liquid. You have to drink one. One comes from Oprah Winfrey. The other comes from a chemical company. Most people would choose Oprah's, even though they have no facts at all about what's in either glass.

# We are more afraid of risks that we are more aware of and less afraid of risks that we are less aware of. In the fall of 2001, awareness of terrorism was so high that fear was rampant, while fear of street crime and global climate change and other risks was low, not because those risks were gone, but because awareness was down.

# We are much more afraid of risks when uncertainty is high, and less afraid when we know more, which explains why we meet many new technologies with high initial concern.

# Adults are much more afraid of risks to their children than risks to themselves. Most people are more afraid of asbestos in their kids' school than asbestos in their own workplace.

# You will generally be more afraid of a risk that could directly affect you than a risk that threatens others. U.S. citizens were less afraid of terrorism before September 11, 2001, because up till then the Americans who had been the targets of terrorist attacks were almost always overseas. But suddenly on September 11, the risk became personal. When that happens, fear goes up, even though the statistical reality of the risk may still be very low.

**CingularDuality** · 12-13-2007, 11:37 AM

This isn't about feeling secure. This is about the steps you can take to better prepare yourself to handle emergencies. My last post is a good illustration of just how common emergencies can be. Do you know that more people have died because of an ice storm over the past week than have died in Iraq? Simple preparations could have made that ice storm laughable. You can watch the news and read the paper and say that those things can't happen to you, or won't happen to you, but the fact is that they CAN. I don't say this to instill fear, I say this because there are ways to be more prepared. If you're more prepared, you simply have less to worry about.

xTYBALTx · 12-13-2007, 12:10 PM

Just keep enough on hand 7.62x39 and you won't need to remember to pack anything else.

Ahhh I'm funny today!

**El_Gringo_Grande** · 12-14-2007, 10:56 PM

We in central Oki-Homy just experience one of these mini-emergencies. Ice storm cut out electricity for over half a million people and it was cold outside.

The one thing I did was make sure my gas fireplace would work without electricity and I had propane for the outside grill.

It isn't much but it did come in handy. The house stayed at about 58 degrees and we could cook and heat water for simple hygiene needs.

Every area is going to have different things you need to prepare for. And in most cases the proportions are pretty simple.

The kooks that are preparing for all out nuclear war may be crazy (you can't prepare for that) but they do have some good ideas. Cing pointed out a good list to go over.

I do have a pack with the basics for two. I made it for me and my daughter. I now have three more in my family and I really need to expand it a bit.

Some of the things I have.

1. Gas powered portable stoves are nice but they will run out of gas kinda fast and they are heavy. I have a simple stove that can burn charcoal, twigs even tightly rolled up newspaper. It is powered by a battery powered fan and can boil a quart of water in about 3-4 minutes.

2. You don't need MRE's. All those instant noodle packaged with flavoring or even mac and cheese provide lots of calories and fat that would be needed. For the home just keep an adequate supply of canned goods. If you can get the whole grain kind it will give you some roughage. Bullion cubes (of different flavors) last forever. I also have a bunch of equal artificial sugar. It can help things taste a bit better and cover the taste of dirty (but purified by boiling) water.

3. Multi-vitamin pills will supplement the stuff you will be missing from a restricted diet.

4. You can get emergency dental kit. This is small but can be very important.

5. Light is not as important as you might think. Don't go overboard on the batteries and flashlights. And keep your battery powered devices to a certain cell size. I go with AA because it is what my stove uses.

6. A solar powered battery charger for the size of cell you used can be gotten cheaply and, while a bit bulky, are pretty lightweight.

7. Pack clothes that can be used in various weather. One long sleeved light Cotton teeshirt is good for summer and limited winter use. Sturdy pants that can be broken down to shorts of man-made material. Some fleece and rainproof shell. It is best if all cloths have simple closures like buttons. And pack extra buttons. They are light weight and can easily be used as fishing lures.

8. A good amount of 8-10# fishing line. It can be used for so many things including stitches and sewing. A couple of needles of various sized.

9. A travel game set (checkers, chess etc combo) and a deck of cards. It can be small and you can kill hours of time that would otherwise drive everybody crazy. (And mental failure is the real killer.)

10. A good multi tool with a sharp knife. A small knife sharpener. I pack one of the tungsten things but a medium stone would be better because I could sharpen anything. Make sure there is an awl/punch in the set or pack one. It can be used as an ice pick. Plus using a knife as a punch or awl is dangerous and not very efficient.

11. A small gig (looks like a trident) it can be used to get all kinds of game, not just fish and amphibians.

12. Personally I avoid having a medical kit with medicines in the pack (it includes the vitamins). The medicines can go bad and I have a bad habit of not checking the contents enough. Instead I keep a bag a medicines underneath my bathroom sink I can grab quickly and I alway make sure I have one full un-opened bottle of everything I need.

13. Small packs for the kids. It makes them feel important and they can carry some things as well.

14. A set of nylon unbreakable utensils. Not heavy and makes you feel a bit more civilized.

15. Flint. This is VERY important. I have had waterproof matches go bad for no apparent reason. Lighters loose butane over time. (But the flint in them can be used in an emergency.)

16. I currently have a very lightweight two man free standing tent. The free standing is important. I can set it up in the middle of the living room. If there is no heat then doing this gives a place to sleep if it gets extremely cold. Actually used this a few years ago. Lived out in the country and the power went out and temperatures dipped to zero. The tent, with a couple blankets over it, kept me and my 5yr old daughter nice and warm at night.

17. I don't like water purification tablets because they makes the water taste so bad. But I do have some. (Equal helps.)

The above is just off the top of my head. And all of it is in one back pack and weighs less that 50 pounds. I need to get my wife involved because I never counted on have adult women in the mix.

**El_Gringo_Grande** · 12-14-2007, 11:05 PM

Oh. I forgot. Pantyhose! Very very useful. A half dozen pairs take up almost no space or weight. But they can be used for so many things.

They add allot of warmth. They can be used as a pre filter for water. They can be used as a net to catch bait or even fish. They are stretchy so can be use to repair lots of things. They are very strong so can be used to tie things off.

Silk under ware. Very good stuff and lightweight. Once they start stinking they will stink forever.

Wool is good for clothing.

Fleece hats also have many uses plus keep you warm.

Oh I could go on forever about this stuff. My dad was a survival nut and it stuck on me.

**Shiner** · 12-14-2007, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xTYBALTx

Sat phone, four AK-47s plus parts and cleaning supplies, and lots of 7.62x39 should suffice.

Oh wait, that's for strategic threats.

I've seen that strategy, its called "Red Dawn" and was one of my favorite movies growing up. WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**CingularDuality** · 12-15-2007, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shiner

I've seen that strategy, its called "Red Dawn" and was one of my favorite movies growing up. WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I own this Tshirt: http://www.lifelibertyetc.com/product.aspx?pid=70

**Strag** · 12-30-2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hambergler

I want to buy some MREs for a bugout pack. Where is the best place to buy them and is there a preferred brand or manufacturer???

I've had good luck with TheEpicenter.com. The Sopakco SURE-PAKs have worked well for me. They also have Mountain House stuff, if you're looking to go that route, as well as a bunch of other handy items.

Hambergler · 12-30-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strag

I've had good luck with TheEpicenter.com. The Sopakco SURE-PAKs have worked well for me. They also have Mountain House stuff, if you're looking to go that route, as well as a bunch of other handy items.

I think i will order the Guantanamo Bay Vegetarian menu. Why does it gotta be "Guantanamo" though.

mentholated · 12-30-2007, 08:50 PM

"I hope we'll return to democracy as soon as possible with elections with all parties — that's the only way out," he said

Read that on this article about the "aftermath" of the pakistan riots.

We should put an emphasis here in this thread, right now, that if any of us (humans, that is) plan to survive in a situation where we are faced with the need for survival, rather than our current lives of convenience.. we have to work together and form alliances with our neighbors and friends. Always be cautious because your ally will quickly become your enemy if you have something he does not and you're not willing to share. Me included.

"I hope we'll return to democracy as soon as possible with elections with all parties — that's the only way out," he said

There hasn't been such a large urban riot in quite some time, might be good to learn from what happened and what these people couldn't find. Granted, this was a localized riot. If the entire continental US territory were to collapse, I'd say the only way you're going to survive - you or your family, that is - is if you have a weapon that can reach out and touch someone from afar. If it comes to it, I'd rather work as a team to survive, but I will hunt humans for supplies if it comes down to it.

Hambergler · 03-21-2008, 01:33 PM

Ok I ordered this pack. I know I could have made it for cheaper myself, but I'm lazy. I'm going to ad some fishing line, small 2 man tent, duct tape, and some dried noodles as well as buy some more Aqua Blox water for my house.

I bought this clock. It has dynamo power and weather and all that. Although The main reason is it can charge my cell.

I'm going to buy this gun vault. I have to decide on a gun to go with it. And a holster. I want revolver because they have a low fail rate and I will not be carrying a backup, but small enough for conceal carry. I don't mind sacrificing some caliber for size. Any recommends on gun and holster? I didn't grow up around guns so I am ignorant about them and they make me nervous, I plan on going down to the gun range to test some out and take a class.

Elwenil · 03-21-2008, 01:43 PM

Hmm, that pack looks like the ones sold by Major Surplus, as well as others. Decent stuff, but be aware you will probably have to replace it about every 5 years to keep the supplies good. Still a cheap price to pay if you need it.

As for a revolver, I would recommend a Smith & Wesson. I had a model 686 .357 Magnum that was a wonderful shooting weapon. Properly braced, I could pull a decent pattern at even 100 yds for a pistol. It wasn't anything miraculous, but it made me feel like I could take someone down at that distance if I needed to.

I would consider a semi-auto though, just for the extra ammunition and ease of reloading quickly. Rugar pistols are very affordable and all the ones I have shot have had great performance. Use good, name brand ammunition and you should have next to no jamming issues. Consider a .45 caliber for good stopping power without much risk of collateral damage. Just my .02

12-09-2007, 05:49 PM	#31 (permalink)
ScratchMonkey Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Pablo, California Posts: 3,506	Re: Personal contingency plan I need to snake a long USB cable from the server to the emergency backpack so the latest backup is always there to grab.

12-13-2007, 11:37 AM	#35 (permalink)
CingularDuality Join Date: May 2003 Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, USA Age: 33 Posts: 16,516	Re: Personal contingency plan This isn't about feeling secure. This is about the steps you can take to better prepare yourself to handle emergencies. My last post is a good illustration of just how common emergencies can be. Do you know that more people have died because of an ice storm over the past week than have died in Iraq? Simple preparations could have made that ice storm laughable. You can watch the news and read the paper and say that those things can't happen to you, or won't happen to you, but the fact is that they CAN. I don't say this to instill fear, I say this because there are ways to be more prepared. If you're more prepared, you simply have less to worry about. __________________ Become a supporting member! -- Shop at the Tactical Market! Take the world's smallest political quiz! "I was touched by His Noodly Appendage." TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

12-13-2007, 12:10 PM	#36 (permalink)
xTYBALTx Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,676	Re: Personal contingency plan Just keep enough on hand 7.62x39 and you won't need to remember to pack anything else. Ahhh I'm funny today! __________________ Current Tybalt theme song: Mason v. Princess - Perfect "$250,000 a year won't get me to Central Park West."

12-14-2007, 10:56 PM	#37 (permalink)
El_Gringo_Grande Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: OKIE HOMY Age: 39 Posts: 2,130	Re: Personal contingency plan We in central Oki-Homy just experience one of these mini-emergencies. Ice storm cut out electricity for over half a million people and it was cold outside. The one thing I did was make sure my gas fireplace would work without electricity and I had propane for the outside grill. It isn't much but it did come in handy. The house stayed at about 58 degrees and we could cook and heat water for simple hygiene needs. Every area is going to have different things you need to prepare for. And in most cases the proportions are pretty simple. The kooks that are preparing for all out nuclear war may be crazy (you can't prepare for that) but they do have some good ideas. Cing pointed out a good list to go over. I do have a pack with the basics for two. I made it for me and my daughter. I now have three more in my family and I really need to expand it a bit. Some of the things I have. 1. Gas powered portable stoves are nice but they will run out of gas kinda fast and they are heavy. I have a simple stove that can burn charcoal, twigs even tightly rolled up newspaper. It is powered by a battery powered fan and can boil a quart of water in about 3-4 minutes. 2. You don't need MRE's. All those instant noodle packaged with flavoring or even mac and cheese provide lots of calories and fat that would be needed. For the home just keep an adequate supply of canned goods. If you can get the whole grain kind it will give you some roughage. Bullion cubes (of different flavors) last forever. I also have a bunch of equal artificial sugar. It can help things taste a bit better and cover the taste of dirty (but purified by boiling) water. 3. Multi-vitamin pills will supplement the stuff you will be missing from a restricted diet. 4. You can get emergency dental kit. This is small but can be very important. 5. Light is not as important as you might think. Don't go overboard on the batteries and flashlights. And keep your battery powered devices to a certain cell size. I go with AA because it is what my stove uses. 6. A solar powered battery charger for the size of cell you used can be gotten cheaply and, while a bit bulky, are pretty lightweight. 7. Pack clothes that can be used in various weather. One long sleeved light Cotton teeshirt is good for summer and limited winter use. Sturdy pants that can be broken down to shorts of man-made material. Some fleece and rainproof shell. It is best if all cloths have simple closures like buttons. And pack extra buttons. They are light weight and can easily be used as fishing lures. 8. A good amount of 8-10# fishing line. It can be used for so many things including stitches and sewing. A couple of needles of various sized. 9. A travel game set (checkers, chess etc combo) and a deck of cards. It can be small and you can kill hours of time that would otherwise drive everybody crazy. (And mental failure is the real killer.) 10. A good multi tool with a sharp knife. A small knife sharpener. I pack one of the tungsten things but a medium stone would be better because I could sharpen anything. Make sure there is an awl/punch in the set or pack one. It can be used as an ice pick. Plus using a knife as a punch or awl is dangerous and not very efficient. 11. A small gig (looks like a trident) it can be used to get all kinds of game, not just fish and amphibians. 12. Personally I avoid having a medical kit with medicines in the pack (it includes the vitamins). The medicines can go bad and I have a bad habit of not checking the contents enough. Instead I keep a bag a medicines underneath my bathroom sink I can grab quickly and I alway make sure I have one full un-opened bottle of everything I need. 13. Small packs for the kids. It makes them feel important and they can carry some things as well. 14. A set of nylon unbreakable utensils. Not heavy and makes you feel a bit more civilized. 15. Flint. This is VERY important. I have had waterproof matches go bad for no apparent reason. Lighters loose butane over time. (But the flint in them can be used in an emergency.) 16. I currently have a very lightweight two man free standing tent. The free standing is important. I can set it up in the middle of the living room. If there is no heat then doing this gives a place to sleep if it gets extremely cold. Actually used this a few years ago. Lived out in the country and the power went out and temperatures dipped to zero. The tent, with a couple blankets over it, kept me and my 5yr old daughter nice and warm at night. 17. I don't like water purification tablets because they makes the water taste so bad. But I do have some. (Equal helps.) The above is just off the top of my head. And all of it is in one back pack and weighs less that 50 pounds. I need to get my wife involved because I never counted on have adult women in the mix. __________________ Sen. John McCain (AZ) For President '08 --- I’m not racists, I have republican friends. Radio show host. - "The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity". -Jacob Burkhardt - "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Emerson - "People should not be afraid of it's government, government should be afraid of it's People." - Line from V for Vendetta - If software were as unreliable as economic theory, there wouldn't be a plane made of anything other than paper that could get off the ground. Jim Fawcette Last edited by El_Gringo_Grande; 12-15-2007 at 12:43 AM. Reason: spelling

12-14-2007, 11:05 PM	#38 (permalink)
El_Gringo_Grande Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: OKIE HOMY Age: 39 Posts: 2,130	Re: Personal contingency plan Oh. I forgot. Pantyhose! Very very useful. A half dozen pairs take up almost no space or weight. But they can be used for so many things. They add allot of warmth. They can be used as a pre filter for water. They can be used as a net to catch bait or even fish. They are stretchy so can be use to repair lots of things. They are very strong so can be used to tie things off. Silk under ware. Very good stuff and lightweight. Once they start stinking they will stink forever. Wool is good for clothing. Fleece hats also have many uses plus keep you warm. Oh I could go on forever about this stuff. My dad was a survival nut and it stuck on me. __________________ Sen. John McCain (AZ) For President '08 --- I’m not racists, I have republican friends. Radio show host. - "The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity". -Jacob Burkhardt - "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Emerson - "People should not be afraid of it's government, government should be afraid of it's People." - Line from V for Vendetta - If software were as unreliable as economic theory, there wouldn't be a plane made of anything other than paper that could get off the ground. Jim Fawcette

12-30-2007, 08:50 PM	#43 (permalink)
mentholated Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 596	Re: Personal contingency plan "I hope we'll return to democracy as soon as possible with elections with all parties — that's the only way out," he said Read that on this article about the "aftermath" of the pakistan riots. We should put an emphasis here in this thread, right now, that if any of us (humans, that is) plan to survive in a situation where we are faced with the need for survival, rather than our current lives of convenience.. we have to work together and form alliances with our neighbors and friends. Always be cautious because your ally will quickly become your enemy if you have something he does not and you're not willing to share. Me included. "I hope we'll return to democracy as soon as possible with elections with all parties — that's the only way out," he said There hasn't been such a large urban riot in quite some time, might be good to learn from what happened and what these people couldn't find. Granted, this was a localized riot. If the entire continental US territory were to collapse, I'd say the only way you're going to survive - you or your family, that is - is if you have a weapon that can reach out and touch someone from afar. If it comes to it, I'd rather work as a team to survive, but I will hunt humans for supplies if it comes down to it.

03-21-2008, 01:33 PM	#44 (permalink)
Hambergler Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Age: 33 Posts: 985	Re: Personal contingency plan Ok I ordered this pack. I know I could have made it for cheaper myself, but I'm lazy. I'm going to ad some fishing line, small 2 man tent, duct tape, and some dried noodles as well as buy some more Aqua Blox water for my house. I bought this clock. It has dynamo power and weather and all that. Although The main reason is it can charge my cell. I'm going to buy this gun vault. I have to decide on a gun to go with it. And a holster. I want revolver because they have a low fail rate and I will not be carrying a backup, but small enough for conceal carry. I don't mind sacrificing some caliber for size. Any recommends on gun and holster? I didn't grow up around guns so I am ignorant about them and they make me nervous, I plan on going down to the gun range to test some out and take a class. __________________

03-21-2008, 01:43 PM	#45 (permalink)
Elwenil Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Covington, VA USA Age: 34 Posts: 1,226	Re: Personal contingency plan Hmm, that pack looks like the ones sold by Major Surplus, as well as others. Decent stuff, but be aware you will probably have to replace it about every 5 years to keep the supplies good. Still a cheap price to pay if you need it. As for a revolver, I would recommend a Smith & Wesson. I had a model 686 .357 Magnum that was a wonderful shooting weapon. Properly braced, I could pull a decent pattern at even 100 yds for a pistol. It wasn't anything miraculous, but it made me feel like I could take someone down at that distance if I needed to. I would consider a semi-auto though, just for the extra ammunition and ease of reloading quickly. Rugar pistols are very affordable and all the ones I have shot have had great performance. Use good, name brand ammunition and you should have next to no jamming issues. Consider a .45 caliber for good stopping power without much risk of collateral damage. Just my .02 __________________ \|TG\|Elwenil A vote for Obama is change we can believe in? So was the last ice age, but that don't make it good.

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