StayingCoolWhile.pdf
Right now there are nearly 6.4 BILLION devices connected to the internet in some way. And by 2020, there will be 20.8 billion (that’s about three internet-connected devices for every single human on the planet).
These devices are part of the IoT, which stands for the “internet of things,” and almost every single new product that’s coming out is connected to the internet in some way. Smart TVs… internet routers…laptops… smartphones…tablets…smartwatches like the Apple Watch…vehicles…web cams…security cameras… even new refrigerators coming out on the market are connected to the internet by default.
That’s how “connected” we have become. And if it’s connected to the internet, it can be hacked. That is an undeniable fact.
So why is that a big deal?
Every time a manufacturer creates one of these devices, they set it up with a “default” username and password. It’s usually something simple like:
Username: admin
Password: 12345
Most people never change these default settings (many don’t even know how).
This lets hackers create little malware viruses that infect any device connected to the internet. The virus then cycles through all of the known default usernames and password combinations that come with a product until one works. Once they have control of your devices, hackers can combine them into a “bot army” made up of literally millions of other hacked “IoT” devices just like yours.
This gives a ragtag team of cyberterrorists the computing power of an ENTIRE country…enough power to Shut Down he ENTIRE Electrical Grid.
We’ve already seen the power of these kinds of attacks, known as “DDoS attacks.”
DDoS stands for “distributed denial of service,” and there is nothing sophisticated about it.
If coordinated “high level” genius techies in China hacking their way into government files can be compared to highly trained snipers, then a DDoS attack is more like a group of barbarians coming in and clubbing everyone to death with brute force and sheer numbers.
Perhaps Keith Alexander — former NSA director — said it best…
You remember your kids in the back seat yelling so you and your wife couldn’t talk? That’s a distributed denial-of-service attack. That can be done with not knowing much about your facility, only throwing packets of data at you. Overloading the system so that you can’t conduct [operations].
Basically — hackers take so much data and throw it at their target that it becomes impossible to carry out tasks. This is the same type of attack that shut the power down for 225,000 people in the middle of a cold, harsh winter in Ukraine in 2015. It’s the same type of attack that allowed one teenager to use hundreds of thousands of hacked devices to take out huge chunks of the internet on Oct. 21, 2016.
That one kid’s attack has been called the largest cyberattack in U.S. history. And just about a month later, in November 2016, unknown hackers used this same DDoS tactic to knock 1 million Germans offline for days.
Security experts and high-ranking members of federal agencies like the CIA, FBI and FEMA all know the dangers of these DDoS attacks using hacked internet-connected devices…
Industry information group CSO cites Andrew Kling — director at security firm Schneider Electric — saying, “People could be without electricity, water and other critical services. And until more recently, security has not even been a requirement.”
According to a panel of experts at a recent “Security of Things” forum — industrial control centers shouldn’t simply assume they’re vulnerable to attack… but that “attackers are already on the inside.”
McAfee Cyber Security’s 2017 Threat Prediction Report states, “Attacks on critical infrastructure will be an ever-present concern [using these everyday internet-connected devices].”
Security editor Zack Whittaker of ZD Net (a highly respected technology news source) says, “Where we’d normally blame the weakest link, it seems the entire security chain is busted.”
U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force member Damon Petraglia said…
“It would cause economic ruin, panic, civil unrest and a lack of faith in the government as the government would be hindered in coordinating efforts at a federal or global level.”
And they’re ready to use these capabilities on their No. 1 target… the U.S. electrical grid.
So what can we do in preparation? Read on…
Chapter One: Stop Being Part of the Problem
The more “connected” that we become, it’s important to remember that these internet-connected devices do pose a security threat. The biggest precaution you can take is to make sure none of your internet-connected devices can be easily hacked (and made part of any terrorist’s bot army).
IOT devices are everywhere in your home. Again, these can include:
• Smart TVs
• Routers
• Laptops
• Computers
• Smartphones
• Wireless cameras
• Security systems
• Smartwatches
• Fitness trackers.
First and foremost, don’t connect your device unless you need to. Just because your refrigerator can connect to the internet doesn’t mean it serves a purpose. Think about the functionality and what you actually need from the device. Then make yourself familiar with the features and learn what the benefits of internet connectivity are before you connect.
I’d also suggest you create a separate network. A lot of Wi-Fi routers support guest networking. This way, visitors can connect to your network for internet access, but they won’t actually gain access to any sensitive information.
The next step is to change the default password on your devices. Create new, unique username and password combinations for each network-connected device in your home. NEVER use the same one for every device, because if a hacker manages to guess one of your passwords, they will most likely try it on other devices.
Once you’ve done those three things, you’ll want to check for secure configurations, make sure the home Wi-Fi system is securely protected and make sure you have the latest firmware. Update your IoT devices regularly to reduce the chances of an attack.
Chapter Two: Fortifying Your Home
There are a number of simple, affordable things that you can do to protect yourself and your family. Done correctly, they could mean the difference between survival or being caught unaware and made a victim of one of these tragedies.
Secure Your Windows and Doors
Having reliable locks for the doors and windows in your home is a simple, vital step in home defense.
I recommend buying Schlage or Medeco locks. You can get Schlage locks at Home Depot or any other major hardware store. Medeco locks are a little harder to find. I’d recommend searching for a local dealer using their website, www.medeco.com. Simply select “Dealer Locator” from their home page and type in your ZIP code to find out where you can purchase Medeco locks near you. I also recommend having a reliable, solid deadbolt from either Schlage or Medeco.
Getting a solid-core door is a good idea, too. One that’s made out of sturdy, solid materials, like wood, steel or iron. It’s a sad fact that several types of doors can be kicked in with minimal effort, so purchasing a high-quality solid-core door, particularly for your front door, is very important
I’d also recommend locking and reinforcing your windows. Smaller wooden pieces similar to the bars for sliding doors can go in the bottom of window tracks or along the inside of the frames.
Build a Panic Room
One of the most important elements of a home defense plan is a panic room. Because the fact is in the event of a home invasion, getting to your panic room is one of the key things that will protect you and your family from danger.
A panic room doesn’t have to cost several hundred thousand dollars. It isn’t only for multimillionaires and billionaires. And it definitely doesn’t involve a bunch of fancy gizmos and sliding doors at the push of a button.
The first step is to know where your panic room should be located. A lot of people mistakenly think that the panic room should be in the basement or that it should always be the master bedroom. The fact is the location of the panic room should be the location of the member of your family that is the weakest or slowest. For example, if you have a 1-year-old child in the house, their nursery would be the panic room. If you think there’s a home invasion taking place, you need to get your family in the panic room as quickly as possible. Having the room located in the “slowest” family member’s room saves a lot of time.
Once you’ve identified the room, it’s time to start fortifying it. As I said, this doesn’t mean spending six figures. It simply means getting a solid-core door made of metal or wood. Most people prefer a wood door because it looks better indoors. That’s fine, because a wood door is going to stop bullets and buy you time if someone is trying to get in.
The truth is if you have cheap, hollow-core doors on your bedrooms like most people do, then an intruder can smash through one in seconds. A solid wood door is going to give you time to get ready to defend yourself before they break it down.
In addition to the solid-core door, install a quality deadbolt such as Schlage or Medeco in the inside of the room so you can keep the intruder out. Once you’ve got the door and deadbolt installed, then it’s time to get to the most important factor of all when it comes to the panic room: the “crash box.” A crash box is a safe located in your panic room that contains the necessary supplies to fend off an intruder. A crash box is typically a medium-sized safe such as the SentrySafe model SFW123DSB or the First Alert model 2096DF. Both can be purchased on Amazon.
Look for something small and easy to access, not a gigantic gun safe that is going to take you forever to open. Once you have your crash box, it’s time to fill it with the items you need. These include a handgun and ammunition (I like Glock, SIG Sauer and Springfield when it comes to guns and Speer Gold Dot and Hornady for ammo), extra loaded magazines, a spare cellphone, a flashlight, medical items such as QuikClot and a Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT), a fixed-blade knife and whatever other items you choose to put in it.
Perimeter Booby Traps
Booby traps are a good way to arm and protect your home. They can detect, alert, scare, injure or even kill.
Just keep in mind your own safety and legality while you are preparing these.
A tripwire is one of the most basic yet effective forms of a security system that you can make. Simply stretch a wire or cord (paracord works extremely well for this) around the perimeter or your home close to the ground and attach to an alarm. This should alert you and scare the intruder off from entering the area.
Nail spikes are easy-to-make traps and can be used at every entrance location. Just hammer some nails through pieces of wood and leave the points face up. These are best set up on front porches or beneath outside lower-level windows, but do your best to keep them out of plain sight.
Large treble fishhooks that are suspended by a camouflaged line (the inner strands of paracord would work great for this) would be difficult to spot when well placed. While not lethal, they could still do some damage.
For more booby traps and survival tricks, click here.
Get a Firearm
If you don’t yet own a gun — it might be time to get one for home defense purposes.
My home defense gun is a handgun, a Sig Sauer P226. The reason I use a handgun is because I have three kids under the age of 4 and I want to make sure my gun is secure on my nightstand in a rapid-access safe.
Although they do make safes for shotguns and rifles, I haven’t found one I like that would allow me the quick access that my handgun safe does.
I also believe it’s easier to clear a home using a handgun. Say, for example, you awake one night to hear someone breaking into your home. You may be forced to confront the intruder, in which case a handgun is ideal. With a handgun, you don’t have to worry as much about knocking into walls and drawing attention to yourself or turning the corner and having the intruder grab the end of your gun — all of which are more likely with a long gun like a rifle or shotgun.
But if in this situation you only had to protect you and your spouse, you would want to stay put in your bedroom. In which case, you may prefer a shotgun or rifle over a handgun. My favorite shotgun is the Remington 870. It’s a pump-action shotgun, the kind you’ve probably seen in the movies dozens of times. It’s built like a tank and is very easy to operate. If I were using this gun for home defense, the shells I would use would be 00 (double-aught) buckshot. A shell of double-aught buckshot sends nine lead balls downrange, which is something you would not want to be on the wrong end of!
If you’re not a fan of handguns or shotguns, then a rifle may be right for you. The major benefit of a rifle is that it holds a lot of ammunition. So unless you live in a state that isn’t gun friendly, you can have a 30-round magazine ready to go. Criminals tend to travel in packs, so if you had to fend off three or four intruders, a rifle would be ideal. The rifle I like best is the AR-15. You can put plenty of accessories on it, such as lights and lasers, so you can easily see any threats in the dark. If you’re going to get one, though, definitely buy from a quality manufacturer, such as Colt or Rock River Arms. The bottom line is when it comes to choosing a gun for home defense, there is no “right” gun. You need to take the time to figure out the perfect home defense gun for you.
Where to Hide Your Guns
As with all of your valuables, it’s important to make your guns hard to find. Never store guns and valuables in your master bedroom (with the exception of your home defense gun, which should sit on your nightstand in a rapid access safe). The master bedroom is the first place burglars will look, as most burglars want to be in and out of your house in eight minutes.
You want to keep your guns in a place like an attic. This often requires a ladder to get to. In your attic, you want to store the guns in a box marked “old clothes” or “child’s toys.” If you have a large gun safe, consider getting a dummy gun safe too. I know one guy who has his large dummy safe and then behind it, in a wall, is his real safe full of guns.
Other good ideas are the safes that look like an electrical box or a vent. A friend of mine owns a company called Console Vault. One of their products is called the Red Herring Secret Safe. It looks exactly like an electrical panel built into your wall and is covered with “high voltage” warnings, and nobody in their right mind would ever touch it.
Other places to consider are in your kitchen behind your pots and pans or in a fireplace (that you don’t use) behind a stack of wood.
Wherever you decide to hide your guns, I do recommend having them locked up in some type of gun safe, even if it’s just a small safe such as the SnapSafe Lock Box or the GunVault NV200.
Chapter Three: Food and Water Preparation
As humans, we can go more than three weeks without food. But without water, you’re not going to survive more than a few days. I recommend keeping up to a year’s supply of food and water for yourself and your family.
The recommended amount of water to have on hand is one gallon per person per day. Some people like to use 50-gallon containers. I happen to use the seven-gallon Aqua-Tainer jugs that can be stacked on top of one another.
Can’t store water? Make sure you have a way to filter water from any source.
The Sawyer PointONE is an item I’ve used multiple times, and it works great. It comes with several water pouches that you can fill up at the source. You then screw the filter to the end of the pouch and squeeze. It can purify up to 540 gallons of water per day.
The LifeStraw is another great option that can filter up to 264 gallons. You can drink directly from the water source by putting the LifeStraw in a river or pond and sucking the water out. You can also fill a water bottle with the source water and then put the straw inside the water bottle and drink that way if you prefer.
The SteriPEN is a small hand-held gadget that uses the power of UV rays to “zap” any bacteria in the water, instantly making the water safe to drink. It instantly kills bacteria and infections including Giardia, E. coli, Shigella, Legionella and other gastrointestinal viruses and parasites that would flourish during a water crisis.
In regards to food, you have to consider items that are not perishable.
Canned foods are great option that will store for a number of years in the right condition. You can also eat right out of the can. Think soups, stews, fruit, vegetables, beans, etc. Dried and dehydrated foods are also something to be considered, because without water, the food stays less susceptible to spoilage.
I personally recommend MREs (meals ready to eat). This is essentially military food — food that is given to soldiers when food facilities are unavailable.
They are lightweight, prepackaged, shelf-stable and “self-cooking” meals.
I use Chef 5 Minute Meals, and they come in beef stroganoff, chicken pasta parmesan and beef stew, to name a few.
Here’s how these five-minute meals work…
1. Open the box and take everything out.
2. Open the patented saltwater solution. Pour the water on top of the heating pad, which is sitting on the white tray.
3. Put the meal face down on top of the heating pad.
4. Put everything back in the cardboard box and close it.
5. The meal will begin cooking itself, and you will soon see steam coming from the box. In five minutes, you’ll be ready to eat.
The meals taste good, are easy to make and come in cases that are perfect for stocking up in bulk.
Another quick-and-easy item would be Datrex 3,600-calorie emergency food bars. They’ll last for five years, and I can tell you from personal experience they actually don’t taste that bad. In addition to the food bars, I would have MET-Rx Big 100 meal replacement bars, which will definitely fill you up if you have to rely on them.
I realize most of us can’t go out and buy a year’s supply of food all at once. You can start to collect canned food and grains each month, and before you know it, you’ll have a year’s supply of food. I happen to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), and I get my food from an LDS cannery. Anyone of any religion can buy food from the cannery, and they have the best prices around. There are currently 101 canneries where you can purchase items in bulk. If you can’t get to a cannery, you can purchase food online at ProvidentLiving.org.
In addition to stocking up on food, gardening is a great skill to hone. Even if you don’t have acres of land, you can still make a hobby out of caring for a small garden. I would recommend planting heirloom or non-GMO seeds — since those seeds can be saved and replanted from year to year. This is the type of skill you should practice now, even if you don’t need the food to survive. You never know when that will change and the experience will be invaluable.
Chapter Four: Masking Your Preparations From Neighbors
It can be dangerous to have neighbors see you prepping — you become a target when something does go wrong, as they will seek you out for help or try to steal from you — you need to appear vulnerable and not draw attention.
So what does this mean?
Operational security.
This is a military term, essentially meaning the security necessary to deny the enemy any useful information about what you are doing. The key is to avoid suspicion. And I have a few tips to help you do so:
1. Mum’s the word. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t volunteer any more information to people than they need to know. You want to be wary of strangers and be careful not to reveal too much information that could give them any intel.
2. Be cautious of technology. Make sure you watch what you say over text and email. After all, nothing is secure these days. Don’t send anything that could be perceived as incriminating, or that could let on as to what your preparations are.
3. Avoid social media. To an extent, at least. Just because you are prepping does not mean you should be advertising that through photos on Facebook or Instagram. The fact is even if you don’t think you are giving away too much information, many smartphones will attach a GPS coordinate to the metadata in the picture. Now your hideaway may not keep you so hidden.
4. Keep the bumper stickers to a minimum. What many people don’t think about when they add those cute little stickers symbolizing their family members and pets is that now anyone has intel into the members of their family. And an honor roll sticker? Don’t even think about it. While you might be a proud parent, this can give away where your child goes to school and give a little more insight into where you live. Make sure your car has nothing inside or outside that can help to identify you.
5. Keep your home anonymous. Do you tend to leave your garage doors open? Or the blinds to the front windows of your house? These are big no-nos. Not only will the passerby be able to see what’s inside, but they can even get a visual on doors and potentially what kind of locks are on those doors. If the drapes are left open, it would make it much easier for someone to map out the layout of your home.
Whether you’re dealing with a natural or a man-made disaster — whether you’re bugging out or bugging in — you need to have a security plan to protect yourself and your family. When people are desperate, they’ll do things you never expected. Like the neighbor down the street who has always been nice to you. What if he knows you have a ton of survival supplies and comes to take them? Always have a way to defend yourself no matter the situation. Both an AR-15 and Remington 870 shotgun are good long guns to have on hand for extreme situations. The next time you are reviewing your emergency plans and survival gear, take the time to go over these dos and don’ts with your family. I would hate for a simple mistake to put you or a loved one in danger.
Chapter Five: Creating a Survival Group
Building a survival team is crucial. It is much more difficult to survive alone than with a small group of people who have different skill sets to bring to the table.
No man is an island, as they say, so it’s important to find a trusted and capable survival group of like-minded people who keep things on “the down-low.”
Basically, people have a better chance of getting through dangerous situations together. I realize that the movies make it seem “sexy” to be a lone wolf. But in real life, you’ll be much more successful if you’re willing to work with others.
It would also be wise to learn how to read people, as you need to be careful whom you’re telling about your prepping and especially whom you trust to have access to your plans, your supplies and your family.
First thing you need to do is vet members and make sure they have compatible personalities and similar goals. Learn about your neighbors, and get to know people. Start looking for what kind of people you might need in certain situations and figure out how to meet them and work together. Look for unique skills that would make a person a great member of a survival team. Military veterans, medical professionals, mechanics and farmers, to name a few, have skills that could be an asset to you and your survival group.
Next comes the hard part. Learning to work together as a team. You need to find out exactly where everyone excels, so that when the time comes you are fully prepared to operate as a team.
Chapter Six: Drilling With Your Family and Survival Group
When it comes to survival gear, people often forget to familiarize themselves with the ins and outs of all their gear so they know how to use it in an emergency. Learn how your gear works and be sure to test it periodically. This may seem basic, but remember, during a stressful situation, you won’t have time to figure out your equipment. Believe me, if you knew all the prep work that spies do before going on an operation, it would make your head spin. After all, if an operation fails, people may die. The same could be said in an emergency, so it’s important to know your gear.
A good way to bring the whole group up to speed is to take your gear camping. Once, my family lived off of survival food — you know, the kind that comes in pouches — for an entire week to make sure we liked it and our kids would eat it. The food wasn’t too bad, the kids ate (almost) everything and now we all know what we’re in for. Figure out what everyone packed and then decide if it is a necessity for next time.
Make each outing tougher and longer than the last. And don’t let the weather stop you — plan some outings in the cold or snow. A grid-down exercise will show you where your strengths and weaknesses really lie. Tim MacWelch from Outdoor Life recommends you:
Kill the main breaker for your home’s electricity, and then get to work — cooking, cleaning, performing sanitation and hygiene tasks, providing alternative heat and even figuring out how to keep the kids entertained. It should also be a high priority to keep your home from getting damaged, especially in subfreezing weather. Drain all the water pipes, or keep a small amount of heat going to prevent freezing.
The tougher the situations get, the tougher your team gets.
You should also make sure you have a Plan B or C. Just because you prepped on the idea that things will go a certain way, things don’t always happen like you planned. Murphy’s law: “Anything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong.”
Chapter Seven: Keeping Clean and Hygienic Without Running Water
Hygiene and sanitation are crucial to think about when prepping for lights out, because there will be no running water.
A good skill to acquire now is how to harvest rainwater.
Most homes have gutters, which are a natural system for collecting rainwater. To collect the water, you will just need to adjust the down-pointing gutter so that it points in whatever you are using to collect. Keep in mind, though, while putting a bucket or storage tank under your gutter is a good start, rainwater is not pure and necessarily safe to drink due to pollutants in the air and contaminants on your roof. Let the rain wash your roof for about five minutes before you start collecting rainwater to help remove larger contaminants. Then make sure you run your water through a screen to capture any large particles like bugs or leaves. Finally, you can run your water through a good filtration system.
I’ve already mentioned the LifeStraw and Sawyer PointONE as excellent ways to filter water for safe drinking, but here are three more ways you can purify water:
1. Chlor-Floc: This is used by the military and is a powder that you pour into a bottle of water that you wish to purify. It gets rid of Giardia, bacteria and viruses. Each package of Chlor-Floc contains 30 packets of powder, and each packet can purify 1.1 quarts of water.
2. MSR MiniWorks EX Microfilter: This is great for camping and hiking — I’ve personally used it on many trips. It pumps up to one liter per minute of clean water and is easy to clean, with no tools required.
3. Katadyn Hiker Pro Microfilter: Another solid filter for hiking, this one is similar to the MSR above. It pumps about one liter per minute and removes bacteria, protozoa, cysts, algae, spores and other sediments. It’s also lightweight and compact, to easily fit inside a backpack.
Now you can store your water in jugs, tanks or wherever you prefer. This is now water that can be used to drink, bathe, cook, wash your clothes, etc.
With no running water for a toilet, the best way to conserve the water that you do have is to make a composting toilet. It is easy to construct and use, does not smell and does not create any pollution. Simply put, you replace the water with sod (particularly cedar), which smells good and absorbs waste. You can check out the full DIY, here.
You should also make sure you have cleaning supplies, as you don’t want to risk any infections. Bleach is a popular and economical choice for sanitation. However, note that bleach does expire, so steramine tablets are a good alternative. Steramine tablets are cost-effective, don’t take up space and safe to use on all food equipment without irritating the skin. Lysol disinfectant spray kills 99.9% of germs and effectively kills influenza A and B viruses, among others. I would also invest in some cleaning detergent, to wash clothes or any pots/pans you may need to use.
Chapter Eight: Stocking up on Gasoline
If you are serious about prepping for emergencies, having a supply of gasoline is an absolute necessity.
Why? Because fuel powers essential items such as generators and vehicles. Even though gasoline, propane and other fuels are flammable, they can be stored safely in large quantities.
The biggest oversight when stocking up on gasoline is how to store it. Gasoline storage containers are generally made out of plastic and colored red (diesel is yellow, kerosene is blue). These containers are relatively cheap and range in size, able to hold anywhere from 5–25 gallons of gas. When storing gasoline, you will need to make sure the containers are airtight. Otherwise, the fumes could leak and the gasoline will evaporate.
How much fuel you store is going to be up to you. Think about what you will need it for and try to plan accordingly. Transportation? A generator? Both?
The truth is you can never have enough fuel. But you have to make sure you have the space to store all of this gasoline. A cool area will allow the gas to last longer, and I would recommend diversifying where you store your gasoline: some in your garage, your shed, etc.
Lastly, don’t forget to rotate your gasoline. It does go bad after a while (usually after sitting for a year or so). When that one-year mark is approaching, I would put that gas into your vehicle and fill up your now empty container with fresh gas. This will ensure that your gasoline remains in clean and good condition.
Chapter Nine: The Best Generators
Generators should ideally be cost-effective and relatively portable.
The generator I own does not run on gas or diesel but is a propane generator. Gas or diesel will provide more “juice,” but I don’t need to run every appliance in my house at the same time. I simply want to keep the fridge going and be able to use a few small appliances. But don’t get me wrong, the propane generator I own is still plenty powerful and is nothing to scoff at. The reason I got a propane generator is because you can essentially store propane indefinitely and it won’t go bad. If you’ve ever tried to store gasoline for a long period of time, then you know what a pain in the butt it can be. Plus, most of us don’t want gallons and gallons of gasoline sitting in our garages or backyards. (The smell isn’t exactly appealing.) With propane, though, you don’t have to worry about the smell, and you can easily store the propane tanks in your garage or in a shed in the backyard. What’s more, you can easily purchase the regular 20-pound tanks that are sold at Home Depot and Wal-Mart, or you can purchase a 100-pound tank for even more storage.
The generator that I own is the Sportsman 7,000-watt propane gas-electric-start portable generator. This generator is rather inexpensive and cost me about $700 at Home Depot. You can buy more expensive generators for $3,000 or more, but this one has everything I want and I didn’t feel the need to have the unit attached to my house. This generator has always worked well for me, and I don’t have any complaints.
Chapter Ten: Batteries, Go Bags, First Aid and More…
The fact is a crisis can occur at any moment, and those of us who prepare and plan ahead are the ones who are going to survive. That’s why it’s important to have a few necessary items that will help you come out alive from each of these situations.
Flashlights. These days, it seems like we have a million and one choices when it comes to flashlights. SureFire, Fenix, and Streamlight are just a few of the companies that make solid lights. In my go bag, I have two flashlights. The first one is extremely small and doesn’t weigh much at all. (Remember, we want to keep the weight down in the bag.) But don’t let its small size fool you. Even though the Fenix E05 flashlight is only 2.5 inches long, it produces 27 lumens. (Plenty of light to see and get around.) In fact, its beam will go a distance of over 78 feet. The flashlight is waterproof and runs on a single AAA battery. (Don’t forget to include a spare AAA battery in your bag.) The second flashlight I carry is rather inexpensive, but it works well and the battery seems to last forever. Plus, it’s ultra-compact too. It’s a 9V LED flashlight with six bulbs. All you do is snap the flashlight on top of a 9V battery and you’ve got light for hours on end. Remember, in addition to these lights, you’ll also have your everyday carry gear light and the light on your keychain. You also have all of your fire starters, which can be used as light sources.
Batteries. Don’t forget to stock up on batteries. While you can get batteries almost anywhere, I prefer the Panasonic eneloop rechargeable batteries. These batteries come pre-charged from the factory, so you can immediately put them to use. Also, they can be recharged up to 2,100 times, which is a huge money saver, since you’re not constantly buying new batteries for all of your flashlights and other gear.
First Aid. If you’re lucky, you may only have to wait a few minutes for medical attention during a crisis. But depending on what the crisis is, you might not have access to medical care for several days or more. This is why it’s important to have a few key medical items. The kit I have is the Adventure Medical Kits Tactical Field/Trauma w/ QuikClot Kit. The contents of this kit include:
• QuikClot Sport
• Petrolatum Gauze Dressing
• Trauma Pads
• Elastic Bandage
• Wound Closure Strips
QuikClot is a special clotting sponge that stops bleeding three times faster than blood simply clotting on its own. QuikClot is used by the military and law enforcement and has saved numerous lives around the world. Even though the trauma kit I use already has QuikClot in it, I added another package of QuikClot. I also added a tourniquet. The tourniquet I use is the SWAT-T Tourniquet. Like QuikClot, this tourniquet is used by law enforcement and military personnel all over the world. It is latex free, and not only can it be used as a tourniquet but also as a pressure dressing and bandage. And, directions are printed directly on the tourniquet so you’ll know how to use it the moment you need it.
Getting medical supplies will be hard if not impossible, so it would be wise to stock up on other items including: Ibuprofen, Benadryl, vinyl gloves, rubbing alcohol, antibiotic cream, aspirin and more.
Communication Item. The first item is a signal mirror. I recommend the Ultimate Survival Technologies StarFlash signal mirror. The mirror is scratch resistant, almost impossible to break and even floats. Another communication item I have is a pocket AM/FM radio. The radio I use is the Sony ICF-S10MK2 pocket AM/FM radio. The radio works great and is surprisingly inexpensive at less than $13. It has a built-in speaker that’s plenty loud if you have a group that wants to listen to music. It also has a headphone jack. The radio takes two AA batteries, which can last up to 45 hours. In a crisis situation, this radio will let you tune into news reports so you can find out what’s going on and where the safest places to be are.
Go Bag. A go bag is a bag full of gear that allows you to survive for at least 72 hours during an emergency situation. Some people call it a “72- hour kit” or an “escape bag” or a “get out of Dodge bag.” It doesn’t matter what you call it as long as it contains the proper gear to keep you alive. After all, you might not be getting a call from headquarters to be on site in 10 minutes, but you may hear of a fire or other natural disaster barreling down on your home and need to get out fast. If you do find yourself in such a dire situation, here are the items I recommend you keep in your “go bag.” Before we dive in, a note: Keep things as simple as possible. You don’t need 749 different items for your bag, and you definitely don’t want your bag to weigh a ton, since you don’t know if you’ll be carrying it on foot. Ideally, you want your bag to weigh 25 pounds or less. Let’s take a look at the most important items to include in a bug-out bag:
1. Three days’ worth of clothing. This means shirts (include one with long sleeves), socks, underwear, a pair of pants and a jacket
2. Clean water and a filter. The Datrex emergency water pouches work well. You’ll want to put at least four of those in your bag. As for the filter, consider the LifeStraw or the Sawyer PointONE All-in-One filter.
3. Quick-and-easy food. I recommend adding one of the Datrex 3,600-calorie emergency food bars. They’ll last you for five years, and I can tell you from personal experience they actually don’t taste that bad. In addition to the food bars, I would throw in at least two of the MET-Rx Big 100 meal replacement bars, which will definitely fill you up if you have to rely on them.
4. Emergency tube tent. Now we’re getting into the “survival” territory. If you can’t find a building in which to take cover, you’ll need to provide your own shelter. Look for a tent that doesn’t weigh much and won’t take up much space in your bag. Coghlan’s makes a great tube tent that comes in a pouch as small as a poncho. You can get it for under $10 on Amazon.
5. High-quality poncho. When you’re in a dire situation, you could use a poncho for shelter. Make sure it’s high quality — don’t spend 99 cents on a plastic poncho that will easily get holes torn in it. Instead, spend a few more bucks (about $12) and get something along the lines of the Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite Poncho.
6. Fire starters. Get a Bic cigarette lighter from a gas station, and also include some Swedish FireSteel. FireSteel was originally developed for the Swedish military. It can produce a spark over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit and can be used in any type of weather at any altitude. If you have the FireSteel along with the Bic lighter, you’ll be all set if you need to build a fire to stay warm or cook some food.
7. An encrypted USB drive. This will allow you to safely store copies of your driver’s license, passport, bank account and stock information. The USB drive I use is the IronKey, but there are several companies that make encrypted drives.
8. Extra cash. You’ll also want to have some cash sealed in a Ziploc freezer bag. At a minimum, I’d have $100 in cash in $20 bills, but if you have $300 in $20 bills, even better.
9. Tactical flashlight. Get a small tactical flashlight from a quality brand such as SureFire or Fenix.
10. Quality fixed-blade knife. Unless you’re going somewhere where it’s illegal, you always want a good knife with you, and the one I use is the NOC Knife.
42% of all power and utilities companies say that they are unable to detect cyberattacks.
And right now, there are only three power grids that bring electricity to the country. All someone needs to do is take down any part of that grid and it would force millions of Americans into darkness. In a snap, we would go from a hyper-connected, information-on-demand country to living back in the mid-19th century.
Most of us have no idea how to cope with that. But hopefully now, you have a better idea how to.
Stay safe,
Jason Hanson
