For those interested in caching supplies for emergency use, three bloggers all wrote about the same subject over the past couple of days. All of their articles are interesting and useful. In alphabetical order, they are:
Aesop: "For A Rainy Day"
worth the effort or needless distraction?"
John Wilder: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cache"
Recommended reading.
I'm not one for caching in the traditional sense, because I'm old and semi-crippled, and I don't see myself hiking any great distance to recover emergency supplies. However, I keep them on hand at home, and I have a couple of emergency stashes with friends (to whom I offer the same service).
It's a pretty good idea to have a small store of real essentials available within striking distance if possible, and in today's unsettled, mercurial world, it's even more important.
My recommendations for an emergency stash or cache:
- Emergency food (i.e. lifeboat rations or similar) for 24 to 48 hours.
- Water - at least a quart, preferably half a gallon, in smaller bottles.
- A change of clothes suitable to the season (which probably means stashing both summer and winter clothing, and making a selection when you need it). Don't forget light, tough shoes and socks.
- A light fold-up backpack to hold everything.
- Standard emergency kit such as a general-purpose knife, flashlight, compass, map of the area, strike-anywhere matches, kindling, a few empty Ziploc bags (I prefer gallon size) to hold anything that you need to store, etc.
- A handgun and ammunition (even if it's a lowly .22LR pistol or revolver - that's not a bad survival weapon, in a pinch, and they tend to be small and lightweight).
- If you're in a rural area, and might have to hunt for food or defend yourself at longer ranges, a compact rifle might not be a bad idea.
Peter
4 comments:
You've covered knives before - the Mora and Opinel are great. What I've done is bought used Victorinox knives or Leatherman multitools off eBay. I have at least a half dozen Camper/Hunter/Deluxe Tinker and Wave+ scattered about in car gloveboxes, bicycle seat bags, backpacks, briefcase, etc. Add a couple of single edge razor blades wrapped in duct tape.
The idea is to have them at hand without having to think about it. (Well, actually, the idea is to have a second one at hand, since I'm usually carrying something, but two is one, and one is none, and none is useless).
Flashlights work the same way, but I recommend headbands. There are good enough cheap 3xAA headbands for $10 - 15, so buy a couple and leave them handy. It's worth having both disposable and rechargeable (NiMH) AA batteries and a minicharger in a bugout bag and vehicles.
"And guns....LOTS of guns."
Neo from The Matrix
There are two reasons for caches, both closely related, and age or infirmity have nothing to do with ruling out use of either one:
1) To spread out what you've got, so that you never lose everything, no matter what happens.
2) As potential en route resupply, in case you are trying to get to Point B from Point A.
You might be leaving your Ultimate Survival hidey hole because it's been overrun or become untenable; or trying to get to it from somewhere you are now for the same reasons.
And when it comes to storing weapons, yet again, think outside the box.
It will be far cheaper to squirrel away a take-down bow, and a slingshot, with plenty of ammunition for both, than to put firearms and rounds there. (NTTAWWT.) And a means of taking what game may be had silently might be a much better choice than anything that goes bang. That's why I'm a fan of the above, as well as a bow-mounted fishing rig, lots of snare wire, automatic yo-yo reels, and nets, as well as boomsticks.
Think carefully, and plan ahead.
I don't think that a couple of days worth of food is nearly enough. I have several of the emergency food packages stored away. I also have a Lifestraw and water purification tabs. I'm looking into electricity-free cooking as well.
I wish I'd never been born at this point.
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