From what I remember Erco lives in a area I used to spend time in and there is a 50 kW AM tower with in his area .
Good memory, Peter. KNX 1070 AM is very easy to receive. On your cordless phone, PA system, audio amp, crystal radio, kids' braces, a spoon...
OK, I made up the spoon part. But that 50 kW signal gets into everything. Lots of bleedover onto adjacent frequencies, even FM when you're close to the antenna array, which is a marvel of broadcasting efficiency. From Wiki:
The station's antenna array includes a tall main antenna (193.5 electrical degrees with an efficiency of 400.73 mV/m/kW at 1 km;[11] optimum and much better than average for a Class A station's main antenna, which has a minimum efficiency requirement of 362.10 mV/m/kW at 1 km[12]),
I wonder if that means I could open the doors of my three dozen microwave ovens, point them all out the window, and tap out a toasty SOS into the stampede of zombies that is sure to follow any natural disaster.
I have seen a "maggi "as a ham radio CW rig once back many moons ago at a field day .
it was a 600W modded microwave the dude got easy 20 miles from it .............
Erco I knew it was KNX .. I just did not want to ( pardon the pun ) broadcast your exact city ..
Dale a close friend is in the same area .... He has free " on hold " music from them in his landline phones .
the copper oxide in the main J box for his phones acts as a small diode and makes a great radio RX.
Well, I will just keep with my personal plan
a. a few candles for light
b. a six pack of instant noodles for food
c. drinking water for 3 or 4 days
I suppose I could boil water with a candle if need be.
And since I live two blocks from the police station which is next to one of the city's main hospitals, I can likely drag myself to their front door for dire needs.
Of course, if someone decides to invade Taiwan, I might be dead before I know it. But above a, b, c has worked out well in 20 years of typhoons and major earthquakes.
I will keep the landline and cell for ordering pizza and such, but I somehow think that there is a big portion of the world that doesn't expect to call 911 or 119 and get any results.
It is just saner to stay safe and plan your own rescue. Back in 1994, when I arrived in Taiwan, a call to 911 for an ambulance was responded to by a couple of guys with a van and not EMT training. They might take 45 minutes to arrive and you just rode on the floor of the van to the nearest ER. A lot has changed and we do have real ambulances with EMTs now. But nothing beats being able to walk to the ER when all else fails.
I expect anyone who live in a potential disaster zone(earthquake, flood, tornado alley, whatever) to have 'adequate' supplies and equipment to survive a few days on their own.
Anyone else should really ask themselves;
1. What will I do if I lose power for 3 days in the middle of winter or the hottest part of summer(pick the one that's worse)?
2. your home is in danger/there's an evacuation going on and you have THREE MINUTES to pack, what will you bring?
3. disaster strikes. Cell-phones doesn't work. your home is unreachable. How will you be able to find the rest of your family?
Of course, 'disasters' are more likely to happen while you're traveling. Do you have what is needed to survive if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere?
(Again, assume no Cell-phone reception)
If I have only three minutes to pack, I'd just leave with the dog, the instant noodles, candles, and water.
Nothing quite as handy as a hungry mutt to find a free lunch.
Frankly, I think westerners are too vested in emergency dramas from watching disaster movies. And of course, there are now TV shows on people that are hoarding supplies for a complete collapse of civilization. And the Mormon church encourages their members to have two years of supplies 'just in case'.
My personal experience in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco is that the majority of people pulled together and helped those in need. I am not sure what happened in Katrina in New Orleans that made for problems at their domed stadium and a police shooting at one of the bridges. But it does help to have a community that generally is not hysterical, paranoid, and selfish. I'd stay far away from any survivalist that are hoarding as they just might be the first to open fire.
And after observing a lot of disaster (Kobe earthquake, tsunamis, volcano eruptions), I;d say the best thing to do is to get far and away if you can, check into a nice hotel, and relax. If you can jump on a bus, train, airplane, or boat and get a few hundred miles away; you will likely do much better. Walk if you have to, take a bicycle (50 miles a day is possible), or borrow a horse or motorcycle.
These events are localized.
Fortunately, I have seen in Taiwan some of the most compassionate disaster relief possible. We had the Puli earthquake that killed thousands of people, made 100 thousand homeless and everyone mobilized to provide assistance immediately without waiting for the government to response.
One Buddhist Relief organization rebuilt the bridges on the road into the area out of stacked shipping containers and was serving hot meals to the victims within 24 hours with clean water and tent shelters.
The telephone may only be needed for your moment of fame on CNN.
What are you going to cook the noodles in?
(Well, the water for them. I assume they're the type that comes in a styrofoam cup or bowl, with fork or something included)
My home is on the second floor in an apartmentbuilding up in a hillside 30Km in a village 30Km from town, all local power and phone lines are buried.
My worst scenario is a power loss for maybe 24Hours during/after a hurricane.
(As these mostly happens during winter, add snow and probably closed roads)
I have enough firewood to handle a week or two... Can heat water on the stove, or dig out my propane camping stove.
I even got an oil lamp.
The loss of cable for a couple of days would be... not much of a problem as I have dozens of jigsaw puzzles...
The only problem would in fact be the popcorn, as I only have the microwave type right now.
What should you bring if there's an evac?
toiletries, towel(microfiber type is compact), a bottle or two of water, chocolate and other food for 24hours, transistor radio, batteries, flashlight, clean underwear, extra socks, cell-phone charger(battery-powered emergency charger?), a couple of books to read, a small bottle of hand sanitiser, earplugs!
Sure, you may end up at a well-organised facility... eventually...
I have all my data on a few HDDs in a pelican case ....... * after the nasty 04 fire in LA I have a 30 Sec plan and a 3 H plan *
it also has my papers in it ..........
and per the data post ... I have it in a safe at the bank too ......
Power I have 4 UPSes .. here .... at full bore my computers are good for 4 H ...... If I conserve I can go 3 days on it !
My laptop is a toughbook . and has 3 batts that hold 8 H eatch ....... I have a 5W solar backpack and it can run my phone .
My mom is a ham . so am I .... she has gear . and I have my gear ,, its VHF but Its better then a phone ...
as far as Evac ..... Iam DOA ....... I can get 22 Miles on a segway ........
What are you going to cook the noodles in?
(Well, the water for them. I assume they're the type that comes in a styrofoam cup or bowl, with fork or something included)
The only problem would in fact be the popcorn, as I only have the microwave type right now.
What should you bring if there's an evac?
toiletries, towel(microfiber type is compact), a bottle or two of water, chocolate and other food for 24hours, transistor radio, batteries, flashlight, clean underwear, extra socks, cell-phone charger(battery-powered emergency charger?), a couple of books to read, a small bottle of hand sanitiser, earplugs!
Sure, you may end up at a well-organised facility... eventually...
Now really.. if this is a dire emergency, just eat the noodles without cooking. Or find a pot along the way.
Popcorn? Is that a survival kit or a comfort food?
What can I say? Your emergency kit is so accessorized. It seems more like a kit for a Two Star hotel when you have been used to a Five Star outfit with a good conicerge.
But extra socks are an excellent idea, and a few days of clean underware as well.
When I lived in Oregon, the car had my emergency kit - road flares, fishing rod, a rain ponco, a down sleeping bag, and a cartoon of cigarettes. All of them were very useful at times. I have been stuck in a blizzard in the car overnight and the down sleeping bag is necessary. I once got stuck in a ditch on a logging road on a moonless night and walked out of the woods using the fishing rod like a blind man's cane (Had to get the truck moved before logging started the next day or there might have been a big collision). Cigarettes... well they do help one cope, and they are very negotiable.
It doesn't take a lot to survive, but too much junk might reduce your chances. Long underwear is always a good addition.
From what I remember Erco lives in a area I used to spend time in and there is a 50 kW AM tower with in his area .
On the Whole the RF from a TV system is much higher then a Cell tower .
I have never seen a 2W rated phone in a decade . last I used a moto BAG PHONE on AMPS in the 90s ..... Yea one of those 3 W wonders that ran on a lead batt .
GSM is a tad more power then CDMA ...... and the latter can use as little as 60 mW - 250 mW NOT 2 W .......
I understand there might be more then just thermal but you need to understand that IF people want to play the FUD card on RF they better pick on what Is a larger harm by math ,,,,,,,,
and TV TX are some of the highest power Cont transmitters in the world .
I didn't mention cell towers or transmitter power, Peter. I was just pointing out that a claim that blood flow spreads the energy and makes it all OK is an oversimplification. When the first concerns (real or imagined) were raised back in the 80's and early 90's, the regulatory agencies started asking the handset manufacturers questions they couldn't answer. The engineers wanted to treat the head as a homogeneous mass of "tissue" surrounded by bone, and did things like use robotic arms to raster scan miniature field probes in liquid-filled human phantoms with handsets attached to them. They expected that the main influence would be the shape of the head and its relation to the antenna (and power density of course), and tried to use the results of that work to convince the regulators but they didn't buy it. Numerical modeling of more realistic models was showing hot spots that the scans weren't picking up. Worse, it became apparent that even the modeling had problems because it was critically dependent on knowing the dielectric properties of the various tissues and the numbers available at the time were inadequate. All the measurements had been made in cadavers and even the first crude measurements made in live tissue showed the cadaver-based numbers were simply wrong. It turned out that tissue density, vascularization, and several more subtle things made different regions in the brain exhibit significantly different properties even at small scales. That started a long effort to get better numbers to improve the modeling, and to improve the ability to make measurements to validate the models. My involvement ended in 1999 and I frankly don't know what the state of the art is now, but undoubtedly it's much improved from what it was then.
Popcorn is definitely comfort food. It won't find its way into a 'bug-out kit', but if I'm stuck at home for an extended period, I tend to get cravings...
Most of the kit I listed is already in my camping gear...
Toiletries is already in the small backpack I use when flying(I hate checking in luggage, and even more to wait for it on the other end).
I even have clean underwear packed in zip-lock bags(one T-shirt, boxers and a pair of socks in each bag. Comes in handy with all the traveling I do. It also means I have an empty bag ready for the stinkers as soon as I put on clean unerwear), but I figure that if there's a weather-related evac, Odds are that my socks will get wet a bit more often. Comfort is key here.
The rest is in anticipation of slow administration and long waits.
Earplugs are always in my travel kit because I like my peace and quiet on the plane bus or train.
I even have a package of cream-filled biscuits in my travel kit...
It came in handy the time my plane to Kirkenes (Northern Norway, about a stone throw from the Russian border) got rerouted to Lakselv, BANAK airbase( 'Lakselv' translates to 'Salmon River'.). The Civilian terminal there kind of suks... And the 4Hour bus ride back to Kirkenes wasn't any better... For everyone else...
A down sleeping bag?
The one I keep in my car in the winter has Kapok filler.
(Plant fibres. Really old-school tech, really, but this stuff doesn't lose all its insulating properties if it gets a bit wet. Yeah, it's so old-school that it has wood buttons instead of a zipper. Military surplus is nice... )
There's also a few 'chem-light' rods, half a dozen of the reusable hand-warmers(chemical with a metal 'clicker' inside. Hot for 20 - 30minutes. Then you boil them to 'reset' them) and a heap of one-shots(some sort of iron powder that gets warm when exposed to air. Doesn't get as warm, but lasts much longer)
Cars aren't exactly known for their heat-retention properties...
Gadgetman: Your excellent preparations remind me of a saying attributed to the Norwegians. Perhaps you'd know if it's legit or not. It goes something like..."There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear."
The latest here in Oz (so no doubt elsewhere too) is that for local emergencies (when the cell towers are working anyway) is that they are sending emergency instructions via SMS messages to all mobile phones in the towers range. Keep that mobile phone charged!
Gadgetman: Your excellent preparations remind me of a saying attributed to the Norwegians. Perhaps you'd know if it's legit or not. It goes something like..."There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear."
Correct. Not sure if it originated here or not, but it's pretty ingrained. And it works out well in Norwegian because it rhymes ("weather" and "clothing" actually).
And it's definitely true: The cold is not really a problem because you can always add more (good) clothing. Heat is a problem because you can only remove so much until there's nothing more to remove. Without electricity and air condition you're done for. The cold (and rain for that matter) you handle with passive remedies, no problem.
Gadgetman: Your excellent preparations remind me of a saying attributed to the Norwegians. Perhaps you'd know if it's legit or not. It goes something like..."There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear."
This is tough. Having been through a few hurricanes I'm favoring calling it BS. Then again, having been through a tornado, I would agree. Shelter is key.
I've worked with firewood(splitting and stacking) in -30 Celsius, been out in storms when the rain is 'coming down horisontally' so bad that you can only see a couple of meters, and yeah...
If you have decent clothing, its possible.
The only thing that can stop me, really is the wind. When it starts throwing corrugated metal panels, I take cover.
They very, very quickly learn why cotton is such a poor choice for fabric in winter conditions.
Jeans may look cool, but when they get wet they get COLD!
Incidentally, the last I heard, Norway was the only country that hadn't had any problems with hypothermia in Afghanistan.
There is a bit of irony in mentioning the Inverse Square relationship, as this also applies to the amount of drama in relationship to how far you are from the epicenter of a disaster event. Even with Fukishima's nuclear failures, moving 10 to 20 miles further away from the event provided a much better situation. Hopping on a freeway and getting to the other side of a mountain range or going in the opposite direction as the prevailing winds really is a first step towards survival if feasible. If automotive traffic is gridlocked, get on a motorcycle or bicycle and just go around the barriers.
With all the bottled water and supermarkets in the world, I don't think immediate food shortages are an issue. But getting caught out in cold wet weather is dangerous - a good rain poncho (that will cover you and a pack), a down sleeping bag (good to -10 or 20), long underwear, socks, and a down jacket can help you manage the worst of sub-zero or sleet.
You aren't going to starve in 3 days, even if you eat nothing, but hypothermia can easily end your life quickly.
Heatwaves are a different kind of disaster, slower to unfold. If you local hospital has auxilary power and air conditioning, that is a prime safe haven. If power is running and you just lack a/c at home, McDonald's tends to have a/c, clean bathrooms, and a place to sit.
I was in Phuket, 3 months before the Christmas Tsunami and later saw photos of my hotel wrecked with a tuktuk in the swimming pool. People that merely climbed to the second and third story in their hotels did fine. It was the gawkers that went to the beach that suffered worst.
The basic principle is 'go the other way'. If everyone is going to a riot or protest situation, just go opposite the crowd's direction and watch your back as once the shooting starts, everyone may be suddenly overtaking you. That may seem a bit paranoid, but the last time I visited Thailand was when the Red Shirt protests burned down a Bangkok department store and a renegade General was shot by a snipper. Though I was in Cihang Mai, marshall law was imposed as somebody was running around with grenade launchers and lobbing grendas at the banks and crowded venus. I survive and enjoyed the three weeks by staying away from the problem centers and putting up with a 7pm cerfew for a few days.
I've been to Thailand 3 times. and in June/July every time...
(The hottest time of year. It's cheaper... )
The first thing I do after getting through immigration and customs is to head for the 7-11 on the ground floor(or is it basement?) and buy water.
(Well, a couple of bottles of iced tea. Toothpaste, shaving cream and shamppo, too. but that's because I travel light)
I know what high temp combined with humidity does, so you won't ever see me without at least one spare bottle if I'm more than 100meters away from a shop where I can buy more.
If you lose 1% bodyweight in water, you lose 10% 'efficiency'.
A grown man has no problem sweating out 3 Liters or more in a day in hot climate.
(that's anywhere from 2 - 5% for a man)
By that time you're useless!
I've taken the train to Ayuttaya two times, on 3rd class, even.
(Hard benches, no AC, lots of people, 2Hours of fun)
I've seen tourist families with small children take the same trip, and not bring ANYTHING to drink.
And for some reason, even if their children are crying and complaining about headaches(serious sign of dehydration), they don't buy the COLD, SEALED bottles of water or tea that local 'entrepeneurs' are selling onboard the train...
(Yes, there has been cases of faked seals on refilled bottles, but it's rare. And I'd rather risk dysenteri than heatstroke.)
Loopy is absolutely correct in that you won't starve (too much) in 3 days... But getting something to eat is a really good psychological boost.
And if it's a hot meal you make yourself, you get the bonus 'I'm in control' feeling, too.
Thank you Tor & Gadgetman for confirming this. The fact that clothes and weather rhyme in Norwegian is something I'll never forget. It also makes that much more sense.
I once took a mountaineering class with EXUM in the Tetons. We were expressly forbidden from wearing cotton. Most of our group went high-tech - Gortex and that sort of thing. I brought a wool sweater that was perfect in the snow and rain we encountered on the Grand.
Cotton suck up any moisture and the fibres 'collapse' until they're dried. In other words, when they get wet, they lose all insulating properties. Even the wind penetrates easier...
Wool fibres keep their shape even when wet, so retain a good deal of their insulating properties. Also, wool isn't all that flammable.
Merino wool is the best wool for underwear.
GoreTex is nice... when it's new... As it ages, the membrane slowly clogs up.
Regarding sleeping bags in extreme cold, I doubt if a kapoc bag will do well. Silk doesn't burn and may be better than wool in cold climates.
It isn't just the filler (down is superior), but the construction as well. If you have ever tried to sleep in a bag below freezing, you will soon notice how cold the zipper seam and maybe the other seams of the bag are. A properly constructed bag has an extra flap to insulate the zip, and the other pockets are constructed in an overlap manner so none of the seams arre cold.
So it isn't just about absorbing water in a cold weather situation. Down is also good as it can pack so small for storage, but I have seen silk comforters in Taiwan that are supposedly as warm in icy weather and much thinner in actual use. Monglians and northern Chinese wear vests padded with a felt made of short silk fibres. SIlk long underwear is excellent as it dries extremely fast, packs extremely small... good for travel where you might wash it in the evening and have it dry and ready to wear in the morning.
Moral is boosted by staying clean, warm, dry, and rested.. as well as not hungry. Just getting cleaned up with shower can really change one's mood.
I have always had doubts about GoreTex. The majority of my working outside has been in rubberized cloth overalls and rubberized coat. If I am not working outside, I'd rather have a big military rubberized poncho as it can also serve as a tent of sorts, and allows me to wear a backpack that stays dry... but easily accessible. I am not fond of rubber boots and would rather wear leather that is well oiled every day.
I've been paying a bit of attention to the cyclone that struck the Philippines simply because I have a have a niece living in Tacloban. There are neither landlines nor cell phone service at the moment. HAM radio is the only way a lot of us have of getting information. The more severe the disaster, the better Amateur radio looks.
I suspect that ham radio is also better than CB in really serious disasters.
a. It can reach over larger distances.
b. The ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) was founded with a strong emergency service mission and considers helping out to part of their community serivice.
Regarding sleeping bags in extreme cold, I doubt if a kapoc bag will do well. Silk doesn't burn and may be better than wool in cold climates.
It isn't just the filler (down is superior), but the construction as well. If you have ever tried to sleep in a bag below freezing, you will soon notice how cold the zipper seam and maybe the other seams of the bag are. A properly constructed bag has an extra flap to insulate the zip, and the other pockets are constructed in an overlap manner so none of the seams arre cold.
Yeah, I've slept in sleeping bags in the cold...
The reason I went for a Kapoc bag is that it's stored in my car the entire winter. And my car is often parked in humid areas, with condensation and all kinds of problems. And also, it cost me about $30 from a surplus store... ;-)
I figure that the hand warmers should compensate for the difference in insulating properties.
Also, it's military grade, which means it's pretty darn hard-wearing.
If one really got stuck in a blizzard on a road between towns, a sub-zero down sleeping bag might just save your life. I am not sure the kapok would be good enough. You have to turn off the engine to both conserve fuel and to avoid fumes, so the car becomes not much more than a snow cave or igloo. Some ventilation to the outside is necessary.
In university, I regularly drove between Eugene, Oregon and San Francisco, California. Even with a major interset, there is a section from Ashland, Oregon south to Eureka, California that one can completely impassible in snow with rescue a day away at times.
Is Norweigian kapok warmer? We have kapok trees in the local park here. I didn't think they grew that far north. It also emits toxic fumes when it burns. Oregon was very damp for anything, but a down sleeping cane be packed inside a plastic bag with no trouble at all.
I have been completely stuck in blizzards where you just can't go foward because there is two feet of snow on the windshield and you can't see the shoulder of the road out the side window. The road becomes invisible and fuel becomes a huge issue.
Since anywhere off the interstate in Oregon could take days to be plowed in a really bad storm, a good sleeping bag was the most important piece of kit for survival. And then, one bag may not have been enough.
when power is interrupted, landline phones still work, because switching faciltites have massive battery backup systems in place. I do not know if cellphone towers have anything equivalent. And your isp almost certainly does not, so forget ip phones. In any such case, you're relying upon an intermediary for communication. For total disintermediation during an emergency, a ham radio license and a battery-powered transceiver are your best bet.
Just about every winter there's some sort of international military exercise in Norway(codename 'Cold Response') and the first thing allied soldiers notice is that Norwegian soldiers can actually MOVE when they're fully kitted up in winter gear...
FWIW, I spent 3-1/2 years of my time in the USAF stationed in Alaska. I participated in the joint service exercises held in the interior around Fairbanks, but that really didn't make a lot of difference since I was there year round anyway. Desite having what was apparently inferior gear (my experience was nearly 40 years ago), we somehow managed to get a lot of work done. I can't say I enjoyed working outside at -40 or colder, but we did so, even with American equipment.
I grew up in San Francisco where all and everyone had AAA for auto service. Then I moved to Oregon where AAA is nowhere to be found... not enough peope density for them to make a profit.
In Oregon, and to a much greater extent in Alaska; a plea for help is something serious and to not be ignored. You don't have to do more than ask your neighbor or even a stranger for help.
Comments
Good memory, Peter. KNX 1070 AM is very easy to receive. On your cordless phone, PA system, audio amp, crystal radio, kids' braces, a spoon...
OK, I made up the spoon part. But that 50 kW signal gets into everything. Lots of bleedover onto adjacent frequencies, even FM when you're close to the antenna array, which is a marvel of broadcasting efficiency. From Wiki:
The station's antenna array includes a tall main antenna (193.5 electrical degrees with an efficiency of 400.73 mV/m/kW at 1 km;[11] optimum and much better than average for a Class A station's main antenna, which has a minimum efficiency requirement of 362.10 mV/m/kW at 1 km[12]),
it was a 600W modded microwave the dude got easy 20 miles from it .............
Something like this >>> http://hacknmod.com/hack/diy-electromagnetic-herf-gun-project/
Erco I knew it was KNX .. I just did not want to ( pardon the pun ) broadcast your exact city ..
Dale a close friend is in the same area .... He has free " on hold " music from them in his landline phones .
the copper oxide in the main J box for his phones acts as a small diode and makes a great radio RX.
a. a few candles for light
b. a six pack of instant noodles for food
c. drinking water for 3 or 4 days
I suppose I could boil water with a candle if need be.
And since I live two blocks from the police station which is next to one of the city's main hospitals, I can likely drag myself to their front door for dire needs.
Of course, if someone decides to invade Taiwan, I might be dead before I know it. But above a, b, c has worked out well in 20 years of typhoons and major earthquakes.
I will keep the landline and cell for ordering pizza and such, but I somehow think that there is a big portion of the world that doesn't expect to call 911 or 119 and get any results.
It is just saner to stay safe and plan your own rescue. Back in 1994, when I arrived in Taiwan, a call to 911 for an ambulance was responded to by a couple of guys with a van and not EMT training. They might take 45 minutes to arrive and you just rode on the floor of the van to the nearest ER. A lot has changed and we do have real ambulances with EMTs now. But nothing beats being able to walk to the ER when all else fails.
I got hold of this Folding USB Solar Cell;
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/browndoggadgets/folding-usb-solar-cell
and a 2800mAH 'power bank' with built-in LED light.
It's for camping, in case I ever take the always planned week-long hike across the mountans.
I expect anyone who live in a potential disaster zone(earthquake, flood, tornado alley, whatever) to have 'adequate' supplies and equipment to survive a few days on their own.
Anyone else should really ask themselves;
1. What will I do if I lose power for 3 days in the middle of winter or the hottest part of summer(pick the one that's worse)?
2. your home is in danger/there's an evacuation going on and you have THREE MINUTES to pack, what will you bring?
3. disaster strikes. Cell-phones doesn't work. your home is unreachable. How will you be able to find the rest of your family?
Of course, 'disasters' are more likely to happen while you're traveling. Do you have what is needed to survive if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere?
(Again, assume no Cell-phone reception)
Nothing quite as handy as a hungry mutt to find a free lunch.
Frankly, I think westerners are too vested in emergency dramas from watching disaster movies. And of course, there are now TV shows on people that are hoarding supplies for a complete collapse of civilization. And the Mormon church encourages their members to have two years of supplies 'just in case'.
My personal experience in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco is that the majority of people pulled together and helped those in need. I am not sure what happened in Katrina in New Orleans that made for problems at their domed stadium and a police shooting at one of the bridges. But it does help to have a community that generally is not hysterical, paranoid, and selfish. I'd stay far away from any survivalist that are hoarding as they just might be the first to open fire.
And after observing a lot of disaster (Kobe earthquake, tsunamis, volcano eruptions), I;d say the best thing to do is to get far and away if you can, check into a nice hotel, and relax. If you can jump on a bus, train, airplane, or boat and get a few hundred miles away; you will likely do much better. Walk if you have to, take a bicycle (50 miles a day is possible), or borrow a horse or motorcycle.
These events are localized.
Fortunately, I have seen in Taiwan some of the most compassionate disaster relief possible. We had the Puli earthquake that killed thousands of people, made 100 thousand homeless and everyone mobilized to provide assistance immediately without waiting for the government to response.
One Buddhist Relief organization rebuilt the bridges on the road into the area out of stacked shipping containers and was serving hot meals to the victims within 24 hours with clean water and tent shelters.
The telephone may only be needed for your moment of fame on CNN.
(Well, the water for them. I assume they're the type that comes in a styrofoam cup or bowl, with fork or something included)
My home is on the second floor in an apartmentbuilding up in a hillside 30Km in a village 30Km from town, all local power and phone lines are buried.
My worst scenario is a power loss for maybe 24Hours during/after a hurricane.
(As these mostly happens during winter, add snow and probably closed roads)
I have enough firewood to handle a week or two... Can heat water on the stove, or dig out my propane camping stove.
I even got an oil lamp.
The loss of cable for a couple of days would be... not much of a problem as I have dozens of jigsaw puzzles...
The only problem would in fact be the popcorn, as I only have the microwave type right now.
What should you bring if there's an evac?
toiletries, towel(microfiber type is compact), a bottle or two of water, chocolate and other food for 24hours, transistor radio, batteries, flashlight, clean underwear, extra socks, cell-phone charger(battery-powered emergency charger?), a couple of books to read, a small bottle of hand sanitiser, earplugs!
Sure, you may end up at a well-organised facility... eventually...
it also has my papers in it ..........
and per the data post ... I have it in a safe at the bank too ......
Power I have 4 UPSes .. here .... at full bore my computers are good for 4 H ...... If I conserve I can go 3 days on it !
My laptop is a toughbook . and has 3 batts that hold 8 H eatch ....... I have a 5W solar backpack and it can run my phone .
My mom is a ham . so am I .... she has gear . and I have my gear ,, its VHF but Its better then a phone ...
as far as Evac ..... Iam DOA ....... I can get 22 Miles on a segway ........
http://www.ehow.com/how_5921598_boil-water-paper-cup.html
Now really.. if this is a dire emergency, just eat the noodles without cooking. Or find a pot along the way.
Popcorn? Is that a survival kit or a comfort food?
What can I say? Your emergency kit is so accessorized. It seems more like a kit for a Two Star hotel when you have been used to a Five Star outfit with a good conicerge.
But extra socks are an excellent idea, and a few days of clean underware as well.
When I lived in Oregon, the car had my emergency kit - road flares, fishing rod, a rain ponco, a down sleeping bag, and a cartoon of cigarettes. All of them were very useful at times. I have been stuck in a blizzard in the car overnight and the down sleeping bag is necessary. I once got stuck in a ditch on a logging road on a moonless night and walked out of the woods using the fishing rod like a blind man's cane (Had to get the truck moved before logging started the next day or there might have been a big collision). Cigarettes... well they do help one cope, and they are very negotiable.
It doesn't take a lot to survive, but too much junk might reduce your chances. Long underwear is always a good addition.
I didn't mention cell towers or transmitter power, Peter. I was just pointing out that a claim that blood flow spreads the energy and makes it all OK is an oversimplification. When the first concerns (real or imagined) were raised back in the 80's and early 90's, the regulatory agencies started asking the handset manufacturers questions they couldn't answer. The engineers wanted to treat the head as a homogeneous mass of "tissue" surrounded by bone, and did things like use robotic arms to raster scan miniature field probes in liquid-filled human phantoms with handsets attached to them. They expected that the main influence would be the shape of the head and its relation to the antenna (and power density of course), and tried to use the results of that work to convince the regulators but they didn't buy it. Numerical modeling of more realistic models was showing hot spots that the scans weren't picking up. Worse, it became apparent that even the modeling had problems because it was critically dependent on knowing the dielectric properties of the various tissues and the numbers available at the time were inadequate. All the measurements had been made in cadavers and even the first crude measurements made in live tissue showed the cadaver-based numbers were simply wrong. It turned out that tissue density, vascularization, and several more subtle things made different regions in the brain exhibit significantly different properties even at small scales. That started a long effort to get better numbers to improve the modeling, and to improve the ability to make measurements to validate the models. My involvement ended in 1999 and I frankly don't know what the state of the art is now, but undoubtedly it's much improved from what it was then.
Bob
Most of the kit I listed is already in my camping gear...
Toiletries is already in the small backpack I use when flying(I hate checking in luggage, and even more to wait for it on the other end).
I even have clean underwear packed in zip-lock bags(one T-shirt, boxers and a pair of socks in each bag. Comes in handy with all the traveling I do. It also means I have an empty bag ready for the stinkers as soon as I put on clean unerwear), but I figure that if there's a weather-related evac, Odds are that my socks will get wet a bit more often. Comfort is key here.
The rest is in anticipation of slow administration and long waits.
Earplugs are always in my travel kit because I like my peace and quiet on the plane bus or train.
I even have a package of cream-filled biscuits in my travel kit...
It came in handy the time my plane to Kirkenes (Northern Norway, about a stone throw from the Russian border) got rerouted to Lakselv, BANAK airbase( 'Lakselv' translates to 'Salmon River'.). The Civilian terminal there kind of suks... And the 4Hour bus ride back to Kirkenes wasn't any better... For everyone else...
A down sleeping bag?
The one I keep in my car in the winter has Kapok filler.
(Plant fibres. Really old-school tech, really, but this stuff doesn't lose all its insulating properties if it gets a bit wet. Yeah, it's so old-school that it has wood buttons instead of a zipper. Military surplus is nice... )
There's also a few 'chem-light' rods, half a dozen of the reusable hand-warmers(chemical with a metal 'clicker' inside. Hot for 20 - 30minutes. Then you boil them to 'reset' them) and a heap of one-shots(some sort of iron powder that gets warm when exposed to air. Doesn't get as warm, but lasts much longer)
Cars aren't exactly known for their heat-retention properties...
And it's definitely true: The cold is not really a problem because you can always add more (good) clothing. Heat is a problem because you can only remove so much until there's nothing more to remove. Without electricity and air condition you're done for. The cold (and rain for that matter) you handle with passive remedies, no problem.
-Tor
This is tough. Having been through a few hurricanes I'm favoring calling it BS. Then again, having been through a tornado, I would agree. Shelter is key.
If you have decent clothing, its possible.
The only thing that can stop me, really is the wind. When it starts throwing corrugated metal panels, I take cover.
Just about every winter there's some sort of international military exercise in Norway(codename 'Cold Response') and the first thing allied soldiers notice is that Norwegian soldiers can actually MOVE when they're fully kitted up in winter gear...
The second thing they notice is that the depot on the base is selling the exact same underwear cheaply.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cold%20response&oq=cold%20response&gs_l=youtube.3..0l2.2494.3184.0.4834.4.4.0.0.0.0.70.210.4.4.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.QHbH-1ybkmA
They very, very quickly learn why cotton is such a poor choice for fabric in winter conditions.
Jeans may look cool, but when they get wet they get COLD!
Incidentally, the last I heard, Norway was the only country that hadn't had any problems with hypothermia in Afghanistan.
With all the bottled water and supermarkets in the world, I don't think immediate food shortages are an issue. But getting caught out in cold wet weather is dangerous - a good rain poncho (that will cover you and a pack), a down sleeping bag (good to -10 or 20), long underwear, socks, and a down jacket can help you manage the worst of sub-zero or sleet.
You aren't going to starve in 3 days, even if you eat nothing, but hypothermia can easily end your life quickly.
Heatwaves are a different kind of disaster, slower to unfold. If you local hospital has auxilary power and air conditioning, that is a prime safe haven. If power is running and you just lack a/c at home, McDonald's tends to have a/c, clean bathrooms, and a place to sit.
I was in Phuket, 3 months before the Christmas Tsunami and later saw photos of my hotel wrecked with a tuktuk in the swimming pool. People that merely climbed to the second and third story in their hotels did fine. It was the gawkers that went to the beach that suffered worst.
The basic principle is 'go the other way'. If everyone is going to a riot or protest situation, just go opposite the crowd's direction and watch your back as once the shooting starts, everyone may be suddenly overtaking you. That may seem a bit paranoid, but the last time I visited Thailand was when the Red Shirt protests burned down a Bangkok department store and a renegade General was shot by a snipper. Though I was in Cihang Mai, marshall law was imposed as somebody was running around with grenade launchers and lobbing grendas at the banks and crowded venus. I survive and enjoyed the three weeks by staying away from the problem centers and putting up with a 7pm cerfew for a few days.
(The hottest time of year. It's cheaper... )
The first thing I do after getting through immigration and customs is to head for the 7-11 on the ground floor(or is it basement?) and buy water.
(Well, a couple of bottles of iced tea. Toothpaste, shaving cream and shamppo, too. but that's because I travel light)
I know what high temp combined with humidity does, so you won't ever see me without at least one spare bottle if I'm more than 100meters away from a shop where I can buy more.
If you lose 1% bodyweight in water, you lose 10% 'efficiency'.
A grown man has no problem sweating out 3 Liters or more in a day in hot climate.
(that's anywhere from 2 - 5% for a man)
By that time you're useless!
I've taken the train to Ayuttaya two times, on 3rd class, even.
(Hard benches, no AC, lots of people, 2Hours of fun)
I've seen tourist families with small children take the same trip, and not bring ANYTHING to drink.
And for some reason, even if their children are crying and complaining about headaches(serious sign of dehydration), they don't buy the COLD, SEALED bottles of water or tea that local 'entrepeneurs' are selling onboard the train...
(Yes, there has been cases of faked seals on refilled bottles, but it's rare. And I'd rather risk dysenteri than heatstroke.)
Loopy is absolutely correct in that you won't starve (too much) in 3 days... But getting something to eat is a really good psychological boost.
And if it's a hot meal you make yourself, you get the bonus 'I'm in control' feeling, too.
It's mostly a question of risk management.
I once took a mountaineering class with EXUM in the Tetons. We were expressly forbidden from wearing cotton. Most of our group went high-tech - Gortex and that sort of thing. I brought a wool sweater that was perfect in the snow and rain we encountered on the Grand.
Wool fibres keep their shape even when wet, so retain a good deal of their insulating properties. Also, wool isn't all that flammable.
Merino wool is the best wool for underwear.
GoreTex is nice... when it's new... As it ages, the membrane slowly clogs up.
It isn't just the filler (down is superior), but the construction as well. If you have ever tried to sleep in a bag below freezing, you will soon notice how cold the zipper seam and maybe the other seams of the bag are. A properly constructed bag has an extra flap to insulate the zip, and the other pockets are constructed in an overlap manner so none of the seams arre cold.
So it isn't just about absorbing water in a cold weather situation. Down is also good as it can pack so small for storage, but I have seen silk comforters in Taiwan that are supposedly as warm in icy weather and much thinner in actual use. Monglians and northern Chinese wear vests padded with a felt made of short silk fibres. SIlk long underwear is excellent as it dries extremely fast, packs extremely small... good for travel where you might wash it in the evening and have it dry and ready to wear in the morning.
Moral is boosted by staying clean, warm, dry, and rested.. as well as not hungry. Just getting cleaned up with shower can really change one's mood.
I have always had doubts about GoreTex. The majority of my working outside has been in rubberized cloth overalls and rubberized coat. If I am not working outside, I'd rather have a big military rubberized poncho as it can also serve as a tent of sorts, and allows me to wear a backpack that stays dry... but easily accessible. I am not fond of rubber boots and would rather wear leather that is well oiled every day.
a. It can reach over larger distances.
b. The ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) was founded with a strong emergency service mission and considers helping out to part of their community serivice.
Yeah, I've slept in sleeping bags in the cold...
The reason I went for a Kapoc bag is that it's stored in my car the entire winter. And my car is often parked in humid areas, with condensation and all kinds of problems. And also, it cost me about $30 from a surplus store... ;-)
I figure that the hand warmers should compensate for the difference in insulating properties.
Also, it's military grade, which means it's pretty darn hard-wearing.
In university, I regularly drove between Eugene, Oregon and San Francisco, California. Even with a major interset, there is a section from Ashland, Oregon south to Eureka, California that one can completely impassible in snow with rescue a day away at times.
Is Norweigian kapok warmer? We have kapok trees in the local park here. I didn't think they grew that far north. It also emits toxic fumes when it burns. Oregon was very damp for anything, but a down sleeping cane be packed inside a plastic bag with no trouble at all.
I have been completely stuck in blizzards where you just can't go foward because there is two feet of snow on the windshield and you can't see the shoulder of the road out the side window. The road becomes invisible and fuel becomes a huge issue.
Since anywhere off the interstate in Oregon could take days to be plowed in a really bad storm, a good sleeping bag was the most important piece of kit for survival. And then, one bag may not have been enough.
mesh network!
FWIW, I spent 3-1/2 years of my time in the USAF stationed in Alaska. I participated in the joint service exercises held in the interior around Fairbanks, but that really didn't make a lot of difference since I was there year round anyway. Desite having what was apparently inferior gear (my experience was nearly 40 years ago), we somehow managed to get a lot of work done. I can't say I enjoyed working outside at -40 or colder, but we did so, even with American equipment.
What exactly are we polling, goose down versus landline, cellular versus kapok, or Win8 versus Linux ?
If there is a real disaster, why call?
I grew up in San Francisco where all and everyone had AAA for auto service. Then I moved to Oregon where AAA is nowhere to be found... not enough peope density for them to make a profit.
In Oregon, and to a much greater extent in Alaska; a plea for help is something serious and to not be ignored. You don't have to do more than ask your neighbor or even a stranger for help.