Government Response to Disease Outbreaks – Outbreaking News

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It's a deeply rooted fear in the psyche of our culture. What would happen if a large-scale, deadly disease outbreak occurred in close proximity to where we live? Our minds quickly run to scenes from films like Outbreak, Contagion, or I Am Legend as far as how the public would react and what the government would do to intervene.

After we stopped hyperventilating about the possibility of roadblocks being set up, curfews being implemented, and soldiers in hazmat suits herding infected people into quarantine zones, we asked ourselves, “Are these realistic situations, or are we victims of Hollywood lore?” We were curious ourselves about what government protocol is for dealing with outbreaks and went to the experts to find out.

What is an Outbreak?

Actually this term is somewhat subjective and unfortunately gets thrown around, particularly by the media, without proper context. However, there are some terms with which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describe disease levels, and the term “outbreak” is synonymous with “epidemic.” The CDC doesn't have epidemic thresholds for every disease, but are always monitoring disease levels throughout the world. These terms defined by the CDC can help shed some light on the amount of pathogens present in a population at any given time.

Endemic: The constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area. (For example, Ebola is endemic to West Africa, but not the United States.)

Epidemic: Increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area.

Outbreak: Same definition as epidemic but is often used for a more limited geographic area.

Pandemic: An epidemic involving several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.

Health Emergency Response

(Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images)

(Photo by Joern Pollex/Getty Images)

A health emergency in itself is a complex thing with many variables. Although the CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists mandate that when certain pathogens are diagnosed at the local level that they be reported to higher authorities, such as the Ebola discovery in Texas, it doesn't necessarily mean a public health emergency will be declared or federal involvement is automatically triggered.

A disease outbreak has certain elements that determine the appropriate response. How fatal is the pathogen? What ways is it communicable? How many are believed to be infected? Are vaccines or treatments available to deal with it? These are all factors that determine the best methods for treatment and containment when first identified.

“There is not a single protocol for responding to a public health emergency,” says Jason McDonald, spokesman for the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. “As you can imagine, a disease outbreak is handled differently from a natural disaster. Even among disease outbreaks, none are handled the same.”

As examples, the recent discovery of E. coli linked to Chipotle restaurants would warrant a different response than the SARS outbreak first reported in Asia in 2003. SARS is an airborne contagion, but E. coli is not transmitted person to person and is usually linked to contaminated food.

Calls to Action

A number of guidelines at the local level, as defined by the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the CDC, would be implemented to handle highly infectious diseases like Ebola when they're initially discovered. Once the infection is reported and confirmed, the state health department would report it to the CDC, which collaborates with WHO. They start monitoring the number of cases recorded through a database of hospital admissions and discharged patients to track the trend. Local agencies ultimately make the determination if more help is needed for treatment and containment based on the number of cases they are seeing.

(Photo by Stephen Morton/Getty Images)

(Photo by Stephen Morton/Getty Images)

States have their own public health emergency plans, usually available to view on state health department websites. There are some federal programs built to deal with the consistencies that all emergencies share, but there are also different programs for different purposes.

“There are public health emergencies that do not involve diseases,” says Elleen Kane, who handles strategic communications at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Most public health emergencies are declared for natural disasters, not diseases. It's not so much of a hierarchy as it is a collaboration.

“Federal public health emergency response is led by HHS. The ASPR is the primary advisor to the HHS Secretary on matters of bioterrorism and other public health emergencies and, on behalf of the Secretary, ASPR usually coordinates federal resources for emergency response. The National Response Framework (NRF) guides emergency response in general and, in that framework, HHS leads the federal public health and medical response to emergencies.”

In this issue's What If? article on page 20, we fictionalized some elements of a pneumonic plague outbreak and response for dramatic effect to see how our subject-matter experts would react to those circumstances. However, there are so many variables, it's impossible, even in the event of a pathogen that serious, to predict the exact level of federal involvement that would take place in real life.

“There are cases of plague that occur every year. They're noteworthy, but there's not a federal team that gets called in every time a case is identified,” says Dr. Stephen Redd, director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. “There might be circumstances where the likelihood of the normal route of exposure was not something that'd be the leading hypothesis, and it might be some intentional exposure release where different groups would come into play, including law enforcement. That would be something where the federal involvement would occur more quickly than a natural case of plague.”

Just so we're clear on departments, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CDC is an agency within the HHS. All public health and medical support for a state is handled by HHS. Within the HHS, the CDC is typically the lead operational element in disease outbreak situations. Just like the FBI or the DEA, their roles are different, but they all work together when called upon to respond to emergencies and investigations.

The National Response Framework

Created in 2008, the NRF was developed by the DHS and is managed by FEMA. It builds upon the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which basically serves as a guide to help government and nongovernmental organizations structure their resources to work together to prepare for, respond to, and recover from domestic incidents. It's written in such a way that it's always in effect.

NRF uses NIMS to create a framework for coordination among federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations, but it's intended to be used by the whole community. NIMS coordinates the response structure at emergencies, and NRF governs resources used during and after the designated event or incident. The NRF is mandated and applies to all federal departments and agencies that may be requested to provide assistance. It integrates prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery into one comprehensive plan.

outbreak-national-response-framework-diagram

Since no threat exists in isolation and often involves collateral damage, the overall goal is to save lives, protect property and the environment, and restore essential services and infrastructure to help communities return to normal.

In an effort to illustrate how this would look on a macro level, we created a graph to illustrate the likely domino effect a major outbreak or public health emergency might trigger as it relates to the National Response Framework.

Public Health Emergencies

A public health emergency (PHE) can be declared in preparation for, or in response to, a potential public health crisis to deliver necessary resources. This was done in 2009 for the flu pandemic and could include anything from a natural disaster to a bioterrorist attack — or anything else the president or HSS secretary believe represents a threat to public health. It lasts for 90 days and can be renewed or terminated early if deemed necessary.

The president or HHS secretary can make the declaration independent of each other, but the president may only do so under the Stafford Act, which authorizes financial assistance for the response or mitigation efforts. Presidential disaster or emergency declarations are separate and distinct actions that don't have the same conditions as a public health emergency. Unlike disaster or emergency declarations that typically require the request of a governor (if he or she feels the magnitude of the emergency goes beyond the state's capability to handle it), a public health emergency can be activated without a governor's request. A presidential declaration may be required to grant the HHS secretary certain authorities.

Quarantines

If you travel, especially internationally, you've probably seen literature distributed about pathogens to be aware of while at your destination or wherever you may be returning from. Monitoring ports of entry is vital to defend against the introduction of potential health threats into our communities.

A quarantinable diseases list is contained in a presidential executive order. It's amended periodically, but it grants officials federal quarantine and isolation authority to apprehend, examine, or conditionally release someone who's known or believed to be infected with a disease on the list. States are responsible for controlling the spread of a disease within their borders. Their laws vary on the topic, but can also authorize the detainment of individuals to prevent the spread of disease.

As there are differences between the two, it's important to differentiate isolation from quarantine:

  • Isolation is the practice of separating and restricting movement of ill persons found to be infected with a quarantinable disease. This is standard procedure in hospitals with diseases such as tuberculosis.
  • Quarantining is the separation or movement restriction of a well person believed to have been exposed to, or possibly carrying, a quarantinable disease in its communicable or pre-communicable stages.

At ports of entry in particular, the CDC serves the primary role for implementing measures to control the spread of diseases. Public health authorities at the state, local, or federal level may request assistance from law enforcement to impose a public health order. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Coast Guard are required, under the Public Service Health Act, to assist the CDC in enforcing quarantine regulations. The CDC, or agencies required to assist in enforcing their regulations, may detain the travel of someone thought to be ill for purposes of examining the cause of their illness and whether it's communicable.

Military Intervention

National Guard members have expertise in critical areas, such as emergency medical response, nuclear response and planning, and decontamination. The NRF states: “The governor may activate elements of the National Guard to support state domestic civil support functions and activities. The state adjutant general may assign members of the Guard to assist with state, regional, and federal civil support plans.”

In other words, if the situation calls for it, the military can and will be used to protect human life. This doesn't necessarily mean martial law or things seen in movies will automatically be activated. For instance, as we talked about domino effects disasters tend to create, the National Guard, Coast Guard, CBP, and various other auxiliary organizations were all called upon to assist in different tasks during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and support local law enforcement. Although there isn't an official threshold for military involvement, it may be deemed necessary.

Planning and Reliable Information

If you start hearing gossip of an outbreak on the news, you should also turn to the experts to gather more info and precautionary advice than what you may first be hearing. “Although it's thought of as an enhancement of our ways to communicate, the Internet and social media can be very detrimental in these circumstances,” says Dr. Robert Quigley, senior vice president of medical assistance for International SOS. “In a matter of seconds, information can be disseminated and a lot of it can be fictional and not factual, and that doesn't help us.”

The government will use whatever means they can to disseminate news regarding public health threats, but one should also confirm what they are hearing through conventional outlets to ensure it's legit. Websites such as www.phe.gov and www.cdc.gov provide reliable, substantiated information.

The HHS and the CDC have other resources to educate yourself on health concerns as well. Training and education centers for Ebola and other disease have been set up and the CDC's Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases is a free monthly publication that anyone can sign up for (wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/subscriptions). Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity calls and webinars are also available to participate in through the CDC website.

Awareness and Prevention

“The virus that has the potential to be highly transmissible and has a high degree of severity is pandemic influenza,” Redd says. “That would be an influenza that is transmissible the way seasonal influenza is, but has a different genetic structure, so we don't have an immunity to it. If that causes a severe disease that's slowly transmissible, that would be a big problem.

“That's basically what the H1N1 pandemic was — a virus that hadn't been seen in people before that was readily transmissible. Fortunately that virus didn't have a high hospitalization or mortality rate, but a different virus could be much more severe.”

As mentioned in the article “Condition Red” in our Winter 2015 Issue, there are common-sense hygienic practices people should engage in if they're traveling. If you're home and an outbreak is reported, visit the previously mentioned information sources, be conscientious of your own health, and take care not to spread something if you're sick or become infected. Wash your hands often, stay home if you're sick, get any available vaccinations before you become ill, and seek medical attention if you feel sick, particularly if its symptoms are consistent with any illnesses reported in public health alerts.

You may also want to double down on receiving health alerts and advice by aligning yourself with an assistance company such as International SOS, which provides up-to-date notifications and support to travelers and businesses domestically and internationally.

The first line of defense begins with the public and their willingness to stay informed and responsible.

“Because of ease of travel and globalization of our workforce, we're always going to be at risk of someone introducing an infectious disease from an area where it's endemic,” Quigley says. “It's another reason why companies should have pandemic plans, business continuity plans, best practices of infectious disease controls in place, and if they've done all of the above, the likelihood of infectious diseases coming into our community and spreading into anything more than a minimal outbreak will be limited.”

Health security starts with you.

Federal and International Plans

You can check out these plans created by the following organizations in their entirety by visiting these links.

FEMA

ASPR

CDC

WHO

More From Issue 12

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 13

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 11

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original print version for the web.

What If An Outbreak of Weaponized Pneumonic Plague Hits Your City?

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Wes Massey had the sharpest eyes of anyone I'd ever known, and as we walked down a busy Seattle street something caught his attention. His pace slowed a bit, and I slowed my stride to match him. Without raising a hand to point, he simply nodded his head to direct my attention toward a homeless-looking fellow who was sitting up against a building. In a quiet voice, meant only for me to hear, Wes said “Hey, check out that guy.” We both slowed our walk to the point where people were bumping into us, and tried not to openly stare at the man.

The scruffy and unwashed old man was coughing up blood. Red rivulets of spit and blood were running out of the corners of his mouth, down onto his dirty shirt. Our stride quickened again and we hurried past him, instinctively trying to avoid the ill man. For propriety's sake, we didn't speak until we were out of earshot of the poor fellow. But as soon as were clear, we voiced our alarm. “Dude, what the hell was that?!” I queried. “That was a whole lot of nasty, that's what that was,” Wes replied.

He went on to say that he thought that symptom seemed familiar, like something he had seen on TV. But he admitted it was not something from the gross medical mystery shows he relished watching during dinner. I could see the wheels turning in his mind as he said “No, I haven't seen that kind of condition on a medical show — I think I saw it on the History Channel!”

Hope you're holding your copy of OG with medical gloves, because this edition of What If? is about to get contagious. This time, we've been posed the question, “What if an outbreak of weaponized pneumonic plague threatens the entire Pacific Northwest?” To explore our different approaches in the face of a modern outbreak of one of the most contagious and fatal diseases known to man, OG asked three different survival writers to wade through this infected tale about surviving an epidemic.

For this installment, we have Jim Cobb, author of numerous prepper books and respected disaster-preparedness consultant. We also have Rudy Reyes, an actor, martial arts instructor, and former special-operations member of the U.S. Marine Corp's 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. Rounding out the trio, there's me. I've been a professional survival instructor for 20 years, with three New York Times-bestselling survival books under my belt — and a horrible case of hypochondria.

Unlike past What If? features in which we wrote different perspectives based on the same persona, here we're writing from our own personal perspectives. Here are our fictional but realistic stories of pestilence and woe.

The Scenario

SITUATION TYPE
Outbreak
YOUR CREW
You and your assistant/co-worker
LOCATION
Seattle, Washington
SEASON
Late winter (February)
WEATHER
Rainy with highs around 50 degrees F and lows near 37 degrees F

The Setup: You're on a working vacation in the Pacific Northwest, staying at a posh hotel in Bellevue where you've been doing consulting work for a big tech firm. After two days of work, you and your assistant will spend the next two days seeing the sights in Downtown Seattle via public transportation.

The Complication: Since arriving by plane two days ago, you've noticed a lot more people than usual coughing and sneezing — but it is flu season after all. While in a nice downtown restaurant, the multiple TVs show the same breaking news report: multiple bioterrorist attacks have allegedly hit Seattle. Authorities would not reveal where the attacks were perpetrated and by whom, but said the contagion is most likely pneumonic plague. The reporter then describes the symptoms, treatment centers, and recommended precautions. You don't believe you're infected, but it's not known how the biological attacks were launched so you can't be certain. Plus, you're potentially surrounded by infected people in a crowded downtown area. The one-to-six-day incubation period also means you could be infected and not know it.

The New Plan: Just as you and your assistant start formulating a plan of action, firefighting trucks zoom by. Then ambulances. A few moments go by and just as you leave the restaurant, you see large vans with signs that read, “Washington State Department of Health,” escorted by police cruisers. You know SHTF nearby, and you're not going to wait to find out what kind it is.

people-sitting-at-a-restaurant

DISASTER-PREP EXPERT: Jim Cobb's Approach

It was the Department of Health vans that finally made it seem real. Up until that point, we'd felt like it was more of a hypothetical scenario rather than reality. But, seeing those squad cars leading the Department of Health vans up the street was our personal call to action. At that moment, we had two primary goals. First, we needed to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible, while hopefully avoiding any infected people. Second, we needed information. The talking heads on the network news programs likely didn't know much more than we did at that point.

Thankfully, the restaurant we were in was only a few blocks from the hotel. I told Kevin to grab the cloth napkins from the table as we got up to leave. He did so, stuffing them into his jacket pocket, while I tossed down enough cash to cover the bill and a generous tip.

We went outside, and I led us around the corner to a small alley alongside the building. Firing up Google Maps on my phone, I plotted a route back to the hotel using side streets and alleys, keeping us away from the bulk of the crowds. We tied the cloth napkins around our mouths and noses. While they certainly were a poor substitute for N95 masks … well, any port in a storm. As we made our way back to the hotel, we kept a careful eye out for other people, especially those who appeared sick. At that point, we had no idea of the infectious range a sick person might have. This wasn't very difficult as everyone else seemed to have the same idea.

When we hit the lobby of the hotel, I immediately went to the ATM. I pulled out the maximum cash advance I could from three different credit cards in my wallet, giving me almost a grand in cash. Kevin did the same. Cash is almost always king and I wanted plenty on hand in case we got to a point where credit cards weren't being accepted.

We'd flown into Seattle, but I wasn't keen on getting on a plane to get back home, or being trapped in a sealed tin can with a bunch of people who may or may not be infected. I knew driving would take far longer, but we'd be in a better position to avoid other people in doing so. When we got to our room, I jumped online via my laptop and found a local car rental agency. I wanted something that gave us a little roo, but wouldn't kill us on gas mileage.

At that point, we took the time to call home and speak with our respective spouses. Neither had seen the news reports yet, so we filled them in as best we could. I told my wife to give our boys a hug from me and that I'd hopefully be seeing them all very soon. Promising to keep in touch along the way, we said our goodbyes.

For years, Kevin and I had been in the habit of mailing packages to hotels where we were going to stay any time we had to fly. The TSA wouldn't allow us to fly with pocket knives and such, so this was the best option to have some gear with us no matter where we traveled. We included return postage inside the box so, at the end of each trip, we just boxed everything back up, slapped on the mailing label and postage, then left it at the front counter to go out with the day's mail. While neither of us had any sort of full-on bug-out bag, we each had a Maxpedition Beefy Pocket Organizer with the basics, such as a knife, fire starters, and first-aid supplies.

Our tech company client had given us all sorts of logoed products when we'd arrived a couple days ago. One of those items was a canvas shopping bag, which I took with me down the hall to the vending machines. ATM machines only spit out $20 bills, of course, but between the two of us we had enough singles and change to purchase several bottles of water, which went into the bag.

We gathered our belongings, which wasn't much since we always packed light. One rolling suitcase each, one daypack each, and the canvas tote with bottled water. Our survival kits were stuffed into our Vertx EDC Gamut daypacks. We also cleaned out the room of all soap, shampoo, coffee packets, plastic cups, and all of those other goodies hotels like to include. I figured that even if we ended up not needing them, someone else might.

At the front desk, I just had to swipe my credit card and provide a signature, then we were out the door. While I'd been doing that, Kevin had pulled up a walking route to the car rental agency. We'd have to hoof it for about a mile, but there was no way I was going to risk taking a cab. We pulled our suitcases behind us and managed to stay out of most of the foot traffic. Many of the people around us had tied scarfs or bandanas around their lower faces, just as we'd done with the napkins. We arrived at the car rental desk without incident, and since I'd reserved the vehicle online, all I needed to do was sign a couple of forms and we were handed a set of keys. While we still hadn't gathered a lot of intel on the situation, we knew we needed to stay well away from any densely populated areas.

I drove while Kevin worked the map on his phone. The GPS installed in the car would only give us the most direct routes between Point A and Point B, which of course would involve driving straight through major cities. Using his smartphone, Kevin plotted a less populated route for the several hundred miles it would take us to get home. We planned to drive straight through, stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

We were about 300 miles outside of Seattle when Kevin began complaining of a headache. He looked rough, haggard, and flushed with fever. We both knew right away that this wasn't good. We'd been listening to various talk radio stations and had heard several times that early treatment was the key to survival. Antibiotics worked, but only if they were administered in the first stages of the disease. I hated to do it, but there wasn't another viable option: I changed direction a bit and headed to Pullman Regional Hospital.

We'd beaten the rush, so to speak, as the emergency room wasn't overflowing yet. Within an hour, Kevin had been tested and diagnosed with the pneumonic plague. They checked him into a semi-private room and hooked him up to an intravenous antibiotic. I'd called Susan, Kevin's wife, and let her know what was going on. She was beside herself with panic, but I reassured her, telling her that we'd caught it really early and he should be fine.

My wife was worried too, of course. I managed to swallow my coughs enough that she didn't hear. I told her I loved her and that I'd be home as soon as I could. I hung up and then collapsed on the bed next to Kevin.

FORMER U.S. FORCE RECON MARINE: Rudy Reyes' Approach

After two 18-hour days doing a security job for a Seattle technology company, we got two days of R&R to explore the city. My new associate, Juan Carlos (aka JC), was a former Green Beret medic who just transitioned out of 15 years of service. Until recently, he was a local and crashed with me at the fancy Bellevue hotel. What a difference a year makes — earning a living consulting for billion-dollar tech companies, and staying at swanky hotels was so far from my former Recon Marine life and so many years in the dirt of the ‘Stan and Iraq.

Walking from our hotel, we settled on a cozy little mom-and-pop coffee shop to start our day. While in line, we immediately noticed several of the patrons looking ill. It wasn't just that folks were coughing and sneezing; their faces were pale, body language weak, and brows soaked with sweat even though it was a cool winter day. Just then, chatter from all the shop's TVs changed and prompted everyone to look up. A news broadcast reported that multiple bioterrorist attacks had hit Seattle. Authorities wouldn't reveal specifics, but urged people to stay home or seek out local treatment centers.

“JC, forget your caramel macchiato,” I said. “Let's push.” We blew through the doors and bolted straight for the hotel. As we ran, the sound of sirens filled the streets. Police cars, ambulances, and state health department trucks were on the move. I yelled to JC, “Bro, we need to get the f*ck out of Dodge!” JC replied, “No way I'm dying in a FEMA camp!”

When we got to the hotel, I ran up the stairs to our room to grab our gear bags while JC went to the garage to get the rental car. In a matter of moments, we were reunited in the hotel's rear entrance. It was clear from all the sirens and mobile units that Seattle was indeed hit with something. The idea of being caught in a lockdown didn't seem like just a movie premise anymore.

“Bro, it's time to get real with SERE,” I said, referring to the military concept of survive, evade, resist, and escape. But JC reminded me that we needed some medicine and supplies. “Let's find a drugstore, quick, and one on a side street,” I replied. Moments later, we pulled up to a chain drug store. It looked like others were thinking the same thing — by the rush of people heading in and out, you'd think it was a Black Friday sale. An electronics store across the street was already being looted.

As security experts and combat veterans, we had a small arsenal of pistols and carbines in the trunk. We got out and opened the trunk, each grabbing a .45-caliber sidearm and stuffed it into our pants. JC passed me an extra magazine, and I picked up an Armalite AR-10 and filled the left pocket on my trousers with extra mags.

JC had a brand new custom AR-15 short-barreled rifle. We each grabbed empty backpacks that were swag gifts from our tech company client. Locked and loaded, we entered the store. Chaos was well underway. We moved quickly to the pharmacy counter and came face to face with a junkie who had just killed the pharmacist for a bottle of Oxycontin. As he fumbled for his knife, I smashed his head with my buttstock, knocking him out. “Not worth the bullet,” I said. We split up, grabbing antibiotics, cough serums, and other medicines. I also grabbed jerky, power bars, hand sanitizer, and some Quaker Oats.

“On your six bro,” I heard JC call out about 30 seconds later. “We're good to go.” I nodded, then felt his tap on my shoulder, signaling he was ready. “Oscar Mike on me,” I said.

We moved as one through the crowd, who immediately cleared a path for us after just one look. We exited the store, dumped the supplies in the backseat, and were off in seconds. “So, where are we going?” I asked. “The mountains,” JC replied, as he steered. “I'm cool with that,” as I thought out loud. With plenty of supplies and the best medic in the world (who happened to be local) by my side, I felt confident.

We had the radio on, but it was the emergency broadcast system (EBS) on a loop. We tried to reach our families, but in typically lockdown fashion, mobile phone communications were down. I thought maybe we would have better luck in the mountains. We were pretty well off in terms of supplies. We had CamelBaks, portable power banks, and a Goal Zero solar panel system. We also had a supply of iodine for water, fixed blades, paracord, and some extra cordage from the laces in my Palladiums boots, along with a good old-fashioned mylar space blanket for shelter or signaling, and several magnesium fire tools.

We pulled off the road, unloaded the gear, and hit the trails. JC knew a great spot about 10 mikes in. We figured we would hold out there for a few days and wait to see if we were infected. If not, then we could make it home for Valentine's Day. My family was in Kansas City, and JC just moved his wife and kids to Colorado last week. The thought of giving the bug to them or anyone else on the way was just immoral and not the way we live.

We arrived a few hours later at the spot JC hunted as a kid, deep in the Olympic forest. Now we could make camp, hunker down, and keep an ever-vigilant eye on each other. The survival shelter went up quickly. We tried comms again, but no signal. The portable crank radio was up and running, but the same EBS loop was running.

man-with-gas-mask-with-sick-man

In the Pacific Northwest, water wasn't an issue, but hypothermia was. Even in this wet terrain, our fire-craft skills had a roaring flame going in a few minutes. That was essential to keeping us warm and dry in the Washington rainforest. We chowed on some jerky and protein bars, and knew we had enough basics to easily survive — without hunting — for a week or two in the woods if needed. It was time for sleep. The second day was uneventful and still no new news on the radio. I was angry at myself for not bringing my sat phone on the trip.

On the third day, I awoke to the sounds of JC coughing and shivering. “Brother, I'm just fine,” he said. I knew he wasn't. I pumped him full of antibiotics and gave him a swig of the powerful codeine cough serum. By early evening, his fever was spiking, probably close to 103 or 104.

I took his shemagh, put some cold water on it, and applied it to his forehead. I said, “Let's hit you up with some more meds and put you on the rest plan.” That was JC's code for, “Sorry, my brother, you're gonna die.”

I started my own treatment plan and loaded JC up on more antibiotics, but it was too late and the meds we grabbed at the pharmacy didn't seem to be working. By morning JC had passed, and my cough had begun. I buried my brother on the mountain and dug my grave besides his. It had such a beautiful view. I took some solace that it would be here and not in some desert, yet it infuriated me that the bastards I fought against for so long and so hard pulled off this attack off. I prayed that our families would be OK. I pulled my journal from my bag and wrote letters to our families. I knew that some day, someone would find us.

That night, in my fever-fueled dreams, I was with my brothers and my family — it was so peaceful. It was Valhalla.

SURVIVAL EXPERT: Tim MacWelch's Approach

Wes and I had both stopped eating as we sat in the restaurant watching the news report, trying desperately to hear what was being said, overtop the restaurant noise and panicked conversations of other patrons. “Plague,” Wes said flatly. “That's what the old guy had. Coughing up blood, he must have had it for days.” The severity of our situation began to hit home. We were in a densely populated city, attacked by bioterrorists.

“Let's get back to the room and see what we can find out,” I said. I pulled the bandana out of my jacket pocket, the one that I always carry for 1,001 odd purposes. I also flicked open my tactical folding knife, another EDC staple. I cut the cloth in half and handed one piece to Wes. After seeing me cover my nose and mouth with the cloth in my hand, he followed suit. We threw down enough money to cover the meal and tip, then headed for the door.

We were out the door and walking quickly down the street. Clearly some people hadn't heard the news yet. Plenty of pedestrians were walking from point A to B as if nothing was wrong, but a few here and there seemed to be losing it. Half a block up a speeding car crashed into two others on the street. A few people were running and pushing their way through the sidewalk traffic. One teenager we passed was just standing there crying. We didn't say a word to each other as Wes and I hurried toward our hotel. We didn't have to speak. We knew what was on the other's mind. How do we get the hell away from all these people?

We made it back to the hotel room, and started to hash out what we needed to do. “We've got to get out of these street clothes. They're probably contaminated from the coughing guy, if not everybody else.” I agreed and threw our clothes into the plastic laundry bag we found in the hotel room. We took turns showering and donned the “outdoor” clothes we had worn during the training. We had each packed lightly and didn't have many other options. We also agreed that staying off the street was the right call, but to bug-in at the hotel — we needed supplies. On the little hotel notepad, Wes started a list.

Food, water/drinks, meds, disinfectant, protective gear.

As he wrote, I noticed that he was sweating. I asked him how he felt, and he shot me look of alarm. “I don't know,” he said. “My stomach is feeling weird.” I told him to add some Pepto to the list, and then I started trying to make calls. The mobile phone system was already jammed, no doubt from other worried people trying to call their worried friends and loved ones.

I tried to call my family over and over, then I finally used the hotel room phone and had success. My wife had heard about the “outbreak” as they were now calling it, and had been trying to reach my cellphone for hours, but the call hadn't gone through. It made me wonder if the city hadn't shut down the cell towers on purpose, but that line of thinking wasn't helping. I assured my wife and girls that I was fine and I'd be home as soon as I could…but those words were beginning to taste like a lie.

This situation was very bad. While I was using the hotel room phone, I tried another call. This one was to my client at the big tech firm that had hired us. I was surprised that I caught her at her desk, and I asked her what she had heard. Obviously rattled, she said that her company was still asking people to report in for business as usual, though many people had called in sick or gone home sick. She also said that the state health department and CDC was supposed to be setting up emergency medical clinics throughout the city to test and treat people.

I gave her the hotel phone number and our room number, and asked her to call if she discovered anything new. As I was getting ready to leave the room, I decided not to touch the notepad or pen that Wes had been holding. We agreed that leaving the hotel was a bad idea, so the only place to buy food and drink was in the gift shop. Wes said he would catch up to me at the shop, but first he had to go to the bathroom. I went out to see what I could find within the hotel.

As I walked down the hotel hallway, I struggled to recall everything I had learned in school about the Black Death, plagues in general, and medieval history. Hadn't the majority of the population of Europe died from this stuff in the Middle Ages? I couldn't quite recall, but I knew that our situation was getting worse by the minute. We needed to do two things: We needed to stay away from people, and we needed to get medicine if Wes or I had this sickness.

Lost in thought, I went down the elevator and into the hotel shop. One other fellow seemed to have had the same idea about stocking up. He had a mountain of snacks and some sodas at the register. I looked over at the cooler and saw about a dozen water bottles. I guessed the shopper expected that the water would keep flowing no matter what. I didn't have the same expectation. I took two hand baskets and filled them both with all of the water, all of the juice, and several sodas and teas. Then I filled another two baskets with nuts, chips, jerky, and other high-calorie snacks — cleaning out most of the meager stock that the store held.

The clerk was surprised by my purchase and mentioned that there was a small grocery store around the corner if I needed food. I thanked him, and explained that a crowded market was the last place I wanted to be right now. He gave me a puzzled look, then shrugged his shoulders as if to say “whatever.” Once the provisions were bagged up, I asked him to call the front desk to have a cart sent over. I loaded my supplies on the luggage cart and made my way back toward the room.

I had gotten the food and water, even some Pepto Bismol for Wes, but we needed more. As I pushed my luggage cart past an unoccupied housekeeping cart, I grabbed a stack of clean towels, a few rolls of toilet paper, and a large spray bottle with the handwritten word “bathroom” on it. A quick squirt in the air told me it had bleach as an ingredient. I threw it on my cart and hurried back to my room.

Once inside, I saw the bathroom door was still closed. I called through it, “Hey man, you alright in there?” Wes replied, “I'm sorry dude, I threw up in the bathtub.” I told him that it was OK, I had some food and drinks, and some stomach medicine. I bagged up the supplies in two sets, adding the stomach medicine to Wes' bags. I opened the bathroom door, slid the bags inside, and closed it again. The stench was almost too much for me. I headed to the far side of the room, then proceeded to use the bathroom cleaner to spray down my hands, every food bag and bottle, every doorknob, and everything I thought Wes had touched. Flipping on the TV, the news said that health department emergency sites would be up by the evening and handing out antibiotics. That came as a great relief. I knew that Wes had the plague — his symptoms matched. And as tough as he was, he wouldn't make it without the right antibiotic for this strain of the disease.

man-in-a-crowd-wearing-a-gas-mask

Before dusk, I headed down to stand in line for hours at the CDC tent in a nearby park. After the long wait, I finally received one blister pack of pills. In tiny lettering, it said “Streptomycin — one every 12 hours.” They wouldn't give me two packs. One pack per person was the rule. And I wasn't about to cause a scene with the armed guards in hazmat suits standing ready. Despite the cold and drizzling Seattle night air, I felt hot as I walked back to the hotel. Once inside the room, I slid the pills under the bathroom door and told Wes to take a pill and set the alarm on his watch for 12 hours, to take another.

With a slight sweat on my brow and an unusual weariness, I laid down to sleep. My last thought before slumber came was, I'll go back and get some pills for myself in the morning.

I vaguely remember waking up to my name being called, and the room being too bright. I also wasn't sure if the phone had been ringing or not. I remembered throwing up in the bed, and then sliding back into darkness.

Five agonizing days had passed since I had slipped those pills under the door. Wes emerged from the bathroom. He was weak and moving slowing, leaning on the wall for support as he walked. He had lost a lot of body weight, and his clothing was stained with every type of filth that could possibly be emitted from a human body. He looked at the bed that was nearest to the door, and he saw a man lying there, surrounded by dried vomit. Wes pulled the blanket up over the man's face — to cover those open eyes, waxy and dried out. I had been dead for days.

Conclusion

The pneumonic plague is one of the more serious diseases that can be used as a contemporary bioweapon. The bacterium that causes this form of the plague (Yersinia pestis) is aggressive, able to kill a person within a few days without strong antibiotics and modern medical care. Though this bacterium is naturally occurring, found worldwide in rodents and their fleas, it can also be grown as a living weapon.

Pneumonic plague is far more contagious than the more commonly known bubonic plague, and pneumonic plague doesn't present the large dark lymph swellings associated with bubonic plague. In fact, pneumonic plague can easily be misdiagnosed as the flu. This makes it an even more sinister weapon, as it could kill a large number of people before the authorities understand what was really happening.

Should this disease become a naturally occurring outbreak or be used as a bio-weapon to attack your area, your best bet for survival is to isolate yourself from anyone and everyone. Zero contact is the safest policy. Of course, this won't be an option if you're caring for loved ones who have contracted it, if you have to travel during the event, or if you have to go out to find the right medicine. Let's face it, a bioweapon scenario like this is one of the scariest we've ever presented as a What If? feature, and it's also one of the more plausible scenarios we've ever presented. You've been warned.

For more on the pneumonic plague, see: http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/faq.asp

How would you react to the same scenario as played out by our panel? Share your plan with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/OFFGRIDmag.

Meet Our Panel

Tim MacWelch

Tim MacWelch has been a survival instructor for more than 20 years, training people from all walks of life, including members from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, the State Department, DOD, and DOJ personnel. He’s a frequent public speaker for preparedness groups and events. He’s also the author of three New York Times-bestselling survival books, and the new Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual. When he’s not teaching survival or writing about it, MacWelch lives a self-reliant lifestyle with his family in Virginia. Check out his wide range of hands-on training courses that are open to the public at www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com.

Jim Cobb

Jim Cobb has studied, practiced, and taught survival strategies for about 30 years and resides in the upper Midwest. His books include Prepper’s Home Defense, Countdown to Preparedness, and Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide. Jim’s primary home online is www.survivalweekly.com. He is also active on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimcobbsurvival. Jim ofers a consulting service as well as educational opportunities at www.disasterprepconsultants.com.

Rudy Reyes

Rudy Reyes is a former member of Force Reconnaissance, one of the U.S. Marine Corps' elite special-operations units. He ran combat missions in Afghanistan then, as part of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, helped lead the invasion of Iraq. This mission was documented in the book Generation Kill and the HBO adaptation of the same name, which he costarred in. Later, he served as a Defense Department contractor, trained African wildlife preserve rangers, and authored his book, Hero Living. For more information, go to www.rudyreyes.com.

More From Issue 12

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 13

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original print version for the web.

Vehicle Security: Part 2 – Mitigating the Damage

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In part one of our two-part vehicle security series, we discussed tips for deterring car theft or break-ins. Totally preventing criminals from gaining entry to your vehicle is obviously ideal, so you should focus most of your efforts on this goal. However, if all of your deterrents fail and a thief is determined to break into your car, you'll need to realize that stopping it is essentially an arms race.

Photo: Flickr.com/tcb613

Photo: Flickr.com/tcb613

You might drive a plain car with no personal items inside, only to have a thief smash the window to see what he finds. You might have chosen a well-lit parking spot on a major street, but thieves can work fast to evade detection. Your alarm can be disabled or never triggered in the first place; your steering wheel lock can be cut off and tossed aside. Each of these measures might help stack the odds in your favor, but they're not foolproof.

Car theft keyless technology vehicle burglary security electronics lock 1

Professional thieves in Europe have been spotted stealing cars using electronic signal repeaters.

Even a brand-new car with bulletproof glass and a sophisticated alarm system can be stolen — tech-savvy criminals are now using repeaters to bounce the keyfob signal from inside the owner's home and trick the car into unlocking and starting. Regardless of how it happened, let's say the bad guy is now in your car. This is where roadblocks to impede the criminals and mitigate the damage come into play.

Mitigation: Reducing the Impact of a Break-In

Photo: Flickr.com/marufish

Photo: Flickr.com/marufish

When it comes to break-ins, we mentioned in part one of our series that the ideal is to avoid storing any personal belongings in your vehicle, even worthless ones. However, that's often impractical when it comes to emergency gear. If you leave items such as a vehicle survival kit or get-home bag in your car, hide them in places criminals would be unlikely to look — NOT in the glove box or center console. Placing items underneath the trunk floor or backseat (preferably locked to the seat frame) will make them more time-consuming to access, and they may be overlooked altogether in the seconds the perpetrator spends in your car.

Above all, make sure nothing inside your vehicle is irreplaceable or catastrophic if stolen. Don't leave copies of your title, insurance, registration, or other documents that can be used to identify you inside the car. These can also be used by thieves to claim they borrowed the car, to find your home address for a follow-up burglary, or to steal your identity.

Photo: Flickr.com/steevithak

Photo: Flickr.com/steevithak

Regarding theft of the entire vehicle, there are a number of options that may slow down or stop thieves altogether. A hidden kill switch (or multiple switches) can be used to disable the fuel pump or starter motor, preventing the would-be thief from getting the engine running unless he can find the switch. This is especially effective for older cars that lack modern electronic security measures — just be sure to put the switch(es) somewhere unexpected.

Alternatively, you can pull the fuel pump relay from your fuse box and take it with you every time you park, essentially guaranteeing no one else can start your car without a trip to the auto parts store.

Photo: Flickr.com/redroseexile

Photo: Flickr.com/redroseexile

As manual transmission ownership rates decline, a car with a stick shift may throw off inexperienced car thieves. Frank Scafidi, the Director of Public Affairs for the National Insurance Crime Bureau agreed that “some thieves might be thwarted” by a stick shift. There are also several examples where armed carjackings have failed for this very reason.

Alarm systems and steering wheel locks may be worth considering, though their effectiveness is debatable as we mentioned in part one of this series. Electronic immobilizers, which prevent the car from starting rather than simply making noise, are present on many post-1990s cars and can be substantially more effective. So owning a newer vehicle may automatically reduce the risk of theft.

If you're really concerned about theft of a vehicle that's stored outside for extended periods, you may consider buying a tire lock or boot like the ones used by city parking enforcement officials. However, these cost several hundred dollars and are highly conspicuous. And even then, a well-funded professional thief can use a tow truck to drag your car to a more secluded area before cutting off the boot or dismantling the entire vehicle.

Photo: Flickr.com/kim_scarborough

Photo: Flickr.com/kim_scarborough

Finally, if every one of the above steps fails, GPS tracking services such as LoJack and security cameras aimed at your parking spot can aid in recovering the vehicle (or what's left of it). From a preparedness standpoint, these are last-resort failsafes.

Photo: Flickr.com/garycycles

Photo: Flickr.com/garycycles

Lessons Learned

At this point, the best-case scenario is that you end up vacuuming broken glass off your seat and replacing a shattered window. That's not a pleasant experience, but it's a whole lot better than never seeing your vehicle again, or worrying about a follow-up home invasion or identity theft attack. Even if you can't stop a thief from accessing your vehicle, you can at least increase the likelihood that he exits the vehicle empty-handed and frustrated.

To recap our mitigation tips:

  1. If you must leave emergency gear or other belongings in your vehicle, hide them completely from view in an unusual location.
  2. Never leave registration documents or personal information in the car.
  3. A manual transmission may prevent some inexperienced thieves from making their escape.
  4. Kill switches are a great way to protect your vehicle from theft, especially if they're hidden well. Removing fuses/relays can produce a similar effect.
  5. Alarm systems and steering wheel locks may be effective in some cases. Electronic immobilizers are more effective. Tire boots are effective but conspicuous.
  6. Security cameras and GPS tracking systems can increase the odds of recovering a stolen vehicle, but it's likely to be crashed or gutted by the time you get it back.

With a combination of the auto theft deterrents from part one and steps to mitigate any damage that may occur, you can greatly reduce the risk of losing your vehicle and other property.

Hydroponic Growing Systems – Hydro Planting

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Our philosophy is the same for pretty much every tool or product in our pile of goodies. If we can't find it, or if the choices on the market don't meet our needs, we create it. If the choices available on the market meet our needs, but are too expensive, then we make it ourselves. If the available options meet our needs, and it would cost us more to make it ourselves, then we purchase it.

Our hydroponic system is a combination of three choices. Some of the components come from a hydroponic store and others we found at big-box stores for very little money, and we used tools that many people have to assemble it. Our skill level may be higher than most people, but we assure you that just about anyone could build a system like this — and it won't cost you much.

Hydroponics is a soil-less agricultural production. One key benefit, among many others, is the ability to produce edible plants all year long due to the controlled environment. Despite what you might infer from the name, hydroponic systems use 75 to 90 percent less water than traditional agricultural methods and still provide an average of 25 percent greater yield. Oftentimes the amount of time required to harvest can also be reduced by increasing the exposure to light. Long summer days can be replicated year-round with higher temperatures and longer light cycles. If nothing else, you avoid the life-ending frost when you grow indoors. If you're a preparedness-minded individual, how could you not be interested in — or at least be intrigued by — hydroponics as a sustainable means of growing your own food?

Hydroponic vegetable plantation

In a primitive-living scenario, the majority of people will not have the ability to live off of their crops the entire year unless they have a hydroponic growing system. Our system produces enough green, leafy produce to supplement a super high-protein diet of small game, while providing enough scraps to feed our chickens, too.

The Parts

There are some basic hydroponic system types and then many variations of each. The simplest form of hydroponic system to most complex are: wick system, water culture, ebb and flow (flood and drain), drip system (recovery/non-recovery), nutrient film technique (NFT), and aeroponic.

In our system, we use a hybrid version of the NFT, which is the most recognizable system and what most people refer to when they use the term “hydroponics.” Our NFT is a continuous nutrient solution flow system with a 50/50 combination of vermiculite and perlite growing medium in the individual grow cups or baskets. It's set up to have a single large reservoir with one to four grow trays, depending on the demands of the system. Of course, we could increase the size of the reservoir to support a much larger system if desired.

Due to our tight budget, we started our process at our local Wal-Mart to acquire as many of the necessary components as we could find. We purchased a Sterilite 18-gallon bin with lid for our reservoir and two 10-gallon bins with lids for our grow trays. They come in black, which is the color we want to reduce light transmission. There are commercially available grow baskets to put the plants in, but we will be using yogurt containers as a DIY option, saving the lids and painting them black with the plastic paint noted later. Then we selected a double-outlet aquarium air pump, heavy-duty indoor timer for a lamp, extension cord, and multi-plug.

We headed to Lowes and picked up a two 4×4-foot pieces of plywood, 12 ceramic light fixtures, six natural light and six soft white 23-watt CFL bulbs, and Krylon Fusion satin black spray paint that bonds to plastic. The paint is for the yogurt container lids that are used to fill unused holes in the grow tray system by putting them on an empty container. The black paint stops light from entering and moisture from exiting the grow tray.

Then we headed to a hydroponic supply store for the remaining items, including vermiculite, perlite, EcoPlus submersible water pump and air stones, tubing, fittings, pH meter, nutrient meter and Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus, Kind Base and Kind Bloom.

We had eyebolts and paracord on hand to create the suspension system enabling us to raise and lower the light board. I also had the tools we needed to put our system together, which included a cordless drill, drill bits, hole-saw, and soldering iron to create the holes in the yogurt containers.

The Setting

Does the climate in your region affect where you should grow your hydroponic system, and dictate if you should grow one at all? Climate is a relative term and is almost irrelevant to hydroponics. The reason being is that most hydroponic systems are set up indoors where the environment can be controlled and where certain parameters must be maintained, such as temperature, humidity, fresh air, light cycles, and solution nutrients.

We chose a closet in the garage, which is an area that is cool during summer months and is not in the way of daily activities. Our area consisted of a 48-inch shelf for our grow trays and a small area below it on the ground for our reservoir. Power was not available in the closet so we made our connection to power via an extension cord to a nearby outlet.

Rather than dig into soil, we're drilling into plastic. Preparations for our grow tray.

Rather than dig into soil, we're drilling into plastic. Preparations for our grow tray.

We started creating the system by making the large holes in the lid of the two grow trays with our cordless drill and a correctly sized hole-saw for the grow baskets, making sure that they seal tightly around the contact point of the basket and grow tray lid, blocking moisture from escaping and light from entering the grow tray. We offset the holes in alternating rows of three to leave as much structure in the lid as possible. Then we drilled two holes in the side of the container for the nutrient solution inlet and outlet. The inlet line (pumping from the reservoir) is near the center of the grow tray, while the return line (back to the reservoir) is closer to the top. This allows the solution to drain back to the reservoir when the level reaches the outlet. After we placed the fitting through the hole in the bin, we sliced off a small piece of tubing and placed one on each side of the fitting to help seal it. (If this process does not seal effectively, you can use silicone sealant as well.) Then we attach the tubing to the fittings and run them to the submersible pump.

The holes are for grow baskets, which can be purchased or made out of yogurt containers.

The holes are for grow baskets, which can be purchased or made out of yogurt containers.

One key step in the creation of the pump system is that we create a “T” in the pump line inside the reservoir with one tube going to the grow trays and the other back into the reservoir so the volume of fluid doesn't exceed the flow rate of the tubing. Since we will be using only two grow trays, we will have excess volume that needs to be diverted back into the reservoir so the grow trays do not overflow. This way, if we decide to add another grow tray or two, we don't need to add a pump or increase the capacity.

The next step is to create a hole in the side of the grow trays to accommodate the lines from the air stone in each grow tray from the double-outlet air pump.

We then start on our light board by removing the female end of the 15-foot extension cord and attach it to the first of the 12 ceramic light fixtures. That fixture is then attached to the light board approximately 2 inches from the edge. We measure over about 8 to 9 inches and get an idea of where our next figure will be placed. Once the distance between fixtures is established, we strip away the coating from the extension cord without cutting the wire itself. We attach each of the bare wires to their corresponding terminals providing continuity for the fixture.

This process is repeated for all 12 fixtures in three rows of four light fixtures per row. When complete, there should be approximately 3 feet of cord left with the male portion of the plug intact.

We added an inexpensive store-bought UPS (uninterruptable power supply) for backup power in the event of a power outage that should keep our plants safe. The UPS was designed for computers, and we attach all of our components — lights, nutrient pump, air pump, and gauges — to the UPS, which has a battery inside and automatically converts to battery power if the power to the UPS is interrupted.

drilling-hole-in-plastic-contiainer-for-water-valve

We drilled a hole in our grow tray for an inlet line of nutrient solution.

We drilled a hole in our grow tray for an inlet line of nutrient solution.

The Gardening

To start our seeds, we put paper towels in small plastic cups and add water to form a moist place to put our seeds. We place our seeds in the cups on top of the moist paper towels and put them in the windowsill to get some sun, making sure to keep the towels moist from day to day. Depending on the types of seeds, they should show signs of life within a few days. We take our soldering iron and get it hot and use it to make the holes in the yogurt containers, making our grow baskets. Of course, we could start the seeds in the grow baskets and leave them there for the entire process, but by starting them on the moist paper towels we can be sure they have roots before we put them in the baskets. We then take equal portion of the vermiculite and perlite medium and combine them so we get a 50/50 mixture for our grow baskets.

We then dilute our Botanicare Base, Bloom, and Cal Mag plus with the proper amount of water specified on the container for the individual need. Once the volume of the nutrient solution is established and combined in the reservoir, it's time to grow some food.

Push a finger into the combined vermiculite and perlite medium inside the grow basket, creating a recess to place the seedling with roots. Gently place the germinated seed into the recess and push a little of the combined medium over it so it isn't in direct light. Then scoop a little of the solution from the reservoir and pour a little of it into each of the grow baskets to make them moist. If there are any holes that are not being used, we can fill them by putting the covered yogurt containers with the black painted lids in the unused holes.

Once we have completed the above portion of the system, we attach an eyebolt into each corner of the light board. We then attach an eyebolt into the bottom of the shelf above our grow trays splitting the distance between the eyebolts of the light board. We then cut four equal pieces of paracord approximately 4 feet long and attach one of the ends to each eyebolt. We then route the two pieces of paracord from the left side eyebolts on the light board through the corresponding eyebolt above it and repeat this process for the right side as well. This way, you will be able raise or lower each corner of the light board as desired to get the light exactly where you want it for the individual plants growing in the system. We put two nails in each side of the shelf used to tie off the paracord at the desired height.

bib-lettuce-beginning-to-sprout

Keeping the lids from the grow trays containing the grow baskets aside, we power up the system verifying that nutrient solution is pumping from the reservoir into the grow trays and returning to the reservoir without leaking or overflowing.

Once we are confident that the system is performing as expected, we then place the lids on the grow trays containing our fledgling plants and lower the light board to the desired height. One of the benefits of the 12 CFL bulb lighting system is that we can put the lights where we want them and remove where we don't. While the plants are very young, we set the timer for 12 hours of light and place the light board fairly close to the surface, about 6 inches above the plants.

As the plants grow, we can extend the light time to simulate summer and move the light board up so it doesn't make contact with the plants.

The veggies of our labor. A bounty of lettuce grown from seedlings (above).

The veggies of our labor. A bounty of lettuce grown from seedlings (above).

In our experience, hydroponic gardening is not a perfect science, but science is definitely involved. It is very important to stay within the parameters with our nutrient solution by monitoring the pH meter and the nutrient meter. Optimum pH level ranges between 5.5 and 7.0. Of course, different species of plants or different varietals may like to be higher or lower in that range or even above or below it. But as a rule most plants will flourish in that range. The most effective way to manage pH levels is with commercially bought pH acids. There are home remedies used to adjust pH levels, but they require more volume and are not as precise. It's a simple procedure to test the pH of the solution and adjust by adding either pH down if it is too high or pH up if it is too low.

It's also important to know that the nutrient solution will need to be changed every 90 to 180 days, depending on the plants you're growing. As always, it will take some trial and error to get it right, so don't be too hard on yourself if it doesn't go right the first time. Keep at it and have fun. Next thing you know, you'll have a garden without soil and plenty of greens to supplement your family's meals.

The Components

gardening-supplies

Here's a list of items the author used to set up his hydroponics garden:

  • 18-gallon Sterilite storage bin for the solution reservoir
  • Two 10-gallon Sterilite stacker tote for grow trays (five cups in grow tray one and 12 cups in the other)
  • Submersible water pump
  • Aquarium air pump (with two air stones)
  • Timer for lights
  • Plywood for light system
  • Six eye bolts
  • 550 paracord
  • Extension cord for light fixtures
  • 12 light fixtures (six natural daylight 23-watt CFL bulbs and six soft white 23-watt CFL bulbs)
  • Tubing, fixtures, couplers for pumps
  • Vermiculite and Perlite grow medium
  • Base solution (4N-0P-0K)
  • Grow solution (2N-2P-2K)
  • Bloom solution (0N-6P-6K)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most beginners tend to focus on certain topics more than others — this is especially true with pH levels. Oftentimes we will hear someone say that their pH level was perfect, but their plants still died. While pH is a critical piece of the puzzle, it's still just one piece of the puzzle. There are many factors that need to be in balance for a successful system to provide the desired result.

The key components to a successful hydroponics system are:

  • Correct Levels: Keep your grow solution of NPK [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) at correct levels.
  • Climate Balance: Keep your climate in check — not too hot, cold, dry, or humid.
  • Air Apparent: Allow your plants to get fresh air.
  • Change It Up: Change your solution after the grow cycle ends.
  • Think Green: Most importantly, try to think like nature and not like a scientist.
  • Chin Up: Lastly, don't take it personally if you make a mistake. Keep trying, and you'll grow with your garden.

Source

AB Growing Supplies & Hydroponics ≫ www.abgrowingsupplies.com

More From Issue 12

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 13

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 11

Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original print version for the web.

How to Strengthen Your Defenses – The Master Key

Written by

Photos by Q Concepts

WARNING!
The concepts shown here are for illustrative purposes only and not an endorsement for breaking and entering, which is a crime. Do not lock-pick without permission. Seek a reputable instructor for more information.

Bugging out is all the rage. There's bug-out gear for your bug-out bag all ready to be thrown into your bug-out vehicle. Bugging out sounds cool and sexy, but for the majority of people and situations, bugging out is Plan B. Blizzard? Drought? An EMP hit? Or terrorist attack in another part of the country? Yep, bugging in. Even when bugging out is necessary, it may not be possible. The roads may be clogged, your car's electronics might be fried, or a loved one or member of your survival group is injured and can't be moved.

Whenever sheltering-in-place, security of your residence or compound is paramount. Your home provides safety and stores your supplies. (See our Spring 2014 issue for “Household Survival,” a feature on emergency uses for commonplace items.) Sure, you have locks, a dog, and maybe even an alarm (if you're lucky enough to have electricity), but how easy are these systems to bypass? And how can you harden your security before, during, and after SHTF?

The best way to beef up your security system is to defeat it. That's where The CORE Group comes in.

In an OG exclusive, we attended the CORE Group's Covert Entry Concepts class hosted by Triple Aught Design (TAD). Held in San Francisco at TAD's headquarters, the CORE cadre provided hands-on instruction geared toward teaching the strengths and vulnerabilities of physical security solutions; how they are attacked and even bypassed completely. Students received a thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms, including the tools and techniques, used to manipulate physical security barriers. We learned everything from picking common locks to improving defensive security at home and work.

According to our master-key mentors, Robert Pingor and Deviant Ollam, once you understand how locks and other security measures are breached (oftentimes easily and quickly), you will have the knowledge to harden the defenses in your daily life. After three days of mind-blowing fun, we bring you four key lessons we learned about protecting our home and the precious treasures inside.

Not all class time was spent sitting on our rear ends. Getting cuffed, thrown into the rear end of a car, and attempting to escape was also part of the CORE Group's class.

Not all class time was spent sitting on our rear ends. Getting cuffed, thrown into the rear end of a car, and...

Key One: Easy Pickings

In the story Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (from One Thousand and One Nights) the thieves believed their stolen loot was completely safe because of a magic seal. Our hero, Ali Baba, overheard the secret of opening the magical cave. One simply had to say, “open sesame” and the magical cave would open up and divulge its treasures. This magic “lock” appeared impenetrable, yet a simple phrase opened it.

The same holds true with our home. The majority of us rely on locks to keep our families safe on the inside, and keep the bad guys on the outside. The locks on our doors and windows are simply illusions of security because, after just a couple of hours of instruction, we were able to pick common tumbler locks (found on most doors and padlocks) with simple tools anyone can buy online.

Lock picking is a skill that is easy to, ahem, pick up. Not only are the tools available online, but there are also videos and blogs online on how to pick all manner of locks. A search on YouTube revealed approximately 143,000 results for “lock picking.”

Gears of Door: All equipment to practice lock picking were supplied and participants went home with high-quality lock-picking tools.

Gears of Door: All equipment to practice lock picking were supplied and participants went home with high-quality...

Besides picking, another method of opening locks is called bumping (which has received a lot of press). Bumping involves a hammer and a special (yet readily available) bump key. Insert the bump key into the keyway, twist the key slightly, add a simple whack of the hammer, and voila — open sesame. The solution? Upgrade locks to pick- and bump-resistant ones. The resistant locks cost more, but have special mechanisms that make picking and bumping more difficult. This will deter less experienced lock pickers and slow down the more experienced ones. Getting ready for the apocalypse is expensive, so you might be tempted to skip on the better locks for a state-of-the-art power generator or the latest-and-greatest backpack. But what good are those items if marauders have defeated your dead bolts and can forcible take them at will? Upgrading locks and dead bolts is a wise investment for protecting you, your family, and your supplies.

Something else to consider when you're upgrading your locks is to look at the hinges on the exterior doors. If the hinges are on the outside, you have a problem. A burglar can simply remove the pins with very little skill and open the door. If you can't alter the hinges, change them to ones with non-removable pins.

Key Two: Onion Rings!

Front and back door locks are a good place to start, and layering your security will make thieves and looters look for an easier mark. Pingor states that, “each layer of security serves to deter or delay.” Think of your home as a fortress with concentric rings of security, like an onion. The more layers of defense and security, the better the protection. The closer to the center, the more complex the security system should become.

How many layers do you need? Pingor asks, “What is it you're trying to protect?” The more valuable your possessions, the more you want to spend. And, during a collapse of law and order, “valuables” could be your life and those of your loved ones.

So, here are some security layers to consider:

Community: Neighbors can be the first layer of defense. “DBAA rules apply here,” Ollam warns, referencing the Breaking Bad imperative of “Don't be an a-hole.” Be friendly and get to know those who live around you. Join the neighborhood watch or start one if you need to. Strength comes in numbers. There may be a doctor, nurse, police officer, or urban survival magazine editor just a few homes away. Getting help and support from the people around you will be critical when anarchy abounds. You never know what kind of skillsets are in your immediate surroundings unless you get out there and socialize. Neighbors looking out for each other act as the first layer in a security system.

De-Fence: The next layer is on the perimeter of your property. A fence can serve the purpose of defining your borders and keeping four-legged animals out. The two-legged variety will have a much easier time getting through. All barriers can be breached, and fences are often easily bypassed by humans. Regardless, having a fence is better than not. And if you're blessed to not have a homeowner's association, adding barbwire or electricity can be another layer of defense added to de fence (pun intended).

K9 Alert System: A guard dog can act as both a deterrent and an alarm. Your landlord doesn't allow dogs or you're allergic to canines? Put up a “beware of dog” sign and get a dog bowl to put outside. Make sure to buy the big kind, because a small 7-inch bowl for a Chihuahua will likely not strike terror in the heart of a potential intruder.

Security Alarm: Lights, camera, action! Count your lucky stars if electricity is still up during a crisis. If it is, having lights, cameras, and alarms around your compound is a big plus. Cockroaches and thieves hate the light, so have plenty of outdoor lighting. Afraid of a power outage? Solar-powered LEDs make sense for when the grid does go down. Installing security cameras will allow for monitoring of several areas from one location. CCTVs are now more affordable and can be monitored from a smartphone. Alarm systems can add another layer of early warning and help deter intruders. Be sure to place the alarm signs in obvious locations.

Ollam discusses the finer points of covert entry concepts at TAD headquarters in San Francisco.

Ollam discusses the finer points of covert entry concepts at TAD headquarters in San Francisco.

Window Shopping: Windows present a major security risk. While they allow us to see who's out there, they also let bad guys see inside. Plus, they're usually made of thin panes of glass. So be sure to review our Winter 2014 issue for the article titled “Securing Your Weakest Link” about how to fortify your windows against man and nature.

Arm the Safe (Room): Inside, equip your safe room with a solid-core door with a lock, a spare car remote if your car is close (so you can hit the panic button), some type of weapon (like a firearm, knife, pepper spray, etc.), a good flashlight, and a cell phone with charger.

What about valuables? Thieves know that the good stuff is often in the master bedroom and closet. Pingor recommends placing valuables in a shoebox, which goes in your kid's closet.

Key Three: To Err is Human

Yes, and to forgive, divine. Unfortunately, the only thing divine about errors during a SHTF scenario is meeting our maker. Having layers of security is useless once human error is introduced. “Having a $3-million security system is no good if you have a bad person monitoring it,” Pingor cautions. Humans are hardwired for errors, and Robert gives us examples.

Creatures of Habit: People typically have predictable patterns. According to Robert, humans are 93-percent predictable in regards to patterns of movement. As creatures of habit, we are reluctant to change these patterns and seldom deviate from our schedules. Once known, schedules can be exploited. Leaving our home, compound, or shelter at routine and predictable times leaves weaknesses in our security. Going to work, church, or gym consistently on the same days, times, and routes, creates predictability that bad guys can capitalize on. Leaving our EDC items such as keys and weapons in the same places creates vulnerabilities. Repetitive schedules and routes of guards or lookouts can also be exploited for attack.

Generally Lazy: Security SOPs and protocols may be abandoned in favor of convenience. Being lackadaisical by not locking the door or turning on the security system will make these systems useless. And what about monitoring the CCTV? According to Pingor, “You can watch four monitors for 12 minutes before you lose it.”

Multitasking: We can only do one thing well at a time. Studies show, the more tasks we try to perform at one time, the less efficient we are, and the more prone we are to making mistakes. It's difficult if the person in charge of security has to monitor the cameras and cook at the same time. The result will most likely be poor security and a burnt meal.

Security experts Robert Pingor and Deviant Ollam (right) establish that class is clearly not all work and no play.

Security experts Robert Pingor and Deviant Ollam (right) establish that class is clearly not all work and no play.

Not Observant: This one goes hand in hand with laziness. Just look around next time you go shopping and you will notice that situational awareness is rare in the general population. In public, most people keep their heads down and, as of late, eyes glued to their phones. Even when looking around, people are generally not aware.

The Solution: Take the creatures-of-habit error and leverage that into something useful. Make it a habit of locking doors, turning on alarms, focusing on a single task, being observant, and changing your schedule and routes (whenever you can). Correcting these mistakes is easier said than done — you can't exactly pick up your daughter from school two hours later than normal due to a change in “security protocols.” But in the long run it's worth the effort.

Key Four: Workplace Violence

We spend a large part of our life at work and blindly leave issues of security to management. With mass shootings making headlines, taking a hard look at the security at the office makes sense. It doesn't matter where you work (a school, movie theater, building, or small business), paying attention to the strengths and weaknesses in security protocols may save your life when a crisis unfolds.

how-to-strengthen-your-defenses-duct-tape-escape-class

Breaking free of duct tape is easier than you think...but not without consequence. Simply raise your fists above your head and swing them downward while separating your hands and letting your elbows pass your ribs. This escape technique could leave a mark.

Breaking free of duct tape is easier than you think…but not without consequence. Simply raise your fists above...

Consider the following next time you enter your workplace and keep in mind the weaknesses of human error, discussed previously.

  • What is the security culture at work? There is plenty of room for improvement if the security culture is simply locking the doors and dialing 911 ASAP.
  • Is there an open-door policy with security? Is management transparent and straightforward with the information?
  • Are there SOPs for security? If so, are they being adhered to?
  • Are doors locked when they are supposed to be? Pingor and Ollam point out that doors leading to outdoor break areas are often left open by pebbles, jammed into the corners out of convenience.
  • How quickly are fired employees spun out? A disgruntled ex-employee can be a potential source of danger. Security badges and keys need to be accounted for promptly when someone quits or is dismissed.

The Solution: Start with this list and if you see major flaws, address it with management. If nothing will or can be done, take it upon yourself to create a safety plan.

Key Points

As a prepper, taking courses from legitimate sources like the CORE Group at Triple Aught Design is highly recommended. Learning something useful, making friends and getting off the couch makes us happy. A week after the class, we're still smiling like a kid on Christmas morning every time we pick open our suitcase padlock. More importantly, though, is our changed outlook on home and work security.

During disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the L.A. riots, lawlessness was rampant. Effective security measures will help keep the bad guys out. No matter if you bug-out or decide to shelter in place (at work or home), plugging the holes in your security systems can save your life.

Lock-Picking Professors

Robert Pingor, chief of The CORE Group's Law Enforcement Division, has extensive training in both the government and private sectors. His policing and operations background was honed during his years at the National Security Agency, where he served with distinction in four different specialty units. He has instructed for countless military law enforcement agencies — from the State Department and the National Defense University to the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Naval Academy. Additionally, he regularly conducts trainings for Black Hat, the SANS Institute, and other technical conferences.

While paying the bills as a security auditor and penetration testing consultant with The CORE Group, Deviant Ollam is also a member of the board of directors of the U.S. division of TOOOL (The Open Organisation of Lockpickers). Every year at the hacking conventions DEFCON and ShmooCon, Deviant runs the Lockpick Village. He has conducted physical security training sessions for a wide range of organizations, from the FBI and DARPA to Black Hat and DeepSec.

Cracking Open the Myths

Myth #1: I Only Need the Pick: In 2011's Tower Heist, a petty thief (played by Eddie Murphy) teaches Ben Stiller's group of misfits how to pick a lock. He hands everyone a bobby pin and tells them, “Earlier today I taught you all how to pick a lock with a bobby pin. I want y'all to practice on this door.” In the real world, Ben and his crew can practice all day and not open the lock with only a bobby pin. Hollywood often portrays opening locks with just a pick tool (commonly fabricated from a bobby pin, paper clip, or sunglasses). The bobby pin in this movie can be jimmied to act as a pick that pushes up the pins inside the lock, but there needs to be a second tool, called the turning tool. This tool (sometimes mislabeled a tension wrench) allows for the binding of the pins and the turning of the plug.

Myth #2: Pick-Proof Locks: All locks can be picked with enough time and the right amount of skill. Nothing is pick-proof. Still, the pick-resistant and bump-proof locks are worth the investment. According to Pingor, if the lock was able to delay the picker or force them to use a different attack (like breaking a window), the lock did its job.

Plenty of practice time was spent on picking and opening a variety of locks.

Plenty of practice time was spent on picking and opening a variety of locks.

Myth #3: I Can Practice on My Front Door: There are two golden rules of lock picking: do not pick any lock without the owner's permission and do not pick any locks in use. If the lock is used for security purposes (like the front door), do not pick it unless absolutely necessary. Picking locks can wear out the pins, or even render them inoperable, and you do not want this happening to any doors in use.

Myth #4: My Locks are Modern: The new lock on the door or filing cabinet may have a nice shiny sheen, but the basic mechanism inside dates back to 4000 B.C. in Egypt. The modern pin tumbler lock with double pins was awarded a patent way back in 1805. Found in doors and padlocks, the pin tumbler mechanism is the most common worldwide. The wafer tumbler lock is another mechanism. Utilized in filing cabinets, display cases, and cars, the wafer tumbler lock is the second most common mechanism in locks. It was patented in 1868, and people have been working to defeat them ever since.

Sources

The CORE Group – www.enterthecore.net
Triple Aught Design – www.tripleaughtdesign.com

More From Issue 12

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 13

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original print version for the web.

How to Build a Six-Month Food Supply

Written by

You may find yourself asking, Six months of food? Do I really need that much? — especially when most people seem to be content with 72-hour go-bags and two-week disaster kits. But if you're reading a magazine like RECOIL OFFGRID, you already know why long-term food storage makes sense.

A Katrina-level natural disaster, an economic collapse, or another Sept. 11-style attack — these and any number of similar catastrophes could wipe out your normal resources for food. In these types of situations, you'd have to rely on your own reserves, or devolve into a hunter/gatherer (and there are no guarantees with that menu plan). But maybe your problems aren't so widespread. Perhaps you're just suffering a personal crisis, such as a job loss or an injury that prevents work. For any of these situations, building a food reserve becomes a valuable insurance policy — one that you can actually eat.

Pick Your Food Plan

“Plan your work, and work your plan.” A project like this can be a daunting task, so planning is one of the most important parts. You'll want to pay great attention to calorie content, methods of food preparation, storage conditions, and your own personal dietary restrictions. It's also helpful to plan out the meals and create a meal rotation. You don't need to plan 180 days of unique meals, but a two-week menu plan will give you some much-needed variety (unless you're buying a pallet of MREs or mixed, freeze-dried foods).

Finally, you'll need to decide which food preservation method best matches your plan. In this article, we'll look at four different approaches to building a food supply: MREs, freeze-dried food, canned goods, and dry goods.

1 MRE: Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) are a quick solution to build your food reserves, but they're expensive, bulky, and only last about five years. This approach is easy and no cooking is involved to prepare the food — it's truly “ready to eat” as the name declares. Each MRE contains approximately 1,400 calories, so two per day provides an average of 2,800 calories. You'll need 360 MREs (30 cases) for a six-month supply. For your daily ration, open up two MREs, pick through the contents to decide which items you want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then eat them when you'd like. Better MREs include a water-activated chemical heater, which would give you two hot meals a day. This is a great morale booster and perfect for those who are cooking-impaired.

Cost per day: $16
Cost for six months: $2,880, plus shipping (though discounts may be available for large orders)
Longevity: Five-plus years

how-to-build-a-six-month-food-supply-freeze-dried-food

2 Freeze-Dried Food: Mountain House and many other companies provide a wide selection of freeze-dried meals and food items. They're even more expensive than MREs, but may last up to five times longer. Freeze-dried foods generally require hot water to prepare, and they're as bulky as MREs (yet without the weight). They're available in serving-sized pouches, larger cans, and even buckets. Four pouches a day will be needed to reach 2,400 calories. Oddly enough, the No. 10 entree cans only contain about 2,000 calories each, yet cost over $30 apiece. The greatest asset to freeze-dried food is shelf life, with 25 years or more expected. You'll need about 180 cans or 720 pouches for a six-month food stash.

Cost per day: $25 to $35
Cost for six months: $4,500 to $6,300, plus shipping (though discounts may be available for large orders)
Longevity: 25-plus years

3 Canned Goods: Your average canned pasta, stew, and chili are more cost effective than MREs or freeze-dried food. They're typically ready to eat from the can without the need for extra water, and cans are insect and rodent proof. Canned goods do come with a few drawbacks, though. They're even heavier than MREs, and their life span is only about five years as well (maybe less for pop-top cans). Check the calorie count when planning meals with canned goods. You'll need at least five cans per day to reach 2,400 calories. Roughly 900 cans will provide you with a six-month food supply, and these are the easiest foods to work into your normal meals.

Cost per day: $10 to $15
Cost for six months: $1,800 to 2,700, with no shipping costs if purchased locally
Longevity: Five-plus years

4 Dry Goods and Grains: Cooking these foods and preparing palatable meals from them may be a bit of a challenge, but if you're familiar with cooking from scratch, this is the cheapest way to go. Dry pasta, rice, flour, dried beans, sugar, and many other staple foods can be stored for 30 years with negligible nutrient loss when properly packaged. They're also relatively easy to work into your regular meals. The drawbacks are that you'll need even more potable water than for freeze-dried foods, and you'll need to know how to cook. You can purchase these staples already packed in cans or buckets with oxygen absorbers and Mylar liners for maximum longevity. Or you can save a few dollars by buying the food in bulk and repacking it yourself. Depending on the staple food item, a 5-gallon bucket usually holds over 30 pounds of dry goods, which can represent over 40,000 calories. This means that 10 five-gallon buckets will hold enough staple foods for your six-month supply.

Cost per day: $2 to $5, depending greatly on your menu plan
Cost for six months: $360 to $900, with no shipping costs if purchased locally
Longevity: 30 years

Package Your Own Dry Goods

One of the easiest ways to package your food is in 5-gallon, food-grade buckets. If your budget allows, buy new 5-gallon buckets with regular lids. Purchase a few gamma (screw-on) lids as well, handy for accessing foods that will be used often, like sugar. If you're doing this project on a shoestring budget, ask for buckets from bakeries and restaurants — they may be free or only cost a few dollars a piece.

how-to-build-a-six-month-food-supply-dry-goods

The bucket alone is good, but to still have edible dry goods after 30 years, you'll also need Mylar storage bags and oxygen absorbers. Smaller bags and several 100cc absorbers are great for rationing the food and for modular storage. The large “bucket liner” bags and 2,000cc absorbers are perfect if you want to dump a big bag of grain into a bucket and call it done. You'll need a total of 1,500cc of absorbers as a minimum for one bucket of grain, flour, beans, or pasta. You won't need oxygen absorbers in sugar, honey, or salt. They don't go bad, and sugar and salt will become a solid brick from the oxygen absorber (still edible, but you'll need a chisel to chop them up). Once you've figured out which staple foods will be in your bucket, place the Mylar liner in the bucket (even if your food is in smaller packages with their own oxygen packs), and fill it near the top. Add oxygen absorbers to total at least 1,500cc for the entire 5-gallon bucket.

Press the liner bag together and expel any air you can. Lay a 2×4 board across the bucket and smooth out the bag mouth on top of it. Run a hot clothes iron across the bag opening to heat seal it (you could also seal the bag with a flat iron for hair; no need for the piece of wood). Seal the bucket lid tightly and store it in a safe storage spot.

Build a Dry-Goods Menu Plan

Staple foods are easy to plan, if you have a shopping list and a menu. Here's a very simple menu, and the accompanying shopping list, for a three-week food supply that fits in a single 5-gallon bucket. Put together 10 of these buckets, and your six-month food plan is covered. Although a bit bland and monotonous, this basic menu provides 2,500 calories a day and only requires boiling to prepare, no oven baking required (which may not be an option in a grid-down situation). Just make sure that the shortening is stored outside of the buckets and rotated annually, as it will spoil. When packed with oxygen absorbers in a sealed Mylar bag, all of these dry goods should last for two to three decades.

how-to-build-a-six-month-food-supply-mres

Three-Week Menu Plan

42 Lunches and Dinners

  • 10 Plain Rice
  • 10 Plain Beans
  • 10 Pesto Pasta
  • 12 Beans & Rice

21 Breakfasts

  • 7 Oatmeal
  • 7 Grits
  • 7 Cream of Wheat

Snacks

  • Hard candy
  • Sweetened beverages (tea, coffee, herb tea, etc.)

Shopping List for Each Three-Week Bucket

  • 5-pound spaghetti pasta
  • 11-pound white rice
  • 11-pound mixed beans
  • 2-pound sugar
  • 1-pound hard candy
  • 1-pound rolled oats
  • 1-pound corn grits
  • 1-pound cream of wheat
  • 5 packs of pesto pasta mix
  • 1 package of black tea, coffee, or herb tea
  • 2 sticks of butter-flavored shortening (not stored inside bucket)
  • Assorted salt, pepper, and dry seasonings as desired

Store it in the Right Spot

To get the maximum life span from your stored food, it's critical to store it in a food-friendly location in your home or bug-out site. The traits of a good food storage spot include the following:

  • Dark: Light can damage some foods and shorten their life span.
  • Cool: Heat is one of the most destructive forces to food. A few months in a hot garage or vehicle will drop the shelf life of your MREs to just a few months. Cool temperatures are critical to storage, and it's best if temps don't fluctuate.
  • Dry: Moisture can allow mold and bacteria to flourish in stored food. Pick a dry spot to begin with, and package your food to keep moisture out.
  • Protected From Pests: Hungry rodents can chew through MRE bags and plastic food buckets in a matter of minutes. Set mouse traps and rat traps around your food storage area. For greater security, place the food in metal containers like job site tool boxes, steel barrels, or metal garbage cans.

A dry basement, cool closet, or secure pantry works in most cases, though these are likely spots to be searched if looting occurs after a crisis cuts off your shopping trips. Consider mislabeling some bins of food or hiding food in floors, walls, ceilings, or furniture to give you a backup if your home is pillaged. Buckets buried in the flowerbed are another option in food security. Although this is more vulnerable to moisture and rodents, it offers protection from both house fires and theft. Use regular bucket lids when burying buckets.

It's All About the Calories

Consider 432,000 calories. In a world of dieting and calorie counting, this sounds like a huge number. But once you've done the research and the math, you'll see that this seemingly large number of calories only supports a sedentary man between the ages of 19 and 30 for a span of six months, using the USDA model of 2,400 calories a day. Sedentary females (and males that are younger or older) will require fewer calories, and of course active people will need a higher caloric intake. Calories should be your major concern when building a food storage system. Read the labels and add up the calories for yourself. Ignore the “servings per package” notations as they're often based on ridiculously small portions. For a short-term emergency, any food is better than none. But over a long-term crisis, a calorie deficit could have a major impact on your energy levels — and ultimately your survival.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistakes are a natural part of the learning curve, but mistakes in food storage can be disastrous, leaving you with an empty wallet and an empty belly. Learn from the failures of others, and avoid these blunders yourself.

  • Forget the water. Store several large containers of safe drinking water and the disinfection supplies to refill them over and over.
  • Store dry and wet together. Jugs of water, cans of wet food, and any other containers of liquid should always be stored
    outside of bins and buckets of food. If they leak, the food may get ruined and you wouldn't know it until you needed the food (and opened it). I recently learned this one the hard way — a jug of water leaked inside a bin of dry food and converted it into a bin of black mold.
  • Food expires? Write the expiration date on food cans and packages with a marker for easier inspection, and check your food seasonally for aging items.
  • Heap it up in a pile. Stock your pantry like a store does, placing new items in the back and pushing older items forward. This helps to create an easy rotation of goods.

A Basic Guide to First Aid Kits

Written by

This article was originally published in Issue 1 of our magazine.

Living in urban areas where medical help is only a phone call away makes it easy to take immediate first aid care for granted. The unfortunate reality is that when things go bad, these lifesaving services can be interrupted. Whether your medical need is for something as minor as a scraped knee or something as substantial as a broken arm, do you know what to do and have the supplies needed if professional help is not available?

You never know when a medical emergency is going to happen. For this reason, everyone should have at least basic knowledge of first aid and a first aid kit available at a moment's notice. Stick one in your home, workplace, car, and wherever else you frequent. In places with limited storage space such as a daily carried bag, having a travel-sized kit on hand is better than nothing. In the car, a small basic kit would work, and at home or work, a more substantial kit is ideal.

Having a kit is only half of it. Have you ever opened a first aid kit and realized other than the Band-Aids and aspirin, you really had no idea what was going on in there? If you're not a medical professional, you know what we mean. Bandages, gauze, compresses, and funny-shaped scissors, how are we supposed to use this stuff? Knowledge of how to use the kit properly is just as important as having it.

Basic First Aid Kit

Let's take a look at a basic kit and break down what each item is used for. Because there are so many kits on the market, nailing down a “basic” kit can be a task unto itself. We'll go with what The Red Cross recommends for inclusion in a first aid kit.

There are plenty of first aid kits on the market that cover the basic needs in the above list and much more. Remember that the overall size of the kit also limits how many people it can treat and its duration of use, as well. Now that we know what we need, let's take a look at what each item is and what it is used for.

basic-guide-to-first-aid-kits

Inventory & Expiration Dates

Mark your kits with the date that they were manufactured or put together, and remember to update expired items regularly. We recommend checking your kits once a year to make sure everything is accounted for. It's easy to forget that you may have grabbed a Band-Aid or a pack of aspirin from it. It's important to remember to replace any missing items before you forget.

Customize Your Kit

When looking for a store-bought kit or choosing what goes into a kit you build yourself, it is important to take into account any particular needs that you and your family may need. If anyone may be allergic to certain medications such as aspirin, be sure to substitute or add other meds such as ibuprofen, instead. But, don't play the guessing game; consult your doctor to see what works for you and your family member's particular medical condition and go with that.

Customize your first aid kit to include any prescription drugs that you and your family may need. Include any other personalized items, such as asthma, diabetes, and allergy meds that you will need in an emergency.

absorbant-compress-dressings

01 Absorbent Compress Dressings:
Compress dressings help promote blood clotting to stop bleeding. Use them by pressing the dressing against a wound to help stop blood loss.

adhesive-bandages

02 Adhesive Bandages:
Adhesive bandages, also known as Band-Aids, are useful to help cover minor cuts and scrapes. They come in different shapes and sizes for general and specific applications. Their adhesive qualities mean that they can be self-applied.

adhesive-cloth-tape

03 Adhesive Cloth Tape:
Adhesive cloth tape has many uses, including being applied to non-adhesive bandages to adhere them in place, being taped over a bandage to create pressure over a wound, and being used for making a splint.

antibiotic-ointment

04 Antibiotic Ointment:
An antibiotic ointment, like Neosporin, protects wounds against infections and bacteria, and it promotes faster healing. Apply as directed.

antiseptic-wipe-packets

05 Antiseptic Wipe Packets:
Use antiseptic wipes to clean cuts and other wounds prior to dressing them.

aspirin

06 Aspirin:
Aside from pain relief, aspirin is also good to have on hand for those suffering a heart attack. If you do use it for a heart attack, be sure that it is chewed instead of it being swallowed whole.

space-blanket

07 Space Blanket:
Space blankets have many uses that include keeping one's body warm, minimizing the loss of moisture, and creating makeshift shelters, since they are usually windproof and waterproof.

breathing-barrier

08 Breathing Barrier:
A breathing barrier prevents the direct contact of a patient's mouth and nose during mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

instant-cold-compress

09 Instant Cold Compress:
To ease swelling, fever, and treat injuries to soft tissue such as sprains, strains, and bruises, apply a cold compress. Instant cold compresses are activated by simply squeezing and shaking them.

non-latex-gloves

10 Non-Latex Gloves:
Gloves add a layer of protection for the person giving first aid care by protecting them from blood pathogens that a patient might carry. The Red Cross recommends a large-size glove, so that they will easily fit on anyone who needs to use them.

hyrdrocortisone

11 Hydrocortisone Ointment:
For skin irritation that is caused by bug bites, poison ivy, and rashes, apply some hydrocortisone ointment for relief.

bandage-scissors

12 Bandage Scissors:
Special curved blade bandage scissors allow you to safely cut bandages, gauze, and cloth tape without cutting your patient.

roller-bandages

13 Roller Bandages:
A roller bandage can be employed to help cover a greater surface area than a smaller adhesive bandage can. Used alongside sterile gauze and cloth tape, this type of bandage can be applied as a pressure dressing to help slow or stop blood flow from a larger wound.

sterile-gauze-pads

14 Sterile Gauze Pads:
Sterile gauze has very little lint and is used to treat minor wounds. They absorb excess blood and other fluids and can be used to clean wounds.

oral-thermometer

15 Oral Thermometer:
It's best not to guess what temperature someone is running. Have a thermometer on hand.

triangular-bandages

16 Triangular Bandages:
The three-cornered bandage can be used as an arm sling or as a large bandage.

tweezers

17 Tweezers:
Tweezers are a general-use tool for jobs such as taking out splinters and cleaning out debris from wounds.

first-aid-instruction-booklet

18 First Aid Instruction Booklet:
Since most of us aren't trained medical professionals, a first aid guide is good to have on hand for instructions on how to handle first aid emergencies.

First Aid Knowledge

It is a good idea to get some training on how to properly administer first aid and CPR. The American Red Cross offers classes in various disciplines of first aid, including First Aid Basics, Emergency Medical Response, First Responder in the Workplace, and even Dog and Cat First Aid. To find a class in your area, visit http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class.

Pre-Built First Aid Kit Buyer's Guide

All prices listed are deemed accurate at the time of writing. Each kit featured may include different items than shown, please check the contents of the kits prior to making your purchase.

A Basic Guide to First Aid Kits

  • Adventure Medical Kits Family First Aid

    Make & Model - Adventure Medical Kits Family First Aid
    Approximate Dimensions - 8 x 6.5 x 3 in
    Weight - 1 lb
    Features - If you need to look out for the little ones in your life, take a look at the Family First Aid kit. It includes the booklet, Caring for Children in the Outdoors, a comprehensive guide to first-aid for children, covering topics such as how to treat sprains, fractures, and dislocations, plus handy guides on how to administer medications and how to dress more serious wounds. It's suitable for a family of four for one to four days.
    MSRP - $30
    URL - http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com
    Supply List - Bandage Materials
    16 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, 1 x 3 in
    1 Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, 2 x 4-1/2 in
    4 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
    12 Bandages, Adhesive, Plastic, 3/8 x 1-1/2 in
    4 Bandages, Butterfly Closure
    4 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 4 x 4 in, Pkg./2
    2 Dressing, Non-Adherent, Sterile, 2 x 3 in
    Bleeding
    1 Gloves, Nitrile (Pair), Hand Wipe Blister / Burn
    1 Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped (11 pieces)
    Fracture / Sprain
    1 Bandage, Elastic with Clips, 2 in
    1 Cold Pack
    Instrument
    2 Safety Pins
    1 Scissors, Bandage with Blunt Tip
    1 Splinter Picker/Tick Remover Forceps
    2 Thermometers, Disposable
    Medical Information
    1 Caring for Children in the Outdoors manual
    Medication
    3 Acetaminophen (500 mg), Pkg./2
    3 Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
    3 Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    Other
    1 After Bite Kids, Tube
    2 Natrapel 8 Hour Tick & Insect Repellent Wipe Wound Care
    12 After Cuts & Scrapes Antiseptic Wipes
    1 Cotton Tip Applicator, Pkg./2
    1 Tape, 1/2 in x 10 yd
    4 Triple Antibiotic Ointment, Single Use


    If you need to look out for the little ones in your life, take a look at the Family First Aid kit. It includes the booklet, Caring for Children in the Outdoors, a comprehensive guide to first-aid for children.

  • Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Series Medical Kit Weekender

    Make & Model - Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Series Medical Kit Weekender
    Approximate Dimensions - 9 x 7 x 3.5 in
    Weight - 1 lb, 7.8 oz
    Features - More comprehensive than the other kits in this guide, the Weekender covers one to six people for seven days. The case is organized and packed full of supplies such as four different kinds of medicines and a comprehensive travel medicine guide. It is recommended by Adventure Medical Kits for three-day emergency kits.
    MSRP - $60
    URL - http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com
    Supply List - Bandage Materials
    5 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, 1 x 3 in
    5 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
    2 Bandages, Conforming Gauze, 3 in
    2 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 2 x 2 in, Pkg./2
    2 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 4 x 4 in, Pkg./2
    2 Dressing, Non-Adherent, Sterile, 3 x 4 in
    Bleeding
    1 Gloves, Nitrile (Pair), Hand Wipe
    1 Instructions, Easy Care Bleeding
    1 Trauma Pad, 5 x 9 in
    Blister / Burn
    1 GlacierGel (Large Oval)
    11 Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped (11 pieces)
    CPR
    1 CPR Face Shield, Laerdal
    Duct Tape
    1 Duct Tape, 2 in x 5 yd
    Fracture / Sprain
    1 Bandage, Elastic with Velcro, 3 in
    1 Bandage, Triangular
    1 Instructions, Easy Care Fracture & Sprain
    Instrument
    1 EMT Shears, 4 in
    1 Pencil
    3 Safety Pins
    1 Splinter Picker/Tick Remover Forceps
    3 Thermometer, Disposable
    Medical Information
    1 Comp. Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine
    1 Patient Assessment Form
    Medication
    2 Acetaminophen (500 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
    1 Aspirin (325 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    1 Instructions, Easy Care Medications
    Wound Care
    6 After Cuts & Scrapes Antiseptic Wipes
    1 Cotton Tip Applicator, Pkg./2
    1 Instructions, Easy Care Wound
    1 Povidone Iodine, 3/4 oz
    1 Syringe, Irrigation, 20 cc, 18-Gauge Tip
    1 Tape, 1 in x 10 yd
    2 Tincture of Benzoin Topical Adhesive
    1 Wound Closure Strips, 1/4 x 4 in, Pkg./10


    More comprehensive than the other kits, the Weekender covers one to six people for seven days. The case is organized and packed full of supplies such as four different kinds of medicines and a comprehensive travel medicine guide.

  • Adventure Medical Kits Travel Medic

    Make & Model - Adventure Medical Kits Travel Medic
    Approximate Dimensions - 5.5 x 4.5 x 1.75 in
    Weight - 2.7 oz
    Features - Very light weight and compact, this tiny kit has everything to treat pain, fever, upset stomach, minor injuries, and even blisters. It's perfect to keep in a backpack or a purse.
    MSRP - $10
    URL - http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com
    Supply List - Bandage Materials
    4 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, 1 x 3 in
    1 Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
    2 Bandages, Butterfly Closure
    Blister / Burn
    1 GlacierGel (Large Oval)
    11 Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped (11 pieces)
    Instrument
    2 Safety Pins
    Wound Care
    3 After Cuts & Scrapes Antiseptic Wipes
    3 Alcohol Swabs
    1 Triple Antibiotic Ointment, Single Use
    Medication
    2 Acetaminophen (500 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Antacid, Pkg./2
    2 Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
    2 Diamode (Loperamide HCI 2 mg), Pkg./1
    2 Diotame (Bismuth Subsalicylate), Pkg./2
    2 Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    Other
    2 Wash-Up Towelettes


    Very light weight and compact, the Adventure Medical Kits Travel Medic kit has everything to treat pain, fever, upset stomach, minor injuries, and even blisters. It's perfect to keep in a backpack or a purse.

  • Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight / Watertight Medical Kit .5

    Make & Model - Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight / Watertight Medical Kit .5
    Approximate Dimensions - 5 x 6.5 x 1.5 in
    Weight - 4.4 oz
    Features - This extremely light weight kit is enclosed in a watertight pouch. Intended for the outdoors adventurer, this kit is perfect for those who live in wet-weather areas. Light and small enough to fit just about anywhere, this kit is outfitted to treat common injuries.
    MSRP - $17
    URL - http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com
    Supply List - Bandage Materials
    4 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, 1 x 3 in
    2 Bandages, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
    2 Bandages, Butterfly Closure
    1 Bandage, Conforming Gauze, 2 in
    2 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 2 x 2 in, Pkg./2
    2 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 3 x 3 in, Pkg./2
    1 Dressing, Non-Adherent, Sterile, 3 x 4 in
    Blister / Burn
    1 Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped (11 pieces)
    Instrument
    2 Safety Pins
    1 Splinter Picker/Tick Remover Forceps
    Medication
    2 After Bite Wipes
    2 Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
    1 Aspirin (325 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    Wound Care
    3 After Cuts & Scrapes Antiseptic Wipes
    3 Alcohol Swab 1 Tape, 1/2 in x 10 yd
    1 Tincture of Benzoin Topical Adhesive
    2 Triple Antibiotic Ointment, Single Use


    The Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight/Watertight Medical Kit is an extremely light weight kit enclosed in a watertight pouch. Intended for the outdoors adventurer, this kit is perfect for those who live in wet-weather areas.

  • Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight / Watertight Medical Kit .9

    Make & Model - Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight / Watertight Medical Kit .9
    Approximate Dimensions - 9 x 5.5 x 2.5 in
    Weight - 8.9 oz
    Features - This kit is designed to withstand exposure from the elements. With two individual Dryflex bags inside an outer seam-sealed siliconized nylon bag with water-resistant zipper, this kit is made to be waterproof. Inside, you'll find enough first aid gear for one to four people on trips as long as four days. This kit includes everything from wound-closure strips to duct tape in a flexible, compact package.
    MSRP - $36
    URL - http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com
    Supply List - Bandage Materials
    5 Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, 1 x 3 in
    3 Bandage, Adhesive, Fabric, Knuckle
    1 Bandage, Conforming Gauze, 3 in
    2 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 2 x 2 in, Pkg./2
    3 Dressing, Gauze, Sterile, 3 x 3 in, Pkg./2
    2 Dressing, Non-Adherent, Sterile, 3 x 4 in
    Bleeding
    1 Gloves, Nitrile (Pair), Hand Wipe
    1 Trauma Pad, 5 x 9 in
    Blister / Burn
    2 Moleskin, Pre-Cut & Shaped (11 pieces)
    Duct Tape
    1 Duct Tape, 2 x 50 in
    Fracture / Sprain
    1 Bandage, Elastic with Velcro, 2 in
    Instrument
    3 Safety Pins
    1 Splinter Picker/Tick Remover Forceps
    Medication
    2 After Bite Wipes
    3 Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)
    1 Aspirin (325 mg), Pkg./2
    4 Diamode (Loperamide HCI 2 mg), Pkg./1
    4 Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    Wound Care
    6 After Cuts & Scrapes Antiseptic Wipes
    3 Alcohol Swabs
    1 Cotton Tip Applicator, Pkg./2
    1 Syringe, Irrigation, 10 cc, 18 Gauge Tip
    1 Tape, 1 in x 10 yd
    1 Tincture of Benzoin Topical Adhesive
    4 Triple Antibiotic Ointment, Single Use
    1 Wound Closure Strips, 1/4 x 4 in, Pkg./10


    This Adventure Medical kit is designed to withstand exposure from the elements. With two individual Dryflex bags inside an outer seam-sealed siliconized nylon bag with water-resistant zipper, this kit is made to be waterproof.

  • Johnson & Johnson All Purpose First Aid Kit

    Make & Model - Johnson & Johnson All Purpose First Aid Kit
    Approximate Dimensions - 10 x 7 x 3 in
    Weight - 1 lb
    Features - Featuring an organizational hard case, this kit's focus is on cuts and scrapes and is packed full of Band-Aids and bandages. The spacious case leaves room for you to customize the kit by adding other supplies such as tools and medications.
    MSRP - $9.99
    URL - http://www.target.com
    Supply List - 1 First Aid Guide
    3 Cleansing Wipes 5 x 7-3/4 in
    2 Non-Sterile Disposable Gloves (1 pair)
    14 Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Sheer Strip, 7/8 x 7/8 in
    34 Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Sheer Strip, 5/8 x 2-1/4 in
    30 Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Sheer Strip, 3/4 x 3 in
    2 Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Sheer Strip, 2-1/4 x 3 in
    15 Band-Aid Brand Fabric Adhesive Bandages, 5/8 x 2-1/4 in
    10 Band-Aid Brand Fabric Adhesive Bandages, 3/4 x 3 in
    5 Band-Aid Brand Fabric Adhesive Bandages, 1 x 3 in
    8 Johnson & Johnson RED CROSS Gauze Pads, 2 x 2 in
    10 Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages Butterfly Closures, 1-3/4 x 3/8 in
    1 Coach Instant Cold Pack
    2 Neosporin Ointment (1/32 oz.)
    1 Johnson & Johnson Red Cross Brand Tape


    The spacious case of the Johnson & and Johsnon All Purpose First Aid Kit leaves room for you to customize the kit by adding other supplies such as tools and medications.

  • Johnson & Johnson Safe Travels First Aid Kit

    Make & Model - Johnson & Johnson Safe Travels First Aid Kit
    Approximate Dimensions - 6 x 5.5 x 1.75 in
    Weight - 6.7 oz
    Features - Targeted more for cuts and scrapes, this first aid kit is encased in a protective hard case and is a little more basic than other kits.
    MSRP - $9.99
    URL - http://www.drugstore.com
    Supply List - Clean
    6 Johnson & Johnson Cleansing Wipes
    Treat
    4 Neosporin First Aid Antibiotic Ointment, 0.03 oz.
    Protect
    8 Johnson & Johnson Gauze Pads, (Four 2-packs), 2 x 2 in
    5 Band-Aid Brand Flexible Fabric Adhesive Bandages, 1 x 3 in
    10 Band-Aid Brand Flexible Fabric Adhesive Bandages, 3/4 x 3 in
    15 Band-Aid Brand Flexible Adhesive Bandages, 5/8 x 2-1/4 in
    21 Band-Aid Brand Sheer Strips Adhesive Bandages, 1 x 3 in


    Targeted more for cuts and scrapes, the Johnson & Johnson Safe Travels First Aid Kit is encased in a protective hard case and is a little more basic than other kits.

  • REI Backpacker Plus Multiday First Aid Kit

    Make & Model - REI Backpacker Plus Multiday First Aid Kit
    Approximate Dimensions - 5.75 x 7 x 3 in
    Weight - 13 oz
    Features - Made to cover four backwoods adventurers for five days, this kit is compact and comprehensive, and it should easily cover a small group's minor injuries in the event of an urban disaster. The kit is contained in a durable pack cloth nylon zipper bag and includes The Wilderness First Aid Manual by Dr. William Forgey for quick reference.
    MSRP - $33.50
    URL - http://www.rei.com
    Supply List - Medications
    2 Nutralox, Mint Antacid, Pkg./2
    2 Propinal, Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Cetafen, Acetaminophen (325 mg), Pkg./2
    2 Histaprin, Diphenhydramine (25 mg)
    2 Pill Vial with Label
    Ointments/Wipes
    4 Triple Antibiotic Ointment Packets
    3 Sting Relief Wipes
    3 BZK Antibacterial Towelettes
    3 Povidone-Iodine Wipes
    1 Antimicrobial Hand Wipe
    Wraps/Splints
    1 Cloth Tape, 1 in x 10 yd
    1 Elastic Bandage, 2 in
    Wound Care
    5 Adhesive Bandages, 3/4 x 3 in
    5 Adhesive Bandages, 1 x 3 in
    4 Fingertip Adhesive Bandages
    4 Knuckle Adhesive Bandages
    4 Butterfly Closure
    1 Sterile Stretch Gauze, 2 in x 4.1 yd
    1 ABD Combine Pad, 5 x 9 in
    4 Sterile Gauze Pad, 2 x 2 in
    3 Sterile Gauze Pad, 3 x 3 in
    1 Non-Adherent Pad, 2 x 3 in
    1 Non-Adherent Pad, 3 x 4 in
    2 Sterile Top Sponges, 4 x 4 in, Pkg./2
    2 Moleskin, 3 x 4 in
    Tools
    1 Bandage Scissors
    1 Splinter Forceps
    3 Safety Pins
    Other
    1 Wilderness First Aid Manual
    1 Pencil
    1 Accident / Evaluation Record
    1 Latex-Free Medical Gloves
    1 Resealable Waste Bag, 8 x 10 in


    Made to cover four backwoods adventurers for five days, the REI Backpacker Plus Multiday First Aid Kit is compact and comprehensive, and it should easily cover a small group's minor injuries in the event of an urban disaster.

Lights Out: Chokehold Basics for Self-Defense

Written by

WARNING!
The concepts shown here are for illustrative purposes only. Chokeholds are inherently dangerous and can potentially be fatal. Seek a reputable instructor before attempting any techniques discussed or shown here.

Any true Rowdy Roddy Piper fan knows that the sleeper hold — aka a chokehold — can put people to sleep. And fans of mixed martial arts and action movies are keenly aware that it can possibly even kill them. But is it really that easy to apply? And how can it help you when SHTF?

Well, for starters, we need not wait for an EMP attack, nuclear fallout, or a zombie apocalypse to experience fecal matter going for a whirl. The following three scenarios illustrate that danger could happen at any time in our everyday lives — and why learning to apply a choke is no joke.

August 21, 2015: A terrorist — armed with at least an AK-47, nine magazines, and a box cutter — on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris could have meant only one thing: carnage. Lucky for the passengers, Spencer Stone and his two buddies were onboard. Stone, a U.S. airman, tackled the terrorist and put him in a chokehold while his two friends and a British passenger disarmed and pummeled the bad guy unconscious. Loss of life that day? Zero.

April 13, 2011: After teaching a class, martial arts instructor Pedro Arrigoni witnessed a police officer getting punched in the face and then mounted on the ground, right outside his San Francisco school. Arrigoni quickly went outside and jumped into the fray, sinking in a chokehold on the thug. Within seconds, the attacker yelled, “I give up! I give up!” before being taken into custody by the officer.

December 30, 2009: Drew Heredia, a 9-year-old boy from Bakersfield, California, witnessed a dog attacking his friend and came to the rescue. The dog, a mix of pit bull, Shar Pei, and Rottweiler, was restrained by … wait for it … a chokehold. Drew reportedly held the dog at bay for 20 minutes until an animal control officer arrived on the scene to take over.

Three hazardous scenarios. Three different individuals. All survived. What they had in common was training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and knowledge of the chokehold. “Training and knowledge saves the day,” is the mantra for the serious student of the survival game. Therefore, we're delving into the topic of chokes and submissions to give you a fighting chance when SHTF. Whether you're a martial artist interested in a review of fundamentals or a prepper looking to add to your empty-hand arsenal, you'll no doubt find some valuable — perhaps life-saving — information in these pages.

The Advantages

Using a chokehold has many advantages. Take note of the following benefits when using this effective technique.

Out Cold: Chokes are a high-percentage way to put people to sleep. Once the hold is in place, siesta for the bad guy is only moments away.

Damage Free: By using a chokehold, you may subdue and incapacitate an attacker with no damage to your hands. Punching someone in an altercation may lead to fractures of the carpal bones. Broken bones in the hand is a major setback, especially if you need to operate a weapon or build a fire, or if you find yourself in a situation where medical attention is scarce.

Restrain and Control: Controlling the neck leads to control of the body. This essentially makes the chokehold a leash on steroids.

Shielding: Once behind your attacker with a choke locked on, the attacker can now shield you from other threats. The choke acts as your virtual joystick to ragdoll your attacker into positions that protect you. Although the human body may not be bulletproof, it makes a great shield against punches, kicks, blunt, and bladed weapons.

Confined Areas: Fighting inside a car, a closet, or any confined space makes throwing a strike difficult. Chokeholds require zero space.

On Lockdown: Escaping Alcatraz was no easy task; same goes with escaping a good chokehold. Escape is difficult because few people practice escaping from chokeholds on a regular bases.

The Disadvantages

Strangling is a great way to end a fight, but it does have limitations. Beware of the following shortcomings when applying a choke.

Look, Ma, No Hands: Most chokes require two hands to be effective (there is a “one arm” choke, but leave that to the professionals). Because both hands are occupied, other options needing the use of your hands become limited. For example, aforementioned train hero Stone was cut and stabbed by the terrorist's box cutter while applying the chokehold. If you need to access a weapon or push a loved one out of harm's way, you'll have to give up the choke (but not necessarily the control of the opponent).

Too Close for Comfort: If distance is your friend, you just lost a buddy. Acting like an anaconda on someone's back creates instant intimacy. Therefore, use chokes when escape is not an option.

Armed and Dangerous: There may be fatal consequences if your opponent pulls out a knife or a gun during your chokehold. You may need to abandon the choke, and deal with the weapon threat first.

Coming Back: To secure a choke, you must be behind your intended victim. You can either sneak up on them or move to that position. During a fight, it may be difficult to get behind someone. But, once you're glued to your opponent's back, you will have the upper hand.

Deadly Outcome: Chokes can have fatal consequences if done incorrectly, or applied for too long. Because of a chokehold's lethality, it's important to treat any chokehold as a deadly weapon. Certain police departments frown on the use of chokes (what they label the carotid restraint or arm-bar) because of rare, fatal results and bad press. Like any other lethal weapon, chokes are dangerous tools and should be trained under the guidance of a qualified instructor — and used only during life-and-death situations.

chokehold-basics

Administering the Sleeper

There are many ways to put a person to sleep. Below are the most common, street-effective chokeholds that can put down just about anyone.

Fantastic Figure Four: The figure-four, rear naked choke (RNC) is arguably the most common method used in martial arts and military combatives. This type of choke has been used effectively for centuries. Because this sleeper hold does not use the collar of a jacket for strangulation (commonly seen in judo or jiu-jitsu matches), it is called a rear “naked” choke.

The most common way to apply the RNC is the figure-four grip. To apply the figure-four RNC, position yourself behind your opponent, reach across their throat with an arm. You want the crook of your elbow right in front of the opponent's trachea. Keep your forearm off the trachea unless you want to do permanent damage. Your bicep and forearm will be on the sides of the opponent's neck. Place the palm of the initial arm into the elbow fold of your free arm. Finally, place the hand of your second arm behind your opponent's neck. The move is now complete, and you can squeeze your opponent into dreamland. Think of this move like a nutcracker with your elbow as the hinge. You are looking to reduce the space between your forearm and bicep.

Get a Grip: Another variation of the figure-four choke is the palm-to-palm or Gable Grip, named after legendary grappler Dan Gable. The application of the palm-to-palm choke is the same as above, but, instead of making a figure-four with your arm, you simply grip palm to palm. Resort to this grip when your opponent does not allow you to set in the full figure-four grip.

The figure-four and Gable Grip chokes are commonly used as a blood choke or carotid restraint. This means the pressure is applied to the sides of the neck to cut off blood flow to the brain.

Crushing It: The third method uses the same two grips described above with one minor, but important, difference. Normally, contact is made with your bicep and forearm on the sides of your opponent's throat. This time, the forearm that is around your opponent's neck, is touching the opponent's windpipe. Contacting your forearm (what the police departments call an “arm bar control”) on the opponent's windpipe (larynx and trachea) can leave permanent damage, including death. Use with caution!

Anatomy of the Choke

So how does a chokehold put someone to sleep? Time to channel your inner Bill Nye the Science Guy, because we're going to describe three mechanisms that bring on the Sandman.

Blood Choke Mechanism: With the proper grip, the jugular veins are compressed initially. The jugulars are more superficial, which makes them “vain.” Venous flow from the brain to the body is the first to be stopped. This accounts for the initial flushing of the face in someone being choked. Further pressure, compresses the carotid arteries. The carotid arteries are more internal than the jugular veins and, therefore, require more pressure. One German study reported that, correct pressure from a chokehold can completely compress and occlude the carotid arteries of the neck. Unconsciousness results in about 10 seconds. No blood to the brain is like having the electricity turned off to your home — lights out.

Carotid Sinus Mechanism: The second mechanism toward unconsciousness is stimulation of the carotid sinus. The carotid sinus on the sides of the neck monitors blood pressure to the brain. When too much pressure is sensed by the carotid sinus, a message is sent to balance out the increased spike in pressure. The result is a drop in blood pressure and bradycardia (a slowing of the heart rate). Less blood to the brain, equals less consciousness — or nighty, night.

Collapsing the Airway Mechanism: Collapsing the airway by placement of your forearm on the opponent's windpipe is the third way to induce unconsciousness. Force directly applied on the thyroid cartilage (a part of the larynx, aka the Adam's apple) as well as the trachea (just below the larynx) can result in a collapse or fracture of the cartilage(s). Roughly 66 pounds of rope tension is required to collapse the trachea. Because of the extra strength required (66 pounds to collapse the airway versus 11 pounds to seal off the arteries), collapsing the airway is more difficult to do, especially for small or arthritic folks. Still, the possibility of fracture makes this a stone-cold chokehold with potentially fatal outcomes. Use with extreme caution.

All Choked Up

Knowledge to protect yourself and your loved ones without any weapons is just as important as the knowledge to survive in the wilderness without any tools. During a confrontation, you may not have much on you other than your clothes, and what you were born with. Even if you're lucky enough to be armed during a critical incident, accessing your weapons system in certain situations may take too long. You might just have to go at it empty-handed.

To be a well-rounded prepper, experience in some sort of martial art or combative system is a must. The addition of chokes to your toolbox may be the checkmate move that saves the day on a train, in the streets, or even against a crazed animal.

Fantastic Figure Four

chokehold-basics-rear-naked-choke-001

chokehold-basics-rear-naked-choke-002

chokehold-basics-rear-naked-choke-003

chokehold-basics-rear-naked-choke-004

Diego Herzog — a silver medalist at the 2015 Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championship — shows how it is done. “Slide your hand behind their neck,” Herzog advises. “This way they cannot arm-bar you.” The victim of the choke shown here, Ricky Hui, adds, “I almost passed out during this shot. I felt a lot of forward pressure on my head and a pulling on my neck, like a scissor.”

Get a Grip

chokehold-basics-gable-grip-choke-001

chokehold-basics-gable-grip-choke-002

Diego Herzog demonstrates the palm-to-palm or Gable Grip choke. Note how the top hand is palm down and the second hand that is behind the opponent is palm up. Imagine your arm is a nutcracker with your elbow as the hinge and get cracking.

Crushing It

chokehold-basics-palm-to-palm-choke

Standing behind his opponent, Herzog jams his forearm under Ricky's chin. Here Diego uses the Gable Grip to collapse the airway. The figure-four grip could have been used just as well.

Knocking Out Chokehold Myths

Chokes Require a Lot of Strength: Blood chokes require skill and knowledge, not strength. When applied correctly, a young teenager can put a grown man to sleep within seconds. One study found that occlusion of the carotid arteries requires only 11 pounds of rope tension. This makes chokes an extremely important self-defense technique, since little force is required.

Escaping a Choke is Easy: That's right, a good old poke to the eye will end the choke fast and make Larry, Curly, and Moe proud. However, a skilled martial artist will simply hide the eyes. What about a bite? Biting is difficult when the arm is already under the jaw and the eyes are fading to black.

chokehold-basics-choke-escape

Against an eye-jab counterattack, the author simple hides his eyes behind his arm. Now that Conrad Bui is safe and can maintain the choke, his opponent will soon be getting some shut-eye.

Against an eye-jab counterattack, the author simple hides his eyes behind his arm. Now that Conrad Bui is safe and can...

Chokes Work the Same on Everyone: Because of genetics, some people are more susceptible to chokes than others. This author has observed people being put to sleep during a demonstration in class. Some people simply nap faster than others once a chokehold is applied.

Chokes are Safe: Chokes are potentially lethal. People die from chokes. Therefore, treat strangulation techniques with the same respect as you would a knife or a gun. Never play around with chokes or apply a choke unless your life is in danger.

Watching the UFC is the Same as Learning the RNC: Watching someone applying the choke on screen from the comfort of our La-Z-Boy recliner is much different than applying it against a resisting opponent. To use the choke when it counts, get the correct instruction and training from a qualified instructor.

The Choke's on You

The choke is a dangerous, possibly lethal weapon. What do you do if someone slapped one on you? Here are two simple yet effective escapes.

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Early Detection: Scott Stroup makes the mistake of telegraphing his attack by extending his right arm instead of snaking it around Conrad Bui's neck. Bui quickly raises his shoulders for protection, reaches up with his hands, and snatches a quick over-the-shoulder arm bar. Be sure to turn your opponent's wrist so his palm faces up. This simple move can dislocate the elbow joint or result in a fracture.

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Too Late … Or Is It?: Scott Stroup completes the figure-four grip but has watched too many WWE matches and didn't read this article — he leaves his supporting hand high on the head and doesn't hide it behind Conrad Bui's neck. Conrad simply peels off the attacker's top hand and breaks the arm by using his shoulder as a fulcrum.

Wake Up!

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What do you do when you've choked out a training partner or that annoying drunk friend? How do you wake them up safely? Here, Conrad Bui demonstrates the most common way to wake someone up from dreamland. Bring up the legs to get blood back into the brain. Remember proper lifting mechanics and lift with your legs not your back. Hold the victim's feet up until he's regained consciousness.

Be careful when the victim wakes up because he may still be in fighting mode. “I did this for a competitor when I was a referee,” Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Diego Herzog said with a smile, “and the guy tried to sweep me when he woke up.”

Self-Defense

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Haymaker Counter: Haymakers pack plenty of power, but control? Not so much. Conrad Bui parries and ducks under an overcommitted right punch then positions himself behind his attacker for a rear naked choke.

About the Author

Dr. Conrad Bui is a San Francisco-based chiropractor and freelance writer with more than 30 years of continuous martial arts experience. A former bouncer, he holds multiple gold medals and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As an instructor at World Team USA, he enjoys giving and receiving chokes on a regular basis.

Source: Diego Herzog www.worldteamusa.com

More From Issue 12

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 13

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original print version for the web.

Vehicle Security: Part 1 – Auto Theft & Break-In Deterrence

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Anyone who has been the victim of an automotive break-in knows the feelings of anger and helplessness it creates. Maybe you walked out to go to work in the morning, only to find an empty parking space where your truck once was. Or maybe you made a quick stop at a fast-food restaurant, returning to a pile of smashed glass on the car seat. Regardless of the circumstances, the perpetrator is likely long-gone and may never be caught. If you're lucky, you might see your vehicle or your belongings again.

Photo: Flickr.com/comedynose

Photo: Flickr.com/comedynose

Despite taking reasonable precautions, this author has experienced several vehicle break-ins over the years. These included the theft of a catalytic converter — an exhaust system component that's worth hundreds of dollars on the black market due to its precious metal content — and a smash-and-grab incident where a thief ransacked the vehicle only to find nothing of value inside. Frustratingly, the criminals in both incidents got away scot-free. These crimes led to questions about how to make it more difficult for the perpetrators to get what they want.

Catalytic converters are one of many commonly-stolen car parts. Photo: Flickr.com/sidewalk_flying

Catalytic converters are one of many commonly-stolen car parts. Photo: Flickr.com/sidewalk_flying

Auto Theft & Break-In Statistics

Personal anecdotes aside, automotive theft and burglary are serious concerns throughout the United States. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, there were an estimated 765,484 thefts of motor vehicles nationwide in 2016, resulting in a total financial loss of $5.9 billion that year. Although motor vehicle thefts are down about 30% over the last 10 years, this type of crime has been making a resurgence over the last few years, rising 5.8% in 2015 and 7.4% in 2016. Preliminary data for 2017 shows an estimated increase of 4.1%.

Theft of vehicle contents and parts, which the FBI Uniform Crime Report above categorizes as “larceny-theft from motor vehicles” and “larceny-theft [of] motor vehicle accessories” (i.e. wheels or other parts), also rose in 2016 by 6.5% and 2% respectively. Larceny-theft from motor vehicles the most common of all theft categories, with an estimated 1.3 million incidents in 2016. These types of crime often take 60 seconds or less. A smash-and-grab can be over in as little as 5 seconds.

Photo: Flickr.com/joelogon

Photo: Flickr.com/joelogon

So, given these trends and the likelihood of auto theft or a break-in affecting one or more of your vehicles, it's wise to prepare and defend against these crimes. This is especially relevant for those of us who keep emergency kits and other valuables in our cars, since your get-home bag could be a nice prize for a thief — especially if it contains cash, weapons, or personally-identifiable information that could be used for identity theft.

Deterrence: Making Your Vehicle Less Attractive to Thieves

The ideal situation is to avoid being a victim in the first place, and this is accomplished through deterrence. We'll be placing most of our focus on this goal.

If you've been following our site for a while, you've probably heard of the “grey man” philosophy. This is generally used in reference to choosing apparel and other on-body gear that won't make you stand out in a crowd, but it can also be applied to the appearance of your vehicle. Depending on your surroundings, this can mean drastically different things. For example, a new BMW 3-series might seem plain in Manhattan, but it'll look extremely unusual in a low-income rural town. And if your vehicle looks unusual, criminals are likely to take a closer look.

Photo: Flickr.com/tcb613

Photo: Flickr.com/tcb613

However, don't assume that if you have a plain or older car that criminals will overlook it. FBI statistics tell us that the most stolen cars in America in 2016 were the 1997 Honda Accord, 1998 Honda Civic, 2006 Ford F-series, and 2004 Chevy Silverado. These popular vehicles are well-known by thieves, who often have experience breaking into and starting them up. In the case of older cars, a lack of electronic safeguards can allow criminals to start the ignition with a filed-down key or screwdriver.

Older keys lacked the programmed electronic security chips found in newer keys. Photo: Flickr.com/teakwood

Older car keys lack the programmed electronic security chips found in newer keys. Photo: Flickr.com/teakwood

Beyond make and model, it should go without saying that clearly advertising your preparedness on your vehicle puts you at increased risk. A light bar on the bumper, toolbox in the bed, or a nice set of wheels and tires can easily be taken without entering the vehicle, much like the catalytic converter mentioned earlier. A sticker, license plate frame, or vanity plate can give thieves an idea what gear might be in your vehicle — you might really like your Glock, but broadcasting this info on your vehicle can cause criminals to go looking for it. If theft-prevention is your priority, keep your vehicle as plain and anonymous as possible.

Photo: Flickr.com/rulenumberone2

Be cautious about the message sent by your vehicle's appearance. Photo: Flickr.com/rulenumberone2

As for the contents of your vehicle, the same principles apply. Several former criminals have stated in interviews that virtually any personal item visible inside a car could provide motivation for a break-in. Former car thief Steve Sivertsen told KREM 2 News, “You know, if I'm hard up enough and I’ve walked by six cars with change, I know I've got 20 bucks, so I'm going to break your window at least.” Another reformed thief put it as follows: “Unless you go the route of having a car filled so much that you’re a mini-hoarder, you absolutely gotta keep it empty. No loose change. No little screwdrivers, tollway passes, sports equipment, cool signs, t-shirts, or anything!”

This sign might actually work if a thief is considerate enough to read it. Photo: Flickr.com/spine

This sign might work, but it's likely that thieves won't bother to read it. Photo: Flickr.com/spine

Regarding other deterrents, there are many conflicting reports on the deterrence value of security devices such as alarms or steering wheel locks. One of the thieves above said he'd think twice about breaking in if he spotted a blinking light on the dash, but a study by the Highway Loss Data Institute found that these alarms don't noticeably reduce theft losses. A former design engineer at Chrysler said devices like The Club can be circumvented easily by cutting the steering wheel, and may actually be helpful to criminals due to their effectiveness as improvised prybars. In-car dashcams with motion sensors might deter criminals if they know they're being recorded, or they may serve as another item to steal and sell.

Photo: Flickr.com/komunews

Photo: Flickr.com/komunews

Finally, consider where you're parking your vehicle. It's common sense to avoid leaving it in a dark or secluded area, especially overnight. Many thieves are most active between the hours of 2am and 5am. As one put it, “it's nice and quiet [with] less distractions, less people walking around.” Be especially wary if you're in a region where theft is common — refer to the National Insurance Crime Bureau's 2016 Hot Spots report to check your city's car theft rate.

If you see this on the curb near your parking spot, you'll know theft is likely. Photo: Flickr.com/dumbonyc

If you see this on the curb near your parking spot, you'll know theft is likely. Photo: Flickr.com/dumbonyc

Lessons Learned

So, to recap our deterrence tips:

  1. Avoid expensive or flashy vehicles that may draw unwanted attention.
  2. Avoid older models that lack anti-theft features, especially those which are also popular targets for thieves.
  3. Maintain a low profile by avoiding modifications that broadcast preparedness.
  4. Never leave any exposed belongings in your vehicle. Even seemingly worthless items can lead thieves to break in hoping to find more.
  5. Park in a well-lit high-traffic area if possible, but don't assume that this will protect your vehicle.

Unfortunately, none of these tips provide an ironclad guarantee that your vehicle won't be touched by criminals. Much like hardening your home against burglaries or protecting your online identity from hackers, you can take steps to make it more difficult, risky, and time-consuming for these individuals. However, this is essentially an arms race. If a thief is determined, clever, and skilled enough to work around your security measures, he'll still be able to gain entry to your car or truck.

So, in the second half of our two-part vehicle security series next week, we'll share some insights into mitigating the damage once a criminal accesses your vehicle.

Video: Making a Simple DIY Forge

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Metalworking is one of the skills that separated the eras of human history — the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age were defined by our ability (or lack thereof) to produce tools and weapons from durable metal. These days, we may feel as though we've progressed far beyond the need for such simple tools, but the ability to forge and repair metal items remains extremely valuable. It's not hard to imagine a scenario in which our fancy CNC mills and power tools become unusable, but a hot fire, hammer, and anvil will always get the job done.

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Whether you're forging a knife, repairing a tool, repurposing some scrap, or simply learning metalworking as a hobby, you'll need a forge. One of the simplest ways to achieve this is by forcing air up through a layer of burning charcoal or coke. This was originally done through manually-operated bellows, but can now be done with a small shop vac or leaf blower. Even if the power grid is down, this could easily be run off a battery or a small generator, and it saves a tremendous amount of work that would be necessary to keep bellows pumping.

DIY forge blacksmith blade making knife tool metalworking shop vac 1

Swedish YouTuber and blacksmith Torbjörn Åhman recently posted a video that shows how he made an extremely simple forge in his backyard without any special tools. The forge consists of a wood box atop two sawhorses. A hole is cut in one side of the box, and a metal pipe (called a tuyere) is inserted with the protruding end connected to a shop vac hose. The space in the box is then filled with dirt and heat-resistant stones — concrete or other types of stone could explode, so these must be avoided. Wood kindling and coke fuel are added and ignited atop the pipe opening, forming a hearth.

After the first attempt at forging, the stones fracture, so Åhman replaces them with more durable hard-burned bricks.

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Unless you're going to go 100% primitive and rely on manual bellows, this is about as simple as it gets. Check out the video below if you're interested in trying your hand at blacksmithing or blade-forging: