Emergency preparedness

[DiverRay]

Jerry,
Forget the cell phone battery! Land line WILL be up before cell towers, and the battery will NOT stay charged long. She CAN pack one of the solar charges, trickle 12V. into most anything, to recharge the cell phone.
a small roll of duct tape, and a tube of super glue will repair most minor to medium problems with the human body. The tape can be used for other things as well.
TP IS a needed item, so a pack sealed in a ziplock bag would be good.

[cywelchjr]

Jerry,
Forget the cell phone battery! Land line WILL be up before cell towers, and the battery will NOT stay charged long. She CAN pack one of the solar charges, trickle 12V. into most anything, to recharge the cell phone.
a small roll of duct tape, and a tube of super glue will repair most minor to medium problems with the human body. The tape can be used for other things as well.
TP IS a needed item, so a pack sealed in a ziplock bag would be good.

Except fewer and fewer people even have a land line. And there may not even be a building for you to use a land line in. So I'm not really seeing the land line as a likely viable option, so something to charge the cell phone is probably a good thing to have, and they do have solar chargers out there for cell phones, or better yet, they have 12 volt solar chargers and you can charge one of those portable power systems that are 12 volt that can be used to operate a lot of different things, including charging the cell phone. I'd expect now days that the cell towers may well be up pretty quick as many of them don't even use land lines to talk to each other in urban locations but rather use LOS microwave, or at least have that setup as a backup.

[b.walker5]

[ QUOTE=cywelchjr;315467]Except fewer and fewer people even have a land line. And there may not even be a building for you to use a land line in. So I'm not really seeing the land line as a likely viable option, so something to charge the cell phone is probably a good thing to have, and they do have solar chargers out there for cell phones, or better yet, they have 12 volt solar chargers and you can charge one of those portable power systems that are 12 volt that can be used to operate a lot of different things, including charging the cell phone. I'd expect now days that the cell towers may well be up pretty quick as many of them don't even use land lines to talk to each other in urban locations but rather use LOS microwave, or at least have that setup as a backup.[/QUOTE]

That was certianly the experience In Christchurch. The only real problem they have is aftershocks knocking tower links out of alignment. Much of the underground fibre optic cable was damaged so a hasty above ground network has been built. for landlines.

[cywelchjr]

That was certianly the experience In Christchurch. The only real problem they have is aftershocks knocking tower links out of alignment. Much of the underground fibre optic cable was damaged so a hasty above ground network has been built. for landlines.

Yeah, that's the one problem with tower to tower links in that situation is that they can get knocked out of alignment if their not locked down really really well. And even then, things can bent and put them out of alignment. But it can be much faster to run around to pairs of towers and hook up to the dishes with the signal meters and align them quickly than try to find the breaks in the lines to get things back up after a disaster, most of the towers have their own power supply that just needs fuel brought in and topped off until the power grid comes back up. Then when the hard lines come back up the microwave links go back into standby mode.

[natemoen]

Hope for the best but plan for the worst. I wouldn't expect either to be available.

[3Phase]

Row Jimmy Row.

Weather Report Suite, YKIMS.

[Special Ed]

Great ideas lads

Keep them coming! Speaking of emergency food, you might check out this link: http://www.foodinsurance.com/. Might be too expensive for most of us, but a great idea if affordable.
The damage to Santa Cruz Harbor is now put at over $25,000,000 to infrastructure and over a dozen boats destroyed and many more seriously damaged: and this from an earth quake on the other side of the Pacific ocean.
Like I said, SWMBO and I rode over to the Harbor to see what we could see. We missed the first "surge," but our local independent radio station was covering it. Several boats and one dock were taken out not by the incoming wave, but by the water leaving the harbor to meet the wave! Then when the incoming surge hit more boats were either yanked from their moorings, or were swept away dock and all.
When we arrived it was between surges. It was eerie. It was a beautiful day for a disaster, and except for the News Copters hovering overhead it was very quiet One 28' Tupperware boat was caught by it's mast underneath the bridge separating the lower harbor from the upper harbor. There were many chunks of docks and moorings floating around. We went from the bridge to a spot closer to the harbor mouth. But the time we got there another surge came in. The current was flowing in at a good (or bad) 15 knots. There were a couple of poor bastards who were undoubtedly the owners of an old wooden commercial fishing boat that was tied along with a newer sport fishing boat to part of a destroyed wooden dock. Every time the current changed direction the boats would twist around smashing into each other, the rocks, and what was left of the dock. When we first saw them they had their hands on top of their heads voicing their incredulity in terms unprintable here. They were struggling to fend their boat off the rocks and and keep it from hitting the dock with the one single stern line that was still attached. The bowline cleat had literally popped off when we arrived. It sounded like a gun shot.. We left before their battle was over. I hope they were able to save the boat.
It's late. Gotta crash. I mean sleep. More later.
Special Ed
I was

[latexeses]

One of the things I put in our G.O.O.D. kits was a protable water purifier. Check REI. http://www.rei.com/search?query=wate...46&button.y=20

Water is very heavy to carry and will be one of the first things you need. Never know where the water you are about to drink came form. Best to be sure it is pure.

[Winterhawk]

The best site for all your needs and info.

http://offgridsurvival.com/

[b.walker5]

The best site for all your needs and info.


http://offgridsurvival.com/

Complete with all the best conspiracy theories...

[Special Ed]

Conspiracy "theory?"

"Complete with all the best conspiracy theories..."
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean the bastards aren't out to get you!
Special Ed

[b.walker5]

Hahahahaha

[Toolmaker Tim]

Important things

Don't forget extra socks and underwear. Personal hygene stuff is high on the list also. Everything gets harder to do when you are miserable. My father in law said everyone in his platoon carried extra socks in their packs during WW2. A good pair of well broken in hiking boots would be high on my list also.

[Winterhawk]

To tell you the truth, I didn't even notice any Conspiracy stuff till you said something. even better site now for survival items. LOL

[3Phase]

Complete with all the best conspiracy theories...

Brian, I keep a quart or two of dehydrated water in my ALICE pack to wash the bul^H^H^Hmud off the post-disaster rumors and some of the conspiracy theories(ists). It's come in handy on more than one occasion.