1. My eyes are opened
2. What is this guy smoking?
3. Duh.  I’ve known this for years!

Hopefully you don’t fall into category 2.  That would be unfortunate…  You can vote at the bottom of this post and let everyone know where you fall!

Since this site is geared towards the people of Utah, I wanted to expand on his post with what I view as Utah-focused ideas and observations.  Living in Utah is simultaneously a blessing and curse in regards to disaster preparedness and dealing with emergent situations…

Blessings:

1. The fact that there is a good sense of community and “togetherness” for most Utahns can’t be ignored.  When it gets down to it, I believe the people and communities in Utah will (for the most part; depends on the length and severity of the disaster) band together and help each other through the event.
2. With a large population of LDS members many should, theoretically at least, be more prepared for a natural disaster than others in different parts of the country.  Everyone knows the LDS church advocates and instructs members to maintain a store of food for when times are rough.  While not all members heed this advice, others outside the church in Utah understand the wisdom of such direction even if they don’t agree with other beliefs.  Going to stores and talking to others of all faiths, I think overall the people of Utah are doing well with this.
3. We are still a medium-sized city (talking Salt Lake valley here of course).  It gets harder for any organization, whether it’s the government, churches, private individuals, etc… to provide relief after an event as population size and density grows.  It’s the essence of “supply and demand” in economics.  Too many mouths to feed, not enough food or relief workers.  Luckily we’re not a New York or Chicago.  Living there would be nightmarish! (and I don’t just mean during a disaster either)

Curses:

1. In the same breath of considering the sense of community in Utah, you must recognize and consider the inherit divide between “Mormons” and “non-Mormons”.  For most it’s nothing intentional while others (on both sides) butt heads at every occasion.  This should be something both groups give serious consideration prior to a disaster occuring.  Not to trivialize high school but that’s what I think about when I consider the religious divide that needlessly exists here.  Yes, I said NEEDLESSLY!  Unfortunately, it’s also something that can only be cured before a disaster strikes.  You aren’t going to be mending many fences (literal or figurative) when you’re struggling just to get clean water and food in your body.  Quite the opposite: each group will cling to each other; their lives may very well depend on it.
2. Knowing that a good many Utahns have some kind of food storage and other preparations can be a weakness as well as strength.  Those struggling will be more prone to target those they know (or believe) might have something they want.  It’s not about how well off you are, it’s about how well off you are relative to anyone else…  Think about that before the next time you start spouting out the nitty gritty details of your food storage plan to someone.  You might not be concerned about telling your coworker those details at this moment.  Of course, at this moment their stomachs are full or have been in the past 6 hours…

Now, those “curses” sound like a lot of gloom and doom, it really just depends on what level of disaster your planned preparations are designed for.  If you are just concerned about a bad snow storm or even an earthquake that takes out 1/3 of the houses in the Salt Lake valley, this may be a bit overkill.  I happen to believe much worse could happen and while I maintain faith in the general good nature of those around me, I can’t risk ignorance in preparing for the real monsters of this world in all shapes, sizes, and forms.

It’s about being prepared for the worst while praying and striving for the best; in both disasters and our fellow citizens.

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Considering the grave situation parts of the world are in right now (including parts of the U.S.), coupled with my recent experience with the first place I ordered my NutriMill at, well, it’s really depressed me a bit.  I’m pretty sure this retailer has simply gone out of business, but still has a website for whatever reason.  It’s hosted by a reputable source, their ordering system is through a company that would verify that sort of stuff, so I’m 95% sure I didn’t give my contact information to a dishonest entity, but it still gets me down.

It reminds me of an article I read talking about how scam artists use these natural disasters to their advantage, preying on the good nature of people who just want to help.  It’s upsetting that we can’t just focus on continually preparing ourselves and helping others, but that we also have to keep sharp in uncovering dishonest conduct.  The unfortunate truth however, is that times of crisis are when you are most vulnerable and susceptible to someone trying to take advantage of you (and you falling for it).  I thought I’d point out a few of the things to watch out for, mainly for myself, but maybe it will help others too.

• Marketing.  This can affect both the victims and givers.  Givers will be asked to give money to ‘help’ those in need.  Victims might be contacted offering aid for some sort of deposit.  This could be over the phone, in person, through the Internet, etc…  There are plenty or relief organizations you can support, you just need to be wary.
• Your possessions become worthless.  To make the point (although hopefully an extreme example), this is akin to trading your nice plasma TV for a pack of toilet paper.  In dire circumstances, the value of basic necessities skyrocket while ‘toys’ plunge.  It may seem silly now, but if you’re without toilet paper for a week or more you might be singing a different tune and gladly give up that hunk of plastic and metal for something that is now a true luxury!  The lesson here?  Get prepared!  Don’t put yourself in a situation where you need toilet paper or other basic necessities in the first place.
• Offers of help.  While the majority of people will band together to help each other out in an emergency, there is certainly a dangerous minority that will be looking to take advantage of the situation.  Whether they want money, possessions, food, sex, it doesn’t really matter.  You have got to be cautious in accepting assistance after a disaster.  Treat it like a friendly game of poker maybe.  Remain courteous and helpful but keep your preparations, condition, etc… close to your sleeve.

Of course, identifying possible scams is the easy part.  The hard part comes in avoiding them and maintaining yourself in a position where you aren’t put “over a barrel” where you have to stick your neck out there even though you have a bad feeling about it.

I know I’ve left some hazards out, but it’s a start.  What are some of the ways you plan on avoiding being taken advantage of both in general life and during a crisis?

“Water is one of the critical survival priorities. If you do not pack enough to drink that is your first order of business. You cannot live without water. You can go 40 or 50 days without food,”

“Boiling will kill some things but you can also try using some iodine or chlorine tablets or using a mechanical filter.”

I have just begun evaluating which filter I want to buy. I have some Polar Pure iodine that I got before it became restricted last summer, but a filter would be a much better solution. Any suggestions?

A heavy duty garbage bag will work as a vapor barrier and keep you warm on a cold night.

…knowing how to create a temporary shelter is also an important survival skill.

You can do it with a little rope and an old poncho.

“And a friction knot will help the shelter stay in place,” explained Nester while building the shelter. 

The idea is to put the poncho between two trees and grab whatever you can find to anchor it.

This points out one my glaring deficiencies… knots! While watching the video of the story this is what stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I’m sure I could rig something, but it wouldn’t be very strong and a lot more complicated/wasteful than necessary. I need to find a good knot resource!

Your third priority should be trying to build a fire.

The ideal items would be matches, a spark rod, cotton balls and Vaseline.

“Because the cotton ball has Vaseline on it, that will burn for about 5 minutes,”

I have tried this and it works.  I would suggest getting one of those butane torches instead of a standard Bic lighter. I also keep mine in the original packaging until needed. Even in my bags I just cut all the excess packaging off but still keep the sealed part in tact. It helps keep the lighter from leaking PLUS gives you a little bit of fuel (in the cardboard packing) you can use.

Nester recommends using at least five different ways to signal that you are stuck.

One of the easiest is simply taking a pile of rocks and building an “X” so those in the air know exactly where you are.

A small mirror can also come in handy.

“A flash can carry 30 to 50 miles. It can even work in semi – cloudy conditions,”

It really is amazing what a mirror can do. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve done my share of annoying people with a watch face when I was younger

While I wouldn’t want to bet my life on surviving based on what I see on my local news, this was a fairly decent story considering. I still have to figure out the five ways to signal you’re stuck though… when I have more time I guess.

Anything else you’d add to a “bare essentials” list of items to take in ANY circumstance?

While reading the piece I got to wondering if there’s a deeper meaning to the facination and popularity of these shows than simply being entertaining. One TV exec mentioned: 

“There’s a nostalgia and romance that speaks to where we were as a country and a desire to rally around our heritage. These shows help do that.”

Whatever happened to that heritage? Is it lost? What does it mean that today most of us are reduced to, as the article puts it, “live … vicariously” through these shows? Are we so lazy and detached from how life was 30 or 40 years ago? The obvious answer is yes. I know even just in my short lifetime, we as a population have become so used to our technical wonders that we’ve become oblivious to the simple pleasures of say camping in a tent. Instead we have to pack up the RV and head out to a campsite with indoor toilets and a clear view of the sky (not to stargaze, but to ensure satellite will work ok!).

In the article, Stroud says: 

“There’s that ‘I wonder if I can do this?’ that speaks to all of us.”

I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a challenge. One I want to own. While I can’t expect to be able to do the crazy stuff Stroud is capable of, I can go camping… in a tent… without a laptop… I’ve been promising my wife a camp trip for a while now. Looks like I’ve run out of excuses and just have to do it. At least I have plenty of Mountain House. Can’t expect me to give up EVERY convenience right?

So what about you? What are you going to do? How about showing your kids, wife, friends, whoever! that you don’t have to watch actors to appreciate our frontier heritage.