# 11 Footwear - In two survival type movies I know of (The Road, and The Book of Eli) the script and scenes rightly emphasize the importance of footwear, ie boots and socks. In any longterm breakdown (teotwawki) taking care of and protecting feet will be very important. Feet blistering, cut and infected will very quickly reduce ones ability to survive. A good pair of boots is essential. Lots of socks with it also and dubbin.

# 12 Shoelaces - I am not sure why I list shoelaces or bootlaces separately. Perhaps just the fact (at least in my mind) we seem to pay them little attention. Good shoelaces, the kind that do not slip or break easily, imho, will be at a premium and may be a good barter item. Any comments on type, ie leather or the usual or what? Any way of strengthening them? May not be too hard to get a good number of them before its too late.

# 13 Denture Paste, ie Polygrip - This one may escape the attention of all people with a good set of teeth. However, if you have dentures and they slip while eating or talking and you use denture paste to offset that, then it may be a good idea to stock up and would not cost much. 😀

# 14 Eyeglasses - This item (like sleeping bag and boots) might be described as ‘little-ish’ rather than little, but it will be very very important. Anyone who needs and uses glasses, either from youth or the ravages of age, knows very well the disadvantages of being without them. If possible, a back up pair is desirable. What about getting a prescription set that 'anticipates' the next level or strength a person needs to go to?

I have to re-emphasize the importance of boots that you mentioned. This is SOOOOO important to have a good pair. But make SURE you break them in before you put them in your closet of preps, because they do you know good if your feet are covered in blisters. One thing Ill add t this:

#15 SOCKS! At least two pairs so that one is drying while you're wearing the other. Dry feet are an awesome moral booster, and prevent fungus's that can be disabling.

You have a good idea about laces, but i always keep 100ft of 550 paracord in my bug out bag so those can be a replacement for shoelaces but with multiple other uses.

2 pair of socks? I'd say 2 on you and 2 more pair in your pack. If you get cold you can double up without going in your pack. You don't know how much your feet sweat unti you do a BFT or even marching all day long with your gear in tactical boots. It sucks and your feet are all sweaty and hot no matter how thin the pair of socks your wearing. Not to mention the odor.

Foot wrap before you do a long trek on foot, it is a trick I learned from my training.
Foot powder like corn starch or talc. Those will help take moisture off your feet and dry for a while. Throw some in your boots will help.

# 15 Firts-aid kit + asprin

# 16 Crank radio with NOAA channels.

Water purification. For the basics I like Aquamira's products. Especially the Frontier filter. These are small enough to tuck in a small EDC like my Maxpedition Fatty, your glove box or purse. Every bug out bag should have one. They are a small super light, inexpensive personal water filtration system that will do in a pinch and will filter up to 20 gallons of water. If your looking for a sport bottle type filter or the full on filtration, I like Berke systems. They are expensive but will protect you and your family from parasites, virus and filter family sized volumes of water.

Thanks ICRCC for First aid kits and crank radio with NOAA channels. I have a crank radio - here is a stupid quesiton, nope, there are none right 🙂 - How do I determine if it has NOAA channels?

Thanks to Zzulu for water purification item. This is # 17 by the way. The Acquimera Frontier filter looks great and is a perfect fit for a "little thing", cheap and easy. Any idea how long it is good for in storage? An expensive but excellent water filter is the Katadyn Pocket microfilter. I have one but have yet to use it.

Lets keep numbering the items. If the list continues to grow and be of interest it will be useful to refer to numbers because doing an Edit - Find may not work for several pages of posts. Referring to numbers will work and even if they double up occasionally due to error, will still facilitate finding an item or topic.

Next item is # 18.

#18 bandana, check out this website, http://www.survivalcache.com there is a list of 30 different things a person can do with a bandana!!! kinda cool, and very practical.

Some crank radios have the NOAA channels others do not. If they do they will probably have "weather" or "WX" as one of the button options. You are correct, there are no stupid questions.

#19 feminine products!!! - hi all, Mrs.gmurphy say hi.

Gmurphy - that's an extremely valuable addition to any kit. Multiple purpose, from medical to hygiene. My first aid instructor swore by them.

Also, they're flammable lol.

H

The Little Things List - a list of survival/preparedness things
to do that are easy and inexpensive.

Hi all:

For some time I have thought that a list of survival / preparedness things to do that are very easy to do, take little time and are very cheap, would be useful in a number of ways. First it will help people new to prepping be able to do things quickly and have a sense of motivation. Second it will help people who are financially strapped to feel there are things they can do despite their financial limitations. Third it can provide things to do for more advanced preppers who simply have days they want to make useful and fine tune their preps. Fourth, it can provide an opportunity for preppers to put their heads together in creative ways and share insights easily they might not have thought significant. I am very sure a community like this has MANY small practices they can share with good effect for all. So here goes, I will start the Little Things List (LTL for short) with three items and hope it grows. If adding to the list, please use a short title, note and use the numbering and add your username.

1/ Waterproof bic. I noted on a number of survival blogs that people thought bic lighters were a simple and cheap item to keep in their preps but one drawback was they were not waterproof. I gave this some thought and came up with an answer. Take a small balloon, called water grenade balloons, (can get 100 for $4) snip off most of the narrow top part and slip the remaining part over the top of your bic lighter. This can be rolled off when you want to use it and rolled back on after use. The lighter is waterproof. Works very well. Easy to have a number of these in different places such as car, backpack, pocket kit, belt pack etc.

2/ Running on Emply. Have a jerry can of gas in your car, take it out driving until the gas gauge reads exactly empty when you are looking down on it from straight above (not at an angle) then drive to a designated location to determine how far you can drive on empty. This information could be useful if you are in a SHTF situation and have to drive all out and worried about how far you can get. Once you have done this, you have a very concise idea how far you can go on empty. For instance I know that on empty in the vehicle I currently have I can drive from Chilliwack to Hope. Good idea to take note of exact kms also.

3/ Notebook. - Keep a small notebook (the ones with hard covers and a strap around to keep closed are good) and record exactly what equipment you have ready for bug-out or bug-in. Separate pages for your belt pack, a big back pack, a small back pack, a pocket kit, a vehicle preparedness kit, food storage, preparedness chest, cache1, cache2 etc. By keeping this record, AND KEEPING IT ON YOU AT ALL TIMES, you accomplish several things: always know what you got and where it is, easy to move things from one place to another and not forget, helps to evaluate and prioritize purchases, etc. If concerned about someone else seeing it, use code for some objects.

your turn....

I want to check this out...I heard that you are not to carry gas in a Jerry can in a car or van only in the back of a truck, something about the sloshing causing an explosion...can someone clear this up for me...thanks!

I was in JISK the poor mans IKEA the other day and found some thing I think is great.
They had AA rechargable batteries, hmm I said to myself and had a closer look .
They are AA 600nAh 1.2V. = $2.00 a four pack Your standard rechargeable is AA 2000nAh 1.2V. = $10.00 - 12.00 a four pack.
The differrance is less power time for most uses except LED lights (these are the batteries in most yard nite lights)
I also have picked up some used yard lights and stripped the lights off them and i now can use them for charging rechargable batteries as a Cheeeeep back up system. Oh and I bought $30.00 worth too.

Just a note here I was in Walmart the preppers playground aand I found a crank / solar / 110V. rechargable AM/FM/Weather radio,It was $29.00 No brainer here. Took it home great reception here in Maple Ridge and up at the North end of Alloutte Lake too. Sound quality was good to, looking to see if I can adapt a USB outlet so I can charge my phone and GPS. Gonna go back and get another one for the camper.

The Little Things List - a list of survival/preparedness things
to do that are easy and inexpensive.

Hi all:

For some time I have thought that a list of survival / preparedness things to do that are very easy to do, take little time and are very cheap, would be useful in a number of ways. First it will help people new to prepping be able to do things quickly and have a sense of motivation. Second it will help people who are financially strapped to feel there are things they can do despite their financial limitations. Third it can provide things to do for more advanced preppers who simply have days they want to make useful and fine tune their preps. Fourth, it can provide an opportunity for preppers to put their heads together in creative ways and share insights easily they might not have thought significant. I am very sure a community like this has MANY small practices they can share with good effect for all. So here goes, I will start the Little Things List (LTL for short) with three items and hope it grows. If adding to the list, please use a short title, note and use the numbering and add your username.

1/ Waterproof bic. I noted on a number of survival blogs that people thought bic lighters were a simple and cheap item to keep in their preps but one drawback was they were not waterproof. I gave this some thought and came up with an answer. Take a small balloon, called water grenade balloons, (can get 100 for $4) snip off most of the narrow top part and slip the remaining part over the top of your bic lighter. This can be rolled off when you want to use it and rolled back on after use. The lighter is waterproof. Works very well. Easy to have a number of these in different places such as car, backpack, pocket kit, belt pack etc.

2/ Running on Emply. Have a jerry can of gas in your car, take it out driving until the gas gauge reads exactly empty when you are looking down on it from straight above (not at an angle) then drive to a designated location to determine how far you can drive on empty. This information could be useful if you are in a SHTF situation and have to drive all out and worried about how far you can get. Once you have done this, you have a very concise idea how far you can go on empty. For instance I know that on empty in the vehicle I currently have I can drive from Chilliwack to Hope. Good idea to take note of exact kms also.

3/ Notebook. - Keep a small notebook (the ones with hard covers and a strap around to keep closed are good) and record exactly what equipment you have ready for bug-out or bug-in. Separate pages for your belt pack, a big back pack, a small back pack, a pocket kit, a vehicle preparedness kit, food storage, preparedness chest, cache1, cache2 etc. By keeping this record, AND KEEPING IT ON YOU AT ALL TIMES, you accomplish several things: always know what you got and where it is, easy to move things from one place to another and not forget, helps to evaluate and prioritize purchases, etc. If concerned about someone else seeing it, use code for some objects.

your turn....

I want to check this out...I heard that you are not to carry gas in a Jerry can in a car or van only in the back of a truck, something about the sloshing causing an explosion...can someone clear this up for me...thanks!

I worked at a terminal of BC Ferries, and during our Dangerous Goods training we had to discuss jerry cans of fuel. For Gasoline, (UN 1203) the problem is much the same as a carbonated beverage. You slosh it around enough, it'll create vapours. With those vapours in the air of a closed-cab vehicle, it can cause Hypoxia, poisoning, and get in between electrical connections that aren't quite solid. This could cause arcing, much the same as a spark plug. This is the danger. Arcing across a gap filled with fuel vapours which, by nature, are in an ideal fuel-air mixture for ignition.

BOOM.

Hope that cleared it up a bit 🙂

As for batteries, only a small correction here: standard battery voltage rating is actually 1.5v, unless it's an older style base metal cell like Carbon Zinc. Otherwise, you're absolutely right. That's a great find, even at 1.2v. Another thing to remember, and I'll keep reinforcing it; ALL ALTERNATORS CAN BE FIXED AFTER AN EMP/DROP BY USE OF A SMALL VOLTAGE BATTERY.

Okay, apologies for the caps, but it's important.

H

#20 Shoe Goo, when i fought forest fires this stuff was my best friend. id melt holes in the soles of my boots from walking through hot ash all day long. at the end of my shift id give my boots a qiuck wipe down with a damp rag, then apply the shoe goo where ever it was needed and it would be dry the next morning. ( qiuck side note- shoe goo is a paste, and it will just melt off after awhile of heat exposure: 9times out of 10 i was able to order new boots and have them shipped to me in camp.) i have also used shoe goo on running shoes and hiking boots and is works just fine