Comments

Episode-553- Ten Ways to Test Your Preps — 18 Comments

  1. Hi there!

    Congrats on a really good show!

    I’m a UK based survivalist/prepper.

    A friend gave me the link to your podcasts a few weeks ago, admittedly I havn’t listened to them all, but todays was fantastic!

    A couple of years ago I did the weekend without power exercise, although I was home alone that weekend. Learnt a lot and should probably do it again.

    Take care

  2. Excellent ideas. I’ve tried to get my family and friends to try something like this to no avail, but this inspires me to give it another try.

  3. You’re absolutely right when you say men are better at bartering than women (and I thoroughly agree with you as to why). I have learned from watching and interacting with my son, now 11, over the years. He’s a natural-born haggler–and while I recognize it as a valuable survival skill (and one that I will be counting on him to use for the benefit of our family if TSHTF), it’s really put my parenting skills to the test! Like I said, I’m learning . . .

  4. Scenarios to test preparedness
    Water heater goes out
    Furnace goes out and it’s going to be below zero at night, and no other backup heat source
    Basement has water 2 inches deep
    Fridge isn’t cooling and food is getting warm
    Your wife/husband has broken their leg, is home from seeing the doctor, and you have a multi-story house
    Spouse has fallen down and can’t move

  5. Here are some ideas:

    It is a hot day with temperatures over 90F, with extremely high humidity and the power to your AC fails.
    Your weather radio alerts you to a nearby tornado at 3 am.
    You have a garden and it is early fall, freezing temperatures are expected for the night.
    It is below freezing and the power to the house fails.
    The Internet has failed and you can not download The Survival Podcast.

  6. Some of the First Aid Flashcard ideas do encourage a family to be as a unit certified to some level of capability, which is an important thing to have for any family. But sometimes maybe some of the cards should be beneficial as much as they are problems that require here and now solutions, it would help with participation knowing that some cards will be beneficial for them to have. Little Jake is told to clean his room, Jake plays a card that says ‘If is done, subject gets a trip to the ice cream parlor’ for example. Might be only one or two in a multi card deck like that but it introduces a positive bit of randomness to doing a task or explaining a procedure. Adding in a conditional requirement also makes sure said individual can’t get out of doing the thing that need be done, but it does randomly reward for doing it (and its rarity makes a person think about when best to use said card).

  7. Go without a shower for 7 days BUT… stay as clean and presentable as possible. Take the opportunity to see how much water you really need to “feel human.” Heat a gallon on the stove every morning or evening and take it to the bath tub. Use it to wipe down as best you can. Experiment with hair washing without a spray. The idea is to go without the usual, but make do with what you can until the drill is over. I would NOT recommend doing this drill concurrently with any other drill the first time through!

    Your observations about your “no shower” week will serve you well as you prep for things like an extended power outage. Or consider an extended severe drought when every drop is so precious. Water is vital for hydration AND hygiene. And, in my experience, it’s amazing how far one quart of water can go. Even a one cup can be heated to steaming, poured over a terry cloth washcloth, and used to “steam” the face and hands. It’s like a transatlantic flight’s “hot lemon towel.” My husband and I do this when we’re on the trail, and it makes a world of difference.

    When the drill is over and you’re standing under a steaming hot spray of water, you WILL appreciate it so much more.

  8. My 80+ mother in law called us 85 miles away & wanted to know what to store for the “what-if” day. We told her to store stapels & the thngs they like aslong as i’s not to be put into the refrigerator.
    We also went thru the “what if dad needs more meds?” How are you going to deal without light @ night? On & on….I wish she would hook to the internet so she could listen to you!
    I just relate what I have learned from you & hope for the best for them.
    Thanks Jack!

  9. @Foxy, my dad doesn’t use the net but wanted to hear my show. I thought about burning disks but god that is way to much work and would get expensive. I just bought a cheap MP3 player with a way to charge via a plugin vs. USB. I put 1-550 on it and mailed it to him.

    He can listen all he likes and just plug it in to recharge with zero PC knowledge.

  10. Great show – as always.

    My family got to try this for real without me, as Seattle got whipped Monday night and I had to get on the 6am Tue for a biz trip.

    Not only did we not freak out, it actually went really well. Even got to loan our extra generator to a neighbor > not without a few minutes of “so what would you have done if this was the big quake and ALL of Seattle land was dark for a few weeks” conversation.

    These little events just spur me on to keep looking for, and plugging holes. Love the flashcard drill. Will start using it.

    Thanks!

  11. @Jen: We lived that way for 8 months while our house was being built 🙂

    Game card idea: the furnace broke. Light up the wood stove or whatever alternate heat you have.
    (Turn the heat down to 10C).

  12. Ideal: spouce has a broken dominate arm: put arm in makeshift sling for 24 hr.

    vehicle broken down: grab you bugout bag and family and try to walk for a mile around the neighborhood to get help.

    simple flat tire let the spouce change it, then drive home and change it back. Then check all tires pressure and tread wear

    dinner: flip to a random page in a cookbook and make what ever the meal is for dinner. You will not alway have the meals you want or like when you are hungry or things are not availible.

    fire drill: wake up in the middle of the night and just test your smoke alarm. test family responce and detector together.

    Can you wife or child start your generator?

  13. We periodically have a ‘what if’ day at church [friday night/sat am] and then report on Sunday how it went. It really helps those who try.

  14. Hi, this is the first time I’m commenting here, since for the first time your blog does work on my computer. It never worked before, I had to download your podcast via Google Reader.

    I would add a suggestion to test your vehicle BOB kits. You simply gather your family in your car for any reason (like going for a movie) and then instead of going home, you use the stuff in your car and the car itself as a shelter, on your bug-out location, or in the back yard.

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  16. Drill ideas…

    Roommate (or spouse) calls you at work and leaves a message that you need to come home for a household emergency. Returning the call goes unanswered. (in my case it was a broken water pipe in the basement, like someone else mentioned.) Do you know how to turn off the main water supply and can you tell someone else where to go to turn it off?

    You get a call in the middle of the night and someone close to you needs to be bailed out of jail. And you have had 2 or 5 drinks (i.e. you are over the legal limit to drive). If you have other drivers in the household, they are over the limit as well.

    YOU need to be bailed out of jail. And your cell phone is broken.

    You are planning a trip to Vegas. Your flight leaves at 6:20 am. You didn’t bother to pack everything the night before because you planned on waking up early. It is now 5:30 and it takes 20 minutes if you speed to get to the airport.

    You smell gas. There is a gas leak, maybe. Do you know how to shut off the gas? Do you know how to turn it back on and re-light pilot lights?

    Electric is out. And you opted for online billing. And you have a report for school due in 12 hours. How do you contact the electric company to find out when power will be returned?

    Internet is out. And all of the contact numbers for Al Gore, I mean the internet company, are online.

    You are traveling for business (or pleasure) and an ice storm is expected. The place you are at is not even known for cold weather or snow. What do you do to make sure you can survive in your hotel room for a few days even if the hotel generators are operational.

    You are stuck in the game “Tron”

  17. Something I just noticed. The title says Episode 553 but next to the audio player link it says Episode 552.

  18. Bug out bags in the car. Leave in the late evening with nothing but the bags an go to a hotel/campsite for the night, then hit a local 6 flags type of park for a day. Return to the hotel/campsite and go through what you needed. It will be fun and an educational experience.