PRN Episode #40 Introduction to Prepper Kits

Where to Keep Your Car Survival Kits

Where to Keep Your Car Survival Kits
Buy at Amazon

Car survival kits are specifically designed to provide survival supplies if you are trapped in or become disabled or lost in your vehicle.  Automobile emergency kits are not the same as a Survival kit.  An automobile kit generally contain flares, jumper cables, spare fuses, etc.  They help the car, not you.

Most folks don’t understand why a car kit is important.  However, those same people can vividly recall the news reports of a person pinned in their wrecked car for days.

A Truck is Not Always the Best Place for a Kit

Your supplies may be inaccessible in your trunk if you are actually trapped in your vehicle.  This depends on you vehicle.  For such a scenario, you’d want supplies within reach of the passenger compartment. This may not be a problem for a pickup truck, minivan or SUVs where there is access to the entire vehicle and you or your passengers can reach the supplies.

However, sedans with a separate trunk are trickier.  You could be trapped in the driver’s seat and be unable to access your supplies. Although, such scenarios have a very low probability.  Most victims are found before they needed life saving supplies.

Although, when it is just my wife and I, I move our kit to the backseat of our sedan. Keeping your car survival kit in the trunk would prove effective for the majority of your scenarios. However, an extended jam could have you wishing for water. Just think about the parking lot known as Interstate 45 from Galveston to Houston any time an evacuation order is given for a hurricane!

Hot Trunks Will Reduce Storage Life

Keep in mind, the storage of food supplies in a hot trunk will shorten the shelf-life of most food products.  Refresh them annually. Similarly, certain first aid supplies can become unusable if exposed to long periods of intense heat.  Consequently, check your supplies at the end of summer and refresh what is not useful.

While there may not be one right answer for where to keep your emergency kits.  Any amount of forethought will do you well in locating your kits. Keep in mind that every area of the country has different hazard considerations.  Your car survival kits and storage location should be based upon your higher probability disaster scenarios.

3 Ways to Prepare Children for Disasters

3 Ways to Prepare Children for Disasters
Buy at Amazon

Though some people do not want to think about it, disasters may occur no matter what. It is vital for parents to ensure that each member of the family is ready for a disaster. What should a parent do to prepare a child for unfortunate situations? The information below 3 Ways to Prepare Children for Disasters may help.

Encourage Memorization

In order to prepare a child for a disaster, it is necessary for a parent to teach a child personal information. If the child separates from the family during a disaster, he or she should carry the knowledge of the location of his or her home. The child should also know his or her name. It may not be easy to teach this information; however, that does not make the information less valuable or critical. The parent may wish to quiz the child on a frequent basis.

Understand the Signs

It is vital for a child to understand the signs of a disaster. It may not be possible for a parent to reach the child; therefore, the child should be aware of the signs of a dangerous situation. When the child understands, it is easier for the child to get away from fires, floods, and other disasters. The child should carry a cell phone; if a phone call is necessary, a loved one may be reached. If the home is unsafe, it is indispensable for the child to have a designated second shelter. A neighbor’s house or a church may suffice.

Teach Camping Techniques

It is not enough for a child to learn the signs of a disastrous situation; if a parent wishes to prepare a child for an emergency, camping techniques are crucial. A child should understand the steps necessary for assembling a tent. This does not have to be a dull lesson; the parent may wish to wait for a camping trip in order to add an element of adventure. If the family cannot go on a camping trip, the parent may wish to enlist a child in a summer camp program. Summer camp allows a child to learn critical survival techniques and interact with people of different backgrounds.

People do not like to think about disasters. Disasters lead to dangerous and deadly situations; this makes it an unattractive subject. However, a family should understand the steps that are necessary for these situations. If the family has children, the children should be aware of what to do in order to survive. The parent may wish to help the child memorize the physical address of the family. It is also beneficial for the child to know how to tackle basic camping strategies. When a child is aware of what to do, a disaster is less likely to push a family apart.

Preparing for Disaster with Your Child

DIY: Bottle Cap Candle
Buy at Amazon

Today I have a guest Post from Nancy Parker on Preparing for Disaster with Your Child

There are many different kinds of disaster sand they are always out of the human’s control. As an adult you know how to prepare and what to do during a disaster, but what about the children? Some adults neglect to teach their child what to do base on the fact it could ‘never happen’ to them. Before it’s too late, here are ways to help you prepare your child for a disaster:

It is always good to keep your child informed of possible and potential disasters. Now this doesn’t mean that you educate them to the point where they live in fear but that they understand the potential disaster. When teaching them about disasters, keep the conversation upbeat and positive by stating that there is a solution to the disaster. Keep the conversations short, allow for questions and answer honestly.

Always be prepared, that is the best advice for a disaster. Get the supplies that you need to help yourself during a disaster. For example if it’s preparing for bad weather gather the tools you need like candles, emergency radios, food and water. Teach your child what is needed in certain disasters so that they know what is available for them, if ever needed.

Plan:

You should always have an emergency plan for you and your child for any dangerous situation. Teach them the first they should do for different disasters. Write out a simple and easy least that they can read. Typically that emergency plan should start with listen to an adult’s advice and/or call 911.

Practice:

Once you have purchased the correct safety tools and figured out the right plan, practice. Practicing with your child what to do during a disaster will help them if the time comes. Explain during the practice the procedures that they need to take and why. Practice this emergency plan every few months.

Reaction:

The most important advice that regency officials can give people during a disaster is to remain calm. Teach your child to remain calm during emergencies. You can do this by leading by example, if you remain calm you child is more likely to remain calm. Disasters have the potential to be worse if there is fear and panic to cause confusion and difficulty.

Disasters can’t be avoided but they can be lessened the more you are prepared and ready for one. Teaching your child this will help you and them in any future events. Remember above anything else, remain calm and work with them on the emergency plan.

Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld

Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld Review

Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld
Buy at Amazon (Not the Same Radio as Reviewed)

Now for those that care about these things, I have not received any compensation of any type for this review. I am reviewing this device because I think EVERY prepper should have at least one ham radio, and with the quality/price ratio this radio is worth looking into.

First strike against the Wuxun KG-UV3D radio is that is Chinese made. Some don’t care –some do, personally I’d rather buy American made, but a simple internet search will show you how hard it is to find a American made ham radio.

First positive comment is that it’s around $100 bucks. This is in a world where almost all other handhelds start at 5 times that amount. I first learned about this radio from a group of ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) volunteers in East TN. These guys all had at least one and they were of the opinion that it was good enough, and sturdy enough, and if they broke the thing it was only a $100 radio.

As I said in the video my intent was to buy one, try it out, and if mine was as functional as the ones I was shown in Athens then I would buy a couple more for the wife and for storage. My wife is now expecting, so I had to add another prepper tier to my list, so the extra radios were bumped back, but I still intend to buy a couple more once I stockpile a lot of diapers and bottles…

I am not going to get into too much detail on these radios, as a ham will just go dig up the spec sheet and it may cause informational overload to a non-ham. But basically:

Wuxun KG-UV3D Features

  • Dual band monitor (VHF/UHF, VHF/VHF, UHF/UHF)
    • You can monitor two different sets of frequencies at the same time
    • The radio comes in different flavors so you can almost pick which two bands you want.
  • Selectable high/low power settings (VHF: 5W high/1W low) (UHF: 4W high/1W low)
    • You can select more time or more power
  • 13 hour battery life
  • Includes intelligent desktop 3-4 hour rapid charger
  • Loud speaker audio output (500 mW)
  • Bright flashlight illumination function
  • Meets IP55 waterproof rating
  • English female voice prompts enable non-sighted operation (can be turned off)
    • The Chinese lady scares me so I turned mine off
  • 128 memory channels (shared)
  • VOX Function
  • Digital FM radio (76-108MHz) with automatic tuning and storing, radio frequency display, 18 FM memories in 2 banks
  • Wide/narrow bandwidth selection (25 or 12.5 kHz)
  • Power on display: show battery voltage, 6-character customizable welcome message, or display test
  • Windows PC programmable, free software available for download. Optional low cost cable
    • This is the selling point for me – I found the manual programming wasn’t as bad as some reviews claimed it to be, but I liked doing it from my computer even though
    • There is some bugs in the setup and you may have to try more than once to get your radio to connect to your computer
  • The program is limited to a “legal” frequency band and not actual – meaning I can listen to the weather radio and FRMS and GRMS frequencies (among other things) but I have to put them in manually.
  • Radio to radio cloning with optional cable
  • 105 groups DCS/50 groups CTCSS
  • DTMF encoding (includes ABCD tones, continuous with button press duration)
  • CTCSS encode/Decode (no decode delay)
  • Stopwatch function
  • SOS function
  • Low-voltage voice prompt
  • Busy channel lockout
  • Selectable transmit over timer (from 15 to 600 seconds)
  • Selectable step sizes of 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, 25, 50 or 100 kHz
  • Multiple scan modes including priority scan
  • Keypad lock (auto or manual)
  • Programmable by computer or keypad
  • High contrast white backlit keypad. All keys are backlit (except A/B & TDR)

Conclusion

That’s a lot of stuff, add in that you can unlock the radio to get additional channels* and that it feels like a Kenwood (very sturdy feeling) transmits clearly and loudly and you can buy an adaptor to run a longer antenna makes it (IMHO) a very good buy.

*about that unlocking;

1. It’s most likely illegal, and I am not suggesting you break the law
2. With the advent of trunking and other digital radio advances just because you can transmit and receive on the local law enforcement channels on the Wuxun KG-UV3D or other radio does not mean you can communicate with them.

How to Make a Family Disaster Communications Plan

How to Make a Family Disaster Communications Plan

 

Communications Plan
Buy at Amazon

As an emergency manager I rely on the planning process to ensure that nothing “falls through the cracks”. One of my main worries is that my wife and I work in different counties. I travel a lot for work, and neither of us have family near our homes or our jobs.  What If a “no notice” catastrophic disaster occurs during the day. How am I going to communicate with my wife to ensure she can get home safely?

Your family may not be together when a disaster occurs.  This make a communications plan important to have. You need to know how to contact each other.

Here are Some Tips Based on Emergency Management Field Experience

  • Identify an out-of town contact.  It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
    • During the 2011 Alabama tornadoes my in-laws were not able to communicate via phone even though they all were in the same county, but since I had a Tennessee cell number, the system allowed me to call in. Every couple hours I made “health and welfare” calls to each member of my family and passed messages back an forth. This works because sometimes phone companies limit phone traffic by area code to keep from overwhelming the system.
    • Once you have identified an out of state contact, make sure everyone knows the number and has means to contact it. Older plans call for everyone having coins or a prepaid phone card, but how many pay phones have you seen lately? A better plan would be a prepaid cell with the number programed as “ICE” or in case of emergency.
    • Make sure you tell your contact they are listed as your emergency contact.
  • Teach family members how to use text messaging (also knows as SMS or Short Message Service). Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not be able to get through. This is because it takes a lot less bandwidth to send a text than it does a phone call.
  • Subscribe to alert services. Many communities now have systems that will send alerts to inform you about local issues like weather alerts and road closings. Tennessee makes great use of sites like twitter and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency website to inform the public.
  • Consider social media. As learned from recent revolts and social uprisings Facebook and other sites are great for sending sitreps (Situation Reports) but please take into consideration that others besides your family can see whatever you post.
  • The red cross has a service known as “safe and well” in this service family members that have went to a red cross shelter can register online so that individuals with personal knowledge can look up family members to see that they are “safe and well” at a shelter.
  • Consider ham radio. Amateur radio is a large part of my family’s communication plan. A license is very easy to get and costs less than $20. In a later post I will review a ham radio that costs around $100. At that price most anyone can afford to get a couple for family communication.

Make a Plan That Works for Your Situation

In closing, a plan should reflect your personal circumstances, should be specific, and realistic. An actual disaster situation may make your plan obsolete.  However, the activities required to make a plan, train your family on it, and then TEST it will make the plan invaluable in a disaster.  Best of all, a communications plan will end the “I could not get a hold of you” excuse teens love to try.