Sprouts

    Fresh vegetables can be a rarity in the event of a disaster.  When supply lines are disrupted, the foods we take for granted could be in very short supply.  Many have already set aside non-perishable food to eat when the stores are empty. However fresh vegetables may be another matter.  Thousands of folks plant a vegetable garden every year to raise their own vegetables.  Some do it as a hobby and some as a matter of necessity.  Either way the experts tell us home-grown veggies are better tasting and in most cases, better for us.  Obviously gardening is a long-term project not to be rolled out the day after a disaster with the expectation of a ready food supply.

    Recently I was reminded of a process our ancestors used, later adopted by the back-to-the land folks of the 60’s and 70’s.  Sprouts.  Sprouts have long been celebrated for their healthy properties, and more recently for their ability to treat certain kinds of cancers, high cholesterol, even arteriosclerosis and certain cardiovascular disease.  Some studies even indicate that sprouts protect us from the ongoing effects of aging.

    I was given a partial bag of lentils and a few simple instructions.  “Put two tablespoons of lentils in a quart Mason jar.  Cover with water overnight then rinse a couple of times every day.”

It has been almost a week and my sprouts are nearly filling the (wide-mouth) Mason jar.  Some sources say to cover the opening with cheese cloth or plastic mesh  to facilitate the rinsing and draining process.  I cut a piece of hardware cloth to fit inside the jar ring.  I have learned that plastic screen is preferable to metal, but the metal seems to be working at this point.  

There are several on-line sources of information as well as sprout kits available for purchase. Plenty of places on the internet offer sprout kits.  Costs run from $3.31 for a set of plastic sprouting jar lids to $55.00 or more for a full-on kit including organic seeds and full-on instruction book.   Most grocery stores offer a selection of sprouting seeds located somewhere near the produce section.  Some popular seeds include lentils, alfalfa, sunflower, mung beans, radish, clover and soybean.  Experimentation will prove your favorites, although I’m told the biggest sprouts come from the mung beans.   

So whether you are intrigued by a little science experiment in your kitchen (with benefits) or you need to get some edible greens in a short amount of time you might consider growing sprouts.  One more tool to add to your kit.  After all skills and knowledge are more important than stuff.  Stuff is good, but skills are better.

As always, send your comments, questions (and sprout hints) to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.     

The Good (and Careful) Samaritan

    Last winter a killer blizzard struck the eastern part of our nation.  The stories of heroism, survival and human kindness make me proud of mankind.  Time after time motorists stopped to lend a helping hand to someone who was stranded.  Some towed another out of a snow-filled ditch.  Others left hot coffee and sandwiches for complete strangers while they waited for the roads to clear.  

    Then there are the stories of tragic consequence as a result of insane behavior.  According to Fox News, a 26 year old man stopped to help another man whose car had spun off the road and into the ditch in the midst of the storm.  As the Good Samaritan approached the stricken vehicle and offered assistance, the driver became belligerent and ultimately pulled a gun and shot and killed the Samaritan.  

       No, I will not allow this report to deter me from stopping to help someone in distress. I realize this is an extreme, isolated case and most folks are more than happy to receive assistance.   

    The news report goes on to say that the person who had lost control was under the influence of alcohol and by the time the S.W.A.T. team arrived, they found him passed out. He is now facing a murder charge.  This is a situation all too familiar to police officers and EMS personnel.  When contact is made, the first responders never know if the person is high on drugs or booze or just having a bad day.  Possibly the person just had a serious battle with his spouse and is in a dangerously precarious state of mind.  The police are trained and equipped to handle these guys so they don’t back away..

    My advice:  If you stop to render assistance and the victim doesn’t seem “quite right.”  Back away, and call the professionals.  They may take a while to get there, but at least you’ll be alive to tell the story to your kids when you get home.

    When there is a disaster, whether a snow storm, hurricane, tornado or earthquake, there will always be victims and heroes.  The victim is trapped under debris or in a ditch, while the hero is there for the rescue.  Victims are usually dealing with a huge fear factor and every first responder and ER nurse will tell you, “scared people behave badly.”  Disasters bring out the worst AND best in people.  The tragedy is compounded when the hero is injured or killed trying to help someone.  

    We all need help from time to time and even more so when there’s a disaster.  There is a need to pull together and lend a helping hand.  There are always risks involved, listen to your gut, if it tells you something doesn’t feel right or something’s wrong, back off.  

    As always, send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Paracord

Duct tape, zip ties, WD-40 and flat black spray paint are all basics for any tool kit.  Bug-out bags have their basics as well.  Water, filter, fire-starter, extra meds, paracord… Wait, what’s paracord.  Almost any prepper worth her salt knows that there are times when things just need to be secured or you just may need a few feet of line.  More and more folks are discovering the versatility of paracord.

Originally used in the suspension lines of parachutes, it is commonly known as 550 cord or 550 paracord referring to the nominal breaking strength.  Most paracord is described as a nylon kernmantle rope which is made up of nylon strands braided around an inner core for strength.  These strands can be unravelled to make sewing thread, dental floss or even fishing line.  Also now available is “fire cord.”  One of the inner strands is made from jute and some is impregnated with a flammable accelerant.  So in time of emergency, unravel your cord, pull out the center filament and strike it with your fire starter. Bingo instant fire.  

A quick search on the internet shows paracord used in firefighters escaping the second floor of a burning building.  Another story reports an emergency snow shoe repair in arctic backcountry.  There is even a wildland firefighter replacing a melted shoelace with paracord.  So how is it all these people have their paracord so handy you ask?  Survival bracelets braided from paracord.  Just do an internet search for paracord and probably the first thing that pops up is a wide selection of survival bracelets.  Braided from twelve feet or more of paracord a survival bracelet is almost required gear for backpackers, outdoorsmen, firefighters, police officers and EMS personnel.  They come in all sorts of colors and some even have useful items integrated into the design.   Mine has a whistle and a fire striker built in to go along with the fire cord core.  Some also have a small compass and even a built in thermometer .  

The idea is if you are ever in a situation where you need a rope or heavy string, simply unravel your braided paracord bracelet and you suddenly have several feet of usable shoelace or rescue rope or even firestarter.  And the designs aren’t just limited to bracelets.  How about a key fob or lanyard or rifle sling?  All these and more are available for purchase online, but if you’re a do-it-yourselfer you can make your own.  Even Wal-mart sells a kit with all the starter supplies and a step-by-step instruction book.  Bulk paracord is easily available and can be used to hoist your food supplies off the ground when camping, securing your tent if the regular tent ropes aren’t up to the task or if you’re really in a survival situation, making a snare to catch something to eat.

Bracelets come in all kinds of themes. All branches of the military are represented along with most colleges (yes I even found one to celebrate the University of Oregon Ducks).   They come in camo, pink camo, and every conceivable color combination you can imagine.  So now you have one more item to add to your get-home/bug out bag.  Paracord.  Not expensive, but priceless if you need it.

As always send your comments and questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.   

Mini Storm, Major Damage

As far as storms go, it didn’t last long.  Maybe twenty minutes.  But the intensity made up for the lack of duration.  Preceded by thunder and lightning then followed up by a blast of high wind and then a deluge of rainfall that dropped a bunch of rain in a very short period of time.  

Hundreds of trees in our region went down and in the process the electricity went out.  Over 13,000 customers just in the local area alone were without power.  Roofs blew off, trees fell across houses, roads and fences and the only grocery store in our city closed its doors.  With no electricity the gas stations closed and those with their tank on “E” simply had no recourse.

At my house, we retrieved the Coleman stove, broke out the cast iron cookware and made breakfast.  Camping in became the order of the day with Yahtzee replacing wi-fi fueled electronics.  And reading actual books helped pass the time instead of watching TV.

Later in the day the generator provided energy for the fridge.  My wife even vacuumed the living room carpet, thanks to the generator.  A craving for snacks, and I hooked up the microwave and the odor of popcorn soon wafted throughout the house.  Propane lanterns provided light (and some warmth) until bedtime.  

There is a certain segment of the population who doesn’t plan or prepare.  These folks go to the grocery store nearly every day to wander the aisles and decide what to have for dinner.  Here’s a money-saving tip:  Plan for a week in advance, then go shopping on Sunday afternoon and get what what you’re going to need.  Not only will you save big bucks, but if for some reason the store is closed, you can smugly prepare your meal with no worries. And here’s another:  When your gas tank hits the “half” mark, fill up.  It costs no more to drive on the upper half of the tank than the lower half.  Then when you get that call at 2:00 AM that your rich aunt is in the hospital a hundred miles away, you’ve got the means to get there if all the gas stations are closed.   

Now about power failures:  Call your power company to report the outage. I have always been of the opinion they know the electricity is out and my call is only going to add to their workload.  Not so, electric companies want to know where you are and exactly when your power failed.  It may show a pattern that helps  track the problem and assist in a strategy to get the lights back on.  And remember, do not call 911 to find out when the power is coming back.  Your power outage is not an emergency and all you’re doing is clogging up the emergency dispatch lines.  If you need to know when the electricity will be restored, call your power company.  They usually have a recorded message with the appropriate information.  

The lesson here is DO SOMETHING to prepare!  If a 20 minute wind storm can cause this much havoc and disrupt our lives like this, can you imagine what a major earthquake would do?  Now is the time to lay in some extra non-perishable food items, a case or two of bottled water, some batteries, a box of candles...well you get the idea.  After something happens is way too late to prepare.

As always, send your comments and questions to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  

Run, Hide, Fight

    I find it curious how our definitions change.  Disasters come in all different shapes.  Ordinarily we think of tornadoes, blizzards, house fires, or earthquakes.  Recently we have been forced to add another category:  Man-made disasters.  In recent memory it was attacks by terrorists on our military installations and naval vessels.  Now it has come to include active shooters in schools, malls, theaters, workplaces and even churches.  

    The odds are still astronomical that you will ever be involved in one of those situations.  But with a school shooting at a nearby community college and now a company Christmas party it seems someone is turning up the volume, so to speak, on man-made disasters.  With the worldwide political climate being what it is experts aren’t seeing a decrease in violence any time soon. At least one college president (Liberty University) is calling for students to get their permits and carry concealed.  County Sheriffs all across the nation are urging responsible citizens to do the same.  “The only thing that stops a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun!”

    So put yourself in this scenario.  You’re in a building and hear shots fired.  Most of us have trouble dealing with that because we just can’t believe it’s happening.  Our normalcy bias kicks in and tells us since we’ve never been involved in anything like this, it’s probably just a backfire, someone dropped a stack of books or some other innocuous loud bang.  By the time most people come to grips with what is actually happening they have lost precious time they could have used to better their situation.  

The City of Houston, Texas, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security has produced a video designed to offer a plan for what to do if a shooter “goes active” in your space.  “Run, Hide, Fight,”  is a six-minute video offering advice you hope you never have to use.  

    Most shootings are over within minutes, and by the time the police arrive the shooting has stopped.  It is in those first few minutes the action you take may save your life or the lives of others.

Run.  Get out of the there!  Leave your purse, your cell phone and anything else you think is so important.  Go out the back door.  Get others to leave with you, but without wasting time convincing them to do so.  I don’t mean to sound selfish here, but this is YOUR life at stake.  Get out and get away.  And try to not look like a perpetrator.  There just may be police or security personnel out there and if your hands are raised and you’re crouching, that may score some points for your non-perp-ness.

Hide.  Sometimes you can’t get away.  The shooter is between you and the exit.  If it’s an office or class room, barricade the door, hide in a closet, under a desk or table.  Get out of the line of sight of someone looking to find you.  And don’t forget to silence your phone!

Fight. As a LAST resort!  This is the one that seems to raise the most controversy.  If a shooter is bent on taking lives, there is no sense in just letting him have his way.  Don’t just stand there waiting to be another statistic.  If multiple people rush a shooter, he can’t get all of you.  Grab something to use as a weapon and when he enters the room, take him out!

    I really hope none of us ever need this information.  But decide right now to do something if that moment ever comes.  A little “preparedness” may come in handy and just might keep you alive.

    As always send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.  Dave Robinson is the Postmaster in Bandon, Oregon, and the author of “Disaster Prep For The Rest Of Us.”

goTenna Part 4

    So wouldn’t you just know it?  The day after I wrote the previous column about how I hadn’t yet received my goTennas, guess what showed up in the mail.  You guessed it!  My pair of long awaited, pre-ordered goTennas.  

    If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, check last week’s column or go to www.goTenna.com.  This is the new device which enables smartphone users to send and receive text messages when there is no cell phone service.  Whether you are out in the hills away from a service area, or there is a cell phone outage, you can still communicate by secure text message.  

    The pair of devices arrive in a cleverly designed, no nonsense box  Included are two goTennas and two USB cables for charging.  The company claims the unit will operate for 24 hours on a full charge.  The units are identical except for the different colored ½ inch web straps affixed to the back of the unit.  One reviewer stated they were about the size of a Snickers bar.  Not any Snicker’s bar I’ve ever seen.  If you must compare it to a candy bar, I’d say it’s more like a rectangular Tootsie Roll.  Measuring 5 ¾ inches long with the antenna retracted.  Extending the antenna (total length 8 ⅛”) turns the unit on.  A single blinking LED signals power-on and successful Bluetooth pairing and readiness.  

    Setup requires going to Google Play for Android users and the App Store for iPhone customers.  Simply download the app, follow the simple instructions and you’re ready to proceed.  Included in the app is a high-quality map, similar to Google maps.  Your position is pinpointed as is your companion’s. The menu offers choices for a “Shout Chat” (, “Group Chat” or a “1-to-1 Chat.”  So far I have only tried the 1-to-1 function.  My companion was located about ¾ mile away (the device gives you distance information as well).  We had almost a clear line of sight and were able to communicate with no problems.  I was on a hill and he was in the valley, seated in his car.  We did note that it worked better when placed the goTenna on the roof of his car, rather than inside.   We tried later with a hill between us at approximately the same distance;.  No contact.  

    Even with that, I’m still impressed with the goTenna.  It is lightweight, compact, seemingly rugged and fills a niche no other product can touch.  The app is simple and straightforward, with no bugs.  At least none that I’ve found.  I do wish it had more “horsepower” but I have a feeling that will come in time.  Most electronic devices these days seem to increase in power and capability as time goes on.  Even as it is, I highly recommend the goTenna.  It will make a great Christmas gift for your outdoorsman or prepper.

    On a different note.  We were again saddened and shocked this week by yet another active shooter incident.  There is a training video produced by the City of Houston Mayor’s Office and Department of Homeland Security.  The title of the video is “Run, Hide, Fight.”  So many times during a shooting incident, the victims simply stand idly waiting their turn to become a statistic.  This six minute video gives good advice on what to if an active shooter invades your world.  This video will save lives!  Just go to www.youtube.com and enter “Run, Hide, Fight.”  Great advice you hope you will never need.     As always send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.   Dave Robinson is the Postmaster in Bandon, Oregon,  and the author of “Disaster Prep For The Rest Of Us.”

goTenna Update

    Every disaster planner knows the importance of reliable communications when something goes wrong.  Which phone lines are secure?  Which radio frequencies need to be set aside for fire, police, and EMS?  What if everything goes down?  What if your cell phone no longer works?

Enter the goTenna. I wrote about this product a few months back while it was still in the development and government red-tape stage.  The goTenna was invented by a lady on the East Coast that lived through Superstorm Sandy three years ago and lost all communications. Vowing to never experience a total communication blackout again, she developed the goTenna. This device pairs with your smartphone through bluetooth technology and enables you to send secure text messages to another goTenna holder.  

Think about it, if there is no cell phone coverage, you may need to connect with your kids who are still in school.  Do they stay put?  Are you on your way to get them?  Should they head home?  Or how about this:  You are hiking or hunting with your companions.  Suddenly you realize you are separated from your group.  No problem, just give ‘em a call on your cell phone.  Oops, no coverage out here in the hills.  That’s when you pull out your goTenna and establish contact with your friends.  One feature of this little device is that it includes a topographical map that displays the exact location of your hunting partner on your phone.  Likewise, his phone also shows your location.  When in range you simply text back and forth and the day is saved.  

Initial claims of 50-mile effective range have been adjusted to a more realistic 1-5 miles (maybe slightly more) based on terrain and conditions. According to the photos on their website, the goTenna seems to be about the same size and shape as the toothbrush holder I carry in my shaving kit.  Naturally they are rechargeable and easily slide into your backpack or Get-Home bag.  You might argue that similar technology is already available with products such as the Garmin Rhino GPS radio.  This is true, but a Garmin Rhino, fully equipped will cost up to $450.00 per unit.  Besides the communication is in no way secure.

One popular feature is that your messages are encrypted.  When the cell towers are bypassed, there is minimal opportunity for eavesdropping.  Also you can opt for a “message destruction” feature that is also secure.  All of this means something to the folks that are concerned about the security of their messages even if you are in an area that has cell service.  Not only will this product work when you are out in the hills, but in the concrete jungle as well when you want to keep your messages private.

I was given a pair for Christmas last year.  Only problem is I haven’t received them yet as they have been undergoing final testing and bureaucratic approval for the past several months.  Some friends of mine have reported they now have received theirs, so mine should be in the mail any day now.   This might just be the solution to your Christmas  shopping for that hunter/outdoorsman/prepper that already has everything.

When mine arrive, I’ll write a review on how well they perform.  Until then send your questions and comments to disasterprep.dave@gmail.com.   Dave Robinson is the Postmaster in Bandon, Oregon, and the author of “Disaster Prep For The Rest Of Us.”