View Full Version : Disaster Preparedness / Self Reliance
I've been thinking alot about disaster preparedness since Katrina hit.
Do you all feel that you are better prepared to take care of yourself in an emergency because of being a backpacker?
I don't think I am wording what I am asking well....
If something on a Katrina type scale were to hit your home - do you think your knowledge of tents and tarps, safe water, quickie foods, hypo/hypertherma, DIY gear, et cetera would help you better weather the disaster?
I have discovered that I am not a very self-reliant person. And yet even just through my reading/studying of backpacking/backwoods skills I am feeling more empowered that I could in fact take care of myself.
I am hoping that as I do more backpacking that this sense of self reliance continues to grow - its a positive change in me.
Everybody should fend for themselves!!
That's what insurance is for!
Now that all the rain is occurring in NE, I suppose the government will have to dole out more money!
By the way, while we are at it, do away with the federal government all except the military.
"By the way, while we are at it, do away with the federal government all except the military"
Yeah, that would be great, we could be like El Salvador in the 1980"s!
Just Jeff
10-14-2005, 23:30
I'd be interested to see what kind of foreign policy California would come up with. Interested to see it from another state, but still interested nonetheless...
Yeah, I think a lot of backpacking skills would help us in a situation like that. Just like Sgt Rock's post about the alcohol stoves in Guatemala.
Yea, I think I'm better prepared that "Normal" people. Partly because I'm used to going long periods without: electricity, running water, a car, etc. and partly cause I have used trash to make a stove, I have slept under a thin nylon tarp in a thunderstorm, etc.
I hope I never find out for sure tho. :eek:
Doctari
having just gone through rita, i can say being a backpacker definitely helped me and my family... even my 10 year old can cook on an alcohol stove! we had something to cook on for a couple weeks if we'd needed to, between my alkie and gas stoves, bbq grill, and gas grill... when it got too hot, i was the envy of the neighborhood in my hammock... one daughter slept out with me in a homemade speer-type, but we got power back the night we were all going to sleep out (wife and daughter #2 in a tent). my numerous flashlights were also a hit, especially my headlamp, which reminded one daughter of a cartoon character from some kid's show, a mole who was also a miner... so now it's my mole light... had plenty of powdered milk on hand too, since i sometimes mix it in my lipton noodles, and i'd just recently bought another box... had plenty of batteries already on hand. also had water purification drops and a couple extra water bottles and bladders (though i did fill a couple large barrels and kept them in the garage, in case we needed them). we didn't have to buy much to get ready...still, despite only getting hit with a cat 2 hurricane (by the time it got this far inland), i'd not recommend riding it out, and will evac if there's a next time... that's the best solution, to not get in the situation in the first place...
smokymtnsteve
10-15-2005, 00:30
what is the big deal about going without electricity,running water, or a car.
I have spent a winter in AK with temps down to 38 below F without any of the above.
electricity runs the ac that makes life tolerable this far south. running water is needed because we don't have wells. and even people with wells around here still need it to run the pumps that draw said water. the water helps you flush your toilet, which you have to have because you can't just take a dump in your back yard. a car and the gasoline that it burns are needed to get you to your job, which pays the bills for the above... sort of a vicious circle, and one i plan to break when i retire (to the country, of course).
electricity also makes it possible to stay up until 11.50 pm, posting stuff to a forum on a computer under artificial light...
smokymtnsteve
10-15-2005, 00:56
I didn't have a well eithier ..I melted snow by the woodstove.
we had a outhouse but all the **** was frozen.
I used a dog team to go five miles to the Public library to post and to pick up the mail.
and as to artifical sunshine ...why I had a propane latern, and a LED headlight, but only 3 and a half hours of real sun shine everyday.
when i was a kid, my parents had a camp up in the adirondacks like that... great place... well with a pump, a 2-seater outhouse, and no electricity... we used propane at night for light for a couple hours, or candles... in spring and fall, we used the big woodstove for heat, which also heated the large rocks we put at the foot of our beds when we went to sleep... in the middle of winter, if we went up there at all, we closed off the kitchen with plastic sheeting during the day, and the wood burning cookstove really heated the room up... mom grew up using one, and showed me how to do it, but i was never as good as she was getting the thing to do what i wanted it to... we used to fill the wheelbarrow with water from the creek and leave it out in the sun all day, for baths... good times...
still like my gas, electric, running water, and sewer to work though... even if i can live without them..
Kerosene
10-15-2005, 06:08
My family is most definitely better prepared to survive a natural disaster, Y2K, power outage, et al, than the vast majority of people in the area. Over the years I've accumulated a large variety of gear that would keep us warm, dry, sheltered, and fed. The hardest challenge would be access to water, but there is a small creek about 2 miles away.
april2006
10-15-2005, 06:26
My mom and I were talking about the possibility for a disaster here and what our family would do. I told her about my backpacking stuff and how I was going to keep it all in one place in case I would need it for survival. It seemed to ease her mind a bit. Of course, I think here in WV (at least the rural area I live in) we would be more prepared just because of the culture. Even if you're not a backpacker, almost everyone I know knows about hypothermia and how to stay warm, that kind of thing because they hunt and are in the woods for extended periods of time for that. Plus, since we're so far from everything, almost everyone has transportation. I felt so bad for those people in the cities who had no way to get out.
Hammock Hanger
10-15-2005, 07:37
When hurricane season is in full swing we have our backpacks filled, or food box full and it all sits waiting in our kayaks should the need arise. With hammocks, kayaks, the supplies to live in the woods and the knowledge of how to do so I know you will not find us living in a crowded shelter should a disaster happen.
Even though we are prepared I'm not looking forward to a Katrina or Rita in my area.
hmm...if something on the scale of Katrina where to hit where I live or my town..I would have one option and one option only...get outta town whilst you still can. No one can weather a category five hurricane. Of course..having the essentials packed up and ready to go would help. But my gear is usally not packed up..I pack before a trip.
One advantage a backpacker may have... he already has water filtration or treatment ready to go!
The best way to prepare: 1) Don't live on the immediate Gulf Coast or Southeast coast(hurricanes), 2) don't live on an active earthquake zone (california?), 3) don't live where they have fires on a regular basis, and for god sakes, don't live in a flood plane!!! It is just like when you are out backpacking, you do not have to set your tent up in a trench or gully! guess where water loves to go...down hill!
Oh and on the subject..I will take a New England winter over a Florida. Louisana or Texas summer any day of the week. I have experienced a Florida summer once (that's enough!) but have never been to Louisiana or Texas (nor do I intend to!)
David
stickman
10-15-2005, 08:57
Aside from having some supplies and equipment, backpackers also have an attitude of self reliance that may be somewhat lacking in the general population. You know that you have to take care of yourself and can't or shouldn't be dependent on others for basic survival. that attitude alone is a big advantage, IMO.
Stickman
TJ aka Teej
10-15-2005, 10:17
One advantage a backpacker may have... he already has water filtration or treatment ready to go!True, but not many (any?) backpacking filters could handle the chemicals and petro-pollutants an urban flood can cause.
I think the some of things that might set backpackers apart from other victims are experience, health, gear and supplies, and finances. Most backpackers have experienced many an "oh *****!" situation and improvised their way out. With all my gear and supplies, I doubt my sister-in-law could feed and shelter her four kids for more than a few days, if she could figure out the stove and filter, and then only in fair weather. My next door neighbor can't walk or even get in his chair by himself, so no way he'd be able to self evacuate. (He has a generator, and called us to see if we were OK the last time we lost power) Many of the families who have kids on my basketball team are extremely poor. It'd be impossible for some of them to purchase "extra" canned goods, toilet paper, flashlights, medications, clothes, and whatnot to set aside for an emergency.
Count your blessings, my friends!