As this site is offering alternative views to the regular every day scenarios it will continue with a section on survival. It is not a know all section, more of a prompt for those that might believe the government will always care for us.

Ok so if you came across the acronyms TEOTWAWKI , TSHHTF, MZB would you know what they meant? If you have given even a passing thought to these acronyms then you will have given thought to survival. So what is survival and do we actually want to survive any of the above acronyms?

For those that don’t know what these stand for they are as follows:

TEOTWAWKI stands for The End Of The World As We Know It.

TSHHTF stands for The Shit Has Hit The Fan

MZB stands for Mutant Zombie Bikers

So there has been a catastrophic melt down in the way we live. This melt down isn't’t a speeding ticket on the way to Tesco’s or a missed hair appointment etc it’s the full-blown end of society, as we know it. No government, no health service, no power, no infrastructure and possibly no life left on earth except for a few pockets of people who have “survived”.

So to help here is a scenario for you to think about.

You wake up in the morning and open the curtains. No noise in the streets, no birds singing. You go downstairs and flick the kettle switch on and then the radio. You notice that there is no sound from the radio but it’s a wind up radio and can’t be bothered to wind it up so you’ll just forget the news as it’s always depressing anyway.

The toaster isn’t working and the kettle still hasn't boiled so you go to the main circuit board in your house but the electric trip switch hasn't tripped. Ok so it’s a power cut. You decide to get something for breakfast on the way to work. You wash, dress and leave for work. The car won’t start. Great you think. Then you see no one else in the street, which is usually busy at 6.30 in the morning as you glance at your watch.

Where is everyone?

So you walk to get the bus to the tube station, smelly horrible busses where you have to actually spend time with grotty environmental people or the poor who can’t afford the new £150,000 sports saloon you can as a banker…

No buses running…. Why?

No people around …Why?

No shops are open…Why?

You glance at your watch and it says 6.30 am but it was 6.30 last time you looked at your watch and it is usually dark at 6.30 am. Confused, scared, worried, you should be as there was a multi point nuclear explosion and EMP blast at 6.30 am which knocked out all electronics. At the same time there has been a virus released into the atmosphere and virtually everyone is dead bar the few that have "survived". The real time would have been near 11 am and you had overslept.

What would you do?

Survival can be an emotive word and if TEOTWAWKI arrives then there could be a compelling argument to have a good party and kiss your arse goodbye.

For others it could be the start of then having more power or freedom to run rampage over the country all Ramboesque. I don't know what category you will fall in but what I do know is that the government have issued guidance for what people should do "in case of an unforeseen incident".

So what should you do?

Firstly do a lot of web searches on the subject as you will get far more in depth information than you will on this site.

For me, in the immediate future, I will be continuing stockpiling supplies, Securing the house, sourcing alternative fuel supplies for cooking and heating, looking for alternative modes of transport and preparing an action plan for a number of scenarios.

Also when we say stockpile we mean we would keep a reserve of food, water and essential supplies that would last our household for 6 months in the first instance. At present people probably have enough for a couple of days, certainly if the electricity supply went down. The government have publicly said everyone should hold enough stock for at least 3 weeks so if they are saying this then what are they NOT telling us?

So, with that in mind what would you keep in the house or lock up for an emergency which could be anything from a power cut for a few hours to a major terrorist strike on the countries infrastructure or a general strike against a countries economic policies etc?

Staples such as :
Water.

how much water does the average person require per day? if you don't know then you need to find out your personal requirements but as a very minimum you will be needing around 125lt per day per person if you are an average user now. 

I keep a minimum of 250 lts per person of fresh tap water, [changed every 6 months] that I expect to be in my house at any time which with rationing will last at least 1 month per person. I also have a 6500 lts pond in the garden and I harvest rainwater, currently these barrels hold 1600 lts... what do you do?

Tinned / sealed jar food [ including some food for your pets if you have any]
pulses
rice
grains

Small amount of flour, about 10 kg but the rest should be in grain form.

Dried foods such as rat packs or outdoor expedition foods. These will provide all the calories you need, are small and easy to use even if cold.
water purification system
waterproof matches
ordinary household matches
wind up torches
wind up lanterns
Batteries
Alternative means of cooking like hexe burners, storm kettles, camping stoves.
wind up radio
reading books
ipod

outdoor cooking pots,

wood in both small sticks and larger log pieces.

If you have the money then it could be wise to invest in a solar panel and a few bits of extra equipment in order to help you have a [limited] supply of electricity
First aid kit inc,
Bandages, Plasters, safety pins,

various dressings,

sanitizer liquids,

tuff cut scissors,

Sterilising equipment,

Sterile water,

Latex free gloves

Burns kit,

resus kit,
dental kit.

You can go further and know your blood type and the blood type of the people who you think will be with you in an end of society situation.

The list of items you need and what you might like to have differ a lot but it's worth looking at these individual headings and make your own kit up having researched what you think you need and above all what you are trained to or are comfortable in using.

If you have an outdoor space then have a stack of bricks, about 16 - 20 will do. You can make a very effective cooker just by stacking bricks on top of each other. There are many different designs for making a "rocket stove" but in times of need it is easy to find a couple dozen bricks. In a garden set up you can also make an fire pit from digging out earth. If you have the space, money, time and ability you could build a wood fired oven and in the building you could incorporate a series of pipes that will hold water. This will heat up when the oven is on and thus you have a form of hot water and also a secondary supply of heating.

BoB's

Also known as Bug out Bags.

Of course, in general the safest place to be in an emergency is your home but there may be the occasion when you are away from home, cannot return to your home or even need to evacuate the home. you still need to survive and if you do not prepare for these events then you will suffer even if you are directed to go to a government "shelter".

So what is in a bug out bag ?

Generally at a minimum it's what you will need to survive for 72 hours without any help from outside agencies. 72 hours is based on the time it may take for organisations such as the red cross to get to an area to start helping out.

As a basic starter you will need :

At least 2lts of bottled water.

Water purification tablets

Food for 3 days in the form of high calorie MRE ( meals ready to eat).

First aid kit.

Change of clothes including changes of underwear.

Change of footwear including stout walking boots.

Maps of your local area (and be able to read them).

A compass.

Fire lighting equipment and the knowledge of how to make fire in the wild.

Shelter, which could be as simple as a sheet of plastic and some string all the way up to a full on family 4 season tent.

A multi tool such as those made by Gerber.

All of this is put in a strong lightweight back pack and left in a safe place that you can grab and leave without thinking about it. There should be one for each person but bare in mind that you have to carry this on your back for what may be 20 miles or more

Some people also have BoB's in each vehicle they have access to because you can never be sure to be at home if an emergency strikes. For a bit of fun here is an american you tube version of a BOB.

Carry a Day Sack.             .

A general description of a day sack is something you might carry on a daily basis and it's contents would be of use in given circumstances that "may occur" any given day. You need to give thought to the items that you might feel useful in context with current legislation and be thoughtful of what or how a curious police officer might interpret the contents of your bag.

For example, I carry a first aid kit with me all the time in my bag. In that FAK is a pair of fast cut shears and a seat belt cutter / windscreen hammer. Both of which could be offensive weapons but in a car smash the fast cut shears can cut away clothing fast in order for me to stop arterial bleeding and the seat belt cutter can be used to help extricate a car user if the car is on fire to name but two uses.

I also carry 50ft of para cord which can be used as a make shift ladder but also as something to tie up a person so due care needs to be given to what you put in your day sack. I carry a couple of chocolate bars, a small wind up torch, a few quid in change, a £2 telephone card and two mobiles each on a different network because if both networks are down then you know you are in real trouble.

There is a great deal more to this subject than I can do justice to but I hope this serves as a prompt to get you to ask yourself what if?

Coming soon..... Stormwick candles. Will stay alight in all but the most severest of winds.

Also packs of wax, wicks and instructions to make your own. Email me for information.