{"id":3673,"date":"2011-03-13T23:59:03","date_gmt":"2011-03-14T06:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bspcn.com\/?p=3673"},"modified":"2011-03-14T00:05:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-14T07:05:48","slug":"how-to-survive-the-apocalypse-on-20-and-the-stuff-in-your-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/13\/how-to-survive-the-apocalypse-on-20-and-the-stuff-in-your-apartment\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Survive The Apocalypse on $20 and the stuff in your apartment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by\u00a0Tom Price<\/a><\/p>\n

This is your prep list for the How To Survive The Apocalypse..for just 72 hours. Our goal is just to get you to First Base—a grab and go kit that will take care of you for the first three days. Why do all earthquake prep kits say to plan for that amount of time? Think about it like this: even without an earthquake, if RIGHT NOW the National Guard was ordered to assemble materials and deliver food\/medicine\/water\/health care to the City of San Francisco, it would take them AT LEAST three days to get that together. It just takes time to pull out the stuff, load the trucks, decide where to go, get set up, etc etc. And in an earthquake of any size, likely SFO, OAK, and the Bay Bridge will be out of operation. And the electrical grid. Oh, and fires\u2014you get the idea. But after three days things will start to sort themselves out.<\/p>\n

So, don\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s not the end all be all; it\u2019s not supposed to be. But it will be a strong foundation. And has been learned from countless disasters, planned and unplanned ( ie: Hurricane Katrina, Burning Man), those people who have done even the tiniest bit of preparation are SO much better prepared mentally to deal with what\u2019s happening. Once you have even a basic kit together, you\u2019ll find yourself adding to it, and mentally patting it ( like checking for your wallet ) anytime you get a twinge of anxiety. Trust me, it\u2019s a good feeling to have. In three days, you\u2019ll be able to stay warm, dry, clean, and focused, and help build the communities of people taking care of each other, which are so key to survival. Because really, it\u2019s going to be people who just step up, not the people who are \u201csupposed\u201d to be in charge, who\u2019re really going to make the difference.<\/p>\n

As an aside, you may enjoy reading Rebecca Solnit\u2019s phenomenal new book, \u201cA Paradise Made In Hell: the extraordinary communities that arise in disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT:<\/p>\n

Again, let\u2019s focus: you can save your ass for just $20, and the stuff already in your house. Don\u2019t believe me? Try this: Go through item by item, and put all this stuff in a pile. Then, put it in a backpack. Turns out, you already have almost everything you need squirreled away somewhere. For about $20, you\u2019ll be able to get all the key items that you don\u2019t already have. Put it together, keep it in the hall closet or someplace near your way out the door. Done. There, doesn\u2019t that feel better?<\/p>\n

MOST IMPORTANT THING:<\/p>\n

A $3 backpack from Goodwill. Because once you have one of these, everything else just falls into it. Seriously, it\u2019s like some kind of energetic law of nature\u2014when the vessel arrives, so does the water.<\/p>\n

SHELTER, TOOLS, SUPPLIES<\/p>\n

Backpack (school size)<\/p>\n

Space Blanket<\/p>\n

Tarp<\/p>\n

20\u2019 String or Rope<\/p>\n

Ski Hat<\/p>\n

Flashlight\u2014preferably wind up, or an LED one<\/p>\n

Matches<\/p>\n

Lighter<\/p>\n

Metal pan to boil water\/cook in<\/p>\n

Plastic plate<\/p>\n

Coffee mug<\/p>\n

Spoon\/fork<\/p>\n

Pocket knife<\/p>\n

Battery-operated or wind up radio<\/p>\n

can opener<\/p>\n

zip ties<\/p>\n

duct tape<\/p>\n

deck of cards<\/p>\n

FOOD:<\/p>\n

We\u2019re aiming for 2,000 calories per person, per day, and it has to be in a form that will keep for a long time. Familiar foods are important, so use this as a rule of thumb, not something set in stone.<\/p>\n

Can opener<\/p>\n

Cans of tuna<\/p>\n

Canned fruit<\/p>\n

Cans of soup<\/p>\n

Dehydrated meals<\/p>\n

Macaroni and Cheese<\/p>\n

Energy Bars<\/p>\n

Energy Gels<\/p>\n

Packets of Instant Coffee (6)<\/p>\n

Emergen-c<\/p>\n

Chewing gum<\/p>\n

Packets of salt and pepper<\/p>\n

Cans of Sterno\u2014REI has them, as to all hardware stores<\/p>\n

Three feet aluminum foil<\/p>\n

Water:<\/p>\n

This one is surprisingly easy. Put a single two liter bottle of water in your backpack\u2014that\u2019s it. Here\u2019s a secret: every single house and apartment in SF comes with a built in 30-gallon supply of water, earthquake proofed. It\u2019s called your hot water heater, and each has a little tap to get at that clean, filtered H20 right on the bottom. Each is also required to be anchored to the wall, so it\u2019s unlikely to be damaged in a quake.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another secret tip\u2014ever see a circle of bricks in SF in the street, and wonder what it\u2019s for? They were put in after the 1906 quake and fire\u2014they\u2019re underground cisterns, full of water; enjoy.<\/p>\n

COMMUNICATION:<\/p>\n

FRS radio, with batteries. You\u2019d be surprised how many have them\u2014and how handy they\u2019ll be when your iPhone doesn\u2019t work. Make a plan with your friends NOW about what channel to use Whistle Sharpies\u2014use to write on the outside of the place you live a note to friends\/loved ones, saying WHEN you went and WHERE.<\/p>\n

FIRST AID\/SANITATION<\/p>\n

Here are general basics to get you started. Split up loose items into ziplock baggies. Include any medicines you use, and a few spare pair of contact lenses.<\/p>\n

Band Aids-all sizes.<\/p>\n

Adhesive Tape, a couple feet<\/p>\n

Gauze Pads<\/p>\n

Triangular Bandage, Non-Sterile<\/p>\n

Antacid, Calcium Carbonate<\/p>\n

Ibuprofen (200 mg), Pkg.\/2<\/p>\n

Acetaminophen (500 mg), Pkg.\/2<\/p>\n

Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25 mg)<\/p>\n

Aspirin (325 mg), Pkg.\/2<\/p>\n

Cold Medicine Pkg.\/2<\/p>\n

After Bite\u00ae Sting and Itch Relief Wipe<\/p>\n

Anti-diarrhea medication<\/p>\n

Laxative<\/p>\n

Iodine<\/p>\n

Germicidal hand wipes or waterless alcohol-based hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n

Hydrocortizone Ointment<\/p>\n

CPR Barrier, Shield<\/p>\n

Surgical Gloves<\/p>\n

Magnifier<\/p>\n

Tweezer<\/p>\n

Safety Pins, #2<\/p>\n

Thermometer<\/p>\n

1 tube of superglue\u2014superglue was designed as a first aid tool; just dump it in any small cut, smoosh closed,<\/p>\n

and done.<\/p>\n

Sanitation:<\/p>\n

Toilet paper roll<\/p>\n

toothbrush\/toothpaste<\/p>\n

Plastic garbage bags, ties (for personal sanitation uses)<\/p>\n

Trowel<\/p>\n

Household chlorine bleach<\/p>\n

Soap, Shampoo (you know all those samples you keep picking up and bringing home from hotels? Now is the<\/p>\n

time to clear out your stash).<\/p>\n

Bandana<\/p>\n

CLOTHING AND BEDDING:<\/p>\n

Grab your sleeping bag and pad from your camping gear\u2014when you go camping, get it FROM your disaster kit, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

Next, go find that lame tshirt you don\u2019t like wearing, and a thin jacket, and a pair of undies, and some socks, and put it in there. Shazam: you now have a clean change of clothes. Do the same for your partner\/kids.<\/p>\n

Advanced Class<\/p>\n

Now that you have all that sorted, here\u2019s a few extra items to consider. We keep a 5 gallon can of fuel stashed outside our house\u2014that\u2019s enough to give us 100 miles of range. Also, since we\u2019re burners, we have a 1000W Honda Wisperwatt generator outside\u2014cause what good is a disaster without a string of Christmas lights and some beats? We also put out a chainsaw, because you don\u2019t want to go through a 2×4 with a hand tool. And we<\/p>\n

also have a full disaster kit in the trunk of our car, because just looking at the odds, we\u2019re equally likely to be away from home as at home.<\/p>\n

But all that comes later. First things first\u2014go to Goodwill on your way home. Get a big packpack, and start packing.<\/p>\n

See you at the afterparty!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by\u00a0Tom Price This is your prep list for the How To Survive The Apocalypse..for just 72 hours. Our goal is just to get you to First Base—a grab and go kit that will take care of you for the first three days. Why do all earthquake prep kits say to plan for that amount […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3673"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3673"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3675,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3673\/revisions\/3675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}