Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
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Sangamon
County Rifle Association Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights Springfield, Illinois |
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 Disaster Preparedness
Phil Davis SCRA Meeting, September 5, 2005
October 2005 GunNews
Davis said he has been out overnight in twenty-five degree weather and slept with a poncho and a couple of space blankets which he says you can rig up with duct tape or parachute cord. Next he pulled out a tiny portable stove and extra stove fuel to use for heating water or food. Then some flares. He said the flares will go up to about 1000 feet and burn for about 90 seconds. If you're out wandering around and people are looking for you they will look where those flares came from. He carries a good quality compass which he said you can buy for less than twenty dollars. Davis said you always want to know where you are at and where you are headed so he always keeps a road atlas in his bag. Mosquito spray is an absolute necessity because Illinois does have west nile virus. He said to carry extra bottles with enough of your medications for 4 or 5 days. If you are diabetic make sure you have your insulin and a way to keep it cool. There is a product on the market called Pop and Break that has ammonium nitrate and water in it that will keep things cool for a time. Also carry lip balm and antibiotics. For comfort purposes carry a change of clothes. Davis carries a pair of cotton coveralls, two clean t-shirts, two clean pairs of underwear and two clean pairs of socks. Davis said if you can change into a clean dry pair of socks you will certainly feel much better. Also for warmth a poly propolene shirt. However, if you wear it, wear it next to your skin and not over a t-shirt because the t-shirt will build up with sweat. Food can be anything. Some can be canned food. Davis pulled out chicken soup and canned corn. Also bring along a few small plastic ziplock bags in case you don't eat it all. He pulled out bags of ready to eat rice, a dollar a piece at the store. You can just tear it open and eat it. Davis said a little bit of comfort goes a long way. Also If you are walking all night and are cold and shivering, a cup of hot chocolate will make your world feel a lot better. Davis says they put coffee in MREs because most folks will rebel if they don't have caffeine but, hot chocolate is a comfort food, it makes you feel better. Other things you can put in your food pack are packets of instant oatmeal, cream of rice, cream of wheat, all that stuff. Davis said with what he has in his survival pack and what he has in his van, he could make it on foot from where he works in Springfield to his home in Girard in three days. The average human being needs one liter of water if they are not moving very far. If they are on the move it takes two to three liters. In hot arid climates, it takes a gallon a day. Davis said with what he would be carrying he would have to find water at least twice if it takes him three days to reach his home. Davis said water is very heavy to carry so he carries purification tablets rather than water. Water weighs a little over eight pounds per gallon. Davis said people often ask "If you're going to be out for three days why don't you just carry 4 1/2 gallons of water?" Davis says his survival bag weighs less than 25 pounds. Is he also going to carry thirty-two pounds of water? No. He said he will find it and he will purify it. Davis said he calls his survival kit his "gettin home bag." He has another one like it at home that just sits in the corner of the van when they go on vacation. It has washable diapers and medication for his son. It has everything Phil and his wife needs, clothes for all of them, twice as much food and, dried formula for his son who requires special liquids. For self defense, Davis hands his wife his fanny pack and he grabs something a little larger and black with a bigger round magazine if he is going to be on the move somewhere. Davis said even the Red Cross will tell you that for the first seventy-two hours after any catastrophe on a large scale such as an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, etc., you're on your own. If you are up walking around and can scavenge for food and water and you're not hurt or bleeding, they'll tell you to move over, we're helping others first. On the home front, Davis said he lives in an all electric house. However, he has a very efficient fireplace, kerosene heaters and, other alternative ways to heat his house. Also he reminded members that if you have a well with an electric pump, you will have no water unless you have some stored away in a container. Davis said everyone should store a container of water in case service is interrupted or contamination. Davis brought along a fifteen gallon plastic soda syrup container he bought for six dollars. He said if you buy one, to wash it out good until it smells like bleach. Then when you fill it with water to store it away, put eight drops of bleach per gallon of water in it. For your home, have at least a two week supply of food. That doesn't mean going out and buying huge sacks of beans, flour, rice, or things that might go to waste. Buy extra things you eat regularly, cans of chili, soup, vegetables, canned meat, etc. Make yourself a set aside pantry and instead of buying one of things, buy two. The next time you go shopping take out what you bought previously and put the new stuff in and keep things rotated. Davis stressed that you need to have at least enough supplies on hand that you can survive for at least two weeks. To prove to yourself how much it takes go to the store and shop, put things away and make it a point to live off only your stored supplies for two weeks. You'll be surprised how fast you'll go through some things and how slowly you'll go through others. Davis said If your goal is to go to a Red Cross shelter, do not pack your gun and your knife with you. Red Cross shelters do not allow weapons and if you take yours, they will soon belong to someone else. Davis has heard that a group of people who were interviewed after the hurricane said they had to defend themselves enroute to the shelter. They had to band themselves together into a sort of little gang to acquire food and protect themselves from looters. They said they did take food but they took only enough for their little group and left the rest. When they went into a Winn Dixie store in Louisiana they expected it would be empty because the windows were shattered. The shelves were full of food. However, there wasn't a single DVD, MP3 player, digital camera, Walkman, or bottle of booze. The cigarette and cigar shelves were empty. Davis thanked members for listening and said to contact him by e-mail if they have any questions. He also has the web site addresses where he learned a lot of this information. WIARDPHIL@YAHOO.COM Web sites with more disaster preparation information: READY.GOV SURVIVAL-CENTER.COM FRUGALSQUIRRELS.COM Phil Davis Index Return to SCRA Home Page |