As Always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
October Storm 2016
OK all you North Westerners, the storm of the decade is headed our way. This is the remnants of a typhoon and has the potential to be stronger that the Columbus day storm of 1962. For all of you too young to know what that means, I will post some news articles. Put everything outside away. Get your Emergency readiness kits handy. You could have an extended power outage. Hunker down and stay put.
A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items:
- Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
- Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
- Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Whistle to signal for help
- Dust mask to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Manual can opener for food
- Local maps
- Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Vigilance
Situational Awareness is vital
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Defend yourself from a bigger person
Master Wong is a little difficult to understand sometimes and loves to swear. But, his lessons in self-defense are priceless. Here is a little tidbit of all the good stuff he has produced.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Camping tips
Now that we are officially well into the camping season here in the northwest. I thought we should share some of our favorite camping tips.
One thing all of us will face when camping is laundry, even if you don’t have to wash your clothes you will inevitably need to hang something up to dry. We usually will just drape it over one of the many rope strung around camp or the back of a chair,this is not very efficient. Next time try using the little plastic clip from a bread bag, they work great as clothespins and are easy the pack.
Tired of all your cooler stuff getting soaked after a couple of days in the melting ice. Try filling old drink bottle 80% with water and freezing them before you go out next time. You won’t have the usual cooler swamp and you also end up with a bunch of fresh drinking water when they melt.
Ever trip over the guy lines of your tent when climbing out for your nightly relief, I have, they are hard to see when you are mostly asleep. Try this, take short little mostly useless pieces of tin foil and make little flags on your guy lines. The moon reflects nicely off these, not to mention your flashlight.
Always put a rock with a nice big flat top, level in the fire ring, it is so nice to have a place to keep your food and drinks warm by the fire.
Last but not least, we deal with the most dreaded camping nuisance of all, mosquitoes! You just can’t seem to avoid them, so here is a couple of useful tips. Firstly, bring some sage sprigs with you, when the mosquitoes are thick, through some on the fire, they hate it. Secondly, after you get bit, and you most certainly will, use a little dab of toothpaste, not gel, directly on the bite, it knocks down the itch and helps it heal faster.
Well that’s it for now
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Will A Bite From This Snake Kill You?
Venomous Snakes in North 
America
When the weather gets nice, it’s time for the hikers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts to come out of hiding… which happens to correlate with an uptick in snake activity (including venomous ones).
First things first, I’ll say that I’m not one of those people who believes all snakes should be killed on sight. If a snake is non-venomous, I’ll let it slither on it’s way every time. If it’s venomous, and too close to my house or yard, that’s when a decision has to be made.
In order to make that decision, I first need to identify the species of snake and determine whether or not it’s a venomous snake.
Despite the fact that we only have 4 major species of poisonous snakes to deal with in North America, it can be surprisingly difficult to calmly ID these snakes in the heat of the moment. In fact, that’s why I’m writing this article, to make it easier for the non-snake experts among us to avoid a nasty and potentially fatal bite.
The 4 Big Ones
These are the 4 groups of poisonous snakes that you may run across in the US:
- Rattlesnakes
- Cottonmouths
- Copperheads
- Coral Snakes
When I say that there are 4 major species of venomous snakes, that’s a bit of an oversimplification, BUT that actually makes the identification process easier.
You see, it doesn’t matter much if you’ve spotted a Texas Coral Snake or an Arizona Coral Snake, both are deadly poisonous. So stay away.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Condition yellow
It saddens me that the world is a place that requires this. but it is, so act accordingly, or you might just be the next victim.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
How to deal with a penetrating chest trauma
This is a fantastic illustration of an open pneumothorax, and a good solution.
As alway,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Welcome to NW Survival.
We are a community dedicated to providing education and training needed for survival in the Pacific Northwest. We share our insights, opinions, and offer gear reviews as opportunities present themselves. We also offer firearms safety training for individuals and groups.
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