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Sunday, January 11, 2009

On the importance of Survival Kits during Blackouts

By Joseph Parish

As soon as any sort of emergency situation is over the people involved usually vow that they will be well prepared should the same thing happen to them in the future. The problem is that when disaster strikes again they are generally no better prepared the second time then they were the first.

In all reality few homes have the necessary emergency supplies that would be required. As an example, something as simple as candles. If you were hit by a major power outage would you have candles readily available or would you find that you are stumbling around in the dark desperately searching for candles or flashlight batteries?

Usually people who are unprepared use the excuse that they do not have the necessary funds to create an emergency kit however, it does not take a considerable amount of money nor does it involve considerable efforts towards putting together a sufficient emergency survival package.

The first necessity that you will need during a potential blackout will be light. It is generally good logic to maintain a small stash of closely flashlights and batteries. I myself try to maintain one flashlight in each room. The batteries are generally situated in one central location. You can now purchase the LED flashlights which use very little battery power and provide a decent light level that is useable in any sort of emergency.

Another beneficial idea would be to keep several camping lanterns nearby. I keep a wind up - LED lantern hidden in my living room. It is actually bright enough that if I had to I could do a bit of reading with it. If you use regular lanterns don’t forget that you must stock up on the necessary batteries that it may use.

There are on the market today several emergency radios which do not use batteries - I have one such radio in my home. All you merely have to do is wind it up for a few minutes and it is good to go. These types of radios usually are of the AM-FM variety while a few may have a shortwave band included.

During any emergency it is important that you keep plenty of bottled water readily available for drinking, washing and for brushing your teeth I would like to make an important note here concerning containers of water. The 16 to 20 ounce plastic bottles are generally better then the gallon bottles of water as the gallon containers tend to deteriorate much faster then the smaller bottles. They are much easier to transport also. I keep a case of the 16 oz in my car for emergencies.

Another product that I would recommend for emergencies is a small portable stove of some sort in which you could make food to eat. Oh by the way since most of us have the electric can openers do not forget to obtain one of the manual can openers for emergencies.

Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish


Original: http://www.survival-training.info/articles6/OntheimportanceofSurvivalKitsduringBlackouts.htm

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