Survivalist Emergency Backpack Recommendations

[MJZiggy]

You just earned yourself a spot in my bunker. I have plenty of salt pork, a solar array with batteries, and a water purifier.

In my bunker there's sex (provided my honey doesn't make it). And sensibly-priced shoes.

[3irty1]

In my bunker there's sex (provided my honey doesn't make it). And sensibly-priced shoes.

In the event of an apocalypse the noble responsibly of repopulating the world could indeed rest squarely on your loins. No wonder you want a tent so bad.

And I can't have some woman spending all my flame-thower-fuel money on shoes.

[red]

[Scott Campbell]

In my bunker there's sex (provided my honey doesn't make it). And sensibly-priced shoes.

I pitched a tent.

[3irty1]

More ideas:

Marked deck of cards. You know what survival kits are about? Survival. As in "of the fittest." When you find yourself in the company of a bunch of bored strangers, Its your duty to your family and to mankind to relieve any surviving suckers of their ammo and rations via a friendly game of poker.

My research indicates that the appropriate can opener for your kit--the P-38 can opener:

http://www.amazon.com/GI-P-38-Can-Opener/dp/B000EGHWXS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

An effective can opener, as well as prying tool, flat head screw driver, box cutter, and possible slashing weapon. When you finally loot a pool table and drag it down into your bunker, you could stick this under the wobbly leg.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide. Another solevent that could potentially clean a gun. Dimethyl Sulfoxide can also be used as a drug delivery device as it penetrates the skin very quickly. Mix with the salt/sugar water I mentioned above and apply to the skin for a quick IV. On its own it is an effective anti-inflammatory, and a treatment for radiation poisoning. DMSO is said to even prevent paralysis in spinal cord injuries and can act as a pain killer. On top of all that DMSO can be made into a potent weapon. Anything that can dissolve in it can be easily delivered to the blood stream by contact alone. Combine with pepper spray to create a devastating non-lethal weapon that will burn from the inside out and won't stop. Combine with poison to turn a squirt gun lethal.

Surgical Tubing. With this you can fashion a sling-shot, Hawaiian fishing spear, create a siphon for accessing fuel or water, use it to restrict blood flow from a severed limb, or to hold up your pants after you lose 30 lbs and your belt is worthless.

Freezer bags. You will probably store something in these anyways. These can be used as canteens. You wake up in the morning and your cleverly designed tarp shelter is covered in morning dew. With this you have a way to store it.

As for the Geiger counter, its a really simple and cheap circuit once you get the tube and all of the parts can be had for under $10 at radioshack. Tubes alone are going for $5-$30 on ebay. I'll lay out a pcb.

[3irty1]

Or there's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1aozVIj2Io&feature=player_embedded

[SkinBasket]

I know tents aren't bulletproof, but you also can't see exactly where the people are inside them. How are you planning on camouflaging the whining children when the emergency happens in the winter and it's snow mixed with rain and they are wet and getting frostbite? Not all apocalypses happen in dry summer, you know.

How are they getting wet under a tarp? If an event happens in winter, I'm guessing we'll dress appropriately before we abandon shelter. And like I said, I would rather dedicate the space and weight to sleeping bags, which will offer more in the way of cold protection than a tent. Especially when it's soaked in our own blood and we're dead.

[Scott Campbell]

More ideas:

Marked deck of cards. You know what survival kits are about? Survival. As in "of the fittest." When you find yourself in the company of a bunch of bored strangers, Its your duty to your family and to mankind to relieve any surviving suckers of their ammo and rations via a friendly game of poker.

My research indicates that the appropriate can opener for your kit--the P-38 can opener:

http://www.amazon.com/GI-P-38-Can-Opener/dp/B000EGHWXS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

An effective can opener, as well as prying tool, flat head screw driver, box cutter, and possible slashing weapon. When you finally loot a pool table and drag it down into your bunker, you could stick this under the wobbly leg.

Dimethyl Sulfoxide. Another solevent that could potentially clean a gun. Dimethyl Sulfoxide can also be used as a drug delivery device as it penetrates the skin very quickly. Mix with the salt/sugar water I mentioned above and apply to the skin for a quick IV. On its own it is an effective anti-inflammatory, and a treatment for radiation poisoning. DMSO is said to even prevent paralysis in spinal cord injuries and can act as a pain killer. On top of all that DMSO can be made into a potent weapon. Anything that can dissolve in it can be easily delivered to the blood stream by contact alone. Combine with pepper spray to create a devastating non-lethal weapon that will burn from the inside out and won't stop. Combine with poison to turn a squirt gun lethal.

Surgical Tubing. With this you can fashion a sling-shot, Hawaiian fishing spear, create a siphon for accessing fuel or water, use it to restrict blood flow from a severed limb, or to hold up your pants after you lose 30 lbs and your belt is worthless.

Freezer bags. You will probably store something in these anyways. These can be used as canteens. You wake up in the morning and your cleverly designed tarp shelter is covered in morning dew. With this you have a way to store it.

As for the Geiger counter, its a really simple and cheap circuit once you get the tube and all of the parts can be had for under $10 at radioshack. Tubes alone are going for $5-$30 on ebay. I'll lay out a pcb.

I'm having McGyver flashbacks.

[MadtownPacker]

A bag a Maryjane seeds. You will be able to grow smoke and use the plant to make rope.

I guess you should also pack other seeds too. For when you get the munchies.

I would go with a machete instead of an axe. Should be able to cut smaller logs and it is a better weapon.

[SkinBasket]

Or there's this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1aoz...layer_embedded

How about if you make me one of those in a durable box and I'll trade you a night of drinks next time I visit nutz? I'll get you a private dance at Silk if it's rechargeable via USB.

[mraynrand]

Dimethyl Sulfoxide. Another solevent that could potentially clean a gun. Dimethyl Sulfoxide can also be used as a drug delivery device as it penetrates the skin very quickly. Mix with the salt/sugar water I mentioned above and apply to the skin for a quick IV. On its own it is an effective anti-inflammatory, and a treatment for radiation poisoning. DMSO is said to even prevent paralysis in spinal cord injuries and can act as a pain killer. On top of all that DMSO can be made into a potent weapon. Anything that can dissolve in it can be easily delivered to the blood stream by contact alone. Combine with pepper spray to create a devastating non-lethal weapon that will burn from the inside out and won't stop. Combine with poison to turn a squirt gun lethal.

You have to be careful with DMSO. If you put it in the squirt gun, you'd better be sure the gun is Polypropylene and not polyethylene or you'll solubilize/craze the gun. and the delivery you speak of isn't quite so fast and quite so effective as you may think - it's hard to get the kind of skin coverage you need to incapacitate someone, unless they willingly take a bath in or rub themselves down with the compound you made. DMSO in spiked sunscreen therefore could work, but at the concentrations you need, your victim would know something was up from the odor and consistency of the salve - DMSO is pretty volatile and remarkable even in a diluted form.

[mraynrand]

dp for no reason

[retailguy]

Better to be prepared than dead, or hungry, or unable care for your family. Even the Red Cross recommends having emergency supplies for 3 days. Most of this stuff is stuff you use anyway. Having it in one place and ready isn't much of a burden, effort wise or financially. If something happens, I don't want to rely on our inept government - or anyone else for that matter. If nothing happens, I still use most of the stuff, cycle through it, and I have a nice backpack.

To expound on that... We have greater and greater political strife as our nation sinks deeper and deeper into financial crisis. We have large groups of folks willing to bring certain industries, supply lines, and services to a halt in order to get what they want. Things like wide area EMPs exist. As do nuclear weapons under the control of insane people. Terrorists are actively seeking to cause as much harm to us as possible through any means available. We have nuclear reactors that are decades behind on safety and borders that are a joke without a punchline. And we have weather. Natural disasters. Volatile gas prices and a government unwilling to prepare for the future in a pragmatic way. And these are just the obvious reasons to be prepared for a disruption to our jovial lives where our biggest worry is how much a frappichino costs and how many minutes we're going to have to walk the treadmill to burn it off.

We've become accustomed to this peaceful life. Even our poor have cable TV, access to shelter, health care, clothing and food. Those who should be struggling to survive simply don't have to. Not in a life or death sense. Our government regulates everything in our life, from how much money we make to how much salt we eat. Make a dollar? Pay a tax. Catch a fish? Buy a license. Want to exercise your constitutional rights? Register with the state first. Most have become lashed to the government, willing or not, and without it - for whatever reason, shit's going to come apart real fast. With half our population reliant on the government for some kind assistance or another, they're going to turn somewhere else, anywhere else, to fill that void. Because they don't have the first clue as how to survive on their own. The people who had to fight to survive in their childhood are dying and no one seems interested in remembering the lessons they learned. We, collectively, are very soft, and very unprepared should be have to fall back to a survival state. Especially the metrosexuals. They are so dead.

Wist? Is that you? 8)

[MJZiggy]

Wist? Is that you? 8)

LOL. Where is wisty anyway? I imagine him in a fallout shelter somewhere expecting the end...

[SkinBasket]

LOL. Where is wisty anyway? I imagine him in a fallout shelter somewhere expecting the end...

I would wager it's more likely he's more prepared than most, and his mind is at ease for it. At some point a lot of people decided prepared means paranoid, and that nothing could possibly happen that the government can't save us from. This is America after all! Looks like even after katrina proved how unprepared and full of hubris we are at all levels, from the federal government on down to individuals, that hasn't changed.

This isn't going to last forever. It's not if, but when, any one of the things from a long list either disables or kills this terminal behemoth of a federal childcare system and all the babies start throwing tantrums. When that does happen there's going to be two kinds of people. Those who have prepared, and those who are begging those who are prepared for help or forming hungry mobs to take what they want by force. Most people's "plan" probably looks a lot like the later, much like our government does right now: the mob demanding assistance from those who've done the planning, work, and due diligence. Like I said earlier, preparing is not that hard at all. Certainly easier than begging someone to help save your life after mocking them.